Leave a Legacy: Treasure Your Fathers, Your Children, and Christ
What if I’m dying while in seminary? Should we still go, or should we return home?
That was the question my wife and I were asking ourselves in July 2021, when I was accidentally stabbed with a used drug needle in downtown Minneapolis.
My wife Brooke and I had recently moved to Minnesota for seminary. I was working as a groundskeeper downtown to save up some money, and one day I was weeding a plot behind Aldi, and when I gathered a weed up, I rammed my thumb into a drug needle, which was stuck in the soil underneath the plant. These needles were all over downtown, and they always carried a risk of passing on STDs. So my supervisor immediately sent me to Urgent Care, where they took my blood to see if I’d contracted, for example, HIV.
The next six weeks were probably the toughest season of my life. I honestly tried to find some way to withhold the information from my 7-month pregnant wife, but I ended up telling her when I got home. While we waited to see what the bloodwork said, they had me start on HIV preventative medication, which included side effects like muscle fatigue, nausea, insomnia, dizziness, and depression. The whole time, I had to keep going to work—where there was no guarantee that I wouldn’t have the same accident all over again. So I started having panic attacks at work.
During this time, Brooke and I had to discuss what we would do if we discovered I had contracted HIV. What if I only lived for five more years? Seminary would take four years—would it be worth it to go to seminary that whole time, if we only got to pastor for one year? Would it be better to just go home, and spend the final days near extended family?
What would you do, if God gave you an expiration date like that? What if he told you you’d only live five years? Ten? Fifteen? Would you do anything differently?
That’s the kind of question Hezekiah faced in Isaiah 39. He had been given a death sentence from the Lord—apparently because of some sin. But the Lord relented, and showed him mercy—he told Hezekiah, “Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.” (Isa. 39:5) Hezekiah knows that this was the Lord’s mercy, and that God had a specific purpose in extending his life—the king expresses this in 38:18–19:
18 For Sheol does not thank you;
death does not praise you;
those who go down to the pit do not hope
for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living, he thanks you,
as I do this day;
the father makes known to the children
your faithfulness.
So far so good. But his actions reveal a disconnect between his lips and his heart. He was in love with the present world—he treasured his own comfort and pleasure, rather than what God treasured. And that led him to waste the good gift of an extended life. First we’ll look at the example of Hezekiah, as a warning of what not to do. And then we’ll look at the better way to live in the face of death.
A Pitiful Portrait
Look at Isaiah 39:1:
At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly.
This is not just a warm or cordial reception. When this godless ruler gives Hezekiah attention and shows him sympathy, Hezekiah rejoices. As in, he’s exceedingly happy, overcome with feelings of joy. And you can see that, in his eagerness, he goes too far—
And he showed them his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. (Isa. 39:2)
What’s going on here? Why does he show them all this? First, he wants to impress them. The rulers of Babylon—a great city!—showed him attention. Well, now he needs to show he’s worthy of that attention. So he boasts, and begins showing them every nook and cranny of his net worth.
There’s a warning there. Be careful of whom you accept—or desire—sympathy. When you accept sympathetic or understanding attention from someone, you esteem them in your heart. You begin to treasure their opinion and attention. That’s what Hezekiah was doing here—he was revealing his treasure, and in more ways than one. He was showing that he put a premium price on the world’s opinion of him and his kingdom—he valued affirmation so much he was willing to act recklessly to get it. He treasured their good opinion of him, and in order to keep it he was willing to use—and lose—what God had entrusted to him.
The second reason, close to the first, is that he probably wanted a military ally. The Babylonians could help him ward off the threat of Sennacherib and Assyria. It says that he showed off “all his realm.” “Realm” is also translated as dominion, army, authority. It’s likely that he was showing them his military might so that they would know he was a worthy ally.
In short, Hezekiah treasured the attention, care, support, and protection of a pagan nation—he estimated them, honored them, and trusted in them in all the ways he was supposed to relate to the Lord. And in doing so he gambled the riches and resources he was supposed to steward for God. In every way, Hezekiah gave to Babylon what he was meant to reserve for the Lord. That’s why Isaiah confronts him—look at verse 3:
3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.” 4 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”
Isaiah tells him this foolishness will ultimately result in catastrophe. And Hezekiah responds in the most embarrassing, cowardly way:
Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my days.” (Is 39:8)
Some scholars have noted that Isaiah 1–39 seems to correspond in some ways to the Old Testament. The fundamental lesson of both is that no man or earthly institution can bear the weight of our hope and trust. In these 39 chapters, God has carved out a Christ-shaped hole among his people. Hezekiah was a good king, as far as kings go. But he was no Messiah.
