2 Kings 20 (Part 1) Bible Study (Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Tonight, we are at second Kings chapter 20. And this is the final chapter, not of second Kings, but of Hezekiah's story. And it's been my prayer that Hezekiah has been a source of great instruction and encouragement to you in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. And my prayer remains the same as we come now to this chapter and look at what the Holy Spirit has preserved for us in the final moments of his life. Now we won't be completing this chapter tonight.

It is a total of 20 verses or 21, and it's neatly divided almost in half. And so we're look gonna be looking at the first half of this chapter together, and I believe it is beneficial for us to read it in its entirety, the section that we'll be focusing on. And so if you're there, begin with me in verse one. I will be reading down to verse 11. Let's just pray.

Lord, we ask that you would help us now in the reading of your word, the hearing of your word, the interpretation of your word, and the application of your word. We need your guidance, Lord. And as we open up the service with, we pray that this would reach our hearts, the innermost parts of who we are, so that we can truly know the benefits, the nutrients of the scriptures, and that we can help others also taste and see that the Lord is good. We commit this time to you, Lord, trusting that you are with us. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. In those days, Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos, came to him and said to him, thus says the Lord, set your house in order, for you shall die and you shall not recover. Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord saying now, oh 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.

And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him. 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.

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. And Isaiah said, bring a cake of figs, and let him take and lay it on the boil that he may recover. 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? 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 10 steps or go back 10 steps? And Hezekiah answered, it is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen 10 steps. Rather, let the shadow go back 10 steps. And Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord and he brought the shadow back 10 steps by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz. The first three words of verse one are essential to capture in order to truly understand the depth of this remarkable testimony.

In those days, this tells us that this took place at a particular time, particular year actually. Now, if we're not careful, sometimes we can read our bible, though it is very much organized chronologically. It is not strict to depict every event in that order. And the temptation would be to interpret this as something that took place after what we studied last week. What did we study last week?

The deliverance of the people of Jerusalem and the humiliating defeat of Assyria. But we know that this is not happening after that. Why? Look back at verse six. Notice what the Lord repeats, what he promises.

I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. I thought that already happened. Well, clearly, this is a vow that indicates that deliverance had not yet taken place. So what do we have here? We actually have Hezekiah experiencing this while Assyria was still surrounding Jerusalem.

Now why is understanding this timeline important? Because it reveals to us the intensity of the trials that Hezekiah was enduring. You see, he was not only trying to be the godly leader that the Lord called them to be by righteously responding to the vicious threats of a powerful enemy, he was also fighting a disease that quickly turned deadly all at the same time. This is meant to remind us that not only are trials inevitable for the believer, but that at times, there is a certain caliber of tribulations that we can expect. What am I speaking about?

The kind where it feels like everything is going wrong all at once. That no matter what direction you look to, seems like everything is falling apart. And if you and I ever find ourselves in a tornado of turmoil, here's what you have to do. This is paramount. You can never for a moment believe that the Lord has abandoned you there.

Never. Alternatively, you have to set this anchor in your soul that as overwhelming as it all may seem, the Lord sometimes permits the piling of pain for a goal, a righteous reason beyond our understanding, usually in the moment. It's often something that we learned after the fact. You know, Hezekiah, he's known as a righteous ruler. He's known as a man of prayer.

But, I think people often forget that he was also a musician. Hezekiah played instruments. I'm gonna prove that to you in a moment. And there is actually what many believe to be a song that Hezekiah wrote or a poem found in Isaiah's writings in chapter 38. It's a song or a poem, a writing if you will, that he pens after he receives this miracle, after he is healed.

And there is a part there that I wanna bring to your attention for this first point. It's in Isaiah 38 and verse 17. Notice what he says in this journal entry. In Isaiah 38 verse 17, Hezekiah says, behold, in other words, pay attention to this, you hearers. Behold, the ESV renders it, it was for my welfare.

The word welfare there is shalom. You can say it was for my peace. It was for my well-being. It was for my welfare that I had great bitterness. So as he's reflecting in hindsight he's saying, it was good that I was sick while I was trying to lead a nation.

Protecting this people from being swallowed by an enemy. It was for my welfare that I had not just bitterness, great bitterness, but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction for you have cast all my sins behind your back. Do you see? Hezekiah, as one who belonged to the Lord, understood that even after great bitterness, he can look back and trust that there was some good that came from it. Now speaking of Isaiah, I want us to now come back to verse one of chapter 20 in second Kings and place ourselves in his shoes at this moment.

The last time that Isaiah spoke in this story was in the previous chapter, bringing Hezekiah good news. Good news. The divinely inspired assurance that his enemies would be defeated. And now he comes with a different message. And it doesn't seem so good.

It's not an announcement of life, but one of death. It's very brief, but it's very profound. I want you to think about how difficult it would be to tell someone that the rest of their world will go on living, but you won't. Telling a leader your kingdom will survive, but you will not. That's not an easy message to deliver.

And what Isaiah exemplifies is that you and I have to at times speak, not just at times, but all the time. No matter how difficult or uncomfortable it'll make us or others feel what God says. It moves me that it moves me that Isaiah was the same person who partnered with Hezekiah to cry out to the Lord, that he would send help from heaven. And yet he was also the same man who gave a difficult word from the Lord to this man. It really proves that he was faithful to God above all.

So we also should emulate that. That when we have to warn, we warn. When we have to rebuke, we rebuke. When we encourage, yes, encourage. But take all of God's word.

Don't leave anything out for those who need to hear what they need to hear. Hezekiah needed to hear this word from the Lord. And there are times where yes, we again, we have to help others with God's word and there there are other moments where we, yes, help them, but in a way that may seem painful or uncomfortable. Hezekiah, you're gonna die. You're gonna die so here's my instruction to you, set your house in order.

Set your house in order. Again, it's a brief message, but so profound. What does that mean to set your house in order? It's practical. Essentially means get your material affairs in line before your departure from this earth.

Isn't that something? Who's saying this? Is this coming from Isaiah's head? No. Thus says the Lord.

This is God saying this. This is God telling one of his servants, I need you to organize your temporal possessions before you die. And there are many people, including Christians, who refuse to even talk about death, especially their own, because they're fearful. And yet I see something about how God thinks that he actually doesn't just want us to think about death, talk about death. He wants us to plan around it.

Not just spiritually, even here as we see with our worldly belongings. Because such people who are fearful to even bring it up, mention it, discuss it with their spouse or their children, end up leaving their loved ones with needless difficulty, with the challenges that come with what happens when a person passes on. Set your house in order. Think about your death. And you don't have to be sick for you to contemplate on that reality.

But I like to think that Hezekiah only had to arrange his material affairs because his heart was already right with God. Is that possible? Absolutely. He was a righteous man. And there are many, including unbelievers, who have set their house in order.

They have planned accordingly. At the same time, their hearts are not in order. You see, Hezekiah had the grace. He received a gift from God to be told when he would die. You're you're going to die very soon.

He received intel. He received that kind of heads up. Not everybody. Most people don't have that advantage. And we can't afford to delay our heart preparation in the same way we might postpone how we organize our estates.

The former is far more important than the latter. And so the primary ambition for anybody is that your heart is first right with God through Jesus Christ, that you are saved. You put your trust in him. But for those who are even saved, this still applies. We should be even more motivated not knowing when we're going to die.

At any moment, we can suddenly be called home. Here's a righteous man who is sick. Do you know how old Hezekiah is at this point if you do the math? In those days, right? The first three words, we know that this is taking place while it's serious surrounding Jerusalem.

That happened at the fourteenth year of his reign. Does anyone remember when Hezekiah started to reign as king? How old was he? 25. Let's do some basic math.

25 plus 14. 39. He's 39 years old and he's ready to die. You can say in the prime of his life, a righteous man. So with this in view, we should have the joyous ambition of remaining in a constant state of faithfulness because at any point, the Lord can call us to graduate into glory.

Set your house in order. Some of us need to do that and others need to get their heart in order. Even if you're saved, I hope that you have the ambition to meet the Lord while being faithful. However, Hezekiah was not ready to accept this update about his fate. Look at verse two again.

And Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord saying, now, oh Lord, please remember how I've walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart and have done what is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly. What does Hezekiah do when he receives this bad news? What we see him do before whenever he received bad news. He turns to God in prayer.

But this time it's a little different because we've observed Hezekiah not just turning to God in prayer, but he would make his way to the house of God. He would come as close as possible to the glory of God, to the throne of God and he would lay his pain at the footstool. But this time he's limited. His body will not permit him. He is ill, so he does what he can to access the most privacy he can achieve.

He turns his back towards his attendants and he faces the wall, and he opens his mouth, and with his sickly frame, he speaks to his God. This is a thrilling thought to me. I hope it is to you that we are able to access the listening ear of God in our beds just as much as in the courts of God's house. Isn't that a wonderful thing? Isn't it beautiful that the Lord is not so strict about your bodily posture and where you're physically located?

That even as you have blankets piling on you and medicine all around you, you're not able to get up from that bed, you can cry out to him and he will listen to you. And this is what makes prayer without ceasing possible. There is not one place on earth with a weak or lost signal to God, not one. And it's in this very account that we also see how swiftly our prayers reach the throne of the Holy One. Look at verse four again to get a hint of it.

And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him. What does this mean? That the Lord heard and answered Hezekiah before Isaiah was able to leave the palace. This is incredible that he whispers a prayer. He weeps his prayer, at least most of it.

And the Lord hears him and answers him. Now listen, the speed of this answer may be unusual, but the reception of it is not. I want you to think about this. The very moment you and I direct our hearts to the Lord and intentionally commune with him, he hears us. The very moment you do.

Some believers have this strange illusion that they first have to package their prayers perfectly with just the right words, and they have to stamp it with in the name of Jesus and send it off with a resounding amen and hope that it will reach the Lord. And I'm here to tell you that God doesn't hear your prayer when you say amen, he hears it before you even finish saying father. Do you believe that about prayer? Perhaps you're reluctant. So let me give you a couple other examples.

This is what came to mind when I was reflecting on this today. Go to the book of Daniel. Look at two examples. In Daniel chapter nine verse 23 and in Daniel chapter 10 verse third verse 12 rather. But look at nine twenty three.

Daniel nine twenty three. This man was also a man of prayer. Look at the wording of Daniel nine twenty three, at least at the beginning. He is told, at the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a word went out and I have come to tell it to you for you are greatly loved. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision.

Don't read it too quickly. But what does he say? At the beginning, at the beginning of your plea for mercy. So Daniel, on many occasions, he would fast and pray for weeks and here we're told that when he started, he was heard. That should bring comfort to you.

It doesn't mean that you're gonna get an answer the moment you pray. It just means that God hears you. He's taken into account. He's listening. Look at Daniel 10 verse 12.

We weren't persuaded there. Hopefully, we're convinced after this. Daniel 10 verse 12. Then he said to me, fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard. And I have come because of your words from the first day.

Isn't that amazing? Again, there are some Christians who believe that they have to really convince God or try to get his attention and the more you fast, the stronger your chances are. The louder you pray, the longer you pray, the better opportunity you will have. That's not the case. The very moment you utter your words to him, you have his full attention.

That alone should bring reprieve. That alone should bring as much rest in our pursuit of the Lord in prayer. Hezekiah turns his face to the wall, he speaks to the Lord, and before Isaiah can get to the parking lot, God has an answer for him and tells him turn back. I've heard this man's request and I'm gonna give it to him. Let's come back to verse three.

Let's consider what Hezekiah prayed. Now, oh Lord, please remember how I've walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight. I have two questions with this one verse. Maybe they're the same questions you have. Number one, is Hezekiah displaying self righteousness in his supplication?

You might be tempted to believe so. I don't think he's doing that at all. Have you and I seen similar confessions in some of the petitions we find in the Psalms? Where there's this appeal to one's devotion and consistency as one is preparing to make a request? Yes.

We've seen that. And that's what we find here. Hezekiah understood, especially under the old covenant, that the law promised, and even in the new covenant, the law promises us rewards for obedience. And it says, though here he is appealing to his consistent devotion as a way of showing that if healed and granted more years, he will remain loyal as he has been. Lord, you can guarantee that I will continue to live for you and serve you.

Look at my record. Look at how I've been walking with you up to this moment. This is not just a last minute turnaround. I'm here to say, not that God needs remembrance, but it's just a way of expressing yourself. Lord, look at my life and see that I'm making this request because I want to remain here and continue in that faithfulness.

Second question. Why did Hezekiah weep bitterly? Any ideas? I actually wanna open it up for possible answers. Any ideas why this man wept bitterly?

Yes. Maybe he was concerned about the state of the nation. I think that has to do with it, that Hezekiah was concerned about the state of the nation. I think there are many possible answers. There's many reasons why we can weep.

In fact, sometimes we weep because we're so overwhelmed by so many thoughts. One way of answering this is that this is perhaps just a natural response to the human instinct of self preservation. Life is precious. Life is a gift. And remember, he's 39 years old at this time.

There's so much that he can still give and experience, especially in his service to the Lord. And so perhaps he's just expressing himself because he wants to do more. And he he's requiring obviously the intervention from God to to do that. But I think there's another idea going on here. It's difficult not to compare Hezekiah's reaction to what we see in the New Testament, especially with the apostle Paul, who taught Christians how we should face death.

Right? To to live is what? Christ. And to die is what? Gain.

And in that same context, to depart and be with Christ is what? Far better. Far better. Why don't you come here and you see this man weeping bitterly and you wonder what's going on here. And and I think that is precisely the point.

Hezekiah's understanding of the afterlife lacks the clarity that the apostle Paul indeed, that every Christian possesses. You know, you have many Christians innocently wondering what advantages do we have in the new covenant in comparison with the old covenant. And some Christians even believe that it would be more beneficial to actually be under the old covenant with all that they experience and all that we read in the Old Testament. Well, here's one that you can add to the list. That what we have in the new covenant is a revelation of the bliss of the world to come for the righteous.

Something that is not widely known for those in the old testament. Yes, there there has been moments, hints given by the Spirit to prophets in their writings as we see, that they understood just a murky view of of what's going to happen. But the expansive hope that the New Testament describes and that you and I have access to was not given to those who lived under the Mosaic promise. Do you understand that? Does that make sense?

We've been given more light, And so profound is this light that we can even interpret impending death differently. Differently than Hezekiah who's seen a 185,000 of his enemies slain in one night. Differently than men like Samson and other heroes of the faith. Maybe you're not persuaded. Okay.

Let's go to the New Testament. I want you to see this And Paul's writing in second Timothy one ten. This is one of those verses that you wanna underline if you're trying to understand what glories outshine that of the old covenant. Well, here's one of them, and listen to how Paul describes it. In second Timothy chapter one, look at verse 10.

And which now has been manifested through the appearing of our savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to what? What's that word? To light how? How have we been given greater light with something such as immortality? Through the gospel.

And the gospel is a means of inaugurating the new covenant. Through the establishment of the new covenant in the gospel, you and I have been given greater light with, yes, even death and immortality. Here's one of the rewards of being in this covenant. We can view and understand death much differently than even the greatest saints of the Old Testament. So I believe to some degree Hezekiah here is struggling with the unknown.

There's a greater fear here. A fear that the average Christian should never experience. Let's come back to second Kings 20. In verse four, we read it. Isaiah, before he even leaves the palace, receives a word from the Lord.

And verse five is what I want to focus on. Turn back, the Lord says, 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. Don't read too quickly.

How does the Lord identify Hezekiah? What does he call him? The leader of my people. Why is that important? The Lord could have said many things.

He could have said my servant. He could have said the king. The leader of my people. Here's what I believe. It has to do with the Lord's willingness to extend Hezekiah's life for the sake of God's people.

That this answer of giving Hezekiah health is not just for Hezekiah. It's for the citizens of Jerusalem. It's for the inhabitants of the kingdom of Judah. It's for the sake of the shepherding of the people of God. And here's what we learn from this.

