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December 5, 2022
Today’s reading: Isaiah 39:5-8
Hezekiah’s downfall
We read in Isaiah 39:5-8:
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.”
Yahweh extended Hezekiah’s life by 15 more years. However, it is up to Hezekiah how he will use his additional life on earth. Regrettably, Hezekiah turned God’s gift into a curse.
Reading Isaiah 39:1-8, we learned how Hezekiah welcomed the Babylonian envoys. Hezekiah’s pride and selfish nature got the best of him.
Hezekiah welcomed ungodly men to his palace. He showed him all the treasures of his kingdom — a fatal mistake for any king to do at times when kingdoms are constantly at war. Hezekiah simply gave away precious information about his kingdom to the enemies.
Hezekiah was trying to impress the son of Babylon’s king. He didn’t know that what it just did was persuade his enemies to conquer his kingdom.
We should learn an important lesson here. Impressing other people just to look good and feed your pride is foolish. What’s more foolish is trying to impress your enemies. It doesn’t accomplish anything, but just fuels your enemies’ desire to destroy you.
Yahweh pronounced His judgment against Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah. After Isaiah was done giving the prophecy of doom, Hezekiah didn’t feel any regret or remorse. Instead, even at the end, he was thinking about himself!
He didn’t feel sorry for his descendants, but rather, he was happy that destruction would not come during his time.
Indeed, Hezekiah wasted 15 years. He could have used those extra years to serve God, develop his godly character, and be a blessing to others. Yet, we can see how he used it to impress other nations and brought a curse upon his own people.
The Almighty gives us the opportunity to become better. May we not waste this golden opportunity like Hezekiah.
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