But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?
But if you tell me, 'We trust in the LORD our God,' isn't he the same God whose worship places and altars Hezekiah destroyed? Didn't Hezekiah tell Judah and Jerusalem, 'You must worship only at this one altar'?
The Assyrian official is trying to confuse the people by suggesting that Hezekiah's religious reforms actually weakened their relationship with God.
📚 Historical Context
This is part of the Assyrian commander's propaganda speech during the siege of Jerusalem around 701 BC. King Hezekiah had recently removed the illegal worship sites and pagan altars throughout Judah, centralizing worship at the Jerusalem temple as God had commanded. The Assyrian official is deliberately twisting this faithful reform to make it sound like Hezekiah had angered God by removing his worship places.
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