ISAIAH 38-39: “Hezekiah Is Healed Then Shows His Treasures
To
By
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study we looked
at how Judea and king Hezekiah finally came to the place where they placed
their trust in the Lord, and Him alone, and how that the Lord then conquered
their enemy Assyria, delivering Judea
1.1.1.
King Hezekiah and the people
of Judea had exhausted every other hope by the time the events of chapter 36
and 37 transpired, and then finally when they had run out of false hopes they
placed their faith completely in the Lord, and He rewarded them for it
1.1.2.
The major theme of Isaiah up
to this point in time had been that the people must place their faith in the
Lord and Him alone as their help and strength, otherwise they would be
conquered and judged along with all of the other nations. Then, in chapters 36 and 37 we saw how
Isaiah’s words were vindicated as events played out for the nation of
1.1.2.1.We saw that they eventually came to the place of placing all of their
trust and hope in the Lord, and then when they finally did this the Lord
rescued them from the Assryian army and king
1.1.2.2.The Lord brought Hezekiah and the people of Judea and Jerusalem finally
to the end of themselves and their own schemes and resources, and we saw that
He did so not that He might condemn and beat them down, having found out the
depth of their sin and weaknesses, but rather so that He might mightily deliver
them and teach them to trust and depend upon Him
1.2.
In our study today we are
going to see in chapter 38 that Hezekiah is sick with a terminal illness but
prays to the Lord and is healed and then in chapter 39 we see that Hezekiah
entertains a delegation from Babylon who are desiring to see the wonder they
had heard about of Hezekiah being healed, and they bring him a gift, but then
foolishly Hezekiah shows this delegation all of the treasures of his kingdom
1.2.1.
We see that chapters 38 and
39 are sequential, however that they record events that happened about 14 years
before the events of the previous chapter when the Lord conquered the Assyrians
who had surrounded Jerusalem after Hezekiah had prayed for deliverance
1.2.1.1.We know these events occurred 14 years before because:
1.2.1.1.1.Hezekiah shows to the Babylonian delegation in chapter 39 all of the
treasures of the Lord’s house, and there would have been hardly any left after
Hezekiah took all of the gold out of the temple and gave it to the Assyrians so
that they would leave the city, and then they refused to leave
1.2.1.1.2.According to verse 5 here and 2 Kings 20:6 we calculate that this had
to be the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign
1.2.1.1.3.In Isaiah 38:6 we read that Isaiah tells Hezekiah that the Lord is
going to deliver the city from the Assyrians, however that deliverance was
already accomplished at the end of chapter 37
1.2.1.2.This then places the events of chapters 38 and 39 at about 714B.C.
1.2.1.3.2 Kings 20:1-19 parallel the events in chapters 38-39 of Isaiah, adding
and omitting certain details
1.2.2.
In chapter 39 we see that
the consequence of Hezekiah showing the Babylonian delegation all of the
treasures of the Lord’s house is that one day she would come and take all of
the treasures of the house and lead the people of Judea into captivity
2.
VS 38:1 - “1 In those days Hezekiah became
mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to
him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not
live.’”” -
Isaiah came to Hezekiah when he was very ill and told him that he was
going to die from the illness
2.1.
We see in the scriptures that sometimes the
prophetic word of the prophets was not final but just a warning which could be
averted by the actions of men after hearing the warning. Here Isaiah tells Hezekiah that he is going
to die of this illness, however after Hezekiah prays for healing the Lord heals
him.
2.2.
Again, as we noticed in chapter 36, the
Isaiah who is writing the book is the same Isaiah the son of Amoz introduced as
the author in Isaiah 1:1, and that there could not be multiple Isaiahs who have
authored the book.
3.
VS 38:2-3 - “2 Then Hezekiah turned his face
to the wall, and prayed to the Lord,3 and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I
beseech Thee, how I have walked before Thee in truth and with a whole heart,
and have done what is good in Thy sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.” - Hezekiah prayed to the Lord
and wept after hearing the word of Isaiah concerning his impending death
3.1.
