2 Kings 20:12-19

B. HEZEKIAH'S FOOLISH MISTAKE AND SUBSEQUENT REBUKE 20:12-19

TRANSLATION

(12) At that time Berodach-baladan the son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah was sick. (13) And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and showed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, the gold, the spices and precious oil and the house of all his armor and all that was found in his treasuries. There was not a thing which Hezekiah did not show them in his house and in his domain. (14) And Isaiah the prophet came unto King Hezekiah and said unto him, What did these men say? From whence did they come unto you? And Hezekiah said, From a distant land, they came from Babylon. (15) And he said, What have they seen in your house? And Hezekiah said, All which is in my house they have seen; there is not a thing which I did not show them in my treasuries. (16) And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD: (17) Behold days are coining when all which is in your house and which your fathers have stored away unto this day shall be carried away to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD. (18) And they shall take some of your sons who shall come forth from you which you will beget, and they shall become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. (19) And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which you have spoken. And he said, Is it not so if peace and steadfastness shall come to pass in my days?

COMMENTS

Following his recovery, Hezekiah was visited by an embassy from Berodach-baladan whose name in the Book of Isaiah is spelled Merodach-baladan (Isaiah 39:1). For some twenty years this Babylonian king had been a thorn in the flesh for the Assyrian rulers. Merodach-baladan was anxious to cultivate the friendship of any king who might be minded to rebel against the powerful Assyrians. So this king of Babylon sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah upon the occasion of his recovery. Scholars have generally concluded that the object of the embassy must have been to conclude, or at any rate to pave the way for, an alliance between Judah and Babylon. How this embassy was able to make its way from distant Babylon without being intercepted by Assyrian forces is not indicated. Some feel that because the embassy pretended to be concerned only with congratulating Hezekiah upon his recovery, the Assyrians did not attempt to interfere (2 Kings 20:12).

Hezekiah was dazzled by the attention bestowed upon him by these visitors from Babylon. He hearkened unto them, i.e., listened to their suggestions of an alliance between Judah and Babylon. Hezekiah showed the Babylonian emissaries all of his treasure. While a certain amount of pride motivated this action, Hezekiah was probably moved primarily by more practical considerations. He may have been trying to convince these guests that he would indeed be a valuable ally. No doubt the Babylonians were quite impressed with the silver, gold, spices, and precious oil and other valuables which comprised the wealth of the Judaean king. In addition to his Jerusalem treasures and armaments, Hezekiah gave orders that these ambassadors be shown the collections of arms and stores which existed in other strongholds throughout the land (2 Kings 20:13).

When the Babylonian embassy had left Jerusalem, Isaiah the prophet appeared before Hezekiah with a message of rebuke. In order to elicit from the king a confession about what had taken place, the prophet inquired concerning the visitors: What did these men say? From where did they come unto you? Hezekiah ignored the first question probably because he was unwilling to make known the overtures that he had received from them since he knew that Isaiah repudiated any reliance upon the arm of flesh. The second question the king answered somewhat smugly as he identified distant Babylon as the embassy's point of origin (2 Kings 20:14). The prophet's next question got to the heart of the matter: What have they seen in your house? By this the prophet means to ask whether Hezekiah had treated his guests as ordinary ambassadors, or whether instead he had courted an alliance with their master. To the credit of the king, he answered forthrightly and made no effort to conceal what had taken place. He readily acknowledged that he had shown these particular guests everything (2 Kings 20:15).

The king having admitted his folly, the stage was set for the divine word of rebuke. Hear the word of the Lord is a formula which generally introduced such solemn words of condemnation (2 Kings 20:16). Isaiah pulled back the curtain of time to reveal what the future held in store for Judah. In this case it was the very revelation which was Hezekiah's punishmentthe knowledge that he had gotten involved with that nation which ultimately would destroy Judah. All the treasures he had boastfully displayed to the ambassadors would one day be carried off as plunder to far off Babylon (2 Kings 20:17). Hezekiah's sons, i.e., descendants, would be carried off to become eunuchs in the court of the king of Babylon (2 Kings 20:18).

This prophecy is indeed unique and completely inexplicable in terms of human prescience. Here for the first time, it would seem, Babylon and not Assyria was identified as the true and ultimate enemy of Judah. It would be Babylon which would bring to fulfillment all the predictions of the prophets since the days of Moses concerning the deportation of the people of God and the destruction of the holy city. Yet at this period in history, Babylon was merely one of several kingdoms bordering on Assyria. From the time of Tiglath-pileser, Babylon almost continually had been under Assyrian domination. Merodach-baladan had at best a tenuous hold on independence. Human foresight would never have suspected that within a century, insignificant Babylon would have completely turned the tables on mighty Assyria.
Hezekiah accepted the prophetic rebuke, thereby acknowledging that he had been in the wrong. As far as Hezekiah was concerned, the pronouncement was good because he himself was not personally involved. The king felt that God might have justly brought down on him personally some affliction or calamity in punishment for his political indiscretion. It was a relief to hear that the blow would not fall during his lifetime. The self-centeredness of this evaluation of the prophecy caused the attendants standing nearby to raise their eyebrows. Noticing their chagrin, Hezekiah turned to his courtiers to ask the rhetorical question, Is it not good, if peace and steadfastness be in my days? (2 Kings 20:19). It is not very statesman-like for the king to appear so unconcerned about the future fate of his land. But the irony here is that Isaiah said nothing about Hezekiah having peace and steadfastness during his reign. Shortly he would face the mighty Sennacherib and every fiber of his faith would be tested. Chapter 19 describes in some detail the trials of Hezekiah at the hands of Sennacherib and the sufferings experienced by Judah at that time.