2 Kings 15:8-20:21 (Isaiah / Micah)
Navigating the Kings and Prophets
If you have your Bibles, open with me to 2 Kings chapter 15. We are taking a running start in verse 8, and we are going to cover a lot of ground together. If you happen to be a guest with us, from the very beginning of this church, we made a commitment to the Word of God. We are deeply committed to teaching the Bible. If you don’t have one, we would love to put a Bible in your hands at whatever campus you attend. Just head over to the iHub, and our team will get you a copy that you can read, highlight, and work through.
We find ourselves in 2 Kings, stepping into some uncharted territory. In this study, we are also going to weave in the books of Micah and Isaiah, which fit chronologically right into the timeframe of 2 Kings 15:8 through chapter 20. We have provided chronological charts on our website for this Generations series. They are available every Wednesday so you can download them before midweek and have them ready for Sunday. Good, better, best—the absolute best way to navigate this series is to have your Bible open, your chart out, and a pen in hand. Mark it up and take notes. The goal of this series is to make the Bible accessible to you. When you encounter these passages, I want you to understand the big picture context—how 2 Kings, Micah, and Isaiah snap together.
On the chart, we have listed the kings along the timeline. On the left, we have King Azariah (also known as Uzziah, who shared a name with the high priest of that era and often went by Uzziah). We use him as our chronological anchor. In the Northern Kingdom of Israel, five kings appear in rapid succession, and you will see a tragic pattern repeated with every single one of them.
The Spiral of the Northern Kingdom
Look at chapter 15, verse 9. Here comes Zechariah, the first of these northern kings.
2 Kings 15:8-9 (NASB)
In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in Samaria [for] six months. He did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin.
He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, just as his fathers had done. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. Remember when Solomon died and the kingdom split? Jeroboam took over the North and set the gold standard for foolishness. Every king who followed walked right in his footsteps. In the Northern Kingdom, there was not a single good king. It went from bad to worse until the nation collapsed entirely. On your chart, under the Northern Kingdom, that section is grayed out because by the end of this narrative, they are gone.
The next king is Shallum in verses 13 through 15. There is hardly anything said about him; he reigned for thirty days before being assassinated. Then comes Menahem.
2 Kings 15:18-19 (NASB)
He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin. Pul, king of Assyria, came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver so that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his rule.
He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and clung to the sins of Jeroboam. In verse 19, the king of Assyria enters the picture. The Assyrians were a formidable empire. A generation earlier, God sent Jonah to their capital city of Nineveh to proclaim, “Repent, or judgment is coming,” and they repented. But a generation later, they had forgotten the words of Jonah. Now, they are circling the Northern Kingdom like sharks with blood in the water.
The next king is Pekahiah in verse 24.
2 Kings 15:24 (NASB)
He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin.
Surprise, surprise: he did evil in the sight of the Lord and did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam. Every single king repeated the failures of the man before him. It was as if they were incapable of learning their lesson. One king departs from God, judgment falls, and the successor repeats the exact same mistakes.
Finally, Pekah takes the throne in verse 28.
2 Kings 15:28-29 (NASB)
He did evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin. In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon and Abel-beth-maacah and Janoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria.
Pekah did evil in the sight of the Lord. In verse 29, the Assyrians return, but this time in a far more aggressive manner. They begin capturing cities across the Northern Kingdom, including Hazor. Hazor was one of Solomon’s fortified gateway cities in the Hulah Valley. Any invading army from the north and east came west toward the northern border, down through the Hulah Valley into the Galilee. It was the primary invasion corridor.
The Assyrians were master tacticians. Unlike later conquerors who overextended their supply lines, the Assyrians campaigned only in the dry summer months when travel was easy. They would capture a city, fortify it, secure their supply lines, and return home for the winter to store up provisions. The next summer, they would advance again, taking another city and fortifying it. It was like a calculated game of Risk. They moved with terrifying precision. They were ruthlessly cruel—known for impaling victims, flaying enemies alive, and burning cities to the ground. They were systematically marching toward the Northern Kingdom.
Compromise in the South: Jotham and Ahaz
Meanwhile, in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, two kings are highlighted: Jotham and Ahaz. Look at Jotham in chapter 15, verses 34 and 35.
2 Kings 15:34-35 (NASB)
He did what was right in the sight of the LORD; he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of the LORD.
Jotham did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, following the example of his father Uzziah. That feels like a breath of fresh air after the northern disaster. But notice verse 35: “Nevertheless, the high places were not removed.” The people continued sacrificing at pagan shrines. It was a partial obedience—good, but compromised.
Then comes Ahaz in chapter 16.
2 Kings 16:2-4 (NASB)
Ahaz [was] twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD his God, as his father David [had done]. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out from before the sons of Israel. He sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.
Ahaz did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Instead, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. The spiritual compromise of the North had infected the South. Ahaz went so far as to burn his own sons as offerings according to the detestable practices of pagan nations. He sacrificed on high places, hills, and under every green tree. He completely sold out.
