WWUTT 2029 Hezekiah’s Humility and then Arrogance (Isaiah 38:1-39:8)

Hezekiah had received a death sentence, and he mourned over the fact that he was going to die. God had mercy on him, but then Hezekiah acted rather arrogantly. May we not repeat this mistake when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday.

Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky, and greetings, everyone. In our Old Testament Study, we've been in the book of Isaiah, and today we finish up Part 1. If you'll remember, Isaiah is separated into two parts. Chapters 1 through 39 make up Part 1, and chapters 40 to 66, Part 2.

And I'll talk a little bit more about what separates those two parts, what makes them distinct next week. In the meantime, we finish up our narrative, Chapters 38 and 39 today. But let me do a quick recap before we get to our text.

So the Rabshakeh, who is the mouthpiece of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, he comes to Jerusalem and he blasphemes God, tries to turn the Hebrew people against Hezekiah, but most especially turning them against Yahweh, trying to say that Yahweh is angry with them for tearing down the high places and he is not going to protect them when Sennacherib comes against Jerusalem and conquers it.

So the Rabshakeh is trying to say, hey, go ahead and turn to us, surrender yourselves willingly, and we'll give you a plot of land just like what you have here. You'll have your own vineyard, you'll have your own cistern from which to draw water.

You will live in paradise under the reign of the king of Assyria. And he tries to turn the people against Hezekiah. Hezekiah goes before the Lord in the temple. There's this letter that comes to him that is delivered from Sennacherib through the Rabshakeh and Hezekiah goes to the temple and he lays out this letter.

And he says, God, are you going to allow this man to blaspheme your name in this way? Will you allow these pagans to come in here in the name of their false gods and make it look like that these false gods have more power than the king of Israel?

And so God acts on his own. The angel of the Lord comes against the Assyrians where they are encamped. And we read as we finished up the narrative last week that 185 ,000 Assyrians are struck down by the hand of God right there in their own encampment.

And then the king of Assyria, he goes back to his land. He's worshipping in the temple of his God and his sons rise up and kill him and strike him down as he's worshipping this false God, demonstrating this God never had any ability to protect Sennacherib at all.

This false God doesn't even exist. God is going to speak out against the false gods when we get to chapter 40. And God willing, that's where we'll be next week. But in the meantime, let's finish up our narrative as we have chapters 38 and 39 today.

Hezekiah’s Illness, Prayer, and God’s Promise of Fifteen More Years

So after God has acted on his own for the sake of his own name to strike down the Assyrians, now the story progresses here back to Hezekiah who becomes very deathly ill. So I'm picking up here in Isaiah chapter 38.

Let me begin by reading verses one through three. Here are the word of the Lord. In those days, Hezekiah became ill to the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, thus says Yahweh, set your house in order for you shall die and not live.

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh and said, remember now, O Yahweh, I beseech you how I have walked before you in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in your sight.

And Hezekiah wept greatly. Now one of the things this shows is that Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, never had any power against God. He was not a God himself. His false gods had no ability to deliver victory on his behalf, any of these things.

So he struck down even in that place where he was worshiping his false god. But now we see that Hezekiah gets sick. So Hezekiah himself, he's mortal, even though he was a righteous man. There's nothing great about Hezekiah here.

And word is going to spread far and wide about Hezekiah's illness. We'll see about that here in just a moment. So even though there were all these Assyrians that were struck down, 185 ,000, it's demonstrated here that Hezekiah is just as mortal as even the king of Assyria.

Though Hezekiah is a righteous man and the king of Assyria was a wicked man, yet Hezekiah is still a mortal man. He himself is also not a God. He can also get sick even to the point of death. And so it has been said to Hezekiah that he's going to die, so set his house in order.

Hezekiah weeps and asks for mercy. And so in verse four, the word of Yahweh came to Isaiah saying, go and say to Hezekiah, thus says Yahweh, the God of your father, David, I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears.

Behold, I will add 15 years to your life and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria and I will defend this city. Now all of this is going on at the time that the king of Assyria is threatening Jerusalem.

So we've read about how God goes into the camp and he strikes down 185 ,000 Assyrians. But we understand that at this time that Hezekiah becomes ill, that has not yet happened. But the writer is putting these things in order.

The death of the king of Assyria and a life-threatening illness on Hezekiah. That shows that both of these men are mortal. And kings, whether righteous kings or wicked kings, are established and even removed by God, by his sovereign hand.

No one moves God. But he's the one who sets up kings and tears down kings, as said also in Daniel chapter 2. So Yahweh hears the prayer of Hezekiah and says to Hezekiah, I am going to spare your life, I'm going to add 15 years to your life.

And this really speaks to something that was said in Job 14, that God has set a man's limits which he cannot pass. Every day of a man's life has been determined by God and is in his hands. So that even here Yahweh says, I'm going to extend your life 15 years.

