We'll be going to Isaiah chapter 39. In our series through Isaiah, this is now message number 47, entitled Arrogance and Answered Prayer. And we're going to look at Isaiah chapter 39. It has eight verses, so I'll read these as we get started. At that time, Merodach, the son of Balaam, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that he had been sick and was recovered. And Hezekiah was glad of them and showed 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 armor and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah showed them not. 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. Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen. There's nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them. Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts. Behold, the days come that all that is in thine house and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day shall be carried to Babylon, nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee which thou shalt beget, shall they take away and shall they be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon? 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 days. So chapters 38 and 39 form a summary conclusion to the first part of Isaiah's prophecy, which is chapters 1 through 39. And so in the first part of Isaiah's prophecy, Assyria is the primary threat and judgment is the primary message. And these just recur just repeatedly throughout this part. In the second part, Babylon is the primary threat, but really restoration is the more dominant message in the second part, even though both parts have judgment and restoration or redemption in them. Chapters 38 and 39 conclude this first part and also especially you can see here in chapter 39 especially how it forms a bridge into this second part as we transition away from Assyria and toward the threat of Babylon and exile which is in the future from the time of this writing. Now chapter 38 opened with the event of Hezekiah's sickness and his recovery through God's words sent to him by Isaiah. And this word was accompanied with a sign, with the turning back of the sun. And this is followed in chapter 39 by the visit of the Babylonians to Hezekiah after that he was recovered. So both of these events took place in fairly quick succession, and they both took place before the invasion of Jerusalem and the defeat of Sennacherib that we read in chapters 36 and 37. So once again, the placement, which is not chronological, it's specifically out of chronological order, the placement gives us thematic significance as well as important context when we're interpreting Isaiah's message, and particularly these events with Hezekiah. Now, another important piece of context for understanding Isaiah, and particularly these few chapters here at the end of the first part, is Hezekiah's psalm. And that psalm takes up most of chapter number 38. Now, Hezekiah's psalm is an inline, historical inline psalm. It's not included in the canonical collection of the psalms known as the psalms. However, the psalm is composed just as other psalms. It has content, genre, features, connections with the historical, lyrical storyline of the psalms as well. So, I'm just going to admit this up front. This illustration pains me. It pains me, but it's a good one. I first heard it from Jim Hamilton and I always recommend his commentary on the Psalms. I don't know of anything better in print on the Psalms if you're only going to have one commentary on the Psalms, Jim Hamilton's commentary. But nevertheless, you can sort of think of the Psalms like a musical rather than a concert. Oftentimes a concert, you know, is just a collection of basically random pieces of music that are played and sung. But a musical, that's different. has a storyline. And that storyline is connected and it is advanced through music and through lyrics, through refrains, through particular terms, through images, through melodies, through tempo, musical motifs, and so on. So a musical is a coherent composition. It's not just a collection of songs. It's telling a story. So just as you can take a single song out of a musical, and you can appreciate it on its own, its real purpose is to be a part of the storytelling overall. It has a place in that musical and is advancing that plot. Now, again, that illustration just hurts me, because I'm not a big fan of musicals. Maybe you are, so maybe that will help. But I thought it was a pretty good illustration of how the Psalms work, because a lot of us just take it as a sort of a catalog of singles. And we just pull a psalm out or even just a piece of a psalm out, never contemplating how that all of that is connected together. Of course, we spent a couple of years or so going through the psalms. hopefully trying to put that story together. Well, in Hezekiah's psalm, it certainly flows. It certainly connects with that lyrical storyline in the psalms. It certainly contributes to that. And there's different threads that converge in Hezekiah's story. So Hezekiah, we saw how that Isaiah, through his writing and various literary devices and such, he intentionally connected Hezekiah to David. and to Jerusalem so that the experience, the very real experiences of Hezekiah historically in his life in some ways paralleled and foreshadowed the future of both the city of Jerusalem and the line of David and ultimately the Messiah. So all of this including chapter 39 then frames these events. These events are greater in meaning than merely the life and times of a king of Judah, than merely the fact that Hezekiah was given 