2 Kings 20:1-21
1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,
3 I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now 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.a
4 And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court,b that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.
6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
7 And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
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 forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?
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.
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 dialc of Ahaz.
12 At that time Berodachbaladan,d the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things,e the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
14 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.
15 And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
16 And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD.
17 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
18 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
19 Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?
20 And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
2 Kings 20:1. In those days; the year after Hezekiah's deliverance from the Assyrians, and the fifteenth of his reign.
2 Kings 20:11. He brought the shadow ten degrees backward. Signs of the truth of prophecy were given to Gideon in regard to his fleece, and to the Israelites when Jeroboam's altar was rent, &c. To ask this sign, that the sun should retrograde was a hard thing, whether by refraction or otherwise, if we may accommodate the miracle to the weak faith of astronomers. When Herodotus travelled in Egypt, the priests showed him a record of a long day. See Joshua 10. The Chinese also have a record of a very long day, as quoted by Stackhouse, Joshua 10. This dial seems to have occupied a very conspicuous situation.
REFLECTIONS.
It is an ancient opinion, that king Hezekiah was too much elated with his deliverance from the Assyrians: therefore the Lord saw good to afflict him.
In a few months the new king of Babylon sent to congratulate him on his recovery; and Hezekiah, if we may connect the royal error with the nation's sin, with too much ostentation showed the ambassadors his palace, his arsenals, and his treasures. Here again the Lord humbled him by a declaration, that eventually all these treasures should go to Babylon; and what was supremely mortifying, that princes of David's house should be eunuchs to the king of Babylon. Thus the wheels of life revolve, and instruct us ever to abide at the Lord's feet; yea, to fly into the arms of Christ, who cries, comfort ye, comfort ye, my people. See Isaiah 39. 40.