Hezekiah's Test and Its Outcome (Isaiah 39:1-8)
Rev. Myung-Sin Choi
“1 At that time Merodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 And Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his treasures--the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory--all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. 3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, 'What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?' So Hezekiah said, 'They came to me from a far country, from Babylon.' 4 And he said, 'What have they seen in your house?' So Hezekiah answered, 'They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.' 5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, 'Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,' says the Lord. 7 'And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.' ' 8 So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, 'The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good!' For he said, 'At least there will be peace and truth in my days.' ”
Introduction
This was the testimony that was in the first message of headquarter and it was about a testimony of a poor family, and the father passed away. Someone told the mother to send her children to the orphanage so that they can get some education at least. Within that family, one of the children, 9 years old heard their conversation. The 9 year old told his mother after the person left and said, “Even if we are poor, let us be able to live with you, mother.” When the mother heard this, she agreed. The young child, he worked hard and helped his mother out throughout his life. Not only that but his child continued to pray to God every single day. God heard his prayers and blessed him. This child received the great gift of the Holy Spirit from God. He saved America and the world as a great evangelist, and this person was DL Moody. He was a man of prayer. He always stood in a place where he always testified of God. I pray that as you listen to today’s sermon, many you receive the same blessings of DL Moody. As I shared with you through today’s Biblical scripture, I had such a sad and pitiful heart.
1. Hezekiah's Mistake
1) Envoys from Babylon
Verse 1 - Babylon’s king presented a gift to King Hezekiah. Why was that? During that time, Babylon was under the control of Assyria. There was a time when Babylon was able to find independence from Babylon but Assyria attacked Babylon again and they became under the control of Assyria again. In 9 years, Babylon became under control of Assyria. When you look at the main scripture today, the background was speaking of when Babylon was under the captivity of Assyria. What Babylon wished for was to attack Assyria. Even though they were captives at that time, Babylon still possessed a powerful army and weaponry. During that period, King Hezekiah suffered from a lethal disease but recovered, and the king of Babylon heard of this. He also heard that God pushed back time for King Hezekiah and the people of Judah. When Babylon heard this, they were so surprised. Babylon studied astrology at that time and they were always studying the stars and the sun. And not only that but the gods of Babylon were the god of the sun. When they heard that the sun had moved back in time, Babylon was so surprised. They came to realize that there is a God that was able to move the sun. That is why Babylon sent their people to King Hezekiah. They sent their people to find out about this God who had the power to move the sun. They thought that if God who moved the sun helped them, then they would become the most powerful nation and defeat Assyria. That is why they sent their messengers to King Hezekiah to find out about God who moved the sun. What was the situation here? They were sent to find out about the God of Judah and all doors were open for them to believe in God. This was a great opportunity to find out about God. But how did King Hezekiah respond and react?
2) Hezekiah's mistake
Verse 2 - When King Hezekiah heard that the Babylonians came to visit him, he became so excited and overjoyed. This was because the land of Judah was a small nation back then. But the king of Babylon was a great powerful nation back then and to hear that the powerful nation/king came to visit him, King Hezekiah became excited and overjoyed. King Hezekiah was completely swept with the thought that Judah must be a powerful nation for a powerful nation, Babylon, to visit them so he wanted to show all of the riches and wealth to Babylon. So, King Hezekiah showed all of the possessions and wealth of Judah to the people of Babylon. He showed even all of the weaponry to Babylon. This means this happened after God completely swept out the 185,000 soldiers of Assyria with one angel. King Hezekiah was showing that the weaponry of Judah was able to destroy the army of Assyria. King Hezekiah showed all of the gold and wealth of Judah. To show their gold means that all of the gold that accumulated during the time of King David and King Solomon were shown as well. Not only that but during the reign of King Solomon, many people from all nations came to him and gave him gold. There was gold that even nations couldn’t even imagine to see and they were considered rare treasures. King Hezekiah was showing how powerful and wealthy they were, and when the people of Babylon saw this, they weren’t in awe but only were interested in stealing all of that. Instead of God working within their hearts to believe in God but instead they sought the heart to steal all of the treasures of Judah. This was caused by King Hezekiah’s mistake of showing all of his wealth. Why did Babylon attack Judah later on? This was because they already saw that they already possessed all of this wealth and possessions. This was the mistake of King Hezekiah.
From here, what must we hold onto? The most dangerous time is when we receive answers. God gives us answers so that we can enter deeper in prayer. When God gives you answers, what kind of life you decide to live from there, that will determine what kind of future you will live. This was where King Hezekiah failed. He didn’t know what to do with God’s answer. This was when Isaiah came before King Hezekiah.
2. Isaiah's Prophecy
1) Hezekiah's test
Verses 3-4 - King Hezekiah replied to Isaiah that these people came from a far nation. This was when King Hezekiah realized that he made a mistake when Isaiah asked this question. King Hezekiah realized the content behind Isaiah’s question regarding Babylon.
