Isaiah Chapter 39: Hezekiah's Pride

Isaiah 39:1

M'rodakh-Bal'adan the son of Bal'adan, king of Bavel, heard that Hizkiyahu had been ill and had recovered, so he sent a letter and a gift to him.

In the last chapter, we saw that God granted Hezekiah an additional 15 years of life that he was to use to glorify God and, here, we see that he had recovered from the illness and the recovery became known by the surrounding nations.

While we think of Babylon as a powerful ancient kingdom where Judah went into captivity, at the time of Hezekiah, it was not a great kingdom or threat to Judah. We see that the king of Babylon had heard of Hezekiah's illness and the fact that he had not only been healed but that he was made strong and so he sent a letter and a gift to Hezekiah. The king of Babylon was basically wanting to know how Hezekiah had been healed.

Isaiah 39:2

Hizkiyahu was pleased with the gifts and showed the messengers all of the building where he kept his treasures, including the silver, gold, spices and precious oils; also all of the building where he kept his armor; and everything in his treasury - there was nothing in his palace or in his entire domain that Hizkiyahu did not show them.

Hezekiah was glad to receive the Babylon messengers and he showed them everything about the wealth of Judah and its defenses. We notice that Hezekiah did not mention anything about God and it would probably not have been wise to show this foreign kingdom your wealth and defenses but Hezekiah's pride got the better of him.

Isaiah 39:3–4

Then Yesha'yahu the prophet came to King Hizkiyahu and asked him, "What did these men say? Where did they come from?" Hizkiyahu answered, "They came to me from a distant country, Bavel." Yesha'yahu asked, "What have they seen in your palace?" "They have seen everything in my palace," said Hizkiyahu. "There isn't a thing among my treasures that I haven't shown them."

Now, we see that Isaiah went to inquire about the visitors and in Hezekiah's answer we also see his pride manifested as he emphasizes that they had come from far away just to see him.

Isaiah 39:5–7

Yesha'yahu said to Hizkiyahu, "Hear what ADONAI-Tzva'ot says: 'The day will come when everything in your palace, along with everything your ancestors stored up until today, will be carried off to Bavel. Nothing will be left,' says ADONAI. 'They will carry off some of your descendants, your own offspring; and they will be made eunuchs serving in the palace of the king of Bavel."

Isaiah reveals a prophecy to Hezekiah and the word translated as hear speaks of a need for action on Hezekiah's part. The action that is required is the repentance of Hezekiah from his pride. Hezekiah had repeated over and over that he had shown the Babylonians everything and Isaiah makes it clear that everything that was shown was going to be taken by the Babylonians.

We also see that Hezekiah's pride has lasting consequences for his descendants as not only his current relatives but also the future generations would have the same kind of pride and be judged for it. The word translated here as palace actually speaks of a sanctuary and the fact that the descendants of Hezekiah would be idol worshippers.

Isaiah 39:8

Hizkiyahu said to Yesha'yahu, "The word of ADONAI which you have just told me is good"; because he thought, "At least peace and truth will continue during my lifetime."

Hezekiah had just received devastating news about his kingdom and his family and yet he only thinks about himself and did not repent of his pride.

This chapter reminds us, as followers of Yeshua Messiah, that we have been saved for a purpose and that purpose is to glorify God and not ourselves. Like Hezekiah, we can be proud and show off what the Lord has given us or we can choose to tell others of what God has done and give him the glory for all that we have.