At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
14 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.
15 And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
16 And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord.
17 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.
18 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
19 Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?
20 And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
2 Kings 20:12-21
And then if you would turn with me to Isaiah chapter 39
At that time, Herodotus, the son of Peladon, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and showed them all the house of his precious things of silver and gold and of spices and of precious ointment, and all the house of the armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah showed him not. Then came Isaiah the prophet unto the king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these unto these men? And from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon. And he said, What have they seen in mine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen. There is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them.
And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord. Behold, the days come that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried away unto Babylon. Nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.
And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away, and they shall make eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which is spoken. And he said, Is it not good if peace and truth be in my days? And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool and conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and the mass of his son reigned in his stead.
It’s interesting as you look at what’s happening. Remember as we studied the last couple times, last Sunday and last Wednesday night, we looked at Hezekiah and how he had become very ill.
He was ill unto death. Isaiah had come to him and said he was to get everything in order, because he was going to prepare to die. And Hezekiah had cried out to the Lord, and pledged to God that he would remain alive, and that he wasn’t ready to die.
God granted him 15 more years. Well, some interesting things happened in those 15 years. This is the most disturbing of all the events that happened.
Hezekiah didn’t view Babylon as a problem. Babylon at this particular time in history, although in other portions of the world, Babylon would be about 500 miles from Jerusalem. And where Babylon was, they were creating some problems over there amongst other peoples.
The main power in the Middle East at this time was Assyria. And Hezekiah, by all the things that he had done to please the Lord, and causing the wickedness to be driven from Israel, the people to repent and sanctify themselves before the Lord, the worship of the Lord to be returned to the temple, all these things had been just a glory to the Lord. When the Assyrians attacked Jerusalem, God miraculously intervened, and then he also told Hezekiah that he would be there to protect Jerusalem, and he was the one that would oversee his house and protect it, and that it truly was the Lord’s house.
Well, Hezekiah really viewed Babylon not as a threat, and didn’t really understand what he was doing, or maybe he did. Part of the problem is that often times when we have possessions, they can enter into our lives and we can become very proud and boastful of the things that we have. And especially if we have things that other people would think are really significant and important.
And this was what Hezekiah possessed. Now I want you to understand that when the Assyrians attacked Jerusalem, they never got into the city, they never got into the temple. And the Assyrians never carried away the elements of the temple that Hezekiah had restored and built.
But a very disturbing thing is going to result from Hezekiah’s really pride entering in. He didn’t know the Babylonians. He didn’t know who they were, they weren’t his friends, they weren’t his allies.
They just showed up because they heard that a miracle had occurred, that Hezekiah was ready to die, and he’d been preserved, and his life had been preserved, and he gained his health back. So they came to honor Hezekiah for that. To understand the significance of why they probably would have come as well, we need to go back and look at our study from last week.
And you remember that when Hezekiah recovered from his health, and God gave him his health back, that the people from all over that region came and honored Hezekiah with gifts, honored Hezekiah with words, because of what Hezekiah had done for Israel, and because of God’s blessing upon Hezekiah, and the things that were seen in the land of Israel because of the God of Israel. And so Hezekiah had become accustomed to people coming and paying him homage. And he didn’t question who was coming, nor did he question the purposes of their coming.
Now when these men come, there really is a dual purpose in their coming. They say that they want to pay homage to Hezekiah, and honor him because of his recovering from his illness. But the real reason appears to be much more self-centered, and a desire to discover what is there for the Babylonians to take.
And what kind of possessions does this man who everyone is bringing things to, possess? And so they come, and they ask, can we see what are the possessions that you have? Now I want you to understand, we’re not to be prideful and just open up our, everything we’ve got to any stranger that comes along. That’s what Hezekiah did. He showed them everything.
He showed them the riches that were in the temple. He showed the riches that were in his own house. He showed them all of the animals, all of the storehouses that he had that were filled with grain, filled with spices.
And all the animals and stables that he had. He showed them everything. And when Isaiah came, Isaiah asked him, what have you done? And Hezekiah said, I’ve showed the Babylonians.
And Isaiah says, how much did you show them? Everything. And Isaiah says, oh Hezekiah, you’re foolish. And God’s going to judge you for this.
Now the amazing thing is, the judgment would not come in Hezekiah’s time. It would come literally three generations after Hezekiah. Because his son Manasseh would live, his son Josiah would live and rule.
