Today’s study will be called Hezekiah’s sickness and healing. Like chapter 37 lined up with 2Kings 19, chapter 38 will likewise line up with 2Kings 20:1-11. Perhaps not word for word, but close and with a little more information. With that Isaiah 38 and verse 1 reads.
Isa.38:1] 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.
Not the first time we read in God’s word that a man would set his house in order, 2Sam.17:23 Ahithophel set his house in order before hanging himself. But here, the LORD sent Isaiah to warn king Hezekiah to set his house in order, he was going to die.
Isa.38:2] Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,
King Hezekiah turns to the LORD and prays.
Isa.38:3] 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.
Wait a minute, was he, really? He had left the LORD and worshipped other gods, and only when king Sennacherib came against Jerusalem did he return to God. King Sennacherib took much of Judea and Jerusalem was the last stronghold before the LORD defended Judah.
Isa.38:4] 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.
In 2K.20:4-5 Isaiah had already left the king and was all the way to the middle of the court when the LORD came to Isaiah and told him to go back and tell Hezekiah this. Now, 15 in Numerology means; divine grace. 3×5, 3 for the trinity, 5 for grace.
Isa.38:6] And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.
Already promised in the last chapter. But here we have “And I will defend this city.”
Isa.38:7] And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken;
[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.
In 2K.20 Hezekiah was given a choice, and we were given a little more to the story also. Let’s go to 2K.20 and verse 7 reads.
2K.20:7] And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
Two things here, first the ailment was given and it seems to have been a boil. Second, take a lump of figs? Figs in the bible stand for “Hidden” as Adam and Eve hid themselves with fig leaves. Yet, here we have Isaiah telling him to take a lump of figs and lay it on the boil, and he recovered. I find this interesting, we’ll see by the end of this lesson what this means.
2K.20:8] 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 forth ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?
Here we have Isaiah giving king Hezekiah the choice, do you want time to go forward or backward. This is what’s being asked of king Hezekiah with the shadow of degrees. Using a sundial at the time, do you want the earth to rotate forwards or backwards?
2K.20:10] 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.
The earth already rotates forwards, let me see it go backwards because that has never happened before on earth.
2K.20:11] 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.
Did Isaiah do this? No, the LORD did this when his prophet asked him to. But that king Hezekiah was given this choice and he chose the harder of the two was the difference between the two books. Now, 10 in numerology is divine order, change one number and truth becomes a lie. I say this because false teachers will tell you that you’re going to fly away before Satan gets here. They say that 7 comes before 6, this is a lie. Nowhere in God’s word does it say that we are going to be raptured, on the contrary, it says Satan comes at the sixth trump and Christ comes at the seventh trump. When they say that seven comes before six, they are changing God’s word and the divine order. Period. Now, I want to also talk about this control of the sun the LORD only has. In Joshua 10:12-14 the LORD made the sun stand still, not letting it go down or move one inch for a whole day, for the LORD fought for Israel. Back to Isa.38 and verse 9 reads.
Isa.38:9] The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:
[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.
King Hezekiah now knows the day that he will die. It might take fifteen years, but the fact that he now knows seems to give him concern.
Isa.38:11] 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.
King Hezekiah also knows that we have two bodies, a flesh and a spirit, he also knows we have heaven in a different dimension.
Isa.38:12] 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.
The fact that he knows how long he has to live is like the shepherd’s tent departing from him. The shepherd always travels with the sheep. This pining that is cut off, we find in the manuscripts is likened to being cut off the weavers beam or loom. Seems to me king Hezekiah is learning that the knowledge of the day of your death can be unsettling.
Isa.38:13] 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.
I think king Hezekiah remembers he wasn’t such a good king after all. And that by grace only of the LORD will he enter heaven. After all he did repent.
Isa.38:15] 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.
The LORD would only speak to him through Isaiah. But what is this bitterness? H4751 Mar and means; b. of harlot’s end, end of wickedness, cry. c. of pain. We see here that he just might have remembered he worshipped idols, and by God’s grace alone he was forgiven. So, he would choose to walk softly, or humbly before God.
Isa.38:16] 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.
[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.
I want you to know that through repentance we are forgiven, but that the LORD blots out our sins because no sin can stand before the LORD. This is why Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus Christ took the stripes and we get the healing. This is the beauty of God and his word, that on repentance we are forgiven. God loves us so much that he would die on the cross for our sins. Let’s go to Isa.55 and verse 6 reads.
Isa.55:6] Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
[7] Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Let’s also go to the New Testament, Ephesians 1 and verse 6 reads.
Eph.1:6] To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
[7] In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
When the LORD blots out sin, it’s as if they never existed. Back to Isa.38 and verse 18 reads.
Isa.38:18] For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
They have made their choice, and their choice was hell. They shall be burned as chaff. Let’s go to Psalms 30 and verse 9 reads.
Psa.30:9] What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?
[10] Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper.
[11] Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;
[12] To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.
Back to Isaiah 38 and verse 19 reads.
Isa.38:19] 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.
For those of us that love the LORD, Hallelujah, praise the LORD! He has given us Salvation through Jesus Christ.
Isa.38:21] For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.
Remember verse 7, the lump of figs to cover the boil, to hide our sins, the blood of Christ does this.
Isa.38:22] Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?
The sign was 10, divine order. Know the number of the beast, and know that six comes before seven. Do not be deceived by a false teacher, you will not break the divine order of Truth. Let’s go to his throne.
Father, we thank you for your word and ask that you bless all that love you in Jesus’s precious name, Amen.
KJV along with The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of The Bible