2 Kings 20: 1 – 21
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20 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.’ 2 Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, saying, 3 “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. 4 And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 5 “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. 6 And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David.” 7 Then Isaiah said, “Take a lump of figs.” So, they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. 8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “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?” 9 Then 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?” 10 And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees; no, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees.” 11 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. 12 At that time Berodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And Hezekiah was attentive to them and showed them all the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices 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. 14 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?” So, Hezekiah said, “They came from a far country, from Babylon.” 15 And he said, “What have they seen in your house?” So, Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.” 16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: 17 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the LORD. 18 ‘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.’ ” 19 So 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?” 20 Now 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—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 21 So Hezekiah rested with his fathers. Then Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
Most Americans just set their clocks back an hour, as daylight saving time ended, and most of the United States will "lose" an hour of daylight.
Historically, daylight saving time has begun in the summer months and ended for winter.
Starting in 2007, DST begins in the United States on the second Sunday in March, when people move their clocks forward an hour at 2 a.m. local standard time. Daylight saving time ends on the first Sunday in November, when clocks are moved back an hour at 2 a.m. local daylight time.
For a well-educated man who was not a believer Benjamin Franklin takes the honor for gleaning from the bible the issue of time moving backward. He came up with the idea to reset clocks in the summer months to conserve energy. Even so, DST didn't officially begin until more than a century later.
The time change was first instituted in the United States during World War I, and then reinstituted again during World War II, as a part of the war effort.
Pets notice the time change, as well. Since us humans set the routines for their fluffy loved ones, dogs and cats living indoors are disrupted when they are used to you taking them out in the morning to do their business and now all of a sudden you are an hour late.
Our Great and Mighty God Is the real and first One to incorporate daylight saving time. He implemented it not specially to save on energy but to prove to his earthly son of David that He Is Good and Faithful with His promise to restore Hezekiah’s health and grant him more years of life.
Hezekiah’s illness is now mentioned, not because it was important, but because in different ways it revealed the power of YHWH God. He was mortally ill, but that on his crying to YHWH he was given a further fifteen years of life and as a bonus was promised that YHWH would deliver Jerusalem from the Assyrians.
20 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.’
Hezekiah is very ill, in fact dying. He was ‘sick unto death.’ Isaiah the prophet comes to him with confirmation from YHWH. ‘Thus, says YHWH --- you will die.’ He must prepare for death and do all that is necessary for a king to do to ensure that affairs of state are passed to his successor smoothly. God Is concerned for the future of his people.
But with Assyria threatening there was no successor yet old enough to take the throne It is understandable therefore why Hezekiah would be so distressed. Looking from the divine point of view we might suggest that God had brought this on Hezekiah to make him consider what the situation was and prepare him for it. For this verse with its subsequent narrative is quite remarkable. It demonstrates that even ‘the word of YHWH’ can be delayed by repentance.
2 Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, saying, 3 “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.
Outwardly Hezekiah’s concern would appear to be for the situation he found himself in personally. There is nothing sacrificially noble about his prayer. It is presented as outwardly purely selfish and with limited perspective, as chapter 20.19 also reveals him to be. He was a good king, a godly king, but with a limited and selfish perspective. His concern was not stated to be the future of the kingdom or for the eternal purposes of God, but for his own survival, and his nation’s survival while he was king. How many there are of God’s people who are like this. When it comes down to it they are the godly selfish, (what a contradiction in terms, and yet how true of so many) and that is why they will achieve little. Outwardly it would appear that Hezekiah was successful, but he failed deeply in the purposes of God because his own ambitions took precedence.
Nevertheless, here part of his problem was probably also that he saw his premature death as indicating that God saw him as sinful. I think from all the people whom I have had contact with over the years who suffered extreme illness this same thought has permeated their thoughts. They kept going over and over in their minds that God was punishing them for some sin that they had committed in the past.
There is no doubt that he summed up his life to God a little idealistically, and yet it was basically true. He had sought truth, he had sought to do what was right, he had sought to please God, he had lived a relatively godly life. But we are intended also to see as we will learn later in the chapter that his life was flawed, for he was unable to get away from his own selfish ambitions and desire for political glory.
4 And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
Isaiah had gone away, his unpleasant task, as he thought, accomplished, but as he reached the middle part of the city the word of YHWH came to him with a new message. We have here a clear indication that Isaiah did not go into trances or get worked up when he received ‘the word of YHWH’.
5 “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. 6 And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David.”
Here we have a remarkable example of how ‘prayer changes things. Hezekiah knew that his behavior in the religious and political field had angered the king of Assyria. He had purified the temple, removing the Assyrian gods; he had refused to pay tribute; he had had discussions with leaders from other nations who were also tired of paying tribute to Assyria (2 Kings 18.7). He could hardly doubt that this had been noted and that the detail was known to Sennacherib’s spies. Thus, he could have had little doubt that he would at some stage be called to account. This must surely have been part of the reason for his distress, that he was dying when his country needed him.
