During the days of Hezekiah (715-686) the Assyrian Empire had to face a man from Babylon named Merodach-Baladan (also called Marduk-apal-iddina) who rose up as king of Babylon from 721-710 and then again briefly before he was defeated in 703-702 by the Assyrians and fled south into Elam as a fugitive. While Merodach-Baladan was in hiding in Elam he continued to organize revolts against Assyria and petition others to support the rebellion.

It is at this time, after Hezekiah has “defeated” Sennacherib and after Merodach-Baladan has been driven into Elam by Assyria that envoys from Babylon visit Hezekiah, or actually, envoys from the Babylonian rebel Merodach-Baladan, come to honor Hezekiah and seek his support in the rebellion against Assyria.

Isaiah 39 records this same event. Here is a portion of the text taken from Isaiah 39:1-2:

“At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness and recovery. Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine olive oil—his entire armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.”

The Lord did all this to test Hezekiah's heart according to 2 Chronicles 32:31:

"But when envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart."

“The evidence of God’s existence and His gift is more than compelling, but those who insist that they have no need of him or it will always find ways to discount the offer.” – Blaise Pascal

Why did God punish David for taking a census by killing 70,000 people? Best Answer: According to Exodus 30:12 a census of the people was only to be taken to collect the census tax of 2/10 of an ounce of silver per person which was to be used for the tabernacle (or, the temple) (Exodus 30:12). But, David did not have a tabernacle (it had been destroyed by the Philistines) and the temple had not been built yet. So, David’s only reason for ordering the census was pride and security. David used God’s census to find out how many people he had instead of using it to finance the worship center. Joab saw this problem and warned David not to do it or he would face the curse. David ignored Joab and the word of God and took the census. But, since David did not collect the 2/10 of an ounce of silver, God sent the plague promised in
Exodus 30:12.