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President Hezekiah and The Danger of False Hospitality

2 Kings 20: 12-19

“At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan

king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift,

because he had heard of Hezekiah’s illness.

Hezekiah received the messengers and showed them

all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold,

the spices and the fine oil—his 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 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:

The time will surely come when everything in your palace,

and all that your fathers 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, that 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,

“Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?””