Isaiah 39 commentary

ISAIAH 39 COMMENTARY

EDITED BY GLENN PEASE

Envoys From Babylon

1 At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king

of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift because he

had heard of his illness and recovery

1BARNES ldquoAt that time - That is soon after his recovery or after he had amassed great wealth and was surrounded with the evidences of prosperity 2Ch_3227-31

Merodach-baladan the son of Balddan king of Babylon - In the parallel place in 2Ki_2012 this name is written Berodach-baladan by a change of a single letter Probably the name was written and pronounced both ways Merodach was an idol of the Babylonians Jer_502 lsquoBabylon is taken Bel is confounded Merodach is confoundedrsquo This idol according to Gesenius was probably the planet Mars or Mars the god of war To this god as well as to Saturn the ancient Semitic nations offered human sacrifices (see Geseniusrsquo Lex and Corem in loc) The word lsquoBalddanrsquo is also a compound word and means lsquoBel is his lordrsquo The name of this idol Merodach was often incorporated into the proper names of kings and of others Thus we have the names Evil-Merodach Messi-Mordachus Sisimor-dachus Mardocentes etc In regard to the statement of Isaiah in this verse no small degree of difficulty has been felt by commentators and it is not until quite recently that the difficulty has been removed and it has been done in a manner to furnish an additional and most striking demonstration of the entire and minute accuracy of the sacred narrative The difficulty arose from several circnmstances

1 This king of Babylon is nowhere else mentioned in sacred history

2 The kingdom of Assyria was yet flourishing and Babylon was one of its dependencies

For only nine years before Salmanassar the Assyrian monarch is said to have transported the inhabitants of Babylon to other parts 2Ki_1724 and Manasseh not many years after was carried captive to Babylon by the king of Assyria 2Ch_3311 These instances incontestably prove that at the time of Hezekiah Babylon was dependent on the Assyrian kings Who then it is asked was this Merodach-baladan king of Babylon If he was governor of that city how could he send an embassy of congratulation to the Jewish sovereign then at war with his liege lord The canon of Ptolemy gives us no king of this name nor does his chronology appear reeoncilable with sacred history

lsquoIn this darkness and doubtrsquo says Dr Wiseman lsquowe must have continued and the apparent contradiction of this text to ether passages would have remaimed inexplicable had not the progress of modern Oriental study brought to light a document of the most venerable antiquity

This is nothing less than a fragment of Berosus preserved in the chronicle of Eusebius This interesting fragment informs us that after Sennacheribrsquos brother had governed Babylon as Assyrian viceroy Acises unjustly possessed himself of the supreme command After thirty days he was murdered by Merodach-baladan who usurped the sovereignty for six months when he was in turn killed and was succeeded by Elibus But after three years Sennacherib collected an army gave the usurper battle conquered and took him prisoner Having once more reduced Babylon to his obedience he left his son Assordan the Esarhaddon of Scripture as governor of the cityrsquo

The only objection to this satement or to the entire consistency of this fragment with the Scripture narrative is that Isaiah relates the murder of Sennacherib and the succession of Esarhaddon before Merodach-baladanrsquos embassy to Jerusalem But to this Gesenius has well replied that this arrangement is followed by the prophet in order to conclude the history of the Assyrian monarch which has no further connection with the subject so as not to return to it again

By this order also the prophecy of his murder is more closely connected with the history of its fulfillment (Isa_377 compare Isa_3738) And this solution which supposes some interval to have elapsed between Sennacheribrsquos return to Nineveh and his death is rendered probable by the words of the text itself lsquoHe went and returned and dwelt in Nineveh and it came to passrsquo etc Isa_3737-38)

Thus we have it certainly explained how there was a king or rather a usurper in Babylon at the time when it was really a provincial city of the Assyrian empire Nothing was more probable than that Merodach-baladan having seized the throne should endeavor to unite himself in league and amity with the enemies of his master against whom he had revolted Hezekiah who no less than himself had thrown off the Assyrian yoke and was in powerful alliance with the king of Egypt would be his first resource No embassy on the other hand could be more welcome to the Jewish monarch who had the common enemy in his neighborhood and who would be glad to see a division made in his favor by a rebellion in the very heart of that enemyrsquos kingdom Hence arose that excessive attention which he paid to the envoys of the usurper and which so offended Isaiah or rather God who as a consequence threatened the Babylonian captivity (see Dr Wisemanrsquos Lectures on Science and Revealed Religion pp 369-371 Ed And 1837)

Sent letters - The Septuagint adds καπρέβεις kai presbeis - lsquoand ambassadorsrsquo

And a present - It was customary among the Orientals as it is now to send a valuable present when one prince sent an embassage for any purpose to another It is stated in 2Ch_3231 that one object of their coming was to make inquiry lsquoof the wonder that was done in the landrsquo that is of the miracle in regard to the retrocession of the shadow on the sun-dial of Ahaz It is well known that from the earliest periods the Babylonians and Chaldeans were distinguished for their attention to astronomy Indeed as a science astronomy was first cultivated on the plains of Chaldea and there the knowledge of that science was scarcely surpassed by any of the ancient nations The report which they had heard of this miracle would therefore be to them a matter of deep interest as an astronomical fact and they came to make inquiry into the exact truth of the report

2 CLARKE ldquoAt that time Merodach-baladan - This name is variously written in the MSS Berodach Medorach Medarech and Medurach

ldquoAnd ambassadorsrdquo - The Septuagint add here καιπρεσβεις that is ומלאכים umalachim and

ambassadors which word seems to be necessary to the sense though omitted in the Hebrew

text both here and in the other copy 2Ki_2012 For the subsequent narration refers to them all along ldquothese men whence came theyrdquo etc plainly supposing them to have been personally mentioned before See Houbigant

3 GILL ldquoAt that time Merodachbaladan the son of Baladan king of Babylon The same is called Berodach 2Ki_2012 which according to Hillerus (z) is the same with Barmerodach the son of Merodach though it is generally took to be a slip of the scribes there or a change of letter as is common in names he was either afterwards made a god of or he had his name from an idol of the Babylonians so called Jer_501 which signifies a pure lord Jerom observes it as the opinion of the Jews that he was the father of Nebuchadnezzar which is not probable Kimchi takes him to be the same with Esarhaddon the son of Sennacherib but he was king of Assyria not of Babylon it is most likely that he is the Assyrian king whom Ptolemy in his canon calls Mardocempad his other name Baladan which is compounded of two words bal and adan and both of them signify lord he took from his father for he is called the son of Baladan by Josephus (a) he is called Baladas who says that Berosus the Chaldean makes mention of a king of Babylon by this name Bishop Usher (b) thinks he is the same that is called by profane writers Belesis and Belessus and Nabonasarus his name consists of the names of three idols Merodach an idol of the Babylonians as before observed and Bal the contraction of Baal and Adon the same with Adonis he sent letters and a present to Hezekiah by his ambassadors which was always usual in embassies and visits and still is in the eastern countries the purport of which embassy was to congratulate him upon his recovery and to inquire concerning the miracle that was wrought in his land either the destruction of the Assyrian army in one night by an angel or rather the suns going back ten degrees 2Ch_3231 and as Josephus (c) says to enter into an alliance with him and this seems to be the true reason of sending these ambassadors or the king of Babylon had lately fallen off from the Assyrian monarch and therefore was desirous of entering into a league with Hezekiah the king of Assyrias enemy in order to strengthen himself against him and secure his liberty he had just gained for he had heard that he had been sick and was recovered which both gives a reason of the embassy and points at the time when it was very probably the same year of his sickness and recovery

4 HENRY 1-4 ldquoHence we may learn these lessons - 1 That humanity and common civility

teach us to rejoice with our friends and neighbours when they rejoice and to congratulate them

on their deliverances and particularly their recoveries from sickness The king of Babylon

having heard that Hezekiah had been sick and had recovered sent to compliment him upon the

occasion If Christians be unneighbourly heathens will shame them 2 It becomes us to give

honour to those whom our God puts honour upon The sun was the Babylonians god and when

they understood that it was with a respect to Hezekiah that the sun to their great surprise went

back ten degrees on such a day they thought themselves obliged to do Hezekiah all the honour

they could Will all people thus walk in the name of their God and shall not we 3 Those that do

not value good men for their goodness may yet be brought to pay them great respect by other

inducements and for the sake of their secular interests The king of Babylon made his court to

Hezekiah not because he was pious but because he was prosperous as the Philistines coveted

an alliance with Isaac because they saw the Lord was with him Gen_2628 The king of Babylon

was an enemy to the king of Assyria and therefore was fond of Hezekiah because the Assyrians

were so much weakened by the power of his God 4 It is a hard matter to keep the spirit low in

the midst of great advancements Hezekiah is an instance of it he was a wise and good man but

when one miracle after another was wrought in his favour he found it hard to keep his heart

from being lifted up nay a little thing then drew him into the snare of pride Blessed Paul

himself needed a thorn in the flesh to keep him from being lifted up with the abundance of revelations 5 We have need to watch over our own spirits when we are showing our friends our

possessions what we have done and what we have got that we be not proud of them as if our

might or our merit had purchased and procured us this wealth When we look upon our

enjoyments and have occasion to speak of them it must be with humble acknowledgements of

our own unworthiness and thankful acknowledgements of Gods goodness with a just value for

the achievements of others and with an expectation of losses and changes not dreaming that our

mountain stands so strong but that it may soon be moved 6 It is a great weakness for good men

to value themselves much upon the civil respects that are paid them (yea though there be

something particular and uncommon in them) by the children of this world and to be fond of

their acquaintance What a poor thing was it for Hezekiah whom God has so dignified to be

thus over proud of the respect paid him by a heathen prince as if that added any thing to him

We ought to return the courtesies of such with interest but not to be proud of them 7 We must

expect to be called to an account for the workings of our pride though they are secret and in

such instances as we thought there was no harm in and therefore we ought to call ourselves to

an account for them and when we have had company with us that have paid us respect and

been pleased with their entertainment and commended every thing we ought to be jealous over

ourselves with a godly jealousy lest our hearts have been lifted up As far as we see cause to

suspect that this sly and subtle sin of pride has insinuated itself into our breasts and mingled

itself with our conversation let us be ashamed of it and as Hezekiah here ingenuously confess

it and take shame to ourselves for it

5 JAMISON ldquoHence we may learn these lessons - 1 That humanity and common civility






































6 KampD ldquoFrom this point onwards the text of the book of Kings (2Ki_2012-19 cf 2Ch_3224-31) runs parallel to the text before us Babylonian ambassadors have an interview with the convalescent king of Judah ldquoAt that time Merodach Baladan (K Berodach Baladan) son of Baladan king of Babel sent writings and a present to Hizkiyahu and heard (K for he had heard) that he (K Hizkiyahu) had been sick and was restored againrdquo The two texts here

share the original text between them Instead of the unnatural וampשמע (which would link the cause

on to the effect as in 2Sa_145) we should read י שמע( whereas וampחזק in our text appears to be

the genuine word out of which חזקיהו in the other text has sprung although it is not

indispensable as החל has a pluperfect sense In a similar manner the name of the king of

Babylon is given here correctly as ךמראד (Nissel ךמרד without א as in Jer_502) whilst the book

of Kings has 3ראד (according to the Masora with א) probably occasioned by the other name Bala6

da8n which begins with Beth It cannot be maintained that the words benBala6da8n are a mistake

at the same time Bala6da8n (Jos Baladas) evidently cannot be a name by itself if Meroltdakh Bala6da8

n signifies ldquoMerodach (the Babylonian Bel or Jupiter)

(Note Rawlinson Monarchies i 169)

filium deditrdquo

(Note Oppert Expeacutedition ii 355) In the Canon Ptol Mardokempados is preceded by a Jugaeus and the inscriptions according to G Rawlinson Mon ii 395 indicate Merodach-Baladan as the ldquoson of Yakinrdquo They relate that

the latter acknowledged Tiglath-pileser as his feudal lord that after reigning twelve years as a vassal he rose in rebellion against Sargon in league with the Susanians and the Aramaean tribes above Babylonia and lost everything except his life that he afterwards rebelled against Sennacherib in conjunction with a Chaldean prince named Susub just after Sennacherib had returned from his first

(Note The inscription is mention two campaigns)

Judaean campaign to Nineveh and that having been utterly defeated he took refuge in an island of the Persian Gulf He does not make his appearance any more but Susub escaped from his place of concealment and being supported by the Susanians and certain Aramaean tribes fought a long and bloody battle with Sennacherib on the Lower Tigris this battle he lost and Nebo-som-iskun a son of Merodach Baladan fell into the hands of the conqueror In the midst of these details as given by the inscriptions the statement of the Can Ptol may still be maintained according to which the twelve years of Mardokempados (a contraction as Ewald supposes of Mardokempalados) commence with the year 721 From this point onwards the biblical and extra-biblical accounts dovetail together whereas in Polyhistor (Eus chron arm) the following Babylonian rulers are mentioned ldquoa brother of Sennacherib Acises who reigned hardly a month Merodach Baladan six months Elibus into the third year Asordan Sennacheribs son who was made king after the defeat of Elibusrdquo Now as the Can Ptolem also gives a Belibos with a three years reign the identity of Mardokempados and Marodach Baladan is indisputable The Can Ptol seems only to take into account his legitimate reign as a vassal and Polyhistor (from Berosus) only his last act of rebellion At the same time this is very far from removing all the difficulties that lie in the way of a reconciliation more especially the chronological difficulties Rawlinson who places the commencement of the (second) Judaean campaign in the year 698 and therefore transfers it to the end of the twenty-ninth year of Hezekiahs reign instead of the middle sets himself in opposition not only to Isa_361 but also to Isa_385 and 2Ki_182 According to the biblical accounts as compared with the Can Ptol the embassy must have been sent by Merodach Baladan during the period of his reign as vassal which commenced in the year 721 Apparently it had only the harmless object of congratulating the king upon his recovery (and also according to 2Ch_3231 of making some inquiry in the

interests of Chaldean astrology into the moltpheltth connected with the sun-dial) but it certainly

had also the secret political object of making common cause with Hezekiah to throw off the Assyrian yoke All that can be maintained with certainty beside this is that the embassy cannot have been sent before the fourteenth year of Hezekiahs reign for as he reigned twenty-nine years his illness must have occurred according to Isa_385 in the fourteenth year itself ie the seventh year of Mardokempados Such questions as whether the embassy came before or after the Assyrian catastrophe which was till in the future at the time referred to in Isa_384-6 or whether it came before or after the payment of the compensation money to Sennacherib (2Ki_1814-16) are open to dispute In all probability it took place immediately before the Assyrian campaign

(Note A reviewer in the Theol L Bl 1857 p 12 inquires ldquoHow could the prophet have known that all that Hezekiah showed to the Babylonian ambassador would one day be brought to Babylon when in a very short time these treasures would all have been given by Hezekiah to the king of Assyriardquo Answer The prophecy is so expressed in Isa_396-7 that this intervening occurrence does not prejudice its truth at all)

as Hezekiah was still able to show off the abundance of his riches to the Babylonian ambassadors

7 CALVIN ldquo1At that time Some think that this was the first king of the Chaldee nation for his

father Baladin had held the government over the Babylonians without the title of king This Merodach

therefore after having reigned twelve years subdued the Assyrians and made them tributaries to the

Chaldeans for it is a mistake to suppose that the war was begun by Nebuchadnezzar It is indeed

possible that he completed the subjugation of them but it is probable that already they were half

subdued so that nothing else remained than to establish the royal power gained by the victory of his

predecessor

Sent letters and a present to Hezekiah Although the Prophet simply relates that messengers were sent

yet it is of importance to observe that this was done craftily by the Babylonian in order to flatter and

cajole Hezekiah He was at this time threatening the Assyrians whom he knew to be justly disliked by the

Jews on account of their continual wars and therefore in order to obtain Hezekiah as an ally and partisan

in the war which was now waging against him endeavors to obtain his friendship by indirect methods

The mind of the good king was corrupted by ambition so that he too eagerly accepted the false

blandishments of the tyrant and swallowed the bait

The pretence was to congratulate Hezekiah on having recovered from his disease And yet sacred

history appears to assign another reason which was that Merodach was induced by a miracle

(2Ch_3231) There is certainly no doubt that the report of that prodigy which took place when the sun

went back was yew widely spread and it might have produced an impression on many nations Yet it can

hardly be believed that a heathen had any other object in view than to draw Hezekiah into his net but

since by a remarkable sign God had shewn that he cared for the safety of Hezekiah and since wicked

men commonly apply to a base purpose all the proofs of Godrsquo favor Merodach thought that if he could

obtain the alliance of Hezekiah he would carry on war under the protection and favor of heaven (98)

The consequence was that he sent messengers to Hezekiah with presents for the sake of expressing

his good-will for he wished to obtain his favor believing that his friendship would be useful and

advantageous to him and his intention was to make use of him afterwards against the Assyrians to

whom he knew well that the Jews entertained a deadly hatred Such are the designs of kings and princes

to transact their affairs by fraud and craftiness and bysome means to gain as many allies as possible

that they may employ their exertions against their enemies

(98) ldquoQue la guerre qursquo entreprendoit de faire auroit heureuse issue et seroit benite du cielrdquo ldquo war which

he carried on would have a successful result and would be blest of heavenrdquo

8 PULPIT ldquoThis chapter is parallel with 2Ki_2012-19 and scarcely differs from it at all Verse I has the additional words and was recovered 2Ki_202 the phrase was glad of them for hearkened unto them 2Ki_205 Lord of hosts for Lord simply and 2Ki_208 makes Hezekiahs last utterance an observation instead of a question Otherwise the two accounts are almost word for word the same Both relate the novel and important fact of ambassadors being sent to Hezekiah by the King of Babylon shortly after his illness and tell of the reception which he gave them of the message which Isaiah was commissioned to deliver to him from God in consequence and of Hezekiahs acquiescence in the terms of the message when it was conveyed to him The Isaianic authorship of the chapter is much disputed but solely from reluctance to admit that a prophet could predict the subjugation of Judaea by Babylon more than a century before the event

