Isaiah 39:3-4. "Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, 'What did these men say? And when did they come to you?' Hezekiah said, 'They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.' [Isaiah] said 'What have they seen in your house?' Hezekiah answered, 'They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.'"

Hezekiah was king in Judah as it was being threatened by Assyria, the kingdom that had conquered the north. He prayed and God, through Isaiah, promised not to let Jerusalem fall to Assyria. Hezekiah then became deathly ill and he prayed again, and God, again through Isaiah, promised to add fifteen years to Hezekiah's life, and again promised to "deliver you and the city out of the hands of the king of Assyria, and defend this city". (Isaiah 38:6). After his healing, Hezekiah received envoys from Babylon and, very unwisely, welcomed them so wholeheartedly that he showed them everything. All of Judah's gold, weapons, and provisions; all of the locations of these things; and all of Judah's fortifications, were seen and noted by these foreigners (Isaiah 39:1-2). So now Isaiah is confronting Hezekiah about this.

You would think that after realizing the Word of God always came to him through Isaiah, Hezekiah would have sought out Isaiah's counsel before welcoming representatives of a foreign nation so openly, but he didn't. Perhaps it was naiveté or an overabundance of joy at his healing, but whatever it was, Hezekiah showed very poor judgment here, poor judgment that could and would have been corrected by Isaiah if only Hezekiah had thought to ask his advice. The fallout from this misjudgment will be monumental. Isaiah tells Hezekiah that "all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon ... and some of your own sons ... shall be taken away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon." Unbelievably, Hezekiah tells Isaiah that this word of God is good "For he thought, 'There will be peace and security in my days.'" (Isaiah 39:8)

Hezekiah squandered everything his forefathers had gained for the nation and for future generations, and he really didn't seem to feel much remorse about it. It is always bad when one generation sells out a future generation for its own peace or security, but this is even worse, Hezekiah has sold out his people, including his children, by nothing more than a stupid error in judgment. His response when he is shown what he has done and what the consequences will be is worse yet - he thinks it is good because at least there will be peace and security in his days, (remembering that he only has fifteen years left to live (maybe one reason we shouldn't know when we will die is to save us from being this selfish!)).

A few years ago I would have said I can't believe anyone could be this callous, selfish, shortsighted, and blind. But after watching the events of the last few years, and their effects (many of which are still unknown) on our children's well-being, education, safety, and mental health, as well as on our institutions, economy, culture, government, and society, I totally see what happened to Hezekiah. It is absolutely wrong, but his focus had shifted to himself, just as, it appears to me, the focus of my and older generations shifted entirely to ourselves during the "pandemic." Hezekiah is now the only thing Hezekiah cares about.

This attitude from the king is a good indicator of where his people probably were, as well. It is also a good indicator of why God had to allow Babylon to conquer Jerusalem and take the Jews into exile. It was through that suffering that they learned to stop their "me-first" thinking and remember their duties to God and to future generations. Only then could they come back and rebuild.