Jesus once warned his disciples that, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). Hezekiah’s treasure was not in the storehouses of God’s eternal faithfulness, but was invested in the sinkholes of momentary pleasure and comfort—and so he could be basically unfazed by the disaster he was bringing on his children. Why? Because he wouldn’t have to deal with it. He would have comfort and pleasure—let the next generation figure it out.
A Photo-Negative Encouragement
Hezekiah is, here, not a good example. But his negative picture does give us three valuable warnings, if we’ll heed them:
- Treasure the past generations.
- Treasure the future generations.
- Treasure the glory of God.
1. Treasure your Fathers.
The reason Hezekiah did not treasure the inheritance for his children was because he did not treasure the inheritance from his fathers. In the first part of his pronouncement, Isaiah says,
“Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD.”
There were two great storehouses in Jerusalem: the storehouse of the Lord, the temple, and the storehouse of the king, the palace. Both of these had been filled or preserved over generations by Hezekiah’s fathers and predecessors. All the wealth and resources he enjoyed were blessings that had compounded across generations. They were something for Hezekiah to use wisely and add to faithfully.
Instead, he treated them lightly, as something to increase his own glory and buy the good opinion of other people. He did not treasure what had been handed down to him. He was not grateful for what he’d been given.
In this way, Hezekiah would probably make a good millennial or Gen Zer. As a millennial myself, I think one of the temptations of our generations is toward cynicism, often expressed through ingratitude and contempt for the generations who went before us. Sometimes it’s our actual parents. Sometimes it’s older people in general. Just imagine a Boomer and Zoomer talking about student debt, the cost of tuition, job opportunities, and the price of houses and interest rates. When these topics come up, you see the younger generations get really livid against the older ones. “You want me to be grateful to the Boomers and Xers? In this economy?”
Perhaps we can see a little bit of ourselves in Hezekiah here. And perhaps we can learn the lesson. Step one getting our heart in the right place before the Lord: Treasure what the past generations have passed on to you. Treasure the gifts of your fathers. And seek to build upon whatever they’ve left.
2. Treasure Your Children.
Verses 7–8:
7 And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my days.”
One of the nicer neighborhoods in my city offers six reasons why you should retire here.
- The weather is always perfect.
- There’s so much to explore.
- The cost of living is among the best.
- There’s a rich history to absorb.
- There’s a culture here you won’t experience anywhere else.
- There’s “endless entertainment.”[1]
What’s missing from that picture? Kids. Grandkids. Setting the future generation up for future success. The advertisement entices retirees with a life that is utterly self-absorbed. It reminds me of a bumper sticker you’ll sometimes see on the back of sports cars or RVs, which says, “I’m spending my children’s inheritance.”
That’s the sort of attitude Hezekiah is displaying here. He both allows and tacitly approves of his children losing their future—some of them would be castrated and enslaved in Babylon.
These sons should sit on Hezekiah’s throne after him. Instead, they’re cut off from the future in every sense. They’re cut off financially, from the wealth and might of Israel; they’re cut off socially, from the throne and royal court; they’re cut off physically, from—well, you know. And they’re cut off spiritually—not only because they are taken from the temple, but because, being made eunuchs, they have lost the line of David, through which God will keep steadfast, covenant love with Israel.
And Hezekiah says, “Well, at least there will be peace and security in my days.”
Don’t be like Hezekiah.
If your parents, or the previous generations more broadly, ripped you off or failed you in some way, it would be so easy to blame them for everything, and to always play the victim. You might say, “Well, the only way through college is through tons of debt—so why not just double down and take the most loans I can out, since it’s not my fault and I don’t have another option?” Or, “Since they’ve jacked the housing prices up so badly anyway, why not just pick the best and most expensive apartment, so I can have a quality of living? It might mean my children are set up even worse than I am, but what am I supposed to do, live in poverty and die to myself so that they can have a comfortable future?”
