Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 38:1
In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.
1. In those days ] The incident must have preceded by some months the embassy of Merodach-Baladan, the probable date of which will be considered in the Introduction to ch. 39. The order of the chapters cannot be chronological, and the vague expression “in those days” need not perhaps mean more than “in the time of Hezekiah.” If, as Delitzsch and others have supposed, ch. 38 f. stood before 36 f. in the original document, the note of time would naturally refer to some other events in Isaiah’s biography which had been previously narrated. The best justification of this hypothesis is the solution it furnishes of the chronological difficulties presented by this group of chapters.
Set thine house in order ] Lit. “Give commandment to thy house,” the last duty of a dying man (2Sa 17:23). An example of what is meant may be found in David’s elaborate death-bed charge to Solomon (1Ki 2:1-9).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
In those days – That is, his sickness commenced about the period in which the army of Sennacherib was destroyed. It has been made a question whether the sickness of Hezekiah was before or after the invasion of Sennacherib. The most natural interpretation certainly is, that it occurred after that invasion, and probably at no distant period. The only objection to this view is the statement in Isa 38:6, that God would deliver him out of the hand of the king of Assyria, which has been understood by many as implying that he was then threatened with the invasion. But this may mean simply that he would be perpetually and finally delivered from his hand; that he would be secure in that independence from a foreign yoke which he had long sought 2Ki 18:7; and that the Assyrian should not be able again to bring the Jews into subjection (see the notes at Isa 37:30-31; compare the note at Isa 38:6). Jerome supposes that it was brought upon him lest his heart should be elated with the signal triumph, and in order that, in his circumstances, he might be kept humble. Josephus (Ant. x. 2. 1) says that the sickness occurred soon after the destruction of the army of Sennacherib. Prideaux (Connection, vol. i. p. 137) places his sickness before the invasion of the Assyrians.
Was sick – What was the exact nature of this sickness is not certainly known. In Isa 38:21 it is said that it was a boil, and probably it was a pestilential boil. The pestilence or plague is attended with an eruption or boil. No one, says Jahn, ever recovered from the pestilence unless the boil of the pestilence came out upon him, and even then he could not always be cured (Biblical Antiquities, Section 190). The pestilence was, and is still, rapid in its progress. It terminates the life of those who are affected with it almost immediately, and at the furthest within three or four days. Hence, we see one ground of the alarm of Hezekiah. Another cause of his anxiety was, that he had at this time no children, and consequently he had reason to apprehend that his kingdom would be thrown into contention by conflicting strifes for the crown.
Unto death – Ready to die; with a sickness which in the ordinary course would terminate his life.
Set thine house in order – Hebrew, Give command ( tsav) to thy house, that is, to thy family. If you have any directions to give in regard to the succession to the crown, or in regard to domestic and private arrangements, let it be done soon. Hezekiah was yet in middle life. He came to the throne when he was twenty-five years old 2Ki 18:2, and he had now reigned about fourteen years. It is possible that he had as yet made no arrangements in regard to the succession, and as this was very important to the peace of the nation, Isaiah was sent to him to apprize him of the necessity of leaving the affairs of his kingdom so that there should not be anarchy when he should die. The direction, also, may be understood in a more general sense as denoting that he was to make whatever arrangements might be necessary as preparatory to his death. We see here –
1. The boldness and fidelity of a man of God. Isaiah was not afraid to go in and freely tell even a monarch that he must die. The subsequent part of the narrative would lead us to suppose that until this announcement Hezekiah did not regard himself as in immediate danger. It is evident here, that the physician of Hezekiah had not informed him of it – perhaps from the apprehension that his disease would be aggravated by the agitation of his mind on the subject. The duty was, therefore, left, as it is often, to a minister of religion – a duty which even many ministers are slow to perform, and which many physicians are reluctant to have performed.
2. No danger is to be apprehended commonly from announcing to those who are sick their true condition. Friends and relatives are often reluctant to do it, for fear of agitating and alarming them. Physicians often prohibit them from knowing their true condition, under the apprehension that their disease may be aggravated. Yet here was a case in which pre-eminently there might be danger from announcing the danger of death. The disease was deeply seated. It was making rapid progress. It was usually incurable. Nay, there was here a moral certainty that the monarch would die. And this was a case, therefore, which particularly demanded, it would seem, that the patient should be kept quiet, and free from alarms. But God regarded it as of great importance that he should know His true condition, and the prophet was directed to go to him and faithfully to state it. Physicians and friends often err in this.
There is no species of cruelty greater than to suffer a friend to lie on a dying bed under a delusion. There is no sin more aggravated than that of designedly deceiving a dying man, and flattering him with the hope of recovery when there is a moral certainty that he will not, and cannot recover. And there is evidently no danger to be apprehended from communicating to the sick their true condition. It should be done tenderly, and with affection; but it should be done faithfully. I have had many opportunities of witnessing the effect of apprizing the sick of their situation, and of the moral certainty that they must die. And I cannot now recall an instance in which the announcement has had any unhappy effect on the disease. Often, on the contrary, the effect is to calm the mind, and to lead the dying to look up to God, and peacefully to repose on him. And the effect of that is always salutary. Nothing is more favorable for a recovery than a peaceful, calm, heavenly submission to God; and the repose and quiet which physicians so much desire their patients to possess, is often best obtained by securing confidence in God, and a calm resignation to his will.
3. Every man with the prospect of death before him should set his house in order. Death is an event which demands preparation – a preparation which should not be deferred to the dying moment. In view of it, whether it comes sooner or later, our peace should be made with God and our worldly affairs so arranged that we can leave them without distraction, and without regret.
For thou shalt die, and not live – Thy disease is incurable. It is a mortal, fatal disease. The Hebrew is, for thou art dead ( meth); that is, you are a dead man. A similar expression occurs in Gen 20:3, in the address which God made to Abimelech: Behold thou art a dead man, on account of the woman which thou hast taken. We have a similar phrase in our language, when a man is wounded, and when he says, I am a dead man. This is all that we are required to understand here, that, according to the usual course of the disease, he must die. It is evident that Isaiah was not acquainted himself with the secret intention of God; nor did he know that Hezekiah would humble himself, and plead with God; nor that God would by a miracle lengthen out his life.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 38:1-8
In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death
Hezekiahs sickness: the historical framework
It cannot surprise us now to be carried back to the time when Jerusalem was still under the despotic sceptre of Assyria, since the purpose of the concluding piece Isa 37:36-38) was merely in anticipation to complete the picture ofthe last Assyrian troubles, by relating their termination as foretold by Isaiah Isa 31:8).
(F. Delitzsch, D. D.)
The parallel passage
(2Ki 20:1-11) varies more from that before us than in the preceding chapter. So far as they are parallel, the narrative in Kings is more minute and circumstantial, and at the same time more exactly chronological in its arrangement. On the other hand, the Psalm is wholly wanting in that passage. All these circumstances favour the conclusion that the text before us is the first draft, and the other a repetition by the hand of the same writer. (J. A. Alexander.)
Hezekiahs sickness and recovery
This sickness and recovery of Hezekiah from the gates of death, was an event of such national importance as made it properly find a place here, as well as in the historical books. For the throne of David, as far as we know, was without an heir at this moment; and Hezekiahs death might have been followed by some such interregnum, anarchy, and seizure of the crown by a soldier, as hastened the downfall of the kingdom of Ephraim. Such a failure in the succession, in times of national depression and disorganisation, would be pregnant with evil even in England now; and we must remember that in Judea then, as in all Eastern and patriarchal governments still, the personal character of the hereditary sovereign was of an importance to the people which it has to a great degree, though not utterly, lost in every country of Europe except Russia, Let us contrast the character and acts of Hezekiah with those of his immediate predecessor and successor, and we shall see of what moment it was that the interval by which his reign separated theirs should be prolonged fifteen years; and especially when the country needed a hand disciplined by experience and guided by faith to recover it from the moral and material disorganisation into which (as we know from Isaiahs discourses) it had fallen during the Assyrian supremacy. And thus this crisis in the personal life of Hezekiah–the fact cannot be denied, though here, as in so many like cases, our philosophy cannot trace out the connection of cause and effect became the type and symbol of the like crisis in the life of the nation: it, too, was sick unto death, and was granted a new period of life by God after it was past the help of man. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)
Hezekiahs disease
When the prophet first came to him he addressed him in words clearly indicating the gravity of the disease. Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order, &c. We cannot, therefore, think that it was an ordinary simple boil with which the king was affected. Nor have we any ground for supposing, as some have suggested, that the disease was bubo-plague, which does not occur as an isolated case, and we have no evidence to lead us to think that any epidemic of such a disease prevailed. But it might have been, and probably was, a carbuncle, which is often a most severe and painful thing, endangering and often terminating the life of the sufferer. For this a poultice of figs would be an appropriate local remedy, as in the present day are cataplasms of various kinds. But doubtless the recovery of the king was through Divine interposition, by which the danger to life was averted, and of which Isaiahs prescription was but a symbol. The answer to his prayer, accompanied by the promise that on the third day he should go up to the house of the Lord, is sufficient evidence that the cure of a disease by which he had been brought to deaths door, was not brought about by natural means. (Sir Risdon Bennett, M. D. , LL. D.)
What was Hezekiahs disease?
My friend, Dr. Lauder Brunton, tells me that he has been led to view the disease as tonsillitis, from the similarity of the symptoms described by Isaiah with those of some cases of quinsy (tonsillitis). In many cases, says Dr. Brunton, that I have seen, the pains in the bones have been so severe as to attract the attention of the patient, to the exclusion of all mention of sore throat. If Hezekiah suffered from tonsillitis, his comparison of a lion breaking his bones is a very apt one, and the swelling, of the tonsils would also explain the alteration in his speech, which made him chatter like a crane or a swallow. The dried figs would be almost the only poultice that could be applied to the boil in his fauces, and the rapid maturation of the inflamed boil in the throat affected by the poultice would explain the rapid recovery. (Sir Risdon Bennett, M. D. , LL. D.)
Every disease is a little death
I have heard it said that every disease is a little death; therefore God sends us many little deaths to instruct our preparation for the great death. The oftener a man dies, the better he may know how to die well. (T. Adams.)
A sick mans glass
I. THE MESSAGE sent to Hezekiah while he was sick.
1. The time.
2. The person to whom it was sent.
3. The person by whom it was sent.
4. The message itself. Set thine house in order.
5. The reason why the king is advised so to do. Thou shalt die, and not live.
II. THE BEHAVIOUR OF HEZEKIAH when he had heard the message.
1. He turned his face to the wall.
2. He prayed.
3. He wept sore. (R. Hachet, D. D.)
Hezekiahs sickness
1. These words present to our view a person
(1) of the highest rank
(2) in the prime of life
(3) and the full tide of prosperity, seized with a mortal disease: a case which ought strongly to remind the securest of us all, how uncertain our condition is here on earth.
2. By the goodness of God, a prophet was sent to him, to admonish him of the preparation that his state required: and the same goodness hath provided that you shall all be frequently admonished of the same thing, by the ministers of His Word.
3. The admonition given him was the means of prolonging his days in peace and comfort: and those given you, if received in a right manner, may, both naturally and providentially, contribute to procure you longer and happier lives in this world; and will certainly lead you to a life of eternal happiness in the next. (T. Seeker, LL. D.)
The duties of the sick
The text mentions the obligations of sick persons–
I. RESPECTING THEIR FELLOW-CREATURES. Set thine house in order. This direction may well be enlarged to comprehend–
1. Due regulation of all affairs in which the sick are interested.
(1) The principal point at which men should aim in settling their temporal affairs is justice; and one of the most evident branches of justice is paying debts.
(2) Besides those who are commonly called creditors, there is another sort–I mean those to whom we have done injuries, and owe restitution.
(3) But as we have all, more or less, need to ask pardon, another of our duties evidently is to grant it in our turn: when others have used us ill, not to recompense or wish them evil for evil. The expedient to which, it is said, some have had recourse, of forgiving if they die, and being revenged if they live, is as foolish a contrivance to deceive themselves, and to mock God, as the human heart can frame.
(4) The next thing, after providing for the payment of our debts, and which, like that, should be done in health, but much rather in sickness than not at all, is disposing of the remainder of our substance. The principal rule is, that we ought not to be governed in it by fanciful fondnesses, much less by blamable resentments.
2. Proper advice to all persons with whom the sick are connected.
II. RESPECTING MORE IMMEDIATELY GOD AND THEIR OWN SOULS. Then Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord. His prayer, indeed, if the whole of it be recorded in Scripture, was only that he might recover; a request which for the public good he had urgent reasons to make in the first place. And that being instantly granted, he had no need to apply further to God, in relation to his sickness, otherwise than by thanksgiving, which he did. But they who have more extensive wants at that time are both authorised and bound to enlarge in proportion the subject of their addresses to the throne of grace; and therefore I shall endeavour to comprehend under this head all the religious duties of the sick.
1. The first principle of all regard to God is faith. There are indeed very good persons who, m illnesses, are tempted to partial, or even total unbelief. And if any seeming reasons for it be suggested to their minds, they ought to inquire after, and oppose to them reasonable answers.
2. Self-examination.
3. Such repentance as our case requires.
4. The sick ought to be very constant in every other exercise of private piety. For as they are cut off from active life, they have more leisure for religious contemplation. And as they want all the improvement and comfort which they can have, so they will receive the most of both by frequent lifting up of their hearts to the God of patience and consolation. (T. Seeker, LL. D.)
Hezekiahs sickness and recovery
I. THIS SICKNESS WAS VERY GRIEVOUS, upon several accounts.
1. For the nature of the disease, which is supposed to have been pestilential.
2. The pain of his distemper was aggravated with the sentence which the prophet passed upon him in the name of God. The hope of recovery, which contributes very much to the cure of any distemper, was taken away from him.
3. Hezekiahs sickness and sentence of death were embittered with this consideration, that he was going to be cut off in the strength of his age. This shortening of life was always esteemed as one of the calamities of our mortal condition; especially in so high and happy a station as that of a king. David prayed against it, saying, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my age.
4. That which made Hezekiah more lath to leave the world at this time was, that he had no child to succeed him in his throne.
II. HIS REQUEST he enforces with the following arguments.
1. He begs God to remember how he had walked before Him in truth and with a perfect heart.
2. Whereas other kings had been too apt to consult their ease and carnal interests in the practice of religion, Hezekiah had a true and thorough zeal for the glory of God in all that he did.
III. He urged it with importunate cries and tears, WHICH PREVAILED WITH GOD TO HEAR HIM AND GRANT HIS REQUEST. (W. Reading, M. A.)
Supreme attention to spiritual concerns
(with Luk 10:42):–Let us reflect–
I. ON THE ONE THING NEEDFUL, i.e., living religion.
II. ON THE CONSEQUENT DUTY OF SETTING OUR HOUSE IN ORDER, knowing that we shall die, and not live. (W. Graham.)
Hezekiahs sincerity
This verse (Isa 38:3) is not an angry expostulation, nor an ostentatious self-praise, but an appeal to the only satisfactory evidence of his sincerity. (J. A. Alexander.)
Set thine house in order.
Human mortality
I. We have here set before us THE FACT OF OUR MORTALITY. Thou shalt die, and not live. How apt we are to think of other peoples death, but not of our own. We are ready to say, O! it was no wonder that little, weak infant died–it was no wonder that worn-out, aged man or woman died–it was no wonder that sickly person died. And when we hear of suddendeaths, by some strange disease or accident, we have a secret feeling that the same thing is not likely to happen to ourselves. There was something peculiar in their condition or circumstances, which made them more open than ourselves to that awful visitation. Yet why all this foolish hiding of the truth? Until we are able boldly and peacefully to face this truth, there is no real comfort for us in this world. When our Almighty Father in heaven sends to us such a message as this, Thou shalt die, and not live, it is not to vex and to distress us, but only to awaken in us those thoughts which are needful for us in our present state of being.
