BibleProject | One Story That Leads to JesusSample

Unlike father, unlike son.

In today’s reading, Israel’s new southern king becomes a refreshing contrast to his predecessor, offering much-needed hope for Judah.

Hezekiah follows the Torah with precision. He trusts Yahweh with all his heart and adopts an aggressive anti-idolatry policy during his reign. He takes an axe to the wooden Asherah poles and smashes the Ba’al statues to bits.

But a huge, vicious Assyrian army tests Hezekiah’s ultimate trust in God. Assyria’s general hurls threats and taunting insults over the city walls for all to hear. Judah’s measly military force doesn’t stand a chance against Assyria, the global superpower that just carted off Judah’s northern neighbors in chains. However, Hezekiah holds strong, refusing to let the king of Assyria and his trash-talking cronies bully him into submission.

When desperation intensifies for Hezekiah, he chooses to go to the temple—not to raid its treasury, but to cry out to Yahweh for help.

Once again, Hannah’s prophetic words from the beginning of Israel’s royal saga prove true. Yahweh answers Hezekiah’s humble prayer and rebukes the Assyrians’ pride. The menacing army pressing against Jerusalem’s gates collapses overnight. Maybe the Southern Kingdom will be okay after all?

Reflection Questions

• How do you think the people of Jerusalem would have felt when hearing the Assyrian general, Rabshakeh, threatening them, especially after watching the Assyrians carry the northern tribes into exile just a few years earlier? What do you think it would have been like to wake up and learn that the Assyrian threat had vanished overnight?
• Meditate on Hezekiah’s final response (2 Kgs. 18:37-19:7) to this severe crisis. What wisdom might the biblical authors be inviting you to learn from his actions?