15 more years as it were. So chapter 39 now is really a companion to 38. And it concludes this first part of Isaiah. And we saw previously how that Hezekiah was tested and that's really come out in chapters 36 to 39. Hezekiah is tested in various ways and we're going to see Hezekiah tested again here in this chapter. Now he is portrayed generally as a faithful character. He's contrasted with the wicked Ahaz and really In many ways, he's exemplary for what Judas should have been doing. He should have been following his lead. Israel should have done prior to this time and so on. But it highlights, once again, the fact that Hezekiah is a part of a larger, grander story that God has authored and is seeing to its great climax. So we understand these events in those terms. So we have two parts to this last chapter, verses 1 to 4, where we get the messengers from Babylon. in verses five to eight where we get the exile prophesied with more specificity than what we've really seen to this point in the Bible. So we'll start with the first part. I'll read verse number one again. Now this time or that time that's referred to, this was shortly after the events of chapter 38 when Hezekiah was sick and then he recovered. And obviously this was before actually the events of chapters 36 and 37. So again, this placement is important. It's important thematically. It's important theologically. And it brings into view that future threat from Babylon. Again, we're getting that transition. We're moving away from Assyria toward Babylon. Now the king of Babylon that is mentioned here He had reigned over the city of Babylon. Then he had been deposed, he'd been removed from that reign by Assyria. Then he came back into power for just a short time, not even quite a full year, I don't believe, before he was finally removed by Sennacherib, the same one that had invaded Jerusalem. So historically, this gives us some explanation as to why he sent these messengers, these letters, these presents to Hezekiah for his recovery. Judah and Babylon had been friendly to this point, and they certainly had a common enemy in Assyria, and they also had a common potential ally in Egypt. And so that was some things that kind of put them on fairly friendly terms. So in other words, it's reasonable for us to assume, reading this, though we're not given a lot of background, but it's reasonable for us to assume that his motives here weren't entirely pure. He's not just congratulating Hezekiah or celebrating his recovery. Now, the Bible does not record, and this account is found in 2 Kings 20-19. It's also found in 2 Chronicles 32-31 and here in Isaiah 39. And in none of those places are we told how that the king of Babylon heard about Hezekiah's sickness and his recovery. Now, there's a Jewish tradition that held that it was the sign of the sun moving back that the Babylonians investigated. And through that investigation, they learned of Hezekiah's sickness and his recovery through his God. So from there, that Jewish tradition sees motivation for the Babylonians to be friendly with Judah if their God was that powerful. and on the side of Hezekiah, then this would be a very powerful ally against Assyria. But again, we're not really told those things. We don't really know, but certainly it seems like there was probably ulterior motive at work. Verse number two, So we're told how that Hezekiah received them gladly. He entertained them royally. And all three accounts, which are all very similar, all three accounts highlight the extent of the treasures, giving a list and descriptions that suggest extensiveness. In other words, Hezekiah was very extensive in what he showed to the messengers from Babylon. Now, we are not told why Hezekiah did this. Perhaps he was also motivated to have good relations with Babylon in light of their common enemy of Assyria. Could be possible. When you read the passage in 2 Chronicles, that supplies a little bit of important information. Verse 25 in 2 Chronicles 32 refers to Hezekiah's pride, not directly in this incident, but it is connected, it is attached to this. So it seems like within that context that there's at least a suggestion that this was pride on the part of Hezekiah. Now it might seem that Hezekiah was, well, you know, he was feeling good. He was sick unto death and was told he was going to die and the Lord had sent that word. And then he was recovered. He's gaining 15 years. So Hezekiah was just generally feeling good. And rather, he was arrogant in exposing Judah to Babylon. And really when you think about this, This is a very common human failure. We can go from panic to presumption in 0.5 seconds. It does not take any. I mean, we can be in absolute desperation. at the ends of our rope, no hope of being able to get out of whatever the situation is, and then something unexpected, something that we didn't contrive, something happens that delivers us from that, and then what happens? Well, then we're cocky. We're overconfident. Now we're bulletproof. We can do anything. So 2 Chronicles 32 verse 31 reveals that in this matter, God left Hezekiah to test him or to try him. That God left him suggests that God did not send word to Hezekiah. In other words, he wasn't warned ahead of time that these messengers from Babylon were coming. He wasn't given any sort of direction about them or how that he was supposed to respond to them or anything of that nature at all. In other words, God left him in the sense that Hezekiah wasn't given any instruction. He's just essentially making up his own mind what to do. And we're told that in so doing, that God tested him. God tested him to see what was in his heart or mind. So it's the same terminology that's used in describing how that God tested Abraham in the matter with Isaac in Genesis chapter 22 and verse number 1. also the same language that's used of that generation of Israel who came out of Egypt in the wilderness in Deuteronomy chapter 8 verses 2 and 16. So Hezekiah was tested. And when we think about chapters 36 to 39, we see that he was tested in a very thorough fashion. I mean, he's generally presented as a faithful character, but not a flawless character. And rather than declaring Yahweh to the Babylonians, he showed them the greatness of his kingdom. He didn't give glory to God. He showed them the greatness of His kingdom. So now look at verses 3 and 4. Then came Isaiah the prophet and the 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. Then said he, what have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, all that is in mine house have they seen. There's nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them. So in verses three and four, we learn of how that Isaiah came to Hezekiah. fact-finding mission as it was, he has these questions for Hezekiah concerning these messengers and what he showed them. And really he confirmed Hezekiah, he confirmed the messengers, he confirmed his response to them, and that sets us up for then what becomes the final prophecy of this first part of Isaiah in verses five through eight when the exile is prophesied. So verse number five, Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, hear the word of the Lord of hosts. So the Lord had left Hezekiah. That's again, that's the language in Second Chronicles. The Lord had left Hezekiah to test him. And so now he's returning. He's returning after the fact and he's returning with his word through Isaiah. Now verse six begins this word, behold, The days come that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, saith the Lord." Now we get a non-specific time reference. The days are coming. Sometime in the future, and this is nearer future than it is far. The exile would be complete with the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. This would have occurred somewhere around 703 B.C. So over a hundred years from the time that Isaiah was speaking these words to Hezekiah, this exile would be complete with the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the southern kingdom of Judah. So from the time that Isaiah prophesied this to Hezekiah, the fulfillment of it, though fairly near, was still beyond their lifetimes. Neither of them would live to see this. The exile began, of course, to be prophesied by Moses before Israel ever even entered into the land to begin with. So we get language of expulsion from the land for breaking the covenant, Leviticus chapter 18, verses 24 to 28, and chapter 20, verses 22 and 24. There's imagery that's used there. It speaks of the land vomiting out Israel. And that was fulfilled literally. And that's just a little side note just to keep in mind for the next message. There is a prophesied scattering of Israel from off the land in Leviticus chapter 26 verses 14 to 39. There's a prophesied dispossession of the land in Numbers chapter 33 verses 55 to 56. And combined prophecies of expulsion and scattering. In Deuteronomy chapter 4 verses 25-26, chapter 8 verses 19-20, chapter 28 verses 15-68, chapter 29 verses 22-28, chapter 30 verses 1-5. So in other words, this exile has long been prophesied, long before there was ever a David or even a throne or king in Israel, before they were ever even in the land. Now what has happened at this point Remember, the northern kingdom of Israel had already been exiled by Assyria. And that's happened a couple of decades prior to the time that we're looking at in this particular time. But what does that mean? It means that that exile wasn't complete. It wasn't completed until Judah was exiled because the kingdom was split in those days. So it's also, and here again, we have an undeniable example of prophecy that was when you read Moses' prophecies and there's no indication there whatsoever that this exile would happen in stages or that the kingdom would be split and a part of the nation would be exiled and then over a hundred years later the rest of the nation would be exiled to complete it. No indication of that at all in those prophecies by Moses but it is an undeniable example of a prophecy fulfilled in stages with a gap in between them No indication of such in the text of the prophecy itself. Another thing to just keep a mental footnote of for the next message as well. Now, as an aside, I don't want to mention the prophecy of the exile of Israel without also pointing out that the regathering and the restoration of Israel was also prophesied beginning with Moses before they had ever entered into the land. So it's set up actually in Genesis by the repeated promises of this land as an everlasting possession to that nation from Abraham." Genesis chapter 17 verses 7 and 8. Chapter 26 verses 3 to 5. Chapter 28 verses 13 to 15. This is a part of the Abrahamic covenant and actually a part of the pattern that was shown with the sojourn to Egypt and the exodus that followed. And then later we get references to this and prophecies of this, Exodus 3-7-10, Exodus 6-6-8, Exodus 33-1-3, Leviticus 26-40-45, Deuteronomy 4-19-31. in chapter 30 verses 1 to 10. Again, so we have in the Pentateuch, beginning with Moses, prophecies that Israel will be exiled, will be scattered off of their land. They will come under severe