II
K I N G S
CHAP. XX.
In
this chapter we have, I. Hezekiah's sickness, and his recovery from that, in
answer to prayer, in performance of a promise, in the use of means, and
confirmed with a sign, ver. 1-11. II. Hezekiah's sin, and his recovery from
that, ver. 12-19. In both of these, Isaiah was God's messenger to him. III.
The conclusion of his reign, ver. 20, 21.
|
Hezekiah's
Sickness and Recovery.
|
B.
C. 713.
|
|
|
1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death.
And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus
saith the LORD,
Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. 2 Then
he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying, 3 I
beseech thee, O LORD,
remember now 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. 4 And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the
middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy
tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the
house of the LORD.
6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this
city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for
mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. 7 And Isaiah said,
Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he
recovered. 8 And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be
the sign that the LORD
will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD
the third day? 9 And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the
LORD,
that the LORD
will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten
degrees, or go back ten degrees? 10 And Hezekiah answered, It is a
light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow
return backward ten degrees. 11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto
the LORD:
and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in
the dial of Ahaz.
The historian, having shown us blaspheming Sennacherib destroyed in the midst
of the prospects of life, here shows us praying Hezekiah delivered in the
midst of the prospects of death--the days of the former shortened, of the
latter prolonged.
I. Here is Hezekiah's sickness. In those days, that is, in the same
year in which the king of Assyria besieged Jerusalem; for he reigning reigned?
in all twenty-nine years, and surviving this fifteen years, this must be in
his fourteenth year, and so was that, ch. xviii. 13. Some think it was
at the time that the Assyrian army was besieging the city or preparing for it,
because God promises (v. 6): I will defend the city, which
promise was afterwards repeated, when the danger came to be most imminent, ch.
xix. 34. Others think it was soon after the defeat of Sennacherib; and then it
shows us the uncertainty of all our comforts in this world. Hezekiah, in the
midst of his triumphs in the favour of God, and over the forces of his
enemies, is seized with sickness, and under the arrest of death. We must
therefore always rejoice with trembling. It should seem he was sick of the
plague, for we read of the boil or plague-sore, v. 7. The same disease
which was killing to the Assyrians was trying to him; God took it from him,
and put it upon his enemies. Neither greatness nor goodness can exempt us from
sickness, from sore and mortal sicknesses. Hezekiah, lately favoured of heaven
above most men, yet is sick unto death--in the midst of his days (under forty)
and yet sick and dying; and perhaps he was the more apprehensive of its being
fatal to him because his father died when he was about his age, two or three
years younger. "In the midst of life we are in death."
II. Warning brought him to prepare for death. It is brought by Isaiah, who had
been twice, as stated in the former chapter, a messenger of good tidings to
him. We cannot expect to receive from God's prophets any other than what they
have received from the Lord, and we must welcome that, be it pleasing or
unpleasing. The prophet tells him, 1. That his disease is mortal, and, if he
be not recovered by a miracle of mercy, will certainly be fatal: Thou shalt
die, and not live. 2. That therefore he must, with all speed, get ready
for death: Set thy house in order. This we should feel highly concerned
to do when we are in health, but are most loudly called to do when we come to
be sick. Set the heart in order by renewed acts of repentance, and faith, and
resignation to God, with cheerful farewells to this world and welcomes to
another; and, if not done before (which is the best and wisest course), set
the house in order, make thy will, settle thy estate, put thy affairs in the
best posture thou canst, for the ease of those that shall come after thee.
Isaiah speaks not to Hezekiah of his kingdom, only of his house.
David, being a prophet, had authority to appoint who should reign after him,
but other kings did not pretend to bequeath their crowns as part of their
goods and chattels.
III. His prayer hereupon: He prayed unto the Lord, v. 2. Is any
sick? Let him be prayed for, let him be prayed with, and let him pray.