God takes into account every level of suffering and all the parties that are involved in a painful situation. Isn't that wonderful? Realize that. He's not just thinking about Hezekiah. Yes.

He sees Hezekiah's tears and he hears his prayer, but he's also considering what might happen if Hezekiah, this righteous king, dies at the ripe age of 39. The leader of, not his people, the leader of my people says the Lord. And what we take from that is God is very much mindful of all levels of suffering. Yes. He is concerned about bruised bodies and he's even concerned about healing our emotional wounds.

We see this in the New Testament. Again, with Paul. Paul had a friend and a ministry partner, Epaphroditus. What a name. More importantly, what a man.

Epaphroditus was ill even to the point of death, but he was spared. And do you remember what Paul said to the Philippians? You don't? It's okay if you didn't. That's the beauty of Bible study.

Philippians two. Listen to his words in verse 27 of Philippians two. Indeed he was ill, near to death, but God had mercy on him. He could have stopped there, but he didn't. He goes on to say, and not only on him, but on me also.

Why? Were you sick, Paul? No. Lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. God was not only gracious to my friend, he was also gracious to me because he understood that if I lost my friend at this point, I'd be very sorrowful.

It's one of those paradoxes. Right? Many of the paradoxes in the Christian life appear in bible study. The same man who said in this letter to die is gain also said, I just but I I don't wanna lose Epaphroditus this early. The humanity.

Right? There there's still this transparency, but the pain of death, even though there's so much promise with it. The Lord is not limited to treating physical pain, but he looks even at your emotional state and he is equally concerned. He healed Epaphroditus, but he also saw the sorrow that would have come upon Paul and he does something to bring a remedy to both of them. And this leads us perfectly to what we see in the next thought.

And Hezekiah says, I've heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. This is God saying this. Imagine managing the universe. You know, we have many busy people here in the West.

Many of us are busy here too. We miss a lot of things when we're busy. We overlook many things, even sometimes important things. The Lord of glory takes into account the tears of his people. Now you and I have learned in the New Testament through Jesus' teaching that the Father is so attentive to us that he even counts the number of our hairs.

But that's not the only thing that he counts. In Psalm 56 verse eight, we learn that the Lord keeps count of, depending on the translation you have, the ESV says keeps count of my tossings, and other translations are wanderings. He actually records where you go, and why you're going where you're going, and how much you go back and forth in bed. All your movements are considered by the Lord. And the Psalm doesn't end there though.

You have kept count of my tossings. Put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book? So he actually counts the amount of tears that stain your face and create streaks on your cheeks. Who does that?

This is profound because it's a way of conveying that the Lord is deeply considerate and compassionate toward us. You know, if he just said I heard your prayers, that would be enough. But there would be the danger of interpreting that as, you know, putting an application together like at a governmental office and submitting it with the hope that the person behind that that desk is merciful enough to consider your case. That's not how God deals with our request. He is up close and personal.

Close enough to see the liquid streaming down your eyes. And it's impossible to believe that he is dismissive to our sorrow with verses like this. How can you even be tempted to believe that thought? And if this wasn't deep enough, the Lord's awareness of Hezekiah's tears reveals something even more glorious. Because you see, tears often express what words can't.

Was Hezekiah's prayer, detailed? Was it elaborate? Was it profound? Not really. All he asked was to be remembered.

Remember. He doesn't make specific appeals even. He just says remember. And here's what I believe. That Hezekiah's tears said a lot more than what his words could say.

And God interpreted it perfectly. God knew everything that was in Hezekiah's heart and he took it into consideration. And here's how I know that. Look at verse five, at the end of it. The Lord says, behold I will heal you.

On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. We kinda are blinded to the second part of that promise. We just see, behold I will heal you. That's not all that the Lord said. There are things in Hezekiah's heart that he could not put into words.

He had no language for them. He can only cry them. Here's what I believe. The Lord knew how much the house of God meant to Hezekiah. Or else, why else would he promise him on the third day, you're gonna be able to go to the courts of my earthly dwelling place?

