Hezekiah - Part 4

Taken Captive

Hannah plopped on her bed and flipped to 2 Kings 18 and began to read verses 9-12.

In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, and at the end of three years he took it. 


Hannah sat back and tried to think about the setting. She didn't know where Samaria was or Assyria. The kings were confusing her too. She went downstairs and asked her mom about it.


Her mom showed Hannah a map of the vastness of the Assyrian empire and of Israel.

Hannah couldn't believe how much land that the King of Assyria had. Her mom pointed Hannah back to 2 Kings 17 where it spoke more of the same attack. She showed Hannah how chapters 17 and 18 correlated with one another.

In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes...


"King Shalmaneser came in and fought against Israel for three years before he could fully take it over. When he finally did conquer Israel, he sent the Israelites out of their land and all the way up to the river of Gozan and Habor," her mom explained. "The Assyrians treated the Israelites as an enslaved nation."

"So, mom, if Hezekiah was a king unlike any other kings... why would God have Jerusalem conquered? Why would he send everyone away as slaves to another king?" Hannah asked.

"First off, it wasn't Hezekiah that Shalmaneser was fighting against. He was fighting against King Hoshea of Israel. Hezekiah was king of Judah. And, also, Shalmaneser conquered Samaria, not Jerusalem."

"O-oh."

"Yes, and I'll show you why Shalmaneser came against Hoshea." Hannah's mom turned to 2 Kings 18:12, "...because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed."

"Okay... so King Hoshea wasn't obeying the Lord, so God caused Israel to be captured?"

"Yep, you got it," Hannah's mom reaffirmed.

"Well, what does this mean for me now? The story."

"I think this shows you that obedience to God may be harder, but it's more rewarding. He knows what is best for us. When we disobey God, consequences follow. The reason they do is because God is kind enough to care. He wants us to learn from our mistakes and go down the path that brings most growth and relationship with Him."

"If I make sure and stick by God all the time, I won't have to go through hard times?"

"Well, that's not true, just wait until you read the next part of 2 Kings 18 to find that out. However, it does mean if you stick close to God, you know He will protect you and guide you through the hard times. He will fight for you."

Hannah went back to her room and thought everything over. She couldn't wait to read the second part of 2 Kings 18.