When the Northern Kingdom of Israel allied with Syria to attack Judah, Ahaz panicked. Instead of seeking the Lord, he made a catastrophic decision.
2 Kings 16:7-9 (NASB)
So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, ‘I am your servant and your son; come up and deliver me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.’ Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and captured it, and carried [the people of] it away into exile to Kir, and put Rezin to death.
Ahaz hired the king of Assyria as his mercenary bodyguard. He handed his kingdom’s sovereignty over to an empire that already smelled blood. The Assyrians marched on Damascus, conquered it, and executed its king. While Ahaz was in Damascus meeting the Assyrian king, he saw a pagan altar. He took the blueprints, brought them back to Jerusalem, set aside the altar God had commanded in the Torah, and built a replica of a Syrian pagan altar in the Temple of the Lord. Remember Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus, who offered unauthorized fire before the Lord and perished? Ahaz cast aside God’s design for worship and substituted his own.
The Fall of Samaria
Back in the North, Hoshea became the final king of Israel.
2 Kings 17:2 (NASB)
He did evil in the sight of the LORD, only not as the kings of Israel who were before him.
Hoshea did evil in the sight of the Lord. In verse 5, the king of Assyria invaded the entire land and laid siege to Samaria, the northern capital, for three agonizing years.
2 Kings 17:6 (NASB)
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, [on] the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
In the ninth year of Hoshea, Samaria fell. The Assyrians deported the Israelites, scattering them across their empire, and repopulated the land with foreign captives. The Northern Kingdom was erased.
Why did the Northern Kingdom fall? Scripture is unmistakably clear that it was not due to a lack of military strength or strategic failure.
2 Kings 17:7-8 (NASB)
Now [this] came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and they had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons of Israel, and [in the customs] of the kings of Israel which they had introduced.
2 Kings 17:17-18 (NASB)
Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and practiced divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him. So the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from His sight; none was left except the tribe of Judah.
They fell because they sinned against the Lord their God. They worshiped idols, sacrificed their children, practiced divination, and provoked God’s righteous wrath. None remained except the tribe of Judah.
The Assyrians resettled Samaria with foreign nations, and a syncretistic religion took root.
2 Kings 17:33 (NASB)
They feared the LORD and served their own gods according to the custom of the nations from among whom they had been carried away into exile.
2 Kings 17:41 (NASB)
So while these nations feared the LORD, they also served their idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, as their fathers did, so they do to this day.
They feared the Lord in name, but they served their own carved images. Their compromise was passed down generation after generation.
Hezekiah’s Rise and Sennacherib’s Threat
While the North was dismantled, God raised up a faithful king in the South: Hezekiah.
2 Kings 18:3-6 (NASB)
He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done. He removed the high places and broke down the [sacred] pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan. He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor [among those] who were before him. For he clung to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses.
Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He broke down the high places, shattered the pagan pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and crushed the bronze serpent Moses had made, which the people had turned into an idol. He trusted in the Lord completely. Scripture says there was no king like him among all the kings of Judah, before or after.
Hezekiah rebelled against Assyrian subjugation. In response, Sennacherib, the new king of Assyria, marched his armies against the fortified cities of Judah.
2 Kings 18:13 (NASB)
Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them.
Jerusalem’s geography left it vulnerable from the north and through the valley corridors from the Mediterranean coast. Along those access roads stood fortress cities: Gezer, Azekah, Beth-shemesh, and the greatest fortress of all, Lachish. Lachish was Judah’s second most prominent city, heavily fortified with double walls and massive gates. Sennacherib laid siege to Lachish, constructed massive siege ramps, breached the walls, and obliterated the city.
With Lachish destroyed, Sennacherib sent his field commander to Jerusalem with a message of intimidation for King Hezekiah.
2 Kings 19:10-11 (NASB)
’Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah, ’Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you saying, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ ’Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be spared?
Sennacherib’s envoy mocked the living God: “Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you. Have the gods of any other nation delivered them from the hand of the king of Assyria?”
Whenever someone mocks the living God, judgment is near. Just like Goliath taunting the armies of Israel before David stepped onto the field, Sennacherib picked a fight with the wrong God.
Deliverance: God Fights for Jerusalem
Hezekiah did exactly what a godly leader must do when facing an overwhelming enemy: he went into the house of the Lord and prayed. Together with the prophet Isaiah, he sought God’s deliverance. God responded through Isaiah.
2 Kings 19:32-34 (NASB)
’Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, ’He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it. ‘By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,’’ declares the LORD. ‘For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’’
God declared that Sennacherib would not enter Jerusalem, shoot an arrow against it, or build a siege ramp. God promised, “I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
Archaeologists in Nineveh excavated Sennacherib’s palace and found a massive room carved with limestone reliefs depicting the siege and fall of Lachish in graphic detail. It shows the siege ramps, the soldiers, the weapons, and the captives. Yet throughout those extensive records, there is no mention of Jerusalem falling. Why? Because Sennacherib never took it.
2 Kings 19:35-37 (NASB)
Then it happened that night that the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned [home], and lived at Nineveh. It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.
