Study Desk

Ahaz moved the bronze altar that was before the Lord at the front of the Temple. It was between Ahaz's altar and the Temple of the Lord , but he put it on the north side of his altar.

Ahaz died and was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem, and Ahaz's son Hezekiah became king in his place.

They rejected the Lord 's laws and the agreement he had made with their ancestors. And they refused to listen to his warnings. They worshiped useless idols and became useless themselves. They did what the nations around them did, which the Lord had warned them not to do.

Because he was very angry with the people of Israel, he removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left.

so the Lord rejected all the people of Israel. He punished them and let others destroy them; he threw them out of his presence.

until the Lord removed the Israelites from his presence, just as he had said through all his servants the prophets. So the Israelites were taken out of their land to Assyria, and they have been there to this day.

Even today they do as they did in the past. They do not worship the Lord nor obey his rules and commands. They do not obey the teachings or the commands of the Lord , which he gave to the children of Jacob, whom he had named Israel.

Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.

Hezekiah did what the Lord said was right, just as his ancestor David had done.

This happened because they did not obey the Lord their God. They broke his agreement and did not obey all that Moses, the Lord 's servant, had commanded. They would not listen to the commands or do them.

The king of Assyria sent out his supreme commander, his chief officer, and his field commander. They went with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. When they came near the waterway from the upper pool on the road where people do their laundry, they stopped.

"Don't listen to Hezekiah. The king of Assyria says, ‘Make peace with me, and come out of the city to me. Then everyone will be free to eat the fruit from his own grapevine and fig tree and to drink water from his own well.

Has a god of any other nation saved his people from the power of the king of Assyria?

Not one of all the gods of these countries has saved his people from me. Neither can the Lord save Jerusalem from my power."

When King Hezekiah heard the message, he tore his clothes and put on rough cloth to show how sad he was. Then he went into the Temple of the Lord .

The king of Assyria sent his field commander to make fun of the living God. Maybe the Lord your God will hear what the commander said and will punish him for it. So pray for the few of us who are left alive."

Listen! I am going to put a spirit in the king of Assyria. He will hear a report that will make him return to his own country, and I will cause him to die by the sword there.'"

He will return to his country the same way he came, and he will not enter this city,' says the Lord .

One day as Sennacherib was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with a sword. Then they escaped to the land of Ararat. So Sennacherib's son Esarhaddon became king of Assyria.

Before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the Lord spoke his word to Isaiah: