The Assyrian Assault on Judah: The second David has arrived. He has reformed Judean worship according to Mosaic law, casting off foreign influence and domination. We wait to see what will happen when the king of Assyria tries to take the kind of vengeance on Judah that he has just inflicted upon Israel.

18:13–16  The beginning of the Assyrian assault is reported in verses 13–16, as a new king (Sennacherib) attacks all the fortified cities and captures them. This is not a very promising beginning. It seems that Hezekiah may indeed be about to suffer the same fate as Hoshea, regardless of his trust in God (v. 5). For all that Hezekiah has been lauded as a king quite unlike anyone who preceded him, his first reaction to foreign attack is a familiar one; he raids the royal treasuries and the te…