"In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them." (Isaiah 36:1) Assyria had already come down from the north, conquering the capitol cities of the nation of Aram and of the northern kingdom of Israel. Now it intends to conquer Judah as well. The invasion of Judah occurred in the 700s BC, according to the timeline of Hezekiah's reign.
Although the Lord will not allow Jerusalem to fall to Assyria, He did allow Assyria to plague the nation of Judah. The Assyrians were able to attack and capture a number of cities. They interrupted trade routes and they destroyed many fields full of crops and trampled many vineyards. But at this time in history the people of Judah had not fallen as far into idolatry as the people of Israel; indeed, there was a revival for a time in Judah after Hezekiah came to the throne, for he did away with the idols of his father and made a number of religious reforms in the nation. The Lord allowed Israel to fall to Assyria because of the idolatry that began when the northern tribes split from the southern tribes---idolatry which became worse and worse with each successive generation. Allowing the Assyrian army to plague Judah was a warning that the same thing could happen there if the people's spiritual condition became like that of the citizens of Israel.
King Sennacherib does not come in person to Jerusalem but sets up his headquarters at Lachish and sends his field commander to Jerusalem to tell King Hezekiah that Jerusalem is next on the list to be attacked. "Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer's Field, Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to him." (Isaiah 36:2-3)
Why have the Assyrian forces marched into Judah? 2 Kings 18 tells us that Hezekiah had refused to pay tribute to Assyria. A number of other nations were paying tribute in order to keep from being invaded or destroyed. Earlier in our study of the book of Isaiah we found the prophet warning Hezekiah not to make an alliance with Pharaoh of Egypt, for Pharaoh would be of no help to Judah against Assyria. Pharaoh attempted to be of help but, as we learned in our study of the kings, his army was soundly defeated in a battle with the Assyrian army and after that he made haste to appease the king of Assyria, willingly handing over much tribute to him (including fine horses and chariots) in order to remain on the throne of Egypt, albeit as a vassal king and not a sovereign one.
Why did Hezekiah not pay tribute to Assyria earlier in time, before the fourteenth year of his reign? Because he placed his trust in the Lord rather than in submitting himself to this bully of the ancient world. "Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following Him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory." (2 Kings 18:5-8)
King Hezekiah wasn't a sinless man, of course, but his heart belonged to the Lord. He lived his life based on godly principles and as a result the Lord gave success. Hezekiah made his plans according to the will of the Lord and the Lord blessed him. Naturally, with all the successes the Lord had already given him, Hezekiah thought the Lord would bless his refusal to serve the pagan king.
Hezekiah was not wrong. The Lord will bless Hezekiah and the capitol city of Jerusalem. As we move on through Chapter 36 we will find the Assyrians pointing out that no nation has successfully rebelled against them so far. This is true and Hezekiah knows it is true. But he also knows something else: the gods of those nations are not gods! The idols the Arameans trusted in, for example, could not help them. The idols the people of Israel had trusted in, for another example, could not help them. But the one true God of Hezekiah's ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? He will help them!
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