All in all, Isaiah had been a pretty good
king and walked uprightly with the Lord.
3.1.1.
When he first had become king he had
instituted a reformation calling people back into walking righteously before
the Lord, and he had all idols and false places of worship in the land
destroyed.
3.1.1.1.2 Kings 18:1-6 gives testimony to the life of Hezekiah’s
righteous life and deeds, “1 Now it came about in
the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son
of Ahaz king of Judah became king.2 He was twenty-five years old when he became
king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was
Abi the daughter of Zechariah.3 And he did right in the sight of the Lord,
according to all that his father David had done.4 He removed the high places
and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in
pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of
Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.5 He trusted in the
Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all
the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him.6 For he clung to the
Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which
the Lord had commanded Moses.”
3.1.2.
However, as we have seen after some years
Hezekiah somehow got side-tracked from his single-minded devotion of the Lord
and went against the word of the Lord and pursued political alliances instead
of trusting in the Lord alone as his hope, help, and strength.
3.2.
Hezekiah reminds the Lord that he has been
walking uprightly and leading the nation in righteousness, and therefore he
desires that he might live so that he might be able to continue leading God’s
people down the path where they need to be.
3.2.1.
Some have said that Hezekiah was trying to
convince the Lord that he was worthy in his own righteousness for the Lord to
heal him, however I do not believe that this was his motivation.
3.2.2.
As my family has now planted two Calvary
Chapel churches, the one here in Green Bay and another in Montana, we have had
times in our family when one of us have been sick and we have fervently prayed
for healing for that one because if the Lord did not heal then there would be
no one who would be able to take their place and minister to the people. It appears that Hezekiah knew that there was
no one else who would be appointed king who would lead the nation along the
same narrow path of righteousness and reform as he had done, and thus he
desired to be healed.
3.3.
Hezekiah seems to have a very human reaction
at the news of his impending death, he wants to live. Most of us would have the same desire as
Hezekiah had here, we would want to continue living here in this life serving
the Lord rather than going on to the next life.
3.3.1.
Some have criticized Hezekiah for his tears,
however the Jews were a people who did not suppress their emotions, whether in
joy or sorrow, and thus he reacts only as most any other Jew would react. Also, at this point in time Hezekiah was
still young and probably childless, and to die childless was considered the
greatest of all curses. As every Jew,
Hezekiah wanted his name to remain in the earth.
3.3.2.
We do read in James 4:3
however that one of the reasons that our prayers are not answered is that we
pray with selfish motives, “3 You ask and do not
receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your
pleasures.”
3.4.
In the Old Testament times there was not
developed a very clear understanding as to what the afterlife consisted of,
therefore we can understand why one living during those times would desire even
more to continue living in the hear and now.
In 2 Tim. 1:10 we read that Jesus
has brought about a proper understanding of life and immortality, “10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus,
who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the
gospel.”
3.5.
Some have said that it would have been better
had Hezekiah’s prayers not been heard since the son who would be born to him
after he was healed was Manasseh, a man who turned out to be a very wicked king
in Judea, and one who caused God’s judgment to fall on the land. Wicked Manasseh rebuilt all of the altars
that his father Hezekiah had had torn down, and he even he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah as wicked
king Ahab had done. However,
Hezekiah certainly did not know at this time that these events would occur, and
we could not expect him to have known.
4.
VS 38:4-5 - “4 Then the word of the Lord came
to Isaiah, saying,5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of
your father David, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I
will add fifteen years to your life.” - The Lord tells Isaiah to go and tell Hezekiah
that he will be healed and live another 15 years
4.1.
We read in 2 Kings 20:4
that after Isaiah had told Hezekiah the news of his impending death that Isaiah
had not even left the courtyard before the Lord told Isaiah to go back and tell
Hezekiah that the Lord had heard his prayer, “4 And it
came about before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, that the word of the
Lord came to him, saying.”
5.
VS 38:6-8 - “6 “And I will deliver you and
this city from the hand of the king of
5.1.
