DANGERS OF SUNLIT UPLANDS
Opening Prayer
Lord God, use your Word to shape my thoughts and actions, to build in me the heart and mind of Christ and a life dedicated to serving you.
Read ISAIAH 39
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Envoys From Babylon
39 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. 2 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.
3 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.”
4 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.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord Almighty: 6 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. 7 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.”
8 “The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my lifetime.”
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening (1 Samuel 3:9).On his deathbed, weak, vulnerable, and diminished (chapter 38), Hezekiah was spiritually far stronger than we find him in chapter 39. News of his miraculous recovery had prompted a state visit, accompanied by gifts and no doubt a generous helping of flattery (v. 1). Babylon’s ascendancy was in the future. Hezekiah’s guard was down, and he gave away valuable information about his people’s assets for the simple and basic pleasure of showing off (v. 2). Isaiah was left to tell him the scope of his error: Babylon would one day take all the treasures of the kingdom and his descendants into exile (vv. 5–7).
1 Peter 5:8 says, ‘Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.’ Our enemy is the master of disguise and knows better than to prance around with a pitchfork and flashing red eyes, advertising his presence. We need to get wise to his tactics, one of which is to attack when we are most complacent and comfortable, as we can see he did in today’s reading (v. 8). There is a reason the church often flourishes under persecution: everyone knows how very badly they need the Lord. We don’t need to make ourselves suffer to grow in spiritual strength and maturity, but we should be mindful that it takes extra effort when life is good.
Apply
Consider where you might be most vulnerable to the devil’s trouble-making.
Closing prayer
O God, make me sensitive to things that are not of you and quick to use all you have given me to rebuff temptation, no matter how harmless it might seem.
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