In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. 2 Kings 20:1-19 The blessing of sickness David Thomas, D. D. A Christian man of intense business enterprise and activity was laid aside by sickness. He who never would intermit his labours was compelled to a dead halt. His restless limbs were stretched motionless on the bed. He was so weak that he could scarcely lift his hand. Speaking to a friend of the contrast between his condition now and when he had been driving his immense business he said, "Now I am growing. I have been running my soul thin by my activity. Now I am growing in the knowledge of myself and of some things which most intimately concern me." Blessed, then, is sickness, or sorrow, or any experience that compels us to stop, that takes the work out of our hands for a little season, that empties our hearts of their thousand cares, and turns them toward God to be taught of Him. Death: — The account leads us to consider death in three aspects. I. AS CONSCIOUSLY APPROACHING. Mark here three things — 1. When he became conscious of its approach. 2. How he become conscious of its approach. It needs no Isaiah, or any other prophet, to deliver this message to man. It comes to him from all history, from every graveyard, from every funeral procession, as well as from the inexorable law of decay working ever in his constitution.(1) Men have much to do in this life. The "house" is out of order.(2) Unless the work is done here it will not be done yonder. 3. How he felt in the consciousness of its approach.(1) He seems to have been overwhelmingly distressed. "He wept sore."(2) He cried earnestly to heaven. In his prayer we note the cry of nature. All men, even those who are atheistic in theory, are urged by the law of their spiritual nature to cry to heaven in great and conscious danger. In his prayer, we also note the breath of self-righteousness. II. AS TEMPORARILY ARRESTED. Five things are to be observed here — 1. The primary Author of its arrest. 2. The secondary means of its arrest. 3. The extraordinary sign of its arrest. 4. The exact extension of its arrest. 5. The mental inefficiency of its arrest.What spiritual good did these additional fifteen years accomplish for the king? They might have done much, they ought to have done much. III. AS ULTIMATELY TRIUMPHANT. "And Hezekiah slept with his fathers." The end of the fifteen years came, and he meets with the common destiny of all. The unconquered conqueror is not to be defrauded of his prey, however long delayed. ( David Thomas, D. D. ). Hezekiah's prayer answered Monday Club Sermons. The prayer of Hezekiah thus signally answered gives us instruction upon several points, of which this is — 1. TO LOVE LIFE IS A DUTY. Of course, Hezekiah's anxiety to live does not prove this. Good men are not so good that we can be sure of the rectitude of all their desires. They may be over-anxious to live, as they may be too ready to die. Luther and Whitefield erred upon the side of over-willingness to die. But the fact that God respected Hezekiah's wish to live proves that his wish was dutiful and right. His love of life was not weakness; it was not self-will; it was not the mere wish for a longer experience of accustomed pleasure. Had it been any of these, his prayer would have been unheard. He sought for life because life was worth living; he had a motive for life. It was for him a great opportunity. Nothing in the New Testament reverses or modifies the teaching of the Old Testament, that long life is a blessing, a gift of God, a mark of Divine favour. It is said of the godly man: "Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him My salvation." When queenly Wisdom stretches forth her hands to give rewards to her loving and loyal subjects, "Length of days is in her right hand," as her most excellent gift. There is in the Bible no pessimistic philosophy of life. It is true that the Bible dwells much upon the shortness of life. Death is a fact which it will not let us forget. But Scriptural reflections upon the littleness of life and the nearness of its end are not intended to lessen our love of life, or to make us look upon it as unimportant. Their purpose is to counteract such views. They teach us to "number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." Long life is not too long for the full accomplishment of life's great end. There is nothing in the approach of age which ought to lessen the love of life, if life's powers remain. The good workman glances now and then at the sun sinking in the west as day declines, only that he may set a higher value upon the remaining minutes, because they are few. He wishes for a full day, and the lengthening shadows set him the more zealously about remaining tasks. The biographers of Lyman Beecher have said of him: "He was so hungry to do the work of Him that sent him that he really seemed sometimes to have little appetite for heaven. Thus, after he was seventy years old, one of his children congratulated him that his labours were nearly over, and that he would soon be at rest. To his son's surprise the old man replied quickly, 'I don't thank my children for sending me to heaven till God does.'" In the lecture-room of Plymouth Church, when very near the end of his life, he said, "If God should tell me that I might choose... that is, if God said it was His will that I should choose, whether to die and go to heaven, or to begin my life over again, I would enlist again in a minute." We are not called upon to love life less because power fails, and we must lay aside accustomed tasks. Let us not measure life by the strength with which we pursue an earthly career. The refining of character may go on better when life's active powers decline. As we ponder the prayer of Hezekiah, a second thought arises: II. SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD IN REGARD TO THE TERM OF LIFE IS A MODERATE WISH TO LIVE AS LONG AS WE CAN. It is easy to mistake the true nature of resignation, and to give it a meaning which it should not have. Submission to God's will is not the suspension of personal will-power. It is not the absence of choice or preference. Holiness is not passivity. Richard Baxter once wrote: — Lord it belongs not to my care Whether I live or die.Perhaps an utterance which is poetic, or at least metrical, ought not to be judged by prosaic rules; but as an unguarded statement its sentiment is false. It ought to have been a part of his care to live long and well. In so doing he would have been submissive to the will of God. There are means to be used to keep life and health. We ought to use them not unconcernedly, but with a strong wish to live. This is resignation to God's will. In "desiring life," and "loving" many days that he might see good, Hezekiah did not feel that he was disobedient or un-submissive. III. Hezekiah's plea that he had lived a good life was AN ARGUMENT THAT PREVAILED WITH GOD. It is worthy of remark that the prayers recorded in the Old Testament are full of argument. Men approach God with reasons. They tell Him why He should grant their requests. Evidently they think Divine wisdom "easy to be entreated." They recount mercies past as a reason for expecting renewed favours. They speak of His goodness. Of their great needs they make a plea. By the littleness and brevity of life they lay claim to mercy. So Hezekiah did not hesitate to find in his past life reasons for its continuance. Evidently he did not think that goodness makes the term of life shorter, or more uncertain. "Whom the gods love die young," is not a Christian proverb, but its sentiment is to be found in many sayings current among us. Now there are saintly souls living upon the earth "of whom the world" is "not worthy." But so much the greater the world's need of their saintly lives. And God has great consideration for the world's need. The answer to Hezekiah's prayer suggests a fourth consideration: IV. THE GOOD PHYSICIAN HAS NO CONTROVERSY WITH THE EARTHLY PHYSICIAN IN THE WISE USE OF MEANS. Isaiah practised the art of healing. He followed the best medical knowledge of his time. He caused the attendants to take a lump of figs and place it upon the sore, and Hezekiah recovered. He applied a well-known and useful remedy. No doubt there are persons who would be better satisfied with the record of this case of healing if the lump of figs had been left. out. They fear that every case of healing claimed by science must be surrendered by religion, and that, when other means are efficacious, prayer is obviously of no avail. They make haste