Isaiah 39

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 he had been sick and had recovered. 2 And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole 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. 3 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?” Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.” 4 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. 7 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.” 8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my days.”

Target Date: Sunday, 19 January 2025

Sermon Text:

What is the Bible about?

If someone came up to you and asked that question, how would you answer them?

How would you describe this wonderful book?

Some might see the Bible as a collection of stories and other forms of literature, like a history or poetry book from long ago.

Containing the wisdom of the ages, inspired by God.

Stories about different people at different times and in different places who do good and bad things;

And God uses those things to instruct us by command and example.

Sadly, that is how many Christians see it – loosly tied stories spanning several thousand years of human history.

And that is why so many deny its divine origin:

We have stories and histories and teachings and wisdom that have been passed down to us outside the Bible, so how can we say that the Bible surpasses them all?

Sure, we have faith in God, but what real connection is there between the book of Leviticus and the book of Ephesians?

Other than perhaps providing foundational truths or a consistent moral code?

A few disputed cross-references?

It isn’t enough to see the Bible as a mere collection of writings – not nearly enough.

Not even a collection of God-inspired writings.

What is the Bible about – from beginning to end?

There is one story in there – cover to cover.

With a two-chapter prologue at the beginning and a two-chapter epilogue at the end, the Bible tells ONE story:

It is the story of the salvation and redemption of God’s people from sin.

Every story, every law, every proverb, every song, every prophecy is telling this same story.

Some pieces tell what God has done;

Some tell why He has done it.

Why salvation is necessary.

And how His longsuffering patience with us demonstrates His mercy and grace.

Some tell how He has accomplished our salvation.

But every word, beginning to end of the Bible, is telling this single story.

And it answers our greatest need.

In Genesis 3, the pivotal character is introduced: the seed of the woman.

He is introduced in God’s judgment of the serpent in the Garden:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” - Genesis 3:15

This promised offspring would crush the work of the serpent and redeem mankind from his sin.

And in the hearts of Adam and Eve, the hope would have to be the end of the curse and exile from the Garden of God.

They are the only two people in history to know how much was lost in their rebellion;

The beauty, the glory, that was theirs in their innocence.

If you didn’t know who this offspring was, if you simply started reading at Genesis 1 and read straight through, the natural question you would ask about every man that comes on the scene would be: is this the promised offspring?

And in Genesis 4:1, we are told:

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten man with the help of the Lord.” - Genesis 4:1

Eve looked into the eyes of her firstborn, Cain, and saw THE man.

But he wasn’t the promised offspring.

He was jealous, and he murdered his younger brother.

Man after man comes on the scene, and each one proves that not only can he not be the savior; he proves he NEEDS a savior.

Noah, the great preacher of old, got drunk.

Abram, the chosen father of the Jewish people, lied.

Down through the ages:

Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Samson, Gideon, Saul, David, Solomon.

Each one unworthy, sinful, in need of a savior.

They sacrificed, they repented, but they could not be saved before the holy God without a Savior.

And then Isaiah comes in:

(You may have thought I had forgotten to preach from Isaiah)

And he spoke to Ahaz, Hezekiah’s father, and told him:

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. - Isaiah 7:14

And then a little later we see more about this child:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. - Isaiah 9:6–7

And even to this day, some Jewish commentators think these prophecies were about Hezekiah, the last good king of Judah before the nation was carried off to Babylon.

But Hezekiah wasn’t it either.

Turns out, he needed a Savior also.

So with the time we have left this morning, I would like to give you four marks of the Savior that Hezekiah proves in this short chapter he does not have.

There are, I think, more than four, but I have chosen these to help us this morning.

And I invite you to not only look at this as a theological description of our Savior, but to think of what He wants to build into you when He saves you.

The first is that the Savior cannot be a friend of the world of sin, no matter how flattering or tempting they may be.

We see in verse 2 when the Babylonian delegation arrived: Hezekiah welcomed them gladly.

I hope you remember the warning of chapter 31, where the Lord through Isaiah told Hezekiah to stop seeking allies.

He had aligned himself with Assyria, and had been betrayed.

Then he began to seek after Egypt, but they were weak and toothless.

And now in the days following the recovery God gave him from his deathbed, a delegation shows up from an Assyrian province.

Babylon was a backwater town; Merodach-baladan was the very first king of Babylon.

But Hezekiah saw them as an opportunity for an alliance, and this time HE would be the stronger and more powerful in the relationship.

He was PLEASED in them; he REJOICED in them.

Here was a nation, a king, sending his regards to HIM.

That’s flattering, isn’t it?

He has been the junior partner in every alliance he has made, and has been betrayed or disappointed time and again.

And now these men show up with gifts and flattering speech, in awe of the wealth of the king of Judah.

They told him what he wanted to hear.

Their presence in his court, and his guests, proved that he was a REAL king, that he was great.

So the more they exclaimed their wonder at his wealth and power, the more he showed them, until every secret treasure was paraded before them.

And just like that, what a hundred spies could not have done, the prideful king delivered over himself.

I suspect that each of us is familiar with that tactic of sin: to make you feel good, or make you feel important, or to make you feel wise.

And that pride of life will carry that sin into every corner of your life if you don’t stop it.

How many of us have done sinful things, even stupidly sinful things, to save face or to gain status in people’s eyes?

Most often, sin doesn’t come to us in a shocking temptation;

It comes to us in tiny steps of compromise.

One small, hidden sin that leads to the next, slightly-larger and open sin.

Drunkards begin with a single sip;

Addicts with a single drug.

Pornography addicts with one website or picture that stimulates them.

And gradually sin pushes your boundaries until there is no area of your life that isn’t infected by that sin.

And what you would have considered unthinkably evil not long ago has become your daily ritual.

The sad thing is that most of us don’t even require the satan to tempt us;

We do well enough tempting ourselves.

The serpent may be hanging in the tree, but we set our path to walk past close enough to touch it.

Close enough that the merest suggestion will cause us to fall.

Hezekiah wanted allies so badly that when they showed up on his doorstep, he jumped at the chance.

Those are the moments we must be especially cautious to obey God’s command.

The true Savior successfully resists these kinds of flattering temptations:

“Jump off the temple and prove you are the Christ.”

“I will give you all these people if you bow to me, right here, in private. No one will ever know.”

The second mark of the true Savior is that He will glorify God and not Himself.

Hezekiah had such an opportunity.

God had just healed him, brought him back from the brink of death.

These envoys from Babylon had heard of it – that’s why they were here.

But instead of talking about the greatness and faithfulness of God, he showed them his own greatness.

Maybe he couched it in pious-sounding language: “See what God has blessed me with”

We aren’t told.

But it doesn’t matter.

When we think that glorifying God is done by showing the blessings we have, we miss the whole point.

That was the point we talked about last Wednesday in the feeding of the 5000 in John 6.

Even if we “hook” them because they want those same blessings from God, it is not a living and true faith that results.

I know my next statement will be controversial, but search the Scriptures to see if it’s true:

No one who comes to God for the benefits He gives them, particularly blessings in this world, is saved.

That is because seeking what God can GIVE me is NOT FAITH;

Salvation comes when we understand the only thing we need from God is to be able to stand before His glory blameless and innocent.

That is the ONLY gift that matters.

And, by the way, it is the only gift we are PROMISED in Christ.

Not wealth, not health, not even happiness in this life.

But peace with God through Jesus Christ, and eternal life in Him.

Hezekiah could have told these emissaries about the answer to prayer that God had given.

He could have spoken about God’s faithfulness and lovingkindness to His people.

He could have talked about the tears God did not ignore that flowed from his eyes.

But He didn’t glorify God; He glorified himself.

But when Jesus was accused of having a demon, He said:

The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. - John 8:48–50

The third mark of the Savior is that He redeems others.

After Isaiah delivers God’s promise of the Babylonian captivity, the last verse in the chapter is a really confusing statement:

“The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my days.”

The first part of that sounds like an acknowledgement that God is just to declare this judgment.

Isaiah has just told him about all the bad things that will happen to his nation and to his family personally, and this is all he has to say?

That is a far cry from the statement of our Lord hours before He was crucified:

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” - Luke 22:31–32

Hezekiah proved that his main thoughts are for himself.

And it casts a shadow even on his prayer of faith for his own healing.

It reminds me of the satan’s accusation against Job when he had taken his livelihood and his children.

Job didn’t curse God like the accuser hoped, so he said:

“Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. - Job 2:4

And then the Holy Spirit tells us what Hezekiah was THINKING:

For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my days.”

So many commentators, Calvin included, see this as another statement of Hezekiah’s faithful acceptance of God’s word.

At the very least, allowing Hezekiah to be grateful for the respite God is giving from His judgment.

But, along with others, I think if this was truly a faithful statement, he would have SAID it.

But we are told he THOUGHT it.

So what that final verse is telling us is WHY Hezekiah considered the word of the Lord’s judgment GOOD:

Because it wouldn’t happen now, to him.

It would happen to his descendents in the not-to-distant future.

Parents and children, adults and youth – are you just living for yourself?

Do you sin thinking it will only affect you?

Because it doesn’t.

Even those secret sins, the ones you hold closely in your heart, affect everyone around you.

Parents, the sins you CHOOSE to do are hurting your children.

Youth, those sins you choose right now are hurting those to come after you.

Every sin diminishes the blessings you can bestow on others.

Every sin tarnishes those you love who are closest to you.

I am not saying these things so you will feel more guilty:

I am telling you these things because sin should not, must not, be so simply dismissed in us.

We may be forgiven, as David was after Bathsheba.

He wrote the beautiful 51st Psalm to describe his repentance.

But his family was broken afterward.

Sin is NEVER just about you.

There is ALWAYS someone else who is victimized by your sin.

The fourth mark of the Savior is that He saves for all time, not just a generation.

Hezekiah was satisfied if God’s mercy lasted his lifetime;

Our Lord Jesus Christ stands eternally before the Father, the blood of His wounds pleading our innocence before God.

Do you want your sin forgiven or do you want to be free from sin and have it removed?

