| A TIME OF CRISIS |
| Defeat seemed certain to everyone but Isaiah. |
| "Assyria will fall by a sword that is not of man." 31:8 |
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| After two dismal decades under King Ahaz, Judah finally saw a ray of hope when Hezekiah ascended the throne. Second Kings summarizes his reign this way: "There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him" (2 Kings 18:5). Isaiah reached the peak of his ministry under King Hezekiah, who often sought his advice. The king needed Isaiah's help; he had inherited a kingdom in mortal danger from Assyria. Protesting a Foolish Rebellion How could Judah break free from Assyrian domination? Like other kings before him, Hezekiah thought of joining with other countries. Both Egypt and a rising Babylon seemed eager to court Judah as an ally. Isaiah, however, said no. He urged Hezekiah to trust only in God. To dramatize his point, the court prophet did a shocking thing: he stalked around stripped and barefoot for three years as a protest against the pro-Egypt lobby (20:1-6). This protest forms the background for some of the strongest speeches in Isaiah's book (chapters 18-20; 30-31). Isaiah's protest failed, however. Not even Hezekiel could resist the temptation to oppose Assyria. First, he shored up the defenses of Jerusalem and built up the city's water supplies. Then, he formed an alliance of small kingdoms and led an outright rebellion against Assyria. Revenge of an Empire Assyria lowered the boom. Its armies smashed into Judah, leveling 46 walled cities and carrying away 200,150 captives. The Assyrian king demanded huge sums of money from Hezekiah, whom he mockingly described as "a bird in a cage". |