Hezekiah Shows His Treasures
39 At that time Merodach-baladan 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 Hezekiah [a]was pleased, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and his whole armory and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. 3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.” 4 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah [b]answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries 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 all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. 7 ‘And some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” 8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he [c]thought, “For there will be peace and truth in my days.”
We don’t know how soon this was after Hezekiah’s illness, but no doubt it would have taken a while for Baladan’s messengers to make the long journey from Babylon. We also don’t know why Baladan really sent the messengers. Was he scouting ahead for future conquests? Or maybe he was trying to curry favor with Hezekiah, looking for allies against the Assyrians?
Whatever the case, Hezekiah likely figured he should put on a good show for these foreigners, and that’s where he gets a little carried away. Most certainly, God would not have frowned upon him showing good hospitality and honoring these envoys from Babylon. Yet in the process of giving them a tour of the place, Hezekiah shows them all his treasures, every single thing.
It seems his pride got the better of him again, and his only concern (v. 8) was that this evil would not come during his days. It should come as no shock that his son was neglected and turned to evil all his days (2 Kings 21). Indeed, when Hezekiah became sick, he had no sons, unless he abdicated the throne early–Manasseh took the throne at age 12, and Hezekiah was promised 15 years more life.
We could dwell further on Hezekiah’s pride, but somehow that doesn’t seem the most pressing issue here. More egregious is the fact that for all his care and effort in building treasuries and palaces, and all his other projects, he paid little attention to his son. Hezekiah seems to have had no worry for the future of the kingdom and for the rule of his son.
Certainly, Jesus told us today has enough cares of its own, and not to worry and fret about tomorrow. But He also told us to plan ahead, which was certainly lacking here (Luke 14:28). Beyond all that though, we should learn from Hezekiah that all our plans and projects are less important than our family and our children.
They will fade away, but our children are a gift from God, and should be treasured, and nurtured. That’s one of the toughest projects of all, but of utmost importance. It requires one of our most precious assets, our time. As Solomon admonished us, “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Though there are no guarantees here, God still asks us to raise them up in the way they should go, to do our part to the best of our abilities–and more, with God’s patience and love enabling us to do more than we think we can–so that our children will learn God’s love also, and follow Him even when they are old.