The King of Assyria sent three officials, Tartan, Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh, with a massive force to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, where they stationed themselves near the conduit of the upper pool.
Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah, Hezekiah's officials, came out to meet them.
Rabshakeh questioned Hezekiah’s reliance on external alliances such as Egypt and faith in the Lord, mocking their ability to defend Jerusalem.
Rabshakeh taunted Hezekiah's removal of high places and altars, suggesting it would weaken their connection to God, and mockingly offered military aid if Judah could provide skilled riders.
He claimed his campaign against Judah was ordained by the Lord Himself.
Hezekiah's representatives requested Rabshakeh to speak in Aramaic instead of Hebrew to avoid alarming the people, but Rabshakeh deliberately spoke in Hebrew to sow fear and despair among the population.
Rabshakeh declared that Hezekiah's assurances of divine deliverance were false, urging the people to surrender and promising them good conditions under Assyrian rule instead of resisting and starving.
The people, obeying Hezekiah’s command, remained silent and did not answer Rabshakeh.
The officials returned to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, reporting Rabshakeh’s blasphemous speech.
Upon hearing the report, Hezekiah tore his clothes, wore sackcloth, and sought the Lord in the temple.
He directed his officials, along with the elders, to consult the prophet Isaiah, expressing hope that God would respond to the Assyrian blasphemies and deliver the remnants of Judah.
Isaiah reassured them, saying the Lord would cause the Assyrian king to hear a rumor that would force him to retreat and eventually fall by the sword in his own land.
Meanwhile, Rabshakeh returned to find his king involved in a conflict elsewhere and sent another message to Hezekiah, warning him not to trust in God for Jerusalem’s deliverance.
Hezekiah received the message and went to the temple to pray, affirming God’s sovereignty over all kingdoms and asking for deliverance to demonstrate His power to the nations.
Through Isaiah, God responded, condemning Assyria’s arrogance and mocking their reliance on their conquests and military strength.
God promised that the Assyrians would not enter the city or even shoot an arrow there, as He Himself would defend Jerusalem for His own sake and for David’s sake.
That night, the angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers, leading the Assyrian king Sennacherib to retreat to Nineveh, where he was later assassinated by his own sons.
In a separate event, Hezekiah fell gravely ill, and Isaiah told him to set his affairs in order as he would not recover. However, Hezekiah prayed earnestly to the Lord, asking for mercy.
God responded to Hezekiah’s prayer through Isaiah, granting him 15 more years of life and promising to deliver Jerusalem from the Assyrian threat.
As a sign of this promise, God caused the shadow on a sundial to move backward by ten degrees.
Later, envoys from Babylon visited Hezekiah, who showed them all his treasures and resources. Isaiah rebuked Hezekiah, prophesying that all these treasures and even his descendants would be carried off to Babylon in the future.
Hezekiah accepted the prophecy but expressed gratitude that peace and stability would prevail during his reign.