Hezekiah had found, as recorded in the foregoing chapter, that it was not in
vain to wait upon God, but that the prayers of faith bring in answers of
peace; therefore will he call upon God as long as he lives. Happy
experiences of the prevalency of prayer are engagements and encouragements to
continue instant in prayer. He had now received the sentence of death within
himself, and, if it was reversible, it must be reversed by prayer. When God
purposes mercy he will, for this, be enquired of, Ezek. xxxvi. 37. We
have not if we ask not, or ask amiss. If the sentence was irreversible, yet
prayer is one of the best preparations for death, because by it we fetch in
strength and grace from God to enable us to finish well. Observe,
1. The circumstances of this prayer. (1.) He turned his face to the wall,
probably as he lay in his bed. This he did perhaps for privacy; he could not
retire to his closet as he used to do, but he retired as well as he could,
turned from the company that were about him, to converse with God. When we
cannot be so private as we would be in our devotions, nor perform them with
the usual outward expressions of reverence and solemnity, yet we must not
therefore omit them, but compose ourselves to them as well as we can. Or, as
some think, he turned his face towards the temple, to show how willingly he
would have gone up thither, to pray this prayer (as he did, ch. xix. 1,
14), if he had been able, and remembering what encouragements were given to
all the prayers that should be made in or towards that house. Christ is our
temple; to him we must have an eye in all our prayers, for no man, no service,
comes to the Father but by him. (2.) He wept sorely. Some gather
from this that he was unwilling to die. It is in the nature of man to have
some dread of the separation of soul and body, and it was not strange if the
Old-Testament saints, to whom another world was but darkly revealed, were not
so willing to leave this as Paul and other New-Testament saints were. There
was also something peculiar in Hezekiah's case: he was now in the midst of his
usefulness, had begun a good work of reformation, which he feared would,
through the corruption of the people, fall to the ground, if he should die. If
this was before the defeat of the Assyrian army, as some think, he might
therefore be loth to die, because his kingdom was in imminent danger of being
ruined. However, it does not appear that he had now any son: Manasseh, that
succeeded him, was not born till three years after; and, if he should die
childless, both the peace of his kingdom and the promise to David would be in
danger. But perhaps these were only tears of importunity, and expressions of a
lively affection in prayer. Jacob wept and made supplication; and our blessed
Saviour, though most willing to die, yet offered up strong cries, with tears,
to him whom he knew to be able to save him, Heb. v. 7. Let Hezekiah's
prayer interpret his tears, and in that we find nothing that intimates
him to have been under any of that fear of death which has either bondage or
torment.
2. The prayer itself: "Remember now, O Lord! how I have walked before
thee in truth; and either spare me to live, that I may continue thus to
walk, if, if my work be done, receive me to that glory which thou hast
prepared for those that have thus walked." Observe here, (1.) The
description of Hezekiah's piety. He had had his conversation in the world with
right intentions ("I have walked before thee, as under thy eye and with
an eye ever towards thee"), from a right principle ("in truth,
and with an upright heart"), and by a right rule--"I have
done that which is good in thy sight." (2.) The comfort he now had in
reflecting upon it; it made his sick-bed easy. Note, The testimony of
conscience for us that we have walked with God in our integrity will be much
our support and rejoicing when we come to look death in the face, 2 Cor. i.
12. (3.) The humble mention he makes of it to God. Lord, remember it now;
not as if God needed to be put in mind of any thing by us (he is greater than
our hearts, and knows all things), or as if the reward were of debt, and might
be demanded as due (it is Christ's righteousness only that is the purchase of
mercy and grace); but our own sincerity may be pleaded as the condition of the
covenant which God has wrought in us: "It is the work of thy own hands.
Lord, own it." Hezekiah does not pray, "Lord, spare me," or,
"Lord, take me; God's will be done;" but, Lord, remember me;
whether I live or die, let me be thine.
IV. The answer which God immediately gave to this prayer of Hezekiah. The
prophet had got but to the middle court when he was sent back with another
message to Hezekiah (v. 4, 5), to tell him that he should recover; not
that there is with God yea and nay, or that he ever says and unsays; but upon
Hezekiah's prayer, which he foresaw and which his Spirit inclined him to, God
did that for him which otherwise he would not have done. God here calls
Hezekiah the captain of his people, to intimate that he would reprieve
him for his people's sake, because, in this time of war, they could ill spare
such a captain: he calls himself the God of David, to intimate that he
would reprieve him out of a regard to the covenant made with David and the
promise that he would always ordain a lamp for him. In this answer, 1. God
honours his prayers by the notice he takes of them and the reference he has to
them in this message: I have heard thy prayers, I have seen thy tears.
