Post by Lee on Jun 14, 2014 15:32:56 GMT
This seems to be the most likely order of events :—
1. The great reformation and passover and cleansing of the land from idols—in Hezekiah's first year.
2. The siege and fall of Samaria and carrying away captive of the northern 10-tribe kingdom of Israel—in Hezekiah's 4th to 6th years.
3. The first invasion of Judah by Assyria, in his 14th year. He strips the gold and treasures from the Temple and buys off the Assyrians.
4. Hezekiah's sickness and recovery, in the same year (his 14th). Fifteen years are added to his life.
5. The embassy from Babylon, and Hezekiah's pride and presumption in connection with it—very soon after his sickness.
6. Another Assyrian invasion 12 years later, in Hezekiah's 26th year. On this occasion Hezekiah resists, pays no tribute, and puts his faith in God. The Assyrian host is destroyed, and Jerusalem is delivered in answer to Hezekiah's faith and prayers. Judah is given a 105-year new lease on life (to 608 BC), when Pharaoh Necho of Egypt deposes Jehoahaz and sets up a puppet, and Judah's independence ends.
Hezekiah's supreme act of faith—defying the vast army of Assyria that was right in his land—seems clearly to have occurred near the end of his life—long after his sickness and recovery and the presumption that arose out of it.
Clearly the Assyrians planned the end of the nation of Judah, and Hezekiah could see this closing in on the land. But as a result of his faith and resistance, we find that Judah enjoyed 105 more years of independence and national life, from the year of Hezekiah's sickness (713 BC) to 608 BC, when Pharaoh Necho carried king Jehoahaz captive and set up Jehoiakim as an Egyptian vassal.
105 is 7 χ 15; the nation had 7-fold the extension of life that Hezekiah had.
1971 Berean p 309 (Rene)
1. The great reformation and passover and cleansing of the land from idols—in Hezekiah's first year.
2. The siege and fall of Samaria and carrying away captive of the northern 10-tribe kingdom of Israel—in Hezekiah's 4th to 6th years.
3. The first invasion of Judah by Assyria, in his 14th year. He strips the gold and treasures from the Temple and buys off the Assyrians.
4. Hezekiah's sickness and recovery, in the same year (his 14th). Fifteen years are added to his life.
5. The embassy from Babylon, and Hezekiah's pride and presumption in connection with it—very soon after his sickness.
6. Another Assyrian invasion 12 years later, in Hezekiah's 26th year. On this occasion Hezekiah resists, pays no tribute, and puts his faith in God. The Assyrian host is destroyed, and Jerusalem is delivered in answer to Hezekiah's faith and prayers. Judah is given a 105-year new lease on life (to 608 BC), when Pharaoh Necho of Egypt deposes Jehoahaz and sets up a puppet, and Judah's independence ends.
Hezekiah's supreme act of faith—defying the vast army of Assyria that was right in his land—seems clearly to have occurred near the end of his life—long after his sickness and recovery and the presumption that arose out of it.
Clearly the Assyrians planned the end of the nation of Judah, and Hezekiah could see this closing in on the land. But as a result of his faith and resistance, we find that Judah enjoyed 105 more years of independence and national life, from the year of Hezekiah's sickness (713 BC) to 608 BC, when Pharaoh Necho carried king Jehoahaz captive and set up Jehoiakim as an Egyptian vassal.
105 is 7 χ 15; the nation had 7-fold the extension of life that Hezekiah had.
1971 Berean p 309 (Rene)