Treasures Taken Away

Isaiah 39:1-8 

(2 Kin. 20:12–19)

1 At that time Merodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 And Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory—all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion 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 from where did they come to you?"

So Hezekiah said, "They came to me from a far country, from Babylon."

4 And he said, "What have they seen in your house?"

So Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them."

5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: 6 'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,' says the LORD. 7 'And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"

8 So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good!" For he said, "At least there will be peace and truth in my days."

The Babylonian envoys were shown all the tempting treasures accumulated by king Hezekiah and his forefathers when they came to visit the king.  It began with letters and a present from  Babylon to Hezekiah because he had been sick almost unto death (until the LORD intervened with merciful grace).  This generosity moved the king to do something seemingly foolish, for he let the Babylonian ambassadors see all the hidden wealth as a tempting target to take later.  Whether that was their original intent is unknown, but the temptation apparently was too much to ignore, for this was not too far after the Queen of Sheba had seen the massive and unparalleled wealth of Solomon.  They may have heard stories and wanted to see for themselves before coming for it under the pretense of looking after king Hezekiah’s health and welfare.  Either way, Isaiah confronted him about the visit, questioned Hezekiah about what he had done, and then pronounced the consequences to come.  The treasure which God’s people had built up would all be taken away (presumably because of their continuing disobedience), but not in Hezekiah’s lifetime.  He would be spared the invasion and captivity that the remaining people of God would endure.  Even his sons would be taken and made eunuchs to end his lineage and serve the king of Babylon.  Hezekiah’s reply either meant he understood the consequences of his sin or that he was simply relieved that he would not have to live to suffer and see the suffering of his people after he died.  Either way, he had accepted the consequences of his actions to boast in the monetary wealth of Israel instead of showing and telling them of the greater value of the LORD their God whom he served.  This is a lesson for us as well to value the Giver and not the gifts of our Lord and Savior; we need to be bragging about Jesus Christ and the gospel message and not our accumulation of material things gifted to us by the undeserved grace and goodness of God who has given them to us to enjoy but not value more than Him (Luke 12:21, 34, 1 Timothy 6:17).  Do we boast in what we have or who we have?  All we collect turns to dust or can be stolen, but the eternal treasure of our Lord cannot be taken away (Matthew 6:19-20).  This passage of scripture is an example for us of the consequences or reward for what we treasure.