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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
2 Kings 20:12–21, “At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not. 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, even from Babylon. And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them. And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD. Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. 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. Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days? And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.”
After Hezekiah recovered, he received some messengers from Babylon. They came a long was to visit Hezekiah and he gave the all the hospitality available. As part of this, he showed them through his storehouses and let them know the extent of his wealth. After they left, Isaiah, the prophet, came to Hezekiah and asked him what he had done. Hezekiah told the prophet that he had shown the Babylonians everything that he owned and hadn’t kept anything secret from them. Isaiah told Hezekiah that, one day in the future, Babylonians would come to Jerusalem and plunder all the wealth that he had just shown them. Hezekiah didn’t really care, as long as it didn’t happen to him. One of this king’s great achievements was that he dug a tunnel from the spring that was outside the upper wall of Jerusalem so that water flowed into the city. He covered the top of the spring so no one could see any evidence of the fact that it had been there. This meant that Jerusalem had a clean, continuous supply of water if it was ever besieged and the besiegers would not have access to any water. Manasseh succeeded Hezekiah, his father.
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