8^thcentury A.D.

SENNACHERIB

KING OF ASSYRIA

The strongest and most sinister power in the East,

Assyria devours all the nations that stand in its way.

Assyria treats its captives harshly,

cutting its limbs, ears, nose and lips,

and forced them to work hard.

Enemy soldiers are routinely blinded, have their tongues cut off,

are skinned, burned alive or impaled on stakes.

Very few nations dare to defy Assyria openly.

Hezekiah, king of Judah, revolted against Assyria by refusing to pay the high taxes.

In response, king Sennacherib attacked Judah after destroying the northern kingdom of Israel.

King Hezekiah tried to appease him by sending large quantities of gold and silver to Sennacherib.

Sennacherib, however, showed no mercy.

One city after another, within the border of Judah, fell due to the cruelty of Assyria,

and soon the only remaining city was Jerusalem.

Written in an ancient Prism of Sennacherib, discovered in 1920 by archaeologists in Mosul, Iraq

King Sennacherib tells us in his own words what he did

“As for Hezekiah,

the Judahite, who did not submit to

my yoke,

forty-six of his strong, walled cities,

I besieged and took them.

Hezekiah himself, like a caged bird

I shut up in Jerusalem,

his royal city.”

Before Sennacherib arrived in Jerusalem, Hezekiah noticed that the western hill of the city was unprotected and vulnerable.

So he ordered the construction of a massive wall.

Houses were demolished to make way for this wall and to provide building materials.

The main water source of Jerusalem, Gihon Spring, also needed protection.

If this were not done, their enemies could block the source, removing all the water from the city.

Hezekiah had a bold plan to build a tunnel diverting the source a distance of a ¼ mile.

Under the foundations of the city, workers began digging at each end of the proposed tunnel,

through solid rock, and completed this incredible project before Sennacherib arrived.

The annihilation of Judah seemed to be certain.

The supreme commander approached the wall of the city to meet with the officials of Hezekiah

and read a letter from Sennacherib aloud, so the people of the city could hear.

He began to insult Hezekiah and the God of Israel.

When the king heard this, he tore his clothes.

He entered the Temple and spread the threatening letter before God.

The king cried unto God, saying: Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear;

open Your eyes, O Lord, and see;

and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.

Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone.

That night, the angel of the Lord was sent,

and in the morning, when he arose, the mighty Sennacherib discovered that 185,000 soldiers had died that night.

He left the siege of Jerusalem and returned to Assyria.

Shortly afterward, Sennacherib was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok,

when two of his sons struck him with a sword and killed him,

and his son, Esarhaddon, was his successor.

And so, what God said through the prophet Isaiah happened

The king of Assyria…

shall not come into this city,

nor shoot an arrow there…

by the way that he came,

by the same shall he return;

and he shall not come into this city…

For I will defend this city, to save it

for  My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.

In the 8th century A.D.

The feared Assyrian King, Sennacherib, was defeated

by Hezekiah, king of Judah, and his God

for everyone to see.

Is there a Sennacherib in your life?