2 Chronicles 32:1-33
1 After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to wina them for himself.
2 And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem,
3 He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him.
4 So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ranb through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?
5 Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired Millo in the city of David, and made dartsc and shields in abundance.
6 And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spaked comfortably to them, saying,
7 Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:
8 With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people restede themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
9 After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,
10 Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide in the siegef in Jerusalem?
11 Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
12 Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?
13 Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand?
14 Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand?
15 Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?
16 And his servants spake yet more against the LORD God, and against his servant Hezekiah.
17 He wrote also letters to rail on the LORD God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand.
18 Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews' speech unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city.
19 And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man.
20 And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven.
21 And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slewg him there with the sword.
22 Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side.
23 And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem, and presentsh to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth.
24 In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death, and prayed unto the LORD: and he spake unto him, and he gavei him a sign.
25 But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.
26 Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pridej of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
27 And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour: and he made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasantk jewels;
28 Storehouses also for the increase of corn, and wine, and oil; and stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks.
29 Moreover he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance: for God had given him substance very much.
30 This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.
31 Howbeit in the business of the ambassadorsl of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.
32 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness,m behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
33 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefestn of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
ASSYRIA THREATENS JUDAH
(vv.1-18)
Assyria had before this conquered the ten tribes (2 Kings 17:1), and their king, Sennacharib, confident of taking Judah also, came to encamp against the fortified cities (v.1). The Lord did not send him because of any guilt on Judah's part, as was the case with Israel, but it was to be a test of the faith of the godly king Hezekiah. He consulted with his leaders and commanders to stop the water from the springs which were outside the city (v.4), Spiritually speaking, this tells us that the enemies of the Lord have no right to the refreshment of the Word of God: this belongs to believers. The unbeliever, if he gets knowledge of God's Word, will only misuse it.
Hezekiah made full preparations for war, just as the believer is told to "put on the whole armour of God' (Ephesians 6:11). He built up the wall that was broken and built another wall outside as a double protection, also making many weapons and shields. But though he prepared these armaments, he did not depend on them. Gathering the military leaders in the open square of the city gate, he told them to "be strong and courageous" (v.7), though not to depend on their strength and courage, but on the Lord their God; for the king of Assyria depended on an arm of flesh, but Israel's God was infinitely greater. Thus the words of Hezekiah were of real strength to the people (v.8). God would certainly not fail them.
Sennacharib then tried the force of human argument against Judah. But Judah would immediately discern the ignorance of his arguments. He said that Hezekiah was trying to persuade Judah to give themselves over to die of famine and thirst when he assured Judah that the Lord God would deliver them from the power of the king of Assyria. He knew that Hezekiah had abolished the high places of worship, and thought that these were God's high places so that he considered that Hezekiah had insulted God!
What abject ignorance. Hezekiah had honoured God by destroying this idolatrous worship and returning to the true worship of having one altar, symbolical of Christ.
Sennacharib further declared that the gods of many nations had not delivered those nations from destruction at the hand of Assyria, therefore Judah could not depend on their God to deliver them (vv.13-14). How little he realised that the gods of the nations (including his own nation) were helpless idols in contrast to the God of Israel who created all things.
This haughty enemy of God appealed to the people of Judah to not let Hezekiah deceive them, but to refuse to believe him: for Sennacharib wanted Judah to let him deceive them into thinking that God was no better than the idols of the nations (v.15). Thus his servants spoke both against the Lord and against Hezekiah (v.16). Added to this determined campaign were letters written by Sennacharib using the same insulting language against God, declaring Him to be as helpless as the idols of other nations (v.17). Also the servants of Sennacharib who were besieging the city called out loudly in the Hebrew language to the people of Jerusalem, desiring to frighten them into submission (vv.18-19). Isaiah 36:11 records this attack as being the work of Rabshakeh in railing against God.
