Isaiah 38:1-8

C. PROSTRATION, CHAPTER 38
1. PERPLEXITY

TEXT: Isaiah 38:1-8

1

In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah. Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.

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Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto Jehovah,

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and said, Remember now, O Jehovah, I beseech thee, 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.

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Then came the word of Jehovah to Isaiah, saying,

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Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.

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And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.

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And this shall be the sign unto thee from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do this thing that he hath spoken:

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behold, I will cause the shadow on the steps, which is gone down on the dial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps. So the sun returned ten steps on the dial whereon it was gone down.

QUERIES

a.

Was Hezekiah claiming he had been perfect?

b.

Why did God add fifteen years to Hezekiah's life?

c.

What was the sign to signify?

PARAPHRASE

About nine years earlier in the reign of Hezekiah, he had become deathly ill. Isaiah the prophet and son of Amoz was sent to the king with this message from the Lord: Thus says The Covenant God, Jehovah, You are going to die from this illness, so you had better give your last word of instruction and get things in order for you are about to be succeeded on the throne. When Hezekiah heard these words from Isaiah he was very upset because he had no son to succeed him and the menace of the Assyrian empire had become critical. The only recourse left to Hezekiah in the face of these impossible circumstances was the Lord, so Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed. He said, O Lord, please remember that I have always tried to live my life according to Thy truth with my whole heart, and I have always tried to do what Thou hast said is good. Overcome with the emotions of this moment Hezekiah began to weep with great sobs. Immediately the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says The Covenant God, Jehovah, the same God who promised your ancestor David that his throne would abide forever, I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. Since you have such true concern for the promise of Thy God through David's throne I will let you live fifteen more years and produce an heir to David's throne. (Isaiah told him to put a poultice of figs on his boil and he would recover). I will also deliver you and Jerusalem from any Assyrian menace. I, Jehovah, will defend this city. (Hezekiah asked what sign he would be given to verify God's promise of the extension of his life and deliverance from the Assyrian menace. Isaiah asked Hezekiah whether he would prefer the shadow of the sun to go immediately forward ten steps on Ahaz-' step-sun-dial or backward ten steps. Hezekiah replied that the shadow going forward would be easy so he preferred it to go backward. Isaiah prayed to the Lord). So Isaiah said to Hezekiah, This will be the sign to you from Jehovah. He will do what you asked. Jehovah says, I will cause the shadow on the step-sun-dial of Ahaz to go backward ten steps from where it is now. So the sun went backward ten steps on the step-dial from where it was at that time.

COMMENTS

v. REPINING: Hezekiah died in 695 B.C. The phrase In those days, of Isaiah 38:1 must refer to a time at least 15 years prior to 695 B.C. or somewhere near 710 B.C. Hezekiah was sick unto death at least nine or ten years prior to the confrontation at Jerusalem recorded in Chapter s 36-37 (Sennacherib's invasion of Judah in 701 B.C.) Therefore, Isaiah, chapter 38, is chronologically out of order. That is no problem. The historical data of chapter 38 is accurate, and that is what is important. The Hebrews were not as concerned with chronology as they were with the events and their meanings. Matthew's gospel is a prime example of a Hebrew man writing as an eyewitness what he saw accurately, but recording it out of chronological order. The proper order of these Chapter s in Isaiah might be as follows: 38, 39, 36, 37.

Isaiah came to the king with this message from the Lord: Order your house, for die you shall, and not live (literally from the Hebrew). With the Hebrew language, the verb is usually first in the sentence because the action being done or to be done is more important than the actor. The Hebrews were not as egotistical as Westerners. Leupold translates it, Give your last orders, for you shall die and not recover. Isaiah's message is very blunt. We do not know what the king's sickness was. There were evidently boils associated with it. Lange has suggested the Hebrew word shehiyn translated in Isaiah 38:21 boil stands not only for the plague boil, but also for other burning ulcers, as it occurs in reference to leprosy (Leviticus 13:18 ff) and other inflammable cutaneous diseases (Exodus 9:9; Deuteronomy 28:27; Deuteronomy 28:35; Job 2:7).

Hezekiah turned his face to the wall to pray not that there was any special efficacy in facing the wall but probably as an instinctive reaction to hide his countenance from others standing near. It may be he did it to gain what little privacy he could obtain. Hezekiah appeals to God on the basis of Old Testament standards (see Psalms 15). Hezekiah surely does not claim for himself sinlessness. His claim is that of a life based upon the truth as he knew it from God and a complete (perfect) heart's motivation to do what was good in God's sight. It was a prayer of faith, trusting God to fulfill His will in Hezekiah's life. Wept sore would better be translated wept greatly. The Hebrew bechiy gadol might well be translated, as the RSV does, wept bitterly.