That night, the angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. Sennacherib woke up to find his army devastated. Defeated without a battle, he returned to Nineveh. Later, while worshiping in the house of his idol, his own sons assassinated him. God delivered His people completely.
The Prophets: Micah and Isaiah
During this tumultuous period, God spoke through two prominent prophets: Micah and Isaiah.
Micah lived in Moresheth-gath, just a few miles from Lachish. He watched the Assyrians march down the coast, destroying cities across his homeland. Micah’s prophecy focuses on social justice and righteous living before God.
Micah 6:8 (NASB)
He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?
Micah reminded the people that religious rituals mean nothing if our hearts are far from God. He also pointed forward to the true King who would establish lasting justice.
Micah 5:2 (NASB)
‘But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, [Too] little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.’
Micah pointed directly to the coming of the Messiah, born in Bethlehem.
Alongside Micah stood the prophet Isaiah. While Micah addressed earthly righteousness and local injustice, Isaiah provided a panoramic, heavenly perspective. Isaiah received his call during the transition of these kings.
Isaiah 6:1 (NASB)
In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.
Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, His train filling the temple. In chapters 7 through 12, Isaiah asked Judah a fundamental question: Who do you trust? Do you trust in Egypt, Assyria, or the Lord? In chapters 13 through 35, God pronounced judgment on the surrounding pagan empires, proving that human power cannot save.
In chapters 52 and 53, Isaiah unveiled the heart of God’s redemptive plan through the Suffering Servant.
Isaiah 52:13 (NASB)
Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.
Isaiah 53:4-5 (NASB)
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being [fell] upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
Isaiah prophesied that true rescue would not come through military alliances or political maneuvering, but through the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. When Jesus returns, He will come not as a suffering servant, but as a reigning King.
The Tragedy of Hezekiah’s Bonus Years
This brings us back to Hezekiah in 2 Kings chapter 20. Hezekiah had led sweeping reforms, trusted God against impossible odds, and witnessed miraculous deliverance. But in chapter 20, he fell mortally ill.
2 Kings 20:1 (NASB)
In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, ’Thus says the LORD, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’’
Isaiah brought him a direct word: “Set your house in order, for you shall die.” Hezekiah wept and pleaded with God, and God graciously added fifteen years to his life.
During those additional years, envoys from an emerging power—Babylon—arrived in Jerusalem with letters and gifts, ostensibly to congratulate Hezekiah on his recovery.
2 Kings 20:13 (NASB)
Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and the house of his armor and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
Hezekiah showed the Babylonians everything: the gold, the silver, the armory, and all his treasures. He took credit for the wealth God had provided. Isaiah confronted him immediately.
2 Kings 20:16-18 (NASB)
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ’Hear the word of the LORD. ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the LORD. ‘Some of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’’
Isaiah declared that everything in the royal storehouses would be carried away to Babylon, and Hezekiah’s own descendants would become captives in a foreign palace.
Look at Hezekiah’s shocking response in verse 19.
2 Kings 20:19 (NASB)
Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘Is it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?’
Hezekiah said, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” Why did he think it was good? Because he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my days?”
Think about that attitude. Hezekiah essentially said, “As long as I have peace, comfort, and prosperity during my lifetime, it doesn’t matter what happens to my children and the generations after me.” He traded a multi-generational legacy for personal convenience.
Forsaking the Next Generation
Hezekiah’s attitude is a sober warning for the modern church. It is entirely possible to walk with God for years, experience His faithfulness, and then drift into a mindset of selfish consumerism. We begin saying, “I want church my way. I want my preferred style of music at my preferred volume. I want programs tailored to my comfort. As long as I am satisfied in my lifetime, I don’t care what it takes to reach the next generation.”
Whenever we prioritize our personal preferences over reaching the next generation, we walk in the footsteps of Hezekiah. God has called this church to stretch beyond our comfort zones. If a strategy reaches people for Jesus Christ without compromising the truth of God’s Word, we should embrace it gladly. Style and personal taste are secondary; the Great Commission is primary.
This self-centered mindset creeps in slowly. It is easy to drift into spiritual coasting—attending services simply to evaluate whether we were entertained or “fed,” rather than serving and reaching the lost. We must examine our own hearts. Where are you demanding your own way at the expense of reaching others? Are you willing to set aside personal preferences so your children, grandchildren, and neighbors can come to know Jesus Christ?
Let us not finish like Hezekiah. Let us be a people who willingly sacrifice our comfort, take risks, and invest our lives to pass the faith faithfully to the next generation.
Let’s pray together.
Father, thank You for the conviction of Your Word. We confess that our flesh naturally bends toward comfort, convenience, and self-interest. We live in a culture that tells us everything should be customized to our preferences. Forgive us for the times we have prioritized our comfort over Your mission.
Give us hearts that beat for the next generation. Help us lay down our preferences so that others may hear the gospel and find life in Jesus Christ. Keep our church on the frontlines of reaching our community. Deliver us from complacency, and teach us to die to ourselves daily for the sake of Your kingdom. We pray all these things in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.