2 Chronicles 32:12
Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it? Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?
The verse belongs to the biblical account of Sennacherib's invasion, campaign and threat against Judah and Jerusalem, including the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Assyrian army. It stands within the account of Hezekiah's political and religious reformation, in which he resisted Assyria. It stands also within the contemporary history of the kings of Israel and Judah that widens the horizon and presents the setting for Bible events. It records the Assyrian claim, made by Sennacherib and his officers, that Hezekiah had taken away his high places and his altars and had commanded Judah and Jerusalem to worship before one altar and burn incense upon it.
The accusation twisted Hezekiah's religious reform into an argument against relying on the Lord, that he had weakened his people's worship. It was used to discredit Judah's religion and to weaken the people's trust in God, in Hezekiah and in God. It was part of an effort using slur and contempt for God to make the people doubt that God could deliver Jerusalem. It treated the God of Jerusalem as powerless like the handmade gods of the nations.
The attack failed. In response to the humility and prayers of Hezekiah and his people, the Lord overthrew the Assyrians when they threatened Jerusalem. The Lord sent an angel against the Assyrian army and overthrew it, and Sennacherib returned home in shame. The miraculous deliverance that followed shows that Jehovah, not human power or other gods, saved Jerusalem.
Read alongside 2 Kings 18-19 and Isaiah 37, the chapter shows the Assyrian army was not near Jerusalem when the angel killed 185,000 men, but was with the king of Assyria at Libnah. The king returned to his own land and died there, so this account does not fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 30:33 about Tophet being prepared for the king. Ancient records from Nineveh confirm the biblical account of Sennacherib's campaign. The lesson drawn is that the Lord's people need not defend themselves with carnal weapons even when facing an armed foe, because their warfare is spiritual. The history holds precious spiritual lessons because it is connected with God's historical revelation culminating in Christ, the central light holding its parts together and testifying through it unto salvation and eternal life.