Then, Isaiah knew that King Hezekiah realized what Isaiah was trying to ask him so he asked another question in verse 4. This was so unfortunate. King Hezekiah should’ve talked about God because the Babylonians came to him to know about God who pushed back the sun but instead, King Hezekiah was busy showing all of his treasures and wealth.
2 Chronicles 32:31 “However, regarding the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, whom they sent to him to inquire about the wonder that was done in the land, God withdrew from him, in order to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.” - Babylon did not come to see the wealth of King Hezekiah but to know about God who pushed back the sun. But King Hezekiah reacted strangely and a different matter. That reason was shown here. From here, we can see the true state of King Hezekiah. It said that God withdrew from King Hezekiah. This means that the Holy Spirit left King Hezekiah. This means that after King Hezekiah was healed, he did not enter into consistent prayer. He was talking about how much he would praise and worship God if he was healed but even after he was healed, he changed. He didn’t pray to God at all. That was why God withdrew from him.
God was testing King Hezekiah and his heart, and God was able to see that only pride and vain boasting was filled in his heart. God knew of this. God knew that God was not within the heart of King Hezekiah. If we don’t pray every single day, that is a severe problem. This is what happens if we don’t pray. If we don’t pray, then we become prideful and fill ourselves with vain. This is not what just happened to King Hezekiah but this is what will happen to us as well. God gave the greatest opportunity to King Hezekiah by sending Babylon to him and was a chance for King Hezekiah to share the gospel to one of the most powerful nations. But King Hezekiah was filled with his only pride and as a result, he lost the greatest opportunity. This is so unfortunate.
2) The outcome of the test
Verses 5-7 - The “Lord of Hosts” is speaking of the God who is victorious, and fought for King Hezekiah. God was saying that all of the wealth and possessions of Judah will be given to Babylon and the land of Judah will be left in demise.
What did King Hezekiah do wrong? It is seen in Ezekiel 3:18 “When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. ” - King Hezekiah didn’t try to share the gospel to Babylon and lost the opportunity to share about God but rather said only strange and useless things to Babylon. Who knows what could have happened if King Hezekiah did share the gospel to Babylon.
Numbers 14:18 “The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.” - The wrath and disappointment of God is seen here.
Verse 7 - The descendants of King Hezekiah will be sold off to Babylon and become eunuchs. The three friends of Daniel become the servants of Babylon, and this was all because of the mistake of King Hezekiah. Daniel’s three friends were descendants of King Hezekiah and this stopped the blood of King Hezekiah. The age of the kings of Judah ended because of King Hezekiah. If King Hezekiah prayed to God for the rest of his life just like he prayed with earnest and sincerity when he was faced with death, then what would’ve been the outcome? It probably would’ve changed the history of the land of Judah. This probably would’ve determined the life and death of the descendants of King Hezekiah.
3. Hezekiah's Faith
1) Hezekiah's faith
Verse 8 - King Hezekiah acknowledged the word of God but if you look here, even though he acknowledged God’s word, he didn’t have any repentance at all. He had no tears. This was so strange. His descendants were going to be in destruction but King Hezekiah didn’t pray or repent at all. King Hezekiah who was healed, this was the spiritual state that he became. Then King Hezekiah proceeded to say after this, he was only worried about the security and peace during his lifetime. Even though his descendants were in the state of destruction, he was only focused on his security and peace during his reign. Who did King Hezekiah believe in? He believed in God who extended his life. He knew that God was going to extend his lifespan to 15 years. That was why King Hezekiah was in the midst of the greatest destruction and his descendants. That is why it is so important for us to pray. We can see even if you receive answers, you can still be in the midst of destruction if you fail to pray. That is why we must make a bartizan of prayer.
2) Make the bartizan of prayer
We must first make a bartizan of prayer that can prevent disasters. Isaiah 38:14 “Like a crane or a swallow, so I chattered; I mourned like a dove; My eyes fail from looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; Undertake for me!' ” - We must always look towards God and pray with a sincere and earnest heart with tears.
Secondly, we must establish the bartizan of prayer to save the church. Isaiah 38:20 “ ‘The Lord was ready to save me; Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments All the days of our life, in the house of the Lord.' ” - You must succeed in worship. If King Hezekiah succeeded in worship, then none of this would’ve happened. It would’ve ended all things. Because he stopped worshiping God, all of this disaster and path of destruction happened.
Isaiah 38:19 “The living, the living man, he shall praise You, As I do this day; The father shall make known Your truth to the children.' ” - This gospel and our blessings, we must relay to our children. If King Hezekiah kept his promise with God, then he would’ve been able to save his descendants and the land of Judah. But our failure should not become our children’s failure or lead to our children’s failure. We must become the bartizan to block disasters and to save the church and our children.
Conclusion
Isaiah 38:7 “And this is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing which He has spoken.” - King Hezekiah prayed sincerely before God when he faced the prophecy of death. Then, God gave him a sign. Every single day, you must establish a bartizan of prayer. May you receive this answer.
Comments