2 Kings 20:1-11--Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery

2 Kings 20:1-11
English Standard Version

Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery
20 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. 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; you shall not recover.’” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, 3 “Now, O LORD, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: 5 “Turn back, and say to 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. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD, 6 and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.” 7 And Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover.”

​8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?” 9 And Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” 10 And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps.” 11 And Isaiah the prophet called to the LORD, and he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz.

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We can find a little more information about what's going on in this passage by reading 2 Chronicles 32:24-33 along with this passage.  They are nearly identical other than that the book of 2 Chronicles identifies why Hezekiah was struck with a fatal illness.  2 Chronicles 32:22-23 tells us, "22 So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all his enemies, and he provided for them on every side. 23 And many brought gifts to the LORD to Jerusalem and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from that time onward."  Then verses 24-25 tell us, "24 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to the LORD, and he answered him and gave him a sign. 25 But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem. 26 But Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah."  Today's passage in 2 Kings 20 is going to tell us how Hezekiah and the people of Judah humbled themselves before the LORD.

We have the context now for why Hezekiah was sick and why Isaiah the prophet was sent to him to tell him that this sickness would result in death.  The LORD is focused on Hezekiah's heart in that moment and every moment is the most important moment to be faithful and obedient because we cannot go an look at what we did in the past and tell the LORD how we have been faithful to Him in the past, so he shouldn't punish us for being unfaithful to Him in the present, though that is what Hezekiah tries to do.  But it is the fact that Hezekiah was broken and wept bitterly and that he repented that moves the LORD to give Isaiah a new message to give to Hezekiah before Isaiah even has a chance to leave the middle court of the king's palace.

The LORD sends Isaiah back to tell Hezekiah that He has heard Hezekiah's prayer and seen his tears, and that He will heal him from the illness,.  He was told that in three days he should go up to the house of the LORD (probably to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and also probably to be inspected by the priests to verify that he was healed), and the LORD gave Hezekiah a definite timeline to say that he had exactly 15 more years to live.  His sin would still result in death, that was certain, but the death didn't need to be immediate.  The LORD wanted to allow Hezekiah to see the LORD deliver Hezekiah and all the people of Judah from the hand of Assyria for the sake of His great Name.  Then Isaiah called for the physicians to bring a cake of figs and to lay it on the boil so that it would heal (this may have been common medical practice back then, or this may have been uncommon and something that was special instructions from the LORD in that situation where the faith of the people was tested with instructions that didn't make sense to them--I'm not sure which).

Hezekiah then asks for a sign that he would be healed on the third day as the LORD had promised.  This seems a little strange to me after the LORD has just saved your life, but Hezekiah has just received two conflicting messages and wants to know which one he should believe, so he asks for a sign that the second message is the right one.  Isaiah asks Hezekiah whether he would like the sign to be that the shadow should move ten steps forward or ten steps back.  Some explanation is needed here I think that there are some some steps called the Steps of Ahaz that acted kind of like a sundial for the king.  The shadow would grow longer throughout the day as the angle of the sun changed and they would be able to tell the time by how long the shadow of a fixed object was by counting how many "steps" the length of the shadow was.  Hezekiah thought it an easy thing for the LORD to make time pass faster (or maybe make it so they didn't realize time had passed) so that the shadow would go forward ten steps to become longer, but it seemed a harder task to Hezekiah that time would reverse and that shadow would come back ten steps because the sun would go back to being higher in the sky.  So, this is what Hezekiah asked for, and what the LORD did for him to give Hezekiah a sign that he would be healed on the third day.

Next time, we'll get introduced to Babylon, and the LORD will make clear to Hezekiah that the day is coming when Babylon, not Assyria will be the ones to carry off everyone from Hezekiah's house and all that he owns.