Hezekiah

Hezekiah (Hebrew Hizqiyyahu, "the LORD strengthens") was the thirteenth king of Judah, son of the wicked Ahaz, who reigned about 715–686 BC and ranks among the greatest and most faithful of David's heirs. Scripture gives him an almost unequaled commendation: "He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him" (2 Kings 18:5). His reign is recounted at length in three parallel accounts (2 Kings 18–20; 2 Chronicles 29–32; Isaiah 36–39).

Hezekiah's first great work was religious reform. Reversing his father's apostasy, he reopened and cleansed the temple, restored the Levitical worship, and kept a great Passover to which he invited even the remnant of the northern tribes (2 Chronicles 30:1). He removed the high places and the Asherah, and broke in pieces the bronze serpent Moses had made, because Israel had turned it into an idol called Nehushtan (2 Kings 18:4) — a striking act of zeal against even a relic of true revelation that had become a snare.

His faith was supremely tested when Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah in 701 BC, overran its fortified cities, and besieged Jerusalem. The Assyrian field commander, the Rabshakeh, taunted the city and blasphemed the LORD, urging surrender (2 Kings 18:28–35). Hezekiah, having prepared the city — including the remarkable Siloam tunnel cut to secure its water supply (2 Chronicles 32:30) — went up to the temple, spread the threatening letter before the LORD, and prayed (2 Kings 19:14–19). Through Isaiah, God answered with assurance, and the angel of the LORD struck down 185,000 Assyrians, so that Sennacherib withdrew (2 Kings 19:35–36).

Twice more Hezekiah's life illustrates the power of prayer and the danger of pride. Stricken with a fatal illness, he wept and prayed, and God added fifteen years to his life, confirming it with the sign of the shadow turning back on the steps (2 Kings 20:1–11); his psalm of thanksgiving is preserved in Isaiah 38:9–20. Yet when envoys came from Babylon, Hezekiah proudly displayed all his treasures, and Isaiah foretold that all of it, and his own descendants, would one day be carried to Babylon (2 Kings 20:16–18) — an early signpost toward the exile. Remembered for his trust, his reforms, and his deliverance, Hezekiah stands as a model of a king who, though imperfect, clung to the LORD and "held fast to him" (2 Kings 18:6).