At 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 Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his 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. Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?”
“They came from a distant land,” Hezekiah replied, “from Babylon.”
“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.”
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: The 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. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, will be taken away to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
But Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Will there not at least be peace and security in my lifetime?”
As for the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, along with all his might and how he constructed the pool and the tunnel to bring water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And Hezekiah rested with his fathers, and his son Manasseh reigned in his place.”
For a guy with such great spiritual discernment, Hezekiah can sure do some stupid stuff! Blinded by the glory of receiving an envoy from the great nation of Babylon, Hezekiah chooses to demonstrate how rich his little nation is. Little does Hezekiah realize that the Babylonian delegation members are tabulating everything in their heads so that when they return to Nineveh, they can inform the Babylonian king. Obscurity can be a great protection; however, by giving these envoys the grand tour, Hezekiah has amply demonstrated why Babylon should pick off the nation of Judah the next time they are in the neighborhood.
Reading the accounts of the previous kings of Judah and the way they have stripped the temple and the nation, it’s amazing that there’s anything left in either treasury. But we must remember that major trade routes run east and west and also north and south through this small area. Jerusalem is near the crossroads of these routes, and business remains good. Somehow, Hezekiah has rebuilt the finances of Judah.
Yet another mistake is that Hezekiah takes the Babylonians through the royal armory. It’s a safe bet that at least one of these envoys is a military man who can rapidly assess the fighting capabilities of Judah, given the extent of that armory. Hezekiah is guilty of a complete breach of classified information. The military leaders of Judah must be groaning in the background!
After the Babylonians have left for Nineveh, the prophet Isaiah comes to Hezekiah and asks him about this visit. “Where did these men come from?” asks Isaiah. “Oh, they came from a distant land, from Babylon,” replies Hezekiah. “And what did you show them?” Isaiah continues. “Oh, I showed them everything,” Hezekiah proclaims proudly, buffing his fingernails on the front of his royal robe as he says this. “Hoo boy!” thinks Isaiah. “We’re in trouble now.”
Then Isaiah has to lay things out for Hezekiah. “Hear the word of the LORD: The 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. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, will be taken away to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
If you were Hezekiah and you heard that your grandsons were going to be castrated so that they could become palace servants in the Babylonian palace, wouldn’t you be horrified? Wrong! What is Hezekiah’s response? “But Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Will there not at least be peace and security in my lifetime?”
APPLICATION: It was September 30, 1938, and Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was returning to Great Britain after having signed a peace pact with Nazi Germany. When Chamberlain made a speech promising “Peace in our time,” the British people cheered him. These were Chamberlain’s words: “My good friends, this is the second time in our history that there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time.” Then he added, “Now I recommend you to go home and sleep quietly in your beds.” As Britain slept, the German army marched into Czechoslovakia in “peaceful conquest” of the Sudetenland. The bombers did not roar over London that night, but they would come. In March 1939, Hitler annexed the rest of Czechoslovakia, and two days after the Nazis crossed into Poland on September 1, 1939, the prime minister again spoke to the nation, but this time to solemnly call for a British declaration of war against Germany and the launch of World War II.” (https://www.history.com/news/chamberlain-declares-peace-for-our-time-75-years-ago#:~:text=On%20September%2030%2C%201938%2C%20British,peace%20pact%20with%20Nazi%20Germany.)
Peace in our time! Wars have existed ever since Cane murdered Abel and ran for exile. World War I was touted as “the war to end all wars,” and yet, less than a decade later, Germany was already assembling a new and deadly Wehrmacht. (The German term “Wehrmacht” stems from the compound word of German: Wehren, “to defend” and Macht, “power, force.” Wikipedia) Only a few months after this ringing pronouncement, Chamberlain’s dream of peace lay in ruins and Chamberlain was forced to step down. Winston Churchill took over and turned the British in a completely different direction, one that saved Great Britain.
Why would any right – thinking man consider the possibility of his descendants serving as castrated palace eunuchs as desirable? It’s very difficult to understand Hezekiah’s weak response to such a horrible prediction, unless we consider the possibility that Hezekiah has no conception of what it means to be a father. Remember that Hezekiah’s father was a horrible idol worshiper. Knowing what we do about Hezekiah’s upbringing, it’s amazing that Hezekiah has turned out to truly worship God. Perhaps Hezekiah figures that it’s better for his grandsons to survive in any fashion than to be annihilated by the Babylonians.
Sometimes current events tempt us to find a corner and hide there, away from social media, news media, and every other thing that will bring us bad news. But servants of the Living God do not have such options. God does want us to rest on a regular basis, but we are to rest so that we may rejoin the battle against evil and be more effective. In Charles Martin’s Murphy Shepherd trilogy, Murphy Shepherd is a man who helps deliver young girls and boys from sexual trafficking. At one point, Murphy Shepherd is so severely wounded that he nearly dies of the infection; when Shepherd recovers from the infection, he finds himself disheartened and unwilling to return to the work that has become his ministry. Only when Murphy’s partner shows him a series of photos of several young boys who are within hours of being trafficked does Shepherd realize that he must return, whether or not he feels like it.
There is a famous quote that says, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for men of good will to do nothing.” When Isaiah comes to Hezekiah with his prediction, is there anything else that Hezekiah might do? One thing that Hezekiah could do and does not is to pray on behalf of his descendants. Hezekiah is very willing to pray for himself but not willing to consider his nation or his family in his prayers. Let us not be like Hezekiah! Let us fast and pray and trust that God can and will do “far abundantly above all that we ask or think,” if we will keep thinking and asking!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to keep fasting and praying for the nations of the world. Help us not to become complacent, fearful, or tired. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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