May 30 Daily Devotional

2 Kings 18–19; 2 Chron. 32; Isa. 36–37

When Hezekiah became king, the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, with other countries near them, were under the power of the great kingdom of the Assyrians. Every year the people of Judah had to pay Assyria a heavy tax. Hezekiah and his people did not like this. They decided to get rid of this burden, and so refused to pay the money. Then Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, came into the land of Judah with a large army, and took one city after another. They also marched toward Jerusalem. Hezekiah saw that he had made a mistake and offered to pay the tax. But now the Assyrian king demanded a heavier tax than before. Hezekiah took all the gold and silver in the temple, all that was in his own palace, and all that he could find among the people, and sent it to the Assyrians. But even with this they were not satisfied.

Sennacherib sent his princes with a great host to Jerusalem and with this defying message, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria … Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Hearken not to Hezekiah … when he persuadeth you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?”

When Hezekiah heard this, he rent his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. He sent his servants to Isaiah the prophet to hear of him the will of God in his predicament. The prophet’s reply was, “Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword of his own hand.”

Again king Hezekiah went into the house of the Lord, where he prayed, “O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only.” Then Isaiah sent to Hezekiah, saying “Thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there … by the way that he came, by the same shall he return.” And in the same night the angel of the Lord smote in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000 men. So Sennacherib departed to his own land. Somewhat later, while in his temple at Nineveh, two of his sons killed him.