Counselor to Hezekiah

King Hezekiah, the successor of Ahaz, gave heed to the counsels sent through Isaiah. In the first year of his reign, he and his people witnessed the beginning of the siege of the city of Samaria, by the army of Assyria. For three years, they heard of the horrors, suffering, and death of the beleaguered inhabitants, and finally of its capture. They saw their brethren of theAGP 137.6

northern kingdom carried away as captives to a heathen land. Their tragic fate must have sobered the minds of the people of Judah; for in it they saw the fulfillment of the prophetic warnings. The certainty of a similar judgment upon their own nation, if they persisted in their evil ways, had been clearly foretold by the prophetsú Naturally, the king and the people were more responsive to Isaiah’s words. Of Hezekiah it is said:AGP 138.1

“He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him…. And the Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth.” 2 Kings 18:5, 7.