to conclude that, if the lump of figs healed Hezekiah, then God did not. The inspired record is not solicitous about entrenching religion against the attacks of science. If religion should say that prayer worked the healing, and that means were of no use: and if science should say that the lump of figs wrought the cure, and that prayer was of no avail — both would be right in what they asserted, and no less would both be wrong in what they refused to admit. Had Isaiah known that the remedy would have cured without prayer, his delay in using it would have been inexcusable. Had he known that prayer would have been as efficacious without the remedy, he had no sufficient reason for making use of the lump of figs at last. The healing was wrought by the Lord of Life; and not less by Him that He chose to work through the ordinary appointed means. V. THE BEST RESULTS OF HEZEKIAH'S PRAYER ARE UNRECORDED. We find a hint of them in the broken sentences of Isaiah's page. "What shall I say: He hath both spoken unto me and Himself hath done it. I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul. The Lord was ready to save me; therefore will we sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord." He walked before the Lord in solemn gladness. In those remaining years God was nearer to him than before. He knew the tenderness of God, who had heard his prayers and had seen his tears. He knew the grace of God, for by His favour he walked in newness of life. He knew the power of God, whose high prerogative it was to turn backward or forward at His will the dial of his life. How great, the power of prayer, which still appeals to the heart of God and persuades Him to make known His way "upon earth," His "saving health among all nations." And how infinite the grace of God, who in time past for this chosen servant turned backward for an hour the shadow of the sun, but who, in these last days, has set for ever in the spiritual heavens, above the horizon and within the field of vision for those who look in faith, the blessed "sign of the Son of Man." ( Monday Club Sermons. ) Attachment to life Charles Lamb. The young man, till thirty, never feels practically that he is mortal. He knows it, indeed, and, if need were, he could preach a homily on the fragility of life; but he brings it not home to himself, any more than in a hot June we can appropriate to our imagination the freezing days of December. But now, shall I confess a truth? I feel these audits but too powerfully; I begin to count the probabilities of my duration, and to grudge at the expenditure of moments and shortest periods like miser's farthings. In proportion as the years both lessen and shorten I set more count upon their periods, and would fain lay my ineffectual finger upon the spoke of the great wheel. I am not content to pass away "like a weaver's shuttle." Those metaphors solace me not, nor sweeten the unpalatable draught of mortality. I care not to be carried with the tide that smoothly bears human life to eternity, and rebel at the inevitable course of destiny. I am in love with this green earth, the face of town and country, the unspeakable rural solitudes, and the sweet security of streets. I would set up my tabernacle here; I am content to stand still at the age to which I am arrived, to be no younger, no richer, no handsomer. I do not want to be weaned by age, or drop, like mellow fruit, as they say, into the grave! Any alteration on this earth of mine, in diet or in lodging, puzzles and discomposes me. My household goods plant a terribly fixed foot, and are not rooted up without blood. They do not willingly seek Lavinian shores. A new state of being staggers me; sun and sky, and breezes and solitary walks, and summer holidays, and the greenness of fields, and the juices of meats and fishes, and society, and the cheerful glass, and candlelight, and firelight conversations, and jests and irony — do not these things go out with life? Can a ghost laugh, or shake his gaunt sides when you are pleasant with him? ( Charles Lamb. ) Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live A house and a soul compared J. R. Starey. Hezekiah was in the meridian of life, and probably as yet had made no arrangement in regard to the succession to the throne. This message was to this effect — "Give charge concerning thine house. If you have any direction to give in regard to the succession to the crown, or in regard to domestic and private arrangements, let it be done soon" I shall, however, take this message in the secondary or more Important sense, and then, I need not remind you, that by the expression "thine house" we are to understand his inner man — the state of his soul before God. I think that this object is most likely to be attained by drawing the analogy. I. I would observe that IT IS NECESSARY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF A HOUSE, THAT IT BE BUILT UPON A GOOD FOUNDATION, and not upon a sandy soil; so is it equally necessary that the foundation upon which the believer places the eternal interest of his soul be built upon the best of all foundations, even Jesus Christ; "for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." Consider what it is to build upon Him. To have our foundation on Jesus Christ is not to hope that we may attain heaven and happiness by a partial conformity with the will of the Saviour, whilst we are at the same time devoting ourselves to the pleasures of the world; it is to feel that we are vile, worthless, and polluted creatures of the earth, whose very best action in itself has the nature of sin; it is to be so assured that our works can have no part in obtaining salvation as to strip us of all self-confidence and conceit, and lead us to place our whole dependence on the finished work, and the all-sufficient righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. II. But I observe, THAT AFTER A HOUSE IS ERECTED, HOWEVER WELL AND COSTLY IT MAY BE BUILT, IT REQUIRES TO BE KEPT IN GOOD ORDER, AND IN CONSTANT REPAIR. So it is with the soul, wonderful in its origin, for it was made by God; and majestic even in its ruins, through the fall of man.: "redeemed not with corruptible things, such as with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of the adorable Saviour." III. I observe, THAT LIGHT IS ESSENTIAL TO A HOUSE. The clearer the glass of which the windows are composed, and the less obstruction there is, the sooner will be discovered the slightest particle of dust, and every flaw in the dwelling. So it is with the soul; the clearer the light of the Holy Spirit shines into the conscience the more accurately will sin be detected; that which was thought a trifling and innocent thing before, through the illumination of the Holy Spirit will appear in its true light, as defiled and destructive. IV. NO HABITATION WOULD BE COMPLETE UNLESS SUPPLIED WITH WATER; TO CLEANSE AND PURIFY IT, as also to refresh its inhabitants, and to administer to their comforts. And how can the soul thirsting after the water of life be satisfied without a fresh and daily supply from the Fountain of living waters, even that water which Christ has given him — a well springing up unto everlasting life. V. I would observe THAT MUCH OF THE COMFORT OF A HOUSEHOLD DEPENDS ON EVERYTHING BEING REGULATED BY JUDICIOUS AND CAREFUL MANAGEMENT. So it is with the soul. "Let everything be done decently and in order," is the apostle's injunction; and of how much more importance is it, that the spiritual exercises of the child of God should be under the control of a wise and well directed judgment. VI. I would observe THAT IN THE ANCIENT MANSIONS OF THE GREAT, THE HALL WAS APPROPRIATED TO THE ARMOURY, which was kept clean, bright, and ready for the master's use. This reminds us of the Christian's armour: his weapons are not carnal, but spiritual; not weak, but mighty through God to the pulling down the strongholds of Satan; nevertheless, they must not only be keep bright, but constantly worn. VII. I would remark THAT IN A HOUSE THERE IS A NECESSITY FOR FIRE. In the same manner in the soul there ought to be a flame of holy love, a zeal for God's truth. ( J. R. Starey. ) Set thy house in order -- A New Year's sermon E. D. Griffin, D. D. There are two points which it is here proper to consider. 