Hezekiah's Exemplary Reign

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In spite of much failure in the kingdom of Judah, eight chapters tell of the commendable reign of King Hezekiah. In the remarkable chapter 29 of Second Chronicles, we see exceptional faithfulness in this young king of 25 years. "He opened the doors of the house of the Lord," had them "carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place," and made confession of the shameful failures of the past. "They have shut up the doors... and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings... to God... Be not now negligent: for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before Him... and that ye should minister unto Him and be incense burners"—this 'applies also to the burnt offerings", N.T. footnote. The joyful response was God-honoring. 'They sang praises with gladness... thank offerings and burnt offerings... threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams; and two hundred lambs: all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord... the burnt offerings were in abundance."
Isaiah at the same time tells of the internal corruption and hypocrisy that God saw and which necessitated His having Judah and Jerusalem carried away into Babylon in B.C. 606 and 588 (2 Kings 24:12-15; 25:8-1112And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. 13And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said. 14And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. 15And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. (2 Kings 24:12‑15)
8And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem: 9And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire. 10And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. 11Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carry away. (2 Kings 25:8‑11); 2 Chron. 36).