II. HOW WE ARE TO SET OUR HOUSE IN ORDER, so as to be able to meet with calmness both the actual coming of death and the thought of its coming. With the best of men, the near approach of that last dread hour is a time of deep solemnity.
1. The first point in this work is to see that our hope for eternity is placed upon a right foundation; and none other can be found but that which God Himself has laid for us to build on–namely, His own free mercies in His dear Son, Jesus Christ.
2. If we would set our house truly in order, we must remember that there is a work to be wrought in us, as well as for us. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord! (J. W. Colenso, D. D.)
Preparation for the end of time
I. THE INJUNCTION URGED. Set thine house in order. We refer–
1. To temporal affairs. This is evident from the more literal translation: Give charge concerning thine house.
2. To spiritual matters.
II. THE REASON. For thou shalt die, and not live.
1. Death is certain for all.
2. The time is uncertain; therefore, it is every ones duty to be prepared.
3. The time may be very near.
4. The best of men need special preparation.
Hezekiah was not a bad man, but he had a special message. So God often scuds a time of sickness as a special warning. How much better and happier will every man be if he has set his house in order! (Homilist.)
New Years thoughts
The first Sunday in the new year is surely, with every minister of Christ who watcheth with the eye and love of a true shepherd over his flock, a time for–
1. General rebuke.
2. Remonstrance.
3. Godly encouragement.
I. THE AUTHORITY OF THE COMMISSION. It came directly from God at the mouth of His prophet; and whatever comes from God must be characterised by Gods attributes, must bear the impress of His wisdom, must be pregnant with the purposes of His love.
II. THE SUDDENNESS OF THE COMMISSION. How it must have startled the king on his bed!
III. THE SUBSTANCE OF THE COMMISSION. Set thine house in order–this is the direction; for thou shalt die, and not live–this is the doom. Thou art the man upon whom the mark is set, this carries the reflections home. When shall I die? How shall I die? Shall I die a hard or a peaceful death? Shall I die as an impenitent and despairing sinner, or as a pardoned, a redeemed, a rejoicing saint? (T. J. Judkin.)
Preparation for death
Our being ready for death will make it come never the sooner, but much the easier; and those that are fit to die are most fit to live. (M. Henry.)
Contemplating the time of death
Perhaps the most awful moment of our lives is when we first feel in danger of death. All our past life then seems to be a cloud of words and shadows, altogether external to the realities of the soul. Not only childhood and youth, happiness and sorrow, eager hopes and disturbing fears, but even our communion with God, our faith in things unseen, our self-knowledge, and our repentance, seem alike to be but visions of the memory. All has become stern, hard, and appalling. It is as if it were the beginning of a new existence; as if we had passed under a colder sky, and into a world where every object has a sharpness of outline almost too severe for sight to bear. Let us see what we ought to do when God warns us.
I. WE MUST ASK OURSELVES THIS QUESTION, Is there any one sin, great or small, of the flesh or of the spirit, that we willingly and knowingly commit? This is, in fact, the crisis of our whole spiritual life. By consent in one sin, a man is guilty of the whole principle of rebellion. A holy man is not a man who never sins, but who never sins willingly. A sinner is not a man who never does anything good, but who willingly does what he knows to be evil. The whole difference lies within the sphere and compass of the will.
II. WE MUST NEXT SEARCH AND SEE WHETHER THERE IS AN ANYTHING IN WHICH OUR HEART IN ITS SECRET AFFECTIONS IS AT VARIANCE WITH THE MIND OF GOD; for if so, then so far our whole being is at variance with His.
III. A third test by which to test ourselves is THE POSITIVE CAPACITY OF OUR SPIRITUAL BEING FOR THE BLISS OF HEAVEN. When St. Paul bids us to follow after holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord, he surely meant something more than a negative quality. Doubtless he meant by holiness to express the active aspirations of a spiritual nature, thirsting for the presence of God.
IV. There are TWO SHORT COUNSELS which it may be well to add.
1. That we strive always to live so as to be akin to the state of just men made perfect.
2. That we often rehearse in life the last preparation we should make in death. (H. E. Manning, D. D.)
Hezekiah warned
1. He was warned.
2. He was religiously warned. Isaiah was charged with the intelligence.
3. He was considerately warned. He was not to die on the morrow, he was to have time to set his house in order. Sometimes we feel as if we would rather not have that time, and yet there is a merciful dispensation in the arrangement which gives a man an opportunity of calmly approaching the end. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Set thine house in order
What does this injunction signify?
I. THAT WE ARE TO GIVE ACCOUNT OF OUR STEWARDSHIP.
II. THAT WE ARE TO BE DILIGENT IN OUR DAILY WORK
III. WE MUST LEARN TO LEAVE OUR POSSESSIONS, AND HOLD OURSELVES READY TO DEPOT. (C. Schwartz.)
The habitual thought of death not painful
The time will of necessity come when to every man that lives these words will be spoken: God Himself will speak them in the manifest dealings of his providence, making this known to us in some way which our own hearts will instinctively interpret. Why should we be afraid to think of death!
1. Do you reply that there is in man a natural love of life? No doubt there is. But what, then, is that true life which lies beyond, and to which the act of departure, which we call death, is but the entrance?
2. Or, do you say that we are naturally repelled from mortality, and that we shrink from thinking of the lifeless and decaying flesh? I admit it, and there is a necessary and wholesome lesson in the bitterness of it, for how should we know what sin was without some little conception of what death was? But I plead that this is but for a time, till the body shall rise again in glory. The horror is to those who live and watch the dead.
3. Or, do you say that you fear death because it will stop for ever all the schemes and activities of life? Do you think that the state into which we shall enter will be a passive calm? Every hint and word in Scripture appears to me to point to something very different.
4. Or, do you say that you shrink from the idea of never seeing again the blue skies and the sweet flowers, and losing all the sights and sounds that make this world beautiful? Again, I think that you are wrong. Certainly all the imagery of the Bible suggests a different conclusion.
5. Or, do you say that you dread death because you cannot bear to think of parting from those you love, and losing that sweet intercourse, and that happy interchange of mutual affection, which spring from love? Well, all separation is painful; but in itself, and of necessity, this separation need only be for a time–a brief parting, with an eternal reunion beyond it, when, free from the little hindrances that mar a perfect love on earth, we shall renew a pure affection, consecrated for ever by the seen presence of God.
6. Do you say that you dread to think of death because you are not certain of your state before God? Ah! here we reach the deepest secret of all, the true source of the uneasiness with which men think of their mortality. The sting of death is sin, &c. The Eternal Father is ready to forgive; the Eternal Son sufficient to atone; the Eternal Spirit almighty to convert and sanctify; all ready; nay, all pleading, inviting, expostulating, entreating.
7. Do you say that you dread to think of death because the thought saddens and darkens life? Surely this is no longer true, if, accepted in Christ Jesus, we have peace with God. (E. Garbett, M. A.)
Preparing for the end
I. Preparation for death is an immediate duty, because YOU CANNOT TELL WHAT A DAY MAY BRING FORTH.
II. IT OUGHT TO BE A CALM, DELIBERATE, AND INTELLIGENT PREPARATION. Not with panic, or haste, or gloom.
III. THERE IS A GOD TO MEET, whose eyes will inspect the house.
IV. THERE ARE IMPORTANT MATTERS TO BE ADJUSTED ARISING FROM OUR HUMAN RELATIONS. (Homiletic Review.)
Thou shalt die
Death
I. DEATH.
1. In its causes. The primary cause of death was sin. But the immediate and acting cause of mortality is the frailty of our bodies.
2. In its nature. What is it to die! It is not to terminate our existence. We are well assured that nothing in being can cease to be, either of itself or by the influence of other finite beings, but only by an exercise of the almighty power of the Creator. To die is to undergo a solution of our present mode of existence, in which the immaterial soul is severed from the material body, and exists thenceforth for a time alone; whilst the body, bereft of life, loses the qualities necessary to preserve its substance, and becomes disorganised, and resolved into its primitive elements. How near is this world to the next! Gods wisdom and goodness have appointed a bed of sickness to be the general precursor of death. By this He repeats solemnly, and enforces, His thousand other warnings to us, and, in our seclusion from the engagements and pleasures of time, gives us a further opportunity of becoming familiar with the things of eternity, and making our peace with Him. But His wisdom discovers in what ways our deceitful hearts will teach us to abuse His mercy, and He provides against the evil. Had we always the warning and opportunity of sickness, we might neglect God till it was given to us; and God has, perhaps, therefore, appointed that death should sometimes come unwarned.
3. In its consequences. I will not view them as they affect the body: let us leave it, lifeless and cold, in the narrow coffin and the quiet grave, awaiting the trumpet of the archangel. The effects of death on the soul include, doubtless, the enlargement of its capacities, as well as its entrance on eternal joy or misery.
II. ITS PERSONALITY. Thou. The young. Those in the prime of life. Those of mature years, &c.
III. ITS CERTAINTY. Thou shalt die.
1. What has become of all our race–Adam, Noah, &c.?
2. Where are the multitudes that have peopled your town in past days? All who have lived before us have died, and all now living are dying. (J. Badcock, LL. B.)
Death sometimes sudden and unexpected
I have known the bride to expire on her bridal day, the shopkeeper when serving his customers, the player on the stage, the clergyman in his pulpit, the lowly Christian on his knees in prayer, the swearer uttering his curse, the thief with his plunder at his side. (J. Badcock, LL. B.)
The human body, beautiful yet frail
The beautiful frame of man it is impossible to consider unaffected by its frailty. A distinguished philosopher, on rising from the study of the human frame, was so impressed with this and With the complicated nature of its machinery, and the numberless parts that must all duly discharge their functions to continue existence, from moment to moment, that he trembled and feared to move, lest, by disordering some one of them, he should fall on the floor a corpse. (J. Badcock, LL. B.)
The biography of death
The biography of death was the title of a sermon preached by a famous London minister. For death has had a parentage, birth, history, a career of conquest and victory, a coronation and kingdom, a ghastly dining-hall and retinue of hired servants, and, finally, a record of disaster, defeat, and death! The last enemy to be destroyed is Death. (Homiletic Review.)
Hezekiah warned
Is there any peculiar significance in the announcement? There ought not to be. All life is a warning that we are going to die. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Facing death
When the physician told General Grant that his disease was fatal, and might quickly do its dire work, for a little while he seemed to lose, not courage, but hope. It was like a man gazing into his open grave. He was in no way dismayed, but the sight was still appalling. The conqueror looking at his inevitable conqueror: the stern soldier to whom armies had surrendered, watching the approach of that enemy to whom even he must yield. (H. O. Mackey.)
Looking over the brink
A godly minister who was fond of visiting his sick and dying people on Saturday afternoons, was asked by a brother minister, who met him on this errand one day, why he did this, instead of staying at home and preparing his sermons. He replied, I like to take a look over the brink. Sometimes it is a blessing to a man to be brought suddenly to the brink in his own life, to look over it seriously and prayerfully, and then to take back into life the lessons he has learned there. (Sunday School Chronicle.)
Death, the ringing of the curfew bell
William the Conqueror established the ringing of curfew bells. The meaning of that curfew bell, sounded at eventime, was, that all the fires should be put out or covered with ashes, all the lights should be extinguished, and the people should go to bed. Soon for us the curfew will sound. The fires of our life will be banked up in ashes, and we shall go into the sleep, the cool sleep, I hope the blessed sleep. But there is no gloom in that if we are ready. The safest thing that a Christian can do is to die. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)
A true life the best preparation for death
An old slave, when told by his doctor that he was near death, said: Bless you, doctor, dont let that bother you; thats what Ive been living for. (Sunday School Chronicle.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XXXVIII
Account of Hezekiah’s dangerous sickness and miraculous
recovery, 1-9.
Tender and beautiful song of thanksgiving, in which this pious
king breathed out the sentiments of a grateful heart, when his
life was, as it were, restored. This ode may be adapted to
other cases; and will always afford profit and pleasure to
those who are not void of feeling and piety, 10-22.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXXVIII
Verse 1. In those days] The reader is requested to consult the notes on 2Kg 20:1-21. in reference to the principal parts of this chapter.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
1. Set . . . house in orderMakearrangement as to the succession to the throne; for he had then noson; and as to thy other concerns.
thou shall diespeakingaccording to the ordinary course of the disease. His being sparedfifteen years was not a change in God’s mind, but an illustration ofGod’s dealings being unchangeably regulated by the state of man inrelation to Him.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death,…. This was about the time that Sennacherib invaded Judea, threatened Jerusalem with a siege, and his army was destroyed by an angel from heaven; but, whether it was before or after the destruction of his army, interpreters are not agreed. Some of the Jewish writers, as Jarchi upon the place, and others a, say, it was three days before the ruin of Sennacherib’s army; and that it was on the third day that Hezekiah recovered, and went up to the temple, that the destruction was; and that it was the first day of the passover; and that this was before the city of Jerusalem was delivered from him; and the fears of him seem clear from Isa 38:6 and some are of opinion that his sickness was occasioned by the consternation and terror he was thrown into, by reason of the Assyrian army, which threatened ruin to him and his kingdom. Though Josephus b says, that it was after his deliverance from it, and when he had given thanks to God for it; however, it is certain it was in the same year, since it was in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign that Sennacherib invaded Judea, and from this his sickness and recovery fifteen years were added to his days, and he reigned no more than twenty nine years, 2Ki 8:2 what this sickness was cannot be said with certainty; some have conjectured it to be the plague, since he had a malignant ulcer, of which he was cured by a plaster of figs; but, be it what it will, it was a deadly one in its own nature, it was a sickness unto death, a mortal one; though it was not eventually so, through the interposition of divine power, which prevented it. The reason of this sickness, which Jarchi gives, that it was because he did not take to himself a wife, is without foundation; more likely the reason of it was, to keep him humble, and that he might not be lifted up with the deliverance, or be more thankful for it:
and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came unto him: not of his own accord to visit him, but was sent by the Lord with a message to him:
and said unto him, thus saith the Lord, set thine house in order; or, “give orders to thine house” c: to the men of thine house, as the Targum; his domestics, his counsellors and courtiers, what they should do after his death; how his personal estate should be disposed of; how the throne should be filled up; who should succeed him, since he had no son: the family and secular affairs of men should be put in order, and direction given for the management of them, and their substance and estates should be disposed of by will before their death; and much more a concern should be shown for the setting in order their spiritual affairs, or that they may be habitually ready for death and eternity;
for thou shall die, and not live: or not recover of thy sickness, as the Targum adds: “for thou art a dead man”, as it may be rendered, in all human appearance; the disease being deadly, and of which he could not recover by the help of any medicine; nothing but almighty power could save him; and this is said, to observe to him his danger, to give him the sentence of death in himself, and to set him a praying, as it did.
a Seder Olam Rabba, c. 23. p. 65. b Antiqu. l. 10. c. 2. sect. 1. c “praecipe domui tuae”, Musculus, Vatablus, Pagniaus, Montanus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
There is nothing to surprise us in the fact that we are carried back to the time when Jerusalem was still threatened by the Assyrian, since the closing vv. of chapter 37 merely contain an anticipatory announcement, introduced for the purpose of completing the picture of the last Assyrian troubles, by adding the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prediction of their termination. It is within this period, and indeed in the year of the Assyrian invasion (Isa 36:1), since Hezekiah reigned twenty-nine years, and fifteen of these are promised here, that the event described by Isaiah falls – an event not merely of private interest, but one of importance in connection with the history of the nation also. “In those days Hizkiyahu became dangerously ill. And Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, came to him, and said to him, Thus saith Jehovah, Set thine house in order: for thou wilt die, and not recover. Then Hizkiyahu turned (K. om.) his face to the wall, and prayed to Jehovah, and said (K. saying) , O Jehovah, remember this, I pray, that I have walked before thee in truth, and with the whole heart, and have done what was good in Thine eyes! And Hizkiyahu wept with loud weeping.” “Give command to thy house” ( , cf., , 2Sa 17:23) is equivalent to, “Make known thy last will to thy family” (compare the rabbinical tsavva’ ah , the last will and testament); for though tsivvah is generally construed with the accusative of the person, it is also construed with Lamed (e.g., Exo 1:22; cf., , Exo 16:34). in such a connection as this signifies to revive or recover. The announcement of his death is unconditional and absolute. As Vitringa observes, “the condition was not expressed, because God would draw it from him as a voluntary act.” The sick man turned his face towards the wall ( , hence the usual fut. cons. as in 1Ki 21:4, 1Ki 21:8, 1Ki 21:14), to retire into himself and to God. The supplicatory (here, as in Psa 116:4, Psa 116:16, and in all six times, with ) always has the principal tone upon the last syllable before = (Neh 1:11). The metheg has sometimes passed into a conjunctive accent (e.g., Gen 50:17; Exo 32:31). does not signify that which, but this, that, as in Deu 9:7; 2Ki 8:12, etc. “In truth,” i.e., without wavering or hypocrisy. , with a complete or whole heart, as in 1Ki 8:61, etc. He wept aloud, because it was a dreadful thing to him to have to die without an heir to the throne, in the full strength of his manhood (in the thirty-ninth year of his age), and with the nation in so unsettled a state.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Hezekiah’s Sickness. | B. C. 710. |
1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live. 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, 3 And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, 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. 4 Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying, 5 Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. 6 And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city. 7 And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken; 8 Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.