1. What views and FEELINGS NATURALLY POSSESS A MAN WHO IS CONSCIOUS THAT HIS END IS NEAR. If his mind has an ordinary share of sensibility, he will dismiss his worldly cares and turn his thoughts to the contemplation of eternity. He is no longer interested in a world he is so soon to leave. The calculations and pursuits of men, their joys, their griefs, their disappointments, their success, their hurry, their hopes, their fears, an appear as idle as the sports of children. The world is lighter to him than a feather. Neither losses nor disappointments nor prosperity has power to affect him. You see him not pressing from business, to business in a rage to be rich. You see him not stretching after preferment. His pride is reduced. You see him no longer assuming haughty airs, no longer fretted at every supposed neglect. Meekness and gentleness mark his deportment. No longer can unbelief or the world hide a prospect of death. or seduce his thoughts from God. He looks death in the face. He turns his anxious eye to explore eternal objects. He raises an earnest look to heaven. He ardently betakes himself to prayer and to reading his Bible. All his anxiety is to prepare for his approaching fate. You all perceive that these are rational exercises for a dying man; why then not for you? It is to dying men that I am speaking. I can say to you all, "As the Lord liveth," and "as your soul liveth, there is but a step between you and death." II. Let us consider WHAT MEASURES A MAN WILL NATURALLY TAKE TO SET HIS HOUSE IN ORDER, who, with proper views, is conscious that his end is near. 1. It would be natural for him, as an honest man, to wish to settle all his accounts. This might be necessary to secure his creditors and to prevent insolvency. 2. A dying man, in setting his house in order, would be desirous to dispatch all important, unfinished business, which could not be accomplished by others after his death. So do you. 3. It is common for dying Christians to call their families around them and impart to them their final counsel. Thus do ye. 4. It is customary for men, when setting their house in order, to make their wills. I have no advice to give as to the dispositon of your worldly estate. But I solemnly charge you to bequeath to God your immortal souls with all their faculties, and your bodies, to sleep in His arms, in expectation of a joyful resurrection. 5. It is not uncommon for people, when they view their end approaching, to prepare their shroud, and make every provision for their funeral obsequies, that nothing may be left to be done in the distress and confusion of the mournful day. ( E. D. Griffin, D. D. ) The house in order Thomas Spurgeon. I would like to know that your Christian work is in order, that you would leave things so that others could carry them on. Have I ever told you about the obituary notice — though it was only a sort of passing paragraph in the newspaper — of a fisherman on the New Zealand coast? They told of how his body had been found in the bush; how his boat, drawn up to the shore, was near to him. This significant sentence followed, "His nets were set." I remember the thrill that went through me when I read it first. "His nets were set." He had gone out to his daily duty, put his nets in order — not left them in a tangled heap on the shore, needing washing or mending or both. They were set, and his successor had but to draw them in presently and secure the spoil of the sea. Are your nets set? If you were to pass away during this week, would it be your fault that the work could not be continued? Do your duty to the last. Do it thoroughly, do it patiently, do it perfectly, that it may be said of you, as of Whitefield, Wesley, M'Cheyne, and a thousand others, that you virtually died in harness. All that remains for me Is but to love and sing, And wait until the angels come To bear me to their King.I want your house to be in order, your business to be in order, your church and Christian work to be in order, and I want most of all for all my hearers that their hearts shall be in order. ( Thomas Spurgeon. ) He brought the shadow ten degrees backward. 2 Kings 20:11 The sundial of Ahaz T. De Witt Talmage, D. D. Here is the first timepiece of which the world has any knowledge. But it was a watch that did not tick and a clock that did not strike. It was a sundial. Ahaz the king invented it. Between the hours given to statecraft and the cares of office he invented something by which he could tell the time of day. This sundial may have been a great column, and when the shadow of that column reached one point it was nine o'clock a.m., and when it reached another point it was three o'clock p.m., and all the hours and half-hours were so measured. Or it may have been a flight of stairs such as may now be found in Hindustan and other old countries, and when the shadow reached one step it was ten o'clock a.m., or another step it was four o'clock p.m., and likewise other hours may have been indicated. We are told that Hezekiah the king was dying of a boil. It must have been one of the worst kind of carbuncles, a boil without any central core and sometimes deathful. A fig was put upon it as a poultice. Hezekiah did not want to die then. His son, who was to take the kingdom, had not yet been born, and Hezekiah's death would have been the death of the nation. So he prays for recovery, and is told he will get well. But he wants some miraculous sign to make him sure of it. He has the choice of having the shadow on the sundial of Ahaz advance or retreat. He replied it would not be so wonderful to have the sun go down, for it always does go down sooner or later. He asks that it go backward. In other words, let the day, instead of going on toward sundown, turn and go toward sunrise. While looking at the sundial of Hezekiah, and we find the shadow retreating, we ought to learn that God controls the shadows. We are all ready to acknowledge His management of the sunshine. We stand in the glow of a bright morning and we say in our feelings, if not with so many words, "This life is from God, this warmth is from God." But suppose the day is dark? You have to light the gas at noon. The sun does not show himself all day long. There is nothing but shadow. How slow we are to realise that the storm is from God and the darkness from God and the chill from God. I cannot look for one moment on that retrograde shadow on Ahaz's dial without learning that God controls the shadows, and that lesson we need all to learn. But I want to show you how the shadows might be turned back. 1. First, by going much among the young people. Remain young. Better than arnica for your stiff joints and catnip tea for your sleepless nights will be a large dose of youthful companionship. Set back the clock of human life. Make the shadow of the sundial of Ahaz retreat ten degrees. People make themselves old by always talking about being old and wishing for the good old days, which were never as good as these days. 2. Set back your clocks also by entering on new and absorbing Christian work. In our desire to inspire the young we have in our essays had much to say about what has been accomplished by the young: of Romulus, who founded Rome when he was twenty years of age; of Cortes, who had conquered Mexico at thirty years; of Pitt, who was Prime Minister of England at twenty-four years; of Raphael, who died at thirty-seven years; of Calvin, who wrote his Institutes at twenty-six; of Melancthon, who took a learned professor's chair at twenty-one years; of Luther, who had conquered Germany for the Reformation by the time he was thirty-five years. And it is all very well for us to show how early in life one can do very great things for God and the welfare of the world, but some of the mightiest work for God has been done by septuagenarians and octogenarians and nonagenarians Indeed, there is work which none but such can do. They preserve the equipoise of Senates, of religious denominations, of reformatory movements. Young men for action, old men for counsel. Instead of any of you beginning to fold up your energies, arouse anew your energies. 