King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 1 note
1In 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.
2Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,
3I 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.
4And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
5Turn 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.
6And 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.
7And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
8And 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?
9And 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?
10And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
11And 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.
Wow, how did he cry to the Lord? Is it that he issued out a cry, like literally crying to the Lord, or is it that he prayed fervently to the Lord?
Either ways, this begs my second question: why did he have to cry to the Lord? Was it not the Lord who sent him? So why did he have to pray again for God to give a sign that he will answer his own words and be true to his own words?
You know, prayer is hard and can be hard, especially when you have to tarry until the word of the Lord is established.
So why did Isaiah have to go through the labour of intense prayer, when it was God who sent him in the first place and he orchestrated this whole thing?
This reminds me of the case of Elijah. He was sent by God to declare the sound of abundance of rain, and yet he had to go through seven agonising levels of prayer — the apostle James describes them as effectual, fervent and heartfelt prayer — in order for the rain to manifest.
That is the burden the Lord places on his sent ones.
Same thing with Moses, many times he had to pray, and sometimes he spent days praying — including 40 days of fasting, three times in 40 years, with no food and water. Some of these fastings were like days or at best weeks apart. Imagine fasting 40 days and descending from the mountain of the Lord, only to see Israel commit idolatry, and now have to go back up the mountain to plead with the Lord another 40 days.
Meanwhile, he did not call himself; it was the Lord who called him in the first place.
12At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
13And 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.
14Then 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.
15And 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.
16And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD.
17Behold, 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.
18And 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.
19Then 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?
20And 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?
21And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.