ISAIAH LESSON 44


     We will begin this lesson in Isaiah 39:1 "At that time Merodach-
baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a
present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was
recovered."

     The very same thing is recorded in 2 Kings chapter 20, beginning
with the 12th verse. When we see the statement {at that time}, it is
speaking of a specific time, and not a time in general. We see that
the king of Babylon has sent an ambassador to check out the rumor that
Hezekiah had been healed of a life-threatening disease. It was not
unusual then, and is not unusual now, to send gifts to the sick. The
gift sent this time was like a bribe to get him into the confidence of
Hezekiah. This fake interest he was showing Hezekiah, was so he could
find out about him and his headquarters.

     Isaiah 39:2 "And Hezekiah was glad of them, 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."

     Hezekiah's good judgement was swayed by the gift brought to him.
He should never have opened his house and revealed all of his secrets
to the ambassador from Babylon. It appears from all the things listed
above, that Hezekiah had been blessed in a material way. Hezekiah
wanted them for allies. It appears Babylon wanted Hezekiah for an
ally, as well. People who believe in God should never yoke up with
those of unbelief. It brings nothing but grief. The greed of the
Babylonians would cause them to come against Hezekiah, so they could
get all of his wealth. Hezekiah held nothing back. He showed them his
personal belongings and that of the kingdom, as well.

     Isaiah 39:3  "Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah,
and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto
thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me,
[even] from Babylon."

     Isaiah sees the error in this immediately. He is asking Hezekiah,
why he showed all of this to perfect strangers? This might be wrong
for a person to do in our day against a ruler of the country, but at
the time this was written, a prophet had access to the king. In fact,
the prophet was sent of God and was not to be stopped by anyone. They,
many times, brought warnings from God. They spoke as an oracle of God.
Hezekiah was aware these men were from Babylon, but he was not aware
of their evil intentions. Perhaps, Hezekiah's ego got in the way of
sound thinking. He thought himself important for these men to have
come so far to bring him a gift.

     Isaiah 39:4 "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."
     It is pretty obvious Isaiah already knew what Hezekiah had shown
them, but just wanted to make a point of the foolishness of that act
here.

     Isaiah 39:5 "Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the
LORD of hosts:"

     When a prophet made a statement such as this, it was not his
message, but a Word from God. Isaiah called the Lord, the LORD of
hosts, very often in his writings. It is one of the things that sets
this apart as definitely being from the pen of Isaiah.

     Isaiah 39:6 "Behold, the days come, 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: nothing shall be left, saith the
LORD."

     This is a prophecy that Babylon will conquer them and loot the
place, as well. The time and the season is always known just of God.
This prophecy presented by Isaiah will surely come to pass, because it
is from God. This is not Isaiah's message, but God's message spoken
through Isaiah to Hezekiah.

     Isaiah 39:7 "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."

     In the case here, the sons are eunuchs made by man. Many times,
young men who are captured and used as servants of their captors were
made into eunuchs, so they would not be able to have children. This is
the fate of Hezekiah's sons. This did not have to be the literal sons
of Hezekiah, but could be his descendents, spoken of as his sons. We
do know there is a mention of the seed of the king having this very
same thing happen. The first chapter of Daniel is somewhat descriptive
of what happened. The reason they were wanted, was because they were
educated and capable to teach.

     Isaiah 39:8 "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."

     It appears from this that Hezekiah knows he cannot do anything
about the coming judgement. He is just happy there will be peace and
rest for the rest of his life. Hezekiah accepted the Word of the Lord,
because it was absolute truth. He was happy for what God had already
given him, and would not question anything beyond that.



     In the next lesson, we will begin an entirely different study by
this very same Isaiah that we have been studying. I said at the
beginning of the lessons on Isaiah, that there were 2 distinct parts
to Isaiah. The first 39 chapters symbolize the Old Testament, and the
next 27 chapters symbolize the New Testament.
                          Isaiah 44 Questions

1.  Who was this, Merodach-baladan in verse 1?
2.  What did he do for Hezekiah?
3.  What had he heard about Hezekiah?
4.  What other part of the Bible gives this account?
5.  What does {at that time} mean?
6.  What was this gift actually?
7.  Why was he showing interest in Hezekiah?
8.  What did Hezekiah show them?
9.  Hezekiah should have never opened his home to the ambassador from
    ____________.
10. Hezekiah had been blessed in a _____________ way.
11. People who believe in God should never yoke up with those of
    ____________.
12. What questions did Isaiah ask Hezekiah about these strangers?
13. Where did Hezekiah say they were from?
14. A __________ had access to the king.
15. Prophets spoke as ____________ of God.
16. If Isaiah knew what Hezekiah had shown them, why did he ask him
    what he had shown them?
17. What title does Isaiah give the Lord in verse 5?
18. What terrible prophecy did Isaiah make about this?
19. What will happen to the sons that issue from Hezekiah?
20. Are these really his sons? Explain.
21. Where do we find a fairly detailed happening of this?
22. What reply did Hezekiah give to this warning?
23. What is Hezekiah happy about in this?
24. The first 39 chapters of Isaiah symbolize the _______ _________.
25. The last 27 chapters of Isaiah symbolize the _____ __________.