3. But while looking at this sundial of Ahaz, and I see the shadow of it move, I notice that it went back toward the sunrise instead of forward toward the sunset — toward the morning instead of toward the night. I have seen day break over Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn, over the heights of Lebanon, over Mount Washington, over the Sierra Nevadas, and mid-Atlantic, the morning after a departed storm when the billows were liquid Alps and liquid Sierra Nevadas, but the sunrise of the soul is more effulgent and more transporting. It bathes all the heights of the soul and illumines all the depths of the soul and whelms all the faculties, all the aspirations, all the ambitions, all the hopes with a light that sickness cannot eclipse or death extinguish or eternity do anything but augment and magnify. I preach the sunrise. As I look at that retrograde movement of the shadow on Ahaz's dial, I remember that it was a sign that Hezekiah was going to get well, and he got well. So I have to tell all you who are, by the grace of God, having your day turned from decline toward night to ascend toward morning, that you are going to get well, well of all your sins, well of all your sorrows, well of all your earthly distresses. Sunrise! Sunrise! But not like one of those mornings after you have gone to bed late, or did not sleep well, and you get up chilled and yawning, and the morning bath is a repulsion, and you feel like saying to the morning sun shining into your window: "I do not see what you find to smile about; your brightness is to me a mockery." But the inrush of the next world will be a morning after a sound sleep, a sleep that nothing can disturb, and you will rise, the sunshine in your faces, and in your first morning in heaven you will wade down into the sea of glass mingled with fire, the foam on fire with a splendour you never saw on earth, and the rolling waves are doxologies, and the rocks of that shore are golden and the pebbles of that beach are pearl, and the skies that arch the scene are a commingling of all the colours that St. John saw on the wall of heaven, the crimson and the blue and the saffron and the orange and the purple and the gold and the green wrought on those skies in shape of garlands, of banners, of ladders, of chariots, of crowns, of thrones. What a sunrise! Do you not feel its warmth on your faces? Scoville M'Collum, the dying boy of our Sunday school, uttered what shall be the peroration of this sermon, "Throw back the shutters and let the sun in!" And so the shadow of Ahaz's sundial turns from sunset to sunrise. ( T. De Witt Talmage, D. D. ) Fifteen years extension of life In the autumn of 1799, when the well-known Rev. T. Charles, of Bala, was dangerously ill, and his life was despaired of, very earnest prayers for his recovery were offered up in his chapel. Several members prayed on the occasion; and one member was much noticed at the time for the very urgent and importunate manner with which he prayed. Alluding to the fifteen years added to Hezekiah's life, he, with unusual fervency, entreated the Almighty to spare his pastor's life for at least fifteen years. He several times repeated the following words, with such melting importunity that all present were greatly affected: — "Fifteen years more, O Lord; we beseech Thee to add fifteen years more to the life of Thy servant. And wilt Thou not, O our God, give fifteen years more for the sake of Thy Church and Thy cause?" Mr. Charles was restored to health. He heard of this prayer, and it made a deep impression on his mind. He was more than ever industrious in every good work, establishing Sabbath schools, originating the Bible Society, and doing great good, not only in Wales, but in Scotland and Ireland as well. The last time he was in South Wales he was asked when he would be back again. His answer was, "Probably never. My fifteen years are nearly up." And it is remarkable that his death occurred just at the termination of the fifteen years. Making more of life Stalker. If you have a bar of gold and want to double its value, you may do so, no doubt, by doubling its length, but you may also do so by doubling its thickness, and in certain circumstances this may be more serviceable. Now life, in the same way, may be increased in value, not by being prolonged, but by being deepened. If two men live a year, but one of them puts into every day twice as much work and enjoyment and usefulness as the other, his life is of course far more valuable than the other. This is what Christ does. He deepens our lives. I well remember a friend of my own who had gone a great length, living what is called a fast life, and exploring, as he thought at the time, all the heights and depths of existence, but on whom God had mercy. I remember him saying to me with great earnestness, on one occasion, that he would not give one day of his changed life for all the years of pleasure that he had previously enjoyed. And that is the tone in which all true Christians are disposed to talk when they are contrasting their old lives with the new. Among men of the world it is a common enough question whether life is worth living, but among true and hearty Christians there is no such question possible. God makes their life golden, He deepens it, and that is what He means when in our text He says, "I am come to give life, and to give more abundantly. ( Stalker. ) Berodach-baladan... sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah. 2 Kings 20:12, 13 Hezekiah and the ambassadors, or vainglory rebuked Who among us would not have shown the strangers over our house, and our garden, and our library, and have pointed out to them any little treasures and curiosities which we might happen to possess? And what if Hezekiah was somewhat proud of his wealth? Was it not a most natural pride that he who was a monarch of so small a territory should nevertheless be able, by economy and good government, to accumulate so large and varied a treasure? Did it not show that he was prudent and thrifty; and might he not commend himself as an example to the Babylonian ambassadors, as showing what these virtues had done for him? Exactly so; this is just as man seeth; but God seeth after another sort: "Man looketh at the outward appearance, but God looketh at the heart." Things are not to God as they seem to us. Actions which apparently and upon the surface, and even, so far as human judgment can go, may appear to be either indifferent or even laudable, may seem to God to be so hateful that His anger may burn against them. We look upon a needle, and to our naked eye it is as smooth as glass, but when we put it under the microscope it appears at once to be as rough as an unmanufactured bar of iron. It is much after this manner with our actions. Yet another reflection which strikes one at the very first blush of this affair, namely, that God has a different rule for judging His children's doings from that which He applies to the actions of strangers. I can believe that if Hezekiah had sent his ambassadors to Berodach-baladan, that heathen monarch might have shown the Jewish ambassadors over all his treasures without any sort of sin; God would not have been provoked to anger, nor would a prophet have uttered so much as a word of remonstrance or of threatening: but Hezekiah is not like Berodach-baladan, and must not do as the Babylonians may do. Baladan is but a serf in God's kingdom, and Hezekiah is a prince; the one is an alien, and the other is a dear and much cherished child. We have all different modes of dealing with men according to their relation to us. If a stranger should speak against you in the street you Would not feel it, you would scarce be ang

Benson Commentary 2 Kings 20:1 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 Kings 20:1 . In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death — That is, in the same year in which the king of Assyria invaded Judea; for Hezekiah reigned in all twenty-nine years, and surviving this sickness fifteen years, it must have happened in his fourteenth year, which was the year in which Sennacherib invaded him. It appears, however, from 2 Kings 20:6 , in which God promises to deliver him and Jerusalem out of the hand of the king of Assyria, that it took place before that deliverance; but the sacred historian thought proper to place it after that event, that he might not interrupt the story of Sennacherib. Thus saith the Lord, Set thy house in order, &c. — Make thy will, and settle the affairs of thy family and kingdom. This he the rather presses upon him, because the state of his kingdom peculiarly required it, for it is plain Hezekiah had not, as yet, any son; Manasseh, his heir and successor, not being born till three years after this time; compare 2 Kings 20:6 with 2 Kings 21:1 . Thou shalt die, and not live — Thy disease is mortal in its kind, and will be so in effect, if God do not by a miracle prevent it. Such threatenings, though expressed absolutely, have often secret conditions. 