Isa_391 At that time The embassy probably followed the illness of Hezekiah within a year Merodach-Baladan This is a more correct form than the Berodach-Baladan of 2Ki_2012 The name is one common to several Babylonian kings as to one who reigned about bc 1325 to a second who is placed about bc 900 and to a third who was contemporary with the Assyrian kings Sargon and Sennacherib It is this last of whom we have a notice in the present passage He appears first in the Assyrian inscriptions as a petty prince ruling a small tract upon the seacoast about the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates Tiglath-Pileser takes tribute front him about bc 744 In bc 721 we find him advanced to a more prominent position Taking advantage of the troubles of the time he shakes off the Assyrians yoke and makes himself King of Babylon where he has a reign of twelve yearsmdashfrom bc 721 to bc 709 This reign is recognized by Sargon in his inscriptions and by the Greek chronologist Ptolemy in his Canon In bc 709 Sargon leads an expedition against him and drives him out of Babylonia into the coast-tract Chaldea where he besieges him in his ancestral town Bit-Yakin takes the city and makes him prisoner On the death of Sargon in bc 705 Merodach-Baladan escapes from confinement and hastens once more to Babylon where he is acknowledged as king and has a second reign which lasts six months (Alex Polyhist ap Euseb Chronicles Can 1 5 sect 1) He is then driven from the country by Sennacherib and after various vicissitudes obliged to become a refugee in Elam The name of Merodach-Baladau is composed of the three elements Merodach (equivalent to Marduk) the god bal or pal son and iddina has given and thus signifies Merodach has given (me) a son The son of Baladan Baladan is scarcely a possible Babylonian name Beladan would however be quite possible being a name formed on the model of Ishtardddin Ninip-iddin Ilu-iddin etc And the corruption of Beladan into Baladan would be easy Merodach-Baladan III is called by Sargon the son of Yakin but this is perhaps a tribal or local rather than a personal name Compare Jehus appellation of son of Omri Sent letters and a present to Hezekiah Hezekiahs fourteenth year was bc 714 Merodach-Baladan had then been King of Babylon for eight years and knowing that he might at any time be attacked by Sargon was naturally looking out for alliances with other powers which Assyria equally threatened He had recently concluded a treaty with Khumbanigas King of Elam and had obtained the support of several of the Aramaean tribes on the Euphrates He now apparently thought that Judaea which Sargon was also threatening (ch 386) might be induced to join him Hezekiahs illness and the wonder done in the land (2Ch_3231) furnished him with pretexts for an embassy which probably had more serious objects than either congratulation or scientific inquiry

9 W KELLY ldquoThis chapter it would seem owes its place here chiefly as a basis for the very weighty

place which Babylon (whither Judah was going into captivity) holds in the controversy which Jehovah

had with His people Hezekiah had not walked softly when the ambassadors of Merodach-baladan

came to congratulate him but had sunk to their level Wherefore Jehovah sent the threat of sure

judgement All that Davids son in his vanity had spread before the eyes of the strangers should be

swept into the city of confusion the chastiser of Jerusalems idolatry only it should not fall in the

days of the pious king notwithstanding his failure

At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan king of Babylon sent a letter and a present to

Hezekiah for he 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

oil and all the house of his armour 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 to thee And

Hezekiah said They are come from a far country to me from Babylon Then said he What have they

seen in thine house And Hezekiah answered All that [is] in my house have they seen there is

nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah Hear the word

of Jehovah of hosts Behold days come when all that [is] in thy house and [that] which thy fathers

have laid up in store until this day shall be carried to Babylon nothing shall be left saith Jehovah

And of thy sons that shall issue from thee whom thou shalt beget shall they take away and they

shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah Good [is] the

word of Jehovah which thou hast spoken And he said For there shall be peace and truth in my days

(vv 1-8)

The chapter is of special interest as the first plain indication in later times of a power destined to

overthrow the mighty kingdom of Assyria to be then set up by the God of heaven after the conquest

of Jerusalem in the imperial seat of the world as thenceforward an unrivalled king of kings It was as

yet the struggle of a province to be independent This very man whose name has been recognised in

the Assyrian inscriptions as well as in a fragment of Polyhistor (Euseb Chron Can i v 1) and in

Ptolemys Canon sustained two contests with the power of Assyria was twice defeated and twice

compelled to fly his country His sons supported by the king of Elam or Susiana continued the

struggle and are found among the adversaries of Esar-Haddon Sennacheribs son and successor His

grandsons contend against Asshurbani-pal the son of Esar-Haddon It is not till the fourth generation

that the family seems to become extinct and the Babylonians having no champion to maintain their

cause contentedly acquiesce in the yoke of the stranger (Canon Rawlinson in Smiths Dictionary of

the Bible ii 332)

This outline by a competent hand may serve to show what an enormous gap of circumstances yet

more than of time severed the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar from him who sent his envoys to

Hezekiah still more from that Babylon whose downfall from the haughtiest seat on earth was

announced long before by Isaiah in two of his most remarkable burdens (Isa 13 - 14 and Isa 21)

But all was proved the more to be before God Who deigned to disclose the end from the beginning

On every ground Hezekiah should have known better whereas he forgot even the lessons of his

sickness as well as of Gods dealing with Sennacheribs hosts indulged in the things of men and sunk

to the level of a worldly politician But at least the solemn rebuke of Jehovah through Isaiah recalled

him humbly to accept the divine word with his wonted piety and thanksgiving of which rationalism

has no experience and so with evil eye sees nothing but despicable egotism in a soul that judged self

and bowed to God

Reviewing the parenthetic history of Isa 36-39 the believer can but acknowledge the divine wisdom

of their place between the first great division of the prophecy and the last None could be so suited to

the work of introducing them at this point than the inspired waiter of the entire book Although

strictly historical they are very much more for they are instinct with prophecy and on the judicial

check given to Assyria prepare for the prominence given ere long to Babylon little as this was then

expected as the agent for sweeping Judah and the house of David into captivity But they adumbrate

also the Son of David and Davids Lord Who instead of being sick and healed would go down for

Gods glory and in His grace beyond all thought of man Into death most real as an offering for sin yet

rise again and make good an everlasting covenant for the blessing of Israel and all the earth when

kings shall stop their mouths at Him once marred more than any then exalted and high exceedingly

Striking it is to read in Isa_354 Behold your God vengeance cometh (which in no way

characterises the gospel but the future kingdom fully) the recompense of God He will come himself

and save you and in Isa_409-10 Behold your God Behold the Lord Jehovah will come with might

and his arm shall rule for him behold his reward is with him and his recompense before him The

same Spirit the same hand wrote both passages

10 COFFMAN ldquoHere we have the conclusion of the historical section relating Hezekiahs vanity in the display of his wealth to Merodach-Baladans ambassadors the Lords rebuke through Isaiah and the predictive prophecy that Babylon would be the power that would capture Jerusalem loot the city and deport the royal family to Babylon The short chapter ends with the submissive resignation of Hezekiah to the fate of his beloved city and the personal rejoicing that he would not live to see the disastrous prophecy fulfilled Also he found great comfort in the assured time-lapse before the promised fulfillment of it

The great thing in the chapter of course is the clear graphic prediction of the Babylonian captivity which in consideration of Isaiahs oft-repeated mention of the remnant that would return conclusively shows that this prophecy of the Babylonian captivity had long been anticipated but only here is it boldly and emphatically declared To be sure many critical writers refuse to admit that Isaiah wrote this but as Rawlinson pointed out this denial is caused Solely by their reluctance to admit that a prophet could predict the subjugation of Judah by Babylon more than a century before the event[1] The judicial darkening of the human intelligence is clearly visible in such illogical unwillingness to see predictive prophecy here The prophecy is wedged into the historical situation so skillfully carries so many dramatic particulars and so certainly belongs to the century preceding the events prophesied that there cannot possibly be any reasons whatever for alleging that the prophecy is a post eventum prediction

As Hailey suggested the only difficult thing about this chapter is the problem of dating it Rawlinson set it in the year 714 BC[2] Cheyne located it in the era of Sargons invasion[3] D J Wiseman placed it in the year 705 BC[4] We fully agree with Hailey who wrote that Determining dates for events in this chapter is beyond our ability[5]Nevertheless it is appropriate to ask What difference does it make We are certain of the approximate time and the exact date makes no difference at all

Despite the uncertainty regarding the exact dates involved here there are a few facts which we believe shed light on exactly why this uncertainty persists There is hardly any event in these historical chapters that can be nailed down chronologically with absolute certainty

Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan king of Babylon (Isaiah 391) Cheyne believed that there were two monarchs of this name one ruling in the period of Sargons invasions of Judah and the other during the period of Sennacheribs invasions Merodach-baladan was not an uncommon name of Babylonian kings[6] Thus there is the problem of just which Merodach-baladan sent this embassy to Hezekiah Furthermore Merodach-baladans kingship of Babylon was ended in 710 BC when Sargon removed him[7] It should be noted in this connection that our text flatly declares that Merodach-baladan was king of Babylon

Now take the reign of Hezekiah Neither the beginning of it nor the end of it is actually dated in scripture It seems best to assume that Hezekiah was co-regent with Ahaz from circa 729 BC becoming sole king circa 716 BC[8]

The end of Hezekiahs reign is just as uncertain His son Manasseh was probably Co-regent with him from 696 to 686 BC[9]

Even the invasions of Judah are not at all certainly documented as to their dates In fact Sargon in inscriptions claims to have conquered Judah but the Bible makes no mention of such a conquest

In view of all these facts there is little wonder that scholars do not know exactly what date to assign to some given event in these chapters For example in the sixth year of the reign of some monarch means nothing at all unless the knowledge of just when that reign started is also available

After all the big thing here is not exactly when the events of this chapter occurred but that they did occur and that they precipitated the great prophecy of the Babylonian captivity of Israel Here we turn our attention to the text itself

11 Hezekiahs failure in ch 39 is not the result of any fault that was peculiar to him alone Any of us

would fail in exactly the same way if deprived of the Lords presence As the Lord told his disciples

after commanding them to abide in him ldquowithout me ye can do nothingrdquo (Joh 155)

God choose for this test the most righteous king of the Old Covenant one who ldquoclave to the LORD

and departed not from following him but kept his commandmentsrdquo (1 Kings 186) in a way unlike any

king of Judah before or since This passage is thus a cornerstone for the teaching of the new covenant

It shows us the limits of the old covenant and the tremendous power of the new the linkage between

the indwelling Holy Spirit and our ability to walk in Gods statutes and keep his commandments

070610 Copyright copy 2010 H Van Dyke Parunak All Rights Reserved Page 17

May be freely reprinted noncommercially with attribution and citation of wwwcyber-chapelorg

12 BI ldquoMerodach-baladan

Marduk-apal-iddina son of Yakin is the Chaldean ruler who more than any other vassal embittered the life of the Assyrian suzerain because as a rival suzerain he was always renouncing obedience to one whom he felt to be a disgrace to the ancient renown of his country Lenormant in his Anfangen der Cultur has devoted a beautiful essay to him under the title ldquoA Babylonian Patriot of the Eighth Century BCrdquo The chief matter told about him by the monuments is this In the year 731 he did homage at Sapiya to the Assyrian ruler Tiglath-pileser IV In Sargonrsquos first year (721) he who was properly king of South Babylonia only brought also North Chaldea into the range of his rule war ensued but although beaten he still maintained himself on the throne and from that time count the twelve years given to him by the Ptolemaic canon as king of Babylon In Sargonrsquos twelfth year (710) he shook off the Assyrian yoke only a year afterwards (709) Sargon succeeded in capturing and burning to ashes the fort Dur-Yakin into which he had thrown himself he himself being required to surrender unconditionally vanished (F Delitzsch D D)

Marduk-apal-iddina

The name means Marduk (written also Maruduk) has given a son (F Delitzsch D D)

The embassy to Hezekiah

The embassy to Hezekiah was in all probability one of those undertaken by Merodach-Baladan for the purpose of providing himself with allies Inasmuch now as there was at this time in Judah a party straining its utmost to combine all elements antagonistic to Assyria there is nothing unreasonable in supposing that some understanding was arrived at between the ambassadors from Babylon and Judah Upon this view of the circumstances of the occasion Hezekiahrsquos motive in displaying his treasures will have been to satisfy the embassy that he had resources at his disposal and Isaiahrsquos rebuke gains in significance and force (Prof S R Driver D D)

Hezekiah and the embassy from Babylon

I AFFLICTION OF BODY AND SORROW OF MIND ARE PRONE TO BE FORGOTTEN AND UNIMPROVED BY THOSE WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED THEM 2Ch_3225) The historian says of Hezekiah that ldquohis heart was lifted uprdquo The very deliverances which God wrought for him worked upon his vanitymdashthe special mercies he had received elated his mind What are we without grace

II HEZEKIAH AT THIS TIME WAS ASSAILED BY PECULIAR TEMPTATIONS TO VANITY AND AMBITION (2Ch_3231)

III HEZEKIAH PRESENTS AN INSTANCE OF STRANGE FORGETFULNESS OF DUTY TO OTHERS BY NOT IMPARTING TO THEM RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE

IV HEZEKIAH WAS CONVINCED OF HIS SIN BY THE SPECIAL MESSAGE SENT TO HIM BY GOD THROUGH THE PROPHET

V ALMIGHTY GOD IN THE MIDST OF ALL HUMAN AFFAIRS AND DESPITE THE CONDUCT OF INDIVIDUALS IS CARRYING OUT HIS OWN INFINITE COUNSELS OF WISDOM AND OF LOVE (D K Shoebotham)

Isaiah 394 What have they seen in thine house

The disciple at home

1 The parties of whom the prophets inquired ldquoWhat have they seenrdquo were Babylonians Foreigners aliens from the commonwealth of Israel ignorant of the true God and therefore parties before whom it was specially important to exhibit nothing which was calculated to bring dishonour upon God These strangers might have been greatly edified had they remarked a deeply chastened and humble spirit in the king There is nothing so greatly hinders the propagation of the Christianity of England among foreigners as that practical irreligion which they observe among the English

2 The subject may suggest to us some general reflections upon the kind of aspect which the house of a professing Christian should present to any stranger as a man of the world What would such a man naturally expect to see in a Christianrsquos house Clearly that which he looks for in other housesmdashnamely a general style and conformity with the particular profession orcharacter of the inmates He would reckon upon finding there what St Paul calls ldquothe Church that is in thy houserdquomdashthe pervading air of heavenly-mindedness and the symptoms of devotional exercises in all its sanctified ldquochambers of imageryrdquomdashldquothe treasuresrdquo of parental piety of filial obedience and decorum a well-ordered household extending its influence and sanction like the sacred comprehensions of the law of the Sabbath from the man himself to his son and daughter manservant and maidservant and even cattle and stranger Night and morning it would seem to him to be the natural and consistent rule that the offering of prayer and reading of the Word should be there presented to ldquothe God of all the families of the earthrdquo In every room and chamber of the house the ready Bible should suggest by its silent presence the privilege of secret study of the Holy Scriptures some good books to the use of edifying should strew the tables like little trophies in incidental evidence of the triumph of religion in that place the peace and cheerfulness and mutual harmony of Christian influence should breathe its airs from Heaven on every happy thankful heart the music of habitual concord should sound like an AEolian psalm in every aisle of that homely church and family love the instinctive antepast of the universal love of Heaven should spread the sweet odour of its charity like Aaronrsquos off from the head of the

house down to the very skirts of the living garment with which his blessed heart is clothed This is what the worldly man should see in the house of the Christian but alas is it always to be seen there

1 ldquoWhat have they seen in thine houserdquo Have they seen there the spirit of the world in the shape of expensive apparel or costly furniture or ornaments beyond your means or your station in society A Christian man may adorn his house or apparel his person in moderation with the accustomed decencies of life and even the beautiful things of art for Christianity is no enemy of taste nor patron of vulgarity But when a man of the world observes in a Christian professor that inordinate affectation of style and sumptuousness in furniture and dress which leaves no external mark of difference between ldquohim that serveth God and him that serveth Him notrdquo then such a professing Christian may well tremble for the stability of his principles The ambassadors of the spiritual Babylon are visiting him and they will have to report to their dark master that there is something to seize in the household of his divided heart The remark is equally applicable to the humbler classes Sin is sin and vanity is vanity whether it assume a vulgar or a refined shape

2 ldquoWhat have they seen in thine houserdquo Have they seen the continual eagerness to grasp and hoard up money the absorption of every abused faculty of the mind and every overstrained energy of the body to extend business increase capital and multiply speculations though at the expense of a neglected soul and a forsaken God And is this done in the face of better convictions of duty and responsibility Is the heart becoming hardened as the very metal it grasps so eagerly There is much in the proper and becoming habits of Christian men which is calculated to aid their success in life but this success should not be permitted to become a snare to them

