Isaiah 39

The Bible is realistic about its heroes. Even the best of people, like Hezekiah, had ‘feet of clay’. We see this king as one of the best to sit on the throne of Judah. He trusted in the Lord. He led the people in God’s ways. But he wasn’t perfect. The short term thinking he showed in (8) is not commendable.

They say that a football team will be more vulnerable to a counter-attack goal after they have just scored. In the spiritual life, immediately after some ‘high’, or triumph or deliverance, you can be exposed. Following a victory, the soul can be tempted to put its feet up by the fire and relax with a nice glass of wine! This story teaches that you can never afford to drop your guard. You must never switch off. There is a repeated call in the New Testament to be ‘’alert’’. As someone said, the price of our safety is ‘’eternal vigilance.’’

Sometimes kindness can find your vulnerabilities more than outright antagonism (1). We are softened by niceness. Some people are very skilful at wearing the velvet glove which hides a curled fist. ‘’The faith of Hezekiah, proof against the heaviest blows, melts at the touch of flattery…and the world claims another victim by its friendship.’’ Derek Kidner: The ‘New Bible Commentary’, p.655

Warren Wiersbe offers some helpful insights on this short chapter: ‘’This was the third test (2 Chron. 32:31), and the king failed miserably. What could not be accomplished through an army or an illness was accomplished through flattery. If Satan cannot succeed as a lion, then he comes as a serpent: ‘’Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful’’ (Prov.27:6).The king of Babylon wanted one thing: Judah’s cooperation in opposing the Assyrians. The enemy is a liar and uses every excuse to get entry into your life. It was foolish for Hezekiah to welcome them and show them the royal treasures, but pride took over and discernment disappeared…instead of repenting, Hezekiah felt relieved that the judgment would not come in his day. How shortsighted can a man of faith become! Had he no concern for the future of his people? ‘’With the Word’’, p.475.

Actually the Bible does not state that Merodach-Baladan wanted Hezekiah’s help to take on Assyria, but enough is known about the Babylonian king to imagine that he had plots hatching under the cover of this visit.

Someone said: ‘’Speak the kind truth’’. That may not always be comfortable truth, but it would be unkind to withhold it (Proverbs 26:28) Isaiah had to confront both Ahaz (chapter 7) and Hezekiah (chapter 39). It takes great courage to wound a friend, but we have to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) and, at times, give wounds that heal.

.’’Be very careful to watch against ostentation and the pride from which it springs. The best antidote is the habit of looking from the gifts to the Giver, and to accustom yourself to the position of a steward of the benefits which have been done to you. Oh for more of the spirit of praise and thanksgiving, of adoring gratitude, of grateful love!…No doubt Hezekiah’s sad lapse is intended as a warning to us all. The minuteness with which it is recorded may be intended to impress on us the danger of coquetting with the Babylon around us. It is impossible to do so without becoming ultimately carried into captivity to its corruption.’’ F.B. Meyer: ‘Great verses through the Bible’, p.284.

Prayer: Lord give me eyes to see through all the glittering sham of deception, and turn my back on it.