2 Kings 20:12-21--Hezekiah and the Babylonian Envoys

2 Kings 20:12-21
English Standard Version

Hezekiah and the Babylonian Envoys
12 At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 14 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” 15 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: 17 Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD. 18 And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”

​20 The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

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During the time that King Hezekiah was ill, the crown-prince of Babylon, Merodach-daladan, the son of Baladan, sent letters of encuragement to Hezekiah along with gifts for him.  So, Hezekiah showed the envoys from Babylon his storehouses where they could deposit the gifts they brought for him, but he showed off all the wealth that he had acquired--silver, gold, spices, precious oils, and an armory full of armor and weapons.  The envoys took word of this back to the Babylonians, and they will be greedy and covet the wealth of Israel.  Isaiah the prophet came to Hezekiah to correct him saying, "Who were these men, and from where did they come to see you?"  Hezekiah told Isaiah "They came from a far country from Babylon."  When asked "What have they seen in your storehouse?," Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house, there is nothing in my storehouse I did not show them."  At this point, Hezekiah must be getting that sick feeling of "What have I done?" because it is Isaiah the prophet and priest asking him these questions.  Hezekiah doesn't have to wait long for the LORD's reply.

Here is what the Word of the LORD said to Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah, "Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon.  Nothing shall be left, says the LORD."  As if that wasn't bad enough, the prophecy continues, "And some of your own sons [descendants], who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs [they will be made so that they cannot have children] in the palace of the king of Babylon."  Daniel and his three friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah fit into this category--they were all princes from the royal family, among many others that were taken to Babylon as well--those are just a few that we know by name.

Hezekiah thought that this prophecy was good for him because it promised that the punishment would come at a later time and fall on his descendants and not directly on him, so he assumed there would continue to be peace and prosperity in the rest of his years.  He had no remorse for what he did that cause injury to fall upon others (though Babylon was motivated by greed, there was another reason we'll learn about later in the prophet Jeremiah for why the LORD was using Babylon to take His people out of the Land, for they had failed to keep the Sabbath year ever since they came into the Land.)

During the rest of his days, King Hezekiah built a pool and a conduit system to bring water into the city so that the people could not be cut off from a fresh water supply.  The remains of this system have been discovered by archeologists just as they are described here and in extra-biblical texts.  There is also much written about Hezekiah in the book of 2 Chronicles (several chapters are devoted to him).  So, if you want to know more about him, you can read up on him there--we'll get there and study that too, but it probably won't be the very next thing we study together.

Then Hezekiah died and his son Manasseh ruled in his place.  If I didn't say this yet, it is important to follow this line of the kings because these are the children from the line of David that Jesus is descended from.  Jesus is the rightful King of the Jews.  His lineage is traced for us in Matthew 1 and Hezekiah and Manasseh are both ancestors of Joseph, the one who adopted Jesus and by being the oldest male in Joseph's family, He had the birthright to be the King of the Jews (though He was already their king because He was God in the flesh).  Matthew 1 tells us there were 14 generations from Abraham to David, then another 14 generations from David to the Babylonian Exile (those 14 generations are contained in the books of 1 Kings and 2 Kings which we are studying now) and then there will be another 14 generations between the Exile and First Advent of Christ--many of those are not contained in the Bible because of the 400 years of silence, but Jews kept very accurate records of genealogy, especially for anyone part of the royal family as they would need to be able to recite this and prove their right to the throne and see who was the closest heir if there was any contest.  This is how the New Testament starts so this history of the kings should not be boring to us as it is the history of Jesus' earthly family  It is the story of God preserving the line of the Messiah, and it is the story of how the perfect King of Kings and Lord of Lords was brought out of a line of people who failed in many ways.  Even the best of them could not truly save their people in the way they needed to be saved, for the people needed not just a political, warrior-king, but they needed one who was both the Good Shepherd and the Passover Lamb that would make penal substitutionary atonement for them.  No king of Israel or Judah could ever do that because all of them had their own sins they needed to pay for, but Jesus being the spotless Lamb of God will be identified by John the Baptist, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."  That is the kind of King who is worthy of of our allegiance, and all glory, and honor, and praise is due to Him and His great Name.