In 2 Kings 20:8
we read that the reason why the Lord gave Hezekiah a sign that He would perform
miraculous healing upon him was because Hezekiah had asked for a sign, “8 Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord
will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord the third day?””
5.1.1.
We shouldn’t normally seek a sign from the
Lord in order to believe His word, for this is unbelief which is a sin. In Matt. 16:4,
we read that Jesus taught us that we should not require a sign in order to
believe what God has already said is true, rather signs are sought by those who
are wicked, “4 “An evil and
adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it,
except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them, and went away.”
5.1.2.
It is only the Lord’s graciousness that He
chooses to answer Hezekiah’s request and give him a sign to show him that He
would answer his prayer to be healed.
5.2.
In 2 Kings 20:9-11 we read that initially
Isaiah proposed that the sign from the Lord would be that the shadow from the Sundial
would go forward 10 steps, however Hezekiah thought that that would be too easy
to perform, so he asked that the shadow instead go backward 10 steps.
5.3.
It appears that a sundial is being reference
here regarding the suns shadow moving.
We read the following from the Pulpit
Commentary regarding sundials and this passage, “We are informed by Herodotus that the sun-dial was an invention of
the Babylonians…Sun-dials are of several kinds.
The one here spoken of seems to have consisted of a set of steps, with a
perpendicular gnomen or pole at the top, the shadow of which receded up the
steps as the sun rose in the heavens, and descended down them as the sun
declined. We must suppose that the sign
was given in the forenoon, when the shadow was gradually creeping up the steps.”
5.4.
We do not know in what way the Lord caused
this miracle to occur. For instance, it
could have happened in one of these ways:
5.4.1.
The Lord could have caused the refraction of
the light from the sun to be bent.
5.4.2.
The Lord could have caused the earth’s
rotation to temporarily reverse.
5.4.2.1.If
this was the cause then other nations would have experienced this also and we
would think that there would have possibly been some Assyrian or Babylonian
inscription which would have mentioned this event occurring.
6.
VS 38:9-20 - “9 A writing of Hezekiah king of
6.1.
Having had a few friends now through the
years who have been terminally ill, I can appreciate the need for a person to
write down their thoughts, feelings, and prayers during that time of their
life. It is such a shock to one’s system
to find out that their life is soon to be cut short that a person’s entire
perspective is transformed never to again be quite the same, even though they
may be healed or get well and not die after all.
6.1.1.
I recommend to everyone who is diagnosed with
a terminal illness to immediately begin to journal all of their thoughts and
experiences. This writing will be
important not only to them to recollect their thoughts and experiences at a
later time, but it will also prove to be a very valuable blessing to leave to
their children and family should they pass away.
6.2.
Hezekiah was a young man still and was
perhaps at this time only about 39 years old.
Not only so, but he was probably childless to this point in time since
his son Manasseh who is born after this time succeeds him on the throne, and
this privilege usually belonged to the oldest son.
6.3.
Hezekiah writes that he was depressed that
this terminal illness would come upon him while he was only in the middle of
his life span.
6.4.
Hezekiah describes the Lord’s taking away his
life as being:
6.4.1.
Like a shepherd’s tent my dwelling is pulled
up and removed.
6.4.2.
Like a weaver rolled up and cut off from the
loom.
6.5.
As I mentioned, the Jews have always been a
people who do not repress their emotions, and we see the great sorrow and grief
that Hezekiah had at the prospect of his life being taken away from him:
6.5.1.
He felt like the Lord was breaking his bones
like a lion.
6.5.2.
Like a swallow he twittered.
6.5.3.
Like a dove his eyes looked wistfully to the
heights.
6.5.4.
He felt oppression.
6.5.5.
He said that he would wander about the rest
of his remaining days in great bitterness of his soul.
6.6.
In verse 17, Hezekiah writes that he knew
that it was not because of his sins that he would die, for the Lord had hidden
his sins behind His back.
6.7.
In verses 18 and 19 we see that Hezekiah had the
typical understanding of the afterlife of those of Old Testament times for he
says that death and Hades cannot praise the Lord, and it is implied that if he
were to be allowed to live that he could go on serving the Lord and giving Him
praise.
6.8.
Hezekiah wanted the Lord to heal him so that
he could worship the Lord on stringed instruments in the house of the Lord.
7.
VS 38:21-22 - “21 Now Isaiah had said, “Let
them take a cake of figs, and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.”22
Then Hezekiah had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of
the Lord?”” - Isaiah plays doctor now telling them to place
a cake of figs on Hezekiah’s boil so that he might be miraculously healed by
the Lord
7.1.
As happened in this instance with Hezekiah,
we find many times in the scriptures that the Lord led His servants to apply
what would otherwise be just common remedies to bring about a miraculous
healing. For example:
7.1.1.
Elijah:
7.1.1.1.The
widow of Zarephath’s
son:
1 Kings 17:21, “21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called
to the Lord, and said, “O Lord my God, I pray Thee, let this child’s life
return to him.””
7.1.2.
Elisha:
7.1.2.1.The
Shunammite woman’s son: 2 Kings 4:34, “34 And he went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth
and his eyes on his eyes and his hands on his hands, and he stretched himself
on him; and the flesh of the child became warm.
7.1.2.2.Removing
the poison from the porrage: 2 Kings 4:41,41 But he said, “Now bring
meal.” And he threw it into the pot, and he said, “Pour it out for the people
that they may eat.” Then there was no harm in the pot.”
7.1.2.3.Naaman
the leper: 2
Kings 5:14, “14 So he went down and
dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of
God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was
clean.”
7.1.3.
Jesus (and blind men):
7.1.3.1.John 9:6, “6 When He had said this,
He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to
his eyes.”
7.1.3.2.Mark 7:33, “33 And He took him aside
from the multitude by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after
spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva.”
7.1.3.3.Mark 8:23, “23 And taking the blind
man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his
eyes, and laying His hands upon him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?””
8.
VS 39:1-2 - “1 At that time Merodach-baladan
son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he
heard that he had been sick and had recovered.2 And Hezekiah was pleased, and
showed them all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and
the precious oil and his whole armory and all that was found in his treasuries.
There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not
show them.” - Isaiah tells us that when the king of
8.1.
The news of Hezekiah’s miraculous healing had
spread around the world, and everywhere there was genuine awe and wonder at the
workings of the God of Israel.
8.2.
It appears that the king of
8.2.1.
He probably wanted the delegation to work
undercover as spies and try to ascertain the military strength as well as the
riches of Hezekiah’s kingdom. This
knowledge would serve as a help for determining future military actions.
8.2.2.
He probably also wanted to have a diplomatic
channel open in case at a future time he could convince Hezekiah and Judah to
make a military alliance with Babylon to stand against Assyria.
8.3.
Hezekiah was deceived by his own pride. It was a honor for a king to have sent to him
a high level diplomatic delegation from a major player among the nations, and
thus Isaiah writes that Hezekiah was pleased.
8.3.1.
We Christians need to beware of those who
flatter us for we too can be ensnared because of our pride, after all you have
probably heard the saying, “Flattery will get you
everything.” For
example:
8.3.1.1.I have personally
known a couple of young girls who had been deceived by the flattery of men
telling them how beautiful and attractive they were, and eventually they ended
up being lured into a selling their bodies for profit.
8.3.1.2.I have known young
men who were deceived by the flattery of men telling them how smart or talented
they were, and eventually then ended up being lured into careers that
compromised their Christian morals.
8.4.
The mistake that we see that Hezekiah made
here was that having gone through the mountain top experience of having the
Lord heal him and add 15 years to his life, he let his guard down. Hezekiah thought that he had now gotten
through his battle and so it was a time to relax, enjoy your success, and
rejoice. However, Hezekiah should have
sought the Lord in prayer about whether or not it was a good idea to allow
these Babylonian visitors see his temple treasures.
8.4.1.
