2 Kings Chapter 20
1. OUTLINE OF CONTENTS
a. Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet said to him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’” (vs. 1)
b. Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the LORD, saying: “Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. (vs. 2-3)
b. It happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: *I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears, surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD. And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David.* ’” Then Isaiah said, “Take a lump of figs. So, they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. (vs. 4-7)
c. Hezekiah asked Isaiah, saying,” What is the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD the third day?” Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you, from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?” Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees; no, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees?”
(vs. 8-10)
d. So Isaiah the prophet cried out to the LORD, and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz (vs. 11).
e. Berodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. And Hezekiah was attentive to them, and showed them all the house of his treasures, and precious ointment, and all his armory-all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house, or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them (vs. 12-13).
f. Isaiah went to Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?” Hezekiah replied, “They came from a far country, from Babylon.” Isaiah asked further, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.” (vs.14-15)
g. Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers had accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the LORD. And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”(vs.16-18)
h. Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?” (vs.19)
i. The rest of the acts of Hezekiah-all his might and how he made a pool and a tunnel and brought water into the city-were written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings. Hezekiah died and his son Manasseh succeeded him as king of Judah (vs. 20-21).
2. COMMENTARY
a. Hezekiah’s prayer to the LORD to extend his life was one in which he imposed his request according to his human will and pleaded that it be granted default of the divine will of the LORD. Hezekiah implored the LORD to remember that he had walked before Him in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in His sight. Hezekiah wept bitterly. (vs. 2-3 Had the LORD not grant his prayer, it would apparently be that the LORD was unjust and not righteous to him. The truth of the matter that Hezekiah performed well and did what was good before the LORD all along was the fact that the LORD was with him, and not just because he was that virtuous.
When Isaiah called him out and said that what he did would result in his descendants be taken in the days ahead by the Babylonians as eunuchs in the palace and slaves in a foreign land (this happened in the days of Daniel and his three friends when King Nebuchnezzar took captives of the Jews and Israelites-BC 605, attacked and destroyed Jerusalem and also took the Jews into exile to Babylo nia-BC586), Hezekiah said to Isaiah that what he spoke to him was good, if there were peace and truth at least in his days.
In the matter of the Babylonian envoys, the LORD withdrew from him in order to test him, that he might know all that was in his heart. And Hezekiah showed himself as one who was not that loyal to the nation and to the LORD as he claimed to be. Regarding the envoys from Babylon, Hezekiah was foolish to show them all that he had in his armory and treasury to those who were enemies and gentiles. (II Chron. 32:21) His attitude was irresponsible, for after all, he was the king of Judah who should have in his heart the well-being of the people of God and the future of the kingdom .
b. Nonetheless, the LORD added fifteen years to the life of Hezekiah. But Hezekiah wanted a sign to show that the promise of the LORD would surely come to pass. That was Hezekiah’s incomplete submission to the LORD and his lack of total trust in the power of the Almighty LORD to bring to pass all things promised. Thus, when Isaiah the prophet asked Hezekiah what the sign was that he desired, he asked for the shadow of the sun to go backward ten degrees on the sundial of Ahaz which he deemed was harder than the shadow of the sun go forward ten degrees; time goes forward naturally and not backward. To the LORD Almighty nothing is hard. But Hezekiah deemed that time being put back was harder than it being put forward.
c. The shadow of the sundial going back ten degrees is that time retreated forty minutes. The earth spins on its own axis one round (360 degrees) in 24 hours equivalent to 1440 minutes. Thus, one degree backward in time is time having retreated four minutes. For the shadow on the sundial of Ahaz to go backward ten degrees means time retreats 40 minutes.
d. After Hezekiah was sick and near death, he humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah. He had very great riches and honour. He made himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all kinds of desirable items; storehouses for the harvest of grain, wine and oil; and stalls for all kinds of livestock, and folds for flocks. This same Hezekiah also stopped the water outlet of Upper Gihon, and brought the water by tunnel to the west side of the city of David. Hezekiah prospered in all his works. But when the king of Babylon sent envoys to him to inquire about the wonder being done in the land, Hezekiah showed his folly to show them all that he had (II Chron.32:
26-31).
e. The LORD added fifteen years to his life. In the third year of these added years, his son Manasseh was born. Manasseh was the most evil king in Judah and did evil in the sight of the LORD according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. He rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; raised up altars for the Baals and caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. He practised soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritizes. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke Him to anger. He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made in the house of the LORD. So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations that the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel (II Chron. 33:1-9). Had the 15 years not being added to his life, he would not have Manasseh born to his household. Hezekiah would have been faultless as the king of Judah, having done good all the days of his life and having served with loyalty and in truth. But with the extension of fifteen years, his life was not totally without blemish. Manasseh his son also was the most evil king in the history of Judah and it added to the blemish of the life of Hezekiah.
3. TEACHINGS
a. We are the workmanship of God created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:10). Do not just because of our good works reckoned that He should grant all our petitions when we supplicate to Him.
Paul was a faithful apostle and loyal servant of Jesus Christ, but when he prayed that the thorn in his flesh be taken from him, the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Paul therefore rather boast of his infirmities that the power of Christ might rest upon him (II Cor. 12:7-12)
b. Do no be too elated and never think that our supplications are totally according to the will of God especially when He grants our requests. Let us be watchful and vigilant to know and realise the divine will, even in answered and unanswered requests to Him.
c. Repent always if there should be any unholy motive and ungodly deeds when we serve the Lord Jesus Christ in the ministry of the word in the church.
d. Do not presume upon the mercy of God to pursue our own carnal will (Rom. 2:4). The gift of the Lord Jesus Christ is meant for us to serve Him and further the proclamation of the gospel (II Tim. 1:12; Eph. 4:11-13; I Cor. 4:7).
e. If given longevity, health and children, let us be joyful to live for Christ and raise up our sons and daughters to serve the Lord. Take warning from the life of Hezekiah in which 15 years were extended to him, who failed to raise Manasseh to be godly but permitted him to grow up as an evil doer. Perhaps Hezekiah was not as loyal as before when his years were extended.