- Isaiah 39 (Contemporary English Version)
- Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, was now king of Babylonia. And when he learned that Hezekiah was well, he sent messengers with letters and a gift for him.
- Hezekiah welcomed the messengers and showed them all the silver, the gold, the spices, and the fine oils that were in his storehouse. He even showed them where he kept his weapons. Nothing in his palace or in his entire kingdom was kept hidden from them.
- I asked Hezekiah, "Where did these men come from? What did they want?" "They came all the way from Babylonia," Hezekiah answered.
- "What did you show them?" I asked. Hezekiah answered, "I showed them everything in my kingdom."
- Then I told Hezekiah: I have a message for you from the LORD All-Powerful.
- One day everything you and your ancestors have stored up will be taken to Babylonia. The LORD has promised that nothing will be left.
- Some of your own sons will be taken to Babylonia, where they will be disgraced and made to serve in the king's palace.
- Hezekiah thought, "At least our nation will be at peace for a while." So he told me, "The message you brought from the LORD is good."
Hezekiah was a godly king which is evidenced in his reform efforts to bring Judah back to God and in the poem, of the previous chapter, that he wrote following his healing from a terminal illness. But in this chapter we get a further glimpse into his heart and see that he is not without pride or totally dependent on God. Who is it, though, that can claim to be totally without blemish?
Following Hezekiah's illness and miraculous recovery the king of Babylon sent an envoy with letters and a gift to Hezekiah on the premise of congratulating him on his recovery from illness. Why would Hezekiah show him everything in the palace and in the storehouses? This is not something a king would normally do with even an ally, and Babylon had never been an ally of Judah. One response would be the possibility of pride. In pride Hezekiah displayed all the wealth of his kingdom. Another response would be the possibility of courting Babylon as an ally. Maybe it was a combination of the two?
We have already read in chapter 21 how Isaiah denounced the leaders of Judah for considering Babylon as an ally against Assyria. But this visit by king Merodach-baladan's envoy is an opportunity placed in Hezekiah's lap that was too good to pass up. And it would be easy for Hezekiah to convince himself that the Lord had sent them for this purpose. For perspective, we need to remember that the siege by Assyria, described in chapters 36 & 37, happened after Hezekiah's illness and this visit by the Babylonian envoy. So Judah was still threatened by an attack from Assyria. In addition, the king of Babylon was under the Assryian yoke and looking for help to shake off that yoke. So this visit by king Merodach-baladan's envoy could well have been an opportunity to test the waters with Hezekiah about a possible alliance. In this case, Hezekiah may have displayed all of his wealth to the envoy as a means to encourage such an alliance and to show evidence of what Judah could bring to the table in such an alliance.
A third possibility for Hezekiah's actions is that he was being innocently naive. But we can quickly rule out this possibility based on the Lord's reaction to his actions. The Lord severly denounced his actions saying that it would be Babylon, not Assyria, that would defeat Judah and would take away everything that Hezekiah had just shown to the Babylonian envoy in his palace and storehouse. Plus, his descendants would be taken captive. Hezekiah pronounced this verdict as good, but lacked concern for the consequences since it would not occur in his lifetime.
I cannot indict Hezekiah without indicting myself. How often have I seemingly placed trust in the Lord in one area of my life or in one circumstance but conducted another area of my life or circumstance as if I didn't need the Lord?
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