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The Kings of Israel and Judah, Part 6
November 16, 2024

As we concluded our study last week, we saw that Pekah was King of Israel and Jotham was King of Judah. Seventeen years into the reign of Pekah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, began to reign in Judah. As a younger man, he was only twenty years old when he began to reign and remained on the throne through what we think of as middle age. Young and impressionable, and full of power as king, Ahaz could have decided to take his reign in any direction, and instead of doing what was right, he wanted to be a king like the kings of Israel, and even had his son sacrificed. When the King of Syria came to lay siege to Jerusalem, we might think that Ahaz would get the message that he was doing something that God did not want done, but Ahaz couldn’t make the connection, especially when he was able to outlast the King of Syria in the siege.

During the time when the King of Syria strategically retreated, Ahaz reached out to the King of Assyria paying tribute to him in exchange for an Assyrian attack against Damascus. Given as tribute to Tiglath-pilesar by Ahaz included gold and silver from the temple along with palace treasures. The magnitude of the tribute got the attention of the Assyrian king. When that attack came by the Assyrians against the Syrians, the Syrians were defeated, and many Syrians were taken into captivity while the King of Syria was killed.

After the defeat of the Syrians. Ahaz traveled to Damascus to meet the King of Assyria. While there he noticed an altar and called for Uriah the priest to copy that altar for religious use, and when it was ready, and when he was back in Jerusalem, Ahaz offered a sacrifice on that altar, bringing religious articles from the temple to make it all possible. Ahaz directed Uriah the priest to make this the primary altar for offerings and sacrifices, and in doing so turned the focus from the God of Israel to the King of Assyria. When Ahaz died, his son Hezekiah ruled in his place.

2 Kings 16:1-20
In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord his God, like David his father. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel. And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day. So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath–pileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me. And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria. And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin. And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath–pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof. And Uriah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Uriah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus. And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon. And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar. And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the Lord, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of the altar. And king Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by. Thus did Uriah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded. And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones. And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the Lord for the king of Assyria. Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

Twelve years into the reign of Ahaz, Hoshea began his rule as King of Israel and continued the practice of doing what was evil in the sight of God but was not the same style of evil as previous kings of Israel. During his reign Israel became a vassal state of Assyria while also trying to play nice with Egypt. Hoshea was ruling from a place of weakness because he tried to appease two powerful potential adversaries. He gave gifts to Assyria, and he gave gifts to Egypt. It didn’t take long for the King of Assyria to figure out that Hoshea was two-timing him with So, King of Egypt. The Assyrians besieged Israel and during the ninth year of his reign, the Assyrians forcibly removed the people of Israel and brought them into the lands of Assyria.

The account then delves into the reason for the captivity. Even though Israel had been delivered from Egypt by God, the people rejected God and feared other gods. Instead of doing what the God of Israel would have them do, they decided to do what these other gods would have them do, and even did so in a secretive way to hide the true nature of what they were doing, even though much of what they were doing was already out in the open for everyone to see.

Not only did the people of Israel follow these other gods, but they also knew what they were doing was wrong and it was as if they didn’t care. To challenge the practices of the people, God sent prophets and seers to remind them not only of what they were doing was wrong, but of what they needed to be doing to serve God. The people of Israel could have listened to God and the matter would have been resolved, but the people continued to ignore God and rejected God.

Instead of doing what God expected, the people devised their own religious system involving golden calves, a sacred grove of trees, and the worship of Baal, following the teachings of this new religious system and rejecting what God told them to do, even sacrificing their own children, which totally went against everything that God stood for. This rejection by the people of Israel angered God and continued to anger God when God was willing to show mercy, and as a result, God had the people of Israel removed from his sight.

By this time Judah was not better and basically did what Israel did, knowing that God had dispersed Israel to get them out of His sight. God punished Israel for what they did, and that process continued from the split of Israel into the separate kingdoms of Israel and Judah through their later captivity. It started to get so bad in Judah that instead of doing what the God of Israel told them to do, they decided to do what the people of the Kingdom of Israel wanted to do. They chose to align themselves with people who were very much like them instead of aligning themselves with God.

To keep Israel from becoming a wasteland, The King of Assyria brought people from other parts of the Kingdom of Assyria to live in Israel, and these foreigners had no fear of God. Imagine being brought to a vacant land with established cities, towns, and farmlands. That’s not something that people today encounter, and it would have probably been a very rare event back in Biblical times. The people brought to the land of Israel had no way of knowing they were trespassing on land given by God to the people of Israel, and that even though they were there at the behest of the King of Assyria, God would not allow this occupation to go unchallenged. God allowed these Assyrians to live in Israel and even allowed wild animals to torment them in their homes, neighborhoods, and community. These wild animals caused some of the Assyrians to die. Word got back to the King of Assyria of the rough times being experienced in Israel and decided to send a priest of Israel to the area so the people could learn how to fear God preserving their lives. That priest was brought to the city of Bethel and taught the Assyrian people how to fear God, but the Assyrians decided they were going to worship God however they saw fit, and in the end each area of Israel, now known as Samaria, worshipped gods after their own choosing and likeness.

In a twist not far removed from how people worship God today, the people of Samaria feared the God of Israel but did whatever they wanted to do, and it wouldn’t take long for the fear of God to become non-existent. When people feel they can disregard what God tells them to do, what God tells them to do becomes less and less important until what people want to do becomes more important to them than what God tells them to do. They ignored what God had told the people of Isreal during the Exodus. They feared God but also did what they wanted to do. They feared God in name only. If they had truly feared God, they would have done what God told them to do.

