What Were You Thinking?

“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.”

Isaiah 39: 3-4

Take a moment and read Isaiah Chapter 39.

Perhaps the greatest lesson from this chapter is:

Beware of Babylonians bearing gifts!

Maybe it was boasting, maybe it was gratitude.

Maybe it was flattery for a gift having been received.

Whatever the reason, King Hezekiah never should have shown the Babylonian envoy from their king all the riches, wealth and even the defenses for his country.

But show him he did and without holding anything back!

Then he got a visit from the prophet of God.

If I could paraphrase –

King, what were you thinking?!

King Hezekiah lacked (or at least had a lapse of) discernment.

He opened every kingdom door and cubby to those who would later carry it all off as spoils from victory over the nation.

Hezekiah had previously sought God over his own personal well-being but seemed to lack the wisdom to do the same for his nation.

He did not seek Gods’ direction for his own country.

Sometimes, like Hezekiah, we withhold nothing from the enemy.

Like Hezekiah or Samson we freely show him where our strengths and weaknesses lie.

This is not wise.