Isaiah 39:5-8

2. PUNISHMENT

TEXT: Isaiah 39:5-8

5

Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of Jehovah of hosts.

6

Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in thy house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith Jehovah.

7

And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon.

8

Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of Jehovah which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.

QUERIES

a.

Why carried away to Babylon instead of Assyria?

b.

Why did Hezekiah say the prediction was good?

PARAPHRASE

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear the word of Jehovah of hosts. Behold, the time is coming when all of the armament and treasures which you have so boastfully shown your Babylonian visitorseverything your ancestors have worked so hard to accumulate and store upwill be carried off by the Babylonians as the booty of war. None of your wealth or weapons will be left, says the Lord. Your own sons and grandsons will be taken away by these same Babylonians and made slaves in the palace of their king. Hezekiah was humbled by the prophet's words and said, Yes, the word of the Lord is good and just. Furthermore, the word of the Lord is merciful. The Lord will make peace and truth to prevail for us at least for the rest of my days.

COMMENTS

Isaiah 39:5-7 CARRYING AWAY: Isaiah came, not in a human advisory capacity, but as a prophet of God. His prediction carried all the authority of Almighty God. It was, in fact, the word of Jehovah.

It is ironic that all the treasures Hezekiah had shown to the Babylonian envoys will someday, Isaiah predicts, be carried off by the Babylonians as the booty of conquest. Isaiah's prediction is enigmatic and problematical, to say the least. Here are the Babylonian envoys bringing gifts, expressing concern about Hezekiah's health, making friendly and charming inquiries about the grandeur of Judah's beautiful Temple vessels, diplomatically inviting Hezekiah to join forces with a great crusade against the common enemy, Assyria, and Isaiah is predicting they will be Judah's real conquerors. What appears to be the real threat, which has terrified the people, Assyria, Isaiah has predicted will disappear and pose no threat at all to Judah. What it really amounts to is a confrontation between the finite knowledge (limited only to the past and present) and the infinite knowledge of God (unlimited). Hezekiah's part in the drama is to decide which he will trust.

A prediction even more piercing to the heart of Hezekiah was the one concerning his sons. He does not even have a son yet! Now the dark news comes that when he shall have a son, his destiny is that of conquest and slavery in a pagan palace. The fulfillment of this prediction may be seen in Daniel 1:3-6; 2 Chronicles 33:11; 2 Kings 24:12-16. Manasseh, Hezekiah's immediate son, was taken to Babylon by the Assyrians; Jehoiachin, a great-great-great-great grandson of Hezekiah was taken captive by the Babylonians. The throne of Judah, the house of David, so precious to Hezekiah, will not only cease to exist, but the sovereign crowned heads which sit upon it will be forced into shameful servitude in an unclean, idolatrous, pagan court.

Isaiah 39:8 CALM ACOUIESCENCE: Hezekiah reacts to the rebuke of Isaiah and the word of the Lord as one would expect a man of his calibre to react. He is a man of great faith, but not a perfect man. He has weaknesses. But he is a man of a good and malleable heart. He is capable of acknowledging his sin and repenting when confronted with the will of God. In this respect, he is like his progenitor, David. It is not only the sin of Hezekiah that brings on the Babylonian captivity (cf. Deuteronomy 28:32), but the whole nation has defaulted on their covenant with God. Already other prophets have arraigned Judah before the judgment bar of God (Amos 2:4-5; Hosea 6:11, etc.).

Hezekiah should not be accused of a selfish attitude when he says, For there shall be peace and truth in my days. He has resigned his will to that of the Lord and pronounced the will of the Lord good! What all does he mean? We cannot be certain. Perhaps he is acknowledging the justness of God's chastisement. Perhaps he is acknowledging the good that will result from the chastening of a rebellious and unfaithful people through the coming captivity. He himself has just endured a chastening in his illness, and it has made him a man more responsive to the revealed will of God. Now he thanks the Lord, not only for himself but for his nation, that there will be a time of peace and truth for Judah before the darkness of the Babylonian captivity falls. E. J. Young paraphrases Hezekiah, There will be peace and truth at least in my days, but I am not spared the misfortune of the knowledge that my descendants will go into captivity.
The great forces of evil that oppose the redemptive work of God through His covenant loom on the horizon in Babylon. The mercy of God is extended to the covenant people for a short time. But soon they must be cast into the crucible and purified. Soon they must suffer the discipline of God that produces the fruit of righteousness. Soon the remnant must be refined that through it may come the Messiah and redemption to all peoples. It is no comfort to know that peace and truth will last only for Hezekiah's day. What about the future fortunes of the people of God? What ultimate and everlasting comfort can be given to God's people? What about peace and truth forever?
The answers to these questions are reserved for the second great section of the book of Isaiah, Chapter s 40-66.

QUIZ

1.

What is so enigmatic about predicting captivity by Babylon?

2.

Which sons of Hezekiah were taken captive?

3.

Was Hezekiah selfish in being glad of peace and truth in his own days?

4.

Where is the answer to the enigma of the captivities?