39:4ffMerodach-baladan, a Babylonian prince, was planning a revolt against Assyria and was forming an alliance. He probably hoped to convince Hezekiah to join this alliance against Assyria. Hezekiah, feeling honored by this attention and perhaps feeling some sympathy for their proposal, showed the Babylonian envoys his treasures. But Isaiah warned the king not to trust Babylon. Someday they would turn on Judah and devour Jerusalem's wealth.
Life Application Study BibleIsaiahChapter 39
Isaiah 39
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1150, 1151
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39Isaiah 39
Envoys from Babylon
139 Soon after this, Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent Hezekiah his best wishes and a gift. He had heard that Hezekiah had been very sick and that he had recovered. 2Hezekiah was delighted with the Babylonian envoys and showed them everything in his treasure-houses—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the aromatic oils. He also took them to see his armory and showed them everything in his royal treasuries! There was nothing in his palace or kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them. 3Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did those men want? Where were they from?” Hezekiah replied, “They came from the distant land of Babylon.” 4“What did they see in your palace?” asked Isaiah. “They saw everything,” Hezekiah replied. “I showed them everything! own—all my royal treasuries.” 5Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to this message from the LORD of Heaven's Armies: 6‘The time is coming when everything in your palace—all the treasures stored up by your ancestors until now—will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left,’ says the LORD. 7‘Some of your very own sons will be taken away into exile. They will become eunuchs who will serve in the palace of Babylon's king.’” 8Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “This message you have given me from the LORD is good.” For the king was thinking, “At least there will be peace and security during my lifetime.”
B. WORDS OF COMFORT (40:1—66:24)
Isaiah now speaks of events that will occur after the Captivity. This includes the decree byCyrus to release the remnant captives and allow them to return to Jerusalem after he con-quered Babylon. But Isaiah also foretells the coming of the suffering Servant, Jesus Christ,and describes his life and death with incredible detail. Isaiah also speaks about the comingof the new heavens and earth, when God’s people will be completely restored. Because allbelievers will participate in this new world to come, we can have confident hope in the future.
1. Israel’s release from captivity
Comfort for God’s People
4 0 1“Comfort, comfort my people,”
Life Application Notes 3 notes
39:4-7What was so wrong about showing these Babylonians around? Hezekiah failed to see that the Babylonians would become his next threat and that they, not the Assyrians, would conquer his city. When Isaiah told him that Babylon would someday carry it all away, this was an amazing prophecy because Babylon was struggling for independence under Assyria. Hezekiah’s prideful display of his earthly treasures brought its own consequences (2 Kings 25; Daniel 1:1, 2}. His response (39:8) may seem a bit shortsighted, but he simply was expressing gratitude for the blessing from God that peace would reign during his lifetime and that God's judgment would not be more severe.
39:8Hezekiah, one of Judah’s most faithful kings, worked hard throughout his reign to stamp out idol worship and to purify the worship of the true God at the Jerusalem Temple. Nevertheless he knew his kingdom was not pure. Powerful undercurrents of evil invited destruction, and only God’s miraculous interventions preserved Judah from its enemies. Here Hezekiah was grateful that God would preserve peace during his reign. As soon as Hezekiah died, the nation rushed back to its sinful ways under the leadership of Manasseh, Hezekiah's son. He actually rebuilt the centers of idolatry his father had destroyed.