Prophecy of Isaiah – Isa 39:1-8 There was Nothing in His House, nor in His Dominion, That Hezekiah Showed Them Not – Part 2

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Isa 39:1-8 There Was Nothing in His House, Nor in His Dominion, That Hezekiah Showed Them Not – Part 2

In this second part of our study of this 39th chapter of Isaiah what we will see is that even the Lord’s “very elect”, those who are destined to come forth in “the resurrection to life… [which is] the blessed and holy first resurrection”, are just as human and weak, in and of themselves, as anyone else. We want to show the princes of Babylon ‘all that is in our house’ and appropriate to ourselves the glory for being so spiritually wealthy.

When the apostle Paul tells us that without a God-given “thorn in the flesh” he himself would have become “exalted above measure because of the multitude of revelations”, he is telling us something about ourselves. The reason the holy spirit inspired those words to be written was to tell us that it is we who must first be humbled and brought to acknowledge within ourselves that our spiritually favored position with our Creator has nothing at all to do with us. Rather it is all because the Lord Himself has determined “before the world began” that it would be so.

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

Earlier in this prophecy we were informed this of the Lord’s very elect:

Isa 28:5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
Isa 28:6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
Isa 28:7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
Isa 28:8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.

This is written to you and me. '[We] also have erred through wine and strong drink.' Wine and strong drink are symbols of the Word of God, and taken in moderation and self-control they both nourish and comfort us:

Pro 31:6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
Pro 31:7 Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

Mat 26:27 And he took the cup [of wine], and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

Mar 10:38 But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
Mar 10:39 And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:

Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

When we “err through wine… and strong drink” we are drunk on our own election. Like Hezekiah, we become drunk on our own special relationship with God. The fact that the Lord has preserved us from being swept away with “the refuge of lies”, which the Lord sent to prove us, can and will puff us up, and we, too, become “lifted up” in our hearts. Hezekiah is a type of who we are. After all the Lord did for him, all of which should have humbled him, this is what happened instead:

2Ch 32:22 Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side.
2Ch 32:23 And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth.

"Many brought gifts unto the Lord”, but it was "Hezekiah king of Judah [who] was magnified in the sight of all the nations…" This is a type of us (1Co 10:6). The Lord shows us great mercy, forgives us for all our sins, delivers us from all our enemies, and our flesh appropriates His glory due only to Him unto ourselves. This is a warning to us:

2Ch 32:25 But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

This is exactly what happened to King Saul after the campaign against Amelek. Hezekiah is not better of himself than King Saul. God had given King Saul that victory, and now he “sets up to himself a monument”, and he was no longer “small in [his] own eyes”.

Notice how the life of the rejected anointed of God parallels the life of the Lord’s “very elect”:

1Sa 15:12 And Samuel riseth early to meet Saul in the morning, and it is declared to Samuel, saying, `Saul hath come in to Carmel, and lo, he is setting up to himself a monument, and goeth round, and passeth over, and goeth down to Gilgal.' (YLT)

1Sa 15:17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?
1Sa 15:18 And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.
1Sa 15:19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?

When we appropriate to ourselves anything… good or evil, we are as guilty as King Saul and King Hezekiah of being “lifted up in [our] hearts [and] rendering not again [to the Lord] according to the benefit done unto [us]”.

2Ch 32:25 But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

However, the Lord did not take the kingdom from Hezekiah as He did to King Saul. No, not at all. This is what He did to Hezekiah who, just like King Saul “rendered not again [unto the Lord] according to the benefit done unto him [because] his heart was lifted up”:

2Ch 32:26 Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

“Hezekiah humbled himself” for one reason, and it is for the same reason King Saul did not humble himself. This is the only reason we either humble ourselves or refuse to do so:

Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

There is nothing at all wrong with Hezekiah acknowledging that the Lord had indeed shown great favor unto him. Indeed, he would be denying the Lord if he failed to do so. So, it is with each of us.

Psa 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

2Co 4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

In the same manner, if we fail to acknowledge that the Lord has showered great spiritual favor upon us, a much greater favor than all the physical favor He showered upon Hezekiah, and if we deny that the Lord has seated us with Himself in the heavens at His Father's right hand, because we fear what our ‘ten brothers’ might think of us, then we, too, are failing to "render… again [to the Lord] according to the benefit done unto [us]" by the Lord.

Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us ["who first trusted in Him" - Eph 1:12] through Christ Jesus.

If we deny we are the Lord's redeemed, then He will deny us before His Father, because we are "His body" (Eph 5:30 and Col 1:14), and when we deny that fact, we are denying Christ Himself:

Mat 10:32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 10:33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Denying Christ is what Hezekiah did in effect when he appropriated to himself the glory for all the Lord had done for him. He was denying Christ and glorifying his own heart.

