14 Oct. King Hezekiah of Judah rebels against Assyria
“Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah became king during the third year Hoshea son of Elah was king of Israel. Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king, and he ruled for 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.”
Hezekiah did what the LORD said was right, just as his ancestor David had done. He removed the places where gods were worshipped. He smashed the stone pillars and cut down the Asherah idols. Also the Israelites had been burning incense to Nehushtan, the bronze snake Moses had made. But Hezekiah broke it into pieces.”
“Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. Hezekiah was loyal to the LORD and did not stop following him; he obeyed the commands the LORD had given Moses.”
“And the LORD was with Hezekiah, so he had success in everything he did. He turned against the king of Assyria and stopped serving him. Hezekiah defeated the Philistines all the way to Gaza and its borders, including the watchtowers and the fortified cities.”
(2 Kings 18:1-8)
Ahaz, King of Judah, died in 716BC and was succeeded by his son Hezekiah, who had ruled as co-regent since 727BC.
Hezekiah destroyed the pagan places of worship in Jerusalem and throughout Judah, and trusted in the LORD. He cut down the Asherah poles and smashed the bronze snake (the ‘Nehushtan’) that Moses had set up, as the people were worshipping it (see Numbers 21:4-8).
Hezekiah’s faithfulness to the LORD was accompanied by great military achievements. In 705BC, Sargon II of Assyria died whilst fighting in Cappadocia. Hezekiah seized the opportunity and rebelled against the new king of Assyria, Sennacherib. He refused to pay tribute to the Assyrians, defeated the Philistines at Gaza, and secured a defensive treaty with the king of Egypt.
Hezekiah prepared for reprisals from the Assyrians by rebuilding Jerusalem's fortifications. He ensured its water supply during any future siege by replacing the shallow Siloam Channel that led outside the city walls to the Lower Pool with a new underground tunnel from the Gihon Spring to the Upper Pool. Both the Pools of Siloam, and the nearby houses of many Jewish refugees who had settled here when the northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians a few years earlier, were brought inside an extension to the city walls. Hezekiah’s Tunnel and the two Pools of Siloam can still be seen in Jerusalem today.
The photo shows the entrance to Hezekiah's Tunnel in Jerusalem.
You can see a photo of the Bronze Serpent monument on Mount Nebo @ https://www.thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney2/33-judah-after-the-fall-of-israel/king-hezekiah-of-judah-rebels-against-assyria/