Thursday, 9th June 2022
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-4 Prideful and Complacent
V1 ‘At that time Merodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered.’ It was at the time of Hezekiah’s most glorious times, his sickness was healed, his enemy was defeated, and all the foreign nations wanted to make alliance with him. At the time, Hezekiah did not have any sons, therefore it also meant that after Hezekiah, there would be no one in the bloodline to pass on the kingdom to. Babylon was not a strong nation at the time, and the meaning of Baladan was Baal, which was God’s detestable idol. Hezekiah did not realise that his pride led to the destruction of the nation.
V2 ‘And Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armoury—all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.’ We must be mindful of our hearts, what is inside our hearts? Do we know that every blessing we receive is from God? Hezekiah was prideful of everything he had and he forgot that everything he had belonged to God; in his eyes, he only saw himself.
II Chronicles 32:31 says, ‘However, regarding the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, whom they sent to him to inquire about the wonder that was done in the land, God withdrew from him, in order to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.’ When things go smoothly, it does not mean that our life will be always smooth. Do we follow God wholeheartedly and see how much God has done for us?
V3-4 ‘Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?” So Hezekiah said, “They came to me from a far country, from Babylon.” And he said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”’ Hezekiah treated everything he had as his own belongings, he was showing off his treasures and giving out what he had.
It says in II Chronicles 32:23, ‘And many brought gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations thereafter.’ Hezekiah had the wealth and the fame, nations came to visit him and he became prideful.
Section Two V5-8 No Repentance to the End
V5-6 ‘Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the Lord.’ Isaiah heard about the people of Babylon coming to visit Hezekiah, God did not send Isaiah, but when Isaiah went to Hezekiah, the Word of God came upon him.
V7 ‘And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ God was testing the pride inside Hezekiah, God gave him 15 more years to live because he wanted to see if he had dealt with the issues inside him, to repent and return. However, within the 15 years, Hezekiah had a son, who was the evilest king that the Judah history ever had! The pride and stubbornness of Hezekiah destroyed the nation of Judah and the remnant of Israel. Are we also like Hezekiah? When we receive the blessings of God, do we take everything for ourselves and forget about God?
V8 ‘So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “At least there will be peace and truth in my days.”’ He did not repent at the end, Hezekiah spent his life trying to be different from his father, striving to change the history of his family; he seemed to be doing a lot of godly things but inside his hearts he was still in a ‘doing’ mode. At the end he did not really submit to God. God is testing us and looking at us, are we willing to wait upon Him and follow Him step by step?
以赛亚书 39 – 如何从恩典中堕落
2022年6月9日 星期四
潘锡安牧师
在前一章的记载里，以赛亚预言希西家得医治、并且加增十五年的寿命，希西家在还未痊愈的时候就先自卑、感恩。而本章开头的“那时”连接到第37章36-38节，指的是亚述营“十八万五千人”被击杀后。那是一个惊天动地的时刻，众人一定对此事议论纷纷。历代志下32章20-23节也记述了这件事的背景。希西家王本没有可继承王位的后嗣，他之前生重病的时候，周围列国对犹大国的财富虎视眈眈。犹大国内忧外患，然而，强敌亚述一夜之间被打败，于是“有许多人到耶路撒冷，将供物献于耶和华，又将宝物送给犹大王希西家。此后希西家在列邦人的眼中看为尊大”（代下32:23）。有时候我们经历恩典，本来一切都很好，但因为生命的问题，我们就堕落了。今天的经文借着希西家的经历给了我们很大的提醒，让我们知道人是如何从恩典中堕落。
一、v.1-4 骄傲自满
V1“那时”希西家王从原本一个被打压的状态突然变成扬眉吐气的“犹大的狮子”。当时的巴比伦在列国中只是不起眼的小国，“巴比伦王巴拉但的儿子米罗达巴拉但”想要找犹大国联合对付亚述。“巴比伦”意思是混乱，“巴拉但”就是偶像“巴力” – 说明这巴比伦王是巴力的儿子。
V2 希西家这样炫耀，就是因为他里面的骄傲（“…希西家却没有照他所蒙的恩报答耶和华，因他心里骄傲…”- 历代志下32:24-26）。我们能走到如今，能为神放下很多，并非因为自己真的很好，而是神使我们能够如此行。正如历代志下32:31所说：“唯有一件事，就是巴比伦王差遣使者来见希西家，访问国中所现的奇事，这件事神离开他，要试验他，好知道他心内如何”。神让一些事情发生，要试验我们，看我们的心如何，是否愿意好好跟从神。
V3 通常圣经讲的是“耶和华晓谕先知以赛亚….”，但在这里是先知以赛亚自己来找希西家王。
V4 从希西家说的“凡我家中所有的”这段话可以看出他骄傲自满。历代志下32章23节和27-30节记载了希西家如何蒙福，因为当时的人要去耶路撒冷献供物给耶和华，就顺便将宝物送给希西家。希西家却以为他所得到的都是他自己的，就向巴比伦王的使者炫耀。我们是否将神给我们的儿女、资财等祝福视为己有？
二、v.5-8 死不悔改
V5-7 先知以赛亚看到这许多的外邦人来到耶路撒冷，就自己去问希西家怎么回事，听到答复后，神的话就临到他。
V8 希西家看到以赛亚连这些使者都不知道，只是在讲将来的事，于是看不起以赛亚。希西家只看到现在的他繁荣昌盛，于是不听先知的话，死不悔改。神给希西家延长十五年寿命，那是额外的恩典，然而，在这十五年中，希西家带下一个恶王玛拿西。神要我们从小教导儿女，可是希西家所教导出来的孩子却将犹大国带入灭亡。神给我们永生这个额外的恩典，我们用来做什么呢？神给我们的这一生，我们是否好好耕耘，还是只是用来满足我们的私欲、弥补我们前半生的缺憾，是否用我们的能力来成就自己的千秋大梦？
希西家本来是这样不堪，他的前半生一直努力摆脱父亲给他带来的不堪，只想做很多事来跟自己的祖辈划清界限，却因着骄傲不愿承认自己也是不堪的。我们也许做了很多神圣的事情，但我们动机是否出于骄傲而不是生命树？不要用doing来试图改变自己的后半生。神在试炼我们，所以让我们谦卑在恩典的列车上耐心等候，按部就班，使恩典的列车带我们进入神给我们预备的永恒！