Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Isaiah 38:1 - 38:8

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Isaiah 38:1 - 38:8


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Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery

v. 1. In those days, at the time of the Assyrian invasion or shortly after, was Hezekiah sick unto death, with an illness which was ordinarily mortal. And Isaiah, the prophet, the son of Amoz, came unto him, evidently by a direct command of the Lord, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order, literally, "Give charge concerning thy house"; he was to make arrangements especially concerning his successor to the throne and regarding the disposition of his goods; for thou shalt die and not live, this announcement being in agreement with the ordinary course of the disease. It is advisable for a believer always to have everything in readiness, so that, no matter when the Lord may call him hence, his earthly effects may be in order and those dependent upon him provided for.

v. 2. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall,
in a movement which showed that he wished to be undisturbed with his thoughts, that he wished to be undistracted for communion with God, and prayed unto the Lord,

v. 3. and said,
in the fervent appeal of a child of God. Remember now, O Lord, I beseech Thee, how I have walked before Thee in truth, without uncertainty and hypocrisy, and with a perfect heart, which aimed to serve Him in sincerity, and have done that which is good in Thy sight, according to the standard of Psalms 15 and also Mat_5:21-22. And Hezekiah wept sore, for it seemed hard for him to die in the fullness of his manhood, without an heir, and with his country in a dangerous position.

v. 4. Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying,


v. 5. Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David, thy father,
for whose sake he gave so many evidences of His goodness and mercy to many of the kings of Judah, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears; behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years, by a gracious dispensation.

v. 6. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria,
so that he would undertake no further campaigns against it; and I will defend this city.

v. 7. And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord that the Lord will do this thing that He hath spoken,
a token which will prove the truth of this prophecy:

v. 8. Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees which is gone down in the sun-dial of Ahaz ten degrees backward.
This dial seems to have been built up in semicircular form, in a series of steps, the size of which was such as to make them visible from the king's rooms. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down. The sun not only stood still, hut it actually moved backward for a short distance, by the command of the Lord. The sickness of Hezekiah was not the plague, but a fever with an eruption of ulcers or boils. The present account is much abbreviated, as a comparison with 2 Kings 20 shows, but all the essential points are included. One commentator here makes the remark: "How often our wishes, when gratified, prove curses! Hezekiah lived to have a son; that son was the idolater Manasseh, the chief cause of God's wrath against Judah and of the overthrow of the kingdom. "