Isaiah 38-39 (click here to read the chapters)
These two chapters are a great read for us, and they are filled with drama.
This is an awesome passage, and in it we see some very unusual things. First, there is the miraculous healing of Hezekiah, but even more unusual is the prayer of Hezekiah. Hezekiah prays, asking God to alter His plans, and God does. This is something that we see Jesus do in the Garden of Gethsemane, but there is a huge difference between Jesus’ and Hezekiah’s response to the prayer.
Jesus, when He prays that the “cup” would be taken from Him, prays in full submission to the Father’s will and is strengthened and encouraged.
When Hezekiah prays, it is for very selfish reasons. Before this, we might be tempted to think of Hezekiah as this awesome man of God without flaws who was someone we could totally put our trust in (remember that Isaiah, up to this point, has been all about trust). It’s true, Hezekiah has been a godly guy. In incredibly difficult times, he placed his trust in God when it came to the Assyrians, and God delivered. Hezekiah sought the Lord and trusted the Lord, unlike Ahaz before him.
Then what happens after Hezekiah’s prayer and recovery? The Babylonian envoys show up, and what does Hezekiah do? HE SHOWS OFF! He is boasting about what he has, about what he has done, and boasting about his own awesomeness.
The envoys came because the king of Babylon knew about Hezekiah’s illness, so Hezekiah could have taken this opportunity to talk about how the God of all creation heard his cry and answered, and Hezekiah could have spoken of God’s miraculous intervention for the kingdom of Judah and in his own life.
But what does Hezekiah do? Boast about what he has and what he has done.
What’s stunning is that Hezekiah doesn’t hide his boasting from Isaiah when confronted by Isaiah.
Then what? After God heals Hezekiah and after the confrontation and Isaiah’s prophecy about the future when Babylonian armies would defeat Judah (not to mention that his own sons would become eunuchs for the king of Babylon, which would effectively end his bloodline), what is Hezekiah’s response?
Paraphrasing in today’s language, Hezekiah responds to Isaiah’s prophecy by saying, “Ok, cool, at least this isn’t happening in my lifetime.”
Wow.
So we have to ask ourselves, “Why does Isaiah finish off Hezekiah’s story this way?”
Because this is about trusting in God and not men. Hezekiah is mortal and fallible, and he winds up falling short.
We are to live a life of trust in the Lord, not an event of trust or a one-time experience of trust. Our trust in the Lord is something that is always active and ongoing with the little things in life and with the big things.
Trust is something that we exercise always as we relentlessly seek God’s face.
This is all about us putting our trust in Christ alone. Isaiah has had several prophecies regarding the Messiah, and Isaiah was pointing to the fact that the Messiah, which is to come, is someone other than the man, king Hezekiah, who stands before the people now.
Hezekiah and all of his achievements couldn’t save his own life or the world.
Only Christ can.
So, once again, the question is before you, “Who or what will hold your trust?”
God bless you, and know that you are prayed for constantly!
Scott