Thursday, January 20, 2011

A Letter to Hezekiah, The FOOL.



At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness and recovery. Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine olive oil—his entire armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?”
   “From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came to me from Babylon.”
The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”
   “They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”
 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD Almighty: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
“The word of the LORD you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my lifetime.” – Isaiah 39:1-8


Today’s Reading: Isaiah 39-40; Colossians 4


What up Hezekiah?

Man you’re a dummy, and a selfish dummy at that!


First of all you show some strangers all the goodies you got stored up in your house? You didn’t know who they were! You basically begged them to rob you clean. They not only know where everything is but also how much you’ve got. You might as well have given them the keys to the temple!

Good grief…

But even worse is that when Isaiah told you about yourself you were happy because it wasn’t going to happen in your lifetime. What about the team!? What about the fam that will come down the line? Are you cool with your kids being hauled off along with the booty? Your kids will be the booty!

Dude, think of someone other than yourself!

So what’s your plan for meeting this Babylonian challenge? Oh that’s right, you don’t have a plan. You’re just content with letting it go down after you’re gone. I hope you at least let the homies know what is coming down the pipeline. Folks need to prepare something: walls, fortresses, citadels… something.

I’m learning from your folly though. We have to guard our treasures. Not everyone who comes around with some kind words really has kind intentions. They may be wolves in sheep’s clothing ready to jack you when the time is right.

It has happened all throughout history. One person had a great idea and another person stole it and profited from it. But God don’t like ugly. They’ll get their comeuppance in the end.

But before that even has a chance to happen, I’ll protect what I’ve got till the time is right to release it to the world. I won’t let any Johnny Come Latelies put their hands in my cookie jar.


Sincerely,
              
C

2 comments:

  1. MAN! I've been butting up against Hezekiah for about a month now.
    And I go back and forth about how I feel.
    He was definitely selfish, and definitely rash...

    It just blows me that his good didn't outweigh his bad.

    I know that's what Grace is for (something he didn't have access to), but MAN! He was the first good king to come along in a while, and dude rode for the light pretty strong in those dark times, but he still finished poorly. What's the lesson? It's definitely worthy of long deliberation.

    And in 2 Chronicles, it says that GOD LEFT HIM when the Babylonians came around, just to see what he would do. And clearly, Hezz failed!

    I feel like him sometimes. I just think his fall may have been easier and less intentional than we might be giving him credit for.

    But I can't argue with the argument that he only pleaded with God when the outcome would affect his own life--unlike Jeremiah who seemed to have the concept of true intercession down...Or even Noah or Abraham.

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Puddlegum I feel you homie. He's such an interesting figure in his super high highs and the super low lows. No matter how great we are we all have a little knucklehead in us. And that's alright. If perfection were the standard then we'd all be doomed.

    Honestly that's what I love about these Bible figures. They were no different than us and yet they still did great things. That means that we too are capable of greatness if we continue to look to God.

    ReplyDelete

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