3 ldquoWhat have they seen in thine houserdquo Have they marked the professing disciple of the self-denying religion of Jesus yielding to a habitual fretfulness and irritability at every trifling trial of temper keeping wife children and servants in a perpetual ferment tending to the ultimate exacerbation of every temper in the household Have they seen the man at one time discoursing in quiet tone and serious terms on the meek and lowly one ldquowho when He was reviled reviled not againrdquo at another time terrifying all around him with unrighteous ebullitions of anger The Babylonians the strangers see it and shake their heads saying ldquoDeliver me from that manrsquos religion if it cannot even curb his temperrdquo and thus a stumbling-block is cast in the way that offends some poor ldquoweak brother for whom Christ diedrdquo The children in such a house learn to despise a religion with the remembrance of their early terrors and discomforts and the servants or others employed about it thank God that they have escaped their poor masterrsquos supposed hypocrisy even at the sacrifice of his real Christianity Whereas if on the other hand the irascible spirit were to be seen only to be subdued before them if its occasional outbreak is timely checked and obviously striven against and candidly mourned over if they mark the man struggling against the buffetings of his infirmity and honestly and earnestly doing painful violence to his besetment there is a natural sympathy kindled in their hearts which God may vouchsafe to deepen into the conviction that the religion must be real which could generate such an inward contest and must be influential too which could obtain such I victory

4 ldquoWhat have they seen in thine house Have they seen the immoderate banqueting excess of wine revellings and such likerdquo

5 ldquoWhat have they seen in thine houserdquo Perhaps some of you have been mercifully restored from a serious illness what did those about you see as the effect of your being spared Did they see a thankful man a subdued man a man bearing the spiritual marks of the stripes of the rod of chastisement more in earnest for God less inclined to murmur at his lot to cavil at religious obligations or depreciate spiritual privileges or to lower the personal standard

of Christian life and conversation If the world saw this in your house you have got good yourself and done the world good if they saw it not in whatever degree it was not the visible effect upon you in that proportion you have yourself forfeited the grace of your personal dispensation missed and abused an ordinance of the Lord and wronged your brotherhood

6 And you heads of families who make no profession of religion who have no particular anxieties at stake either way ldquowhat have they seen in your housesrdquo Have they marked no family prayer no godly conversation no effort with the means of moral and evangelical influence Have they seen children growing up in carelessness and irreligion whose parental indulgence provoked that destructive judgment which the real love and tenderness of a timely discipline might have averted If so consider you who have the solemn responsibility of a family of immortal souls laid upon you how Hezekiahrsquos folly was visited upon his children and tremble at the prospect of the heartrending anguish you may be laying up in store for yourselves in the spectacle of an ungodly and abandoned household

7 ldquoWhat have they seen in thine houserdquo Well no matter what they have seen be resolved by the grace of God as to what shall be seen for the time to come (J B Owen M A)

2 Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed

them what was in his storehousesmdashthe silver the gold

the spices the fine olive oilmdashhis entire armory and

everything found among his treasures There was

nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that

Hezekiah did not show them

1BARNES ldquoAnd Hezekiah was glad of them - Possibly he regarded himself as flattered by an embassage from so great a distance and so celebrated a place as Babylon It is certain that he erred in some way in regard to the manner in which he received them and especially in the ostentatious display which he made of his treasures 2Ch_3231

And showed them the house of his precious things - The Septuagint renders this Νεχ

ωθB Necholttha - lsquoThe house of Nechotharsquo retaining the Hebrew word The Margin lsquoSpiceryrsquo The

Hebrew word (נכתה nekotoh) properly means according to Gesenius a contusion a breaking to

pieces hence aromatic powder or spices reduced to powder and then any kind of aromatics

Hence the word here may mean lsquothe house of his spicesrsquo as Aquila Symmachus and the Vulgate translate it or lsquoa treasuryrsquo lsquoa storehousersquo as the Chaldee and the Syriac here render it It was undoubtedly a treasure or store house but it may have taken its name from the fact that it was mainly employed as a place in which to keep spices unguents and the various kinds of aromatics which were used either in public worship or for the purposes of luxury

The silver and the gold - Possibly Hezekiah may have obtained no small quantity of silver and gold from what was left in the camp of the Assyrians It is certain that after he was delivered from danger he was signally prospered and became one of the most wealthy and magnificent monarchs of the east 2Ch_3227-28 lsquoAnd Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honor and he made himself treasuries for silver and for gold and for precious stones and for spices and for shields and for all manner of pleasant jewels storehouses also for the increase of grain and wine and oil and stalls for all manner of beasts and cotes for flocksrsquo A considerable part of this wealth arose from presents which were made to him and from gifts which were made for the service of the temple 2Ch_3223

And the precious ointment - Used for anointing kings and priests Or more probably the ointment here referred to was that which was in more common use to anoint the body after bathing or when they were to appear in public

And all the house of his armor - Margin lsquoVesselsrsquo or lsquoinstrumentsrsquo or lsquojewelsrsquo The word

kelı6y denotes any article of furniture utensil or vessel any trapping instrument or tool כלי

and any implement of war weapon or arms Probably it here refers to the latter and denotes shields swords spears such as were used in war and such as Hezekiah had prepared for defense The phrase is equivalent to our word arsenal (compare 2Ch_3227) Solomon had an extensive arsenal of this description 1Ki_1016-17 and it is probable that these were regarded as a part of the necessary defense of the kingdom

Nor in all his dominion - Everything that contributed to the defense the wealth or the magnificence of his kingdom he showed to them The purpose for which Hezekiah thus showed them all that he had was evidently display In 2Ch_3225 it is stated that lsquoHezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him for his heart was lifted uprsquo and in 2Ch_3231 it is said that in regard to this transaction lsquoGod left him to try him that he might know all that was in his heartrsquo The result showed how much God hates pride and how certainly he will punish all forms of ostentation

2 PULPIT ldquoHezekiah was glad of them A more pregnant phrase than that which replaces it in 2

Kings hearkened unto them Hezekiah like Merodach-Baladan was looking out for allies and was

glad thinking that in Babylon he had found one which might render him important service Sargons

promptness however frustrated his hopes In bc 709 that prince regarding Merodach-Baladans

proceedings as constituting a real danger to his kingdom made a great expedition into Babylonia

defeated Merodach-Baladan and took him prisoner after which he had himself crowned King of Babylon

and during the remainder of his life ruled both countriesShowed them the house of his precious

things ie his treasury or store-house The treasuries of ancient monarchs were actual store-

chambers in which large quantities of the precious metals and valuable objects of various kinds were

deposited (see Herod 2121 Arrian Exp Alex 2Ki_316 2Ki_318 etc) The flourishing state of the

treasury is an indication that the events here narrated are anterior to the great surrender of treasure to

Sennacherib All the house of his armour (comp Isa_228) If a warlike alliance was contemplated it

was as important to show the possession of arms as of treasures There was nothing in his house nor in

all his dominion that Hezekiah showed them not We must allow for Oriental hyperbole The meaning is

that without any reserve Hezekiah showed all that he could show

3 GILL ldquoAnd Hezekiah was glad of them Not of the presents for he was very rich and stood in no need of them nor does it appear that he was covetous but of the ambassadors and of the honour that was done him in having such sent to him from such a prince his sin was vain glory and because he might hope that such a powerful ally would be a security to him against any after attempt of the king of Assyria in which he was guilty of another sin vain confidence or trusting in an arm of flesh and being lifted up with pride that his name was become so famous abroad and that he had got so good an ally and in order to ingratiate himself the more into his esteem and favour he showed these his ambassadors the house of his precious things where his jewels and precious stones lay and where were the silver and the gold large quantities of not only which he and his predecessors had laid up which had been very lately greatly exhausted by the demand of three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold by the king of Assyria to answer which Hezekiah had given all the silver in the temple and in the treasures of the kings house and was so drove by necessity that he cut off the gold from the doors and pillars of the temple 2Ki_1814 so that it might be reasonable to ask how came he so soon by all this treasure it is possible that some part of the royal treasure might be unalienable and he might have since received presents from his own nobles and from foreign princes but this was chiefly from the spoils found in the Assyrian camp after the angel had made such a slaughter of them 2Ki_1935 as a learned (d) man observes and the spices and precious ointment which as Jarchi notes some say were oil of olives others the balsam which grew in Jericho great quantities of this with other spices were laid up in store for use as occasion should require and all the house of his armour where were all his military stores shields swords spears arrows ampc and all that was found in his treasures in other places there was nothing in his house in his royal palace nor in all his dominion that was rare curious and valuable that Hezekiah showed them not even the book of the law as Jarchi says

4 PULPIT 2-8 ldquoCarnal joy the prelude to spiritual sorrow

The Babylonian embassy a grand affair doubtless comprising envoys in their rich clothing and with their

jewelled arms camels bearing valuable gifts prancing steeds and a vast train of slaves and attendants

was to Hezekiah an inspiriting fact a circumstance that gladdened and excited him With his imperfect

knowledge of geography the embassy seemed to him to come from the furthest limits of the earths

circuitmdashfrom a remote almost from an unknown region (Isa_393) He had hitherto not thought of

attempting negotiations with any power further distant than Egypt If the far-off Babylon courted his

alliance where might he not expect to find friends from what remote quarter might he not look for

overtures What wonder that his heart was lifted up (2Ch_3225) that he rejoiced though with a carnal

joy that had no substantial spiritual basis Isaiah had warned him against all arms of flesh Isaiah had

bidden him trust in the Lord Jehovah and in Jehovah only No doubt he had been especially warned

against Egypt but all the reasons that were valid against Egypt were valid against Babylon also Babylon

was as idolatrous as Egypt Babylon was as licentious as Egypt Babylon was as selfish in her aims as

Egypt Hezekiahs joy was thus a purely carnal joy a rejoicing in his own honour and in the prospect of

material aid from a tainted source In the midst of his joy the prophet announces himself What said

those men he sternly asks Whence came they What have they seen Ah they have seen thy

treasures have they All of them Thou thinkest those treasures will make them thy friends Nay they

will make them thy bitterest enemies It will not be forgotten at Babylon that thy temple and thy treasure-

house are worth plundering The days will come when all the wealth of thy house and of the temple and

of the holy city will be carried off to enrich that city The days will come when thou wilt have disgrace from

Babylon instead of honour Thy descendantsmdashthey that have issued from thy loinsmdashwill serve the King of

Babylon will be eunuchs doing the menial offices in his palace In a moment the kings joy is gone and

replaced by sorrow It is with a saddened spirit that he submits and acquiesces in his punishment Good

is the word of the Lordmdashhe spares even when he punishes he chastens me with a milder chastening

than I deserved at his handsmdashin his wrath he remembereth mercy (Hab_32)

5 JAMISON ldquoglad mdash It was not the mere act but the spirit of it which provoked God (2Ch_3225) ldquoHezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him for his heart was lifted uprdquo also compare 2Ch_3231 God ldquotriesrdquo His people at different times by different ways bringing out ldquoall that is in their heartrdquo to show them its varied corruptions Compare David in a similar case (1Ch_211-8)

precious things mdash rather ldquothe house of his (aromatic) spicesrdquo from a Hebrew root to ldquobreak to piecesrdquo as is done to aromatics

silver gold mdash partly obtained from the Assyrian camp (Isa_334) partly from presents (2Ch_3223 2Ch_3227-29)

precious ointment mdash used for anointing kings and priests

armour mdash or else vessels in general the parallel passage (2Ch_3227) ldquotreasuries for shieldsrdquo favors English Version His arsenal

6 KampD ldquoldquoAnd Hezekiah rejoiced (K heard which is quite inappropriate) concerning them and showed them (K all) his storehouse the silver and the gold and the spices and the fine

oil (hassha8menK shemen) and all his arsenal and all that was in his treasures there was

nothing that Hezekiah had not shown them in his house or in all his kingdomrdquo Although there

were spices kept in נכת 3ית נכת is not equivalent to נכאת (from נכא to break to pieces to

pulverize) which is applied to gum-dragon and other drugs but is the niphal נכת from ות( (piel

Arab kayyata to cram full related to (נכס) נכס ()יס) )וס and possibly also to תם( katama (Hitzig

Knobel Fuumlrst) and consequently it does not mean ldquothe house of his spicesrdquo as Aquila Symmachus and the Vulgate render it but his ldquotreasure-house or storehouserdquo (Targ Syr

Saad) It differs however from beltth keltilim the wood house of Lebanon (Isa_228) He was able

to show them all that was worth seeing ldquoin his whole kingdomrdquo inasmuch as it was all concentrated in Jerusalem the capital

7 CALVIN ldquo2And Hezekiah was glad The Prophet performs the part of the historian for he merely

relates what Hezekiah did and will afterwards explain why he did it that is that Hezekiah blinded by

ambition made an ostentatious display to the messengers while he censures an improper kind of joy

which afterwards gave rise to an eager desire of treating them in a friendly manner

Any person who shall barely read this history will con-elude that Hezekiah did nothing wrong for it was an

act of humanity to give a cheerful and hospitable reception to the messengers and to shew them every

proof of good-will and it would have been the act of a barbarian to disdain those who had come to him on

a friendly visit and to spurn the friendship of so powerful a king But still there lurked in his heart a desire

of vain ostentation for he wished to make a favorable display of himself that the Babylonian might be led

to understand that this alliance would not be without advantage to him and might ascertain this from his

wealth and forces and weapons of war He deserved to be reproved on another ground that he directed

his mind to foreign and unlawful aid and to that extent denied honor to God whom he had recently

known to be his deliverer on two occasions for otherwise the Prophet would not have censured this act

so severely

This is a remarkable example and it teaches us that nothingrsquo is more dangerous than to be blinded by

prosperity It proves also the truth of the old proverb that ldquo is more difficult to bear prosperity than

adversityrdquo for when everything goes on to our wish we grow wanton and insolent and cannot be kept in

the path of duty by any advices or threatenings When this happened to Hezekiah on whom the Prophet

had bestowed the high commendation that ldquo fear of God was his treasurerdquo (Isa_336) we ought to be

very much afraid of falling into the same dangers He is carried away by idle boasting and does not

remember that formerly he was half-dead and that God rescued him from death by an extraordinary

miracle Formerly he made a solemn promise that he would continually celebrate the praises of God in

the assembly of the godly (Isa_3820) and now when he sees that his friendship is sought and that a

powerful monarch sends to salute him he forgets God and the benefits which he had received from him

When we see that this good kingrsquo so quickly falls and is carried away by ambition let us learn to lay upon

ourselves the restraint of modesty which will keep us constantly and diligently in the fear of God

8 PULPIT ldquoThe sin of presuming

And Hezekiah was glad of them and showed them the house of his precious things Presumption is

taking the ordering of our lives into our own hands without consulting God or remembering our

dependence on him It is the sin to which kings and rulers and men of masterful dispositions are specially

exposed Therefore David prayed so earnestly Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins let

them not have dominion over me The singular thing and the suggestive thing in the case of Hezekiah is

that he took the insulting Assyrian letter and at once spread it before the Lord Trouble drove him at once

to God but flattery disarmed him and he acted without consulting God Not without good reason is it

urged that prosperity is a severer test of character than adversity that woe is unto us when all men

speak well of us and that added years after a serious illness are oftentimes a very doubtful blessing The

writer of the Chronicles (2Ch_3225) helps us to read the heart of Hezekiah He says that Isaiah was

displeased with him because his heart was lifted up Vanity is indicated in this exhibition of all his

treasures Cheyne finds all the excuse that can be found for Hezekiah He says Was it merely vanity

which prompted the king thus to throw open his treasuries Surely not It was to satisfy the emissaries of

Baladan that Hezekiah had considerable resources and was worthy of becoming his ally on equal terms

To Isaiah as a prophet of Jehovah the kings fault was principally in allowing himself to be courted by a

foreign potentate as if it were not true that Jehovah had founded Zion and that the afflicted of his

people could find refuge therein Matthew Henry says of Hezekiah He was a wise and good man but

when one miracle after another was wrought in his favour he found it hard to keep his heart from being

lifted up nay a little thing then drew him into the snare of pride Blessed Paul himself needed a thorn in

the flesh to keep him from being lifted up with the abundance of revelations The sin of presumption is a

more common and a more serious sill than we are wont to consider it It is one that finds frequent

illustration in Holy Scripture The sin that lost Eden was presumption Jacobs grasping at the birthright

was presumption Moses smiting the rock twice was presumption Sauls forcing himself to sacrifice when

Samuel tarried was presumption Davids numbering the people was presumption Peter striking off the

ear of Malchus was presumption These are but specimen cases readily recalled A careful estimate of

many sins will reveal presumption at the root of them Still if we read our lives aright we shall find that we

are constantly presuming on what God would have us to do and acting without making due inquiries of

him

I TEMPTATIONS TO PRESUMPTION

1 These come partly out of natural disposition There is an evil of over-meekness sometimes we find a

lack of energy and self-assertion which prevents men from impressing themselves on any sphere of life

which they may be called to occupy But there is much more frequently the evil of over-assertion that

belongs to energetic enterprising natures that take life with a strong grip Many men cannot wait They

form their judgments quickly and want them immediately acted on And such persons are constantly

tempted to presume If good men they act first and ask of God the approval of their actions Oftentimes

this strong self-willedness is a hereditary disposition which the Christian spirit has to battle with and

overcome Oftentimes it is sadly fostered by the pettings of childhood and the false education of youth

and then it is the serious confirmed evil that is hardly overcome even in a lifelong struggle

2 The temptations come partly out of circumstances In the desperateness of business pressure the

almost bankrupt man presumes on his friends acts wilfully and even brings others down in his ruin But

circumstances of success prove even greater temptations Nebuchadnezzar is the type of the presumers

as he stands in the midst of his city saying Is not this great Babylon that I have built

