The Folly of a Good King's Pride Text: 2 Kings 20:12-19
Introduction: The Danger of the Victory Lap
There is a peculiar danger that follows hard on the heels of a great victory. When God has delivered you, when He has answered your prayers in a spectacular fashion, when you have stared into the abyss and He has pulled you back by the hair, the temptation that comes next is not despair, but pride. Despair is the devil's tool when you are in the valley. Pride is his preferred weapon when you are on the mountaintop. And it is a far more subtle and deadly weapon.
This is where we find King Hezekiah. By any biblical measure, he was a great and godly king, one of the best. He had just experienced two staggering displays of God's covenant faithfulness. First, God healed him of a terminal illness, turning back the shadow on the sundial as a sign. Second, and even more dramatically, God had obliterated the Assyrian war machine at the gates of Jerusalem, a deliverance so miraculous it was geopolitically insane. Hezekiah had faced down the world's superpower with nothing but prayer, and God had answered with fire from heaven. Hezekiah was on top of the world.
And it is right here, in the afterglow of God's mighty works, that the king's heart is lifted up. A diplomatic delegation arrives from the up-and-coming power of Babylon, ostensibly to congratulate him on his recovery. But it is a test. The world comes to the people of God not always with a sword, but sometimes with a handshake and a flattering word. And Hezekiah, the great reformer, the man of faith, fails this test utterly. He succumbs to the temptation to take a victory lap, to show off what he thinks are his assets, and in so doing, he plants the seeds of his nation's and his family's destruction. This passage is a stark warning to us. When God has blessed you, when your business is thriving, when your children are flourishing, when your ministry is successful, that is precisely the moment to get on your knees and guard your heart against the subtle, ruinous pride that infected this good king.
The Text
At that time Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
And Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the good oil and the house of his armor and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.”
And he said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah said, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.”
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of Yahweh.
‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have treasured up to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says Yahweh.
‘And some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”
Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of Yahweh which you have spoken is good.” For he said, “Will it not be good, if there will be peace and truth in my days?”
(2 Kings 20:12-19 LSB)
A Tour of Folly (vv. 12-13)
We begin with the arrival of the temptation, dressed in diplomatic finery.
"At that time Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. And Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all his treasure house..." (2 Kings 20:12-13)
Babylon was a rising power, looking for regional allies against the Assyrian bully. This was a political feeler. They came with presents and polite inquiries. And Hezekiah was flattered. The text says he "listened to them," which in this context carries the sense that he was delighted, he welcomed them gladly. His heart was open to their flattery.
And what does he do? He gives them a tour. But what is the subject of this tour? Does he take them to the city wall and say, "Right here is where the angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 Assyrians"? Does he show them the sundial and say, "Let me tell you what Yahweh did with time itself for my sake"? No. He shows them his stuff. He shows them the silver, the gold, the spices, the oil, the armory. He shows them all his treasuries. The text emphasizes the totality of it twice: "all his treasure house," "all that was found in his treasuries," and "nothing... that Hezekiah did not show them."
This was not statecraft; this was vanity. He was trying to impress these pagans with the arm of flesh. He was behaving like a carnal king, showing off his wealth and military might as if that were the basis of his security and significance. He had just been the recipient of two of the most astounding miracles in the Old Testament, and his testimony was all about his portfolio. He gloried in the gifts, not the Giver. He was acting as though he were the source of his own strength, and this is always the first step toward ruin.
The Prophet's Cross-Examination (vv. 14-15)
Just as the smoke from Hezekiah's ego is filling the room, the prophet Isaiah arrives. God will not let this stand without a confrontation.
"Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, 'What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?'... And he said, 'What have they seen in your house?'" (2 Kings 20:14-15)
Isaiah comes as God's prosecuting attorney. His questions are not for information; they are for incrimination. They are designed to expose the king's heart to the king himself. First, "Who are they and what did they say?" Hezekiah's answer is telling: "They have come from a far country, from Babylon." He emphasizes the distance, betraying his pride that such an important, faraway nation would pay him a visit.
