Hezekiah Shows His Treasures
Hezekiah was exemplary in godliness, prayer, and care...
Hezekiah was exemplary in godliness, prayer, and care for the people of Jerusalem. But he failed the Lord by parading his financial and military strength before the envoys from Babylon.
1At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard about Hezekiah’s illness and recovery. 2And Hezekiah welcomed the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his entire armory—all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his palace or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
3Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?” “They came to me from a distant land,” Hezekiah replied, “from Babylon.”
4“What have they seen in your palace?” Isaiah asked. “They have seen everything in my palace,” answered Hezekiah. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”
5Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD of Hosts:
carried off to Babylon: This prophecy was given...
carried off to Babylon: This prophecy was given before the prophecy of the rescue of Jerusalem (37:35). Although this pronouncement of judgment and exile comes as a surprise ending to the story of Hezekiah, the exile of both Israel and Judah had been in the background from the beginning (10:3–4, 20–23). The Lord had promised that he would spare Judah and Jerusalem when the Assyrians attacked in 701 BC, but he had clearly revealed to Isaiah that worse things would come if they did not change their ways. God had demonstrated the truth of his sovereignty and trustworthiness in his defeat of the Assyrians, but that did not mean the people had changed. The only way the promises of 2:1–5 and 4:2–6 were going to be realized was through the fires of judgment (4:4). Until the burning coal of exile was applied to the nation’s unclean lips (6:5–7), their mission to the nations would fail.
6The time will surely come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. 7And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, will be taken away to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
8But Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “At least there will be peace and security in my lifetime.”