II SIN OF PRESUMPTION

1 It is sin against mans creaturehood Man is not an independent being He cannot stand alone No

man can keep alive his own soul He has nothing of his own Then he has no right to presume

2 It is a sin against a mans childhood Parents have to repress this spirit in their children because it is

subversive of true home-life And so must the great Father

3 It is especially sin in man as redeemed Because as redeemed man is the humbled sinner who is

made a monument of grace and ought to walk humbly with God always coming after him and never

pressing on before The evil of this sin is seen in the deterioration of Christian character which follows

whenever it is indulged

III PUNISHMENT OF PRESUMPTION Usually this comes by the failure of the self-willed plans or the

sad results that follow the self willed course that is taken In the case of Hezekiah God sends a vision of

what will follow out of that embassy of which the king was so proud It was the thin end of a wedge

Driven home by-and-by it meant the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of Judah by those very

Babylonians Hezekiah boasted in order to get a worldly alliance His boastings excited cupidity which

presently led to the carrying away of the exhibited treasures Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed

lest he fall into the sin of presumptionmdashRT

9 COFFMAN ldquoThe proper understanding of what happened here must be derived from what is recorded in 2 Chronicles 322526 After his illness Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefits done unto him for his heart was lifted up therefore there was wrath upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that the wrath of Jehovah came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah

Haileys comment here is appropriate

Hezekiahs ancestor David had yielded to the lust of the flesh and Solomon had yielded to vanity and pomp and now Hezekiah one of Judahs most admired kings had yielded to flattery and pride The flesh is terribly weak[10]

Human beings are simply not structured to be rulers The old proverb that Power corrupts and total power corrupts totally has grown out of the distilled experience of mankind throughout the ages

The flourishing state of Hezekiahs treasury cannot help us with the problem of the date because his treasury was full not only before Sennacherib exacted that huge tribute but again after the recovery of all that loot and more upon the death of the Assyrian army

Before leaving these two verses it should be noted that the occasion of this visit from Babylon was the recovery of Hezekiah also an inquiry into that astronomical miracle which had accompanied it (2 Chronicles 3231) This strongly indicates that the miracle was not a worldwide event but one localized in Jerusalem Behind this however the scheme of the Babylonian monarch to form an alliance with Hezekiah looms as the principal reason for the visit

10 2 And Hezekiah was glad of them--That is he found pleasure in them They were the object of his

joy Its not hard to understand why since it would be very flattering to receive an embassy from such a

far distance

and shewed 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 armour and all that was found in his treasures there

was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah shewed them not--The Chronicler

offers an expanded description of the prosperity that Hezekiah enjoyed

2Ch 3227-29 And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour and he made himself

treasuries for silver and for gold and for precious stones and for spices and for shields and

for all manner of pleasant jewels 28 Storehouses also for the increase of corn and wine and

oil and stalls for all manner of beasts and cotes for flocks 29 Moreover he provided him cities

and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance for God had given him substance very much

The wealth he had available to show the Babylonians is taken by some as evidence that the illness and

subsequent visit preceded the Assyrian invasion since

2Ki 1815-16 Hezekiah gave [Sennacherib] all the silver that was found in the house of the

LORD and in the treasures of the kings house 16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold

from the doors of the temple of the LORD and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah

had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria

But note

bull The only item Hezekiah took from his personal treasury at that time was silver The gold came

from the temple which he did not show to the Babylonians

bull Hezekiah would have been enriched by the spoil of the defeated Assyrian army as promised in

Isaiah ch 33

331 when thou shalt cease to spoil thou shalt be spoiled

334 And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller

3323 then is the prey of a great spoil divided the lame take the prey

bull In addition 2 Chr 3223 describes the gifts brought by other nations after the defeat of Assyria

2Ch 3222-23 Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the

hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all other and guided them

on every side 23 And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem and

presents to Hezekiah king of Judah so that he was magnified in the sight of all

nations from thenceforth

In fact if his riches included the spoil of the Assyrians and the tribute of other nations he would

naturally be motivated even more strongly to show it to the ambassadors ldquoThis ring came from the

hand of an Assyrian general these golden bowls were a personal present from the Egyptian Pharaohrdquo

A godly person always seeks parallels between his life and episodes that the Holy Spirit has recorded in


May be freely reprinted noncommercially with attribution and citation of wwwcyber-chapelorg Isaiah 38-39

Compare first the motives for the visits In both cases the visitor has heard of something

remarkable

Solomons wisdom the wonder in Jerusalem of the reversed shadow in connection with

Hezekiahs

healing The historian in 1 Kings 10 adds his own note that Solomons fame actually

belongs to the

Lord because Solomons wisdom was due to the Lord (1 Kings 312) In both cases the

visitors come

with an open heart impressed at the news they have heard and eager for an explanation

Next compare what the king shows his visitor Solomon like Hezekiah shows his visitor all

his

glory But the climax of the tour has no parallel in Hezekiahs history ldquohis ascent by which

he went up

unto the house of the LORDrdquo (v 5) Solomon crowned the entire exhibit by drawing her

attention to the

fact that he was a worshiper of the Lord He gave the Lord the glory for his

accomplishments

How easy it would have been for Hezekiah to follow Solomons example Yet without Gods

presence

the flesh takes over He behaves as though God were completely out of the picture The

Chronicler

says

2 Ch 3225b his heart was lifted up

Hezekiahs focus on his wealth and his neglect to glorify the Lord is symptomatic of his

moral failing

After recounting his healing the Chronicler records

2Ch 3225a But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto

recompense

incumbent upon him

The word rendered ldquobenefitrdquo (גמול) deserves further attention In general it means

ldquorecompenserdquo and it

comes from a verb that means ldquorepayrdquo Only twice in the OT8

here and Ps 1033 is it translated

ldquoldquoldquoldquobenefitrdquo as though it described an unmotivated blessing from God But in both cases it

makes

excellent sense to retain the more common meaning ldquorecompenserdquo referring to what we

owe him in

exchange for his blessings

bull In Ps 1032 the Psalmist is reminding himself to bless the Lord and not to forget the

repayment

of thanks that he owes God the one who has bestowed on him the blessings of vv 3-5 The

definite participles of 3-5 describe not the ldquobenefitsrdquo but the benefactor one to whom

ldquorecompenserdquo is due ldquoBless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his recompenses [the

recompenses that you owe to him] the one who forgives all your iniquities who heals all

your

diseases rdquo

bull In our passage the sense ldquorecompenserdquo rather than ldquobenefitrdquo is confirmed by two details

The preposition ldquountordquo (על) is very commonly used to express an obligation or duty in the

sense of ldquoincumbent uponrdquo9

So ldquothe benefit unto himrdquo is naturally read ldquothe recompense

incumbent upon himrdquo ldquothe recompense that he owedrdquo

This meaning is reinforced by the association of the noun with the verb ldquorenderrdquo שוב C

Everywhere else (Ps 284 942 Prov 1214 Lam 364 Joel 447 Obad 115) גמול in this

association means ldquorepayment recompenserdquo

We cannot earn Gods blessings There is no sense in which he owes them to us They are

never a

recompense to us However they place us under a powerful obligation Hezekiah owed God

a debt for

the healing he had experienced He had an opportunity to repay that obligation by exalting

the Lord

before the ambassadors Instead he glorified only himself

3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and

asked ldquoWhat did those men say and where did they

come fromrdquo ldquoFrom a distant landrdquo Hezekiah replied

ldquoThey came to me from Babylonrdquo

1BARNES ldquoThen came Isaiah - Isaiah was accustomed to declare the will of God most freely to monarchs (see Isa 7)

What said these men - What proposition have they made What is the design of their coming It is implied in the question that there had been some improper communication from them To this question Hezekiah returned no answer

And from whence came they - It was doubtless known in Jerusalem that ambassadors had come but it would not be likely to be known from what country they had come

From a far country - Probably this was said in order to palliate and excuse his conducts by intimating to the prophet that it was proper to show respectful attention to foreigners and that he had done nothing more than was demanded by the laws of hospitality and kindness

2 PULPIT ldquoThen came Isaiah the prophet Isaiah comes unsent for to rebuke the king This bold

attitude was one which prophets were entitled to take by virtue of their office which called upon them to

bear testimony even before kings and to have no respect of persons A similar fearlessness is apparent

in Isa_71-17 where the king with whom Isaiah has to deal was the wicked Ahaz What said these

men These men is contemptuous The demand to know what they said is almost without parallel

Diplomacy if it is to be successful must be secret and Isaiah can scarcely have been surprised that his

searching question received no answer But he was zealous of Gods honour and anxious that Hezekiah

should rely on no arm of flesh whether it were Egypt or Babylon Such dependence would straiten

Gods arm and prevent him from giving the aid that he was otherwise prepared to give The desire of the

prophet is to warn the king of the danger which he runs by coquetting with human helpers From whence

came they Isaiah does not ask this question for the sake of information Doubtless all Jerusalem was

agog to see the strange envoys from a far country who had now for the first time penetrated to the city

of David All knew whence they had come and suspected why Isaiah asks to force the king to a

confession on which he may base a prophecy and a warning And Hezekiah said They are come from

a far country Embassies from distant lands to their courts are made a con-slant subject of boasting by

the Assyrian monarchs Hezekiah perhaps is lifted up (2Ch_3225) by the honour paid him and

intends to impress Isaiah with a sense of his greatnessmdashThe men are come all the way from Babylon to

see me

3 GILL ldquoThen came Isaiah the prophet unto King Hezekiah Quickly after the ambassadors had been with the king and he had shown them all his treasures the prophet did not come of himself but was sent by the Lord though he was not sent for by the king in the time of his distress and illness he could send for him but now being well and in prosperity he forgot the prophet to send for him and have his advice how he should behave towards these men as not to offend the Lord and said unto him what said these men what was their errand to thee and their business to thee what did they communicate to thee or request of thee and from whence came they unto thee from what country these questions the prophet put to the king not as ignorant of the men and their business and country but in order to have everything from the king himself and to lead on to further conversation with him on these things and Hezekiah said they are come from a far country unto me even from Babylon he makes no answer to the first question but at once replies to the second as being what his heart was lifted up with that ambassadors should come to him from a very distant country and from so famous and renowned a place as Babylon which showed that his name was great in foreign parts and was in high esteem in distant countries and even so great a prince as the king of Babylon courted his friendship

4 COFFMAN ldquoIt seems nearly incredible that Hezekiah should have been so naive as to have turned

his palace wrong-side out to display it to any foreign power much less to one such as Babylon There

seems to be a very pleased vanity exhibited by Hezekiah here as he tells Isaiah that This embassy has

come all the way from Babylon to see me Thus the faith of Hezekiah proof against the heaviest blows

melts at the touch of flattery and the world claims another victim by its friendship[11]

5 JAMISON ldquoWhat whence mdash implying that any proposition coming from the idolatrous enemies of God with whom Israel was forbidden to form alliance should have been received with anything but gladness Reliance on Babylon rather than on God was a similar sin to the previous reliance on Egypt (Isaiah 301-319)

far country mdash implying that he had done nothing more than was proper in showing attention to strangers ldquofrom a far countryrdquo

6 KampD 3-8 ldquoThe consequences of this coqueting with the children of the stranger and this vain display are pointed out in Isa_393-8 ldquoThen came Isaiah the prophet to king Hizkiyahu and said to him What have these men said and whence come they to thee Hizkiyahu said They came to me from a far country (K omits to me) out of Babel He said further What have they seen in thy house Hizkiyahu said All that is in my house have they seen there was nothing in my treasures that I had not shown them Then Isaiah said to Hizkiyahu Hear the

word of Jehovah of hosts (K omits tsebha8oltth) Behold days come that all that is in thy house

and all that thy fathers have laid up unto this day will be carried away to Babel (3בל K 3בלה) nothing will be left behind saith Jehovah And of thy children that proceed from thee whom thou shalt beget will they take (K chethib will he take) and they will be courtiers in the palace of the king of Babel Then said Hizkiyahu to Isaiah Good is the word of Jehovah which

thou hast spoken And he said further Yea (י( K הלוא אם) there shall be peace and stedfastness

in my daysrdquo Hezekiahs two candid answers in vv 3 and 4 are an involuntary condemnation of his own conduct which was sinful in two respects This self-satisfied display of worthless earthly possessions would bring its own punishment in their loss and this obsequious suing for admiration and favour on the part of strangers would be followed by plundering and enslaving on the part of those very same strangers whose envy he had excited The prophet here foretells the Babylonian captivity but in accordance with the occasion here given not as the destiny of the whole nation but as that of the house of David Even political sharp-sightedness might have foreseen that some such disastrous consequences would follow Hezekiahs imprudent course but this absolute certainty that Babylon which was then struggling hard for independence would really be the heiress to the Assyrian government of the world and that it was not from Assyria which was actually threatening Judah with destruction for its rebellion but from Babylon that this destruction would really come was impossible without the spirit of prophecy We may infer from Isa_397 (cf Isa_3819 and for the fulfilment Dan_13) that Hezekiah had no son as yet at least none with a claim to the throne and this is confirmed by 2Ki_211 So far as the concluding words are concerned we should quite misunderstand them if we saw nothing

in them but common egotism י( (for) is explanatory here and therefore confirmatory הלוא אם however does not mean ldquoyea if onlyrdquo as Ewald supposes (sect324 b) but is also explanatory though in an interrogative form ldquoIs it not good (ie still gracious and kind) ifrdquo etc He submits with humility to the word of Jehovah in penitential acknowledgement of his vain shortsighted untheocratic conduct and feels that he is mercifully spared by God inasmuch as

the divine blessings of peace and stability (אמת a self-attesting state of things without any of

those changes which disappoint our confident expectations) would continue ldquoAlthough he desired the prosperity of future ages it would not have been right for him to think it nothing that God had given him a token of His clemency by delaying His judgmentrdquo (Calvin)

Over the kingdom of Judah there was now hanging the very same fate of captivity and exile which had put an end to the kingdom of Israel eight years before When the author of the book of Kings prefaces the four accounts of Isaiah in 2Ki_1813-20 with the recapitulation in 2Ki_189-12 (cf Isa_175-6) his evident meaning is that the end of the kingdom of Israel and the beginning of the end of the kingdom of Judah had their meeting-point in Hezekiahs time As Israel fell under the power of the Assyrian empire which foundered upon Judah though only through a miraculous manifestation of the grace of God (see Hos_17) so did Judah fall a victim to the Babylonian empire The four accounts are so arranged that the first two together with the epilogue in Isa_3736 which contains the account of the fulfilment bring the Assyrian period of judgment to a close and the last two with the eventful sketch in Isa_396-7 open the

way for the great bulk of the prophecies which now follow in chapters 40-66 relating to the Babylonian period of judgment This Janus-headed arrangement of the contents of chapters 36-39 is a proof that this historical section formed an original part of the ldquovision of Isaiahrdquo At any rate it leads to the conclusion that whoever arranged the four accounts in their present order had chapters 40-66 before him at the time We believe however that we may or rather considering the prophetico-historical style of chapters 36-39 that we must draw the still further conclusion that Isaiah himself when he revised the collection of his prophecies at the end of Hezekiahs reign or possibly not till the beginning of Manassehs bridged over the division between the two halves of the collection by the historical trilogy in the seventh book

7 CALVIN ldquo3Then came Isaiah the Prophet He continues the same narrative but likewise adds

doctrine Although he does not say that God had sent him yet it is certain that he did this by the influence

of the Holy Spirit and by the command of God and therefore he bestows on himself the designation

of the Prophet by which he intimates that he did not come as a private individual but to perform an office

which God had enjoined on him that Hezekiah might clearly see that he had not to deal with a mortal

man

Now when he says that he came we ought to infer that he was not sent for but was allowed to remain

quietly at home while Hezekiah was makingrsquo a boastful display of his treasures for prophets are not

usually invited to consultations of this sort But formerly while he was weighed down by extreme distress

while Rabshakeh insulted him so fiercely and uttered such daringrsquo blasphemies against God he sent to

Isaiah and requested him to intercede with God and to soothe his anguish by some consolation

(Isa_372) Thus in adversity and distress the prophets are sought but in prosperity are disregarded or

even despised because they disturb our mirth by their admonitions and appear to give occasion of grief

But Isaiah came though he was not invited and in this we ought to observe and praise his steadfastness

and are taught by his example that we ought not to wait till we are sent for by men who need the

discharge of our duty when they flatter themselves amidst the heaviest distresses and bring danger on

themselves either by levity or by ignorance or even by malice for it is our duty to gather the wandering

sheep and we ought to do this diligently even though we be not requested by any person

Though Hezekiah may be justly blamed for having been corrupted by the flatteries of the king of Babylon

so as not to ask counsel of God yet it is a manifestation of no ordinary modesty that he does not drive

away or despise the Prophet as if he had found fault without reason but replies gently and at length

receives calmly and mildly a very severe reproof It would have been better that he had from the

beginningrsquo inquired at the mouth of God as it is said in the psalm

ldquo commandments are the men of my counselrdquo

(Psa_11924)

but having committed a mistake it was his next duty to receive submissively the remedy for the fault

