It so happened, therefore, in the year 690, when Sennacherib marshaled his great Assyrian army, in order to conquer Egypt, that another crisis came upon Hezekiah and Judah; but neither king nor people feared the Assyrians, because they now trusted in the God of their fathers to save them from the hands of their enemy.
Sennacherib had determined to conquer Egypt for two reasons: first, because none of his great predecessors on the Assyrian throne had ever gone so far south in their conquest; second, because Egypt was always stirring up rebellion in the Assyrian provinces of Asia Minor, by promising them help. Sennacherib figured, therefore, that, with Egypt thoroughly subdued, the great Assyrian Empire would be permanently established and strongly founded on absolute union.
Sennacherib made one of his whirlwind marches toward Egypt. A little poem describing his march, is preserved in an ancient record:
"He has gone up from Rimmon.
He has arrived at Aiath.
He has passed through Migron.
At Michmash he lays up his baggage.
They have gone over the pass.
At Geha they halt for the night,
Ramah trembles.
Gibeah of Saul flees.
Shriek aloud, O people of Gallim.
Hearken, O Laishah.
Answer her, Anathoth.
Madmenah flees.
The inhabitants of Gebin are fled.
This very day he halts at Moab.
He shakes his fist against Mount Zion,
Against the Hill of Jerusalem."
Finally, Sennacherib had a problem to solve: He wanted to be sure of the friendship of Hezekiah, through whose land he would have to pass on his way to Egypt. He was afraid on the one hand, that, having passed through Judah, Hezekiah might rebel and attack him from the rear; on the other hand, he wanted the city of Jerusalem to be a safe-guard to himself, so that, if he should be defeated by the Egyptians, he could escape to its shelter.
Therefore, when he came within hailing distance of Jerusalem, he sent word to Hezekiah to deliver the city into his hands peacefully, and also to join with him in the proposed conquest of Egypt. Sennacherib was willing to furnish two thousand horses if Hezekiah would furnish him two thousand men to mount them, and to join the Assyrian cavalry. He did not want to attack Jerusalem, because he could not afford to waste his strength on a long siege, and thus weaken his forces before he met Egypt on the battlefield.
But this time, Hezekiah, being older and wiser, and knowing that his people were certain that God was on their side, sent word back to Sennacherib that there was no reason whatever for such action on the part of Judah at this time since the country was at peace with Assyria, paying the tribute annually.
Encamped at Lachish, on the western border of Palestine, and eager to press on toward Egypt, Sennacherib thought to force Hezekiah into helping him by an unusual display of his power; so he sent his Commander-in-Chief, with a great retinue, to the king in Jerusalem.
A meeting was arranged between them and Hezekiah's representatives just outside of Jerusalem, at the conduit of the upper reservoir, the place where Isaiah first confronted King Ahaz.
King Hezekiah, himself, did not go out to receive the emissaries from
the Assyrian army. Instead, he sent Eliakim, who was Governor of the
Royal Palace, Shebnah, the Secretary of State, and Joah, the
Chancellor of the Treasury.