And then it would be during the time of his great grandchildren, the sons of Josiah, that the Babylonians would come. And they would remember what they’d seen. And the leaders would have heard what the leaders at the time of Hezekiah had said was there for them to take.
And God said, this is not going to be good Hezekiah. For the things that you possess and that have been stored up, and the things that even your fathers have brought in. Remember, even during the time of Hezekiah, there had been swords and shields that were still from the time of David.
Even though some of the things had been taken in various battles before, there were still things from the time of David. There were still things from the time of Solomon. And Hezekiah had built upon all of these things and they possessed all kinds of gold and silver.
And the Babylonians saw it all, but not only would the Babylonians take the gold and silver, they would take the elements from the temple. And they would take the very things that were to honor and to worship the Lord. But there’s also a couple other things that Hezekiah doesn’t really see as significant and important as he’s drawing for the latter years of his life.
Next week we’re going to be studying about Manasseh. Manasseh was Hezekiah’s son. Manasseh was born during the time that Hezekiah’s life was extended.
How do we know this? Well, it says that Hezekiah’s life was extended 15 years. And it says that when Manasseh was born, he was 12 years old when he came to the throne. That means that Hezekiah had lived an extra three years when Manasseh was born.
Had Hezekiah not lived those extra 15 years, Manasseh would have never been born. There’s going to be some significant events that we’re going to study that are a result of Manasseh. But I want us to see what Hezekiah failed to see was his responsibility to his own children.
In that he did not see the time to take to teach them about the Lord and the importance of walking in godliness before God. Hezekiah had lived his whole life up until this time calling the priests, the Levites, the nation of Israel to sanctify themselves and come before the Lord to repent of their sin, to give up the wickedness that they were involved in, to quit worshipping the false gods, to tear down the altars and burn the idols. But Hezekiah didn’t take time to teach his own sons.
He didn’t take time to invest in his son’s life but yet his view of significant and important things changed towards the end of his life where it was transferred from the importance of following God and making God the center of my life every day of my life to that he focused on the materialism that was surrounding him and that people brought to him. And this impacted, this shift in attitude impacted his son more than Hezekiah realized. And as Hezekiah did this we also see a couple of things about the change in his attitude.
Throughout Hezekiah’s life he’d been very humble. He’d been one of the few kings that when there was an issue or a problem the first thing he would do would be go to the Lord in prayer, call for Isaiah to pray for him, go to the priests and offer sacrifices all focusing on God and what God would do to deliver him from his troubles and that the Lord’s name would be exalted. This time you see none of this with Hezekiah.
Isaiah comes and Isaiah lays this out what you’ve done is not good Hezekiah, it’s very bad. But Hezekiah doesn’t really see the significance of it and his attitude isn’t one of humility nor does he rent his clothes like he’s done in the past nor does he cry out to God like he’s done in the past but when Isaiah tells him what’s going to happen in the future Hezekiah makes an interesting statement in the end of Isaiah’s account of this event in verse 8 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah God is the word, good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken He said moreover for there shall be peace and truth in my days Did you catch what he did? There shall be peace and truth in my days But what did Isaiah say was coming in the days of his children and his grandchildren and his great-grandchildren There was coming terror The land of Judah was going to be ransacked and overrun, the people were going to be carried away His sons, his great-grandsons would be led away into captivity and made eunuchs and that would be a slave in the houses of Babylon and he said he saw no horror in that Instead he said well there’s going to be peace and prosperity in my times and I’ll make sure that truth is taught in my day but I’m not going to worry about tomorrow That’s interesting because it goes exactly against what God gave to the nation of Israel in the law Remember one of the things that the kings were to do and one of the things that Hezekiah did at the beginning of his ministry They were to read the law They were to write down the law so that they would know the law and live by the law Turn with me back to Deuteronomy chapter 4 The Lord talks about what we are to do as parents in Deuteronomy chapter 6 In Deuteronomy chapter 6 the Lord shares the significance and the importance of what it is to be a parent and who you are to be worried about Deuteronomy chapter 6 Verse 3 Hear therefore O Israel and observe to do it that it may be well with thee and that ye may increase mightily as the Lord God and thy fathers have promised thee in the land that floweth with milk and honey Now Hezekiah saw to apply what we are going to read to his life but he didn’t see the significance and importance to applying it to his own son’s life nor to the generations that were to follow him Yet God said this wasn’t to just stop at my generation but I am to live this out and teach the generation that I shall bear that shall come after me and it’s of great significance and importance that I do it He says in verse 4 of chapter 6 of Deuteronomy Hear O Israel the Lord your God is one Lord and thou shalt love the Lord your God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might Now if you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and might there is nothing that you are going to place before God Yet when it came to the end of