What did those men say The Prophet does not immediately inflict on him the pain of a severe reproof

but wounds him gently so as to lead him to a confession of his sin for Hezekiah flattered himself and

thought that all was going well with him and therefore needed to be gradually aroused from his

slothfulness Still these words gave a sharp wound as if he had said ldquo have you to do with those

men Ought you not to keep at the greatest distance from a plague so contagiousrdquo He likewise inquires

about the contents of the message in order to make Hezekiah ashamed of not having perceived the

deceit that was practiced on him forthere is reason to believe that he would not have censured the

congratulation if there had not been some poison mingled with it but he points out those snares in which

the Babylonians wished to entangle him

And yet it is evident from the reply that Hezekiah was not yet struck by that gentle reproof for he is still

on good terms with himself and boasts that those men came from a distant country from Babylon There

is reason to believe that Isaiah was not ignorant of that country so that Hezekiah did not need to express

the distance in such magnificent language but he boasts in this manner because he was under the

influence of ambition It was therefore necessary that he should be more keenly pressed and that

sharper spurs should be applied

8 3-7 Isaiahs Rebuke

3 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah and said unto him What said these men

and from whence came they unto thee--Isaiahs first question has two parts V 1 says that MB ldquosent

lettersrdquo Were they proposing an alliance Were they offering congratulations on the victory over

Sennacherib or on Hezekiahs recovery or asking about the backwards sundial Isaiah is curious about

their motives

We in fact know their motivesmdashcuriosity about the supernatural events that have just taken place in

Judah In the protocol of the ancient court they would have begun their visit by reading their letters

aloud to the king This opening statement would be an excellent open door for Hezekiah to return

praise to the Lord We can imagine how the interchange might have gone

Ambassadors Great king Hezekiah we have heard of the wonder done in your land Our own

wise men were terrified when their sundials ran backwards We have come to learn more about

what happened [2 Chr 3231 ldquoto enquire of the wonderrdquo]

Hezekiah You are welcome to our court A great wonder was indeed done here In fact there

have been many wonders heremdashnot only the sundial but my healing and the defeat of the

Assyrians These wonders show the power of our God the Lord who created heaven and earth

Come see his people See his temple Listen to his law

Thats how the exchange might have gonemdashbut it did not A more likely reconstruction is

Hezekiah You are welcome to our court A great wonder was indeed done here In fact my

9 HALOT paragraph 1d


May be freely reprinted noncommercially with attribution and citation of wwwcyber-chapelorg Isaiah 38-

39

kingdom is full of wondersmdashnot only the sundial but my healing and the defeat of the

Assyrians Come let me show you the great spoil that we have gathered from our defeated

enemy and the tribute that nations are now bringing unto me

God shows his glory throughout the creation but faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of

the Lord This is why Isaiah wants to know what the men said What did the visitors say How did

Hezekiah respond

And Hezekiah said They are come from a far country unto me even from Babylon--Hezekiahs

answer is defective in two ways

First he only answers the second part of the question Far from taking advantage of their opening

speech to glorify the Lord he passes by it entirely He is not looking for ways to exalt the Lord

Perhaps Hezekiah is ashamed of how he mishandled the visitors greetings and thus skips over Isaiahs

first question

Second note in particular how he picks up Isaiahs ldquounto theerdquo He emphasizes ldquoThey are come U

unto merdquo He sees himself as the center of their interest even though the ldquowonderrdquo about which they

came to inquire was done by the Lord The wonder really ldquobelonged to the Lordrdquo as the writer of 1

Kings 101 says of the fame of Solomon They would have been primed to hear an explanation in

spiritual terms Yet Hezekiah deflects their interest to himself

This is the natural reaction of a person without the Lords presence The flesh naturally wants to claim

all the credit ldquoHis heart was lifted uprdquo (2 Chr 3225)

4 Then said he What have they seen in thine house And Hezekiah answered All that is in mine

house have they seen there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them--If our

chronology is correct these treasures are due largely to the divine defeat of Assyria and the gifts that

other nations sent him to recognize that defeat They like his healing are a divine blessing Yet he

focuses the attention of the ambassadors on the gifts and not on the giver

5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah Hear the word of the LORD of hosts 6 Behold the days come

that all that is in thine house--The very phrase Hezekiah used in v 4 that of which he was so proud

and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day shall be carried to Babylon

nothing shall be left saith the LORD 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--

Note the two directions of the judgment the fruit of his fathers toil and the continuance of his sons

bull Both were products of the Lords grace the wealth remained with him only because the Lord

destroyed Assyria and he had sons only because his life was extended 15 years (Manasseh took

the throne at 12 2 Ki 211 and therefore was born after the healing)

bull Both are cut off

The Chronicler comments

2 Ch 3225c his heart was lifted up therefore there was wrath upon him and upon Judah and

Jerusalem



4 The prophet asked ldquoWhat did they see in your

palacerdquo ldquoThey saw everything in my palacerdquo

Hezekiah said ldquoThere is nothing among my treasures

that I did not show themrdquo

1BARNES ldquoWhat have they seen - It is probable that the fact that Hezekiah had showed them the treasures of his kingdom was known in Jerusalem Such a fact would be likely to attract attention and to produce inquiry among the people into the cause

All that is in mine house - Here was the confessions of a frank an honest and a pious man There was no concealment no disguise Hezekiah knew that he was dealing with a man of God - a man too to whom he had been under great obligations He knew that Isaiah had come commissioned by God and that it would be in vain to attempt to conceal anything Nor does he

seem to have wished to make any concealment If he was conscious that what he had done had been improper he was willing to confess it and at any rate he was willing that the exact truth should be known Had Hezekiah been like Ahaz he might have spurned Isaiah from his presence as presenting improper inquiries But Hezekiah was accustomed to regard with respect the messengers of God and he was therefore willing to submit his whole conduct to the divine adjudication and reproof Piety makes a man willing that all that he has done should be known It saves him from double-dealing and subterfuges and a disposition to make vain excuses and it inclines him to fear God to respect his ambassadors and to listen to the voice of eternal truth

2 PULPIT ldquoWhat have they seen Isaiah had no doubt heard of what Hezekiah had done (verse 2)

but he wished to have the confession of it from his own mouth before delivering his sentence Hezekiah

tells him the truth since he is not ashamed of his act but rather glories in it He has shown the

ambassadors everything and has thereby made them eager to secure his alliance

3 GILL ldquoThen said he what have they seen in thine house Coming nearer to the point he had in view and which was the thing that was displeasing to the Lord not that he had received the ambassadors and used them in such a manner as persons in such a quality ought to be used but that he had shown them what he ought not to have done and especially from such a principle of pride and vanity as he did and Hezekiah answered without any reserve very openly not suspecting that the prophet was come with a reproof to him or to blame him or would blame him for what he had done all that is in my house have they seen the several royal apartments and the furniture of them there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them which were more secret laid up in cabinets under lock and key his gold silver jewels and precious stones spices and ointments Jerom thinks he showed them the furniture and vessels of the temple though he does not mention them

4 PULPIT ldquoThe home seen though not shown

No doubt the ambassadors of the King of Babylon saw many things in the palace of Hezekiah which he

did not exhibit to them more things are seen than those which are displayed It is so in every house and

it may be that the visitor goes away more impressed with some things which no one pointed out to him

than with anything to which his attention was called If any one were to ask him what he has seen in the

house he would mention that which its master had not thought to show him What would any visitor to our

house see though we did not show it to him

I ORDER OR DISORDER The manifest presence of a strong hand keeping every one in order and

everything in its place or the painful absence of it

II OBEDIENCE OR DISOBEDIENCE Filial readiness and even eagerness to comply at once with the

parents wish or the lingering step or even the entire disregard of that desire

III COURTESY OR DISCOURTESY Habitually becoming behaviour at the table and the hearth or the

unwise neglect of those smaller observances which minister to the beauty and the sweetness of daily life

IV LOVE OR INDIFFERENCE OR POSITIVE DISLIKE The presence of that warm affection which

should bind husband and wife parent and child brother and sister in the bonds of happy and enduring

fellowship or a cold and sad indifference to one anothers well-being or a still sadder animosity and

persecution

V SELFISHNESS OR SYMPATHY The confinement of thought and care to the four walls of the home

establishment or a considerate and generous regard for the wants and wishes of neighbours and fellow-

citizens

VI PIETY OR WORLDLINESS Family worship andmdashwhat is better stillmdasha prevailing religious tone as

if parents and children all felt that temporal success was a very small thing in comparison with spiritual

worth or the language and habits of an ignoble and degrading worldlinessmdashC

5 JAMISON ldquoAll mdash a frank confession of his whole fault the king submits his conduct to the scrutiny of a subject because that subject was accredited by God Contrast Asa (2Ch_167-10)

6 CALVIN ldquo4Then he said Isaiah proceeds in his indirect admonition to see if Hezekiah shall be

moved by it and displeased with himself But still he does not succeed though it can hardly be believed

that the king was so stupid as not to feel the punctures of the spur for he knew that the Prophet had not

come as persons addicted to curiosity are wont to do for the purpose of hunting out news and he knew

also that the Prophet had not come to jest with him but to state something of importance However that

may be we ought to put a favorable construction on his mild reply for he does not break out against the

Prophet but modestly confesses the state of the fact though he does not yet acknowledge that he has

sinned or at least is not brought to repentance for he does not judge of his sin from that concealed

disposition Ambition deludes men so much that by its sweetness it not only intoxicates but drives them

mad so that even when they have been admonished they do not immediately repent When therefore

we see the godly Hezekiah struck with such stupidity as not to perceive that he is reproved or at least not

to be stung by it so as to know himself we ought carefully to guard against so dangerous a disease

5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah ldquoHear the word of the

Lord Almighty

1BARNES ldquoHear the word of the Lord of hosts - Hear what the mighty God that rules in heaven says of this This is an instance of great fidelity on the part of the prophet He felt

himself sent from God in a solemn manner to rebuke sin in a monarch and a pious monarch It is an instance that strikingly resembles the boldness and faithfulness of Nathan when he went to David and said lsquoThou art the manrsquo 2Sa_127

2 PULPIT ldquoHear the word of the Lord of hosts Either the prophet had been specially charged with a

Divine message to the king before he sought his presence or the prophetic afflatus now came on him

suddenly The former is on the whole more probable

3 GILL ldquoThen said Isaiah to Hezekiah Now he begins to let him know that he came not of himself and that he did not ask these questions to gratify his own curiosity but that he came from the Lord and with a word of rebuke from him hear the word of the Lord of hosts a greater King than thou art who art so elated with thy riches and grandeur and fame or than the king of Babylon whose ambassadors these are even the King of kings and Lord of armies above and below and who is able to make good every word that is spoken by him and therefore should be solemnly attended to

4 HENRY 5-8 ldquoHence let us observe 1 That if God love us he will humble us and will find some way or other to pull down our spirits when they are lifted up above measure A mortifying message is sent to Hezekiah that he might be humbled for the pride of his heart and be convinced of the folly of it for though God may suffer his people to fall into sin as he did Hezekiah here to prove him that he might know all that was in his heart yet he will not suffer them to lie still in it 2 It is just with God to take that from us which we make the matter of our pride and on which we build a carnal confidence When David was proud of the numbers of his people God took a course to make them fewer and when Hezekiah boasts of his treasures and looks upon them with too great a complacency he is told that he acts like the foolish traveller who shows his money and gold to one that proves a thief and is thereby tempted to rob him 3 If we could but see things that will be we should be ashamed of our thoughts of things that are If Hezekiah had known that the seed and successors of this king of Babylon would hereafter be the ruin of his family and kingdom he would not have complimented his ambassadors as he did and when the prophet told him that it would be so we may well imagine how he was vexed at himself for what he had done We cannot certainly foresee what will be but are told in general All is vanity and therefore it is vanity for us to take complacency and put confidence in any thing that goes under that character 4 Those that are fond of an acquaintance or alliance with irreligious men will first or last have enough of it and will have cause to repent it Hezekiah thought himself very happy in the friendship of Babylon though it was the mother of harlots and idolatries but Babylon who now courted Jerusalem in process of time conquered her and carried her captive Leagues with sinners and leagues with sin too will end thus it is therefore our wisdom to keep at a distance from them 5 Those that truly repent of their sins will take it well to be reproved for them and will be willing to be told of their faults Hezekiah reckoned that word of the Lord good which discovered sin to him and made him sensible that he had done amiss which before he was not aware of The language of true penitents is Let the righteous smite me it shall be a kindness and the law is therefore good because being spiritual in it sin appears sin and exceedingly sinful 6 True penitents will quietly submit not only to the reproofs of the word but to the rebukes of Providence for their sins When Hezekiah was told of the punishment of his iniquity he said Good is the word of the Lord not only the mitigation of the sentence but the sentence itself he has nothing to object against the equity of it but says

Amen to the threatening Those that see the evil of sin and what it deserves will justify God in all that is brought upon them for it and own that he punishes them less than their iniquities deserve 7 Though we must not be regardless of those that come after us yet we must reckon ourselves well done by if there be peace and truth in our days and better than we had reason to expect If a storm be coming we must reckon it a favour to get into the harbour before it comes and be gathered to the grave in peace yet we can never be secure of this but must prepare for changes in our own time that we may stand complete in all the will of God and bid it welcome whatever it is

5 JAMISON ldquoLord of hosts mdash who has all thy goods at His disposal

6 COFFMAN ldquoAs Rawlinson observed that Concerning the exact times and seasons the prophets generally knew nothing They were mouth-pieces to deliver the Divine will They were not keen-witted politicians forecasting results by the exercise of sharpsightedness and sagacity[12]

No human wisdom could have supplied such information as this to Isaiah Babylon at the time of this prophecy was a rebellious portion of the Assyrian Empire and it would be only a few years until Esarhaddon the son of Sennacherib would be on the throne of Babylon What an unlikely prophecy this must have appeared to be Nevertheless in about 120 years all of this prophecy was completely fulfilled in Babylons rape of Jerusalem and the deportation of the royal family first and later the whole population to Babylon

As Jamieson pointed out this is the very first place in the Bible where the place of Israels punishment is announced[13] It is particularly important however that this is by no means the first prophecy of Israels being plucked off of `their land Moses prophesied Ye shall be plucked off the land and Jehovah will scatter thee among all peoples (Deuteronomy 286364) Ahijah prophesied against Jeroboam Jehovah will root up Israel out of this good land which he gave to their fathers and will scatter them beyond the River because they have made their Asherim provoking Jehovah to anger (1 Kings 1415) Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus saith Jehovah whose name is the god of hosts (Amos 527) Here at last in the prophecy of Isaiah God finally revealed the very city into which Israel would be carried captive Although it had been known from the beginning by the Father that Babylon would be the place of Israels captivity it was only in this chapter that God at last revealed it through Isaiah Yet it is clear enough that Babylon was actually intended in those other prophecies

7 CALVIN ldquo5Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah From this judgment of God we perceive that the sin of

Hezekiah was not small though common sense judges differently for since God always observes the

highest moderation in chastising men we may infer from the severity of the punishment that it was no

ordinary fault but a highly aggravated crime Hence also we are reminded that men judge amiss of words

or actions but that God alone is the competent judge of them Hezekiah shewed his treasures Had they

been heaped up that they might always lie hidden in the earth He received the messengers kindly

Should he have driven them away He lent an ear to their instructions But that was when the rival of the

Assyrian voluntarily desired his friendship Ought he to have rejected so valuable an advantage In a

word so far as appearances go we shall find nothing for which an apology may not be offered

But God from whom nothing is hidden observes in Hezekiahrsquo joy first ingratitude because he is

unmindful of the distresses which lately pressed him down and in some respects substitutes the

Chaldeans in the room of God himself to whom he ought to have dedicated his own person and all that

he possessed Next he observes pride because Hezekiah attempts too eagerly to gain reputation by

magnificence and riches He observes a sinful desire to enter into an alliance which would have been

destructive to the whole nation But the chief fault was ambition which almost entirely banishes the fear

of God from the hearts of men Hence Augustine justly exclaims ldquo great and how pernicious is the poison

of pride which cannot be cured but by poisonrdquo For he has his eye on that passage in one of Paulrsquo

Epistles in which he says that ldquo messenger of Satan had been given to buffet him that he might not be

puffed up by the greatness of revelationsrdquo (2Co_127) Hezekiah was unshaken when all was nearly

ruined but he is vanquished by these flatteries and does not resist vain ambition Let us therefore

attentively and diligently consider what a destructive evil this is and let us be so much the more careful to

avoid it

Hear the word of Jehovah of hosts Being about to be the bearer of a harsh sentence he begins by saying

that he is Godrsquo herald and a little afterwards he again repeats that God has commanded him to do this

not merely for the purpose of protecting himself against hatred (99) but in order to make a deep

impression on the heart of the kingrsquo Here again we see his steadfastness and heroic courage He does

not dread the face of the king or fear to make known his disease and to announce to him the judgment

of God for although at that time as well as now kings had delicate ears yet being fully aware that God

had enjoined this duty upon him he boldly executes his commission however much it might be disliked

Prophets were indeed subject to kings and claimed nothing for themselves unless when it was their

duty to speak in the name of God and in such cases there is nothing so lofty that it ought not to be

abased before the majesty of God And if his object had been to gain the good graces of his prince he

would have been silent like other flatterers but he has regard to his office and endeavors to discharge it

most faithfully

(99) ldquoNon pas que pour crainte drsquo mal voulu il se descharge sur le Seigneurrdquo ldquo that through fear of

bringing ill-will on himself he throws the blame on the Lordrdquo

6 The time will surely come when everything in your

palace and all that your predecessors have stored up

until this day will be carried off to Babylon Nothing

will be left says the Lord

1BARNES ldquoBehold the days come - The captivity of the Jews in Babylon commenced about one hundred and twenty years after this prediction (compare Jer_205)

That all that is in thine house - That is all the treasures that are in the treasure-house Isa_392