Why would he mention that? Because he wanted that. We've seen it in the previous chapters how he would frequently make his way to the house of the Lord. And I believe one of the pains, one of the laments of Hezekiah is that I won't be able to do that anymore. I won't be able to to enjoy these ordinances and be with other worshipers and experience the glory of God.

You might be saying, yeah, but if he dies he can experience the fullness of it. Well, remember, he doesn't have the fullness of that revelation. So here he is, longing for the house of God and the Lord promised him this. You are going to go back to the house of God. And that longing is confirmed in his poem in Isaiah 38.

We'll look at it in a moment. But let's see something else. This is again evidence to show that there were things in Hezekiah's art that can only be expressed in tears and and the Lord knew exactly what he was weeping about. Look at verse six. We looked at it earlier.

He promises him, I will deliver you and the city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. Now, Hezekiah was already promised us in chapter 19. So why mention it again? Well, his brother David already answered. I believe it's because the king desperately wanted to witness the deliverance of God's people with his own eyes.

So the Lord tells him, you're gonna see it. You're gonna behold it. You're gonna watch me bring absolute and total victory for my namesake. So here's what we have to take comfort in knowing. God interprets our tears.

And all we have to do is come into his presence and if you come into his presence and all that you can offer is your tears, you need not to fear one moment that the Lord is confused by them, or that he is unmoved by them. No, he's drawn to us. In fact, Spurgeon said, that the tears of the righteous are the diamonds of heaven. What a beautiful picture. And that's not an exaggeration based on what the Lord says about our tears.

He bottles them. He records them. The diamonds of heaven. This come back to our main text in verse six. Consistent with his character, the Lord goes beyond what we ask.

It doesn't just say that he's gonna heal him, he tells him the amount of years he's going to add. Look at the first part, and I will add fifteen years to your life. Be honest, would you wanna know the year you're gonna die? If the Lord were to grant you that, I I can tell you the exact year that you're gonna expire. Who would sign up for that?

I'm not sure if people want to know, most people at least. But for Hezekiah, this was a sort of source of comfort. This was something for him personally. He didn't ask for the knowledge of how many years he was gonna live, but the Lord gave it to him anyway, knowing that it would be a source of great encouragement and motivation. However, I think there is benefit in pausing and placing ourselves in his position and wondering, what would I do if I knew I had fifteen years to live?

What would you do? What would that kind of information do to your priorities, to your desires? What kind of strength would it give you over distractions? How quick would we be to reconcile with people? To be intentional peacemakers?

What kind of oomph would it give you, if I can use that word, in your service to the Lord? Would you be more consistent in the ministry that God has given you in the local church? Would you hone in and craft your gifting? What would it do to know I have fifteen years left? I mean, at 15 to 39, that doesn't make Hezekiah very old.

He's very grateful for this, but just think about it. Just you don't see very often the Lord telling somebody exactly when he's going or she's going to die. It's a very rare occurrence. Do you know that Hezekiah answers that very question about his own life? On the other side of this revelation, on the other side, after learning that he had fifteen years, do you know he tells us in detail what he will do with those fifteen years?

Where do you think we're gonna find it? In Isaiah 38. Let's turn there to see what is Hezekiah determined for the rest of his life. Look at verse 19 of Isaiah 38. He says, the living, the living, he thanks you as I do this day.

The father makes known to the children your faithfulness. Number one, I I am going to invest in my family. I I am going to unreservedly declare the glories of God to the next generation and it's gonna begin at home. Look at verse 20. The Lord will save me and we will play my music on string instruments.

Who's the we? My family. We will play my music on string instruments all the days of our lives at the house of the Lord. Do you see it? Do you think he's like mildly excited about God's house?

No, no. I'm recruiting my children. They don't know how to play an instrument. I'm gonna teach them how to play an instrument. And we're going to invest all of our days to God's service.

We're going to declare His glories by word and even in song. In other words, to summarize this, I'm going to do what I can to bring pleasure to the Lord and to declare who He is with the audience that He has given me. That's what I'm gonna do with the rest of my life. Now do you need to know that you have X amount of years to live to have that same ambition? I hope not.

