B4-devotions

Isaiah 39

Devotions for Wednesday 25th June

At first reading this is a simple story, but it is about as dramatic as any ‘cliff-hanger’ you might find at the close of a TV series leading you to eagerly await the next! Because we are not immersed in the politics of the eight century BC, we do not spot the tense irony of the story and Hezekiah’s political blunder. Neither do we spot the irony of the timing of what happened, because of the ‘flash-back’ in Isaiah 38 which takes us back in time before the Assyrian invasion described in chapter 37. So although we lose some of the drama of the passage through having to explain it, we will start from the date of the Assyrian invasion in 701BC (37:36-38) and use this to build up a picture of what happened and why this chapter brings the first half of Isaiah’s prophecies to a very tense end.

This story takes place just after Hezekiah had recovered from illness, as indicated by the words ‘at that time ...’ (39:1). We know that Hezekiah’s illness was around 10 years before the Assyrians invaded (38:5), so today’s story happened when Hezekiah was full of confidence after his recovery and standing firm against Assyria, one of only a few kingdoms still holding out against Assyria at that time. Another kingdom doing just this was Babylon, which was a much larger kingdom some distance away, but events there had been dramatic. The Assyria King Tiglath-Pileser III had conquered Babylon in 745BC, but the resistance leader Merodach-Baladan had seized control of Babylon and the situation between Assyria and Babylon was tense. It seemed natural therefore for one resistance leader against the Assyrians to greet another, and Hezekiah was flattered at the attention of one of the great figures of the day (39:2). He showed the Babylonian envoys all the resources of his kingdom (39:2) because it seemed right to share information with Babylon about what resources were available. At that time Hezekiah was busy building up the armed forces and Jerusalem’s defences (see 2 Chronicles 29-32) and was clearly not worried about revealing the historic wealth of the city.

Isaiah was not happy at all. He had just helped Hezekiah through his illness, but his terse questions indicated that he expected better of Hezekiah (39:3-7). Why did Isaiah respond like this? It was because he already knew that beyond the threat of Assyria lay another threat, from Babylon, and he had already prophesied about this (13:1f. 14:4f.) Isaiah had said that Jerusalem would survive the Assyrian onslaught but not the Babylonian (10:20f. and 14:1f.), so he knew that revealing the wealth of Jerusalem to the Babylonian envoys was not a good move! He was aghast at what Hezekiah had done and immediately reiterated his message, declaring that a day would come when Babylon would take everything from Jerusalem (39:6,7)! But Hezekiah was unrepentant and unconcerned; what happened in the future would be nothing to do with him, or so he thought, and his actions paved the way for later catastrophe!

Hezekiah was a man who was something of an enigma. He was undoubtedly more faithful to the Lord than many of his forebears, but he showed weakness in the face of personal suffering (38:1f.), and the same weakness again in this passage. He was not concerned about what would happen in the future providing it did not happen to him (39:9)! The time would come later when Isaiah’s prophecies would come true and Babylon would be the aggressor, not Assyria. In the mean time, both the kings and people of Judah came to believe that Jerusalem was impregnable because the Lord had defended it against Assyria. Isaiah’s powerful voice that God’s judgement would one day come was lost, and only when the Babylonians ransacked Jerusalem in 587 BC did God’s people begin to realise again that Isaiah had been right, and his grand view of God’s judgement and salvation had more to say to them. The remaining chapters of Isaiah (40-66) reveal these greater prophecies!

1 At that time Merodach-Baladan (son of Baladan), the King of Babylon, sent letters and gifts to Hezekiah, because he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 Hezekiah was pleased with them, and he allowed them (the envoys) to see his treasure stores, the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine oil, his whole armoury, all that was to be found in his treasure stores. There was nothing in his house or in his entire realm that Hezekiah did not show them.

3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, ‘What did these men say? And where did they come from?’ Hezekiah said, ‘They came to me from a far country, from Babylon.’ 4 He said, ‘What have they seen in your house?’ Hezekiah replied, ‘They have seen everything that is in my house. There is nothing in my treasure stores that I did not show them.’

5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 Look, the days are coming, when everything in your house, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. 7 And some of your own sons, descended from you and who are yet to be born to you, will be taken away to become eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon.’ 8 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, ‘The word of the Lord that you have spoken is acceptable.’ For he thought, ‘There will be peace and security in my days.’

To read more about this passage of scripture: go to the Bible study page

To read the questions and discipleship challenges for this text: go to the discipleship page

We praise You O Lord, for the great blessing which is ours through Your Word, the Bible. We thank you for all those who have worked to translate it and make it available to people throughout the world. May we so treasure this great gift that we pass it on to those who come after us with reverence and awe, knowing that it has the power, through Your Holy Spirit, to change lives. Thanks be to God: AMEN

I guess we can never know the fullness of God:

How often do we need to seek Your forgiveness,

and how often do we need to forgive others ourselves?

How great the glory You will one day show us

and how great the honour we must give back to You!

How much more of Your love You will lavish upon us,

and how much more love we will need to give others?

How powerful is the Spirit who strengthens us now

and how great is the Gospel we have been given to proclaim;

How many great gifts do You still wish to give us,

and how much more of ourselves do we need to give back?

How magnificent the eternity You have awaiting for us,

and how limited our view of Your bounty, from here!

But in Christ, we have a glimpse of it all, now!

Weekly Theme: Justice

Continue to pray for the people of Zimbabwe whilst politicians across the world decide how to respond to the political concerns now being expressed. Pray also for the United Nations.

On-going prayers

Pray for local shops & businesses
Thank God for the good work done by Christian children’s workers.
Pray for China and Tibet, and freedom for all who are oppressed

Going Deeper: (what you will find on the Bible study page)

The story itself is relatively easy to follow, but there are a few more details to consider. The big question raised by this text is how it connects with what comes next in Isaiah. Scholarly debate has raged for centuries about the prophecies of Isaiah and whether they all came from the one man we have talked about so far; Isaiah of Jerusalem. Chapter 39 raises these questions, and hints at how we may answer them.

For the full Bible study, click link above,

or for a brief review, scroll page down.