We may hence observe, among others, these good lessons:– 1. That neither men’s greatness nor their goodness will exempt them from the arrests of sickness and death. Hezekiah, a mighty potentate on earth and a mighty favourite of Heaven, is struck with a disease, which, without a miracle, will certainly be mortal; and this in the midst of his days, his comforts, and usefulness. Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. It should seem, this sickness seized him when he was in the midst of his triumphs over the ruined army of the Assyrians, to teach us always to rejoice with trembling. 2. It concerns us to prepare when we see death approaching: “Set thy house in order, and thy heart especially; put both thy affections and thy affairs into the best posture thou canst, that, when thy Lord comes, thou mayest be found of him in peace with God, with thy own conscience, and with all men, and mayest have nothing else to do but to die.” Our being ready for death will make it come never the sooner, but much the easier: and those that are fit to die are most fit to live. 3. Is any afflicted with sickness? Let him pray, James v. 13. Prayer is a salve for every sore, personal or public. When Hezekiah was distressed by his enemies he prayed; now that he was sick he prayed. Whither should the child go, when any thing ails him, but to his Father? Afflictions are sent to bring us to our Bibles and to our knees. When Hezekiah was in health he went up to the house of the Lord to pray, for that was then the house of prayer. When he was sick in bed he turned his face towards the wall, probably towards the temple, which was a type of Christ, to whom we must look by faith in every prayer. 4. The testimony of our consciences for us that by the grace of God we have lived a good life, and have walked closely and humbly with God, will be a great support and comfort to us when we come to look death in the face. And though we may not depend upon it as our righteousness, by which to be justified before God, yet we may humbly plead it as an evidence of our interest in the righteousness of the Mediator. Hezekiah does not demand a reward from God for his good services, but modestly begs that God would remembers, not how he had reformed the kingdom, taken away the high places, cleansed the temple, and revived neglected ordinances, but, which was better than all burnt-offerings and sacrifices, how he had approved himself to God with a single eye and an honest heart, not only in these eminent performances, but in an even regular course of holy living: I have walked before thee in truth and sincerity, and with a perfect, that is, an upright, heart; for uprightness is our gospel perfection. 5. God has a gracious ear open to the prayers of his afflicted people. The same prophet that was sent to Hezekiah with warning to prepare for death is sent to him with a promise that he shall not only recover, but be restored to a confirmed state of health and live fifteen years yet. As Jerusalem was distressed, so Hezekiah was diseased, that God might have the glory of the deliverance of both, and that prayer too might have the honour of being instrumental in the deliverance. When we pray in our sickness, though God send not to us such an answer as he here sent to Hezekiah, yet, if by his Spirit he bids us be of good cheer, assures us that our sins are forgiven us, that his grace shall be sufficient for us, and that, whether we live or die, we shall be his, we have no reason to say that we pray in vain. God answers us if he strengthens us with strength in our souls, though not with bodily strength, Ps. cxxxviii. 3. 6. A good man cannot take much comfort in his own health and prosperity unless withal he see the welfare and prosperity of the church of God. Therefore God, knowing what lay near Hezekiah’s heart, promised him not only that he should live, but that he should see the good of Jerusalem all the days of his life (Ps. cxxviii. 5), otherwise he cannot live comfortably. Jerusalem, which is now delivered, shall still be defended from the Assyrians, who perhaps threatened to rally again and renew the attack. Thus does God graciously provide to make Hezekiah upon all accounts easy. 7. God is willing to show to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, that they may have an unshaken faith in it, and therewith a strong consolation. God had given Hezekiah repeated assurances of his favour; and yet, as if all were thought too little, that he might expect from him uncommon favours, a sign is given him, an uncommon sign. None that we know of having had an absolute promise of living a certain number of years to come, as Hezekiah had, God thought fit to confirm this unprecedented favour with a miracle. The sign was the going back of the shadow upon the sun-dial. The sun is a faithful measurer of time, and rejoices as a strong man to run a race; but he that set that clock a going can set it back when he pleases, and make it to return; for the Father of all lights is the director of them.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
ISAIAH – CHAPTER 38
THE SICKNESS AND HEALING OF KING HEZEKIAH
As chapters 36 and 37 looked back to the first 35 chapters of Isaiah’s prophecy, so, chapters 38 and 39 prepare the way for what is to follow in chapters 40 through 66. The first part dealt basically with the relationship of God’s people to the Assyrians; the later will deal with their relationship with the Babylonians.
Vs. 1-8: A WARNING, PRAYER, PROMISE AND SIGN
1. During the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign (before the coming of Sennacherib), while the king was very sick, the Lord sent Isaiah to him with a startling message: “Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live”, (vs. 1; 2Ki 18:2-6; 2Ki 20:1-6).
2. Deeply distressed, the king turned his face to the wall (obviously to hide his grief), and prayed unto the Lord, (vs. 2-3).
a. He could arrange no orderly succession in his house, for he had no heir to sit upon the throne of David, (vs. 2; comp. 2Sa 17:23).
b. Thus, he pleads, with a broken and contrite heart, that the Lord remember his effort to walk uprightly before Him, and to do what was right in His sight, (vs. 3; cp. Neh 13:14; 2Ki 18:5-6).
3. Isaiah had hardly left the king’s presence when the Lord sent him back with a message for Hezekiah, (vs. 4-6).
a. The God of David, his father, has seen and heard and extended the king’s life by fifteen years, (vs. 5; 2Ki 18:2; 2Ki 18:13).
b. He will deliver both Hezekiah and Jersualem out of the hand of the Assyrians, (vs. 6; Isa 31:5; Isa 37:35).
c. God Himself is their defense, (Psa 5:11; Psa 31:2-3; Zec 9:14-15; Zec 12:8).
4. Just as he had offered Ahaz a sign of confirmation, and a choice, so he now offers the same to Hezekiah, (vs. 7-8; comp. Isa 7:10-12) which he accepts and by which he’ is comforted. It is as if his life has been rolled back by fifteen years – his sins forgiven anal cast behind God’s back.
5. Furthermore, Isaiah commanded that a plaster of figs be laid upon the boil, by which the king was afflicted, to effect his healing, (vs. 21; 2Ki 20:7).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1. In those days. The Prophet now relates that the pious king was violently assailed by a different kind of temptation, namely, that he was seized with a mortal disease and despaired of life; and not only so, but likewise that he suffered dreadful agony, in consequence of having received from God a warning of his death, as if in a hostile manner God had thundered on his head from heaven. At what time that happened, whether after the siege, or during the siege, is not very evident; but it is unnecessary to give ourselves much trouble on that subject. It may be easily inferred from the sacred history, that this event happened about the fourteenth year of his reign, either while he was invaded by the Assyrian, or after he was delivered, for he reigned twenty-nine years, (2Kg 18:2😉 in the fourteenth year of his reign the Assyrian attacked Judea, (2Kg 18:13,) and fifteen years were added by the promise which is here related by the Prophet, (2Kg 20:6,) and this makes up twenty-nine years. Hence it appears that it must have been about the fourteenth year of his reign that Hezekiah was afflicted by this disease.
The only doubtful point is, whether it was during the time of the siege, or afterwards, that he was sick. For my own part, I look upon it as a more probable conjecture, that he was attacked by this disease after the siege had been raised; for if he had been sick during the time of the siege, that circumstance would not have been left out by the Prophet, who, on the other hand, has related that Hezekiah sent messengers, went into the temple, spread a letter before the Lord, and sent for the Prophet. These circumstances do not at all apply to a man who was suffering heavy sickness; and if disease had been added to so many distresses, that circumstance would not have been omitted. In doubtful matters, therefore, let us follow what is more probable, namely, that the pious king, having been delivered from the enemy, is attacked by disease and is in great danger.
Yet it is not without reason that our attention is also directed to an almost uninterrupted succession of events, that we may know that he scarcely had leisure to breathe, but, after having scarcely reached the shore from one ship-wreck, suddenly fell into another equally dangerous. Let us therefore remember that believers must endure various temptations, so that they are assailed sometimes by wars, sometimes by diseases, sometimes by other calamities, and sometimes one calamity follows another in unbroken succession, and they are laid under the necessity of maintaining uninterrupted warfare during their whole life; so that, when they have escaped from one danger, they are on the eve of enduring another. They ought to be prepared in such a manner, that when the Lord shall be pleased to add sorrow to sorrow, they may bear it patiently, and may not be discouraged by any calamity. If any respite be allowed, (71) let them know that this is granted for their weakness, but let not a short truce lead them to form a false imagination of a lengthened peace; let them make additional exertions, till, having finished the course of their earthly life, they arrive at the peaceful harbor.
Even unto death. The severity of the disease might be very distressing to the good man. First, mortal disease brings along with it sharp pains, especially when it is attended by an inflammatory boil. But the most distressing of all was, that he might think that God opposed and hated him, because, as soon as he had been rescued from so great a calamity, he was immediately dragged to death, as if he had been unworthy of reigning. Besides, at that time he had no children; and there was reason to believe that his death would be followed by a great disorder of public affairs. (2Kg 21:1.) This dread of the wrath of God occasions far more bitter anguish to the consciences of believers than any bodily disease; and if they lose their perception of the favor of God, it is impossible that they should not be immediately grieved. But God, as if he expressly intended to add oil to the flame, absolutely threatens death, and, in order to affect him more deeply, takes away all hope of life.
For; thou shalt die, and shalt not live. The clause, thou shalt not live, is not superfluous, but is added for the purpose of giving intensity or confirmation, as if it had been said that there will be no hope of remedy. Men practice evasion, even though death is at hand, and eagerly seek the means of escape; and, therefore, that Hezekiah may not look around him as if he were uncertain, he is twice informed that he must die.
Give charge concerning thy house, (72) or, to thy house. (73) In order that he may bid adieu to the world, the Prophet enjoins him speedily to order what he wishes to be done after his death; as if he had said, “If thou dost not wish that death shall seize thee, give immediate orders about thy domestic affairs.” Here we see in passing, that the Lord approves of a practice which has been always customary among men, namely, that when they are about to die, they give orders to their neighbors or servants, and arrange the affairs of their family.
Jonathan renders it, “Give up thy house to another;” but the construction conveys a different meaning. Every person, when he must depart from this life, ought to testify that he pays regard to his duty, and that he provides even for the future interests of his family. But his chief care ought to be, not about testaments and heirs, but about promoting the salvation of those whom the Lord has committed to his charge.
(71) “ S’ils ont quelque loisir de reprendre haleine.” “If they have any leisure to draw breath.”
(72) “Set thine house in order. Heb., Give charge concerning thy house.” — Eng. Ver.
(73) Quoad domum taam, vel, domui tuae.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
PREPARATION FOR DEATH
Isa. 38:1. Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
This announcement was made to Hezekiah when suffering under dangerous illness. In answer to his prayer the sentence was mitigated. Fifteen years were added to his life. It is not wrong to pray for the prolongation of life when important interests are concerned, and when we pray with due submission to Him whose prerogative it is to fix its duration.
The text furnishes a theme for useful meditation. It contains
I. A SOLEMN ANNOUNCEMENT.
Thou shalt die. It may be viewed either as the declaration of a familiar truth or as the prediction of an immediate event.
1. As the declaration of a familiar truth. Nothing is more familiar. The universal reign of death over all the generations that have preceded us necessitates the conclusion that, unless we are alive when the Lord comes, we shall follow them. We are reminded of the truth by obituary notices in newspapers, by the spectacle of funerals passing quietly along the streets, by the silent departure of friends. The sentence of death has passed upon all men. However long life may be protracted in individual instances, it never suggests the question whether they will be exceptions to the general rule. It only suggests the wonder that in any instance life is so far protracted. The only uncertain thing is how much longer or shorter than the average our own life will be. Death may come to us when in fullest health by the unexpected accident, or by the illness which has been caught we know not how, or by the subtle disease which silently undermines the system, eating away the cord that has bound us to life (H. E. I. 15361546; P. D. 751, 752).
Nor is this event a mere departure from the present life. To our friends it is chiefly that. It is their deprivation of all that makes us interesting and valuable to them. To ourselves it is very much more. It is the precursor of our appearance before the judgment-seat of the Lord Jesus Christ (2Co. 5:10; Rom. 14:12; Mat. 25:34; Mat. 25:41; Rev. 20:12). It is to us a much more serious matter than passing into nothingness.
Is it, therefore, a subject to be studiously avoided? Is it not one that should be often before us? Look it in the face; dwell on it. Such thought will not produce indifference to the present It will invest it with a deeper seriousness. Its interests and duties will be contemplated in their connection with the great future. The smallest thing has such a connection. The attitude we assume towards God, Christ, the Divine commands, His kingdom. Our conduct in business, the family, among men. The influence of our words, acts, spirit, character. All these come into this great account. Death closes the account. Does not this attach dignity, solemnity, earnestness to the whole of life? (H. E. I. 15571566).
2. As the prediction of an immediate event. Supposing, instead of the familiar truth, it were announced to us on good authority that immediately, or within a given time, we should die, what would be the effect? There are aged Christians, whose life-work is done, to whom it would be welcome news. There are young Christians who have recently found peace in Christ but have not yet realised the privilege of working for Him, to whom it would be welcome. There are others to whom it would be terrible, because they have not found Christ nor surrendered to God. It would be to them like the knell of doom (P. D. 684). And yet it may be the duty of some one to make that announcement [1261]
[1261] It is a distressing duty. It requires the skilful and delicate hand. But it must be performed. There is the tender and delicate girl who took a cold some time ago. She was better and worse. It was nothing. Somehow she became weaker. At length she had only strength to lie in bed She is sure that with more genial weather she will recover. All has been done. One day the physician, with grace and sympathetic manner, tells her mother the case is hopeless. Break it to her. How can she? There is a fear that the revelation may accelerate the catastrophe. It may not. The sick are not usually so much alarmed at the thought of death as is supposed. At any rate, it seems only fair to them that they should know the seriousness of their position. If they are already saved, it will probably lead them to plant their feet more firmly on the Rock of Ages. If they are not yet saved, it may not be too late.Rawlinson.
