Fools and Their Money

This morning I read Isaiah 39 in my morning devotional. It continues the story of King Hezekiah. In previous chapters the king was in dire jeopardy of losing his kingdom and his life. God spared Jerusalem and saved the city and while sick and about to die, Hezekiah prayed to God and God heard his prayer and gifted him an additional fifteen years of life and peace. This was a huge blessing, but Hezekiah did not receive a huge dose of wisdom with it.

In chapter 39 Hezekiah received visitors from Babylon who came bearing gifts and in his joy he opens up the store rooms and treasury of Jerusalem and shows off all of his wealth. The visitors are more than happy to see how much wealth is stored in the city and available in the land. They leave and head back to Babylon and here comes Isaiah to visit the king. I can just imagine the dollar signs in their eyes as they went home.

Isaiah informs Hezekiah he is a fool and showing off his wealth to the visitors was not wise. Isaiah informs Hezekiah because he did this, his sons would be eunuch's in the kingdom of Babylon and Jerusalem would be ransacked and all the wealth of his fathers would become booty for the Babylonians. This made me think of Proverbs 21:20. This proverb highlights how wise people and fools handle their money and king Hezekiah has proven himself a fool.

Hezekiah's response to hearing this is disappointing.

He is overjoyed that Jerusalem and his kingdom will not be ransacked until after his death. He will have a cushy life, but his children will be destroyed and his legacy gone and his people will also be wrecked. It makes you wonder what kind of person would be happy to have a cushy life, knowing his children would suffer. If I was a resident of Jerusalem and heard Isaiah say this and Hezekiah's response, would I be equally happy knowing my future was sold out by a fool who had his moments of joy at my expense? I do not think I would be happy about it.

This got me thinking.

I have witnessed this happen in my lifetime. I have watched administration after administration in the United States and their lackeys in Congress and the Senate sell the heart of the United States and ship everything overseas. I have watched every administration continue gutting the wealth and prosperity of the US, while becoming fabulously wealthy themselves. These politicians and corporate leaders have sold the United States and its wealth abroad, while enriching themselves and their families without any care for the future.

They are no better than Hezekiah saying, "I got mine, the rest of you are screwed." Meanwhile, the rest of us are left holding an empty bag and getting more poor every year. For example, I ordered a set of tires Thursday. I last purchased a set four years ago for just under $1,000. I tried to get the same set and they were $1,500 today. I instead ordered a less robust set for $1,200, because money is money and that $300 will buy two weeks of groceries today, but not tomorrow.

So what could the people in Judah have done considering their king had effectively sold them into bondage for his happiness? Could they have overthrown him? Could they have moved for greener pastures? Or should they have prayed for the king's heart to change and God to have mercy on them and raise up a new leader God would bless and reverse Hezekiah's foolishness? We know they appear to have done nothing and were carried into bondage over the course of a number of years and Judah was nearly destroyed in the process.

The same thing has happened here and people have done nothing but chase the last dollar and its value in a game of musical chairs.

It is hard to pinpoint an exact date when the leaders in the US decided to sell the future for today. Should we go back to Bretton Woods when the US decided to shoulder the risks to prop up foreign countries and their currencies? Should we say it was Nixon when he finally abolished the Gold Standard to preserve the Federal Reserve Note after the spending on Vietnam bankrupted the country? Could it have been the decades of lop-sided "free trade" agreements Washington has signed with foreign countries that provide highly beneficial terms to the other side at the expense of the American economy and worker here? What about NAFTA? It certainly was a big one and destroyed the textile and auto industries and so many more in favor of Mexican producers.

There is almost nothing on the shelves in the United States that is made here. That means someone else is making it and you are buying it, but you did not make it and have become part of an economy that no longer works for you, but it works for politicians and CEO's. So what is left to do? Do I see an uprising? Not at all. The US population is so distracted with trannies and fruitcakes it doesn't notice the real backdoor is jarred open and your house is being looted out from under you. Do I think a good leader will come and God will use this leader to restore the blessings of good leadership? No, I do not expect this to happen because even if this man existed, he would never be allowed to take the reins of power and live.

This means we are left to get taken into captivity, sold into slavery, and will spend a couple generations at a minimum in extreme bondage. This is where we are headed and we have traveled much of the distance to Babylon already. Most folks just do not even realize it.