GOD'S ANSWER TO ASSYRIA
(vv.20-23)
As we have seen, though Hezekiah had prepared for war, it was not his preparations that saved Judah. Rather, in utter helplessness, Hezekiah and Isaiah prayed and cried out to heaven, and the Lord gained the victory for him. The Lord sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of valour, leader and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria (vv.20-2 1). In fact, at that time the angel of the Lord killed 185,000 of the Assyrians (Isaiah 37:36). Sennacharib returned in shame to his own land, and in the temple of his idolatrous god his own sons killed him with the sword. How helpless his god was to deliver him! ¾ and how little respect for his god did his own sons show! Thus the evil of man defeats his own selfish ends.
However, the simplicity of Hezekiah's faith assured his salvation from the king of Assyria, as from other enemies as well, and he was given the blessing of the Lord's guidance in every way. Other nations recognised the Lord's grace over Judah and brought gifts to the Lord and also presents to Hezekiah. Thus God exalted him in the sight of all the nations.
HEZEKIAH'S FAILURE AND HUMBLING
(v-v.24-26)
This book of Chronicles does not give the details as regards Hezekiah's sickness and recovery as does 2 Kings 20:1. There we read that Isaiah had told him to set his house in order, for he would die from the sickness God had allowed him. But instead of simply bowing to the Word of the Lord, he urgently prayed, on the basis of his faithful walk, that God would change his mind. He wept bitterly at the thought of dying. What had happened to his faith at this time? Did he not know that God was perfectly wise in what He had said? But evidently he needed a lesson he had not learned before.
The Lord then sent Isaiah back to him with the message that He had heard his prayer and had seen his tears, and would heal him and add fifteen years to his life (2 Kings 20:5). Then Isaiah had instructed that a lump of figs be laid on the boil, which led to Hezekiah's recovery. More than this, God gave him the sign of the shadow going back ten degrees on the sundial (2 Kings 20:9). This is the sign of which2 Chronicles 32:24 speaks.
"But Hezekiah did not repay according to the favour shown him, for his heart was lifted up" (v.25). He was evidently proud of the fact that he had gained fifteen years because of his faithful life. If he had died when the Lord told him to, he would have been the only king of Israel to have a really bright end to his reign, for his extra fifteen years added painful sorrow to his history. In fact, immediately following his recovery he failed badly when the king of Babylon sent him letters and a present to compliment him on his recovery. He was deceived by the friendliness of this enemy of Israel and showed his servants all his treasures and his armaments (2 Kings 20:12). Because of this the Lord sent Isaiah to tell him that all these treasures would be carried away to Babylon (2 Kings 20:16). What a warning to us not to be deceived by friendly enemies!
However, Hezekiah did humble himself because of his failure in this case, so that God did not in his lifetime bring the Babylonians to attack. Judah (v.26).
HEZEKIAH'S PROSPERITY AND HONOR
(vv.27-31)
2 Chronicles does not dwell on Hezekiah's failure, but on the grace of God in blessing him so greatly. He was given great riches and honour, with treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields and many other desirable things; also storehouses for grain, wine and oil, barns for all kinds of livestock and folds for flocks. All of these things are symbolic of the great blessing of the millennial kingdom of the Lord Jesus, yet only a faint picture.
An important project of Hezekiah was his bringing, running water into Jerusalem by a tunnel, the water being diverted from the Upper Gihon River (v.30). This pictures his making available to all the people the truth of the Word of God (the water), so that they might procure it for themselves. How good it is if leaders help others to find blessing in scripture for themselves.
However, in spite of all the good Hezekiah had done, God did not minimise his sad failure in feeding his own pride through unwisely entertaining the princes of Babylon who came, not only to congratulate him on his recovery of health, but to enquire about the wonder of the sun going backward ten degrees (v.31). God had done these things for His own glory, not that attention should be drawn to Hezekiah. But God used this as a test, that Hezekiah might learn something of the evil in his own heart, and which he had not suspected. What a lesson for every believer!
HEZEKIAH'S DEATH
(vv.32-33)
Though Hezekiah had gained fifteen years through his tearful prayer, yet he died. Verse 32 records the fact that other acts of Hezekiah are to be found written in the book of Isaiah and in the book of Kings (2 Kings). He was buried among the honoured kings of Judah in Jerusalem, and all Judah honoured him at his death, a contrast to the burial of his father Ahaz, who was not, buried among the kings (ch.28:37).