It is the difference between putting a deadly monster to sleep or killing it.

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” - Romans 8:13–15

So to go back to the original question, “What is the Bible about?”

It is the story, beginning to end, of the work of God in saving His people from sin and the curse.

And key to that is the promised Savior, the man Christ Jesus, who took the sins of His people on Himself, was crucified, died, and was raised to never die again.

And He stands forever in the flesh before God, raising our prayers to Him.

STUDY and PREPARATION:

Thoughts on the Passage:

Why would the Spirit through Isaiah include this story?

We know it was the Spirit because we see the THOUGHTS of Hezekiah in full view.

Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. - Job 2:4

It wasn’t to smear the reputation of Hezekiah.

It was not primarily to instruct in geopolitical realities.

What does the average believer need to know about governance?

This is a shadow, a picture, of a spiritual reality.

Covetousness opens us up to a host of sin leading to full conquest.

And sin, your sin, brings pain to people other than yourself.

Hezekiah considered Babylon no threat , but someone to be used.

Like sin, Babylon introduced itself with gifts that made the king feel important or admired.

Babylon came to his court in the wake of God’s healing.

Sin will often creep in after our largest battles.

Prior to this incident, it should be noticed that Hezekiah was not saved from his sickness because of his good works, but because of his faith in God and his prayer.

God did not declare that he was spared for his good labors.

His son, the evil Manasseh, reigned almost twice as long as Hezekiah.

Hezekiah in the past sought allies in Egypt, and God rebuked him.

Beware of assuming that God is OK with sinful faithlessness simply because the opportunity to choose the wrong course is made easy.

We should not be readers of the “fleece” but readers of the Scriptures.

We may ask why Hezekiah opened everything to the envoys, taking them into all his treasuries.

Similarly sin doesn’t have to creep into our most private and protected spaces;

If we stay too long in its company, we will invite it into every holy place.

1 -Merodach-baladan” (Cuneiform “Marduk-apal-iddina,” lit. “the god Marduk has given a son”) raised Babylon to a position from which it threatened and eventually overthrew Assyrian dominance in the ancient Near East (cf. 21:1–10). He was the first king of Babylon, and he led that nation during two separate periods: 721–710 B.C. and 703–702 B.C.

2 - The Lord Jesus’ responses to the flattery of Nicodemus (John 3) and the rich young ruler (Mark 10) provide examples of how Hezekiah should have responded: He should have not allowed flattery to influence him.

2 -Here was a ready-made opportunity for Hezekiah to glorify God before the pagan Babylonians, to tell of his greatness and of his grace. Instead, he succumbed to the temptation to glorify himself and to prove to the Chaldeans that he was a worthy partner for any sort of coalition they might have in mind.

2 -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 God’s 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.

2 – To give Hezekiah a little benefit of the doubt, he may have felt he WAS glorifying God, who had healed him.

He was showing off what God had given him in spite of the crushing tribute he had paid to Assyria.

Can we be tempted to show off God’s blessings to us rather than to glorify God directly?

4 -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

5 -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.

6 -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.

7 -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.

8 -Upon hearing the prophecy, Hezekiah responds, The word of the Lord you have spoken is good (lit. ‘good is the word of the Lord which you have spoken’; emphasis on the word ‘good’)

8 – This is not a record of Hezekiah’s repentance, only his resignation to the word of God.

Contra Matthew Henry: 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.

8 - Many commentators, including Calvin, want to make the last statement of Hezekiah a statement of faith. It seems to me far too selfish to be a statement of faith.

It would continue the tendency of Hezekiah to be concerned for his own skin.

It does prove convincingly he is NOT the prophesied child; he will not save his people. He will only delay their eventual suffering at the hands of their enemies.

A savior cannot simply save for a moment or a lifetime - a real savior must save forever.

If this is a statement of faith, it could be that he is relying on the forebearance of God for the next generation – meaning, if His judgment has not fallen, there remains time to repent.

God could have made the cross of Jesus Christ painless, anaesthetic.

But the point of the cross is the wrath of God poured out on sin.

Death is, in fact our hope. We were separated from the Tree of Life so we would not persist forever in our sin. Our hope is in death – in Christ we died.

What is the Good News of this passage – Where is Jesus Christ? (if you can’t answer this question, are you finished?)

The marks of a true savior:

Not friends with the world/ cannot be flattered.

Wise enough not to be flattered.

Glorifies God and not himself.

Adheres to the whole Law.

Must redeem others.

Saves for all time, not just for a generation.

Teachings:

What do we learn about God/ Jesus/ Holy Spirit?

Applications:

For the Christian:

For the Backslidden:

For the Unconverted:

Primary Preaching Point:

Building Points:

[on even numbered page]

MORNING PRAYER:

Adoration:

Almighty God and everlasting King.

Confession:

Forgive us our pride, and the loathsome lengths to which we will go to support our fleshly vanity.

Thanksgiving:

In You we find our only hope, both in this life and in eternity joined with Christ Jesus.

Petition:

We beg that You subdue the power of our sins by Your Holy Spirit.

Intercession: (also beyond our local)

We pray that Your peace would reign anew on the earth: