The prince of Babylon, Merodach, son of Baladan, sent envoys with presents to Hezekiah, after he recovered. This was likely after the Assyrian siege had passed.
Merodach was a freedom fighter for Babylon, which was, like Judah, under the oppression of the Assyrians. The Babylonians came to Jerusalem probably to understand why it was not toppled by the Assyrians.
Hezekiah, after God has saved him, became proud and foolhardy. He showed them his treasure house, the armory, and all his warehouses. "There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them" (v2)
Hezekiah neither asked God or Isaiah before showing them everything, and neither did he mentioned how God had saved them. He wanted the impression that his own weapons had won the battle.
When Isaiah found out what had happened, he delivered a message from God, that everything stored in his house will be taken away to Babylon, and his sons will be exiled and become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
Hezekiah gave an arrogant and sarcastic reply, saying that the news is good, since the disaster will only happen to his descendants, and not to himself.
Hezekiah drifted away from God in the last days of the life, which God have him. He enjoyed the blessings but did not appreciate Lord who gave him the blessings. It is likely that because of his complacency, his son, Manasseh, rebelled against God.
This chapter ends the first part of Isaiah's writings, where the focus was on the judgement of God on Israel and on Judah using the Assyrians. It prophetically declare that the next power God will use are the Babylonians, who will take the kings and the people and exile them. This happened 100 years from the prophecy and their stories are told by Jeremiah.
No comments:
Post a Comment