II. A SUITABLE DIRECTION.
Set thine house in order. This direction is twofold.
1. With regard to your worldly affairs. The king was directed to give command concerning his house. His wishes respecting the succession to the throne. Every business-man should keep his affairs in such order that if he were suddenly called away there would be no difficulty. Every one possessed of property should, in view of the uncertainty of life, make his will. Many leave this duty to the last. If it has been so left and sickness comes, it should be one of the first things done. It will not hasten death. It will save expense. It will secure the rights of all. It will prevent disputes. It will relieve the mind. It will leave it free to attend to the soul.
2. With regard to your eternal interests. Think of the souls future. Are you prepared for the great journey? Are you ready with your accounts? Recall your obligations to the Almighty. Consider how they have been discharged. Overcome your reluctance to a thorough conviction of sin. Let there be humility, contrition, repentance. Seek mercy. There is a Saviour. Believe in Him. Yield your heart. If already a Christian, survey the position. If near death, all this is obviously necessary. If not near death, or death not apparently near, it is necessary on the ground of your liability to death. It will come some time. The only safety is to close with Jesus now.J. Rawlinson.
DUTIES OF THE SICK AND DYING
Isa. 38:1. Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die.
This message sent from God to Hezekiah in his sickness contains a warning applicable to us all. It becomes us all to maintain such order in our worldly and spiritual affairs as that death, whenever He knocks at our door, may find us prepared to obey his summons (H. E. I. 15621566). But this is especially the duty of those who are visited, even now, by the forerunners and harbingers of death (H. E. I. 1561).
Most men, when laid aside by sickness, are disposed to turn in their pain and apparent peril to God who hath smitten, and who alone can heal; and to prepare for the great change in which the sickness may terminate. But few when thus called upon know how to set about the work, which they are then ready to allow to be most necessary and urgent. Even those who have lived outwardly blameless lives, are apt to be so distressed and confused by fear of death, that they do not know how to do what will turn the king of terrors into a messenger of peace, rest, and immortality (H. E. I. 1567, 1568, 1570; P. D. 684, 741, 761). Therefore, let those who are now in health receive some hints for their behaviour under sickness.
I. DUTIES TO BE PERFORMED BY THE SICK AND DYING.
1. The first act of the mind on receiving any warning of our mortal and most frail condition should be an act of recollection, a solemn meditation on the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Most High, in whose hands alone we are, who can kill and make alive [1264] Let us think especially of the love which He has shown us in the gift of His Son and the help of His Holy Spirit.
[1264] This will lead us to submit with more temper and mildness to whatever means are prescribed for our recovery, and also to wait their event with less querulous eagerness than if we corroded our thoughts by the pangs we endure or by the earthly succours whereby we hope to escape or lessen them. There is something soothing as well as sublime in the contemplation of greatness and power. We feel it when we gaze on the great works of Nature. He whose heart expatiates in the prospect of the ocean or of the starry heaven is for a time insensible to his own resentments or misfortunes, and is identified, as it were, with the glorious and tranquil scene before him. One of the principal joys of heaven, we are told, is the delight of gazing upon God; and even in this state of mortal darkness and misery, if we can for a time so forsake the thoughts of earthly things as to call up to our mind whatever images of greatness, and power, and perfection the Scriptures have revealed to us concerning Him, our heart will be filled as by necessity with love and admiration for an object so glorious, and our resignation to His decree will become a matter, not only of necessity, but in some respects of choice. Most unreasonable is their conduct who, in the beginning of sickness, drive away all serious thoughts from the soul, through a fear of injuring the body. Even if this were necessarily the case, the risk is so far less in dying soon than in dying unprepared, that the former danger should be cheerfully encountered rather than incur the possibility of the latter. But the cases of sickness are very few in which, at the beginning of a disorder, such religious considerations can do our bodily health any harm. On the contrary, that awe and tranquillity of soul which are induced by them may in many cases be of real advantage.Heber.
2. When our minds are thus sobered and composed, we must consider what means are yet within our reach to interest Gods power and mercy in our favour. This may be best accomplished by repentance. To this an examination of our past life is absolutely necessary.
In this examination let us attend to the following cautions:
(1.) Let it be honest, however much this may humble us.
(2.) Let us not attempt to plead our own good deeds in extenuation of our sins.
(3.) Let us not be too particular or dwell too long in our recapitulation of such sins as are gone by and are irremediable; for these regrets, however natural, are useless, and beyond a certain degree injurious. With such recollections a guilty pleasure may be revived in our souls; our fancy may return with more regret than horror to the scenes of our former enjoyment.
(4.) Let us be more anxious to recollect those sins, if there be any, for which it is in our power to make reparation. In this let us be most searching and honest. Thorough restitution is essential to prove that our repentance is genuine, and so also is sincere forgiveness of our enemies.
3. Thus truly penitent, let us by faith grasp firmly Gods promises of forgiveness through our Lord Jesus Christ (1Jn. 1:9).
4. If we have been so unwise as to have left our worldly affairs unsettled, let us not be influenced by any foolish fear of alarming our family, or of appearing alarmed ourselves, from immediately making such a disposition of our property as we shall not fear to give account of in the hour of judgment.
5. Let us make up our mind to renounce the world entirely, and all restless hope of recovery; resigning all our prospects entirely into the hand of God, who is best acquainted with our wants and with the wants of those whom we are about to leave behind; and who is infinitely able to protect and provide for us and them (H. E. I. 157, 158, 4055).
6. That our meditations may become holy and comfortable, our repentance sincere and effectual, our restitution humble and public, our charity pure and edifying, our justice without taint, our resignation without reserve, let us give ourselves diligently to prayer (H. E. I. 177, 178, 37393746).
7. In order that we may be assisted in these spiritual duties, let us send promptly for the minister of the Church to which we belong.
II. SINS AGAINST WHICH WE MUST BE ON OUR GUARD.
The sins to which the sick and dying are most exposed are evil and trifling thoughts, unthankfulness, impatience, peevishness, and hypocrisy. To the first two of these men are liable on any remission of pain, or appearance of approaching amendment. There is no other cure for these than an immediate return to prayer and meditation. These remedies will also keep us from murmuring and ill-temper. Hypocrisy may seem a strange vice to impute to a sick or dying person, but it is not uncommon. It is shown in seeking compassion and kindness by counterfeiting the appearance of greater suffering than really belongs to our cases, or in the affectation of more faith, or resignation, or humility, or peace of conscience than either our own hearts or God will sanction. The desire of worldly praise will sometimes linger so late, and cling so closely about the affections of man, that some persons continue to act a part until their voice and senses fail them.
Let the difficulty of the duties which a sick man has to perform, and the number and greatness of the temptations to which he is liable, be an argument with us to leave as little as possible to be done in that state of weakness and alarm (H. E. I. 42514258).Reginald Heber: Sermons, vol. i. pp. 92111.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
HEZEKIAHS PRAYER
Isa. 38:1-19
In this narrative there are three points of difficulty and many points of instruction.
I. THREE POINTS OF DIFFICULTY.
1. Why was Hezekiah afraid to die? Answer:
(1.) Even to a Christian man, death is an event of unutterable solemnity, for which he feels it necessary to make the most serious preparation, and which he would not like to have occur to him suddenly.
(2.) Hezekiah had not that clear view of the future which has been granted to us (Isa. 38:18; 2Ti. 1:10).
(3.) His kingdom was threatened by a powerful enemy, and the important reforms which he had been prosecuting were incomplete; and even good men are apt to forget that God can raise up others to do His work more efficiently than they have done it.
(4.) At that time he had no child, and that he should die childless appeared inconsistent with Gods promise to David (1Ki. 2:4). Probably it was a recollection of this promise that prompted his reference to his integrity (Isa. 38:3). In those words there is no boastfulness; they are an appeal to the Divine faithfulness. On all these accounts a prolongation of his life seemed to Hezekiah desirable, and he sought it from God in prayer.
2. When we compare Isa. 38:1; Isa. 38:5, do we not find an astonishing reversal of a Divine decree altogether inconsistent with the doctrine of Gods unchangeableness? No. The same decree that says, Nineveh shall be destroyed, means, If Nineveh repent, it shall not be destroyed. He that finds good reason to say, Hezekiah shall die, yet still means, If the quickened devotion of Hezekiah importune Me for life, it shall be protracted. And the same God that had decreed this addition of fifteen years had decreed to stir up the spirit of Hezekiah to that vehement and weeping importunity which should obtain it (Bishop Hall).
3. What was the nature of the sign given to confirm Hezekiahs faith? For a discussion of this point, see note [1258]
[1258] 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.2Ki. 20:11.
How was this wonderful result secured? Did God arrest the earth as it revolved on its axis, and wheel it round in the opposite direction? No one who considers what would be the natural result of such a proceeding, and what a stupendous series of miracles would have been needed to have prevented the destruction of all life upon the earth, will think so for a moment, especially when a course much simpler, and equally efficacious, is suggested by the very words of the different narratives. Isaiah indeed says, So the SUN returned ten degrees (Isa. 38:8). But his record of what seemed to occur must be interpreted by what God had promised to do: Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. And in the narrative in the Book of Kings it is the shadow and not the sun that is spoken of throughout. To reverse the shadow in the dial it needed nothing more than a miraculous refraction of the light; and we believe that this is what occurred, not because it was an easier thing for God to do, but because it is in harmony with all that He does to believe that when two courses were open to Him, one exceedingly simple and one exceedingly complex, He would choose the simple course. God never wastes power. The extraordinary results produced by the refraction of light are familiar to all who have given any attention to natural philosophy. The atmosphere refracts the suns rays so as to bring him in sight, on every clear day, before he rises on the horizon, and to keep him in view for some minutes after he is really below it. Contradictory as it may sound, on almost any summer evening you may see the sun at least five minutes after he is set. It is entirely owing to refraction that we have any morning or evening twilight. That the rays of the sun can be so refracted as to cause him to be seen where he actually is not is thus a matter of daily experience. And there are some extraordinary cases on record. Kepler, the great astronomer, mentions that some Hollanders, who wintered in Nova Zembla in the year 1596, were surprised to find that, after a continual night of three months, the sun began to rise about seventeen days sooner than he should have done. This can only be accounted for by a miracle, or by an extraordinary refraction of the suns rays passing through the cold dense air in that climate. In 1703 again, the prior of the monastery at Metz, in Lothringen, and many others, observed that the shadow of a sundial went back an hour and a half. It is thus abundantly plain that the result related could have been secured by a refraction of the light, a common occurrence in Nature, The miracle consisted in its happening at that particular moment; just as in the case of the fish that Peter caught which contained money. Many fish containing money have been caught; but here was the miraclethat this fish was caught at the very time which Christ had indicated. In like manner the miraculous element in the regression of the shadow on the sun-dial of Ahaz was its occurring just at the very time at which it was needed to verify the prophets word and strengthen the monarchs faith.
II. MANY POINTS OF INSTRUCTION.
1. Sickness and death are the common lot of mankind. Kings are liable to them as well as beggars (H. E. I. 1536, 1537).
2. In the extremity of suffering, when all human help is vain, the righteous can turn to God. Pitiable would have been Hezekiahs case, monarch though he was, if he could only have turned his face to the wall.
3. In every extremity, the most powerful of all remedies is prayer (H. E. I. 37203724).
4. How promptly God sometimes answers prayer (2Ki. 20:4).
5. God answers prayer instrumentally. In this case He did it by suggesting a simple remedy (Isa. 38:21), which perhaps the court physicians had thought it beneath their dignity to employ.
6. Those who have been restored from dangerous illness should make public acknowledgment; of Gods goodness.
7. How great are our privileges in possessing the Gospel, through which life and immortality are brought to light, and death stripped of its terror! In the market-place of Mayence stands a statue of Gutenberg, the inventor of printing, on the base of which there is this honourable inscription:The knowledge which was once the exclusive possession of princes and philosophers he has put within the reach of the common people. A similar statue might be erected to the honour of our Saviour, who has made those views of the future life which cheered only a few of the noblest saints (such as David in Psa. 23:6) the common heritage of the whole Church. No true believer can now be so much afraid of death as Hezekiah was (1Co. 15:55-57).
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
C. PROSTRATION, CHAPTER 38
1. PERPLEXITY
TEXT: Isa. 38:1-8
1
In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah. Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
2
Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto Jehovah,
3
and said, Remember now, O Jehovah, I beseech thee, 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.
4
Then came the word of Jehovah to Isaiah, saying,
5
Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
6
And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.
7
And this shall be the sign unto thee from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do this thing that he hath spoken:
8
behold, I will cause the shadow on the steps, which is gone down on the dial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps. So the sun returned ten steps on the dial whereon it was gone down.
QUERIES
a.
Was Hezekiah claiming he had been perfect?
b.
Why did God add fifteen years to Hezekiahs life?
c.
What was the sign to signify?
PARAPHRASE
About nine years earlier in the reign of Hezekiah, he had become deathly ill. Isaiah the prophet and son of Amoz was sent to the king with this message from the Lord: Thus says The Covenant God, Jehovah, You are going to die from this illness, so you had better give your last word of instruction and get things in order for you are about to be succeeded on the throne. When Hezekiah heard these words from Isaiah he was very upset because he had no son to succeed him and the menace of the Assyrian empire had become critical. The only recourse left to Hezekiah in the face of these impossible circumstances was the Lord, so Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed. He said, O Lord, please remember that I have always tried to live my life according to Thy truth with my whole heart, and I have always tried to do what Thou hast said is good. Overcome with the emotions of this moment Hezekiah began to weep with great sobs. Immediately the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says The Covenant God, Jehovah, the same God who promised your ancestor David that his throne would abide forever, I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. Since you have such true concern for the promise of Thy God through Davids throne I will let you live fifteen more years and produce an heir to Davids throne. (Isaiah told him to put a poultice of figs on his boil and he would recover). I will also deliver you and Jerusalem from any Assyrian menace. I, Jehovah, will defend this city. (Hezekiah asked what sign he would be given to verify Gods promise of the extension of his life and deliverance from the Assyrian menace. Isaiah asked Hezekiah whether he would prefer the shadow of the sun to go immediately forward ten steps on Ahaz step-sun-dial or backward ten steps. Hezekiah replied that the shadow going forward would be easy so he preferred it to go backward. Isaiah prayed to the Lord). So Isaiah said to Hezekiah, This will be the sign to you from Jehovah. He will do what you asked. Jehovah says, I will cause the shadow on the step-sun-dial of Ahaz to go backward ten steps from where it is now. So the sun went backward ten steps on the step-dial from where it was at that time.
COMMENTS
v. REPINING: Hezekiah died in 695 B.C. The phrase In those days, of Isa. 38:1 must refer to a time at least 15 years prior to 695 B.C. or somewhere near 710 B.C. Hezekiah was sick unto death at least nine or ten years prior to the confrontation at Jerusalem recorded in chapters 3637 (Sennacheribs invasion of Judah in 701 B.C.) Therefore, Isaiah, chapter 38, is chronologically out of order. That is no problem. The historical data of chapter 38 is accurate, and that is what is important. The Hebrews were not as concerned with chronology as they were with the events and their meanings. Matthews gospel is a prime example of a Hebrew man writing as an eyewitness what he saw accurately, but recording it out of chronological order. The proper order of these chapters in Isaiah might be as follows: 38, 39, 36, 37.
Isaiah came to the king with this message from the Lord: Order your house, for die you shall, and not live (literally from the Hebrew). With the Hebrew language, the verb is usually first in the sentence because the action being done or to be done is more important than the actor. The Hebrews were not as egotistical as Westerners. Leupold translates it, Give your last orders, for you shall die and not recover. Isaiahs message is very blunt. We do not know what the kings sickness was. There were evidently boils associated with it. Lange has suggested the Hebrew word shehiyn translated in Isa. 38:21 boil stands not only for the plague boil, but also for other burning ulcers, as it occurs in reference to leprosy (Lev. 13:18 ff) and other inflammable cutaneous diseases (Exo. 9:9; Deu. 28:27; Deu. 28:35; Job. 2:7).