2 Kings 20:2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying, 2 Kings 20:2 . Then he turned his face to the wall — As he lay in his bed. He could not retire to his closet; but he retired as well as he could; he turned from the company to converse with God. When we cannot be so private as we would in our devotions, nor perform them with the usual outward expressions of reverence and solemnity, yet we must not, therefore, omit them, but compose and address ourselves to them as well as we can. 2 Kings 20:3 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. 2 Kings 20:3 . Remember how I have walked before thee in truth — Sincerely, with an honest mind. I am not conscious to myself of any exorbitances, for which thou art wont to shorten men’s days. And Hezekiah wept sore — “Under the law, long life and uninterrupted health were promised as the rewards of obedience, and premature death was denounced as a punishment; see Exodus 20:12 ; Deuteronomy 5:33 ; and Deuteronomy 30:16 . When we reflect on this, we need not be surprised at the sorrow which this good king expressed at his approaching dissolution. He looked upon it as a punishment, and consequently as a mark of the divine displeasure. Other reasons too might strongly operate upon a good mind. The suddenness of this terrible and unexpected denunciation; the unsettled state both of his public and domestic affairs; and the natural dread of death inherent in the human mind, which might in this case possibly be augmented from a sense of his own defects, and from a thorough persuasion that God was displeased at him, by cutting him off in such a manner, in the very flower of his age, and when his kingdom and family particularly required his best assistance. However, be the reasons what they might, it behooves us certainly to judge with great candour of a prince, whose character is so good as that of Hezekiah: and, perhaps, blessed as we are, with a clearer knowledge of a future state than Hezekiah enjoyed, there are but few who can look upon death, awful as it is even to the best, without some degree of very serious concern.” — Dodd. 2 Kings 20:4 And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 2 Kings 20:4-5 . Afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court — Namely, of the king’s palace. This is mentioned to show God’s great readiness to hear the prayers of his children. Thus saith the God of thy father David — I am mindful of my promise made to David and his house, and will make it good in thy person. I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears — Prayer addressed to God with fervency and affection, is in a special manner pleasing to him; and when offered in faith, and for things which he, in his word, hath encouraged or authorized us to ask, shall be heard and answered. I will heal thee — Diseases are God’s servants; as they go where he sends them, so they come when he remands them, Matthew 8:8-9 . On the third day thou shalt go up to the house of the Lord — To give him solemn praise for his mercy. That he was able to go up so soon as the third day, showed the cure to be miraculous. 2 Kings 20:5 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. 2 Kings 20:6 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. 2 Kings 20:6 . I will add to thy days fifteen years — Beyond what thou dost now expect, and beyond the time thou wouldst live if I left thee to the force of thy disease. We have not an instance of any other who was told beforehand just how long he should live. God has wisely kept us at uncertainties, that we may be always ready. 2 Kings 20:7 And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. 2 Kings 20:7 . Take a lump of figs — Though the deliverance was certainly promised, yet means must be used, and those suitable. The figs would help to ripen the bile, and bring it to a head, that the matter of the disease might be discharged that way. This means, however, would have been altogether insufficient of itself to effect so sudden and complete a cure, without the co-operation of the divine power, to which the king’s restoration to health is chiefly to be ascribed. 2 Kings 20:8 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? 2 Kings 20:8 . Hezekiah said to Isaiah — Or rather, had said; for it is evident this was said before his recovery, though his recovery be mentioned before it. What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me? — He asks a sign, not because he distrusted the divine promise, but for the strengthening of his faith, which otherwise might have been shaken by the greatness of his danger, and by the contradiction between this and the prophet’s former message. 2 Kings 20:9 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? 2 Kings 20:10 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. 2 Kings 20:10 . It is a light thing for the sun to go down — Namely, in an instant: for that motion of the sun is natural as to the kind of it, though miraculous for the swiftness of it; but the motion backward would be both ways miraculous. 2 Kings 20:11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz. 2 Kings 20:11 . Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord — Being moved by God’s Spirit, first to offer him this sign, and then to pray for it. And he brought the shadow ten degrees backward — “The dial in use among the Jews,” says Dr. Dodd, “was a kind of stairs; the time of the day was distinguished, not by lines, but by steps, here called degrees; and the shade of the sun moved forward a new degree every half hour. The Jewish doctors and the ancient Christian fathers were of opinion, that the sun actually went backward. They endeavour to support this opinion by showing that Merodach-baladan was incited, by the view of this miracle, to send his messengers to Hezekiah, see 2 Chronicles 32:31 ; and, as a further confirmation, they add, that it is really taken notice of by Herodotus, in his Euterpe, chap. 142, where he expressly asserts, that the Egyptians had observed strange alterations in the motions of the sun, it having arisen four times out of its usual course. Though this observation should be allowed to be true, yet from hence we are under no necessity to admit that the sun itself, or the earth, was retrograde, that is to say, that either of them went backward; all that the Scriptures require of us is, to admit the fact of the shadow’s going backward; and this may be accounted for without supposing any uncommon motion, either in the sun or in the earth. Nothing more was required to effect this phenomenon, than a reflection of the sun’s rays, and this might have been caused by an alteration in the density of the atmosphere. To this it may be added, that the original mentions nothing of the sun, but only of its beams or shadow; and how its beams might be inflected by a change made in the atmosphere, may easily be conceived by any person conversant in natural philosophy. This endeavour to account for the phenomenon, by no means lessens the miracle; for we assign the alteration of the atmosphere to the immediate and extraordinary operation of Providence, and every extraordinary interposition of Providence is essentially and properly a miracle. Let it further be observed, we by no means offer this solution in exclusion of others; and if any one thinks that the miracle can be better accounted for in any other way, we shall very readily subscribe to that opinion. Liberum de eo judicium lectori committo, says Vitringa.” See note on Joshua 10:12-13 . 2 Kings 20:12 At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 2 Kings 20:12 . Berodach-baladan — He seems to have been the king of Assyria’s viceroy in Babylon; and, upon the terrible slaughter in the Assyrian host, and the death of Sennacherib, and the differences among his sons, to have usurped absolute sovereignty over Babylon: and either himself or his son destroyed the Assyrian monarchy, and translated the empire to Babylon. Sent letters and a present to Hezekiah — Congratulating him on his happy restoration to health, and assuring him of his esteem and friendship. According to 2 Chronicles 32:31 , one end he had in view in doing this was, that he might inquire of, or concerning, the wonder done in the land, namely, the shadow going back on the dial of Ahaz. And it is probable another was, that he might obtain assistance from Hezekiah against the king of Assyria, their common enemy. 2 Kings 20:13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, 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. 