Background
HEZEKIAH was born in 739B.C. probably in Jerusalem.
HEZEKIAH was born in 739B.C. probably in Jerusalem.
The kingdom had been through a difficult period during Ahaz’s reign when the northern kingdom of Israel had rebelled against Assyria as a result of which its territory had been truncated and an Assyrian province established in part of the kingdom. Judah itself was firmly under Assyrian hegemony.
In the first years of his reign, Hezckiah was careful not to be drawn into revolts against Assyria and so did not suffer when the northern kingdom was completely conquered by Assyria and its inhabitants exiled (722-721 BCE). He also kept out of a subsequent rebellion led by the king of Hamath against the Assyrian ruler, Sargon, preferring to pay tribute to Assyria.
With the strengthening of the power of Egypt, elements arose in Judah advocating an alliance with Egypt in order to throw off the Assyrian yoke. Nevertheless Hezekiah refrained from joining the revolt of the Philistine cities, which was put down by Sargon in 711. Ashdod was made an Assyrian city and Hezekiah continued to pay tribute. One of his chief advisers was the prophet Isaiah, who warned him against relying on Egypt. By now Judah was the only kingdom in the region that had not been conquered by Assyria and Hezekiah was able to strengthen the kingdom.
In 705 Sargon died and was succeeded by Sennacherib. This was the signal for the revolt of many provinces in the Assyrian Empire, supported by the Egyptians, and this time Hezekiah participated, apparently conquering the Gaza area. He was encouraged by the Babylonian king, Merodach- Baladan, who was challenging Assyria, but again Isaiah opposed the revolt.
Internally, Hezekiah is praised in the Bible for his devotion to God. He purified the cult of idolatrous elements, smashing idols and destroying high places, and upgraded the status of the Temple. He conducted an outstanding Passover celebration (probably after 721) to stress the role of Jerusalem as the ritual center for those remaining in the former northern kingdom of Israel.
He took a number of steps to try to induce these survivors to acknowledge that he was the rightful heir to the kingdom of Israel.