The difference our choices make
2 Kings 20:12-21
When I was a child and we watched movies as a family, sometimes Dad would reassure us, children, when we were worried about how the story would end. I wondered at the time how he could know the outcome when he had not seen the film before! I understand now that how a story is told has its rules and if you are alert to clues, you can read the intention of the storyteller as events develop. For instance, if a romantic comedy starts with a marriage proposal, you can expect complications in the relationship, otherwise the story ends before it started! Likewise, how you tell real events, what details you emphasise or leave out and in what sequence you describe what happened will affect what will stand out for people as they listen to you. The Babylonian visit comes as a response to Hezekiah being healed (2 Kings 20:12) and the two incidents form a pair. Both precede the Assyrian advance on Jerusalem (2 Kings 20:6, 12).[1] Recounting these events out of chronological order draws attention to them and ends Hezekiah’s story, as we shall see, with a challenge.
Trusting for help from human allies
Babylon, south of the expanding Assyrian empire was fighting for its independence at this time. Its ostensible goodwill mission after Hezekiah’s illness (2 Kings 20:12) was, in reality, a search for potential allies. The tour of the treasuries that Hezekiah arranges for the envoys (2 Kings 20:13) signals to them his capabilities against the common Assyrian threat. While the prophet’s questions sound like a simple query for information (2 Kings 20:14), they are meant to confront the king not to look for political alliances but to trust the Lord. Hezekiah’s answer, his simple pride in showing off the kingdom’s wealth – every bit of it! – to impress the visitors (2 Kings 20:15), suggests that he is oblivious that there might be anything wrong.
The consequences of our choices
Isaiah’s attitude seems restrained, perhaps because there is no explicit agreement made. Nevertheless, the message he conveys from God is chilling: this very kingdom will wipe out little Judah and all its wealth and some of the royal descendants will no longer serve in their own country but in the Babylonian court (2 Kings 20:16-18). Couched in softer terms, it nevertheless points to exile and servitude to the very power Hezekiah courted for help. The timeframe for the fulfilment is left vague (‘the days are coming’, v.17), though we know that the prophecy was fulfilled about a hundred years later (sons in the Hebrew refer to descendants more generally, which could be several generations later). Sadly, the king’s response is the usual human reaction to news that affects life beyond one’s own, ‘Oh good, not in my lifetime then!’ (2 Kings 20:19). What a shocking contrast to Hezekiah’s dismay at his own impending death earlier when he fell ill! He cried bitterly when his own life was in the balance (2 Kings 20:3) but feels only relief now when the prophecy does not directly affect him.
The difference choosing God makes
Instead of concluding Hezekiah’s story on a high note of trust and deliverance, the writer leaves us with a challenge. For his readers or hearers, the blow would have already fallen as they reflected on their story in Babylon. Positively, Hezekiah’s reign shows what a difference the Lord can make when a person trusts in Him. As we have seen in this king’s story, it is possible to change course even after sinning against God and not trusting in Him initially. The Lord has a compassion that runs deep when it comes to us. Nevertheless, Hezekiah’s behaviour in the final incident recounted here is illustrative of Judah’s ongoing problem. Trusting God is not a one-off decision but a choice to be made again and again, in all the varied circumstances of life. That choice will make the difference between a flourishing or a diminished life because the principle present in this story is true more generally: whatever we put our trust in (other than God) will eventually enslave us. Instead of choosing God only when a crisis threatens and we need help, let us choose the Lord because we love Him and miss Him when we do not spend time with Him.
[1] Note the promise of Jerusalem’s deliverance from Assyria (2 Kings 20:6) and the full treasury that Hezekiah shows off to the Babylonian envoys compared to it being emptied when the Assyrians begin their conquest of Judah (2 Kings 20:13 cf. 2 Kings 18:14-16).
If you enjoyed this post, please share it with others.