Hezekiah turned his face to the wall to pray not that there was any special efficacy in facing the wall but probably as an instinctive reaction to hide his countenance from others standing near. It may be he did it to gain what little privacy he could obtain. Hezekiah appeals to God on the basis of Old Testament standards (see Psalms 15). Hezekiah surely does not claim for himself sinlessness. His claim is that of a life based upon the truth as he knew it from God and a complete (perfect) hearts motivation to do what was good in Gods sight. It was a prayer of faith, trusting God to fulfill His will in Hezekiahs life. Wept sore would better be translated wept greatly. The Hebrew bechiy gadol might well be translated, as the RSV does, wept bitterly.
But why did not Hezekiah resign himself to what apparently was Gods willhis immediate death? Hezekiah was only 39 or 40 years old when this terminal illness struck him. Manasseh was not to be born for three more years (Mannaseh was 12 years old when Hezekiah died at the age of 54; see 2Ki. 21:1; 2Ch. 33:1). It was contrary to all Hezekiah believed concerning the perpetuation of the dynasty of David (which God had certainly promised) that he should die without a successor to the throne of David! It was also considered by any Jewish male to be a sign of Divine disfavor to be cut off in the midst of ones life without a male child to carry on the family name (Job. 15:32; Job. 22:15-16; Psa. 55:23; Pro. 10:27; Ecc. 7:17). As much as anything else, Hezekiah was questioning whether, in view of his godly life, he deserved such an untimely death or not. Death with such suddenness and in the prime of life has a sobering effecta humbling effect.
Isa. 38:4-8 REPRIEVE: While Isaiah was walking in the middle court (2Ki. 20:4) the word of Jehovah came to him. He was to go back and tell Hezekiah that his prayer was heard. Note, it does not say answered. God answered Hezekiah with His own answer. God hears our prayers and He cares about our difficulties. He is sad that we have to suffer. He is hurt by our disobedience. He is gladdened by our praise and supplications. But, He is not convinced, argued into, worn down by persistence, Gods mind is not changed by the perfect logic, massive amount or unending persistence of our prayers. He knows what is best for us and always answers according to His will. He insists that we pray in order that we may put ourselves in the proper attitude of faith, humility and dependence to receive what He willswhether it be weal or woe. The apostle Paul did not want a thorn in the flesh, and, in fact, prayed three times that it be removed. Gods answer was, every time, No! So here, Hezekiah did not change the mind of God, but by his prayer of faith, humility and dependence upon God put himself in the proper condition to be the agent through whom God could continue His work of perpetuating the throne of David. God added to Hezekiahs life 15 yearstime to produce an heir and prepare him for the throne of David. The very fact that Jehovah said, the God of David thy father, indicates God was answering according to His own purposes and not simply to satisfy Hezekiahs desire for more years of life. And it is not just Hezekiahs life that is to be sparedthe city of David and its inhabitants are also to be protected from annihilation. God will continue His program of redemption through Hezekiah and his countrymen in spite of all the threats of the Assyrians.
In 2Ki. 20:8-11 and Isa. 38:22 we are informed that Hezekiah asked for a sign. To Ahaz God had offered a sign (Isaiah 7) but Ahaz did not want a sign for he was depending upon help from Assyria. Hezekiah, realizing the severity of his situation, asks for a sign to strengthen him for the great task of leading his nation to trust Jehovah for deliverance.
The Hebrew word maeloth may be translated dials, degrees or steps, (cf. Exo. 20:26; 1Ki. 10:19; 2Ki. 20:9-11). We quote in part a footnote from Old Testament History, Smith & Fields, College Press, p. 643: In the absence of any materials for determining the shape and structure of the . . . instrument . . . the best course is to follow the most strictly natural meaning of the word, and to consider that the dial was really stairs, and that the shadow (perhaps of some column or obelisk on the top) fell on a greater or smaller number of them according as the sun was low or high. The terrace of a palace might easily be thus ornamented. Ahazs tastes seem to have led him in pursuit of foreign curiosities (2Ki. 6:10), and his intimacy with Tiglath-pileser gave him probably an opportunity of procuring from Assyria the pattern of some such structure.
When Hezekiah asked for a sign, Isaiah said, . . . shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps? Hezekiah replied that it was easier for the shadow to lengthen than go back, so he asked that the shadow go back ten steps. (2Ki. 20:8-11) Isaiah says the sun returned ten steps while 2Ki. 20:11 says the Lord brought the shadow back ten steps. The Lord used the sun to produce the moving of the shadow backward. Whatever the method, whether by refraction of light or by suspending or reversing the laws governing the orbit of the earth around the sun, it was an act performed by the supernatural power of God at work upon the natural world and provided a sign of supernatural verification to Hezekiah.
Alas, Hezekiah was still a man with weaknesses. He was like many men (even the apostle Paul, Rom. 7:13-25) whose intentions are higher than their deeds. After his recovery, Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud, (2Ch. 32:24-25), when the envoys of Merodachbaladan came (Isa. 39:1 ff). On the other hand, when Hezekiahs ideals and deeds are compared with some of his ungodly predecessors and successors he was, like his ancestor David, a man after Gods own heart. His faith, humility and trust in God saved the nation and preserved a remnant through which redemption came to all men.
Let every reader be here reminded of the uncertainty of this life and the imperative need to set your house in order. As a poet once wailed, too commonly at the mercy of a moment are left the vast concerns of an eternal scene. Too often men and women procrastinate setting themselves in order with God until there is no more time or they are incapable. Now is the time; Today is the day of salvation!
QUIZ
1.
When was Hezekiah sick?
2.
What is probably the proper chronological order of Isaiah 36-39?
3.
What is the meaning, Set your house in order?
4.
What may have been the nature of the kings illness?
5.
Why was Hezekiah upset that he was about to die?
6.
For whose sake did God prolong Hezekiahs life?
7.
Was Hezekiah always true to God after this?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XXXVIII.
(1) In those days.On any supposition, the narrative of Hezekiahs illness throws us back to a time fifteen years before his death, and therefore to an earlier date than the destruction of the Assyrian army, which it here follows. So in Isa. 38:6, the deliverance of the city is spoken of as still future. Assuming the rectified chronology given above, we are carried to a time ten or eleven years before the invasion, which was probably in part caused by the ambitious schemes indicated in Isaiah 39. It follows from either view that we have no ground for assuming, as some commentators have done, (1) that the illness was an attack of the plague that destroyed the Assyrian army, or (2) that the treasures which Hezekiah showed to the Babylonian ambassadors were in part the spoil of that army.
Set thine house in order.Literally, Give orders to thy house, euphemistic for make thy will. The words are a striking illustration, like Jonahs announcement that Nineveh should be destroyed in three days (Jon. 3:4), of the conditional character of prophecy. It would seem as if Isaiah had been consulted half as prophet and half as physician as to the nature of the disease. It seemed to him fatal; it was necessary to prepare for death. The words may possibly imply a certain sense of disappointment at the result of Hezekiahs reign. In the midst of the kings magnificence and prosperity there was that in the inner house of the soul, as well as in that of the outer life, which required ordering.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
HEZEKIAH’S ILLNESS.
1. In those days Probably about the time Sennacherib and his host were providentially routed from out of the land: but see Isa 38:6.
Sick unto death With a sickness to all appearances fatal. Some conjecture that the plague which proved so destructive to the Assyrian army was still lingering in the neighbourhood. Such a mortality, necessarily without adequate burial, would taint the whole atmosphere, and produce, at least, sporadic diseases without discrimination over the land.
Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die Such was at first the Lord’s determination graciously turned aside by Hezekiah’s plea. The command implies, Make due arrangements for thy succession, and whatever else is left incomplete in thy plans. The king was not yet in his prime, being but thirty-nine years old, and had not prepared against an unanticipated death.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Hezekiah’s Illness and The Great Sign ( Isa 38:1-8 ).
The centrality and importance of this chapter must not be overlooked. It was God’s final attempt to woo over the reigning house of David to a life of obedience and trust. From this chapter onwards (along with its consequence in chapter 39) attention turns to the coming Servant of Yahweh Who will accomplish what the current house of David has proved itself incapable of doing.
Isa 38:1
‘In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death. And Isaiah, the prophet the son of Amoz, came to him and said, “Thus says Yahweh, Set your house in order for you will die and not live.” ’
‘In those days.’ An indeterminate phrase, the plural of ‘in that day’ Here it simply loosely connects what is to happen with the days of which Isaiah is speaking.
Hezekiah is declared to be very ill, indeed dying. He has a mortal illness. He was ‘sick unto death.’ And the prophet comes to him with confirmation from Yahweh. ‘Thus says Yahweh — you will die.’ He must prepare for death and do all that is necessary for a king to do to ensure that affairs of state are passed to his successor smoothly. God is concerned for the future of his people.
This verse with its subsequent narrative is quite remarkable. It demonstrates that even the word of Yahweh can be reversed by repentance. For here is a prophetic word which will be so altered. What seems to be a situation which cannot be altered, is altered through prayer. The same was always true of God’s judgments (compare Jonah and Nineveh).
Isa 38:2-3
‘Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Yahweh, and said, “Remember now O Yahweh I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept grievously.’
Outwardly Hezekiah’s concern would appear to be for the situation he found himself in personally. There is nothing sacrificially noble about his prayer. It is presented as outwardly purely selfish, as Isa 39:6-8 also reveals him to be. He was a good king, a godly king, and yet his perspective was limited and selfish. It was not stated to be the future of the kingdom or the purposes of God that concerned him. What concerned him was his own survival. How many there are of God’s people who are like this. When it comes down to it they are the godly selfish, (what a contradiction in terms, and yet how true of so many) and that is why they will achieve little. Outwardly it would appear that Hezekiah was successful, but he failed deeply in the purposes of God because his own ambitions took precedence. He presided over an almost catastrophe.
Nevertheless here part of his problem was also that he saw his premature death as resulting from sin. So he was not only crying out for life, he was crying out for forgiveness. One reason why he wanted to live was because in his eyes it would prove that he had become right with God. So his personal concern is to some extent understandable.
‘Turned his face to the wall.’ He could not get to the privacy of the Temple so this was second best. He wanted to be alone with God.
He summed up his life to God a little idealistically, and yet it was basically true. He had sought truth, he had sought to do what was right, he had sought to please God. He had lived a godly life. But we are intended also to see that his life was flawed, as we will learn in the next chapter. For he was unable to get away from his own selfish ambitions.
Yet having said all that we may well see hidden under his tears a concern for his people. While it was not prominent in the way his thoughts were expressed, he would know that in losing him his people were losing one who could strongly affect their future, for he had no grown sons. It may well be therefore that we are to see this thought as included in his prayer. And it may possibly be that God recognised his concern, which might be why the next verses speak of deliverance from Sennacherib’s hands.
‘And Hezekiah wept grievously.’ He did not want to die. He was fighting for life.
Given all this we can sum up Hezekiah’s prayer as indicating,
1) That he was horrified at the thought of premature death.
2) That this was at least partly because he saw it as indicating that God saw him as having sinned grievously so that he was being punished for it, and was thus unforgiven.
3) That underneath, unstated but known by God, was his concern for his people in the trying days that lay ahead of them, and in the face of the threat of invasion.
Yet we cannot hide from the fact that he did not articulate all these thoughts in his prayers. His prime concern is presented as being for his own deliverance. It was God Whose major concern was for His people.
Isa 38:4-6
‘Then came the word of Yahweh 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. Look, I will add to your life fifteen years. And I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.”’
Hezekiah knew that his behaviour in the religious and political field had angered the king of Assyria. He had purified the temple, removing the Assyrian gods; he had refused to pay tribute; he had had discussions with his neighbours (2Ki 18:7). He could hardly doubt that this had been noted and that the detail was known to Sennacherib’s spies. Thus he could have had little doubt that he would at some stage be called to account. This must surely have been part of the reason for his distress, that he was dying when his country needed him.
That also explains why God sends to him and promises him, not only an extension of life, but also deliverance for him and Jerusalem out of Sennacherib’s hand. He promises that He will give Hezekiah a further fifteen years, and will successfully defend Jerusalem. This met his major concerns. But it is also clearly implied that it would not be because of his own worthiness but because of God’s promises to David – it is to be from ‘the God of your father David’.
The figure of ‘fifteen years’ is probably significant. Five is the number of covenant, and threefold five is covenant completeness. Thus it implies that God is acting within the covenant and for covenant reasons. Hezekiah will be living on borrowed time so that he can further the application of that covenant. (Fifteen and other multiples of five were a regular measurement in the Tabernacle. Compare also the twofold ‘five words’ of the commandments, and the five books of the Law and of the Psalms, all aspects of the covenant).
By these promises God is revealed as the giver of life and as the Great Defender of His people, and Hezekiah as the great beneficiary. Surely now he will be dedicated to Yahweh with all his heart and lean wholly on Him. And in order to seek to ensure this, God in His graciousness goes further. He adds to this an even greater wonder.
Isa 38:7
“And this will be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do this thing that he has spoken. Behold, I will cause the shadow on the steps, which has gone down on the steps of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps.” So the sun returned ten steps on the steps on which it had gone down.’
It is futile to seek to speculate on how this happened apart from the fact that we know that it was Yahweh’s doing. The steps of Ahaz are not said to be a sundial, although it is often assumed by commentators. They are rather chosen here as a reminder of the person of Ahaz, the one who refused God’s sign, the one who would not listen to Yahweh. They are possibly the steps that had led up to Ahaz’s house of idolatry (2Ki 23:12). But as that may have been designed for the worship of the sun god, it may well be that the steps had also been designed to follow the sun’s shadow, thus linking it with the passing of time. But the point is that what faithless Ahaz set up was to be used as the conveyor of a sign from God to his successor who was now being given the same great opportunity as he had had, the opportunity to see God producing a miracle enabling him to trust in God alone and reject all earthly support.
The sign will be indicated by the movement of the shadow caused by the sun on these steps. The advancing shadow will retreat ten steps. Those ten steps which had come into the shade will become once more open to the sun. This was too great a degree of change to be mistakable. Only an act of God could produce this phenomenon. And it was clearly witnessed, probably by Isaiah himself, for he asserts that it happened.
It is possible that the retreating of the shadow was intended to be an indication that God would remove the shadow which was hanging over Hezekiah, and the shadow which was hanging over Jerusalem, the ten indicating covenant witness and certainty (twice five). It was certainly in order to indicate that the Creator could do whatever He would on the earth. And if the shadow of the sun could be controlled how much more Sennacherib, and the ‘host of heaven’ (2Ki 17:16; 2Ki 21:3-5) whom he worshipped.
It may also indicate that God was giving the house of David a second chance. Time was, as it were retreating, thus eliminating the failure of Ahaz.
(How God did it is not a question we can look at scientifically for we do not have all the facts. We are not told that the phenomenon achieved a permanent change in the position of the sun. Nor indeed is the sun said to have been observed as moving. It was the shadow caused by the sun that was observed as moving, and that only on the steps of Ahaz. We can only look on and wonder, as they no doubt did).
The greater detail in 2 Kings at this point is against 2 Kings being just an expansion of Isaiah here, unless they had further material from a more detailed written record of Isaiah to go on. Perhaps there was an original detailed record from which he extracted what is written here, selecting the salient points for what he wanted to convey. In 2 Kings the great sign is more closely related to Hezekiah’s healing.
