Isaiah 38

Hezekiah, you’re a goner

Hezekiah on his deathbed

1Hezekiah got terribly sick at the time. He was about to die. Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and delivered the bad news. “This message is from the LORD. You’re going to die. Get your personal and business affairs in order. You’re not going to get well.”

2Hezekiah turned away from Isaiah and faced the wall. He started praying to the LORD.

3“Please LORD, I have lived my life devoted to you with all my heart. I’ve behaved myself and done what you wanted.” Hezekiah sobbed in grief.

On second thought: 15 more years

4The LORD spoke to Isaiah.

5“Turn around,” the LORD said. “Go back to Hezekiah. Tell him the LORD, the God of your ancestor David has another message for him: “I see you. I see the tears. I heard your words. And I’m adding 15 years to your life. 6I’m going to rescue the city. I’m not going to let the Assyrians have it.

God turns back the clock

7I’m going to give you a sign to help you believe what I’m telling you. 8I’m going to make the shadow on the Ahaz Staircase Sundial [1]go backwards 10 steps.”

That’s what happened. The sun’s shadow dropped back 10 steps.

Hezekiah’s song of thanks

9King Hezekiah of Judah wrote these words after he recovered from his illness.
10

It was noontime in my life,
The middle of my years.
Yet it was time for me to go.
I had a date with Death. [2]
11I wouldn’t see the LORD
For he’s among the living.
I wouldn’t see humans
For they’re creatures of this world.
12My home is taken from me
Like a shepherd’s tent taken down.
I’m like a weaver robbed of his loom.
I have to roll up my life and leave.
One day you let me live
The next day you take my life.
13I cry all night and plead for help.
It crushes me to know I’m dying.
I can handle the daytime,
But nighttime is more than I can take. [3]
14I squawk like a swallow,
Rattle on like a crane.
Sometimes I just moan like dove.
My eyes are tired of looking up to you.
Lord, this hurts me. Please help.
15What can I say about what happened?
He spoke to me. He did it himself.
I can’t sleep now,
As I think about how bitter I became.
16Lord, life is yours to give.
You breathed life into my spirit.
And you made me healthy again.
17Despite my bitterness at the thought of dying
You gave me back my life, [4]
You restored my health
And threw my sins out of sight.
18Death [5]can’t thank you.
The grave can’t praise you.
The dead don’t count on you.
19It’s the living who thank you,
As I do today.
From one generation to another,
Fathers tell children to trust you.
20The LORD has saved me.
And for the rest of our lives
In the Temple of the LORD
We’ll sing this song
As the strings play along.

21Isaiah said, let’s do this so Hezekiah will recover. Take some figs and apply them to the lesions on his skin and he’ll get well. [6]

22Hezekiah asked, “What sign will the LORD produce to convince me that I’ll recover and worship at the Temple again?”

Footnotes

Intro Notes for Isaiah

138:8

The Ahaz staircase was apparently just a stairway that caught the changing shadows of the day in a way that allowed people to measure time. The builder may have designed the stairway as a sundial or not. But it seems people used it that way. As the sun moved from east to west, the shadow moved from west to east. But for Hezekiah that day, the shadow took a different route. How? Would a passing cloud mimic a shadow? The writer doesn’t say how God did it. And there’s no indication Hezekiah asked.