And that which thy fathers have laid up in store - In 2Ki_1815-16 we are told that Hezekiah in order to meet the demands of the king of Assyria had cut off even the ornaments of the temple and taken all the treasures which were in lsquothe kingrsquos housersquo It is possible however that there might have been other treasures which had been accumulated by the kings before him which he had not touched

Nothing shall be left - This was literally fulfilled (see 2Ch_3618) It is remarkable says Vitringa that this is the first intimation that the Jews would be carried to Babylon - the first designation of the place where they would be so long punished and oppressed Micah Mic_410 a contemporary of Isaiah declares the same thing but probably this was not before the declaration here made by Isaiah Moses had declared repeatedly that if they were a rebellious people they should be removed from their own to a foreign land but he had not designated the country Lev_2633-34 Deu_2864-67 Deu_303 Ahijah in the time of Jeroboam 1Ki_1415 had predicted that they should be carried lsquobeyond the riverrsquo that is the Euphrates and Amos Amo_527 had said that God would carry them lsquointo captivity beyond Damascusrsquo But all these predictions were now concentrated on Babylon and it was for the first time distinctly announced by Isaiah that that was to be the land where they were to suffer so long and so painful a captivity

2 CLARKE ldquoTo Babylon - בבלה babelah so two MSS (one ancient) rightly without

doubt as the other copy (2Ki_2017) has it This prediction was fulfilled about one hundred and fifty years after it was spoken see Dan_12 Dan_13-7 What a proof of Divine omniscience

3 GILL ldquoBehold the days come Or are coming (e) and which quickly came after a few reigns more even in Jehoiakims time that all that is in thine house and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day shall be carried to Babylon as it was when Jehoiakim king of Judah his mother servants princes and officers were taken by the king of Babylon and carried captive and along with them the treasures of the kings house and also all the treasures of the house of the Lord 2Ki_2412 nothing shall be left saith the Lord this was as Jarchi says measure for measure as there was nothing that was not shown to the ambassadors so nothing should be left untaken away by the Babylonians

4 PULPIT ldquoBehold the days come literally the days [are] coming or [are] approaching Of the exact

times and seasons which the Father hath put in his own power (Act_17) the prophets generally knew

nothing They were mouth-pieces to declare the Divine will not keen-witted politicians forecasting

results by the exercise of sharp-sightedness and sagacity To suppose that Isaiah foresaw by mere

human wisdom the Babylonian conquest of Judaea as Charles the Great did the ravages of the

Northmen is to give him credit for a sagacity quite unexampled and psychologically impossible The

kingdom of Babylon was one among many that were struggling hard to maintain independence against

the grasping and encroaching Assyria From the time of Tiglath-Pileser IX she had been continually

losing ground Both Sargon and Sennacherib trampled her underfoot overran her territory captured her

towns and reduced her under direct Assyrian government Till Assyria should be swept away a

Babylonian conquest of Palestine was impossible To suppose it was like supposing a Russian conquest

of Holland while Germany bars the way Nothing short of the true prophetic afflatus which is God the

Holy Ghost speaking by the mouth of his servants could have made such an anticipation And with

Isaiah as Mr Cheyne says it is not a mere presentiment it is a calm and settled conviction based on a

direct revelation and confirmed by a deep insight into the laws of the Divine government All that is in

thine house Not of course exactly all that was there when Isaiah spoke but all the wealth that should

be in the royal palace when the time of the Babylonian captivity arrived (For the fulfilment

see 2Ch_3618) That which thy fathers have laid up in store A portion of this was carried off by

Sennacherib in his first expedition (2Ki_1814-16) but the bulk of the temple treasuresmdashthe gifts of many

kingsmdashremained untouched until they were removed to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar

(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)

5 JAMISON ldquodays come mdash one hundred twenty years afterwards This is the first intimation that the Jews would be carried to Babylon - the first designation of their place of punishment The general prophecy of Moses (Lev_2633 Deu_2864) the more particular one of Ahijah in Jeroboamrsquos time (1Ki_1415) ldquobeyond the riverrdquo and of Amo_527 ldquocaptivity beyond Damascusrdquo are now concentrated in this specific one as to ldquoBabylonrdquo (Mic_410) It was an exact retribution in kind that as Babylon had been the instrument of Hezekiah and Judahrsquos sin so also it should be the instrument of their punishment

6 PULPIT ldquoThe dangers of prosperity

I THE OSTENTATION OF HEZEKIAH The Chronicler passes a censure upon him After his recovery he

rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him for his heart was lifted up therefore was

there wrath upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem (2Ch_3225) He gives a picture of his treasuries

and store-houses his cities his flocks and herds An embassy comes from Babylon partly to

congratulate him on his recovery partly to inquire concerning the portent of the sun-dial or step-clock

Under these pretexts political views were doubtless concealed And Hezekiah delighted to receive the

embassy and displayed to them the whole of his treasures and the resources of his armoury his palaces

and his kingdom

II THE REBUKE OF THE PROPHET The prophet in virtue of his Divine call and his insight into the heart

of things assumes an authority over the monarch and coming to him inquires What have these men

said and whence came they to thee He challenges the king to explain his conduct Jehovahs will is

opposed to all coquetting with foreign powers It is weaving a web without his Spirit (Isa_301) The

answer of the king is indirect perhaps evasive They have come from a far country from Babylonmdashas if

hinting that hospitality to them was a duty A second stem question follows What have they seen in the

house of the king And the king replies that he has shown them all his treasures There is that in the very

manner and questions of the prophet which implies censure What he sees in the act of the king is an

uplifting of the heart not merely pride in his resources and wealth as such but reliance on worldly

resourcesmdasha desire to match himself with the great Eastern power on its own ground And this is an

affront to the Divine King in Zion who had founded it that the afflicted of his people might find refuge

therein (Isa_1432) Not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts is ever the word

the principle on which the kingdom must stand If Hezekiah has violated this there must be retribution

either in his person or in the persons of those he represents

III THE PUNISHMENT It was to correspond to his sin He thought to subscribe his quota to a profane

coalition and his treasures should be violently laid hold of by wolves in sheeps clothing Babylon had

solicited friendship she would end by enforcing slavery Calm and dispassionate is the tone in which the

prophet speaks Charles the Great could not help weeping at the sight of the Northmens vessels thinking

of the calamities which those fell pirates would bring on the flourishing coasts of the Franks Jeremiah

weeps at the thought of the cruelty of the Babylonians In Isaiah contentment with the patent will of God

overcomes his emotional susceptibility All the boasted treasures of the king are to be carried away to

Babylon and his descendants are to become servants in the palace there The king bows before the

authority of the prophet recognizing his word as the word of Jehovah and as good And further he is

thankful for the respite grantedmdashfor the promise that peace and steadfastness shall remain in his days

The chronicler says that he humbled himself for the pride of his heart both he and the inhabitants of

Jerusalem so that the wrath of Jehovah came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah The picture of

Hezekiah is that of a king who prospered in all his works But the incident clearly teaches the danger

prosperity brings to character and principle It is but a bad nurse to virtue a nurse who is like to starve it

in its infancy and to spoil it in its growth The corrupt affection which has lain dead and frozen in the

midst of distracting business or under adversity when the sun of prosperity has shined upon it then like

a snake it presently recovers its former strength and venom When the channels of plenty run high and

every appetite is plied with abundance and variety so that satisfaction is a mean word to express its

enjoyment then the inbred corruption of the heart shows itself pampered and insolent too unruly for

discipline and too big for correction Prosperity by fomenting a mans pride lays a certain train for his

ruin Scripture and experience teach what a spite Providence constantly owes to the proud person He is

the very eyesore of Heaven and God even looks upon his own supremacy as concerned to abase him

Prosperity attracts the malice and envy of the world and it is impossible for a man in a wealthy and

flourishing condition not to feel the stroke of mens tongues and of their hands too if occasion serves

Stones are only thrown at the fruit-laden tree What made the King of Babylon invade Judaea but the

royal stores and treasures displayed and boasted of by Hezekiah before the ambassadors to the

supplanting of his crown and the miserable captivity of his prosperity (South) In the day of

prosperity consider Let

Consideration like an angel come

And whip th offending Adam out of us

Perishing things

Nothing shall be left How true is this of all things of earth as contrasted with essential beingmdashwith the

life of our own souls We can look at nothing material without being able to say as we look to the inner

world of personal consciousness They shall perish but thou remainest

I COMPREHENSIVE LOSS Nothing shall be left All that is in thine house and that which thy fathers

have laid up in store until this day shall be carded to Babylon Exactly There is always a Babylon which

itself becomes a ruin Grecian art is taken to Rome there to be demolished in the sacking of the city

Treasures are taken in after years to Paris there to be lost in flames How few relics of any time or

nation remain and in due course these are lost to the possessors If this is true on the great scale of

nations how manifestly true it is of ourselves Let us look around on all the present possessions of earth

and remember that so far as we are concerned nothing shall be left Thou fool this night thy soul shall

be required of thee then whose shall those things be

II IMMORTAL GAIN The prophet is true in this revelation of loss So is the apostle true when he says

All things are yours All that a man is remains and all that a man does in loyal service remains So there

is permanence amid impermanence The tabernacle totters but the tenant lives The outward man

perisheth but the inward man is renewed day by day All that is in thine house is lost but all that is

in thine heart is immortal It behoves us therefore to remember that the true jewels are soul-jewels the

true ornament is in the hidden man of the heart the imperishable wealth is in the sanctities of Heaven

and the smile of God Lay up for yourselves treasures in heavenmdashWMS

7 CALVIN ldquo6And nothing shall be left It is proper to observe the kind of punishment which the Lord

inflicts on Hezekiah for he takes from his successors those things of which he vaunted so loudly in order

that they may have no ground for boasting of them Thus the Lord punishes the ambition and pride of

men so that their name or kingdom which they hoped would last for ever is blotted out and they are

treated with contempt and the remembrance of them is accursed In a word he overthrows their foolish

thoughts so that they find by experience the very opposite of those inventions by which they deceive

themselves

If it be objected that it is unreasonable that the sacking of a city and the captivity of a nation should be

attributed to the fault of a single man while the Holy Spirit everywhere declares (2Ch_3614) that general

obstinacy was the reason why God delivered up the city and the country to be pillaged by the

Babylonians I answer that there is no absurdity in Godrsquo punishing the sin of a single man and at the

same time the crimes of a whole nation For when the wrath of the Lord overspread the whole country it

was the duty of all to unite in confessing their guilt and of every person to consider individually what he

had deserved that no man might throw the blame on others but that every man might lay it on himself

Besides since the Jews were already in many ways liable to the judgment of God he justly permitted

Hezekiah to fail in his duty to the injury of all that he might hasten the more his own wrath and open up a

way for the execution of his judgment In like manner we see that it happened to David for Scripture

declares that it was not an accidental occurrence that David numbered the people but that it took place

by the fault of the nation itself whom the Lord determined to punish in this manner

ldquo anger of the Lord was kindled against the nation and he put it into the heart of David to number the

peoplerdquo (2Sa_241)

Thus in this passage also punishment is threatened against Hezekiah but his sin by which he provoked

Godrsquo anger was also the vengeance of God against the whole nation

7 And some of your descendants your own flesh and

blood who will be born to you will be taken away and

they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of

Babylonrdquo

1BARNES ldquoAnd of that sons - Thy posterity (see the note at Mat_11)

That shall issue from thee - Of the royal family The captivity at Babylon occurred more than a hundred years after this and of course those who were carried there were somewhat remote descendants of Hezekiah

And they shall be eunuchs - The word used here (סריסים sa8riysiym) denotes properly and

strictly eunuchs or such persons as were accustomed to attend on the harems of Oriental monarchs Est_23 Est_214-15 These persons were also employed often in various offices of the court Est_110 Est_112 Est_115 and hence the word often means a minister of court a court-officer though not literally an eunuch Gen_376 Gen_391 It is not easy however to tell when the word is to be understood literally and when not The Targum understands it of those who should be nurtured or become great in the kingdom of Babylon That the Jews were advanced to some offices of trust and power in Babylon is evident from the case of Daniel Dan_12-7 It is by no means improbable also that the king of Babylon would have a pride in having among the attendants at his court or even over the harem the descendants of the once magnificent monarchs of the Jews

2 PULPIT ldquoOf thy sons that shall issue from thee Hezekiah had at the time probably no son since Manasseh who succeeded him upon the throne was not born till two years later Besides Manasseh he appears to have had a son Amariah who was an ancestor of the Prophet Zephaniah (Zep_11) He may of course have also had others His descendants rather than his actual sons seem to be here intended and the fulfilment of the prophecy is to be found in Dan_13 where certain of the kings seed are mentioned among the Israelites who served as eunuchs in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar

3 GILL ldquoAnd of thy sons that shall issue from thee which thou shalt beget shall they take away Manasseh his immediate son was taken and carried to Babylon though afterwards released nor does it appear that he was made a eunuch or an officer there this had its fulfilment in Jeconiah and his children and in others that were of the seed royal as Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah to whom the Jewish commentators apply this this is expressed in different words signifying much the same to affect the mind of Hezekiah the more and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon or chamberlains and who very often were castrated for that purpose though it does not necessarily signify such being used of officers in general The Targum renders it princes (f) and such an one was Daniel in the court of the king of Babylon and his three companions were also promoted Dan_248

4 PULPIT ldquoShadows projected from coming trouble

Almost our worst troubles are the things we fear They loom so large and seem so terrible like distant

figures in a fog The mind is so long occupied with them before it can do anything in relation to them Our

Saviours life was darkened with the shadows of his coming woe As he talked with heavenly visitants he

spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem He cried Now is my soul

troubled D Father save me from this hour The shadow seemed easier to bear when it darkened down

into an actual present conflict and woe Most men are all their life in bondage through fear of death and

thousands of men are almost hypochondriacal in their anxieties about troubles that always seem to be

coming but seldom really come

I FUTURE THINGS THAT FLING SHADOWS OVER THE PRESENT

1 The fear of the young Christian that he will not hold out to the end Often a morbid fear always an

unworthy fear because it really means our doubting whether God can keep us safely to the end

2 Fears born of the difficulties of times of business depression Parents often talk in their homes about

the workhouse in a joking way which nevertheless means that the shadow of it lies upon their lives A

dread of failure and bankruptcy broods over many a business man Unworthy dread in view of the

promise Verily thou shalt be fed

3 Fears growing out of conditions of health The exaggeration of this is observed in cases of religious

mania or nervous depression Then all the future is black and hopeless and the soul immovably accepts

the idea that it is for ever lost These fears alas often inspire the suicide to his self-murderous deed

4 Fears that gather about the certainty of judgment when the conscience bears testimony to guilt A

whole life may be shadowed by a crime It is not the memory of the crime that flings the shadows it is the

conviction that the crime must come up again to view some day and make its appeal for vengeance In

one way or another shadows lie on all our lives

II PRESENT THINGS THAT RELIEVE THE SHADOWS FLUNG BY THE FUTURE

1 Human hope The most indestructible thing in human breasts

2 Right estimate of life as the sphere in which a great moral purpose is being wrought out character is

being moulded by the mingled influence of things evil and things good

3 The comforting promises of God which assure us of Divine overcomings and overrulings

4 And the assurance of the abiding Divine presence which is a constant sweet light that falling on the

very shadows touches them with golden glowing even as dark evening clouds are kindled into glory at

the after-sunsetmdashRT

5 JAMISON ldquosons from thee mdash The sons which Hezekiah (as Josephus tells us) wished to have (see on Isa_283 on ldquowept sorerdquo) will be among the foremost in suffering

eunuchs mdash fulfilled (Dan_12 Dan_13 Dan_17)

6 STEDMAN ldquoWould God do such a remarkable thing merely to encourage this kings faith Obviously it was meant to be more than that Recall that when Rabshakeh spoke to the deputation from Jerusalem he stood at an extremely significant and historic spot before the wall of the city the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fullers Field the exact spot where Isaiah had given the sign of the virgins son That sign also was not designed only for the benefit of Ahaz but for the benefit of the whole world the whole universe Here then was another sign that would be manifest throughout the whole

world for to cause the shadow of the sun to turn backward on a sundial meant that some major physical change had to occur on the earth

Certain critics hold that the earth must have stopped its rotation and there is no record that that phenomenon ever occurred But the sign given to Hezekiah did not require that Scientists now know that a shift in the axis of the earth would have such a result Doubtless that is what happened for science has also discovered that at various times in the past the axis of the earth (the slant of the earth in relationship to the sun) has suddenly changed That would cause the shadow on the sundial to turn back

This miracle links also with Chapter 39 the closing chapter of this section which describes a visit by ambassadors from Babylon to Hezekiah According to Second Chronicles 32 they came because they saw the sign which was given to Hezekiah and they wanted to investigate what was going on in Israel that resulted in such dramatic changes in the course of nature This indicates the tremendous interest God has in what happens to the house of David Hezekiah a son of David is here in the spotlight of Gods concern and God is willing to adjust the forces of nature to encourage his faith Now we learn of the embassy from Babylon

7 CALVIN ldquo7Of thy sons It might be thought that this was far more distressing to Hezekiah and

therefore it is put last for the sake of heightening the picture Even though any calamity spread widely in a

nation it is commonly thought that kings and their families will be exempted as if they were not placed in

the same rank with other men When he understood therefore that his sons would be made captives and

slaves this must have appeared to him to be exceedingly severe Hence again we may learn how much