You won't live beyond that. But this is the mercy that God shows to Hezekiah because he wept before the Lord. Now, this is Isaiah still speaking to Hezekiah, verse 7. This shall be the sign to you from Yahweh that Yahweh will do this word that he has spoken.

Behold, I will cause the shadow on the stairway which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz to go back 10 steps. So the sun's shadow went back 10 steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.

Now, we also read this story in 2 Kings 20, and we've been through 1 and 2 Kings on this podcast. This exchange is a little bit different in 2 Kings. Isaiah says to Hezekiah that God will give you a sign that he is going to do this.

And then Isaiah asks him, what would you rather have God do? Would you rather God have the sun go forward on the steps 10 steps, or would you rather the sun go back? And Hezekiah says, well, it's even more of a miracle if God turns the sun back.

So let's do that one. And so Hezekiah gets to pick. That's not said here. It's a little more brief in Isaiah 38 than what we read in 2 Kings 20. But I love that account in 2 Kings 20, because it really shows a contrast here between Isaiah's address to Ahaz, which we read back in chapter 7, Isaiah 7, and then Isaiah speaking with Hezekiah.

Isaiah went to Ahaz and said, God will give you a sign. What will you ask for? Whether it be as high as heaven or as low as Sheol. And then Ahaz didn't ask for anything. He said, I'm not even going to bother the Lord by asking for anything, which was incredibly arrogant of Ahaz, because God was going to give him a sign.

And Ahaz says, no, I don't need it. I don't need God's help. I'm going to take care of this. I'm not going to bother him with this. I know that I can do it on my own. So Ahaz is very full of himself. And so God does give a sign, but it's not anything that would be to Ahaz's benefit.

Here with Hezekiah, Isaiah says, what will you ask for as a sign? And Hezekiah does indeed ask for a sign. So you see that contrast. And with Hezekiah's request for a sign, it happens to be on the steps of Ahaz.

So that's pretty interesting. I just love the contrast there between Hezekiah and with Ahaz. Hezekiah weeps before the Lord. He humbles himself before God. And God shows favor to Hezekiah and extends his life.

And then we have this next song here in Isaiah 38, beginning in verse 9, a writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, after his illness and recovery. And hear the song that Hezekiah sang. I said, in the middle of my life, I am to enter the gates of Sheol.

I am to be deprived of the rest of my years. I said, I will not see Yah, Yah in the land of the living. I will look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world. Like a shepherd's tent, my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me.

As a weaver, I rolled up my life. He cuts me off from the loom from day until night. You make an end of me. Hezekiah acknowledging that his life is in God's hands. Verse 13, I soothed my soul until morning like a lion.

So he shatters all my bones from day until night. You make an end of me. Hezekiah being very, very humble here. God has humbled me. He has put his hand upon me so that I am feeling, even in my bones, the end of my life that is coming.

Because remember, Hezekiah was very sick. He feels it even in his body. Verse 14, like a swallow, like a crane. So I chirped. I moaned like a dove. My eyes look wistfully to the heights. Oh Lord, I am oppressed.

Be my security. What shall I say? Indeed, he has spoken to me and he himself has done it. I will wander about all my years because of the bitterness of my soul. Oh Lord, by these things men live. And in all these is the life of my spirit.

Oh, restore me to health and let me live. Behold, for my own well-being, I had great bitterness. But it is you who has held back my soul from the pit of nothingness. For you have cast all my sins behind your back.

What a great phrase. You have cast all my sins behind your back. You're not looking at my wickedness, my transgressions, the things that I have done that have opposed the king of the universe. You're not looking at those things.

You've put them behind you so that God would show favor to the sinner. Verse 18, for Sheol cannot thank you. Death cannot praise you. Those who go down to the pit cannot keep watch for your truth. It is the living, the living who give thanks to you as I do today.

A father makes known to his sons about your truth. That's another great phrase. A father makes known to his sons about your truth. How do your children come to know God? Because you teach them. Verse 20, Yahweh is here to save me.

So we will play my songs on stringed instruments all the days of our life at the house of Yahweh. How has God been good to you? How have you shared what God has done for you to others? Now, be sure your testimony is not the gospel.

It's certainly good news to you, but it's not the gospel. You can talk about how God has done wonderful things in your life. Indeed, the scriptures say we should tell this to the next generation. How do our kids come to know the Lord?

How do those younger than us come to praise God? Because they hear us praising God. Because we speak to them about how God has been good to us. Share your story with others that they may turn to the Lord and live.

As David prayed in Psalm 51, then transgressors will know your ways and sinners will turn to you. And so here, Hezekiah says, I'm going to praise my God who gives me life all the rest of the days of my life.