I think we should be even more motivated, because tomorrow is never promised. That every single day you wake up and there is fresh air in your lungs, you should be excited. I have another day to live to serve the Lord. To love my spouse, to love my kids, to serve my church, to know more of God's word, to ask for divine appointments, to speak the gospel. That's what I'm here for.

In fact, that's the very tension Paul felt in that same passage where he says, to depart and be with Christ is far better. The only thing that kept him, the only thing that made him wrestle that was to remain on the earth on the account of the church. That I, I can contribute something to your fruitfulness. That's the only reason why I wanna stay. It's not because I wanna visit that country, or I wanna buy that car, or I wanna finish my, my home renovations.

No, no, no, no, no. The only reason why I wanna stay is that I wanna do more for the Lord because there's only a unique opportunity in this life to glorify God that I can't repeat in heaven. I will glorify God perfectly in heaven but not in a way that I can now. With all the temptation and all the trials, there's a unique opportunity I have now to serve God. Think about it.

You you you might live seventy years, eighty years, and then eternity. Eternity. Forever and ever. We don't get a redo with this life. And if you constantly set that before your mind, it'll be very difficult to become lukewarm.

Very difficult. I only got one shot at this thing. One shot. I don't wanna waste it. I wanna be like Hezekiah.

All the days of our lives, I wanna glorify God in the way he's wired me to glorify him. What an inspiration. Let's come back and finish this Bible study. Second Kings 20 verse seven. And Isaiah said, bring a cake of figs and let them take and lay it on the boil that he may recover.

That's interesting, isn't it? I was expecting a little bit more extravagance, something more supernatural. Nothing very impressive about taking a cake of figs and applying them to a boil. What does this mean? It means that God uses natural means to perform his will.

And it's not a recent idea that God works that way. You find it in the old testament, you find it in the new testament, non miraculous interventions, providentially provided by God. And if the Lord chooses to express his grace through common means, you and I must still be quick to give him glory for it. Hezekiah still wrote a poem in Isaiah 38, giving thanks to God for saving him even though Isaiah had to get a prescription from the local store to help him. He still sang.

He still recognized God's faithfulness in it. A lot of believers need to be rescued from this idea that, the Lord should only be recognized and and praise reports should only be given when inexplainable things happen in our lives. Now you can give him glory even for the things that seem to be natural and common and ordinary. He's still behind them. Because in God's providence, he allowed it.

And so this is what we see here, which should make us wonder why he follows this with a request for a sign. What does he say in verse eight? Hezekiah said to Isaiah, what 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? Just take take the promise. We should be hesitant to condemn Hezekiah here.

Why? Because he doesn't receive a rebuke from the prophet for it. Is he operating in unbelief here? Is he skeptical of this approach? I don't think so.

I think there's something deeper going on here. You may disagree with it, but I think the best explanation is that Hezekiah wanted to be certain that the Lord was truly behind this healing. Because again, it's a medicinal thing. Figs, application, you know, some kind of recipe was being made to help him. And I believe he wanted to be, he wanted to be certain.

God is the one who's actually prescribing this, less when people hear about it, they would be tempted to give credit to figs instead of God. That makes sense when you remember what kind of people Hezekiah is leading. A people who had a tendency of admiring and even worshiping instruments of God's blessing instead of God himself. Anything come to remembrance? When Hezekiah brought reform to the king of Judah, what was the one special thing he had to destroy?

The bronze serpent. A means of bringing healing to the people of Israel many years ago, but became an object of worship eclipsed by it. This is the kind of people that Hezekiah is dealing with. I wonder if he was afraid that though natural means were being applied, the glory of God would be missed in it because the people's failure to understand it. So he's asking for an autograph, if you will.

Something that God can stamp so that people, when they hear about this intervention, cannot deny that the Lord was behind it. And Isaiah, he's going to approve. In fact, this is precisely what happens. Go to second Chronicles quickly, and we're wrapping things up here. Second Chronicles again in chapter 32 is another vantage point we have to Hezekiah's story, even this one.

