Isaiah 39

"What did they see in your palace?" Isaiah 39:4

If someone would closely examine your or my life and home what would they see?  Would they see lives that are passionate about our relationship with the Lord?  Would they see lives that are consumed with a desire to please and obey the Lord in all things, or would they see lives and homes consumed with materialism and the pursuit of temporal possessions?

In our Scripture passage today God had just healed King Hezekiah from a serious illness. Because of King Hezekiah's desperate plea to God in prayer God had granted him fifteen more years of life. Shortly after this the king of Babylon sent King Hezekiah letters and a gift.  The king of Babylon did this, because he had heard of King Hezekiah's recent illness and recovery.

When the envoys from Babylon came to visit King Hezekiah's palace, he could have shared his testimony of God's grace in his life.  King Hezekiah could have shared with the Babylonian envoys how the Lord had been gracious to him and had answered his prayers for healing.  It would have been a perfect opportunity to share with these people the love and grace of his God. Instead King Hezekiah used this occasion as an opportunity to brag about "what was in his storehouses-the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine 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." (Isaiah 39:2b)

After the envoys from Babylon left King Hezekiah's palace the prophet, Isaiah, came to King Hezekiah and asked him, "What did they see in your palace?" (Isaiah 39:4)  Notice Hezekiah's answer to the prophet's question in the later part of Isaiah 39:4.  Hezekiah said to the prophet, Isaiah, "They saw everything in my palace."  Then Hezekiah went on to say, "There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them."

Hezekiah did not mention speaking to the Babylon envoys about the spiritual and eternal treasures he had in the Lord God.  King Hezekiah did not mention speaking to the envoys about God's blessings in his life in healing him from his serious illness.  He did not speak of the daily blessings and treasures of the Lord's presence in his life.  King Hezekiah spoke only of his material and temporal treasures.

The prophet, Isaiah, then told King Hezekiah, "The time will surely come when everything in your palace and all your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon.  Nothing will be left, says the Lord." (Isaiah 39:6)  The information gained by the Babylon envoys about King Hezekiah's treasures would be valuable to future Babylon kings, and someday Hezekiah's descendants would be taken into captivity.  All King Hezekiah's hoarding of earthly possessions and all his pride and dependence on these things was useless.  King Hezekiah's focus should have been on the Lord God and on eternal and spiritual treasures.

Matthew 6:19-21 tells us, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Where is your and my heart?  Do we place value in the material and temporal things, or are we placing value on spiritual and eternal treasures?  If others came to our houses today, what would they see in our homes and lives?  May others see in us the treasures of a vibrant love relationship with the Lord.  May they see the joy of the Lord in our lives.  May they see obedience to the Lord in all areas of our lives.  May they see us storing up eternal and spiritual treasures! Nothing this earth has to offer is worth pursuing.  The Lord and His spiritual treasures are all that ultimately counts in this world and for eternity!