2 Kings 17:1-41
In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him. Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents. And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger: For they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing. Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them. And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight. For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin. For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them; Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day. And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof. And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew some of them. Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land. Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land. Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Beth–el, and taught them how they should fear the Lord. Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt. And the men of Babylon made Succoth–benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. So they feared the Lord, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; With whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them: But the Lord, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice. And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods. And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods. But the Lord your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner. So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.

Three years into the reign of Hoshea of Israel, Hezekiah began to reign in Judah, and he reigned from his mid-twenties through his mid-fifties for a span of twenty-nine years, a healthy reign. Hezekiah returned to doing what was right in the sight of God, just like King David. He removed all vestiges of false religious practices and focused his attention on doing what God commanded. From that we can conclude that when previously the people of the Kingdom of Judah were doing what the people of the Kingdom of Israel were doing and now under Hezekiah, the people of the Kingdom of Judah were doing what God told them to do.

Hezekiah was successful with whatever he set out to do. While some could conclude that must have been simple luck, we just read how Hezekiah did everything commanded by God, and how he trusted in God. That is what led to his success. He rebelled against Assyria and destroyed the Philistines. Meanwhile in Israel, Shalmaneser, King of Assyria, laid siege and after three years, defeated Isreal. Israel was taken away into captivity because they did not do what God told them to do.

During the fourteenth year of the reign of King Hezekiah, the King of Assyria attacked and occupied the cities of Judah prompting Hezekiah to make peace with the Assyrians by offering every bit of gold and silver that could be found, because the King of Assyria demanded three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. Hezekiah was doing what God told him to do and still faced adversity, and today when we face adversity while doing what God tells us to do, we should not be surprised. God allows hardships and trials to come into our lives for reasons only God knows, and when these difficulties arise, we must continue to trust God.

Rab-shekah, sent by the King of Assyria, challenged Hezekiah to give up on God and to follow the King of Assyria. In this exchange, Hezekiah was represented by Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah. Switching between Hebrew and the Syrian language, Hezekiah’s representatives and Rab-shekah debated back and forth on what needed to be done. Hezekiah’s representatives would not budge in serving God and Rab-shekah was not budging in serving the King of Assyria. Eventually, Rab-shekah decided to speak in Hebrew so all in the city could understand exactly how they would be destroyed by following Hezekiah and how they would be spared by following the King of Assyria. The people did what Hezekiah had told them. They remained silent to the frustration of Rab-shekah and his entourage.

2 Kings 18:1-37
Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not. He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes: Because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them. Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them. And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house. At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria. And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rab–shakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field. And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder. And Rab–shakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? Thou sayest, but they are but vain words, I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him. But if ye say unto me, We trust in the Lord our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? Am I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rab–shakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people that are on the wall. But Rab–shakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you? Then Rab–shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria: Thus saith the king, 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: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye everyone the waters of his cistern: Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto 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? Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand? Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand? But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not. Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rab–shakeh.

Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah returned to Hezekiah who when he heard their message put on sackcloth and had others in his household also wear sackcloth. He then sent for Isaiah the prophet. Isaiah told those who came to see him that they had nothing to fear from the King of Assyria, because God would miraculously cause the Assyrians to pack up and go home and cause the King of Assyria to die once he returned to his country.

When Rab-shekah returned, he found the King of Assyria fighting one battle only to be warned of another army he would soon need to fight. Those battles didn’t cause Rab-shekah to stop his fighting words against Israel. In a letter to Hezekiah, he double downed on the destruction of Israel that would come from the Assyrians. Hezekiah received the letter and read it. He then took the letter to God in prayer so that God could see for himself what the Assyrians were threatening. He reminded God that these same Assyrians had taken out many nations and destroyed religious systems. He implored God to be spared from the Assyrians.

God’s response came to him through Isaiah the prophet. Isaiah explained that Sennacherib, the King of Assyria, would be dealt with by God, explaining that what Sennacherib thought was his would soon not be his anymore, and that the Assyrian king would be shown the exit and returned to his country. Isaiah added that as a sign the Assyrians would not see success and the Kingdom of Judah would rise up. Hezekiah was assured that during this time the King of Assyria would not be able to take Jerusalem or bring harm against Hezekiah and eventually would return to Assyria as he came. God was doing all of this for the sake of King David, who was long dead by this time.

That night, the angel of God went into the military camp of the Assyrians and killed one hundred eighty-five thousand soldiers. When morning came around, the camp was filled with dead bodies as if a secret military force had infiltrated the camp and killed just about everyone while sleeping. A loss of one hundred eighty-five thousand soldiers would be devastating to any army, especially if it came during one night. By comparison, Alexander the Great’s siege of Tyre saw about thirty-five thousand die, but that siege was more than one day. Even looking at more recent combat operations, there is no comparable single day loss of military life. Today if that many soldiers lost their life in combat in a single day, our minds would jump to the use of nuclear weapons. Going back to the time of Judah and Assyria, God intervened and destroyed the Assyrian might. With no army with which to fight, Sennacherib had no choice but to pack up and return home to Nineveh. While there he was assassinated by a couple of his sons who escaped to Armenia, and his other son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.

2 Kings 19:1-37
And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rab–shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left. So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which 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 rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. So Rab–shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah? And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only. Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel. I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places. Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps. Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up. But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esar–haddon his son reigned in his stead.

The Kingdom of Israel had fallen, and the people were taken into captivity, replaced with people from other parts of the Assyrian kingdom. Judah was gasping for life and with the Assyrians, God had been merciful allowing Judah to remain a nation. Next time we will continue our study looking at the Kingdom of Judah as we get closer and closer to the end of the Kingdom of Judah.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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