That explains why God sends to him and promises him, not only an extension of life, and that he will be fit enough to go up to the house of YHWH, but also deliverance for him and Jerusalem out of Sennacherib’s hand. He promises that He will heal him so that he can go up to the house of YHWH (having been made ritually clean as well as physically whole), and that he will give him a further fifteen years and will successfully defend Jerusalem. This met his major concerns. But it is also clearly implied that it would not be because of his own worthiness but because of God’s promises to David.
7 Then Isaiah said, “Take a lump of figs.” So, they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
Isaiah then made a request for a cake of figs, and when Hezekiah’s servants laid it on him, he recovered. The boil and the seriousness of the illness possibly indicate a plague illness. The method of using a poultice to draw the boil was clearly known during this period. And it clearly worked. If it was a miracle no emphasis is laid on the fact that it was so. The emphasis is rather on the fact that it was God’s doing.
8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “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?”
Prior to his healing a concerned Hezekiah asked for a sign that he would be healed so that he could go up to the house of YHWH on the third day. This was probably a day on which he knew he had an important part to play in his nation’s intercession. What he was not expecting, however, was a sign of such huge proportions that it would confirm that whatever problems Jerusalem might face soon, they were well within the capability of YHWH to deal with.
9 Then 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?”
When you delve into the word of God with hunger then you find some golden nuggets. Here we come across our Holy God using a sign of a shadow moving forward or backward. Why would He use this sign?
Assur, chief god of Assyria, was associated with the sun, and presided over gods and goddesses associated with the moon and stars. The Assyrians worshipped ‘the host of heaven’. Thus, by demonstrating His power over the activity of the sun YHWH was indicating quite clearly why Hezekiah had nothing to fear. Not only would he heal Hezekiah who would thus be able to intercede in the house of YHWH, but through his intercession He would bring victory to Judah by driving back the one who claimed to have behind him the light of the sun.
We see here that his main concern was his own healing and steps of progression from it. While God wanted the sign that He would give to be the greater sign of His power to deliver along with His promise of future deliverance, Hezekiah only thought of it in terms of his own healing. So, Hezekiah, instead of being taken up with, and excited about, the promise of future deliverance, expresses concern lest he be unable to go up to the house of YHWH on the third day. This again brings out Hezekiah’s partly selfish concentration on his own need rather than on his people’s needs. It sounded pious enough, but it was proof of his mediocrity. His mind was concentrated on the wrong thing.
The sign that Isaiah offered to Hezekiah was of far greater significance than the sign that Hezekiah had asked for. Hezekiah had not expected a great miracle. Our Holy and Great God YHWH had promised such a great miracle to his father Ahaz at a time when Jerusalem was being surrounded, and He clearly desired to do the same for Hezekiah. The sign was to be the movement of the shadow on the steps of Ahaz. The steps of Ahaz are not said to be a sundial, although it is often assumed by commentators. They are rather chosen here as a reminder of the person of Ahaz, the one who refused God’s sign, the one who would not listen to YHWH. They are possibly the steps that had led up to Ahaz’s house of idolatry (23.12). But as that may have been designed for the worship of the sun god, it could well be that the steps had also been designed to follow the sun’s shadow, thus linking it with the passing of time. But the point is that what faithless Ahaz set up was to be used as the conveyor of a sign from God to his successor, who was now being given the same great opportunity as Ahaz had had, the opportunity to see God producing a miracle which would enable him to trust in God alone and reject all earthly support.
The sign would be indicated by an unusual movement of the shadow caused by the sun on these steps, and Hezekiah was given the choice of whether it should move forwards or back. It was an indication to Hezekiah that it was YHWH Who controlled the sun, not the sun god Assur. Sun, moon and stars were under His control, and the light of the sun moved at His command.
10 And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees; no, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees.”
Hezekiah had no doubt about which choice to make. In his view the moving forward of the shadow at a quicker pace might have some other explanation. But for the shadow to move back. Now that would be something. So, he asked that the shadow might move backwards ten steps.
11 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.
As Isaiah cried to YHWH He caused the shadow to retreat ten steps on the steps of Ahaz. Ten steps which had come into the shade once more became open to the sun. This was too great a degree of change to be mistakable. Only an act of God could produce this phenomenon. And it was clearly witnessed, probably by Isaiah himself, for he asserts that it happened.
It is possible that the movement of the shadow was intended to be an indication to Hezekiah that God would remove the shadow which was hanging over him, and the shadow which was hanging over Jerusalem, the ten indicating covenant witness and certainty (twice five, symbolizing the ‘ten commandments’ of the covenant). It was certainly to indicate that the Creator could do whatever He would on the earth. And the lesson was that if the shadow of the sun could be controlled by YHWH, how much more could Sennacherib, and the ‘host of heaven’ whom he worshipped be disposed of by YHWH.