Hezekiah’s life he began to place material things before God Instead of when the Babylonians came and Hezekiah said Look at what God has done for our land Look at how our people have changed Look at how we worship the Lord the true and the living God None of that was said Instead he showed them all his things all the things that he had accumulated both silver and gold and possessions whether it be food, animals buildings everything he had he showed to them that was the most important thing to Hezekiah and instead of worshiping the Lord with his heart, soul and mind he really showed the Babylonians what was important to him things and then it says and thou shalt teach them that is thy children diligently unto thy children and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou liest down and when thou risest up this is what Hezekiah had done for the people at the beginning of his ministry but when Manasseh is born he doesn’t do this instead things have become the thing that’s important Hezekiah’s peace and prosperity are what is important to them and the fact that he will be able to live out his life without being persecuted without having anybody come against him and take him away into captivity and make him a eunuch that’s what’s important and he’s saying no you’re to teach your children things and what things is it the words that he commanded that day that thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soul with all thy might verse 8 and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes Hezekiah should have made the word of the Lord the thing that went before him every day it was the thing that should be planted in his mind it should govern what he did with his hands it should govern where he went with his feet it should govern what came out of his mouth but instead at the end of his life it was things of this world that were important and significant to Hezekiah because it made him look important not in the eyes of God but in the eyes of men and often times we need to look at why do we do what we do is it to impress people or is it to impress God and to lift up what we’re doing before the war to honor Him and Hezekiah said you should find this in your life and it should be a mark on your whole life everything you do should reveal that you love me with your heart soul and all your might and thou shalt write them upon the coast of thy house and on thy gates well when Hezekiah came they didn’t the Babylonians didn’t see God they saw things then they saw material things and it shall be when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which He sware unto thy fathers to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob to give thee the great and goodly cities which thou buildest not the houses full of all good things which thou fillest not and well digged which thou diggest not vineyards and olive trees which thou plantest not when thou shalt have eaten and full then beware lest thou forget the Lord which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of Amnon God gave them the very warning of what the danger was that Hezekiah was going to face in his lifetime the danger wasn’t when Syria was attacking Israel leading the Israelites into captivity the nation of Israel it wasn’t when Sennacherib came and Rabshakeh was voicing his threats against Hezekiah against Jerusalem and against their God it wasn’t when Hezekiah first came to be king and there was nothing but heathen worship all around him idolatry and pagan worship and altars and high groves it wasn’t when that wasn’t the time of danger that was the time that Hezekiah’s heart was broken and he went before the Lord the time of danger came exactly when God said it would came when peace came and when great prosperity was there why because then somehow we think in our minds when peace and prosperity come we think that somehow we have done it and what the Lord is reminding all the kings of Israel to sit down because it’s part of the law part of the Tanakh they were supposed to read it and do it and teach it Hezekiah failed to read evidently the last portion because when the enemies were removed and prosperity came temptation was placed before Hezekiah who is going to be number one who is going to be the focus of what you say and what you do and Hezekiah forgot about God and began to worship things unless you become too hard on Hezekiah our nation and people of our world are no different today when things are not going well when there is sickness oftentimes financial troubles marital problems we call on God but then things start going good we start getting financially secure and the great temptation is to forget about God and to focus on this world and say I really got it good now look at my peace and prosperity I got all these things I can do all these things I can go all these places and the Lord through Isaiah told Hezekiah Hezekiah God’s not happy and yet Hezekiah still hasn’t broken it’s interesting as we come to a close in this little study tonight I was reading once again today a story of a hymn which we are going to sing in just a moment and I would rather have Jesus because the hymn is pertinent to the text the hymn was written by a woman and George Beverly Shea was a young man who had a job in the insurance industry at the time his mom was an organist and she had a piano in their home that had come over from England and they had moved to England and every morning she would wake up playing hymns that’s what the alarm clock was at the Shea house she would wake up playing hymns and everybody would get up and start playing hymns and George Beverly Shea had the opportunity as a young man to enter a talent conference well it says that he lost this particular talent contest to Yodeler because he took second so he won $15 for his singing more important than that there were people that heard him sing and said you’ve got such a good voice you should go and sing before great crowds and you could have a voice that would take you to singing in nightclubs and other places like that and the great temptation for him was to do it but then one day he found the poem that became this song I’d Rather Have Jesus