2 Chronicles 32:31
Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart. Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.
After Hezekiah was raised from sickness and given fifteen additional years of life, the princes of Babylon sent ambassadors to inquire about the wonder and sign God had done in the land, namely his recovery and the turning back of the sun. That God left him to try him that he might know all that was in his heart means God stepped back and withdrew for a time to test Hezekiah and expose what was in his heart, particularly his gratitude, devotion, and faithfulness to his trust in God. The ambassadors' visit was an opportunity for Hezekiah to honor God and to witness to the power, goodness, compassion, mercy, and love of God, so that the report carried home would be like light piercing darkness, with God's mercy and love filling the heart and being shared with others.
Instead of using the interest in the wonder to testify to God and repay the kindness shown to him, Hezekiah failed because his heart was lifted up in pride, vanity, and self-exaltation, magnifying himself above the Lord and displaying his treasures, riches, and great works rather than giving God glory. His failure and indiscretion in displaying Jerusalem's wealth to Babylon exposed it to a foreign power and helped prepare the way for national disaster.
As a general principle, when the Lord leaves people to themselves for a time it is so they may learn their own weakness and learn that at all times they need to keep before them Christ, who made himself of no reputation for their sakes. The verse is fulfilled whenever riches, great works, and memorials of ample means are displayed to strangers from pride and self-exaltation, as when the Sanitarium's riches were displayed to strangers and Dr. Kellogg's pride and self-exaltation showed he was found wanting.