You must resist this type of thinking. Proverbs 13:22 says, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous.” Don’t do that to your kids. Don’t do that to the generation after yours. Hezekiah opened the tab for his children to close out later—that is the opposite of good parenting and true masculinity. Don’t be like Hezekiah.
Instead, be like Jesus. Jesus does not fall so short. Jesus is the epitome of the selfless father. Hezekiah said, “I will accept the enslavement and castration of my sons because I myself will have peace and security.” But Jesus said, “I will give up my peace and security to set you free and give you a fruitful future.”
Mature people are willing to take on responsibility even when it’s not their fault. Is it your fault that the world and your finances and today’s economy all are the way they are? No. But you live here, so your life is still your responsibility—and it’s still your responsibility to give the next generation something better than you got. It will be costly. Maybe more so than it was for the last generation. But the alternative is to be worse to your children than your parents were to you.
Finally, the negative example of Hezekiah teaches us to…
3. Treasure the glory of God above all else.
Hezekiah was seeking comfort, support, help, affirmation, and attention from man. These are all things God alone deserves. This is one of the dominant themes in the first part of Isaiah—when Israel trusts in the nations, she gives man the glory that God alone deserves. This is not only foolish—it is offensive. As he says in Psalm 50:15,
“Call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
Not only is this a general truth, but Hezekiah knows it is the exact lesson he was meant to learn when God delivered him from his sickness—it says in chapter 38 verse 17,
17 Behold, it was for my welfare
that I had great bitterness;
but in love you have delivered my life
from the pit of destruction,
for you have cast all my sins
behind your back.
Why? Why does the Lord do this? For the sake of his glory and worship:
18 For Sheol does not thank you;
death does not praise you;
those who go down to the pit do not hope
for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living, he thanks you,
as I do this day;
the father makes known to the children
your faithfulness.
20 The LORD will save me,
and we will play my music on stringed instruments
all the days of our lives,
at the house of the LORD. (Isa. 38:17–20)
All God’s mercy to him was meant to be returned in glory to God in the form of 1) gratitude for his kindness (which includes the kindness expressed through Hezekiah’s generational blessings) and 2) generosity toward the next generation. In other words, there’s no excuse for any generation, whether old or young, to repeat Hezekiah’s mistakes.
Conclusion: Treasure Christ
Glory to God.
Gratitude for the last generation.
Generosity to the next generation.
That’s how we should live in the time we have. It’s how Hezekiah should have responded to God’s gift of an extended life.
But that’s not how he responded. That’s part of the point. Hezekiah was not the Messiah. He pointed to him—in some ways, by deepening the shadow of his silhouette; in some ways, by deepening the felt vacancy which only Christ could fill.
At the end of the day, Hezekiah did not handle his treasure rightly because he did not have the right treasure. More than that—he wasn’t the right treasure. That is the point. The thing to be valued above all else in this story is God himself. That is the fundamental task at which Hezekiah failed. And it is the task at which only Jesus Christ could succeed.
When we view this little hole in Israel’s history, this vacancy of heroism, in light of the big picture, this is not a story about how we can be better than Hezekiah. It is a story that points to the Christ who is. Jesus is worthy of all our treasure in this life, because Jesus Christ is this life’s treasure. He is both the one who honored God, and he is the God who deserves our honor. When we treasure him for who he is, we will treat all our lesser treasures like Hezekiah should have treated his.
That’s why my wife and I decided to stay in Minneapolis. Before we ever got the bloodwork back (which was clear of all infection, by the way), we knew something more fundamental was true: Jesus Christ is our treasure, and he’s worth all of our energy. He’s worth all our finances, all our strength, all our efforts. He’s worth our living and dying. Maybe we only get five years—well, if that’s the case, let’s invest those five years in the storehouse of heaven, where we know we’ll receive an eternal return.
By God’s grace, that was almost five years ago. I am healthy, happy, and disease free. But the truth is, my situation has not fundamentally changed. I still have an expiration date. I still only have a limited number of days on this earth. So do you. You don’t know if you’ll live for five more days, let alone five more decades. So we have the same question before us that Hezekiah did: What will you live for? What will you die for? What will you treasure?
For me, that question is answered. Whether I live or die, my aim is to live for the treasure of Christ.
What about you?
[1] https://thelandings.com/blog/community/best-place-to-retire-in-savannah-georgia