The significance of all this must not be lost. God’s purpose in Hezekiah’s illness was to establish his faith and to give him the opportunity of reversing what Ahaz had done in bringing about the rejection of the earthly house of David. In the same way as the shadow of the sun had reversed, God could reverse that rejection. Indeed He gave him multiple evidence that he would if only Hezekiah would believe. He demonstrated that He had control over life and death, and over the movements and effects of the sun. And He guaranteed the deliverance of Jerusalem by His own hand. What more could He do? We are at the ultimate climax. Surely this Davidic king will now fully do His will? Chapter 39 will be the anti-climax, and will give a negative answer.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 38:5 Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
Isa 38:5
Mat 6:27, “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?”
Isa 38:11 I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
Isa 38:11
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Prophecies of Isaiah to Hezekiah Inserted between prophecies of judgment (Isaiah 1-35) and restoration (Isaiah 40-66) is the story of two major events in the life and ministry of Hezekiah king of Judah. Isa 36:1 to Isa 39:8 tells the story of Hezekiah’s confrontation with Sennacherib, who tried to conquer Jerusalem, and God’s miraculous deliverance. This passage of Scripture is almost the same in content to 2Ki 18:13 to 2Ki 20:19. Thus, the same author probably penned both two passages and one served as a copy of the other.
Note the proposed outline:
Sennacherib Besieges Jerusalem Isa 36:1 to Isa 37:38
Hezekiah’s Illness Isa 38:1-22
The Visit of the Babylonians Isa 39:1-8
If we compare the narrative material of Elijah and Elisha (1Ki 17:1 – 2Ki 9:37), there is a similarity in structure in that they both bear witness to the testimony of the prophets of the Lord. This becomes evident by the fact that both passages end with a testimony of the fulfillment of the words of the prophets Elijah and Isaiah. For example, the story of Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem ends with the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy of Isa 37:7 (Isa 37:36-38). The story of Hezekiah’s illness ends by reflecting upon the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy (Isa 38:21-22). The story of the visit of the Babylonians closes by noting the fulfillment of prophecy (Isa 39:8).
Isa 36:1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.
Isa 36:1
Isa 36:2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field.
Isa 36:2
[52] Edward Robinson, ed., Calmet’s Dictionary of the Holy Bible, as Published by the Late Charles Taylor, with the Fragments Incorporated (Boston: Crocker and Brewster, 1832), 774; Adam Clarke, Isaiah, in Adam Clarke’s Commentary, Electronic Database (Seattle, WA: Hendrickson Publishers Inc., 1996), in P.C. Study Bible, v. 3.1 [CD-ROM] (Seattle, WA: Biblesoft Inc., 1993-2000), notes on Isaiah 36:2.
[53] F. F. Bruce, The Books and the Parchments (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1963), 49.
AmpBible, “And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh [the military official] from Lachish [the Judean fortress commanding the road from Egypt] to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem with a great army. And he stood by the canal of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field.”
BBE, “And the king of Assyria sent the Rab-shakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a strong force, and he took up his position by the stream of the higher pool, by the highway of the washerman’s.”
NIV, “Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman’s Field.”
Isa 36:11 Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews’ language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
Isa 36:11
[54] F. F. Bruce, The Books and the Parchments (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1963), 49-50.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery
v. 1. In those days, v. 2. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, v. 3. and said, v. 4. Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, v. 5. Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David, thy father, v. 6. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, v. 7. And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord that the Lord will do this thing that He hath spoken, v. 8. Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees which is gone down in the sun-dial of Ahaz ten degrees backward.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
SECTION II.HEZEKIAH‘S ILLNESS, AND THE EMBASSY OF MERODACH–BALADAN (Isa 38:1-22; Isa 39:1-8.).
EXPOSITION
The present chapter is parallel with 2Ki 20:1-11, but contains some marked differences from that passage, both in what it omits and in what it inserts. The general narrative (2Ki 20:1-8, and 2Ki 20:21, 22) is greatly condensed, and in part disarranged, 2Ki 20:21, 22 being added, as it would seem, by an after-thought. On the other hand, the psalm of Hezekiah (2Ki 20:9-20) is additional, having nothing corresponding to it in the Book of Kings. There is every appearance of 2Ki 20:1-11 having been composed previously to the present chapter, and of the present chapter having been, in its narrative portion, abridged from 2 Kings.
Isa 38:1
In those days. The illness of Hezekiah is fixed by Isa 38:5 (and 2Ki 20:6) to the fourteenth year of his reign, or b.c. 714. The entire narrative of this chapter and the next is therefore thirteen or fourteen years earlier than that of Isa 36:1-22; Isa 37:1-38; which belongs to Hezekiah’s closing years, b.c. 701-698 (see the comment on Isa 26:1, Isa 26:2). Sick unto death; i.e. attacked by a malady which, if it had run its natural course, would have been fatal. Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. This double designation of Isaiah, by his office and by his descent, marks the original independence of this narrative, which was not intended for a continuation of Isa 37:1-38. Thou shalt die, and not live. Prophecies were often threats, and, when such, were conditional, announcing results which would follow unless averted by prayer or repentance (compare Jonah’s prophecy, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown,” Jon 3:4).
Isa 38:2
Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall. The action resembles that of Ahab (1Ki 21:4); but the spirit is wholly different. Ahab turned away in sullenness, Hezekiah that he might pray undisturbed. Beds seem to have been placed in the corners of rooms, with the head against one wall of the room, and one side against another.
Isa 38:3
Remember now, O Lord. Hezekiah was in the full vigour of lifethirty-nine years old only. He had probably as yet no son, since Manasseh, who succeeded him, was but twelve (2Ki 21:1, 2Ch 33:1) when Hezekiah died at the age of fifty-four. It was a grievous thing to a Jew to leave no male offspring: it was viewed as a mark of the Divine displeasure to be cut off in the midst of one’s days (Job 15:32; Job 22:15, Job 22:16 : Psa 55:23; Pro 10:27; Ecc 7:17). Hezekiah asked himselfHad he deserved such a sentence? He thought that he had not. He knew that, with whatever shortcomings, he had endeavoured to serve God, had trusted in him (2Ki 18:5), cleaved to him (2Ki 18:6), “departed not from following him, but kept his commandments” (2Ki 18:6) He therefore ventured upon an expostulation and an earnest prayer; and God was pleased to hear the prayer and to grant it. I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart. Compare the unbiased testimony of the authors of Kings and Chronicles (2Ki 18:3-6; 2Ch 29:2; 2Ch 31:20, 2Ch 31:21). Under the old dispensation, there was nothing to prevent men from pleading their righteousness before God (comp. Job 31:4-40; Psa 7:3; Psa 18:20-24; Psa 26:1-8, etc.). Hezekiah, however, does not really regard himself as sinless (comp. verse 17). And Hezekiah wept sore. In the East feelings are but little restrained. Joy shows itself in laughter and shouting, grief in tears and shrill cries. Xerxes wept when he thought of the shortness of human life (Herod; 7.46); the Persians rent the air with load cries at the funeral of Masistius (ibid; 9.24); on the news of the defeat at Salamis all Susa “cried aloud, and wept and wailed without stint” (ibid; 8.99). So David wept for Jonathan (2Sa 1:12) and again for Absalom (2Sa 19:1); Joash wept when he heard the words of the Law (2Ki 22:19); Nehemiah wept at the desolation of Jerusalem (Neh 1:4); the ambassadors of Hezekiah, when disappointed of the object of their embassy, “wept bitterly” (Isa 33:7). No king in the East puts himself under any restraint, if he has an inclination for either tears or laughter.
Isa 38:4
Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying. The author of Kings describes graphically how Isaiah, after delivering his message, had gone out, but had not reached the middle court of the palace, when his footsteps were arrested, and the Divine voice bade him “turn again and relieve Hezekiah’s fears by a fresh announcement” (2Ki 20:4). So swiftly does God answer “the prayer of faith.”
Isa 38:5
Thus saith the Lord, I have heard thy prayer. According to the author of Kings, the full message sent to Hezekiah was, “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. And I will add unto thy clays fifteen years; and I will deliver time 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“ (2Ki 20:5, 2Ki 20:6). The words in italics are additional to those here reported by Isaiah. Fifteen years. This was doubling, or rather more than doubling, the length of Hezekiah’s reign, and allowing him a length of life exceeding that of the great majority of the kings of Judah, who seldom attained the age of fifty. Hezekiah lived to be fifty-four.
Isa 38:7
And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord. It was the day of the free offering of “signs” by God to those whom his providence had placed at the head of his people. Ahaz had been offered a sign (Isa 7:11), but had refused the offer made him (Isa 7:12); the Lord had then “himself” given him a sign.” Hezekiah received a sign to assure him of the complete discomfiture of Sennacherib (Isa 37:30); an offer was here made him of a sign of a peculiar kind, and it was offered under peculiar conditions. We learn from 2 Kings that a choice was submitted to himhe was to determine whether time, as measured by a certain timepiece or clock, which was known as “the dial of Ahaz,” should make a sudden leap forwardthe shadow advancing ten degrees upon the dial (2Ki 20:9), or whether it should retire backwards, the shadow upon the same dial receding ten degrees. Hezekiah determined in favour of the latter sign, from its appearing to him the more difficult of accomplishment; and on his declaring his decision, the shadow receded to the prescribed distance. Time was rolled backward, or at any rate appeared to be rolled backward; and the king, seeing so great a miracle, accepted without hesitation the further predictions that had been made to him. The Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken. By the nexus of this verse with the preceding, it would naturally be concluded that “the thing” to be done was the defence of Jerusalem; but verse 22, which belongs properly to this part of the narrative, shows the contrary. Hezekiah had asked for a sign” that he should go up to the house of the Lord.”
Isa 38:8
The sun-dial of Ahaz. We are informed by Herodotus that the sun-dial was an invention of the Babylonians (Herod; 2.109), from whom it would readily pass to the Assyrians. Ahaz may have obtained a knowledge of it, or an actual specimen, when he visited Tiglath-Pileser at Damascus (2Ki 16:10), and, on his return to his capital, have caused one to be erected there. Sun-dials are of several kinds. The one here spoken of seems to have consisted of a set of steps, with a perpendicular gnomon or pole at the top, the shadow of which receded up the steps as the sun rose in the heavens, and descended down them as the sun declined. We must suppose that the sign was given in the forenoon, when the shadow was gradually creeping up the steps. Hezekiah thought that a sudden jump in the same direction would be as nothing compared with a reversal of the motion, and therefore required that the shadow should go back, which it did. How the effect was produced, whether by an eclipse as argued by Mr. Bosanquet, or by refraction, or by an actual alteration of the earth’s motion, we are not told; but there is reason to believe that the cause, whatever it was, was local, not general, since the King of Babylon subsequently sent ambassadors, to inquire concerning “the wonder that was done in the land“ (2Ch 32:31). The sun returned ten degrees. We must not press this expression as indicating a real alteration of the sun‘s place in the heavens. The meaning is that the shadow cast by the sun returned.
Isa 38:9
The writing of Hezekiah; rather, a writing. After he had recovered from his illness, Hezekiah, it would seem, retraced his feelings as he lay upon his sick-bed, and embodied them in this monody. It has been well termed, “a peculiarly sweet and plaintive specimen of Hebrew psalmody” (Cheyne). Four stanzas or strophes of unequal length are thought to be discernible:
(1) from the beginning of Isa 38:10 to the end of Isa 38:12;
(2) from the beginning of Isa 38:13 to the end of Isa 38:14;
(3) from the beginning of Isa 38:15 to the end of Isa 38:17;
(4) from the beginning of Isa 38:18 to the end of Isa 38:20.
In the first two the monarch is looking forward to death, and his strain is mournful; in the last two he has received the promise of recovery, and pours out his thankfulness.
Isa 38:10
In the cutting off of my days; literally, in the pausing of my dayswhich is taken by some to mean “the noon-tide of my life”when my sun had reached its zenith, and might have been expected to begin to decline; by others to signify “the still tranquillity of my life,” when it was gliding quietly and peacefully along without anything to disturb it. Isa 38:6 is against this latter view. I shall go to the gates of the grave; rather, I shall enter in at the gates of hell (or, )the place of departed spirits (see the comment on Isa 14:9). Hezekiah bewails his fate somewhat as Antigone: .
Isa 38:11
I shall not see the Lord (comp. Psa 6:5, “In death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave (Sheol) who shall give thee thanks?” and see also Psa 30:9; Psa 88:10-12; Psa 115:17). The Jews had not yet attained the conception of a blissful region in Hades, where God manifested himself, and the saints, who were awaiting the resurrection, saw him and praised him. Even the Lord. (For examples of repetition for the sake of emphasis, see Isa 29:1; Isa 33:22; Isa 38:19; Isa 40:1; Isa 51:17, etc.) In the land of the living; i.e. “as I do now in the land of the living” (comp. Psa 27:13; Psa 116:9).
Isa 38:12
Mine age is departed; rather, my dwelling is plucked up. The body seems to be viewed as the dwelling-place of the soul. Hezekiah’s is to be taken from him, and carried far away, like a shepherd’s tent, while he, his true self, i.e. his soul, is left bare and naked. I have cut off like a weaver my life; rather, I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life. The careful weaver rolls up the web, as it advances, to keep it clean and free from dust. Hezekiah had been equally careful of his life; he had about half finished it, when lo! “Jehovah takes up the fatal scissors” (Cheyne), and severs the unfinished cloth from the loom (compare the Greek myth of Clotho, Laehesis, and Atropos). With pining sickness; rather, as in the margin, from the thrum. The “thrum” is the portion of the warp which adjoins the upper bar of the loom.
Isa 38:13
I reckoned till morning, etc.; i.e. “I lay thinking till the morning, that God would crush me as a lion crushes his preyI expected him all day long to make an end of me.”
Isa 38:14
Like a crane or a swallow. The sus, here translated “crane,” is probably “the swift,” which has a loud, shrill note. The, agur is, perhaps, “the crane;” but this is very uncertain. The two words occur as the names of birds only here and in Jer 8:7. So did I chatter; rather, so did I scream (Cheyne). I did mourn; rather, I did moan. Mine eyes fail with looking upward; rather, mine eyes are weak to look upward; i.e. I have scarcely the courage or the strength to look to Jehovah; yet still I do look to him falteringly, and make my appeal: O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me (comp. Job 17:3); literally, be Surety for me. “The image,” as Mr. Cheyne says, “is that of a debtor, who is being dragged to prison” at the suit of an exacting creditor, and for whom there is but one hope of relief; viz. if he can obtain a sufficient surety. Hezekiah calls on God to be the Surety; but God is the Creditor! Still, there is an appeal from God’s justice to God’s mercyfrom Jehovah who punishes to Jehovah who forgives sin; and this appeal Hezekiah seems to intend to make when he beseeches God to “undertake for him.”
Isa 38:15
What shall I say? The strain is suddenly changed. Hezekiah’s prayer has been answered, and he has received the answer (Isa 38:5-8). He is “at a loss to express his wonder and his gratitude” (Cheyne); comp. 2Sa 7:20. God has both spoken unto himi.e; given him a promise of recoveryand also himself hath done it; i.e. has performed his promise. Already he feels in himself the beginnings of amendmenthe is conscious that the worst is past, and that the malady has taken a turn for the better. I shall go softly all my years. Delitzsch renders, “I shall walk quietly;” Mr. Cheyne, “I shall walk at ease;” both apparently understanding the expression of a quiet, easy life, made the more pleasant by contrast with past pain. But it seems better to understand the “soft going,” with Dr. Kay, of a hushed and subdued spirit, consequent upon the crisis past, and thenceforth continuingthe king walking, as it were, perpetually in God’s presence. In the bitterness; rather, after the bitterness (Delitzsch), when it has departed; and “because of it” (Nagelsbach), through its remembrance.