2 Kings 20:13 . Hezekiah hearkened unto them, &c. — He was so pleased, or rather, transported with joy, at the honour the king of Babylon had done him, that he not only gave his ambassadors a gracious audience, and granted them a league and amity, but ordered his officers to show them all the rarities and precious things which he had in his treasures, with his spices, costly ointments, and the house of his armour — For though his country had been lamentably harassed and plundered by the king of Assyria, and he had endeavoured to appease him with large sums of money and other gifts; yet he had reserved much gold and silver, and many curiosities and valuable things, which he and his fathers had gathered in Jerusalem. Besides, no doubt, he had got considerable spoils out of the Assyrian camp. Also many presents had been sent him since the stroke from heaven on Sennacherib’s army, and his own miraculous recovery from sickness, and the astonishing sign which God had previously given him of it. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, which Hezekiah showed them not — In this he was influenced by pride of heart and vain ostentation, ( 2 Chronicles 32:25-26 ,) being lifted up, it seems, by the great honour God had done him, in working such glorious miracles for his sake, and by the great respect rendered to him by divers princes, and now by this great Babylonian monarch. So hard a matter it is even for a good man to be high and humble. Although no particular mention is made of Hezekiah’s showing these strangers the temple, yet, as it was by far the most sumptuous and splendid building in Jerusalem, and the greatest curiosity in his dominions, there can be no doubt but it was shown them, as far as it was permitted to heathen, who were not proselytes to the Jewish religion, to see it; but whether he took any pains to make them acquainted with the great Being who was worshipped there, and who, by his almighty power, had wrought the miracles which had excited their attention, or with his laws, and the ordinances of his service, may well be doubted. Although, certainly, he had a very fair opportunity of doing this, and of demonstrating to them the unreasonableness and folly of idolatry in all its branches, and especially of their worship of the sun, which the late miracle had shown to be no more than the creature and servant of the God of Israel. 2 Kings 20:14 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. 2 Kings 20:14-15 . Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country — A vain-glorious expression, intimating the great honour which he had from all parts, far and near. Even from Babylon — That potent monarchy; which he mentions to magnify his own honour and happiness. What have they seen in thy house? — He asks, not because he was ignorant of it, but in order that, from Hezekiah’s answer, he might take occasion of delivering God’s message to him. 2 Kings 20:15 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. 2 Kings 20:16 And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD. 2 Kings 20:16 . Isaiah said, Hear the word of the Lord — Hear what his judgment is of this, and how wide his thoughts are from thy thoughts! Thou wast transported when the messengers of the king of Babylon arrived; to thy eye it appeared the most favourable conjuncture that could have happened to thee; thou madest a parade of all thy riches, and of thy armoury, to induce them to enter into an alliance with thee against the king of Assyria. Thou thoughtest if thou couldest secure their friendship and alliance, thou wouldest be safe; even safer than in putting thy trust in the Lord God of Israel. But hear the word of the Lord; see the foolishness of thy thoughts: This very nation, in whom thou thinkest to find security, is the nation that shall take away all these treasures, and carry away thy sons into captivity. 2 Kings 20:17 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. 2 Kings 20:17 . Behold, the days come, &c. — So small was the power of the Babylonians at this time, in respect of their mighty neighbour, the king of Assyria, whom the Jews stood in perpetual fear of, that nothing could seem more improbable than that the Babylonians should carry away the inhabitants of Jerusalem captive. But the divine providence ruleth over all, and sees from the beginning to the end; and, accordingly, in about a hundred and twenty-five years after, the event proved that the word of the Lord stands fast for ever, and that what he speaks shall surely come to pass. Thus short-sighted is human policy! Thus does our ruin often arise from that in which we most place our confidence! 2 Kings 20:18 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. 2 Kings 20:18 . And of thy sons, &c. — Thy grand-children, who are often called sons. They shall be eunuchs, &c. — They shall be servants to that heathen monarch, whereby both their bodies will be subject to slavery, and their souls exposed to the peril of idolatry, and all sorts of wickedness. This was a very sore judgment, and by it God would teach the world the great evil of sin; yea, even of those sins which are generally esteemed but small or venial. 2 Kings 20:19 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? 2 Kings 20:19 . Good is the word of the Lord — I heartily submit to this sentence, as being most just and merciful. All true penitents, when they are under divine rebukes, call them not only just, but good: not only submit to, but accept of the punishment of their iniquity. So Hezekiah did, and by this it appeared he was indeed humbled for the pride of his heart. Undoubtedly it was most grievous to him to hear of the calamities that should befall his children; but, notwithstanding, with a truly penitent and pious mind, he pronounced the sentence good, as coming from that Being who not only does nothing but what is right, but nothing but what is tempered with mercy and goodness, even when he punishes; and therefore a resigned submission to his will is highly reasonable and proper, and our absolute duty. 2 Kings 20:20 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? 2 Kings 20:21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary 2 Kings 20:1 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. HEZEKIAH’S SICKNESS, AND THE EMBASSY FROM BABYLON 2 Kings 20:1-19 "Thou hast loved me out of the pit of nothingness," - Isaiah 38:17 (A.V, margin) "See the shadow of the dial In the lot of every one Marks the passing of the trial, Proves the presence of the Sun." - E.B. BROWNING IN the chaos of uncertainties which surrounds the chronology of King Hezekiah’s reign, it is impossible to fix a precise date to the sickness which almost brought him to the grave. It has, however, been conjectured by some Assyriologists that the story of this episode has been displaced, because it seemed to break the continuity of the narrative of the Assyrian invasion; and that, though it is placed in the Book of Kings after the deliverance from Sennacherib, it really followed the earlier incursion of Sargon. This is rendered more probable by Isaiah’s promise, {2Ki 20:6} "I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the King of Assyria," and by the fact that Hezekiah still possessed such numerous and splendid treasures to display to the ambassadors of Merodach-Baladan. This could hardly have been the case after he had been forced to pay a fine to the King of Assyria of all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king’s house, to cut off the gold from the doors and pillars of the Temple, and even to send as captives to Nineveh some of his wives, and of the eunuchs of his palace. The date "in those days" {2Ki 20:1} is vague and elastic, and may apply to any time before or after the great invasion. He was sick unto death. The only indication which we have of the nature of his illness is that it took the form of a carbuncle or imposthume, which could be locally treated, but which, in days of very imperfect therapeutic knowledge, might easily end in death, especially if it were on the back of the neck. The conjecture of Witsius and others that it was a form of the plague which they suppose to have caused the disaster to the Assyrian army has nothing whatever to recommend it. Seeing the fatal character of his illness, Isaiah came to the king with the dark message, "Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live." The message is interesting as furnishing yet another proof that even the most positive announcements of the prophets were, and were always meant to be, to some extent hypothetical and dependent on unexpressed conditions. This was the case with the famous prophecy of Micah that Zion should be ploughed down into a heap of ruins. It was never fulfilled; yet the prophet lost none of his authority, for it