About that same time the king of Babylonia, …heard that King Hezekiah had been sick, so he sent him a letter and a present. Hezekiah welcomed the messengers and showed them his wealth—his silver and gold, his spices and perfumes, and all his military equipment. There was nothing in his storerooms or anywhere in his kingdom that he did not show them.
Hezekiah answered, “They came from a very distant country, from Babylonia.”
As if there were no risk because they lived so far away (2 Kings 25:8-10). Help me to act with more discretion, Lord!
Isaiah then told the king, “The Lord Almighty says that a time is coming when everything in your palace, everything that your ancestors have stored up to this day, will be carried off to Babylonia. Nothing will be left.”
King Hezekiah understood this to mean that there would be peace and security during his lifetime, so he replied, “The message you have given me from the Lord is good.”
FATAL. “Après moi, le déluge”. I need to focus all my efforts to assure the success of the next generation, of all who will follow.
Everything else that King Hezekiah did, his brave deeds, and an account of how he built a reservoir and dug a tunnel to bring water into the city, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.
Famous. And critical / very strategic. May my actions reflect this as well, Father.
Hezekiah died, and his son Manasseh succeeded him as king. Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. …the people of Judah did not obey the Lord, and Manasseh led them to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced. …Manasseh killed so many innocent people that the streets of Jerusalem were flowing with blood; he did this in addition to leading the people of Judah into idolatry, causing them to sin against the Lord.
THE CONSEQUENCES. 55 years of this! Sin leads to the shedding of innocent blood. May I always hold upmost in my mind the others around me, Lord, and all those who will follow after I pass from the scene.