Bible Character Explorer
Divided Monarchy • c. 715 to 686 BC (reign)
Hezekiah
The Reforming KingThe godly king of Judah who trusted God against Assyria and wept for fifteen more years of life
"He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah."
2 Kings 18:5 (KJV)
Overview
Hezekiah reigned over Judah during one of its most dangerous periods, when the Assyrian empire threatened to swallow the southern kingdom just as it had already destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel. He is remembered as one of Judah's most faithful kings, who removed idolatrous high places, reopened and cleansed the temple, and famously trusted God rather than surrendering when Sennacherib's army surrounded Jerusalem. His later prayer for healing and his pride in showing Babylonian envoys his treasury reveal both his faith and his weakness.
Gospel Connection
Hezekiah's prayer for deliverance from an overwhelming enemy who mocked the living God anticipates the far greater deliverance accomplished by Jesus Christ, who conquered not merely a besieging army but sin and death themselves. Hezekiah's plea that the nations would know the Lord is God finds its ultimate answer in the gospel going out to all nations through Christ, the true and greater son of David who succeeds where every earlier king, however faithful, eventually failed.
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See how this life points to Christ in the Gospel Connection section above.
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