Burunche’s Blog

2 Kings 20:1 – 11 “In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”  Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Go back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I will surely heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the house of the LORD. I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for My sake and for the sake of My servant David.’ ”

Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” So they brought it and applied it to the boil, and Hezekiah recovered.

Now Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me and that I will go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?”

And Isaiah had replied, “This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised: Would you like the shadow to go forward ten steps, or back ten steps?”

“It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps,” answered Hezekiah, “but not for it to go back ten steps.”

So Isaiah the prophet called out to the LORD, and He brought the shadow back the ten steps it had descended on the stairway of Ahaz”

King Hezekiah is very sick; in fact, his doctors have warned him that he is likely to die. Hezekiah has a deep boil that cannot be drained, and in Hezekiah’s time, there are no antibiotics. Septicemia is setting in, and Hezekiah can feel himself growing weaker by the minute. Now Isaiah the prophet comes to Hezekiah, warning him to get his affairs in order because this sickness is terminal.

At this news, Hezekiah is devastated and begins to weep bitterly. Hezekiah reminds the Lord of all the times he has trusted the Lord, even when it appeared that the Assyrians were about to wipe out Jerusalem. Hezekiah is in total despair, and God has pity on him. Even before Isaiah has a chance to leave the palace grounds, the Lord turns him around and sends him back with an incredible message for Hezekiah. “‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I will surely heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the house of the LORD. I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for My sake and for the sake of My servant David.’” WOW!

When Hezekiah hears this new message, he is understandably reluctant to believe it and asks what sign God might give him to confirm this promise. In the palace, the stairway of Ahaz serves as a sundial, so Isaiah tells King Hezekiah that God can either lengthen the shadow by ten steps or bring the shadow back ten steps that it has already descended. Hezekiah asks that the shadow be retracted by ten steps, and God immediately does this. Not only that, but God inspires Isaiah to order the palace physicians to apply a poultice of figs to the boil, bringing the boil to a head and allowing it to drain, and Hezekiah recovers. This poultice would generate heat and possibly also contain antibiotic properties that would penetrate the tissue around the boil, speeding the healing. At any rate, Hezekiah is healed and does live another fifteen years. (Note: in researching this on the internet, I found several sources that recommended this same home remedy for boils.)

APPLICATION: There are several remarkable aspects to these verses.

1. God warns Hezekiah ahead of time that he will die. This warning suggests a close relationship between God and Hezekiah, one that has stretched over years.
2. Hezekiah is bold enough to appeal to God on the basis of that long – term relationship.
3. God tells Hezekiah something that all of us long to hear, “‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I will surely heal you.”
4. God does something for Hezekiah that he never does for anyone else in recorded history; God not only makes the sun stand still, but God reverses time so that the shadow on the steps of Ahaz goes back ten steps. It is unclear how much time this represents, but this action is obviously a miracle that only God can perform.
5. God promises that by the third day, Hezekiah will be well enough to worship in the temple. God also promises to add fifteen years to Hezekiah’s life. Fifteen years! This sounds great; however, three years into that fifteen, Hezekiah’s son Manasseh is born. Manasseh turns out to be the most evil king Judah ever has, leading the nation into wholesale idolatry. God frequently cites Manasseh’s evil reign as the cause of Judah going into exile.

From the proclamations of Isaiah, it is clear that God has a close personal relationship with Hezekiah. But one question has always troubled me: what if Hezekiah had accepted his imminent death as God’s will and had not fathered Manasseh? Who would have succeeded Hezekiah then? Certainly, Hezekiah must have had someone who could have succeeded him. At the same time, when God granted Hezekiah’s request, He already knew that Manasseh would be born during the extension of Hezekiah’s life. God already knew all the evil that Manasseh would do and how Manasseh would totally reverse every spiritually good thing that Hezekiah had accomplished. God knew all this….. and yet, God granted Hezekiah enough years to father Manasseh and to raise him to the age of twelve.

If Hezekiah lived to see Manasseh reach the age of twelve, that should have given Hezekiah enough time to train Manasseh in the things of God. We will take up this question again when we discuss Manasseh’s reign. For now, we should take courage from God’s words to Hezekiah, “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears.” May all of us take encouragement from these words! God hears, God sees, and God knows.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to remember that You always hear our prayers and see our tears. Help us to trust You and to turn to You in every situation. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

This entry was posted on September 1, 2022 at 12:01 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.