January 16, 2026
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Reading along with us in 2 Kings, Acts, & Hebrews? Here’s today’s reading:
2 Kings 18 (NIV)
Hezekiah King of Judah
1 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord,……Continue Reading
Next: Hebrews 1
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Back: 2 Kings 17
Finally, King Hezekiah tried to do what was right. He did not leave the high places and he lead the people to fear and obey the Lord. It is too bad that he let doubt plague him as he watched the other cities fall and turned again to trying to pay Assyria for their peace and freedom but as we have seen in the past this solution never works.
Hard to hear the field commander speak so harshly against God, trying to convince the people that trusting in Him would only lead to more death and destruction. We know it is really quite the opposite. These people have not been trusting and that is what has left them in this position at all. Although this is a tactic we see Satan often use against us, when things are bad he loves to fill our heads with doubt that God is not there and it is in those times where we really must dig in and trust more than ever!
2 kings 18.
May we be like Hezekiah and embrace the ways of God fully. It is impressive that he wholeheartedly turns Judah around, even eliminating the high places, when you consider he was the son of Ahaz, a wicked king. Sometimes the apple does fall far from the tree. And although it was common practice to pay off a powerful nation to avoid attack, it would have been nice to see some consultation with God about it. But Assyria comes anyway. Reminds of the line from Air Force One, “when you give a mouse a cookie, he is going to want a glass of milk.” And we shouldn’t be surprised when people of the world speak with such bravado when they don’t know what they are talking about. They will call into question God, even claiming they are doing what God wants, and call into question godly influence in our lives. But we must remain strong, grounded in the truth and the relationships we have with each other.
2 Kings 18
2 kings 18
Psalm 69; 2 Kings 17-18; Daniel 1-2
In confirmation of the words of the prophets of the time like Isaiah, Assyria has conquered and exiled the unrighteous northern kingdom of Israel. And now they have come to do the same to the southern kingdom of Judah.
The Assyrian officials offer to spare Judah if they willingly submit to Assyrian rule. They employ tactics in an attempt to lower morale among the people of Judah including boasting of overpowering the gods of the surrounding nations and even claiming they were working on God’s behalf. The officials of Judah ask them to speak in Aramaic so the other people in Judah wouldn’t understand what they were saying. Clearly it looks like the fear tactic was working.
There’s actually an Assyrian artifact known as the Taylor Prism (currently housed in the British Museum in London) that describes the events of this chapter from Assyria’s perspective:
“As for Hezekiah the Judahite who had not submitted to my yoke, I surrounded 46 of his strong walled towns, and innumerable small places around them, and conquered them by means of earth ramps and siege engines, attack by infantrymen, mining, breaching, and scaling. 200,150 people of all ranks, men and women, horses, mules, donkeys, camels, cattle and sheep without number I brought out and counted as spoil. He himself I shut up in Jerusalem, his royal city, like a bird in a cage. I put watch-posts around him, and made it impossible for anyone to go out of his city.”
The text on the Taylor Prism goes on to boast of the tribute Hezekiah paid them, but never mentions a successful conquering of Judah. In the next chapter of 2 Kings we’ll see why, but long story short no other god is powerful like our God and we should stand firm in knowing who He supports and who He doesn’t.
2 Kings 18
The Assyrian king spouts propaganda against Hezekiah and God. He promises the people of Judah a prosperous life if they subject themselves to Assyria.
We had to go ahead and read the next chapter!