Isa 38:16
By these things; i.e. “the things which thou speakest and doest” (Isa 38:15). Man does not “live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord” (Deu 8:3). And in all these things. This rendering is against the laws of grammar. Translate, and wholly in them.
Isa 38:17
Behold, for peace I had great bitterness; rather, behold, it was for my peace that I had such bitterness, such bitterness. The pain that I underwent was for the true peace and comfort of my soul (comp. Psa 94:12; Psa 119:75; Pro 3:12; Heb 12:5-11). Thou hast in love, etc.; literally, thou hast loved my soul back from the pit of destructionas if God’s love, beaming on the monarch’s soul, had drawn it back from the edge of the pit (comp. Hos 11:4, “I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love”). For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. Where they could be no more seen, and therefore would be no more remembered (comp. Mic 7:19; Psa 25:7; Psa 79:8; Isa 43:25; Isa 64:9, etc.). Hezekiah, though lately he protested his integrity (Isa 38:3). did not mean to say that he was sinless, lie knew that he had sinned; he regarded his sins as having brought down upon him the sentence of death; as God has revoked the sentence, he knows that he has pardoned his sins and put them away from his remembrance.
Isa 38:18
The grave cannot praise thee (cormpare the comment on Isa 38:11). It is avoiding the plain force of these passages to say that Hezekiah only means that those who go to Hades in a state of condemnation cannot be expected there to praise God (Kay). He speaks broadly and generally of all: “The living, the living, shall praise thee; Sheol cannot praise thee; Death cannot celebrate thee.” Manifestly, though he believes in a future state, it is one in which there is either no energy at all, or at any rate no devotional energy. He may think, with Isaiah. that “the righteous man,” when he is “taken away,” will “enter into peace” (Isa 57:1, Isa 57:2); but absolute “peace” precludes energy (see Arist; ‘Eth. Nit.,’ 1. 10. 2). Hezekiah shrinks from losing all his activities, including his sense of personal communion with God. He does not, perhaps, “look on the condition of the faithful departed as one of comfortless gloom;” but he views it as one of deprivation, and is unwilling to enter into it. It was by the coming of Christ and the preaching of his gospel that “life and immortality” were first truly “brought to light” (2Ti 1:10).
Isa 38:19
The living. Those who still enjoy the light of day. The repetition is emphatic, and has the force of “the living, and the living only.“ The father to the children. Hezekiah may, or may not, have had children himself at the time. Manasseh was not born; but he may have had daughters, or even other sons, who did not survive him. He is not, however, perhaps, thinking of his own ease.
Isa 38:20
The Lord was ready to save me; rather, came to my rescue; came and saved me. Therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments; rather, therefore will we play my stringed instruments. Hezekiah calls the stringed instruments his, because he had recalled their use, and re-established them as a part of the temple service after the suspension of that service by Ahaz (2Ch 29:30). His intention now is to take continual part with the Levites in
. Upon the boil. The term hero translated “boil” is used in Exodus (Exo 9:9-11) for the affliction which constituted the sixth plague, in Leviticus (Le Lev 13:18-23) for an ulcer accompanying one of the worst forms of leprosy, in Deuteronomy (Deu 28:27, Deu 28:35) for “the botch of Egypt,” and in Job (Job 2:7) for the last of the visitations from which he suffered. It is not unlikely that it was of a leprous character.
Isa 38:22
Hezekiah also had said; literally, and Hezekiah said. Our translators, both in this verse and at the commencement of Isa 38:21, have endeavoured to conceal the awkwardness of the nexus, or rather want of nexus, with what precedes, by a modification of the rendering. The true sense is brought out by the proceeding, which is, however, a little arbitrary.
HOMILETICS
Isa 38:1
The duty of men, in view of death, to set their house in order.
Nothing is more manifest than the duty of all men, in view of that departure which they know to impend over them as an absolute certainty, only doubtful in respect of its date, to arrange their worldly affairs as prudence requires, and not leave them in confusion. In complicated societies, and in states where civilization is advanced, the duty presses more especially, since the greatest care constantly requires to be taken lest, if affairs are not arranged, the most undesirable results should arise.
I. IT IS MOST CONVENIENT THAT THE HOUSE SHOULD RE SET IN ORDER BEFORE ANY IMMEDIATE PROSPECT OF DEATH APPEARS. The circumstances of a dangerous illness are generally such as to render it extremely inexpedient that the arrangement of a man’s worldly affairs should be put off to such a time. The time is, for the most part, all too short for the consideration of a man’s spiritual affairsfor repentance, confession, restitution, exchange of forgiveness, and the like, which often occupy a considerable space, and need much thought and attention. Worldly affairs distract the mind from the things which most vitally concern it, and, if they are not arranged until the last illness sets in, the result too commonly is that “to the mercy of a moment” are left “the vast concerns of an eternal scene.” Further, in sickness the mind is far less fit to make judicious arrangements than in health; it is soon fatigued, often not clear, sometimes altogether confused and incapable of sound judgmentnot to mention that it may wholly fail, or be quite unequal to any exertion. Men need to he reminded continually, while they are in health, of the duty of arranging their worldly affairs at once, and not waiting till the fiat has gone forthtill their hours are numbered, and whatever has to be done must be done in haste.
II. STILL, IF THE DUTY HAS BEEN NEGLECTED IN HEALTH, THE IMMEDIATE PROSPECT OF DEATH IS A PEREMPTORY CALL ON US TO DISCHARGE IT. “Set thine house in order,” is Isaiah’s first, nay, his sole, charge to Hezekiah, when he warns him that he is to die shortly. The interests of others are involved; and our neglect of them hitherto gives them a claim on us which is more binding than any interests of our own. “If a man provide not for those of his own house, he is worse than an Infidel” (1Ti 5:8). The neglected duty must first be attended to; the rights, interests, fair claims of others must be considered, and, so far as possible, secured; and then our own advantage may occupy us, but not before. No man, we may be sure, will be made to suffer in another world for having postponed his own advantage to that of others in this.
Isa 38:2-6
The power of prayer.
The story of these chapters (36-38.) is remarkably illustrative of the power of “effectual fervent prayer.” Four points may be noted.
I. PRAYER IS POTENT TO DESTROY THE ADVERSARIES OF GOD AT THE GREATEST HEIGHT OF THEIR GLORY AND BOASTING. Assyria had reached the acme of her might. She had destroyed nation after nation; she had “gone up and overflowed.” All Western Asia was hers, and now she threatened to effect a lodgment in Northern Africa, and to add the rich lands of the Nile valley to the productive regions along the Tigris and the Euphrates. She had measured her strength against that of every military power existing at that day, and in all her struggles had come off victorious. What was to stop her, or prevent her colossal form from dominating the whole earth? A short prayer offered by a petty potentate in a distant city. It is the prayer of Hezekiah “against Sennacherib” that overthrows him. “Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib, King of Assyria: this is the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning him: The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn” (Isa 37:21, Isa 37:22).
II. PRAYER IS POTENT TO SAVE A NATION AT THE LAST EXTREMITY. It may well have seemed to Sennacherib ridiculous that the Jews should think to withstand him. He or his predecessors had conquered every other country of Western AsiaBabylonia and Media, Armenia and Gozan, Syria, Phoenicia, Damascus, Samaria, Philistia, Edom; they had contended with the hosts of Egypt and overcome them; how should a petty nation, forty-six of whose towns they had taken in one campaign, and two hundred thousand of whose inhabitants they had carried into captivity, conceive it possible to resist for long an enemy so vastly superior to them? They were open to invasion on every side. Tiglath-Pileser had subdued the trans-Jordanic region, Sargon had reduced Philistia and Samaria, Sennacherib himself had for tributaries the kings of Zidon, Arvad, Gebal, Ashdod, Ammon, Moab, and Edom. How was Hezekiah, cooped up in Jerusalem “as a bird in a cage”how were his people, a mere “remnant” (Isa 37:4)to escape the subjection that had come on all their neighbours? The last extremity seemed to be reached. Humanly speaking, there was no prospect of deliverance; the jaws of the monster that had swallowed all the other countries must crush Judaea also. There was, however, still the resort to prayer. Hezekiah, Isaiah, doubtless the faithful Israelites generally, betook themselves to God, besought his aid, besieged him with their supplications, and the nation was savedsaved from extinctionsaved, for a long term, even from invasionallowed a century more of independent life and. a recovery under Josiah of almost pristine glory. Such power has prayer at the extremity of a nation’s needa power the force of which, measured against ordinary mundane forces, is quite incalculable.
III. PRAYER IS POTENT TO OBTAIN FROM GOD LENGTH OF DAYS AND EVERY TEMPORAL BLESSING. Hezekiah’s prayer for himself prolonged his life for fifteen years. Christians, under sentence of death, given up by their physicians and their friends, are entitled to pray, if they so choose, for an extension of the term of their probation, a respite from the doom pronounced on them. In God’s hands, and in his hands only, are the issues of life and death. He can, if he will, prolong our life, and restore us to health, even when we seem at the last gasp. It may not be often suitable that we should ask this boon for ourselves; we have not the reasons to wish for long life that the Jews had. But for others we do well to ask, when they are in danger, that God will spare them to us; and “the prayer of faith” will often “save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up” (Jas 5:15), and give them back to us, as from the very edge of the pit, if our prayer be faithful and fervent.
IV. PRAYER IS POTENT TO OBTAIN FORGIVENESS OF SINS, AND REMISSION OF THE PENALTIES OF SIN. Hezekiah felt that, in revoking the sentence of death which he had passed upon him, God had also forgiven the sins which had provoked that sentence (verse 17). He had been sensible of those sins, even while he had pleaded his general faithfulness (verse 3). He had doubtless begged to be forgiven them. Such prayer God will in no wise cast out. It is his high prerogative to pardon sin (Mar 2:7), and it is also his delight. He bids us ask his forgiveness daily (Mat 6:12); he promises his forgiveness to all but the unforgiving; he assures us that, if we will return to him, he will “abundantly pardon” (Isa 4:1-6 :7). And his pardon includes within it remission of the true penalty of sin, which is his displeasure, his alienation, and its consequenceeternal death. The pardoned sinner has his sins “blotted out.” He “enters into the joy of his Lord.”
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON
Isa 38:1-8
Sickness and recovery of Hezekiah.
All pathos ultimately turns upon contrast, and the greatest of all contrasts is that between death and life. All who have passed through a dangerous illness, and have been brought nigh unto the gates of death, will feel touched by this narrative, which hints meanings that lie below the surface.
I. THE WARNING. The king falls into deadly sickness; and the prophet’s voice assures him that his days are numbered. “Thou shalt die, and not live.” The king, under the weight of his grief, turns his face to the wall. So Ahab, under the influence of another consuming passion (1Ki 21:4). It is a sign of sorrow that admits not of society. How seldom do men receive such a warning with calmness! How true is it
“Oh our life’s sweetness!
That we the pain of death would hourly die
Rather than die at once”!
“What are pains and aches, and the torments of the gout and the stone, which lie pulling at our earthly tabernacle, but so many ministers and under-agents of death? What are catarrhs and ulcers, coughs and dropsies, but so many mementoes of a hastening dissolution, so many foretastes of the grave? Add to these the consuming cares and troubles of the mind; the toil and labour and racking intention of the brain, which as really, though not as sensibly, impair and exhaust the vitals as the most visible bodily diseases can do, and let death into the body, though by another door.” But there is an instinct within us which refuses to listen to these argumentations. Some noted lines of the Roman noble Maecenas have come down to us, in which he depicts himself as shaken with palsy, attacked from head to foot with disease, still Vita dum superest, bone est. Such experiences put to rout the fallacies of the pessimist, and convince us of the love we bear to life.
“Whatever crazy sorrow saith,
No soul that breathes with human breath
Hath ever truly longed for death.
‘Tis life whereof our nerves are scant;
For life, and not for death, we pant;
More life and fuller that we want.”
The experience of such a deadly sickness may be the needed lesson to teach us the worth of our days, to stir us up to the useful employment of them.
II. THE PRAYER. We must bear in mind that in antiquity generally death is viewed as the effect of Divine visitation, especially sudden and untimely death. The belief was that the days of the good would be prolonged, the years of the wicked would be shortened (Pro 10:27); that men of deceit and blood would not live out half their days (Psa 11:1-7 :23). Hezekiah, conscious of his integrity and faithfulness, appeals to the justice of God. His heart had been “perfect” with Jehovah, in the sense in which David’s had been, and Solomon’s had not been (1Ki 11:4). He had not divided his affections with the gods of idolaters. He had been a reformerhe had done what was good in the eyes of Jehovah. After the manner of Oriental lamentation, he loudly weeps (cf. Jdg 20:23; 1Sa 13:16). There is a childlike simplicity in the scene. What are we all but children in the great hours of life’s trials? But we see here that calm conscience which is the result of a pious life, and which gives confidence in prayer. “Conscience is the great repository and magazine of all those pleasures that can afford any solid refreshment to the soul;” and of that solace which is needed in the moments of weakness. “When this is calm and serene and absolving, then properly a man enjoys all things, and, what is more, himself; for that he must do before he can enjoy anything else. It is only a pious life, led by the rules of religion, that can authorize a man’s conscience to speak comfortably to him; it is this that must word the sentence before the conscience can pronounce it, and then it will do it with majesty and authority; it will not whisper, but proclaim, a jubilee to the mind; it will not drop, but pour in, oil upon the wounded heart. The pleasure of conscience is not only greater than all other pleasures, but may also serve instead of them. They only please and affect the mind in transitu, in the pitiful narrow compass of actual fruition; whereas that of conscience entertains and feeds it a long time after with durable, lasting reflections” (South).
III. THE DEATH–WARRANT CANCELLED. “And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Turn again” (2Ki 20:4). The doom of death is recalled; a respite of fifteen years granted. Deliverance is promised from the Assyrian, and Jehovah will throw his protecting shield over the city; and a physical phenomenon is to occur as a sign or guarantee of the fulfilment. Prophecy, then, is conditional; Divine judgments are conditional. “It does not always follow,” says Jerome, “that because the prophet predicts, that which he has predicted shall come to pass. For he predicted, not that it should come to pass, but that it might not come to pass.” Here repentance or prayer may “avail much.” We should hesitate, therefore, to speak of absolute decrees, and of irreversible judgments, in connection with human life. Always there is an “if” or an “unless” to break the fall of the severest sentence; and, in fact, the dealings of the merciful God with men are more lenient than they can ever be represented in words. How often has the opinion of the physician doomed the invalid, who has nevertheless recovered! And the like disappointment of expectations occurs in spiritual things. All combine to remind us of the cheering saying, “While there is life, there is hope!” So long as we entrust ourselves in the hands of a gracious God, we need never despair.J.
Isa 38:9-22
The song of Hezekiah.
It is a song of peculiar sweetnessfrom a literary point of view, characterized by great elegance; from a spiritual point of view, unfolding some deepest elements of Hebrew and of human pathos.
I. THE CONTEMPLATION OF DEATH. It was in middle life, in the “noon-tide of his days,” that he had to face the dark gates of Sheol. “Midway in life, as to Dante, came his peril of death.” It has been said that there is a peculiar melancholy in middle life. Perhaps so; every age has its peculiar melancholy. It is the contrast between the “noon-tide of consciousness,” and the sudden sunset which seems at hand, that shocks the imagination. It is the very acme of the lifelong struggle of will and necessity. Here, the glow of intellectual vigour, the full fruit of ripened knowledge, the educated and matured taste for life; yonder, pale nothingness, decay, disappointment. A sense of injustice seems here to shock the mind. The man feels as if he were being robbed of his property, “mulcted of the residue of his days.” That life which nature has kindly nourished, which manifold experience has enriched and adorned, around which law has thrown its protection, for which all else has been willingly foregone, must now itself become a sacrifice to stern, unreasoning, unpitying destiny. Death appears to the natural man in the light of a bondage, an imprisonment. He is going down to the gates of Sheol (Psa 9:13; Psa 108:1-13 :18; Job 38:19). In the lore of ancient nations similar ideas appear: the place of the departed is a strong fortress, a Tartaros, an Acheron, surrounded by strong walls and a moat; or an inaccessible island. In the house and folk lore of the peoples abundance of such ideas arc to be found. Everywhere the like pathos and the like ideas meet us; and death remains the “standing dire discouragement of human nature.”