All the days of our life at the house of Yahweh, we'll praise his name on instruments. We'll sing songs of praise unto our God. Now, let's pick up, finish up this chapter at verse 21. Now, Isaiah had said, let them take up a cake of figs and apply it to the boil that he may live.

Then Hezekiah had said, what is the sign that I shall go up to the house of Yahweh? And then we pick up in an unfortunately darker moment of Hezekiah's life. So here, God has spared Hezekiah, but then Hezekiah, very unfortunately, is filled with arrogance.

Even the righteous kings that we read about in Kings and in Chronicles, and even here in the book of Isaiah, even the righteous kings had moments of arrogance and wickedness where they went about their own way instead of going God's way.

And so here, God has spared Hezekiah's life, and yet Hezekiah does something foolish that is going to bring judgment upon Judah. But Hezekiah is really rather aloof about the whole thing. Let's consider it in Isaiah 39, beginning at verse one.

Hezekiah’s Pride Before Babylon and the Coming Judgment on Judah

At that time, Merodach Baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that he had been sick and was growing stronger. So again, word had spread that Hezekiah had become ill.

Babylon is an even greater kingdom than Israel. But at this time, at least, the king of Babylon has some respect for the king of Israel. So he sends a gift to Hezekiah, hearing that he had become sick and is getting better.

Verse two, and Hezekiah was glad about these things and showed them all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the good oil and his whole armory and all that was found in his treasuries.

There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. Now, this was arrogant on Hezekiah's part. The king of Babylon sends a gift along to Hezekiah, and it's like these messengers from the king of Babylon come up and Hezekiah goes, oh, hey, let me show you all my wealth and riches.

What do you think they're going to go back to the king of Babylon and tell him? They're going to talk about all the riches and wealth and storehouses that are in Israel, which again, was a smaller nation than Babylon.

What do you think that's going to stir the king of Babylon to do? Maybe rise up against Judah. And though it wouldn't be Baladan, it certainly would be a king that would come shortly thereafter. So then in verse three, Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, what did these men say?

And from where have they come to you? And Hezekiah said, they have come to me from a far country, from Babylon. And Isaiah said, what have they seen in your house? So Hezekiah said, they have seen all that is in my house.

There is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown to them. Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, hear the word of Yahweh of hosts. Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house and all that your fathers have treasured up to this day will be carried to Babylon.

Nothing will be left, says Yahweh. And some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget will be taken away and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon. Isaiah is talking about slavery here.

Your sons are going to be enslaved because of your arrogance. But listen to what Hezekiah says. Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, the word of Yahweh, which you have spoken is good. For he said, for there will be peace and truth in my days.

So what does that mean? Well, it means Hezekiah is like, well, okay, sure. Yeah. God has said that he's going to do this. The word of God is good. But in his heart, Hezekiah is going, hey, I'm going to see peace and prosperity in my days.

What do I have to worry about with this judgment that's going to come against the later generation, even against my own sons? I won't even be here to see that. And that is not the attitude that we are to have when it comes to our children and our children's children.

Like I said earlier, we need to be enthusiastic about talking about the goodness of God to our kids, to their kids, to the next generation that they may praise God and live. But if we have this attitude of, hey, God has shown me good and prosperity in my days, it doesn't matter what happens to my offspring to come.

Well, that's going to be to their detriment. There are going to be children and children's children who will not come to faith because we were arrogant and thought, I get to enjoy luxury in my day. My kids are going to have to fend for themselves.

They're going to have to do something else. It's going to be really, really hard for a future generation. But hey, that's on them. That doesn't bother me or concern me any. That's not the way that we should be.

We need to continue to be obedient to God, responsible to do what he has told us to do. And when it comes to the gospel, we need to be zealous about sharing the gospel with others, that even our own children may come to faith and their children after them.

Because we testified that the Lord is good and his mercy endures forever. Great is his faithfulness. His mercies are new every morning. His love endures forever. That our children may come to know God and love him and look to the cross of Christ.

Whereby Christ died, our sins were paid for. Jesus rose again from the dead so that whoever believes in him will not perish under the judgment of God, but we will have everlasting life. My friends, we're all going to die unless the Lord comes back tomorrow.

Death is sure for every single one of us. But may we testify to the solution to our death problem, and that is Jesus Christ. That another generation may come to know the goodness of God through Jesus Christ.

And live. Let's finish there. Having come to the conclusion of part one of the book of Isaiah. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for the goodness that you have shown to us. We know that we are mortal.

You have numbered our days. We will not pass the limits that you have set. We can't add one day to our life. We can't take one day away. And so Lord, we submit to you humbly and ask that you would in our days show us your glory and your goodness and your love.

And we would testify to the gospel of Jesus Christ to a generation that is to come after us. That they too may know the goodness of God and have peace. A peace that surpasses all understanding. Guarding our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.

It is in his precious name that we pray. Amen. Understand the text.