2Ch 32:25 But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

The lesson for us in this story is that with all the honor the Lord places upon us, it is just simply more than our carnal flesh can cope with, and therefore God must humble us again. All glory belongs to our Lord and none to us. This story happened to Hezekiah, and it was written down to tell us that we just naturally do what Hezekiah did and appropriate to ourselves the Lord’s glory.

Each of us take to ourselves the glory of our election, and we just naturally use His work in us as fuel for the exultation of ourselves over those who have not been so blessed as we have been to be given so many spiritual blessings.

But if the Lord has predestined that we are His “very elect”, then He Himself will keep us humble by whatever means He sees fit, and He who is working all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph1:11) will work in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:13). We are clay in His hands, and we are helpless as we “kick against the pricks” (Act 9:5).

If the Lord has predestinated that we are to partake of that blessed and holy first resurrection and that we are not to be hurt of the second death, then this is what He will do with every trial He places upon us as we endure the “much tribulation” which is integral to the lives of all whom He has placed in that blessed and holy position:

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

We will come back to these verses when we are shown the inexorable ability of the Lord to preserve His elect.

The Lord’s sovereign work in our lives is made known to us in how the Lord had to deal with the apostle Paul, and Paul, as a type of all of us, lets us know that he was no different than King Hezekiah and that the Lord also had to humble him.

As we mentioned earlier in this study, Isaiah has already been inspired to tell us just how hopeless our natural condition is. These words are in complete accord with what Paul tells us of himself and how the Lord dealt with him:

Isa 28:5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
Isa 28:6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
Isa 28:7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.

It all speaks to us about what is in our own self-righteous, self-centered flesh. There are no exceptions.

Here is what Paul tells us about his struggles with his own ego attempting to appropriate to himself the Lord’s glory, and he tells us how the Lord dealt with that self-centered beast within the apostle Paul.

2Co 12:1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2Co 12:2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
2Co 12:3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
2Co 12:4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
2Co 12:5 Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.
2Co 12:6 For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.
2Co 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
2Co 12:8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
2Co 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2Co 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

What we are being told is that of ourselves we are not capable of staying humble when the Lord is using us as His servants. Just like the apostle Paul, Hezekiah, as a type and a shadow of who we are in Christ, was granted to see his sin and repent of exalting himself and of taking the Lord's blessings and using them as the healing balm for his deadly wound to his own beast within, and as the fuel for his own vanity and his own glory.

If we are indeed the Lord's "very elect" then these words in Romans 8 are ours in which we must take comfort:

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us ["the firstborn" (vs. 29)] all things?
Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Pro 24:16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

Hezekiah is a type of us, and as such he was granted to repent of exalting himself instead of the Lord:

2Ch 32:26 Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

Self-exultation is as natural as breathing for each of us, and it requires "an experience of evil… a thorn in our flesh" to keep us humble, bring us to repentance and keep us aware of just how helpless we are in and of ourselves.

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

The Word of God itself condemns us and shows us that we "reap what we sow" (Gal 6:7). If we are truly "the very elect", then the Lord simply does not permit our beast to devour us, and He Himself humbles us and drags us back to repentance and delivers us from spiritual death:

Isa 39:3 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.
Isa 39:4 Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
Isa 39:5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:
Isa 39:6 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
Isa 39:7 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

It is a simple fact of life that all the Lord's people are first sinners who must "come out of [Babylon]". So, it follows that for that to happen they must first be there in Babylon:

Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

We will end our study here for this week, but I want to do so by quoting:

Heb 11:24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
Heb 11:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Heb 11:26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

Moses typifies our faith, being willing to “suffer… at this present time” (Rom 8:18) with the “firstfruits unto God and the Lamb (Rev 14:4)… than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season”.

Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

Rev 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Rev 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

Moses' faith is but a shadow of the “faith of Christ” which He gives to those in Him who like Moses “have respect unto the recompence of the reward”. Moses did not give his birthright away for a “bowl of pottage”, and neither did he think that the Egyptians would receive the same reward he would receive. He “had respect unto the recompence of the reward” of “suffering at this present time… with… the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb”.

Heb 11:26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

We will end this chapter with this very encouraging thought of being told of “the recompence of the reward”, and learning of it “from the Father to the children”.

Isa 38:19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

In our next study we will conclude this chapter with the most wonderful assurance that the Lord knows those who are His and He will not lose one of them.

Psa 118:27 God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2Ti 2:16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
2Ti 2:17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2Ti 2:18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.
2Ti 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

Joh 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

“The Lord knows them that are His… and none of them is lost”, not one of them. That is who Hezekiah typifies and foreshadows, as we will see in our next and final study of this 39th chapter of Isaiah. Hezekiah is a type of “those [the Father] has given [to Christ]”, who will not be lost, and that is who we hope we are. (Rom 8:24-25).

Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

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