"At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness and recovery. Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses---the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine olive oil---his entire armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them." (Isaiah 39:1-2) Babylon wants to ally itself with Judah against Assyria. One of the commentaries I consulted described Marduk-Baladan as a "freedom fighter" who wanted to liberate his nation from Assyrian domination.
The Bible doesn't tell us what the letters said or how many there were. My guess is that there were probably two letters, one of which dealt solely with the subject of Hezekiah's illness and recovery, one of which proposed an alliance of the two kingdoms against their common enemy. Upon receiving the great honor of being visited by envoys of the king of such a great and ancient nation as Babylon, Hezekiah's good judgment is overwhelmed by pride from being treated as an equal of the king of Babylon. His good judgment is overwhelmed by his eagerness to prove himself worthy of being considered an ally. Another thing that overwhelms his good judgment is the fear he still harbors regarding the Assyrian threat. Although the Lord miraculously prevented the Assyrians from laying siege to Jerusalem, Hezekiah is afraid the king of Assyria will come back again just as he threatened. A lack of faith is at work here.
"Then Isaiah the prophet went to Hezekiah and asked, 'What did those men say, and where did they come from?' 'From a distant land,' Hezekiah replied. 'They came to me from Babylon.' The prophet asked, 'What did they see in your palace?' 'They saw everything in my palace,' Hezekiah said. 'There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.'" (Isaiah 39:3-4) In my head I hear Hezekiah's words being spoken in an attitude of pride and awe. He's deeply honored that men would come from so far away to bring letters and a gift from a much larger nation. There's nothing really wrong, I don't think, in feeling honored that another head of state would show him respect. The problem is that he eagerly brought out all his treasures, bragged of the fruitfulness of the land, and bragged of the storehouses and wealth throughout his nation---all so that the king of Babylon would consider him a worthy ally against Assyria, when Hezekiah doesn't need an ally against Assyria. He already has the one and only ally he needs: the Lord.
Isaiah is about to burst his bubble. "Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, 'Hear the word of the Lord Almighty: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'" (Isaiah 39:5-7) It will be over a hundred years before this happens. First the Neo-Babylonian Empire must rise from the ashes of the old Babylonian Empire and throw off the shackles of Assyria. But at that time, during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the king and officials of Babylon will recall the treasures of Judah and will want them and will come and take them. Everything will happen just as Isaiah says it will.
How does Hezekiah react to this news? Not as we might expect. "'The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,' Hezekiah replied. For he thought, 'There will be peace and security in my lifetime.'" (Isaiah 39:8) Earlier in the book of Isaiah, when the Assyrian army was at the gates, Hezekiah turned to the Lord for help. Also, when Hezekiah lay deathly ill, he turned to the Lord for help. But this time he does not. Instead his attitude about eventual invasion by Babylon is, "Very well, then. At least it won't happen in my lifetime."
There have been people throughout the ages with this attitude. They do not care what kind of world they leave for their descendants. Thankfully, all people don't have this attitude: many want to leave the world a better place for their descendants. Who knows how things would have turned out if Hezekiah had repented of wanting to ally himself with a heathen king against the Lord's instructions? Maybe revival would have broken out in the nation like never before. Maybe the son (and heir to the throne) whom Hezekiah sired after recovering from his illness wouldn't have fallen into such abominable idolatry. Maybe the majority of the citizens wouldn't have fallen into idolatry, which is what led to the Lord allowing Babylon to conquer them. If Hezekiah had repented, the Lord would have forgiven him and may have relented from allowing the nation to fall a century later. Hezekiah's repentance might have changed the course of history.
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