judgments that are mentioned. And then, as Moses indicates, in the latter time, in that last of days, in that latter time of this particular age, They will be regathered and they will be restored. They will come to repentance. And so all of those are prophecies that have gone before. But now we're seeing how Isaiah is contributing to that because now we've got some specifics. Judah is going to be carried away by Babylon. We are told, Hezekiah is told. Now the time frame is not exact, but the specificity of Babylon is given. And the result of this, verse 7, And of thy sons 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 Babylon. Let's understand the word for eunuchs that is used here can be general. In other words, it can indicate nothing more than just an officer or an official of the court. It can be more than that. Not really certain of that usage here, but nevertheless, this is a prophecy of the carrying away of the royal family, of the family of Hezekiah. later generations and it was fulfilled. Daniel being one of those most famous examples in Daniel chapter 1 verses 1 to 3. As far as we can tell we don't have an exact genealogy of Daniel so as far as we can tell we would not place him in the Davidic line necessarily but he was in the family was a descendant of Hezekiah and he was carried away in that first wave. Verse number eight, So at this pronouncement, Hezekiah doesn't do what we've seen him do previously. He doesn't repent and pray. He thought that it was good, thought it was a good word. He interpreted that as a good word to him. And at least in his mind, the rest of his reign would be peaceful. He's got 15 more years. Sounds like they're going to be peaceful, prosperous, good years. So that's a good word as far as Hezekiah was concerned. Jerusalem was delivered at the word of the Lord, would go on to be delivered. And Babylon's conquest was pretty well beyond his lifetime. So it seems like here that Hezekiah was at least a little more concerned with his own legacy and his own comfort than he was troubles after his time. Now, we have seen Hezekiah tested. We've seen him pass and we've seen him fail. The hubris of humanity is to assume that one victory guarantees the next. because I've come out on top in this situation, then the next situation is certainly to go the same. That's just a flaw in our thinking. It's sort of like what drives a gambler to just keep on and keep on and keep on. Why? Because, well, they'll get some small wins here and there, and then they'll just keep throwing that in because, Surely a bigger win this seems to mean that a bigger win is coming and so just keep going and keep going and keep going until Usually they have they have nothing. Well, that is again. It's it's a very human way to think so we must We must be on guard of this sort of arrogancy and once again just how quickly we can go from panic to presumption and not give glory to God. We can be at the ends of our rope and deliverance comes through from some way that we didn't know, we didn't perceive, we didn't contrive again. And then how do we evaluate this? So many times we turn around and we think, well, You know, I was pretty smart in the way that I handled that, I was pretty clever, or I worked and got out of this situation, or whatever that it is. We just go to that presumption, not giving glory to God, and Hezekiah was certainly guilty of that in this passage. Now it's also, I don't want to pass from this without pointing out just once again, it's extremely significant that this judgment that is prophesied wouldn't come until after Hezekiah died. So there's indication here that these events are at least connected, if not even causal, that Hezekiah's failure here ultimately led to the exile of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem. And there's an intentional connection here between Hezekiah and David, the line of David, and with Jerusalem. And so that his life and certain events in his life that were drawn attention to parallel in ways that are both good and bad, negative and positive. So this delayed judgment, how is that really a judgment on Hezekiah? I mean, even Hezekiah at the end says, well, that's a good word. At least in my lifetime, there's going to be peace and prosperity in the kingdom. So that's a good word. How is it that this delayed judgment then is really in any way affecting Hezekiah? Well, It reinforces what we've been talking about, particularly in this section, that Hezekiah here by this is placed, the events of his life is placed in a greater purpose. God's greater purpose concerning his covenants. Once again, these events that happened, they're not just for Hezekiah's sake. They're not just for Hezekiah's benefit. They're not just for Hezekiah's punishment. They were a part of God's greater purpose, and they are obviously connected to his purpose for Israel and the Davidic line, even the city of Jerusalem as Zion of the great king. So once again, When we read this and we read this context and we understand what is being told and how that it's being told and presented to us, it reinforces that context for then understanding that added 15 years that sometimes can be so problematic and cause us to question and stumble around. But it becomes much clearer when we understand this context and these events that are happening in Hezekiah's life are not just about Hezekiah. There is a greater work, a greater will, a greater purpose that is going on than either the purpose of Assyria or the purpose of Hezekiah or the purpose of Babylon in all of these things that are taking place.