There is much for deep study in the twentieth chapter of the second book of Kings. The writer of this article recently opened the Bible at this chapter, and started to read, beginning at the twelfth verse, the narrative of the coming of the ambassadors from the son of the king of Babylon to King Hezekiah. It will be remembered that Hezekiah received them heartily, and evidently entertained them lavishly for some time; for the story states, "There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not." The prophet Isaiah, who jealously watched over the spiritual welfare of the people of Judah, went to the king to make certain inquiries concerning these ambassadors: "What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee?" he inquired. Hezekiah answered, "They are come from a far country." Then said the prophet, "What have they seen in thine house?" And the king replied, "All the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them." Then Isaiah, giving no reason for his words,—according to the Bible narrative,—told Hezekiah that the day would come when all these treasures by which the king set such store would be carried away out of his kingdom into Babylon.
The writer had read thus far, when it was realized that the story thus read was incomplete, —that something going before must belong to the narrative; so study was recommenced, beginning with the first verse of the chapter. It was then seen that Hezekiah had been seriously ill; indeed, so much so that the prophet Isaiah saw that the condition of the sick man's thought pointed to death, and advised him to set his house in order. Hezekiah then awakened sufficiently from his dream of sickness to turn to God for healing; and before Isaiah had "gone out into the middle court" divine Mind told him that Hezekiah would live. The prophet then went back to the bedside of the king, and told him that God would heal him, and would, moreover, protect his country from the enemy. In spite of these promises Hezekiah, still struggling with fear, begged the prophet for a sign; and the omnipotence of Mind, divine Love, was manifested to him in the overturning of the human concepts of the earth's rotation, by the shadow of the sundial turning backward ten degrees, a happening that no astronomer has ever been able to explain. Immediately there followed the visit of the ambassadors, with "letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he [the king of Babylon] had heard that Hezekiah had been sick."
"What have they seen in thine house?" This was a searching question from the prophet. What had they seen? Had they seen gratitude for the wonderful healing; joy at the realization of Love's power to protect and bless His people; humility that he, Hezekiah, of himself could do nothing? Had they seen a desire to help and bless these ambassadors as he himself had been helped and blessed,—the true courtesy, which is another name for love, that would scorn to magnify one's self to the belittling of another? None of these things had been seen in Hezekiah's house,—his consciousness. Instead, turning back on all that God had done and was prepared to do for him, he considered only human ways and means, planning a political alliance with a heathen nation, regardless of the effect such an alliance would have on the morale of his people; and in order to impress the material thought of the foreigners, he showed them his material "treasures"! In the light of what he should have learned by his recent experiences, such poor, pitiful treasures! Could the entire possessions of his kingdom have brought him one moment's ease from his sickness? Could they have turned back the shadow of the sundial even one degree? Would they stand him and his country in good stead when the enemy was at the gate? Subsequent history shows they did not. Real substance, divine Mind, and its power over so-called matter, had been demonstrated to Hezekiah; but it would appear he had gained little understanding from the prophet's demonstrations. Having eyes, he had seen not. Having a material outlook, he had not discerned the substance of Spirit.
