II Kings 18:7

Hezekiah begins to reign; he removes the high places, breaks to pieces the brazen serpent, and walks uprightly before God, Kg2 18:1-6. He endeavors to shake off the Assyrian yoke, and defeats the Philistines, Kg2 18:7, Kg2 18:8. Shalmaneser comes up against Samaria, takes it, and carries the people away into captivity, Kg2 18:9-12. And then comes against Judah, and takes all the fenced cities, Kg2 18:13. Hezekiah sends a message to him at Lachish to desist, with the promise that he will pay him any tribute he chooses to impose; in consequence of which Shalmaneser exacts three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold; to pay which Hezekiah is obliged to take all his own treasures, and those belonging to the temple, Kg2 18:14-16. The king of Assyria sends, notwithstanding, a great host against Jerusalem; and his general, Rab-shakeh, delivers an insulting and blasphemous message to Hezekiah, vv. 17-35. Hezekiah and his people are greatly afflicted at the words of Rab-shakeh, Kg2 18:36, Kg2 18:37.

he rebelled against the king of Assyria--that is, the yearly tribute his father had stipulated to pay, he, with imprudent haste, withdrew. Pursuing the policy of a truly theocratic sovereign, he was, through the divine blessing which rested on his government, raised to a position of great public and national strength. Shalmaneser had withdrawn from Palestine, being engaged perhaps in a war with Tyre, or probably he was dead. Assuming, consequently, that full independent sovereignty which God had settled on the house of David, he both shook off the Assyrian yoke, and, by an energetic movement against the Philistines, recovered from that people the territory which they had taken from his father Ahaz (Ch2 28:18).

He smote the Philistines even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof,.... Who in his father's time had invaded Judah, and taken many cities and towns in it, which Hezekiah now recovered, and drove them to their own territories, of which Gaza was one; see Ch2 28:18. from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city; that is, places both great and small, cities, towns, and villages; of this phrase, see Kg2 17:9.

III. History of the Kingdom of Judah From the Destruction of the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes to the Babylonian Captivity - 2 Kings 18-25 At the time when the kingdom of the ten tribes was destroyed, Judah found itself in a state of dependence upon the imperial power of Assyria, into which it had been brought by the ungodly policy of Ahaz. But three years before the expedition of Salmanasar against Samaria, the pious Hezekiah had ascended the throne of his ancestor David in Jerusalem, and had set on foot with strength and zeal the healing of Judah's wounds, by exterminating idolatry and by restoring the legal worship of Jehovah. As Hezekiah was devoted to the Lord his God with undivided heart and trusted firmly in Him, the Lord also acknowledged him and his undertakings. When Sennacherib had overrun Judah with a powerful army after the revolt of Hezekiah, and had summoned the capital to surrender, the Lord heard the prayer of His faithful servant Hezekiah and saved Judah and Jerusalem from the threatening destruction by the miraculous destruction of the forces of the proud Sennacherib (2 Kings 18 and 19), whereby the power of Assyria was so weakened that Judah had no longer much more to fear from it, although it did chastise Manasseh (Ch2 33:11.). Nevertheless this deliverance, through and in the time of Hezekiah, was merely a postponement of the judgment with which Judah had been threatened by the prophets (Isaiah and Micah), of the destruction of the kingdom and the banishment of its inhabitants. Apostasy from the living God and moral corruption had struck such deep and firm roots in the nation, that the idolatry, outwardly suppressed by Hezekiah, broke out again openly immediately after his death; and that in a still stronger degree, since his son and successor Manasseh…

When the prophet had condemned Ephriam for lies and deceit he comforted himself with this, that Judah yet "ruled with God, and was faithful with the Most Holy," Hos 11:12. It was a very melancholy view which the last chapter gave us of the desolations of Israel; but this chapter shows us the affairs of Judah in a good posture at the same time, that it may appear God has not quite cast off the seed of Abraham, Rom 11:1. Hezekiah is here upon the throne, I. Reforming his kingdom (Kg2 18:1-6). II. Prospering in all his undertakings (Kg2 18:7, Kg2 18:8), and this at the same time when the ten tribes were led captive (Kg2 18:9-12). III. Yet invaded by Sennacherib, the king of Assyria (Kg2 18:13). 1. His country put under contribution (Kg2 18:14-16). 2. Jerusalem besieged (Kg2 18:17). 3. God blasphemed, himself reviled, and his people solicited to revolt, in a virulent speech made by Rabshakeh (v. 18-37). But how well it ended, and how much to the honour and comfort of our great reformer, we shall find in the next chapter.

18:7-8 Because of Hezekiah’s unparalleled spiritual commitment, God blessed him and he was successful in everything he did. Hezekiah began a series of reforms, including the cleansing, repair, and refurbishing of the Temple (2 Chr 29:3-36); observance of the Passover (2 Chr 30); and the reconstituting of vital worship in Judah (2 Chr 31:1-19). • He revolted against the king of Assyria: In the ancient Near East, rebellion and the withholding of tribute usually took place with the change of government; King Sennacherib of Assyria succeeded Sargon II in 704 BC. Assyria’s preoccupation with matters in southern Mesopotamia at this time might have emboldened Hezekiah. Assyria’s response was to invade Judah in 701 BC (18:13–19:36). • He also conquered the Philistines, who had been a menace during Ahaz’s reign (2 Chr 28:18).