1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, “Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.”
Isaiah warns Hezekiah that this is it. He’s going to die.
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord,
Hezekiah was one of the most godly kings of Judah. In some ways, he may have been more godly than David.
3 And said, “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech Thee, 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.
He simply wasn’t ready to die. He reminds the Lord how he has served Him all his life.
4 Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying,
5 “Go, and say to Hezekiah, ‘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.
Prayer does change God's mind. It is a powerful thing.
6 “’And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.
Not only does God promise Hezekiah fifteen more years, He promises that the Assyrians won’t be back.
7 “’And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken;
In Kings where this incident is recorded Isaiah asks Hezekiah which sign he wants; the shadow to move forward or backward ten degrees. Hezekiah chose backwards because forwards is the normal thing.
8 “’Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.’”
Sundials have probably always been in use. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that you can mark time by watching the shadow move. It is not uncommon to find in older homes built before clocks were invented or cheap enough to afford, a place on a window sill where someone has marked where the shadow is at different times of the day, often with just a few scratches.
Now, I have now idea exactly the mechanism God used to make that shadow go backwards. Did He just move the shadow? Move the sun? Send a comet to tweak the rotation of the planet? Reversing the earth to cause that would have thrown everything on the planet into outer space due to the centrifugal force, so that’s not likely.
Anyway about it, the shadow went the wrong way to prove to Hezekiah he would live fifteen more years.
9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:
This probably rhymes in Hebrew:
10 I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
“I’m dying too young!”
11 I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
12 Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: He will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
13 I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
15 What shall I say? He hath both spoken unto me, and Himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
“I am so sad!”
16 O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.
“I believe You are going to heal me.”
17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
“You’ve even forgiven my sins.”
18 For the grave cannot praise Thee, death can not celebrate Thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth.
“I can’t worship You if I’m dead now, can I?”
19 The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known Thy truth.
20 The Lord was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.
“Let’s play this song in church for the rest of my life.”
21 For Isaiah had said, “Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover.”
Evidently, Hezekiah had some sort of infected growth (boil) that was killing him. God told Hezekiah the herbal remedy for it.
Most likely the fig plaster (ground up figs mixed with hot water to form a paste) pulled the infection out. Plasters are a common way to administer herbal remedies, mustard plaster for breathing problems or pneumonia being the most well-known. They do work.
22 Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”
“How will I know I will get well enough to go to church again?”