God was displeased with Hezekiah for seeking aid from earthly wealth and boasting of it in the presence

of wicked men when God by a dreadful example punishes it as an unpardonable crime that Hezekiah

made an ambitious display of his wealth in presence of unbelievers

8 COFFMAN ldquoThis is good news and bad news combined The good news is that Hezekiah would not die childless as he had feared but the bad news was the prophetic fate of his sons The prospect of their being eunuchs in the place of the king of Babylon was indeed a terrible destination Furthermore Manasseh who would succeed him in the throne was indeed an evil son of the devil until near the very end of his life

In the Book of Daniel we read that Among the princes of Judah were Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azaraiah and the prince of the eunuchs gave names unto them (Daniel 167) It was usually true in that era that eunuchs were men who had been emasculated and although it was also true that sometimes eunuchs were officers of the king This was by no means true of the princes of Judah in Babylon They were not officers of the king but captives and here they even endured the humiliation of having their names changed We not only agree with Culver that There is a great possibility that Daniel and his friends were emasculated[14] but we through the influence of Isaiahs prophecy here believe that that is the only proper understanding of the fate of those princes of the royal household of Judah Many agree with this interpretation The descendants of Hezekiah rather than his actual sons seem to be intended here and the fulfillment of this prophecy is to be found in Daniel 13 where certain of `the kings seed are mentioned among the Israelites who served as eunuchs in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar

8 ldquoThe word of the Lord you have spoken is goodrdquo

Hezekiah replied For he thought ldquoThere will be peace

and security in my lifetimerdquo

1BARNES ldquoGood is the word of the Lord - The sense of this is lsquoI acquiesce in this I perceive that it is right I see in it evidence of benevolence and goodnessrsquo The grounds of his acquiescence seem to have been

1 The fact that he saw that it was just He felt that he had sinned and that he had made an improper display of his treasures and deserved to be punished

2 He felt that the sentence was mild and merciful It was less than he deserved and less than he had reason to expect

3 It was merciful to him and to his kingdom at that time God was not coming forth to cut him off or to involve him in anymore calamity

4 His own reign and life were to be full of mercy still

He had abundant cause of gratitude therefore that God was dealing with him in so much kindness It cannot be shown that Hezekiah was regardless of his posterity or unconcerned at the calamity which would come upon them All that the passage fairly implies is that he saw that it was right and that it was proof of great mercy in God that the punishment was deferred and was not as in the case of David (2 Sam 13-14 ff) to be inflicted in his own time The nature of the crime of Hezekiah is more fully stated in the parallel passage in 2Ch_3225-26 2Ch_3230-31

For there shall be peace - My kingdom shall not be disturbed during my reign with a foreign invasion

And truth - The truth of God shall be maintained his worship shall be kept up his name shall be honored

In my days - During my reign He inferred this because Isaiah had said Isa_397 that his posterity would be carried to Babylon He was assured therefore that these calamities would not come in his own time We may learn from this

1 That we should submit to God when he punishes us If we have right feelings we shall always see that we deserve all that we are called to suffer

2 In the midst of severest judgments we may find some evidence of mercy There are some considerations on which the mind may fix that will console it with the evidence of the compassion of God and that will not only make it submissive but fill it with gratitude

3 We should accustom ourselves to such views of the divine dealings and should desire to find in them the evidence of goodness and mercy and not the evidence of wrath and severity

It is of infinite importance that we should cherish right views of God and should believe that he is holy good and merciful To do this we should feel that we deserve all that we suffer we should look at what we might have endured we should look at the mercies spared to us as well as at those which are taken away and we should hold to the belief as an unwavering principle from which we are never to depart that God is good supremely and wholly good Then our minds will have peace Then with Hezekiah we may say lsquoGood is the word of Yahwehrsquo Then with the suffering Redeemer of the world we may always say lsquoNot my will but thine be donersquo Luk_2242

2 CLARKE ldquoThen said Hezekiah - The nature of Hezekiahrsquos crime and his humiliation on the message of God to him by the prophet is more expressly declared by the author of the book of the Chronicles ldquoBut Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him for his heart was lifted up therefore there was wrath upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah And Hezekiah prospered in all his works Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land God left him to try him that he might know all that was in his heartrdquo 2Ch_3225 2Ch_3226 2Ch_3230 2Ch_3231

There shall be peace and truth in my days - I rather think these words should be understood as an humble inquiry of the king addressed to the prophet ldquoShall there be

prosperity שלום shalom and truth in My days - Shall I escape the evil which thou predictestrdquo

Understood otherwise they manifest a pitiful unconcern both for his own family and for the nation ldquoSo I be well I care not how it may go with othersrdquo This is the view I have taken of the passage in 2Ki_2119 Let the reader judge whether this or the former should be preferred See the concluding notes on 2 Kings 20

3 GILL ldquoThen said Hezekiah to Isaiah good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken Hezekiah was at once convinced of his sin acknowledged it and repented of it and owned that the sentence pronounced was but just and right and that there was a mixture of mercy and goodness in it in that time was given and it was not immediately executed he said moreover for there shall be peace and truth in my days or a confirmed peace lasting prosperity peace in the state and truth in the church plenty of temporal mercies and the truth of doctrine and worship which he understood by the prophet would continue in his days and for which he was thankful not that he was unconcerned about posterity but inasmuch as it must be what was foretold and which he could not object to as unjust he looked upon it as a mercy to him that there was a delay of it to future times or it may be considered as a wish O that there were peace (g) ampc

4 PULPIT ldquoGood is the word While there is resignation there is no doubt something also of

selfishness in Hezekiahs acceptance of the situation Apres mot le deluge is a saying attributed to a

modern Frenchman Hezekiahs egotism is less pronounced and less cynical He thinks with gratitude of

the peace and steadfastness which are to be in his day he does not dwell in thought on the coming

deluge The word of the Lord is good to him in more ways than one It has assured him of coming

male offspringmdashof sons to sit upon his throne and save him from the curse of childlessness And it has

assured him of a rest for his nationmdasha respite so that the Babylonian struggle shall not follow

immediately upon the Assyrian but there shall be a breathing-space (Ezr_98) a tranquil time during

which Israel may dwell in a peaceable habitation and in sure dwellings and in quiet resting-places

(Isa_3218)

5 JAMISON ldquopeace in my days mdash The punishment was not as in Davidrsquos case (2Sa_2413-15) sent in his time True repentance acquiesces in all Godrsquos ways and finds cause of thanksgiving in any mitigation

6 PULPIT ldquoThe best blessings

There shall be peace and truth in my days These are Gods twin blessings There can be no peace

without truth There is veracity in Gods universe everywhere It is only a seeming blessedness which

exists apart from these things for the flowers have no root The dancing smile is only like

phosphorescence on the face of the dead if we are not at peace with God

I CHRISTS LEGACY WAS PEACE Peace I leave with you my peace I give unto you This is not

peace of condition but peace of conscience The ocean like Christs life may be troubled outwardly but

there is rest at the heart of it We cannot judge by the surface-features of life We must enter within to

know if there be really peace We must see the man in trouble trial solitude and death Then we shall

see how true the acclamation is There is no peace saith my God to the wicked Bunyan had peace in

Bedford Gaol so had the confessors and martyrs of olden time

II CHRISTS ATONEMENT GIVES PEACE Having made peace through the blood of his cross We

may be unable to give a theory of the atonement that can cover all its meaningmdashfrom the days of Anselm

until now men have debated about that but in depths of agony about sin we feel the need of a Saviour

and rejoice to singmdash

Nothing in my hands I bring

Simply to thy cross I cling

III CHRIST GIVES PEACE THROUGH TRUTH He tells the truth about our moral state and condition He

reveals the truth concerning the nature and purposes of God He unveils the immortal life not only as a

doctrine but in himself in heavenly beauty of the earthly life I am the Way the Truth and the Life How

comfortable it is to rest on this gracious promise and to know that the True One cannot liemdashWMS

7 CALVIN ldquo8Good is the word of Jehovah From this reply we learn that Hezekiah was not a

stubborn or obstinately haughty man since he listened patiently to the Prophetrsquo reproof though he was

little moved by it at the commencement When he is informed that the Lord is angry he unhesitatingly

acknowledges his guilt and confesses that he is justly punished Having heard the judgment of God he

does not argue or contend with the Prophet but conducts himself with gentleness and modesty and thus

holds out to us an example of genuine submissiveness and obedience

Let us therefore learn by the example of the pious kingrsquo to listen with calmness to the Lord not only when

he exhorts or admonishes but even when he condemns and terrifies by threatening just punishment

When he says that ldquo word of God is goodrdquo he not only gives him the praise of justice but patiently

acquiesces in that which might have been unwelcome on account of its harshness for even the reprobate

have sometimes been compelled to confess their guilt while their rebellion was not subdued so as to

refrain from murmuring against their Judge In order therefore that Godrsquo threatenings may be softened to

us we must entertain some hope of mercy otherwise our hearts will always pour forth unavailing

bitterness but he who shall be convinced that God when he punishes does not in any degree lay aside

the feeling of a fatherrsquo affection will not only confess that God is just but will calmly and mildly bear his

temporary severity In a word when we shall have a powerful conviction of the grace of God so as to

believe that he is our Father it will not be hard or disagreeable to us to stand and fall according to his

pleasure for faith will assure us that nothing is more advantageous to us than his fatherly chastisement

Thus David having been very severely reproved by Nathan humbly replies ldquo is the Lord let him do

whatever is right in his eyesrdquo (100) for undoubtedly the reason why he is dumb is not only because it

would be of no use to murmur but because he willingly submits to the judgment of God Such is also the

character of Saulrsquo silence when he is informed that the kingdom shall be taken from him (1Sa_2820)

But because it is only punishment that terrifies him and he is not moved by repentance for his sin we

need not wonder if he be full of cruelty within though apparently he acquiesces because he cannot

resist which otherwise he would willingly do like malefactors who while they are held bound by chains or

fetters are submissive to their judges whom they would willingly drag down from the place of authority

and trample under their feet But while David and Hezekiah are ldquo under the mighty hand of Godrdquo

(1Pe_56) still they do not lose the hope of pardon and therefore choose rather to submit to the

punishment which he inflicts than to withdraw from his authority

Which thou hast spoken It is worthy of notice that he acknowledges not only that the sentence which God

has pronounced is just but that the word which Isaiah has spoken is good for there is great weight in this

clause since he does not hesitate to receive the word with reverence though it is spoken by a mortal

man because he looks to its principal Author The freedom used by Isaiah might undoubtedly be harsh

and unpleasant to the king but acknowledging him to be the servant of God he allows himself to be

brought to obedience So much the more insufferable is the delicacy of those who are offended at beingrsquo

admonished or reproved and scornfully reply to teachers and ministers of the word ldquo not you men as well

as werdquo As if it were not our duty to obey God unless he sent angels from heaven or came down

himself

Hence also we learn what opinion we ought to form concerning fanatics who while they pretend to adore

God reject the doctrine of the prophets for if they were ready to obey God they would listen to him when

he spoke by his prophets not less than when he thundered from heaven I admit that we ought to

distinguish between true and false prophets between ldquo voice of the shepherd (Joh_103) and the voice of

the strangerrdquo but we must not reject all without distinction if we do not wish to reject God himself and we

ought to listen to them not only when they exhort or reprove but also when they condemn and when

they threaten by the command of God the just punishment of our sins

At least (101) there shall be peace The particle כי (ki) sometimes expresses opposition but here it

denotes an exception and therefore I have translated it at least for Hezekiah adds something new that

is he gives thanks to God for mitigating the punishment which he had deserved as if he had said ldquo Lord

might have suddenly raised up enemies to drive me out of my kingdom but he now spares me and by

delaying moderates the punishment which might justly have been inflicted on merdquo Yet this clause may

be explained as a prayer (102) expressing Hezekiahrsquo desire that the punishment should be delayed till a

future age But it is more probable that what the Prophet had said about the days that were to come

Hezekiah applied for soothing his grief to encourage himself to patience because sudden vengeance

would have alarmed him still more This exception therefore is highly fitted to induce meekness of

spirit ldquo least God will spare our agerdquo But if any person prefer to view it as assigning a reason ldquoFor there

shall be peacerdquo (103) him enjoy his opinion

Peace and Truth Some think that אמת (emeth) Truth denotes the worship of God and pure religion as if

he were thanking God that when he died he would leave the doctrine of godliness unimpaired But I

consider it to denote ldquordquo or a peaceful condition of the kingdom if it be not thought preferable to view it as

denoting by the substitution of one word for another that there will be certain and long-continued

prosperity

But it may be thought that Hezekiah was cruel in taking no care about posterity and not giving himself

much trouble about what should happen afterwards Such sayings as ( ἐmicroοῦ θανόντος γαῖα microιχθήτω

πυρί) ldquo I am dead let the earth be committed to the flamesrdquo that is ldquo I am dead all are deadrdquo and other

sayings of the same kind which are now in the mouths of many swine and Epieureans are profane and

shocking But Hezekiahrsquo meaning was quite different for while he wished well to those who should live

after him yet it would have been undutiful to disregard that token of forbearance which God gave by

delaying his vengeance for he might have been led by it to hope that this mercy would in some degree

be extended to posterity

Some reply that he rejoiced at the delay because

ldquo ought not to be anxious about to-morrow seeing that sufficient for the day is its own afflictionrdquo

(Mat_634)

But this does not apply to the present passage for Hezekiah does not disregard posterity but perceiving

that God moderates the punishment by forbearance he gives thanks to God as we have already said for

although this punishment awaited a future age still it was his duty to acknowledge the present favor And

indeed we ought to labor most for our own age and to pay our chief regard to it The future ought not to

be overlooked but what is present and immediate has stronger claims on our services for we who live at

the same time are bound by God with a stronger tie in order that by mutual intercourse we may assist

each other as far as shall be in our power It ought likewise to be observed that while the Lord had

formerly promised a lengthened life to hezekiah when he was very near death there was now strong

reason to fear that he would again cut short his life on account of that sin When he is informed that the

promise is ratified he gives thanks to God and bears more patiently the calamity which was to come

though he felt it to be grievous and distressing

(100) Our author quoting from memory relates the words not of David to Nathan (2Sa_1212) but of Eli

to Samuel (1Sa_318) mdash Ed

(101) ldquo there shall be peacerdquo mdash Eng Ver

(102) ldquoAu moins qursquo y ait paixrdquo ldquo least let there be peacerdquo

(103) Car il y aura paix

8 STEDMAN ldquoHezekiahs whining response to this terrible prophecy follows Well the word of the Lord is good But thank God it will not happen in my day at any rate

What this is meant to teach us of course is that prosperity is a greater threat than adversity When we are challenged attacked and insulted we naturally run to the Lord as our defender Ah but when we are offered a new position with a higher salary and to take it we must remove ourselves and our families

from the influences that have shaped us morally and spiritually or when our work is of such a nature that we are taken away from time we should spend seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness Matthew 633) it is then we are being exposed to the subtle trap of Babylon We have all known people who have fallen into this trap losing spiritual vitality sometimes for years because they failed to heed warnings concerning the allurements of the world

Alexander Solzhenitsyn tells of having once a very close friend while he was imprisoned in the Gulag They saw eye to eye on everything They enjoyed the same things they liked to discuss the same subjects Solzhenitsyn thought their friendship would last a lifetime To his astonishment however when his friend was offered a privileged position in the prison system he accepted it That was the first step in a change in his friend that ultimately saw him end up as a torturer who devised horrible and cruel torments against Soviet prisoners Solzhenitsyn described the fear in his own heart when he realized that simple decisions made in a moment in the face of an offer of prosperity could wreck a life though attack and personal insult were unable to shake ones faith

The great test of faith comes not when we receive news that offends us insults us or seems to threaten our lives Rather we ought to take offers of prosperity and blessing and spread these before the Lord and listen to his wise words in evaluating what we are being offered

9 PULPIT ldquoOur submissions may be selfish

He said moreover For there shall be peace and truth in my days Hezekiah not only acquiesces in the

will of Jehovah like Eli (1Sa_318) but congratulates himself on his own personal safety It would no

doubt have been the nobler course to beg that he alone might bear the punishment as he alone had

sinned But the principle of the solidarity of the forefather and his posterity and of the king and his people

prevails almost throughout the Old Testament Self-delusion is very common in the matter of submission

I SOME THINK THEY SUBMIT WHEN THEY HAVE ONLY CEASED TO CARE The two things are

quite distinct A man only truly submits while he keeps his care and has his personal desire and wish still

vigorous True submission is the voluntary giving up of ones own wish because we accept the wish of

another The glory of it is that it is hard It is easy enough when we have ceased to care

II SOME THINK THEY SUBMIT WREN THEY ONLY LIE DOWN UNDER GOD As dying people if

asked whether they submit will often say Oh yes there is nothing else I can do God is too big for

themmdashthat is all If he were not they would still struggle against him This is the Mohammedan form of

submission Allah AkbarmdashGod is great IslammdashWe must submit to him The exaggeration of this

kind of submission is found in the Eastern doseh Men lie down on the ground side by side and let the

king ride on horseback over their shoulders Our God asks for no such submission as that

III SOME THINK THEY SUBMIT WHEN THE BURDEN IS LIFTED FROM THEM TO REST ON OTHER

S A very comfortable but very mean sort of submission A selfish submission that acquiesces in a will of