Notice what happens after Hezekiah's healing and after the sign was granted for this healing to take place. Second Chronicles 32, scroll down to verse 31. And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon who had been sent to him, him being Hezekiah, to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land. God left them to himself in order to test them and to know all that was in his heart. Oh, I'm so tempted to touch on that last part of the verse.

But let's focus. Let's focus on the main thing here. Notice that whatever sign was performed, it even reached the inhabitants of Babylon. Something so remarkable took place that news reached this gentile nation and there was even representatives sent to inquire Hezekiah about it. So I believe Hezekiah's desire in the Lord being glorified in his healing was granted and we see the fruit of it.

So I all to say, he's coming from a good place when asking for a sign. He's not operating in unbelief. He's wanting there to be no confusion about who's behind his restoration. What is this sign? Come back to second Kings 20 and look at verse nine with me.

And Isaiah said, okay. You want a sign? This shall be the sign to you from the Lord that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised. Shall the shadow go forward 10 steps or go back 10 steps? And Hezekiah answered, very wisely, I mean, it's more challenging for the shadow to retract and to decline here instead of moving forward.

So I wanna see it come back 10 steps. And Lord says, fine. That's nothing to me. And there's a lot of debate about how this miracle happened, as you can imagine. Speculation and I, you know, all these explanations of how this was able to take place, but the scriptures do not provide us a detailed answer and I think that's the point.

It's a miracle. Miracles exceed explanation. Miracles suspend natural law. Miracles defy and surpass human logic. So I don't sense the burden to come and explain how this happened.

All I know is that it happened. And if we're not careful, our curiosity can sometimes lead us into discussions that completely miss the point of the passage. What's the main point? What are we supposed to leave with with this section of scripture? I think it's obvious.

God is sovereign over all things, including time. So what you're supposed to see with what we studied here in this portrait, if he so chooses, the Lord can reverse the rotation of the globe, and he can add or subtract years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, even seconds of your life. He's in control of everything, absolutely everything. That's what you're supposed to feel from this passage. He added 15 to Hezekiah's life, and he made the dial turn back a few steps.

He's that powerful. And if we're not careful, our preoccupation can be in trying to explain the extent and the execution of god's omnipotence when the point is that we're supposed to truly worship him and live in light of the power that he has, especially with the time that he has granted us. Sometimes debates can distract us from the simplicity of living for God. And I believe that's what Hezekiah was all about. I believe he is that kind of servant.

How do I know? Go back to his request for the sign in verse eight. 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? What is he concerned about more than anything? I I just wanna know.

I want the Lord to to show that this is from him and I I wanna just be granted certainty that I'm gonna actually go to the house of the Lord. I wanna worship God. Can you provide that to me please, Isaiah? And Isaiah prayed and the Lord granted it to him. May may that be true of us, possessed with a passion to serve the Lord.

If he gives us fifteen years, five years, fifty more years, whatever our days may look like, each of us have an invisible expiration date. I know that doesn't sound too encouraging, but it's true. We're all gonna die. What are we gonna do with our lives? And I wanna end this way by asking the Lord not to give us revelation about how much time we have left, but with every day to make the most of it for his glory.

Let's pray. Lord, we're amazed by you. We are so amazed by you. Your power is unmatched, unparalleled, incomparable. But we also see that your compassion is the same, that you care with a force that's almost unbelievable.

But it's in your words, so we choose to believe it. Thank you that in a packed car on a road trip, we can pray and you hear us. On flights as we're sitting beside a stranger, you can listen to our request. But, Lord, while we're able to come to the house of God, we want to do what we can while we have life to serve you with our our strength, to have no regrets as we age if you allow us to age. So, Lord, both young and old here, we ask for fresh wind in our sails as we serve you.

Fresh faith to believe that you can answer prayers speedily. We just ask, Lord, that what was shared in this past hour would melt our hearts, soften us, and that we would be pliable so that you can mold us to be the men and women of God that you've called us to be. We love you. We honor you in this place. What a mighty God you are.

It's a privilege and a joy to serve you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Let's stand.