Chapter XII: The Letter That Was Laid Before the Lord,

AND THE LORD'S ANSWER

HEZEKIAH, King of Judah, did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. 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.

Immediately after he came to the throne, he destroyed all the high places where the people had worshipped false gods, and he broke their images; and he followed the commandments of the Lord with all his heart.

And the Lord was with him, and he prospered in all he set his hand to.

He defeated the Philistines, and rebelled against the yoke of the King of Assyria, and refused to serve him.

Meanwhile, however, Hoshea, who was then King of Israel, was very much harassed by the Assyrians, and God permitted them to come into the land of Israel and besiege Samaria for three years. They took it, and carried numbers of captives into the land of Assyria, because His people had transgressed His commandments.

The Assyrians, having gained these victories, turned their attention to the land of Judah, over which the good King Hezekiah reigned, and they fought against and took some of the fenced cities.

Then Hezekiah sent a present to the King of Assyria, hoping to bribe him not to pursue the war any further.

To make this payment Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the Temple of the Lord, and sent all the money that was in the Treasury.

But the riches which were known to belong to the Kings of Judah and Israel were an immense attraction to their enemies: so that instead of turning back, the King of Assyria sent his greatest generals with a host of soldiers to surround Jerusalem and besiege it.

When they reached the conduit of the upper pool, which supplied water to the city, Rabshakeh called to King Hezekiah to come out to them.

Then Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah came forward to hear what Rabshakeh had to say.

And Rabshakeh's first words were full of pride and threatening: "Thus saith the great King, the King of Assyria, 'What confidence is this wherein thou trusteth? In whom dost thou trust? If ye say, "We trust in the Lord our God," Hezekiah has broken down His altars and told Judah they are to worship in Jerusalem!'

"Now therefore ... I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou canst on thy part put riders upon them!"

Then Hezekiah's messengers begged Rabshakeh to speak in the Assyrian language, and not in Hebrew, which the people understood.

But Rabshakeh was more insulting than ever; and told all who listened to him, that it was vain for Hezekiah to say "The Lord will deliver you!" Sennacherib had conquered other nations, and their gods had not delivered them! And the Lord would not deliver Jerusalem out of his hand.

But Eliakim told the people not to answer a word. Then they returned to the king with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

Then Hezekiah rent his clothes and put on sackcloth, and went up into the house of the Lord, and sent his messengers to Isaiah the Prophet, saying that it was indeed a day of trouble, and surely the Lord had heard the words of Rabshakeh.

But the Prophet Isaiah sent this message to Hezekiah: "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 Rabshakeh returned, and when he found fresh troubles in his own land, he sent a message by letter to Hezekiah, saying they were not to rejoice that they had escaped their enemy! For they would surely come and fight against them another time!

Then Hezekiah received the letter and read it, and carried it up into the House of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. And he prayed to the Lord, and told Him it was quite true that other nations had been defeated by the cruel King of Assyria, but they had not the Lord God of Israel to trust in; and then he ended with these words: "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, and Thou only!"

And then the Lord gave His long glorious answer: "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 and eighty-five thousand men: and when they arose early in the morning they were all dead corpses."

So Sennacherib, King of Assyria, departed and returned to Nineveh; and as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his god, his two sons smote him and killed him.

God's words had come true.