It may also have been indicating that God was giving the house of David a second chance, with time, as it were, retreating, thus eliminating the failure of Ahaz.
The message, however, was clear. With such a powerful God at his back Hezekiah need not fear Assyria and its hordes. Sadly, however, while he would not turn his back on YHWH like Ahaz did, Hezekiah also would be too taken up with a sense of his own importance to learn the lesson of only relying on YHWH. He wanted to be a major player in world history as well. And so, when the Babylonians came seeking for his support as part of a coalition against Assyria he allowed himself to be sucked in, and even more foolishly made clear to the king of Babylon what treasures he had. It would spell trouble for the future.
12 At that time Berodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
News of Hezekiah’s sickness had reached Babylon, who may already have been in negotiations with him, and the consequence was that the king of Babylon sent ambassadors to Hezekiah to wish him well.
13 And Hezekiah was attentive to them and showed them all the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices 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.
Proud to think that he was of some importance to so illustrious a figure Hezekiah then determined to demonstrate that he too was important, and so he boastingly showed to the ambassadors all his treasures and all his armaments. No doubt this was partly to prove what a reliable and important ally he would be.
14 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?” So, Hezekiah said, “They came from a far country, from Babylon.”
When the emissaries from Babylon had moved on Isaiah came to Hezekiah and asked whom they were, and what they had said. Hezekiah, no doubt somewhat proudly declared that they had come from no less a place than Babylon.
15 And he said, “What have they seen in your house?” So, Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”
Isaiah, who was far more aware of the hearts of men was not impressed, rather he demanded what they had seen of what treasures Judah possessed. And his heart must have sank when Hezekiah somewhat boastfully declared that he had shown them all his treasures and armaments, and that he had left nothing out. he clearly felt that he had put on a good show.
16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD:
It did not need a prophet to foresee what the result of this would be, only a man of astute vision. For a man like Isaiah it was so apparent that he probably could not believe that Hezekiah had been so foolish. And that was how it appeared to YHWH also, for Isaiah brought to Hezekiah ‘the word of YHWH’. Such had been Hezekiah’s arrogance and folly that it had to be punished, for it was a divine principle that those who exalt themselves will be brought low.
17 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the LORD.
The consequence for Judah was thus to be that all that they possessed would be carried off to Babylon. Nothing of it would remain in Judah. It would be stripped of everything. That is what happens when you put all that you have on display to potential robbers. Ostentation brings its own reward. And this was the word of YHWH.
18 ‘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.’
But even worse was to be that his own sons who he himself had begotten (which is stressed), would be taken away to become eunuchs/officials in the palace of the king of Babylon. This would not only be a cause for great shame, but a threat to the continuation of the house of David itself. And it would all be the consequence of Hezekiah’s folly. That this did happen comes out in the fate of Manasseh, Hezekiah’s trueborn son, who was himself carried away to Babylon, along no doubt with many of Manasseh’s half-brothers and family, by Ashur-bani-pal of Assyria, whose father Esarhaddon had established himself at Babylon as its king. So, Hezekiah had been indulging his fancies with a city which in the long term could only be a disaster for Judah and for his own family and would in the end prove to be the greatest disaster of all.
19 So 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?”
We may see this as Hezekiah seeking to make the best of a bad situation, or even as an indication that he did not really believe it. Consideration for the prophet would have prevented him from expressing his incredulity. That is more probable than that he complacently considered that such a fate for his sons was acceptable in return for present peace. So, he piously went along with Isaiah, and declared that the word of YHWH was, as always, good. And then sought to cover what might have appeared to be unconcern about the future of his family with an explanation that at least it meant that there would be peace and truth in his day. In those days the guarantee of peace was worth its weight in gold. Of course, as we know from the preceding narrative, he did not receive that either (and had not been promised it). So, his rather complacent attitude would soon be revealed to be foolishness.
The great act for which Hezekiah was remembered was that of ensuring the supply of water for the city in the time of siege. That is thus referred to in the final mention of his acts. This involved cutting through the rock a long tunnel (over 1700 feet long) to connect the spring at Gihon (which must have been camouflaged in some way) with the reservoir to which it led, possibly to what is known as ‘the lower pool’ (Siloam), or even to the upper pool. This digging was commenced at both ends and may have been in mind in Isaiah 22.11. The fact that both tunnels eventually met, although with some deviations, was an engineering triumph, given the instruments of those days. The tunnel is still accessible today and a favorite tourist attraction.
20 Now 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—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 21 So Hezekiah rested with his fathers. Then Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
Hezekiah died peacefully and ‘slept with his fathers’ presumably in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 32.33. He was not buried in the royal tombs themselves but in ‘the ascent of the sepulchers of the sons of David’. His son Manasseh followed him on the throne.
