d. He was dying and prayed that God would Spare His life. God heard the king’s cry and granted him His life and 15 years more along with complete peace and security. What an amazing testament to God’s grace and love for His anointed and Godly King. Then, sometime later, Emissaries from Babylon come to visit. Well, when I say emissaries, what I really mean is spies. Hezakiah, being confident and proud, shows them all of his troop positions, where the weapons and treasures are the best way to enter and exit with loot–everything. After they are Gone, Isaiah hears of the visit and confronts the king with the lack of insight in allowing the enemy to see all of the important things about the kingdom. The king’s response is both shocking and predictable, “Well, they won’t do anything while I’m alive, so that is great and all that matters!”
What?!!? Hezakiah did not care if Israel would be taken over–just as long as He was safe. As selfish as that sounds, it is the attitude of most folks. Even if at the base we are selfless There is that part of us that thinks if it is not my issue, why worry. It is that sense the enemy uses to nuetralize most believers. The reality is that we are a family. Jesus was clear when he spoke in Matthew 20 about hte sheep and Goats. He said as You have done to the least of these so you have done to me. We as a church and as individuals need to realize that our behaviors and especially our call to pray is never ceasing. we need to look out for the interests of others as well as our own Philippians 2:3-4. Our heart and choices need to honor God and show his love and concern fothe lives of others. If it affects others, then it affects us!
God Bless You
At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness and recovery. 2 Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine olive oil—his entire armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?”
“From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came to me from Babylon.”
4 The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”
“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord Almighty: 6 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. 7 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
8 “The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my lifetime.”
Walking With God 