Hezekiah (752-698 BC) was King of Judah from 726 to 698 BC, succeeding Ahaz and preceding Manasseh.
Biography[]
Hezekiah was born in 752 BC, the son of King Ahaz of Judah. He inherited the throne at the age of 25, and he reigned in Jerusalem for 29 years. He followed in the righteousness of David, removing the pagan altars, smashing the sacred stones, cutting down the Asherah poles, and breaking into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made (which had become a pagan incense altar for the Judeans). Hezekiah kept the Ten Commandments and was successful in whatever he undertook, defeating the Philistines and recapturing every watchtower to fortified city as far as Gaza and its territory. In his fourth year, however, King Shalmaneser V of Assyria marched against Samaria and captured it, ending the Kingdom of Israel. In 713 BC, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Israel as punishment for Hezekiah's cessation of tribute, taking all of Judah's fortified cities, including Lachish. Sennacherib proceeded to besiege Jerusalem in 701 BC, but the prophet Isaiah foretold the deliverance of Jerusalem, and a plague wiped out the Assyrian army and forced Sennacherib to withdraw, where Isaiah predicted that Sennacherib would be assassinated by his own sons. Hezekiah fell ill not long after, but, after Hezekiah reminded God of his wholehearted devotion to him, Isaiah prophesied that Hezekiah would recover. The King of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift on hearing of his illness, causing Isaiah to prophesy that the time would come when everything in Hezekiah's palace would be carried off to Babylon; his descendants would be among those taken away to serve as eunuchs at the King of Babylon's palace. Hezekiah died in 698 BC.