was well understood that the doom which would otherwise have been carried out had been averted by timely penitence. But the message of Isaiah fell with terrible anguish on the heart of the suffering king. He had hoped for a better fate. He had begun a great religious reformation. He had uplifted his people, at least in part, out of the moral slough into which they had fallen in the days of his predecessor. He had inspired into his threatened capital something of his own faith and courage. Surely he, if any man, might claim the old promises which Jehovah in His loving-kindness and truth had sworn to his father David and his father Abraham, that he being delivered out of the hand of his enemies should serve God without fear, walking in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of his life. He was but a young man still-perhaps not yet thirty years old; further, not only would he leave behind him an unfinished work, but he was childless, and therefore it seemed as if with him would end the direct line of the house of David, heir to so many precious promises. He has left us-it is preserved in the Book of Isaiah-the poem which he wrote on his recovery, but which enshrines the emotion of his agonizing anticipations:- {Isa 38:10-20} "I said, In the noontide of my days I shall go into the gates of Sheol. I am deprived of the residue of my years. I said, I shall not see Yah, Yah, in the land of the living, I shall behold no man more, when I am among them that cease to be. Mine habitation is removed, and is carried away from me like a shepherd’s tent. Like a weaver I have rolled up my life; he will cut me from the thrum. Like a swallow or a crane, so did I chatter; I did mourn as a dove; mine eyes fail with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be Thou my surety." We must remember, as we contemplate his utter prostration of soul, that he was not blessed, as we are, with the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life. All was dim and dark to him in the shadowy world of eidola beyond the grave, and many a century was to elapse before Christ brought life and immortality to light. To enter Sheol meant to Hezekiah to pass beyond the cheerful sunshine of earth and the felt presence of God. No more worship, no more gladness there! "For Sheol cannot praise Thee, Death cannot celebrate Thee; They that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth." On every ground, therefore, the feelings of Hezekiah, had he not been a worshipper of God, might have been like those of Mycerinus, and, like that legendary Egyptian king, he might have cursed God before he died. "My father loved injustice, and lived long; I loved the good he scorned and hated wrong- The gods declare my recompense today. I looked for life more lasting, rule more high; And when six years are measured, lo, I die! Yet surely, O my people, did I ween, Man’s justice from the all-just gods was given, A light that from some upper point did beam, Some better archetype whose seat was heaven: A light that, shining from the blest abodes Did shadow somewhat of the life of gods." The indignation of Mycerinus often finds an echo on Pagan tombstones, as in the famous epitaph on the grave of the girl Procope:- "I, Procope, lift up my hands against the gods, Who took me hence undeserving, Aged nineteen years." It was far otherwise with Hezekiah. There was anguish in his heart, but no rebellion or defiance. He wept sore; he turned his face to the wall and wept; but as he wept he also prayed, and said, - "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." Isaiah, after delivering his dark message, and doubtless adding to it such words of human consolation as were possible-if under such circumstances any were possible-had left the king’s chamber. On every ground his feelings must have been almost as overwhelmed with sorrow as those of the king. Hezekiah was personally his friend, and the hope of his nation. Doubtless the prophet’s prayers rose as fervently and as effectually as those of Luther, which snatched his friend Melanchthon back from the very gates of death. By the time that he had reached the middle of the court, he felt borne in upon him, by that Divine intuition which constituted his prophetic call, the certainty that God would withdraw the immediate doom which he had been commissioned to announce. It has been conjectured by some that the conviction was deepened in his mind by observing on the steps of Ahaz one of those remarkable but rare effects of refraction-or, as some have conjectured, of a solar eclipse, involving an obscuration of the upper limb of the sun-which had seemed to take the advancing shadow ten steps backwards; and that this was to him a sign from heaven of the promise of God and the prolongation of the king’s life. Awestruck and glad, he hastened back into the presence of the dying king with the life-giving message that God had heard his prayer, and seen his tears, and would add fifteen years to his life, and would defend him, and deliver him and Jerusalem out of the hand of the King of Assyria. And this should be the sign to him from Jehovah.-Jehovah would bring again the shadow ten steps up the stairs of Ahaz. To this sign-if it was visible from the chamber window-he called the attention of the astonished king. We here naturally follow the narrative of Isaiah himself, as more authoritative than that of the historian of the Kings as to details in which they differ. Not only is it quite in accordance with all that we know of history that slight variations should occur in the traditions of long-past times, but the text of the Book of Kings suggests some difficulty. There we read that Hezekiah asked Isaiah what should be the sign of the promise-not mentioned in Isaiah-that he should go up to the House of the Lord the third day. Isaiah then asked him whether the sign should be that the shadow should advance ten steps, or recede ten steps. But there is no interrogation in the Hebrew, which rather means, "The shadow hath advanced ten steps in it; shall recede ten steps?" or if we insert the interrogation in the first clause, "Hath the shadow advanced ten steps?" The king’s natural answer to so strange an alternative would be that for the shadow to advance ten steps was nothing; whereas its retrogression would be a sign indeed. Then Isaiah cried unto Jehovah, and the shadow went backward. In the obvious divergence of details we naturally follow Isaiah himself; and if it be a true and understood rule of all theology, " Miracula non sunt multiplicanda procter necessitatem , " the miracle in this case-in the opportuneness of its occurrence, and the issues which it inspired-was none the less a miracle because it was carried out in direct accordance with God’s unseen, perpetual, miraculous Providence, which none but unbelievers will nickname Chance. That we are here dealing with a historic incident is certain; and they who see and acknowledge God in all history find no difficulty at all in seeing His dealings with men in striking interpositions. But these, by the analogy of His whole Divine economy, would naturally be carried out in accordance with natural laws. The words rendered "the sun-dial of Ahaz" mean no more than "the steps [ ma’aloth ] of Ahaz." Ahaz evidently was a king of aesthetic tastes, who was fond of introducing foreign novelties and curiosities into Jerusalem. Steps, with a staff on the top of them as a gnomon , to serve as sun-dials had been invented at Babylon, and Ahaz may probably have become acquainted with their form and use when he paid his visit to Tiglath-Pileser at Damascus. No one could blame him-it was indeed a meritorious act - to introduce to his people so useful an invention. The word "hour" first occurs in Daniel 3:6 , and it was doubtless from Babylon that the Hebrews borrowed the division of days into hours. This is the earliest instance in the Bible of the mention of any instrument to measure time. That the recession of the shadow could be caused by refraction is certain, for it has been observed in modern days. Thus, as is mentioned by Rosenmüller, on March 27th, 1703, Pere Romauld, prior of the monastery at Metz, noticed that the shadow on his dial deviated an hour and a half, owing to refraction in the higher regions of the atmosphere. Or again, according to Mr. Bosanquet, the same effect might have been produced by the darkening shadow of an eclipse. But while he appealed to Divine indications the great prophet did not neglect natural remedies. He ordered that a cake of figs should be laid