In reading some of my past blog posts I noticed I never came back and finished the story of King Hezekiah. So, here is part 2.
II Chronicles 31: 20-21 KJV says: "And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the Lord his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with his heart, and prospered."
But, even Hezekiah was fully human. And here, in the story's second half, we can see his struggles.
His fear.
His weakness.
His frailty.
His moments of brokenness.
A villain, named Sennacherib, king of Assyria, enters the picture. He brought in his army and set up camp near the fenced cities of Judah. They were preparing to take over the country.
Hezekiah developed a strategy to protect his country from these invaders. He changed the course of a stream and had his men dig a tunnel to supply the sieged city with water. But, that isn't the part of his story I want to focus on today.
I want to talk about the day God told him he was going to die. I have heard some people say they wish they knew when they were going to die. Somehow if they knew they had a year, or ten, or fifty years left they could somehow plan how to live those years. Maybe they would make better choices, or just not have as much anxiety. If a person knows they have many more years to live, maybe they would have more confidence and take risks. Well, Hezekiah had the blessing of knowing.
The prophet Isaiah was a very close friend of King Hezekiah. God gave Isaiah an assignment that must have been very hard for the old prophet to carry out. Isaiah had to tell Hezekiah it was time. His life was over. It was time to get his house in order, tell his family good-bye... Hezekiah didn't take the news very well.
Some people say King Hezekiah had the bubonic plague. He was too sick to get out of bed. When Isaiah came with the news Hezekiah broke. How could God do this to him? How could He just let him die after all they had been through together?
"Remember me, God?" he sobbed. "I have always trusted you. My heart has always been turned toward you. I have done whatever you have asked. I have done so much good!..." he cried bitterly. This famous, highly-intelligent man, turned his face to the wall and cried like a child who is sent to bed without dessert.
The heartbreak.
Isaiah couldn't stay.
But, soon God told Isaiah to go back.
"Thus saith the Lord, 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..."
God would heal him and give him fifteen extra years!
Not only that, but God wanted to show Hezekiah a special sign from Him that He had heard his prayer. He had the shadow on the sundial go backward ten degrees!
Wow! What does that mean? How did that happen?
I have noticed two ways for a shadow from artificial light to go backward. One is for the light source to be moved in the opposite direction. Another way is for a brighter light to overpower the original light. I don't know exactly HOW it happened, but the shadow went backward and Hezekiah relived that afternoon as well as an extra fifteen years!
Isaiah instructed Hezekiah's caregivers to make a plaster using figs to put on the boil. And he soon recovered completely.
He wrote a beautiful poem after he recovered to remember this amazing experience and glorify God.
News traveled fast and soon King Hezekiah was entertaining visitors from near and far. As was the custom, they came bearing gifts, and King Hezekiah gladly gave them a tour of his palace.
I don't know if that boil affected his brain, or what, but somehow his judgment wasn't as good as it had once been.
Isaiah especially noticed this one day as he passed a group of very influential-looking people leaving the palace as he arrived. He suddenly had a feeling something was wrong.
"Who were those guys?" Isaiah asked the happy king.
"Oh, some really nice people from a faraway placed called, Babylon." the king innocently answered.
"And, what did you show them?" Isaiah asked.
"Everything in my treasure rooms, my house, the temple... I gave them the grand tour...EVERYTHING!"
It was Isaiah's turn to feel heartbroken.
"Every last thing you showed those men, they are going to come and steal. They will also take your descendants and raise them as Babylonian eunuchs."
In a moment of pride, Hezekiah had messed up.
But, II Chronicles 32:26 says he repented of his pride and God forgave him. God promised him that he would not have to live to see this happen.
Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, would.
Manasseh was born during those extra fifteen years and gained the throne at only twelve years old. He was evil. He rebuilt the broken altars of false gods. He worshipped the stars. And, even worse than that, he caused his own little ones to walk through the fire.
Some say this is a sad story that teaches us that IF Hezekiah hadn't lived an extra 15 years, wicked Manasseh would have never been born. The Babylonians would have never visited the little country of Judah. God's people could have continued to live in peace.
Is this a sad story? Was much of history, and even the light in the sky, altered because a grown man wasn't ready to say goodbye to this life?
Or is this an inspiring story? Did God extend the time of peace because a precious child of his cried out to Him and asked for a few more years to live?
And, just when you think you have answered that question, here is another fact. Hezekiah's great-grandson was the young, God-fearing, evangelist: King Josiah!
Was it good, or bad that he lived an extra 15 years?
Let me know what you think!
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