25 + 14 (39) + 15 = 54

Isaiah, Hezekiah, Sennacherib and Merodach-Baladan.

Here's God adding 15 years to sick Hezekiah's life (II Kings 20)... and I ask myself the question, "Why, in the midst of being given a 15 year extension on his life (and a sundance) does Hezekiah show off everything he owns to messengers from Babylon?"

A second question, "Why is Hezekiah sick in the first place?" Seems show-offs give the wrong things away.

Some read Old Testament stories and wonder what an iron-age God eats for breakfast to put "Ole Rusty" in such a cranky mood. Others read II Kings 18 to 20 and see tons of grace, faithfulness, obedience, personal faith, fear and pride. God becomes concerned with the affairs of humanity for good reasons.

I wonder what Isaiah thinks amidst all the good, bad and ugly. For one thing, I think Isaiah is totally consumed by the presence, voice and will of God. For prophets like Isaiah it's all about God's grace. Isaiah doesn't have a "condemnation fix." He's not pointing some boney finger at some king pin of the status quo who should be overwhelmed with "guilt"... who should be soooo "ashamed" of themselves. It's not Isaiah's job to guilt and shame all these awful people into cages.

Isaiah is standing in the free-flowing pathos of God concerned only with the words (actions) of God and how God might be "gracefully, yet completely" and "emotionally, yet truthfully" engaging the leaders of God's own people, or any other rich or poor individual God chooses to engage personally ... through the straight-forward human voice of God's servant (and sometimes there's no human voice physically available so a dream here or angel there, or even the Messenger of the Lord Himself in all His glory).

During the entire process of God engagements, anyone "feeling" ashamed or guilty, or "recognizing" themselves and their stuff - that's their own crap to deal with before that One Holy Almighty God - and if they don't humble themselves before God in that moment, there is nothing worse than shame and guilt to eat a person away from the inside out. Self-hatred is a deadly poison. Self-mutilation has many faces.

Isaiah is never caught in between. He is only a witness. Isaiah knows what Paul later writes in Romans 2,

3-4 You didn't think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because he's such a nice God, he'd let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he's not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.

5-8 You're not getting by with anything. Every refusal and avoidance of God adds fuel to the fire. The day is coming when it's going to blaze hot and high, God's fiery and righteous judgment. Make no mistake: In the end you get what's coming to you—Real Life for those who work on God's side, but to those who insist on getting their own way and take the path of least resistance, Fire!