But Isaiah cuts to the chase with the second question: "What have they seen in your house?" This is the heart of the matter. The question is not about inventory, but about glory. What did you put on display? What did you hold up as the foundation of your kingdom? And Hezekiah, to his credit, does not lie. He gives a full, damning confession: "They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them." He admits it all. He put all his worldly assets on the table for the pagans to admire. He laid out a detailed shopping list for his future conquerors.
The Mirror of Judgment (vv. 16-18)
Because Hezekiah has shown his treasures, God, through Isaiah, now shows Hezekiah the future.
"Hear the word of Yahweh. 'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have treasured up to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,' says Yahweh." (2 Kings 20:16-17)
The judgment is a perfect, poetic, and terrible mirror of the sin. This is how God's covenantal world works. You reap what you sow. Hezekiah, you are so proud of your treasures? The very men you showed them to will come back and take them. You think your wealth is your security? It will become your enemy's plunder. You wanted to impress Babylon? You have succeeded. They are very impressed, and they will return to collect. The judgment is as total as the tour was: "nothing shall be left."
But it gets worse. The judgment is not just financial; it is personal and generational.
"'And some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.'" (2 Kings 20:18)
The word for "officials" here is often translated as "eunuchs." Hezekiah's pride will not just cost his nation its wealth; it will cost his own sons their manhood and their future. His legacy will be cut off. The very sons who should have carried on the royal line of David will be made mutilated servants in a pagan court. This is the tragic endpoint of trusting in the arm of flesh. It leads to impotence and slavery. One of these sons would likely have been Daniel, or Hananiah, Mishael, or Azariah. Hezekiah's moment of pride had devastating consequences for his own children.
A Selfish Amen (v. 19)
The sentence has been passed. The future ruin of his house, his treasures, and his sons has been laid bare. And Hezekiah's response is perhaps the most shocking and tragic part of the entire story.
"Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, 'The word of Yahweh which you have spoken is good.' For he said, 'Will it not be good, if there will be peace and truth in my days?'" (2 Kings 20:19)
On the surface, "The word of Yahweh... is good" sounds pious. It sounds like humble submission. It sounds like Eli saying, "It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him." But Hezekiah's private reasoning, which the Holy Spirit has recorded for our instruction, reveals the rotten core of his response. He is not submitting in faith; he is sighing in relief.
His logic is this: "The judgment is terrible, but at least it won't happen on my watch. As long as I get to live out my days in peace and comfort, it's all good." This is the voice of profound generational selfishness. The great reformer has become a soft, comfortable man who is willing to sell his own children down the river for the sake of "peace and truth in my days." He is content to have a quiet life, even if it means his sons will be enslaved and his nation plundered after he is gone. This is a man who has lost the long-term covenantal vision. He has traded the heart of a father for the heart of a retiree looking out for number one.
Our King and Our Treasures
This story is a hard word for us, because we are all tempted to be like Hezekiah. We are tempted to take credit for God's blessings, to trust in our bank accounts, our skills, and our political solutions. We give the world a tour of our accomplishments instead of a testimony to God's grace.
And worse, we are tempted by his selfish response. The spirit of "peace in my days" is the besetting sin of the modern Western church. We want a comfortable faith. We want a quiet life. We don't want to rock the boat. We are more than willing to remain silent while our children and grandchildren are being marched off into the spiritual Babylon of secularism, as long as we can have our personal peace and affluence now.
Hezekiah's failure as a king and a father points us to our need for a better King and a truer Father. Hezekiah proudly showed off his treasures, which were then plundered. Our King, the Lord Jesus, possessed all the treasures of heaven, and He did not cling to them, but emptied Himself for us (Phil. 2:6-7). Hezekiah secured peace for himself at the expense of his children. Our King, Jesus, forsook His own peace and endured the wrath of God so that He might secure an eternal inheritance for His children, for us.
The word of the Lord to us is this: Stop glorying in your earthly treasures. They are nothing. They are a shopping list for your enemies. Instead, glory in the Lord. And stop settling for peace in your time. A true father, a true Christian, thinks in generations. We are called to fight for the truth, to build the kingdom, and to secure a godly inheritance for our children and our children's children, long after we are gone. We must reject the selfish comfort of Hezekiah and embrace the selfless sacrifice of Christ our King, who did not live for His own peace, but for the everlasting peace of His people.