God that shields ourselves whatever others may have to suffer This was Hezekiahs submission Good

is the will of the Lord in judgment for he has shifted it over to make things comfortable for me It is

impossible to give Hezekiah much credit for so poor a submission as that

IV TRUE HEARTS THINK THEY SUBMIT ONLY WHEN THEY LOVINGLY ACCEPT THE HOLY WILL

WHATEVER THAT WILL MAY INVOLVE Submission is the expression of confidence the breath of

trust the sign of perfect love It is the uttered child-heart It cannot make any qualifications Its unceasing

refrain is My Father knows The one sublime example of submission is the Lord Jesus Christ who

though the holy will involved bitterest personal suffering could sincerely say Not as I will but as thou

wilt After Christ the worlds great figure of submission is the venerable Moses ascending Nebo to

receive the kiss of God and die with Canaans goodly land in viewmdashRT

10 Hezekiahs Response

8 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--These words can be understood in two

ways

Some think that Hezekiah is exhibiting callous indifference to the oracle of judgment that he has just

heard like Louis XV of France whose financial mismanagement bankrupted France and led to the

revolution 15 years after his death When asked how the country could survive he is reported to have

proclaimed ldquoAfter me the delugerdquo

But the Chronicler has a more positive view on what is going on

2 Ch 3226 Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart both he and

the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of

Hezekiah

Remember our conclusion from 2 Chr 3231 that God is using Hezekiah as a case study of what

happens to Israels most righteous king when left with only the resources of the flesh Once this

demonstration is accomplished the Lord tenderly grants him ldquothe spirit of grace and of supplicationsrdquo

(cf Zech 1210) His statement ldquoGood is the word of the Lordrdquo should be understood as an

acknowledgment of his sin and the recognition of the delay is thanksgiving for the measure of grace

that the Lord has bestowed on him

There is an important principle here for us Though the Lord may chastise us and test us in the end he

will restore us to a better relationship with him than we had before

Psa 1039 He will not always chide neither will he keep his anger for ever

Mic 718 he retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in mercy

Isa 547-8 For a small moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies will I gather thee 8

In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment but with everlasting kindness will I have

mercy on thee saith the LORD thy Redeemer

Isa 5716 For I will not contend for ever neither will I be always wroth for the spirit should fail

before me and the souls which I have made

Lam 331-32 For the Lord will not cast off for ever 32 But though he cause grief yet will he

have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies

Notes

These notes collect other OT parallels to understand the Chroniclers interpretation of Hezekiahs

failing

2Ch 3231 Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon who sent unto

him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land God left עזב G εγκαταλειπω him to try

D πειραζω him that he might know all that was in his heart נסה



God Leaves his People

Vocabulary for ldquoleaverdquo (2 Chr 3231)

The Hebrew is עזב and the LXX εγκαταλειπω Εγκαταλειπω is by far the dominant translation of עזב at

129x next most frequent is καταλειπω at 45x עזב appears 216x in all It is also a devoted translation

reflecting no other verb more than 6x בגד

In the references below we will other terms used as well notable ~נט and סור

References

Other examples of God leaving people

God withdrew his presence from Israels armies after they refused to enter the land

Num 1442 Go not up for the LORD is not among you that ye be not smitten before your

enemies

The failure at Ai was accompanied by the warning

Jos 712 neither will I be with you any more except ye destroy the accursed from among you

The language of abandonment is also used to describe the disciplinary periods under the judges

Jdg 613 but now the LORD hath forsaken ~נט us and delivered us into the hands of the

Midianites

Jdg 1620 And she said The Philistines be upon thee Samson And he awoke out of his sleep

and said I will go out as at other times before and shake myself And he wist not that the

LORD was departed סור from him

Psa 7860 So that he forsook ~נט the tabernacle of Shiloh the tent which he placed among

men

The departure of the Lord from Saul when David was anointed is a key milestone in the monarchy

1Sa 1613-14 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren

and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward So Samuel rose up and

went to Ramah 14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed סור from Saul and an evil spirit

from the LORD troubled him

1Sa 1812 And Saul was afraid of David because the LORD was with him and was departed

from Saul סור

Isaiah observed this in general

Isa 26 Therefore thou hast forsaken ~נט thy people the house of Jacob because they be

replenished from the east and are soothsayers like the Philistines and they please themselves in

the children of strangers



During the reign of Manasseh the prophets warned of such an outcome

2Ki 2111 14 Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations U 14 I will

forsake ~נט the remnant of mine inheritance

And Jeremiah records its fulfillment in the Babylonian captivity

Jer 729 Cut off thine hair O Jerusalem and cast it away and take up a lamentation on high

places for the LORD hath rejected מאס and forsaken ~נט the generation of his wrath

Jer 127 I have forsaken עזב mine house I have left ~נט mine heritage I have given the

dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies

Jer 2333 And when this people or the prophet or a priest shall ask thee saying What is the

burden of the LORD thou shalt then say unto them What burden I will even forsake ~נט

you saith the LORD

Jer 2339 Therefore behold I even I will utterly forget you and I will forsake ~נט you and

the city that I gave you and your fathers and cast you out of my presence

David perhaps looking back on earlier experiences twice prays that the Lord would not leave him

Psa 279 (unknown occasion) Hide not thy face far from me put not thy servant away in anger

thou hast been my help leave ~נט me not neither forsake עזב me O God of my salvation

Psa 5111 (When Nathan rebuked him for his sin with Bathsheba) Cast me not away from thy

presence and take not thy holy spirit from me

Solomon blesses the people during the dedication of the temple

1Ki 857 The LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers let him not leave עזב us

nor forsake ~נט us

During the reign of the good king Asa Azariah the son of Oded exhorts him and the nation as they

return from victory over Ethiopian invaders

2Ch 152 And he went out to meet Asa and said unto him Hear ye me Asa and all Judah and

Benjamin The LORD is with you while ye be with him and if ye seek him he will be found of

you but if ye forsake him he will forsake עזב you

In these cases as in 2 Chr 3231 Gods presence is essential to success and his absence brings disaster

But there is an important contrast between these cases and Hezekiah In all these cases Gods

withdrawal is the result of some sin By contrast in 3231 the forsaking is a test that leads to a failing

rather than a consequence of a previous sin

Can or will God leave his people now

Red font in negatives indicates ου microη plus subjunctive a very strong negative (Wallace p 468)

We naturally think of the promise in Heb 135-6

Heb 135-6 Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as

ye have for he hath said I will never leave ανιηmicroι thee nor forsake εγκαταλειπω thee 6 So



that we may boldly say The Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me

Importantly this is a quotation from the OT thus not a difference of covenant Heres the data

Gen 2815 (Jacob) And behold I am with thee and will keep thee in all places whither thou

goest and will bring thee again into this land for I will not leave עזב εγκαταλειπω thee until

I have done that which I have spoken to thee of

Deut 430-31 (Israel) When thou art in tribulation and all these things are come upon thee

even in the latter days if thou turn to the LORD thy God and shalt be obedient unto his voice

(For the LORD thy God is a merciful God) he will not forsake רפה εγκαταλειπω thee

neither [ουδε microη + indicative] destroy thee nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he

sware unto them

Deut 316 (Israel) Be strong and of a good courage fear not nor be afraid of them for the

LORD thy God he it is that doth go with thee he will not fail רפה ανιηmicroι thee nor forsake

εγκαταλειπω thee עזב

Deut 318 (Joshua) And the LORD he it is that doth go before thee he will be with thee he

will not fail רפה ανιηmicroι thee neither forsake עזב εγκαταλειπω thee fear not neither be

dismayed

Josh 15 (Joshua) There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life

as I was with Moses so I will be with thee I will not fail רפה εγκαταλειπω thee nor [ουδε

microη + indicative] forsake עזב υπεροραω thee

1 Chr 2820 (Solomon) And David said to Solomon his son Be strong and of good courage

and do it fear not nor be dismayed for the LORD God even my God will be with thee he

will not fail רפה ανιηmicroι thee nor forsake עזב εγκαταλειπω thee until thou hast finished all

the work for the service of the house of the LORD

There are other such OT promises as well

1Sa 1222 (Samuels valedictory) For the LORD will not forsake ~נט his people for his great

names sake because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people

Psa 9414 For the LORD will not cast off his people neither will he forsake ~נט his

inheritance

Observations

bull The Hebrews quotation is conflate The first person is from Gen 2815 while the paired verbs

are from numerous others (and the use of ου microη plus the subjunctive of ανιηmicroι rather than ου

plus the future points to Moses exhortation to Israel Deut 316) Exactly the same conflation

appears in Philos quotation of the passage in De confusione linguarum 1166

bull Note the ldquountilrdquo of Gen 2815 and 1 Chr 2820 and the conditional in Deut 430-31 This

promise could be temporary in the OT But the promise to Joshua (15) is ldquoall the days of thy

liferdquo

bull All the OT passages are with respect to specific people or groups in specific settings The

statements that God could and did leave individuals shows that the promise is not universal and



the Lord is never said to leave someone to whom he promised that he would not leave them

bull Relation of this concept to the Holy Spirit as the pledge of the New Covenant (Ezek 3627 Eph

113 14) (compare the role of the Spirit in the Lords presence with Saul and David) John 15

(abide in me) Perseverance of the saints

God Tries his People

Other Examples

Gen 221 And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt נסה D πειραζω Abraham

and said unto him Abraham and he said Behold here I am

Deu 82 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty

years in the wilderness to humble thee and to prove נסה D εκπειραζω thee to know what

was in thine heart whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or no

Deu 816 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna which thy fathers knew not that he might

humble thee and that he might prove נסה D εκπειραζω thee to do thee good at thy latter end

Deu 133 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams for

the LORD your God proveth נסה D πειραζω you to know whether ye love the LORD your

God with all your heart and with all your soul

Joh 65-6 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw a great company come unto him he saith

unto Philip Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat 6 And this he said to prove

πειραζω him for he himself knew what he would do

General Principles

Psa 13923 Search me O God and know my heart try בחן εταζω me and know my thoughts

Pro 173 The fining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold but the LORD trieth בחן the

hearts

1Ch 289 And thou Solomon my son know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a

perfect heart and with a willing mind for the LORD searcheth ~דר G εταζω all hearts and

understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts

1Ch 2917 I know also my God that thou triest בחן G εταζω the heart and hast pleasure in

uprightness

Jer 1710 I the LORD search the heart I try בחן G εταζω the reins even to give every man

according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings

1Pe 17 That the trial δοκιmicroιον of your faith being much more precious than of gold that

perisheth though it be tried with fire might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the

appearing of Jesus Christ



11 COFFMAN ldquoIn 2 Chronicles 3226 we learn that Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that the wrath of Jehovah came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah This information was also in all probability imparted to Hezekiah at the same time with the message here and it was for this that Hezekiah was especially glad

We deeply appreciate the discernment of Kidner who saw in this little chapter the explanation of the rest of the great Prophecy of Isaiah

To Hezekiah there was comfort in the postponement of the disaster awaiting Israel but not to Isaiah Evidently he took this burden home with him and so lived under its weight that when God spoke to him again it was to one who in spirit had already lived long years in Babylon (Isaiah 402) and who could speak to the heart of a generation of exiles yet to be born[16]

Here then is the explanation of Isaiahs focus upon the problems of later generations featured in the next division of his prophecy

Some have read a certain trait of selfishness into Hezekiahs words of thankfulness here but we believe Dummelow was correct in the statement that On the contrary his spirit at this time seemed rather to have been one of humble contrition[17]

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible New International Versionreg NIVreg Copyright copy 1973 1978

1984 2011 by Biblica Increg Used by permission All rights reserved

worldwide

This is nothing less than a fragment of Berosus preserved in the chronicle of Eusebius This interesting fragment informs us that after Sennacheribrsquos brother had governed Babylon as Assyrian viceroy Acises unjustly possessed himself of the supreme command After thirty days he was murdered by Merodach-baladan who usurped the sovereignty for six months when he was in turn killed and was succeeded by Elibus But after three years Sennacherib collected an army gave the usurper battle conquered and took him prisoner Having once more reduced Babylon to his obedience he left his son Assordan the Esarhaddon of Scripture as governor of the cityrsquo

The only objection to this satement or to the entire consistency of this fragment with the Scripture narrative is that Isaiah relates the murder of Sennacherib and the succession of Esarhaddon before Merodach-baladanrsquos embassy to Jerusalem But to this Gesenius has well replied that this arrangement is followed by the prophet in order to conclude the history of the Assyrian monarch which has no further connection with the subject so as not to return to it again

By this order also the prophecy of his murder is more closely connected with the history of its fulfillment (Isa_377 compare Isa_3738) And this solution which supposes some interval to have elapsed between Sennacheribrsquos return to Nineveh and his death is rendered probable by the words of the text itself lsquoHe went and returned and dwelt in Nineveh and it came to passrsquo etc Isa_3737-38)

Thus we have it certainly explained how there was a king or rather a usurper in Babylon at the time when it was really a provincial city of the Assyrian empire Nothing was more probable than that Merodach-baladan having seized the throne should endeavor to unite himself in league and amity with the enemies of his master against whom he had revolted Hezekiah who no less than himself had thrown off the Assyrian yoke and was in powerful alliance with the king of Egypt would be his first resource No embassy on the other hand could be more welcome to the Jewish monarch who had the common enemy in his neighborhood and who would be glad to see a division made in his favor by a rebellion in the very heart of that enemyrsquos kingdom Hence arose that excessive attention which he paid to the envoys of the usurper and which so offended Isaiah or rather God who as a consequence threatened the Babylonian captivity (see Dr Wisemanrsquos Lectures on Science and Revealed Religion pp 369-371 Ed And 1837)

Sent letters - The Septuagint adds καπρέβεις kai presbeis - lsquoand ambassadorsrsquo

And a present - It was customary among the Orientals as it is now to send a valuable present when one prince sent an embassage for any purpose to another It is stated in 2Ch_3231 that one object of their coming was to make inquiry lsquoof the wonder that was done in the landrsquo that is of the miracle in regard to the retrocession of the shadow on the sun-dial of Ahaz It is well known that from the earliest periods the Babylonians and Chaldeans were distinguished for their attention to astronomy Indeed as a science astronomy was first cultivated on the plains of Chaldea and there the knowledge of that science was scarcely surpassed by any of the ancient nations The report which they had heard of this miracle would therefore be to them a matter of deep interest as an astronomical fact and they came to make inquiry into the exact truth of the report

2 CLARKE ldquoAt that time Merodach-baladan - This name is variously written in the MSS Berodach Medorach Medarech and Medurach

ldquoAnd ambassadorsrdquo - The Septuagint add here καιπρεσβεις that is ומלאכים umalachim and

ambassadors which word seems to be necessary to the sense though omitted in the Hebrew


























































































filium deditrdquo















predecessor















































(vv 1-8)












the Bible ii 332)











and bowed to God






































Marduk-apal-iddina













































































































so severely









































him







































far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide


























































































filium deditrdquo















predecessor















































(vv 1-8)












the Bible ii 332)











and bowed to God






































Marduk-apal-iddina













































































































so severely









































him







































far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide













































































filium deditrdquo















predecessor















































(vv 1-8)












the Bible ii 332)











and bowed to God






































Marduk-apal-iddina













































































































so severely









































him







































far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide


































filium deditrdquo















predecessor















































(vv 1-8)












the Bible ii 332)











and bowed to God






































Marduk-apal-iddina













































































































so severely









































him







































far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide














predecessor















































(vv 1-8)












the Bible ii 332)











and bowed to God






































Marduk-apal-iddina













































































































so severely









































him







































far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide







predecessor















































(vv 1-8)












the Bible ii 332)











and bowed to God






































Marduk-apal-iddina













































































































so severely









































him







































far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide























(vv 1-8)












the Bible ii 332)











and bowed to God






































Marduk-apal-iddina













































































































so severely









































him







































far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide




(vv 1-8)












the Bible ii 332)











and bowed to God






































Marduk-apal-iddina













































































































so severely









































him







































far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide























Marduk-apal-iddina













































































































so severely









































him







































far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide













Marduk-apal-iddina













































































































so severely









































him







































far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide









































































































so severely









































him







































far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide
































































































so severely









































him







































far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide


























































































so severely









































him







































far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide












































































so severely









































him







































far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide
























































so severely









































him







































far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide












































so severely









































him







































far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide














so severely









































him







































far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide












him







































far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide











far distance
















But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide









But note




Isaiah ch 33

















remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide





remarkable


Hezekiahs


belongs to the


visitors come



his


he went up


attention to the


accomplishments


presence


Chronicler

says



moral failing



recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide


recompense

incumbent upon him






makes


owe him in



repayment





your

diseases rdquo










never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide



never a


a debt for


the Lord



























see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide














see me
























man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide
















man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide







man



















(Psa_11924)






















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide
















their motives

















39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide



39






Hezekiah respond






first question

























Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide












Jerusalem































persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide























persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide






persecution



citizens


















Lord Almighty


































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide

































avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide



























avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide












avoid it












most faithfully


































(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide



























(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide














(Dan_12 Dan_52 2Ki_2413 2Ki_2513-17)










and his kingdom













































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide
































Perishing things

























themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide
















themselves




















Babylonrdquo




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide




















































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide








































































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide












































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide































(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide















(Isa_3218)




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide




























































himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide



























himself























prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide





prosperity











(Mat_634)





















































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide



































ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide






ways








Hezekiah


















Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide







Notes


failing












References




enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide

enemies





Midianites





men







from Saul סור

















you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide










you saith the LORD




































sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide





















sware unto them






dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide


dismayed












inheritance

Observations







liferdquo










Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide







Other Examples














General Principles



hearts





uprightness
















worldwide




uprightness
















worldwide




worldwide

Isaiah 39 commentary

Spiritual