Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
2 Kings 20:8-11
Hezekiah Receives A Remarkable Sign Confirming That YHWH Will Do All That He Has Said (2 Kings 20:8).
Prior to his healing in 2 Kings 20:7 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 in the near future, they were well within the capability of YHWH to deal with.
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.
Analysis.
a And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that YHWH will heal me, and that I will go up to the house of YHWH the third day?” (2 Kings 20:8).
b And Isaiah said, “This will be the sign to you from YHWH, that YHWH will do the thing that he has spoken. Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” (2 Kings 20:9).
b And Hezekiah answered, “It is a light thing for the shadow to decline ten steps. No, but let the shadow return backward ten steps” (2 Kings 20:10).
a And Isaiah the prophet cried to YHWH, and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz (2 Kings 20:11).
Note that in ‘a' Hezekiah asked for a sign, and in the parallel the sign was given. In ‘b' he was given a choice of signs, and in the parallel he made his choice.
‘And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that YHWH will heal me, and that I will go up to the house of YHWH the third day?” '
We are possibly to see here that his main concern, his own healing, and 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.
No doubt he also saw himself as being restrained from going up to the house of YHWH because the eruption rendered him unclean (see Leviticus 13:18), and it suggests that he longed to do so as soon as appropriate. He wanted to be ‘clean' again. Such an ambition was not to be despised. It was good that he wanted to go up to the house of YHWH. But why did he want to do it? Are we to see this as being because he longed to carry out his intercessory prayer as the priest after the order of Melchizedek? (compare 2 Kings 19:1; 2 Kings 19:14). That would certainly be important, but possibly at that time not apparent to Hezekiah. Or are we to see it as in order that he might give thanks for his recovery? That he saw it as putting the cap on any delay in his recovery? The context suggests the latter.
In other words his mind was concentrated on the wrong thing. While God had tried to direct his thoughts to the great deliverance, all Hezekiah could think of was his own restoration. There could be no greater contrast than that between this current representative of the house of David, whose only desire was to survive and to whom the coming deliverance was secondary, and the coming Servant of YHWH whom Isaiah would later describe, Whose whole concern will be to do the will of God and Whose whole attention will be on the final deliverance, even though He would have to face death in order to bring it about (Isaiah 52:13 to Isaiah 53:12). The Hezekiah revealed here fits well with the Hezekiah revealed in 2 Kings 20:19.
‘And Isaiah said, “This will be the sign to you from YHWH, that YHWH will do the thing that he has spoken. Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” '
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. But 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 (2 Kings 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.
‘And Hezekiah answered, “It is a light thing for the shadow to decline ten steps. No, but let the shadow return backward ten steps.”
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.
‘And Isaiah the prophet cried to YHWH, and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the step 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, symbolising the ‘ten words' of the covenant). It was certainly in order 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' (2 Kings 17:16; 2 Kings 21:3) whom he worshipped be disposed of by YHWH.
It may also have been seen as indicating that God was giving the house of David a second chance, with time, as it were, retreating, thus eliminating the failure of Ahaz.
(We naturally ask how God did it. But how God did it is not a question we can look at scientifically for we do not have all the facts. We are not told that the phenomenon achieved a permanent change in the position of the sun. Nor indeed is the sun said to have been observed as moving. It was the shadow caused by the sun that was to be observed as moving, and that only on the steps of Ahaz. It has been suggested that it was related to an eclipse of the sun which occurred in 689 BC or 679 BC. Others have suggested that the sun's waves were refracted by some unusual phenomenon. Then the miracle lies in the timing. But in the end we can only look on and wonder, as they no doubt did).
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 seen as 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 rapacious king of Babylon what treasures he had. It would spell trouble for the future.