In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying, I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
2 Kings 20:1-6
At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered. And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not... Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
Isaiah 39: 1-2& 5-7
We can take principle from this story of King Hezekiah: In his illness he pleaded with the Lord to lengthen his life. However, in the fifteen extra years he was granted, he did evil in the sight of the Lord and Israel. No amount of prior “good” could have justified his deeds. In Hezekiah's pride, he exposed his kingdom's riches and goods to the prying eyes of Babylon. It would not be long until Babylon would come in like a thief and cast Israel out into the wilderness – All because of one mans decision.
It could be said here in this story that it might have been better for King Hezekiah to have just died on his deathbed rather than to have living the extra fifteen years in order to have made such a grave mistake.
I submit to you that we here in this day and age might so soon have to endure such a decision in our lives. We indeed have trials and tribulations in our generation, but not such as what is to come soon. There will be a day when the saints are allowed to be brought to the slaughter rather than our time here on earth be lengthened. We have a choice to take pride in our life and what we can do here on earth, or submit our lives as ransom to God.
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Romans 8:36.
And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
1 Peter 4:18
We very well might be granted extra time to live during our afflictions, but who is to say it might be our undoing of our salvation, or the salvation of others. God allows such a thing because if we are allowed to live in the most evil anti-Christ era, we will become just like them and give up our treasure in Christ. Don't be like Hezekiah – Store up your treasure in heavenly things and hide them in Christ. Boast in God and not towards man!
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Matthew 24:21-22