on the imposthume. It was a recognized and an efficient remedy, still recommended, centuries later, by Dioscorides, by Pliny, and by St. Jerome. By God’s blessing on man’s therapeutic care, the king was speedily rescued from the gates of death. Constantly in Scripture what we call the miraculous and what we call the providential are mingled together. To those who regard the providential as a constant miracle, the question of the miraculous becomes subordinate. With intense joy and gratitude the king hailed the respite which God had granted him. In fifteen years much might be done, much might be hoped for. All this he acknowledged with deep feeling in the song which he wrote on his recovery. "I shall go as in solemn procession {Psa 42:4} all my years because of the bitterness of my soul. O Lord, by these things men live, And wholly therein is the life of my spirit." "Behold, it was for my peace that I had great bitterness; But Thou hast loved my soul from the pit of nothingness: For Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back. The Lord is ready to save me; Therefore will we sing my songs to the stringed instruments All the days of our life in the house of the Lord." {Isa 38:10-20} "The wonder done in the land" was, according to the Chronicler, one of the grounds for the embassy which, after his recovery, Hezekiah received from Merodach-Baladan, the patriot prince of Babylon. The other ostensible object of the embassy was to send letters and a present in congratulation for the king’s restoration to health. But the real object lay deeper, out of sight. It was to secure a southern alliance for Babylon against the incessant tyranny of Nineveh. Merodach-Baladan is mentioned in the inscriptions of Sargon. He is described as "Merodach-Baladan, son of Baladan, King of Sumir and Accad, king of the four countries, and conqueror of all his enemies." There had been long struggles, lasting indeed for centuries, between the city on the Euphrates and the city on the Tigris. Sometimes one, sometimes the other, had been victorious. Babylon-on the monuments Kur-Dunyash-had its original Accadian name of Ca-dinirra, which, like its Semitic equivalent Bab-el, means "Gate of God." Kalah (Larissa and Birs Nimroud) had been built by Shal-maneser I before B.C. 1300. His son conquered Babylon, but not permanently; for in some later raid the Babylonians got possession of his signet-ring, with its proud inscription, "Conqueror of Kur-Dunyash," and it was not recovered by the Assyrians till six centuries later, when it fell into the hands of Sennacherib. About 1150 Nebuchadrezzar I of Babylon thrice invaded Assyria, but there was again peace and alliance in 1100. Merodach-Baladan I reigned before 900. The king who now sought the friendship of Hezekiah was the second of the name. He seized or recovered the throne of Babylon in 721, after the death of Shalmaneser, perhaps because Sargon was a usurper of dubious descent. He helped the Elamites against Assyria. Sargon was compelled to retreat to Assyria, but returned in 712, and drove Merodach-Baladan to flight. He was captured and taken to Assyria. But on the murder of Sargon in 705, he again managed to seize the throne of Babylon, killed the viceroy who had been set up, and became king for six months. After this, Sennacherib invaded his country, defeated him, and drove him once more to flight. He was perhaps killed by his successor. Whether his overtures to Hezekiah took place before his defeat by Sargon, or after his escape, is uncertain. In either case he doubtless sent a splendid embassy, for Babylon was far-famed for its golden magnificence as "the glory of kingdoms" and "the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency." {Isa 14:4; Isa 13:19} At that time the Jews knew but little of the far-off city which was destined to be so closely interwoven with their future fortunes, as it was mingled with their oldest and dimmest traditions. {Gen 10:10-11; Gen 11:1-9} Apart from the magnificence of the presents brought to him, it was not unnatural that Hezekiah should regard this embassy with intense satisfaction. It was flattering to the power of his little kingdom that its alliance should be sought by the far-off and powerful capital on the great river; it was still more encouraging to know that the frightful Nineveh had a strong enemy not far from her own frontier. Merodach-Baladan’s ambassadors would be sure to inform Hezekiah that their lord had flung off the authority of Sargon, had kept him at bay for many years, and was still the undisputed king of the dominions snatched from the common enemy. It might have seemed reasonable that Hezekiah, for his part, should desire to leave the most favorable impression of his wealth and power on the mind of his distant and magnificent ally. He "hearkened unto" the ambassadors, or, more properly, "he was glad of them" (R.V), and "showed them all the house of his spicery and other treasures, his precious unguents, his armory his bullion, plate, and the whole resources of his kingdom." The Chronicler regards this as ingratitude to God. He says that "Hezekiah rendered not again according unto the benefits done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem." It is a severe judgment of later times, and the historian of the Kings pronounces no such censure. Nevertheless, he records the stern sentence pronounced by Isaiah. The prophet had seen through the secret diplomacy of the Babylonian ambassadors, and knew that the real object of their mission was to induce his king to revolt against Assyria in reliance on an arm of flesh. He came to ask Hezekiah whose these men were, whence they came, and what they had said. The king told him who they were, and how he had received them; but he did not think it wise to reveal their secret proposals. If Isaiah had so vehemently reproved all negotiations with Egypt, there was little probability that he would sanction the overtures of Babylon. He saw in Hezekiah’s conduct a vein of ostentatious elation, a swerving from theocratic faith; and with remarkable prophetic insight convinced the king of the error and impolicy of his proceedings, by announcing that the final and, in fact, irrevocable captivity of Judah would ultimately come, not from Nineveh, the fierce enemy, whose cloud of war was lurid on the horizon, but from Babylon, the apparently weaker friend, who was now making overtures of amity. With what heartrending grief must the king have heard the doom that the display of his treasures would prove to be in the future an incentive to the cupidity of the kings of Babylon, and that they would sweep away all those precious things to the banks of the Euphrates with such final overthrow that even the descendants of David should be sunk to the infinite degradation of being eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon. {See Dan 1:6} The doom seems to have been fulfilled in part in the reign of Hezekiah’s son, and more fearfully in the days of his great-grandchildren. {2Ch 33:11} The king’s pride was humbled to the dust. In the spirit of Job-"The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" {Job 1:21} -he resigned himself without a murmur to the will of Heaven, and exclaimed that all which God did must be well done. At least God granted him a respite. Peace and truth would be in his own days; for that let him be thankful. They were words of humble resiIt would be unjust to measure the feelings of those far centuries by those of our own day, and there was none of the gross selfishness in the words of Hezekiah which led Nero to quote the line- "When I am dead, let earth be mixed with fire"; or which led Louis XIV to say- " Apres moi le deluge ." We may perhaps trace in his exclamation something of the fatalism which gives a touch of apathy to the submissiveness of the Oriental. Some, too, have imagined that his distress was tinged by a gleam of happiness at the implicit promise that he should have a son. His wife’s name was Hephzibah ("My delight is in her"), and within two years she brought forth the firstborn son, whose career, indeed, was dark and evil, but who became in due time an ancestor of the promised Messiah. The name "Manasseh" given him by his parents recalled the child born to Joseph in the land of his exile who had caused him to forget his sorrows. Hezekiah had the spirit which says, - "That which Thou blessest is most good, And unblest good is ill; And all is right which seems most wrong, So it be Thy sweet will." The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.