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CHAPTER 39
Hezekiah reveals his wealth to Babylon—Isaiah prophesies the Babylonian captivity. |
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1 AT that time
aMerodach-baladan, 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 aHezekiah was glad of them, and shewed 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 shewed them not. |
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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.
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 shewed thema. |
4a there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them It is the false braging pride which undermines many. As righteous as Hezekiah may have been in keeping the commandments of the Lord, his pride in showing forth 'his great wealth' does illustrate a character flaw which sadly seems to be so common among all men. Pride in self esteem of worldly possessions so often 'control' a man's demeaner of how he does portray himself to others. It reveals that Hezekiah did not view himself as a common ordinary man but he esteemed himself a man above others especially in his great wealth of worldly possessions. Perhaps it was partly the 'pride of Judah' or the Kingdom thereof to say 'our nation is great' but even that need not motivate a honest, sincere and humble man. There is no need for man to parade his self greatness and it shows a distinct lack of humility upon the part of King Hezekiah and though it is a different type of pride than that shown by Job in counting his sinlessness and worthiness before the Lord, it is still that type of thing which undermines humility and shows forth an unacceptable flaw of pride in a person. All men ought to hold themselves as nothing, as wretched men of the temporal fallen natural flesh before God and before their fellow man, not esteeming or presenting oneself to be above another. Such was the flaw the Savior set forth between the Pharasee and the Publican in how they presented themselves to God in prayer. Man ought not to hold or esteem himself above another, we are all in that same fallen boat of the natural man before God and each other and our humility ought to at all times and before all men and God so present ourselves to be. Hezekiah did sin in this thing as did Job and also that Pharasee which the Saviour did give as an example. Pride goeth before a fall and ought to be avoided like the plague. It is the main engine of the 'Nephite cycle' which continually brought them around from prosperity to wickedness every time. Until man controls this 'pride' he will not prevail in the Lord. | |
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5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah,
aHear 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. |
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7 And of thy asons 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
Babylona.
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 daysa. |
7a they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the
king of Babylon This speaks of the son or the descendants of King
Hezekiah. And as none of his immediate sons were those taken to Babylon, but as
it were the sons of Josiah that were those descendants of Hezekiah through
Josiah, namely Zedekiah and Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim who was a son of Josiah.
This is consistant with the prophecy of Jeremiah which stated that Jehoachin would
be childless (Jeremiah 22:30) and of course all the sons of Zedekiah were murdered before his eyes
before his eyes were put out and he was then also made to be a eunuch as well. This
then brings us to the two ancestries of Jesus Christ in the New Testament, from David
through the kings down through Josiah and his grandson Jehoachin as in the gospel of
Matthew and then from David through Nathan unto Joseph the carpenter and Jesus Christ,
the presumed natural son of Joseph the carpenter but in truth the Son of God. Like
many a Royal ancestry, the heir to the throne is frequently the 'next of kin' rather
than the biological heir of the previous king. And this must be the presumption upon
which the two genealogies of the gospels must be reconciled as indeed Jehoachin was
biologically heirless having been made a eunuch and his next of kin substitued in
place a heir to the Royal Ancestry, a biological son of David's son Nathan. 8a there shall be peace and truth in my days That Hezekiah thought it was 'Good enough' to have but peace and truth in his own day only exhibits a degree of selfcenteredness which accompanies his self pride. That he showed forth little care for his sons and their day and thought it 'Good' that his day would be well without a care for the fate of his children and the future generations sets forth a humanitarian flaw. Hezekiah should have been concerned about the welfare of all of mankind and not just himself and his own day and time. And yet this too seems to be the nature of man, they care more for themselves than for their family and their neighbor and the future fate of the human race. This ought not to be. Charity, love, is such that we ought to love 'our neighbor', that is others, as be do care for and love ourselves. As Marley's ghost does point out, 'Mankind ought to be our business.' |
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