Hezekiah became king around 725 BC. As recorded in 2 Kings 18, he rebelled against the king of Assyria and defeated the Philistines. This was around 721 BC. Then around 701 BC he paid extortion money to the king of Assyria, using the gold and silver in the temple and the treasuries of the royal palace after Sennacherib attacked and captured the fortified cities of Judah. What happened in those intervening 20 or so years? Around 711 BC Isaiah demonstrated the humiliation of Egypt and Cush by going naked. Then shortly after that we have a record of the people of Judah rejecting God’s truth. Is it that the people, led by King Hezekiah began drifting from God? We aren’t told that the people returned to pagan gods, high places, and sacred stones, but they did back away from God.

Hezekiah tries to rely on the past and reminds God of all the good things he had done earlier. He bargained with God for 15 more years. God granted this request, but pride got hold of Hezekiah again. However, to his credit, he did repent, only to have pride resurface with the envoys of Babylon as he bragged about his storehouse treasures. BIG mistake!

Pride…what a successful tool that Satan uses, an attribute of which he is very familiar and something that we as Christians must guard against.