Prayers that have much life and affection in them are in a special manner
pleasing to God. 2. God exceeds his prayers; he only begged that God would
remember his integrity, but God here promises (1.) To restore him from his
illness: I will heal thee. Diseases are his servants; as they go where
he sends them, so they come when he remands them. Matt. viii. 8, 9. I am
the Lord that healeth thee, Exod. xv. 26. (2.) To restore him to such a
degree of health that on the third day he should go up to the house of the
Lord, to return thanks. God knew Hezekiah's heart, how dearly he loved the
habitation of God's house and the place where his honour dwelt, and that as
soon as he was well he would go to attend on public ordinances; thitherward he
turned his face when he was sick, and thitherward he would turn his feet when
he was recovered; and therefore, because nothing would please him better, he
promises him this, Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee. The man
whom Christ healed was soon after found in the temple, John v. 14. (3.)
To add fifteen years to his life. This would not bring him to be an old man;
it would reach but to fifty-four or fifty-five; yet that was longer than he
had lately expected to live. His lease was renewed, which he thought was
expiring. We have not the instance of any other that was told before-hand just
how long he should live; that good man no doubt made a good use of it; but God
has wisely kept us at uncertainties, that we may be always ready. (4.) To
deliver Jerusalem from the king of Assyria, v. 6. This was the thing
which Hezekiah's heart was upon a much as his own recovery, and therefore the
promise of this is here repeated. If this was after the raising of the siege,
yet there was cause to fear Sennacherib's rallying again. "No," says
God, "I will defend this city."
V. The means which were to be used for his recovery, v. 7. Isaiah was
his physician. He ordered an outward application, a very cheap and common
thing: "Lay a lump of figs to the boil, to ripen it and bring it
to a head, that the matter of the disease may be discharged that way."
This might contribute something to the cure, and yet, considering to what a
height the disease had come, and how suddenly it was checked, the cure was no
less than miraculous. Note, 1. It is our duty, when we are sick, to make use
of such means as are proper to help nature, else we do not trust God, but
tempt him. 2. Plain and ordinary medicines must not be despised, for many such
God has graciously made serviceable to man, in consideration of the poor. 3.
What God appoints he will bless and make effectual.
VI. The sign which was given for the encouragement of his faith. 1. He begged
it, not in any distrust of the power or promise of God, or as if he staggered
at that, but because he looked upon the things promised to be very great
things and worthy to be so confirmed, and because it had been usual with God
thus to glorify himself and favour his people; and he remembered how much God
was displeased with his father for refusing to ask a sign, Isa. vii. 10-12.
Observe, Hezekiah asked What is the sign, not that I shall go up to the
thrones of judgment or up to the gate, but up to the house of the Lord?
He desired to recover that he might glorify God in the gates of the
daughter of Zion. It is not worth while to live for any other purpose than
to serve God. 2. It was put to his choice whether the sun should go back or go
forward; for it was equal to Omnipotence, and it would be the more likely to
confirm his faith if he chose that which he thought the more difficult of the
two. Perhaps to this that of this prophet may refer (Isa. xlv. 11), Ask me
of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands
command you me. It is supposed that the degrees were half hours, and that
it was just noon when the proposal was made, and the question is, "Shall
the sun go back to its place at seven in the morning or forward to its place
at five in the evening?" 3. He humbly desired the sun might go back ten
degrees, because, though either would be a great miracle, yet, it being the
natural course of the sun to go forward, its going back would seem more
strange, and would be more significant of Hezekiah's returning to the days
of his youth (Job xxxiii. 25) and the lengthening out of the day of his
life. It was accordingly done, upon the prayer of Isaiah (v. 11): He cried
unto the Lord by special warrant and direction, and God brought the sun
back ten degrees, which appeared to Hezekiah (for the sign was intended for
him) by the going back of the shadow upon the dial of Ahaz, which, it is
likely, he could see through his chamber-window; and the same was observed
upon all other dials, even in Babylon, 2 Chron. xxxii. 31. Whether this
retrograde motion of the sun was gradual or per saltum--suddenly--whether
it went back at the same pace that it used to go forward, which would make the
day ten hours longer than usual--or whether it darted back on a sudden, and,
after continuing a little while, was restored again to its usual place, so
that no change was made in the state of the heavenly bodies (as the learned
bishop Patrick thinks)--we are not told; but this work of wonder shows the
power of God in heaven as well as on earth, the great notice he takes of
prayer, and the great favour he bears to his chosen. The most plausible
idolatry of the heathen was theirs that worshipped the sun; yet that was
hereby convicted of the most egregious folly and absurdity, for by this it
appeared that their god was under the check of the God of Israel. Dr.
