After the Lord had saved Hezekiah and his people from the hand of Sennacherib and from all his enemies, we read that "many brought gifts unto the Lord and presents to Hezekiah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations." Then he was brought very low, "even to the gates of the grave," (Isa. 38:1010I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years. (Isaiah 38:10)), for he had a severe sickness and the prophet Isaiah told him he was going to die. It was a great trial for Hezekiah, but we can see in his circumstances the hand of God dealing with him as a faithful friend. His past devotedness to the Lord, his reforms, his influence for good in both Judah and Israel, and the wonderful deliverance the Lord had given him over the great Assyrian power, all could easily act upon the pride of his heart to which Hezekiah was not immune, as we learn later. In destroying the Assyrian God was delivering him from an enemy; now we see Him delivering him from himself. He would have Hezekiah realize the breaking down of all hope in the flesh, that it must be put in the place of death, and that it was only on the ground of death and resurrection that the promised glory could come to Israel. What a good and faithful God we have who moves through all circumstances and works all things together for good to those that love Him (Rom. 8:2828And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)).
King Hezekiah, in his sorrows and exercises at this time, (Isa. 38), is a type of the Lord Jesus, the Son of David, who actually went into death and rose again in order that He might make good the "sure mercies of David" to His people. We also see here the Spirit of Christ taking up the sorrows and deliverance of His people who in the last days will pass through death and resurrection — morally — before they enter into the blessing of Messiah's reign.
The Lord had told Hezekiah, "set thine house in order; for thou shalt die and not live." Hezekiah had been diligent in setting his kingdom in order but this came closer to home. "Thine house." Surely this has a voice to us.
On his sickbed, "Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord." Had he been content to end his course at this time, it would have spared him from temptation and much sorrow later. But as a Jew he had been taught of God to regard long life as a special blessing from the God of Israel. To him death would have been the quitting of Jerusalem where Jehovah's deliverance had been manifested; with the Christian, however, it is going to be with Christ. Our desire should be that He might come and take us to be with Himself.
The Lord sent Isaiah back to Hezekiah with a message saying that He would add fifteen years to his life. Hezekiah then asked a sign as a proof and the Lord told him that the shadow of the sun dial would go backward ten degrees, instead of moving forward as it would normally. In Joshua's day He made the sun to stand still, now He makes it go back, thus showing in a remarkable way that when God intervenes in grace and power on behalf of His people, He may even reverse the very course of nature to accomplish His purpose.
Messages of the Love of God 12/14/1958