Attitude And Preparation
Friday, May 18th, 20122 Kings 20:19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good,” for he thought: Why not, if there will be peace and security during my lifetime?
Hezekiah was king of Judah, and he was a good king. He loved the Lord and served God throughout this life. He became very sick. In fact, he was deathly sick, and he cried out to God to save him. God spoke through the prophet Isaiah and his life was extended 15 years. During those 15 additional years Hezekiah welcomed and entertained some dignitaries from a small, unknown, far-away nation; Babylon. Hezekiah showed these dignitaries from Babylon everything in his kingdom, including all the treasures in God’s temple. After all, this was a small, unknown nation; so he did not see any harm in this. Isaiah came to the palace as they were leaving and pressed Hezekiah as to who they were and what he had shown them. He finally relented and admitted he had shown them everything the kingdom had. Isaiah responded with a word from God, “Hear the word of the LORD: ‘The time will certainly come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the LORD. ‘Some of your descendants who come from you will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ (2 Kings 20:16b-18)”
God had just pronounced judgment on Judah and the descendants of Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah, and Hezekiah’s response is that God’s Word is good because it won’t happen in his lifetime. Wow! Talk about a selfish attitude. He is saying that he is alright with any bad things happening, as long as it happens after he is dead. This is a wrong and selfish attitude. Maybe it bothers us so much because we sometimes find the same attitude in ourselves? The Bible says this shouldn’t be the attitude of Christians; we are to be others-centered. “Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3-4)” This is especially true as a parent. Hezekiah was just told that he would be leaving death and destruction for his children, and he was ok with it. As parents we are to leave better things for our children, and grandchildren. “A good man leaves an inheritance to his grandchildren, but the sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous. (Proverbs 13:22)” We need to examine our heart constantly, and make sure our children, and grand-children, are prepared and equipped for the future.
In HIS grace