But why did not Hezekiah resign himself to what apparently was God's willhis immediate death? Hezekiah was only 39 or 40 years old when this terminal illness struck him. Manasseh was not to be born for three more years (Mannaseh was 12 years old when Hezekiah died at the age of 54; see 2 Kings 21:1; 2 Chronicles 33:1). It was contrary to all Hezekiah believed concerning the perpetuation of the dynasty of David (which God had certainly promised) that he should die without a successor to the throne of David! It was also considered by any Jewish male to be a sign of Divine disfavor to be cut off in the midst of one's life without a male child to carry on the family name (Job 15:32; Job 22:15-16; Psalms 55:23; Proverbs 10:27; Ecclesiastes 7:17). As much as anything else, Hezekiah was questioning whether, in view of his godly life, he deserved such an untimely death or not. Death with such suddenness and in the prime of life has a sobering effecta humbling effect.

Isaiah 38:4-8 REPRIEVE: While Isaiah was walking in the middle court (2 Kings 20:4) the word of Jehovah came to him. He was to go back and tell Hezekiah that his prayer was heard. Note, it does not say answered. God answered Hezekiah with His own answer. God hears our prayers and He cares about our difficulties. He is sad that we have to suffer. He is hurt by our disobedience. He is gladdened by our praise and supplications. But, He is not convinced, argued into, worn down by persistence, God's mind is not changed by the perfect logic, massive amount or unending persistence of our prayers. He knows what is best for us and always answers according to His will. He insists that we pray in order that we may put ourselves in the proper attitude of faith, humility and dependence to receive what He willswhether it be weal or woe. The apostle Paul did not want a thorn in the flesh, and, in fact, prayed three times that it be removed. God's answer was, every time, No! So here, Hezekiah did not change the mind of God, but by his prayer of faith, humility and dependence upon God put himself in the proper condition to be the agent through whom God could continue His work of perpetuating the throne of David. God added to Hezekiah's life 15 yearstime to produce an heir and prepare him for the throne of David. The very fact that Jehovah said, the God of David thy father, indicates God was answering according to His own purposes and not simply to satisfy Hezekiah's desire for more years of life. And it is not just Hezekiah's life that is to be sparedthe city of David and its inhabitants are also to be protected from annihilation. God will continue His program of redemption through Hezekiah and his countrymen in spite of all the threats of the Assyrians.

In 2 Kings 20:8-11 and Isaiah 38:22 we are informed that Hezekiah asked for a sign. To Ahaz God had offered a sign (Isaiah 7) but Ahaz did not want a sign for he was depending upon help from Assyria. Hezekiah, realizing the severity of his situation, asks for a sign to strengthen him for the great task of leading his nation to trust Jehovah for deliverance.

The Hebrew word ma-'eloth may be translated dials, degrees or steps, (cf. Exodus 20:26; 1 Kings 10:19; 2 Kings 20:9-11). We quote in part a footnote from Old Testament History, Smith & Fields, College Press, p. 643: In the absence of any materials for determining the shape and structure of the. instrument. the best course is to follow the most strictly natural meaning of the word, and to consider that the dial was really stairs, and that the shadow (perhaps of some column or obelisk on the top) fell on a greater or smaller number of them according as the sun was low or high. The terrace of a palace might easily be thus ornamented. Ahaz's tastes seem to have led him in pursuit of foreign curiosities (2 Kings 6:10), and his intimacy with Tiglath-pileser gave him probably an opportunity of procuring from Assyria the pattern of some such structure.

When Hezekiah asked for a sign, Isaiah said, ... shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps? Hezekiah replied that it was easier for the shadow to lengthen than go back, so he asked that the shadow go back ten steps. (2 Kings 20:8-11) Isaiah says the sun returned ten steps while 2 Kings 20:11 says the Lord brought the shadow back ten steps. The Lord used the sun to produce the moving of the shadow backward. Whatever the method, whether by refraction of light or by suspending or reversing the laws governing the orbit of the earth around the sun, it was an act performed by the supernatural power of God at work upon the natural world and provided a sign of supernatural verification to Hezekiah.

Alas, Hezekiah was still a man with weaknesses. He was like many men (even the apostle Paul, Romans 7:13-25) whose intentions are higher than their deeds. After his recovery, Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud, (2 Chronicles 32:24-25), when the envoys of Merodachbaladan came (Isaiah 39:1 ff). On the other hand, when Hezekiah's ideals and deeds are compared with some of his ungodly predecessors and successors he was, like his ancestor David, a man after God's own heart. His faith, humility and trust in God saved the nation and preserved a remnant through which redemption came to all men.

Let every reader be here reminded of the uncertainty of this life and the imperative need to set your house in order. As a poet once wailed, too commonly at the mercy of a moment are left the vast concerns of an eternal scene. Too often men and women procrastinate setting themselves in order with God until there is no more time or they are incapable. Now is the time; Today is the day of salvation!

QUIZ

1.

When was Hezekiah sick?

2.

What is probably the proper chronological order of Isaiah 36-39?

3.

What is the meaning, Set your house in order?

4.

What may have been the nature of the king's illness?

5.

Why was Hezekiah upset that he was about to die?

6.

For whose sake did God prolong Hezekiah's life?

7.

Was Hezekiah always true to God after this?