We Christians need to learn from Hezekiah’s
mistake.
8.4.1.1.There is more
danger against an attack by the Devil and a fall to temptation when you have
had great success than when you are in difficult straits.
8.4.1.1.1.Hezekiah’s
kingdom was in much safer hands when he had been terminally ill and on his
deathbed than after he had been healed.
8.4.1.2.We must never let
our guard down for a moment because the Devil is a roaring lion roaming around
seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8), and we can easily become his prey if
we are not ever vigilant.
8.4.1.3.We Christians need
to also realize our great need for discernment and wisdom. Even after coming to salvation, often our
natural inclinations our 180 degrees opposite of what the Lord would have for
us to do.
8.4.1.3.1.We
need to constantly pray then for discernment and wisdom.
8.4.1.3.2.We
need to learn to pray and then to wait upon the Lord for His answer and leading
in our lives, and not make decisions until we do.
8.4.1.3.2.1.Hezekiah’s
foolishness occurred because he didn’t pray about the situation. It was prayerlessness that caused him to
stumble, and it is prayerlessness that will likewise cause us to stumble.
9.
VS 39:3-4 - “3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to
King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have
they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country,
from
9.1.
In verse 3, Isaiah asks Hezekiah what the men
who had come had said and from where they had come, however he knew where they
were from and also their secret motives for coming. Isaiah was trying to get Hezekiah to realize
the mistake he had made and to confess his sin.
9.2.
Hezekiah is not forth-coming about what the
Babylonians had said to him probably because he realizes right about now that
he had made a big mistake by being flattered by this delegation to such an
extent that he would foolishly show them all of the temple treasures.
9.2.1.
It was Hezekiah’s pride that was unchecked
and led him to such a foolish act as to show these men the temple
treasures. Hezekiah was flattered that
this delegation from such a big important country would travel such a long
distance just to congratulate him on being healed.
9.3.
Discernment is a needed commodity in
life. When my wife and I had just gotten
married I got a job in 1980 with this company, and they immediately scheduled
me for two two week training courses in the
9.3.1.
Hezekiah desperately needed discernment from
the Lord and yet because he was feeling relaxed and rejoicing in his recent
victory he had let his guard down and not praying about every decision he might
make.
9.3.2.
Again, we Christians do need to seek the Lord
in prayer constantly for discernment and wisdom lest we too fall into a snare
set by our enemy the Devil.
10.
VS 39:5-7 - “5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah,
“Hear the word of the Lord of hosts,6 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all
that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this
day shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord.7 ‘And
some of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you shall beget, shall be
taken away; and they shall become officials in the palace of the king of
Babylon.’”” - Isaiah tells Hezekiah that one day the nation
of Judea shall be taken into captivity by
10.1.
10.2.
In 2 Kings
24:11-15, we read of the account in 586B.C. when Babylon
conquered Jerusalem, took the people captive, and took the temple treasures
away, “11 And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon
came to the city, while his servants were besieging it.12 And Jehoiachin the
king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his
servants and his captains and his officials. So the king of Babylon took him
captive in the eighth year of his reign.13 And he carried out from there all
the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house,
and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made
in the temple of the Lord, just as the Lord had said.14 Then he led away into
exile all Jerusalem and all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten
thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained except
the poorest people of the land. 15 So he
led Jehoiachin away into exile to
11.
VS 39:8 - “8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah,
“The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “For
there will be peace and truth in my days.”” - Isaiah tells us that Hezekiah accepted the
word of the Lord
11.1.
I think that we can see selfishness in the
life of Hezekiah in that Isaiah has just told him about how that the
Babylonians shall take the temple treasures, his own sons, and all of the
people captive, and instead of grieving deeply for this horrific effect of his actions
in showing the Babylonians all of the treasures of the kingdom, he is glad that
at least in his day there will be peace and truth.
11.2.
Hezekiah was for the most part a righteous
man and king, however this verse reveals to us that he still seemed to exaggerate
his own importance and think that life revolved around him.