King Hezekiah, encouraged and strengthened by the prophet Isaiah, trusts in the Lord, and God miraculously defeats the Assyrian army, removing the military threat. King Hezekiah is described as the most godly king in Judah’s nearly 350-year history (II Kings 18:5). However, after his death, Manasseh, his son, becomes king and is considered by many to be the worst Jewish king ever. He leads the nation into idol worship and Judah sinks to new lows. King Manasseh sacrificed his own son in the fire of idol worship. He practiced sorcery and divination and consulted mediums and psychics. He did much that was “evil in the eyes of the Lord.”
King Manasseh is succeeded by his son, King Josiah, who tries valiantly to return Judah to a true worship of God. He orders repairs be made to the temple, and in the process of repairing the temple, the book of Deuteronomy is discovered. King Josiah reads it and realizes how serious their sin and attempts to remove all pagan worship and renew the covenant with the Lord. After the death of King Josiah, Judah degenerates quickly as the few remaining kings all did “evil in the eyes of the Lord.”
Finally, the Babylonian army overruns Judah and eventually destroys Jerusalem completely. For the first time since Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land, at least 600 years earlier, the Jewish nation ceases to exist. It will take another 50 years until the Jews are allowed to return from exile.
This story repeatedly informs us that this destruction and exile was because of Judah’s great sin against God, especially the idolatry. It teaches us a lot about sin and its consequences. If people repeatedly and continuously disobey God and refuse His calls for repentance, then they can expect to experience judgment. We learn that we can remain faithful to God even if the entire society becomes hostile to God.