II Kings 18:1-19:7
Dear RTB’ers,
We have four verses today repeating the downfall of the Northern Kingdom (vv. 18:9-12); after that the rest of II Kings covers only Judah, the Southern Kingdom, beginning with three chapters covering the reign of Hezekiah. [NOTE: II Chronicles 29-32 and Isaiah 36-39 cover Hezekiah’s reign in even greater detail.] The author of II Kings holds Hezekiah in high esteem: Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the LORD and did not stop following Him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. (vv. 18:5-7a) Quite a dramatic contrast with his father, King Ahaz from two days ago!!
The rest of today’s reading is the account of a new king of Assyria (Sennacherib) attempting to expand Assyria’s territory and take over Judah and Jerusalem. It’s intriguing to read the exchange between the Assyrian field commander (Rabshakeh) and Hezekiah’s agents, especially the attempt at psychological warfare being waged by the field commander. And today we read for the first time a mention of Isaiah, the number one prophet in the Old Testament. We will have 42 days covering him in November and December. Stay tuned!
Blessings!
See also: June 23 (2023) / II Kings 18:17-19:7; Isaiah 36:2-37:7.