Published by King Hezekiah reigns in Judah c. 716-687 BC. He is one of the few kings who “did right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done” (2 Kings 18:3, ESV). The king before him, Ahaz, had done evil (2 Kings 16:1-3). The king after Hezekiah, his son Menasseh, also did evil (2 Kings 21:2). Hezekiah is one of the exceptions in his day.
When Hezekiah was king of Judah, Israel was carried off into exile (2 Kings 18:9-12). They were exiled because “they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God but transgressed his covenant” (2 Kings 18:12, ESV). This statement stands in stark contrast to the previous statement about Hezekiah, that he followed in David’s footsteps. The biblical writer has set-up now a playing field, a chess game of sorts, in which the King of Assyria is going to challenge King Hezekiah. But the text reveals a deeper game: a challenge between the god of Assyria and the God of Judah. The pieces are set. How will this play out?
Sennacherib king of Assyria makes the first move. His predecessor, Shalmaneser, has already sacked the neighbors. He is poised and ready to destroy Judah. He sends messengers to challenge Hezekiah. His message is presumptuous: “…is it without the Lord that I have come against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it’ “ (2 Kings 18:25, ESV), and boastful, “Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who among the gods of the lands have delivered their lands of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand” (2 Kings 18:34-34, ESV). Assyria in one conversation claims the favor of the Lord and challenges that very same God directly. He has made his move: he is facing off directly against the true God.
Now is the time for leadership. The kinsmen have become POW’s. The borderlands are taken, therefore weakening the defenses of Jerusalem. The enemy is strong, experienced, and determined. When Sennacherib threatens complete destruction and exile, he isn’t blowing smoke. Hezekiah is therefore being tested.
But Hezekiah has already proven his mettle. He removed the high places of worship to idols. His predecessors had sacrificed their own children at these altars. But Hezekiah, surely in the face of scorn from his own people, destroyed the places of idolatry and initiated a cleansing of his own land (2 Kings 18:4). He had already begun to teach Judah to worship the true God.
Hezekiah’s secret is in his worship and in his faith. Hezekiah knows that God has promised David that his throne would be secure. Hezekiah knows that David is his model and example. He also knows that God will be faithful to the promise that he made to David (2 Kings 18:3). The covenant depends on the character of a true, faithful, consistent God of perfect character. Therefore, “he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. and the Lord was with him, wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him” (2 Kings 18:6-7, ESV).
Hezekiah is also a shrewd thinker. The messenger of Assyria has openly challenged and attempted to bargain with the people of Judah. He has offered them a peaceful departure. He has threatened (2 Kings 18:19-36). But no one answers him. “But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, ‘Do not answer him’ ” (2 Kings 18:36, ESV). The silence of the people give Sennacherib nothing to go on. They don’t give in. They don’t fight back. They don’t laugh. They don’t do anything. The messenger returns to his king with nothing to report.
Hezekiah then goes before the Lord with fervor. Hezekiah fights Assyria on his knees before God, “As son as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord” (2 Kings 19:1, ESV). A man goes to battle with the willingness be wounded or killed. He goes to fight knowing that it may hurt, that it will take fervor, sweat, tears, blood. So Hezekiah fights in prayer.
A man is known by his actions. He is also known by his companions. Hezekiah did not put his faith in his army or his strength or his wisdom. He knew the challenge was real, but he knew also that God was the one who would decide the outcome. God responds with the favor that has characterized Hezekiah’s reign for fourteen years, “…I will make him fall by the sword in his own land” (2 Kings 19:7, ESV) and “…I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David” (2 Kings 19:34, ESV).
Assyria is routed. The covenant to David is preserved. God’s character of steadfast love and justice is upheld and displayed. By God’s own hand Assyria loses 185,000 soldiers and the king is killed “…as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god” (2 Kings 19:37, ESV). The irony! The fight was god vs. God. God proved himself to be all powerful.
Leadership in a crisis requires strength, fortitude, obstinance, and certainty. Hezekiah found his certainty in the true God who makes and keeps his promises. One of the greatest models of Hezekiah’s reign was of dependence and humility. He knew he needed strength, but he drew from the one who is all-powerful rather than trying to manufacture and conjure his own strength. He knew he would need to encourage his people to withstand the onslaught of a stronger nation. But he didn’t encourage them with his own words but with the very words of God.
Leadership in crisis also requires knowledge and wisdom. Hezekiah’s dependence on the covenant between God and David, revealed in the beginning of the story of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:3) and in the prophecy from God (2 Kings 19:34), teaches today’s leaders to know the scriptures and the character of God. To know and trust and obey and rely on the very words of God and the person of God that makes His words reliable should be the ongoing education of every Christian leader.
As James challenges the believer to consider trials pure joy because through them God develops perseverance and faith, crises must be seen as opportunities to develop a nation or church or organization of faith and hope and trust and stalwart character. Hezekiah made the best choices: he drew from God and gave to his people. He did not consider himself the leader. He considered himself second-in-command to the Lord.
