"If There's Trouble, Let It Be In My Day"

A Tale of Two Legacies: King Hezekiah, Thomas Paine, and Parental Sacrifice

In Isaiah 39:8, King Hezekiah of Judah, after hearing Isaiah's prophecy about the future Babylonian captivity for the Jews because of Judah’s rebellion against YHWH, responds to Isaiah,, "The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good." Good? Really? Why? Hezekiah thinks, ‘There will be peace and security in my days,’ and knows that the judgment will come in the days of his children.

I like King Hezekiah of Judah. He’s a good king.

But I like Thomas Paine of America better. He’s a good man.

In the early 7th century BC, the prophet Isaiah tells King Hezekiah of Judah that the southern Kingdom of Judah will collapse in the days of Hezekiah’s children.

The prophet Isaiah told King Hezekiah (696 BC) that Judah would collapse as a nation due to the LORD’s judgment. But that collapse would be in the future (586 BC).

King Hezekiah said, ‘Thank the LORD, the judgment comes in the days of my descendants.’

Fast forward 2000 years.

Thomas Paine, a Founding Father of America, said this on Chris…