Lightfoot suggests that the fifteen songs of degrees (Ps. cxx., &c.) might
perhaps be so called because selected by Hezekiah to be sung to his stringed
instruments (Isa. xxxviii. 20) in remembrance of the degrees on the dial which
the sun went back and the fifteen years added to his life; and he observes how
much of these psalms is applicable to Jerusalem's distress and deliverance and
Hezekiah's sickness and recovery.
|
Hezekiah's
Piety and Death.
|
B.
C. 713.
|
|
|
12 At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of
Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had
heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto
them, and showed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and
the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house
of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in
his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not.
14 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What
said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They
are come from a far country, even from Babylon. 15 And he
said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the
things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing
among my treasures that I have not showed them. 16 And Isaiah said
unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD.
17 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that
which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into
Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. 18 And of thy
sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away;
and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. 19
Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD
which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace
and truth be in my days? 20 And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah,
and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water
into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of
the kings of Judah? 21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and
Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
Here is, I. An embassy sent to Hezekiah by the king of Babylon, to
congratulate him on his recovery, v. 12. The kings of Babylon had
hitherto been only deputies and tributaries to the kings of Assyria, and
Nineveh was the royal city. We find Babylon subject to the king of Assyria, ch.
xvii. 24. But this king of Babylon began to set up for himself, and by degrees
things were so changed that Assyria became subject to the kings of Babylon.
This king of Babylon sent to compliment Hezekiah, and ingratiate himself with
him upon a double account. 1. Upon the account of religion. The Babylonians
worshipped the sun, and, perceiving what honour their god had done to
Hezekiah, in going back for his sake, they thought themselves obliged to do
honour to him likewise. It is good having those our friends whom we perceive
to be the favourites of heaven. 2. Upon the account of civil interest. If the
king of Babylon was now mediating a revolt from the king of Assyria, it was
policy to get Hezekiah into his interest, in answer to whose prayers, and for
whose protection, heaven had given that fatal blow to the king of Assyria. He
found himself obliged to Hezekiah, and his God, for the weakening of the
Assyrian forces, and had reason to think he could not have a more powerful and
valuable ally than one that had so good an interest in the upper world. He
therefore made his court to him with all possible respect by ambassadors,
letters, and a present.
II. The kind entertainment Hezekiah gave to these ambassadors, v. 13.
It was his duty to be civil to them, and receive them with the respect due to
ambassadors; but he exceeded, and was courteous to a fault. 1. He was too fond
of them. He hearkened unto them. Though they were idolaters, yet he
became intimate with them, was forward to come into a confederacy with the
king their master, and granted them all they came for. He was more open and
free than he should have been, and stood not so much upon his guard. What
reason had he that was in covenant with God so eagerly to catch at an alliance
with a heathen prince, or to value himself at all upon his respectful notice?
What honour could this embassy add to one whom God had so highly favoured,
that he should please himself so much with it? 2. He was too fond of showing
them his palace, his treasures, and his magazines, that they might see, and
might report to their master, what a great king he was, and how well worthy of
the honour their master did him. It is not said that he showed them the
temple, the book of the law, and the manner of his worship, that he might
proselyte them to the true religion, which he had now a fair opportunity of
doing; but in compliment to them, lest he should affront them, he waived that,
and showed them the rich furniture of his closet, that house of his precious
things, the wealth he had heaped up since the king of Assyria had emptied his
coffers, his silver, and gold, and spices. All the valuable things he
had he showed them, either himself or by his officers. And what harm was there
in this? What is more commonly, and (as we think) more innocently, done, than
to show strangers the riches and rarities of a country--to show our friends
our houses and their furniture, our gardens, stables, and libraries? But if we
do this in the pride of our hearts, as Hezekiah did, to gain applause from
men, and not giving praise to God, it turns into sin to us, as it did to him.
III. The examination of Hezekiah concerning this matter, v. 14, 15.
Isaiah, who had often been his comforter, is now his reprover. The blessed
Spirit is both, John xvi. 7, 8. Ministers must be both, as there is occasion.
