Isaiah 38:1-22
Q.1. What devastating message did Isaiah give to Hezekiah? How did the king respond? How did God answer his prayer? What sign accompanied His promise to Hezekiah? – (Isa.38:1-8)
God sent Isaiah a message. He was to tell Hezekiah to set his affairs in order, since he was about to die (Isa.38:1). Hezekiah prayed – Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly (Isa.38:3). God responded with two significant promises – that (i) He was extending the life of Hezekiah for a further fifteen years, and (ii) He would defend Jerusalem and deliver the city from the Assyrians (Isa.38:5-6). Neither of these promises had been expected to happen. In answer to the king’s request, God supported His promises with a sign – Behold, I will cause the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, to go back ten steps (Isa.38:8 c.f. Isa.38:22).
Q.2. How can we explain that Hezekiah was not dying from old age? How did the king argue his case before God? What did his prayer convey about God? How was Hezekiah healed? – (Isa.38:9-22)
According to Hezekiah, he considered he was dying prematurely – In the middle of my life I am to enter the gates of Sheol; I am to be deprived of the rest of my years (Isa.38:10). Regardless of the sins and mistakes people make, God is utterly sovereign over the length of our days. (c.f. Ps.90:3-10; Job.2:1-6). Hezekiah was dying from some kind of disease, which was supernaturally healed by applying a cake of figs to the boil (Isa.38:21). Hezekiah’s prayer revealed his confidence in being able to argue his case before God – 15 What shall I say? For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it; I will wander about all my years because of the bitterness of my soul. 16 O Lord, by these things, men live, And in all these is the life of my spirit; O restore me to health and let me live! 17 Lo, for my own welfare I had great bitterness; It is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back. 18 For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness. 19 It is the living who gives thanks to You, as I do today; A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness (Isa.38:15-19). God answered his prayer. NOTE: However, the healing of Hezekiah was far from the blessing it appeared. In the next chapter, he was rebuked for letting his healing cause him to become prideful (Isa.39:1-8). God had determined the time for Hezekiah’s end to come (Isa.38:1). However, he had no son or heir. After Hezekiah was spared, a son was born to him. Sadly, his successor was Manasseh who undid all the good which had come from his father’s reforms. He established idol worship and took the nation lower than any previous time in its history. God’s ways are higher than our ways (Isa.55:8-9 c.f. 2 Kgs.21:1-18).