2 Kings 18:13-17 Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah… We enter in this passage on the consideration of one of the most memorable crises Judah ever passed through. The Assyrian, the rod of God's anger (Isaiah 10:4), hung over Jerusalem, showing how near destruction it was if God did not interpose. A mighty deliverance was vouchsafed, showing how inviolable was its security if only fleshly confidence was renounced, and the people put their trust in the living God. I. SENNACHERIB'S EARLY SUCCESSES: 1. Connection with the moral state of the people. Despite the efforts of Hezekiah and Isaiah, the moral state of the people continued at bottom unchanged. The enthusiasm enkindled by Hezekiah's great Passover (2 Chronicles 30.) passed away, and things reverted very much to their former state. The idols which Hezekiah had destroyed were brought back (cf. Isaiah 10:10, 11). The nation is pointedly described as "an hypocritical nation," and pictures of the saddest kind are drawn of its wickedness (Isaiah 10:6; cf. 2 Kings 1:22.; Micah 3.). At one point, indeed, the Prophet Micah was sent with a direct announcement of judgment, and the fulfillment was only postponed by the earnest repentance of the king (Jeremiah 26:18, 19; cf. Micah 3:12). Hezekiah was not faultless, but had himself transgressed through pride on the occasion of the visit of the messengers from Babylon, which falls before this period (2 Kings 20:12-19; 2 Chronicles 32:31). He had besides been seeking to strengthen himself by political alliance with Egypt (Isaiah 30.). What wonder that chastisement should be allowed to descend on a "sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers" (Isaiah 1:4)! As we forget God, and abuse his favors, God withdraws from us. 2. Extent of his successes. (1) Sennacherib took all the fenced cities of Judah. His own annals mention forty-six strong cities, and lesser cities without number. He claims to have taken also 200,150 prisoners. This was a fearful blow to the prosperity and resources of the kingdom. (2) At this stage, moreover, Sennacherib invested Jerusalem. The text speaks only of Hezekiah paying tribute, and entreating Sennacherib to depart from him; but it is morally certain that at this time Jerusalem endured a severe siege, and was saved only by the submission referred to. (a) In 2 Chronicles 32:1-8 we have an account of Hezekiah's vigorous preparations for the siege. (b) Sennacherib, in his own annals, describes the siege. (c) The prophecy in Isaiah 22., which belongs to this period, depicts the state of Jerusalem during the siege, and a fearful picture of demoralization it is. The theory that this prophecy refers to an earlier siege under Sargon seems to us to have little probability. The hand of God was thus lying heavily on the people. Only by leading men to feel their own weakness does God train them to rely upon his help. When Hezekiah's trust in man was shattered, and he was led to look to God alone, Sennacherib's campaign came to an ignominious end. II. HEZEKIAH'S SUBMISSION. 1. The failure of the arm of flesh. Hezekiah had been seeking alliances with Egypt and Ethiopia, but no help reached him in his hour of extremity. Isaiah had warned him of this (Isaiah 30.). The act of seeking such an alliance implied a distrust of God. Astute politicians no doubt thought an alliance with Egypt a much more tangible affair than an alliance with the invisible Jehovah. So long, however, as Hezekiah looked in this quarter for aid he was doomed to disappointment. Neither the King of Egypt nor strongly fortified wails availed to save him. He had to learn the lesson: "In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength" (Isaiah 30:15). 2. The humiliating tribute. Despairing of help from his ally, and faltering in his faith in God, Hezekiah made an unworthy submission. It may be gathered from Isaiah 22. that affairs in the city had reached an awful height of wickedness. Pestilence was sweeping off the people in crowds; and Hezekiah may have felt that he could stand it no longer. The King of Assyria accepted his submission, and appointed him three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold as tribute. To obtain this large sum he had not only to empty once more the often-ransacked treasuries of the temple and the king's house, but had to cut off the gold from the very doors and pillars of the temple. It was himself who had overlaid these pillars with the precious metal, but now they had to be stripped of their adornment, and all given to the rapacious Assyrian. Truly it was "a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity" (Isaiah 22:5). What humiliations men are willing to endure rather than submit themselves heartily to the sway of the living God! After all, "willing" is not the word, for they would fain escape these humiliations, but find they cannot. Yet they do not return. 3. His submission no advantage. Sennacherib withdrew to Lachish, and Hezekiah was left to hope that by this great sacrifice he had got rid of him. He was soon to be undeceived. What happened we do not know; possibly some rumors reached the King of Assyria of the march of Tirhakah alluded to in 2 Kings 19:9, and he may have suspected further treachery on the part of Hezekiah. In any case, a new host was dispatched against Jerusalem, and fresh demands were made for surrender (ver. 17). Hezekiah's distress must have been unspeakable. He had paid his tribute, and was no better than before. Waters of a full cup were wrung out to him (Psalm 73:10). It is thus evermore till men turn from the help of man to the help of God. - J.O. Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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