Isaiah spoke in God's name, and therefore called him to account as one having
authority: "Who are these? Whence come they? What is their business? What
have they seen?" Hezekiah not only submitted to the examination (did not
ask him, "Why should you concern yourself and question me about this
affair?"), but made an ingenuous confession: There is nothing among my
treasures that I have not shown them. Why then did he not bring them to
Isaiah, and show him to them who was without doubt the best treasure he had in
his dominions, and who by his prayers and prophecies had been instrumental in
all those wonders which these ambassadors came to enquire into? I hope
Hezekiah had the same value for Isaiah now that he had in his distress; but it
would have become him to show it by bringing these ambassadors to him in the
first place, which might have prevented the false step he took.
IV. The sentence passed upon him for his pride and vanity, and the too great
relish he had of the things of the world, after that intimate acquaintance he
had so lately been admitted into with divine things. The sentence is (v.
17, 18), 1. That the treasures he was so proud of should hereafter become a
prey, and his family should be robbed of them all. It is just with God to take
that from us which we make the matter of our pride and in which we put our
confidence. 2. That the king of Babylon, with whom he was so fond of an
alliance, should be the enemy that should make a prey of them. Not that it was
for this sin that that judgment should be brought upon them: the sins of
Manasseh, his idolatries and murders, were the cause of that calamity; but it
is now foretold to Hezekiah, to convince him of the folly of his pride and of
the value he had for the king of Babylon, and to make him ashamed of it.
Hezekiah was fond of assisting the king of Babylon to rise, and to reduce the
exorbitant power of the kings of Assyria; but he is told that the snake he is
cherishing will ere long sting the bosom that cherishes it, and that his royal
seed shall become the king of Babylon's slave (which was fulfilled, Dan. i. 1,
&c.), than which there could not be any thing more mortifying to Hezekiah
to think of. Babylon will be the ruin of those that are fond of Babylon. Wise
therefore and happy are those that come out from her, Rev. xviii. 4.
V. Hezekiah's humble and patient submission to this sentence, v. 19.
Observe how he argues himself into this submission. 1. He lays it down for a
truth that "good is the word of the Lord, even this word, though a
threatening; for every word of his is so. It is not only just, but good; for,
as he does no wrong to any, so he means no hurt to good men. It is good; for
he will bring good out of it, and do me good by the foresight of it." We
should believe this concerning every providence, that it is good, is working
for good. 2. He takes notice of that in this word which was good, that he
should not live to see this evil, much less to share in it. He makes the best
of the bad: "Is it not good? Yes, certainly it is, and better than I
deserve." Note, (1.) True penitents, when they are under divine rebukes,
call them not only just, but good; not only submit to the punishment of their
iniquity, but accept of it. So Hezekiah did, and by this it appeared that he
was indeed humbled for the pride of his heart. (2.) When at any time we
are under dark dispensations, or have dark prospects, public or personal, we
must take notice of what is for us as well as what is against
us, that we may by thanksgiving honour God, and may in our patience possess
our own souls. (3.) As to public affairs, it is good, and we are bound to
think it so, if peace and truth be in our days. That is, [1.] Whatever
else we want, it is good if we have peace and truth, if we have the true
religion professed and protected, Bibles and ministers, and enjoy these in
peace, not terrified with the alarms of war or persecution. [2.] Whatever
trouble may come when we are gone, it is good if all be well in our days. Not
that we should be unconcerned for posterity; it is a grief to foresee evils:
but we should own that the deferring of judgments is a great favour in
general, and to have them deferred so long as what we may die in peace is a
particular favour to us, for charity begins at home. We know not how we shall
bear the trial, and therefore have reason to think it well if we may but get
safely to heaven before it comes.
Lastly, Here is the conclusion of Hezekiah's life and story, v.
20, 21. In 2 Chron. ch. xxix.-xxxii. much more is recorded of
Hezekiah's work of reformation than in this book of Kings; and it seems that
in the civil chronicles, not now extant, there were many things recorded of
his might and the good offices he did for Jerusalem, particularly his bringing
water by pipes into the city. To have water in plenty, without striving for it
and without being terrified with the noise of archers in the drawing of it, to
have it at hand and convenient for us, is to be reckoned a great mercy; for
the want of water would be a great calamity. But here this historian leaves
him asleep with his fathers, and a son in his throne that proved very
untoward; for parents cannot give grace to their children. Wicked Ahaz was the
son of a godly father and the father of a godly son; holy Hezekiah was the son
of a wicked father and the father of a wicked son. When the land was not
reformed, as it should have been, by a good reign, it was plagued and ripened
for ruin by a bad one; yet then tried again with a good one, that it might
appear how loth God was to cut off his people.
Contents
|
Next
Section
