Isaiah

Isaiah Chapter 39

• Isaiah 39:1 At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.
• 2 And Hezekiah was glad of them, and showed them 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 showed them not.

Here is something we all can learn from. Hezekiah receives his visitor's with gladness of heart but makes a big mistake. The son of the king of Babylon comes to visit after hearing of his sickness. Hezekiah shows him all the gold, spices and treasures that he has accumulated. This must have caused envy and covetousness in his Babylonian visitors. This probably paid a big part in the later invasion of Babylon.

Although the coming of Babylon would be mainly because of the disobedience of Judah and their departure from God, it did not come as long as Hezekiah was living because Hezekiah feared and heeded to the voice of the Lord. Yet, Hezekiah because of being proud of his possessions did not show wisdom in showing off everything to the Babylonian visitors and was actually a tool, which opened the door to invasion later. The invasion did not come until after Hezekiah died but he was actually the one that allowed the Babylonians access to his treasures thereby creating a desire on their part to want that treasure. However, I will add here that if Judah or Israel had stayed true to the Lord, no power on earth could have defeated them. True then and true now.

• Isaiah 39:3 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 unto me, even from Babylon.

Isaiah unlike Hezekiah was in tune with God. He was spiritually alert to what was going on. When he heard of the visitors he went straight to the king.

By our constant prayer and seeking God, we too can be spiritually awake. We do not have to be kept in the dark but can be spiritually in tune with God. It is not God that holds back, it is us. We can be awake to the work and plan of God like Isaiah or be believers in God but not really in daily fellowship to where we are led by His Spirit like Isaiah was. God loved both Isaiah and Hezekiah and didn't favor one over another but one knew the mind of God and the other did not.

We have both types of believers today. We see those who walk daily in the Spirit striving always to seek the will of God in their lives and we see others who also love God and are saved by His grace yet they do not diligently seek Him for His divine will in their lives. Then there are others who believe in God but never allow Him to have any part in their daily lives. They may attend church once in a while and give a formal assent to His existence but they don't really know Him as a one on one. They do not speak to Him daily like they could to but may pray once in a while when a need arises.

I don't believe God prefers one of us over another, I believe our closeness or distance from God is our own free will and our own choice. His Spirit will call but it is up to us to answer and yield. It is up to us to take time apart to seek Him.

• Isaiah 39:4 Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them.

Isaiah discovers that nothing was kept from the eyes of the Babylonian visitors.

• Isaiah 39:5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:
• 6 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
• 7 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.

Sadly we see the results of pride here. The princes from Babylon saw the treasures and went home to tell of them to the king of Babylon. Isaiah now predicts the fall of Judah to the Babylonians. The sons of Hezekiah will be the ones who will be taken captive. As we see later in the writings of the Old Testament. Hezekiah's sons do not serve the Lord so they open the door to judgment coming in their day.

• Isaiah 39:8 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD, which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days .

Hezekiah is not distressed by the news but is thankful that peace and truth was in his days. He recognizes that Judah was spared God's judgment in his day because he was a king that sought the Lord. Some believe Hezekiah was selfish here and only cared about his own life and not the lives of his sons. Since we really do not know his heart, we can only speculate though. The word of does not really tell us he was being selfish. God granted him peace because he was faithful in his ways. He was not without faults. Some also believe Hezekiah would have been better off not to have lived the extra 15 years God granted him in previous chapters but again that is speculation.

God knew that the kingdom of Judah was going to fall away just like the kingdom of Israel before them. They did not repent so this preview of riches was meant to be. In order to bring judgment later, the way was in place. God always prefers to save and see us repent though rather than bring judgment but he sent them prophets and those that warned many times before Babylon invaded them. If a nation is right with God, no stronger nation can ever take over but when a nation departs from the Lord and His word, there is no guarantee of their future existence unless they genuinely repent. -Dorna

Isaiah 40

Isaiah Index