II. LIFE INSEPARABLE FROM THE GOODNESS OF GOD. To see Jehovah is to see Jehovah’s goodnessit is, in the best and richest sense, to enjoy life (Psa 27:13). And with this is connected the joy of societythe beholding of the face of one’s fellow-man-communion with the inhabitants of the world. To die is to be uprooted from all these sweet associations, to have one’s habitation plucked up, like the tent of the nomad shepherd (Job 4:21; Psa 52:5; 2Co 5:1, 2Co 5:4; 2Pe 1:13, 2Pe 1:14). It is to depart into exile. It is to have the life-web cut and left unfinished. It is to be cut off and made an end of. These melancholy strains depict one side of human feeling. They are paralleled in the Psalms (Psa 6:5; Psa 30:9; Psa 88:10-12; Psa 94:17; Psa 115:17) and Job (14.). Nevertheless, the representation of the effect of death, hopeless as it seems, does not exclude those vague hopes, those implicit beliefs, which mingle with such lamentations, in a better side to the future, which found not distinct expression in words. The connection is strong in Hebrew thought between life on the earth and the goodness of Jehovah. But the goodness of God, however lenient, is learned once for all; and it is impossible to believe in it as manifested in the gift of life without the rise of hope in the continuance of life. The belief in the continuance of life is here expressed; only the sensuous imaginations overpower the mind with sadness. Hope cannot conquer it upon its own ground; but hope nevertheless remains what it isan anchor of the soul, and it enters, though gropingly, into that within the veil.
III. PRAYER AND HOPE. “The sick man appeals against the fate which threatens him to Godto God against himself; to the essential mercy against the apparent cruelty of Jehovah.” It is “the characteristic irony of faith.” He is in hourly expectation of death. His cries are like the plaintive notes of birds. He looks up with languid and half-despairing expression to the height where Jehovah dwells. He is like a debtor being carried to prison, and prays Jehovah to become Surety for him. But Jehovah is at the same time the Creditor. It is the “irony of the believer” (Cheyne). “The apparent doubt only expresses the more strongly the real faiththe protest against injustice and harshness, the sense of absolute goodness and ineffable mercy” (Mozley). Prayer may be, in moments of the sorest agony, nothing but a child’s crywhich has “no language but a cry.” Yet that cry must “knock against the heart” of the Father of all. It is God himself who wrings the cry from the distressed heart; God himself who loves to be called upon, and to make his children feel their need of him.
IV. THE ANSWER OF PEACE. It has come suddenly, swiftly, unexpectedly. And the restored one is at a loss how to render thanks. His night has been turned into morning; and against the dark background of remembered grief, the picture of a serene future shines. He looks forward to a “walk at case” through all his future years. And not in vain has he suffered, for lasting lessons have been wrought into his spirit. He has learned his need of God and of God’s Word. By that Word men really live (Deu 8:3). Altogether in them is the life of his spirit. God is the Source of existence and of salvation. He brings to the gates of death; he recovers and makes alive. He has been brought near to God by the very experience which seemed to remove him so far. He has learned that affliction was for his good. The bitter medicine has been swallowed once for all. He has looked death in the face, has trembled at its terrors; but has seen that there is a greater fact than death, namely, the life and love of the eternal God. “The sting of death is sin,” and this has been taken out. He has learned the secret of the Divine forgiveness, the immense possibilities in the heart of God. His sins have been flung behind the back of Godhave been banished into oblivion. Lastly, he has learned anew, and in a deeper way, what the blessing of life is. All is contrast. And the contrast of death and the under-world, its pale and cold existence, throws into relief the consciousness of life, in its full conscious richness in body, soul, and spirit. “The dismay with which he contemplates departure from the world is a measure of the value he sets on personal communion with God.” Life, then, should be one long act of praise. From father to child the pure tradition should go down: “God is good; his mercy endureth for ever.” He is constant, faithful; and that constancy is revealed, not only in the course of nature’s laws, but in the laws of human naturethe life of heart and conscience. And the music of each spirit shall swell into a magnificent harmony in the house of Jehovah. He is “ready to deliver” in the future as he has actually delivered in the past. “Glory to thee for all the grace I have not seen as yet.”J.
HOMILIES BY W.M. STATHAM
Isa 38:5
Hezekiah’s prayer heard.
“Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears.” These words were spoken to a heart riven with grief, and a life seemingly “sick unto death.” At such times this man wants, above all else, to feel that he has been sincere. He says, not boastingly at all, but with real humility, “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight.” Words must be judged by the circumstances of the life. There is no self righteousness in them, but simple, guileless heart-speech.
I. GOD‘S SPEEDY CONSOLATION. “Go, and say to Hezekiah.” For the Divine heart meets the human heart according to its moods. And there was no need to intensify Hezekiah’s sorrow or to test its sincerity. Just as our Saviour, remembering Peter’s fears after his denial, and knowing that the memory of his unfaithfulness and falsehood was a burning shame in his heart, said immediately after his resurrection, by the mouth of the angel, “Go your way, tell his disciples, and Peter“ (Mar 16:7), that Peter might know that the “look” which struck out the fountain of tears, was turned into the look of forgiving grace and mercy. So here God would comfort Hezekiah at once in his true-hearted contrition.
II. GOD‘S TENDER REMEMBRANCE. “Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father.” What music is that! Then there is something in a pious ancestrymore than we think of at times. Your father was a man of God, perhaps. Then there are prayers treasured up for you in the greater Father’s memory. When we think of our Saviour, we “member his own words,” For my sake.” So God remembers also the sake of others: “For Zion’s sake;” “For Jerusalem’s sake.” And as concerning Solomon God says, “Notwithstanding in thy days I will not rend the kingdom from thee, for David thy father’s sake.” We read also in Genesis, “The Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake.” This is as touching as it is comforting. “The God of David thy father.”
III. GOD‘S GRACIOUS SPEECH. “I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears.” The prayer that is heard is the prayer that is heartfelt. None need be ashamed of tears. They are not unmanly. “Jesus wept” When a man weeps we are accustomed to wonder, nay, sometimes to scorn. The world prefers the sternness of endurance and the courage of despair. God hears heavenly eloquence in sighs, and beautiful liturgies in tears. “A broken and a contrite heart, O Go
he would go down into the pit. The light on immortality burned dimly then. Here and there we trace it, like light that lingers on the higher mountains, in David and Isaiah; but to the mass of minds it was not, to say the least, a very potent influence or a very living faith. “Christ has brought light and immortality to light” by the gospel, and we need never say, “Mine age is departed;” but rather, “Mine age is transmuted” into immortal youth, and unending revelation of the Redeemer’s power and glory.W.M.S.
Isa 38:20
Music in the heart.
“The Lord was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.” The graver question isAre we ready to be saved? God’s arm is not shortened, that he cannot save. And his love to us is the same through all the long centuries. Christ touched the real cause of distance: “Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.”
I. THE READINESS OF GOD. “All things are now ready,” said Christ; and in view of the Redeemer’s great work in all the ages, God was a Saviour. God makes affirmation concerning this. “As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Eze 33:11). This reveals the gracious disposition of God. We must ever remember that it is the beautiful nature of God that is revealed in the parables and in the passion of our Lord. Like the fountain ever ready to leap forth, he is ready to forgive.
II. THE MINSTRELSY OF THE CHURCH. Music has accompanied devotion in all ages. It awakens the slumbering sensibilities of the soul. It is not only an expression of feeling, it is a quickener of it. “Therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments.” These songs are the glorious heritage of the Church. They are heard every sabbath day in cathedral and church, in city, village, and hamlet. The great revelation of God is one, alike in the old and the new dispensations. In all ages God is a Saviour. Therefore there is nothing out of date in the inspired psalms. They belong to all ages of history, all eras of time. When we have passed away, our children will still lift up to God their praises and thanksgivings in the strains of the sweet singers of Israel.
III. THE PERPETUITY OF PRAISE. “All the days of our life.” For that would be a strange day on which there was nothing to praise God forno new mercy, no fresh deliverance, no special bounty. “Every day will I bless thee, and praise thy Name for ever and ever.” Yes; on life’s last day it may be like the venerable Dr. Guthrie, as he lay a-dying, we shall say, “Sing me a bairn’s hymn.” The days of our life may be few or many, but in them all we shall have occasion to realize the fatherhood of God, and the redemption which is in Jesus Christ.
IV. THE PLACE OF DEVOTION. “In the house of the Lord.” This will ever be sacred to the true Christian. What memories of sacred vision and of spiritual emotion are connected with the sanctuary! What fellowship we have had there with each other and with God! The best part of our nature has been developed therethe part which, like God himself, “no man hath seen at any time, or indeed can see.“ For, apart from the associations of place, there is the inspiration of mutual faith, mutual hope, mutual service, and mutual love. Thus we meet and mingle in the house of the Lord, till, clothed with white robes and with palms in our hands, we join the victors who utter their hallelujahs around the throne of the Lamb, in the “house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”W.M.S.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
Isa 38:1-3
A vision of death.
The scene is one of true pathos; it is one of those touches of nature which” make the whole world kin.” We have
I. DEATH SUDDENLY PRESENTING ITSELF TO MAN IN HIS PRIME. (Isa 38:1.) Death is very common in infancy; it must be near in old age. It occasions no surprise, and brings comparatively little pain or grief when it occurs at either of these extremes. Infancy does not understand it, and age accepts or even welcomes it. But occasionally, man in the prime of his powers, woman m the glory of her days, is called upon to look death in the face when life seems to stretch out far into the future. The outbreaking of latent disease, the mysterious and totally unanticipated collapse, the fearful and fatal accident,these or ether things are at work, saying in stern tones to one and another of our race, “Thou shall die, and not live.”
II. THE PROFOUND HUMAN REGRET WHICH IT THEN OCCASIONS. “Hezekiah wept sore.” We differ, according to our individual temperament and our national habits, as to the exhibition of our feelings. The Jewish king gave vent to his sorrow in hot tears and sore lamentation. An Englishman will probably command both voice and feature when he learns that he must die, and may not live. But no one, suddenly taken away from the midst of beloved relations and friends, unexpectedly torn from the activities and enjoyments on which he has set his heart and spent his energy and centred his hopes, can be unmoved, untroubled. It is a transcendently solemn moment when the human heart first learns that, instead of blessed communion and of joyous activity, there must be hopeless separation and the silence of the grave. Sudden death in prime is a wrench sorer and sadder than any which life has known.
III. THE REFUGE OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT IN THE LAST RESORT, “Then Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord.” There are some things which, when everything else fails, lead us to Godthe extremities of joy and sorrow, a crisis in our career, the near presence of death. When human art has failed, and man can do no more for us, then we turn our thought to Heavenwe lift up our face unto God. God can intervene, we know, in the very greatest exigency; it may be that he will; we will “pray unto the Lord.” And if we do so reverently and resignedly, we do so rightly; for who can tell how or when he may be pleased to act on our behalf, to “see our tears, to hear our prayers,” and to “add unto our days” (Isa 38:5)? Or, if we do not have recourse to God in prayer for deliverance, we can fall back on that which may be better stillon a cheerful submission to his holy will.
IV. A CONSOLATION AT THE CLOSE OF LIFE. If we do not make it a plea with God, as Hezekiah thought it right to do, viz. that we “have walked before God in truth and with a perfect heart,” etc. (Isa 38:3), we may find in such a fact a very precious consolation to our own spirit. To have to look back from the dying hour on a course of folly, guilt, and mischief, must be bitterness itself. To be able to survey, from that last scene, a life of sincere devotion to God and faithful service of mankind, must be a source of unspeakable thankfulness and serenity.
V. A DUTY IN DEATH WHICH IT IS THE DUTY OF LIFE TO REDUCE TO ITS LOWEST POINT. “Set thine house in order” (Isa 38:1); do the necessary things that remain undonethat which is unfinished in the sanctuary of the soul, in the inner circle of the family, in the relationships which are outside. But how excellent it is to live with all these things preserved in such order that, when the end comes, there will be the least possible left to do, and the mind can turn, untroubled, to rest in the presence of the Saviour, and to look for the rest that is so soon to be enjoyed!C.
Isa 38:4-6
Human life; the kindness of God and the wisdom of man.
In the providential ordering and in the human direction of this our mortal life, we see
I. THE KINDNESS OF GOD.
1. The strong links by which God has connected us together. “The God of David thy father;” for David’s sake, in part, he would render deliverance. Human life is so ordered that we are all of us immeasurably the better for the piety, the virtue, the patient and faithful labours of those who came before us.
2. His sensitiveness to our suffering. “I have seen thy tears.” “Like as a father pitieth his children,” etc.; “When he saw the multitude, he was moved with compassion.”
3. His attention to our appeal. “I have heard thy prayer.” God’s ear is open, not only to the prayers of “the great congregation,” but to the faintest breath of one believing soul; though he may sometimes seem to be deaf, yet is he always “inclining his ear” unto us.
4. His multiplication of our days. “I will add unto thy days.” With the morning light, as it continually returns, we should say, “This is the day which the Lord hath made,” etc.; it is a new gift from his gracious hand. We take it too much for granted, as if he were under some obligation to add it to those he has given us before. But it is all “of grace “so much more than we deserve or have any right to expect at his hand. To the
“Lord of our time, whose hand has set
New time upon our score,”
we should render heartfelt praise for his daily gift.
5. His compounding our cup of hope and of uncertainty. God told Hezekiah he would add to his “days fifteen years.” Is it not a yet kinder act of our Father that he holds out to us the hope of future years, without letting us know how far he will fulfil our wishes! Without the hope, we should lose all the inspiration which urges us to fruitful action; without the uncertainty, we should presume on the continuance of our life, and be bereft of one of the mast potent checks on folly and on sin. A strong hope, with an element of uncertainty, is the most favourable condition for the cultivation of wisdom and virtue.
II. THE WISDOM OF MAN. Our wisdom, under those conditions in which we find ourselves, is:
1. To prepare for length of days. By patient diligence, by prudent forethought, to be ready for long life, in case God should give us that blessing.
2. To prepare for sudden death and the long future. By faith in Jesus Christ and by fidelity in the “few things” of time, to be ready at any hour to stand at the judgment-seat, to pass to the “many things” of eternity.C.
Isa 38:9-15
Health and sickness.
This touching psalm of Hezekiah, written in the day of returning strength, when mental effort became possible and perhaps enjoyable to him, may teach us many things.
I. THAT OUR HEALTH IS NOT IN OUR OWN HANDS. There is a distinct note of disappointment here. The king had evidently set his heart on a long life, and was hurt in his soul that his days were cut in twain. It seemed an abrupt, unnatural termination. He was deprived of that which he might have expected to enjoy (Isa 38:10, Isa 38:12). Though we know well it is not so, yet we harbour the thought that we can measure our dayscan reckon on a large period of time in which to work out our plans; we are apt to be surprised and even hurt in our heart if our health be removed and our life be threatened. But we ought to learn that God is the length of our days (Deu 30:20), and that it rests with him to say when our strength shall decline and when our spirit shall return.
II. THAT THE TIME MAY COME WHEN LIFE WILL BE WITHOUT VALUE TO US; when we shall be ready to speak in the strain of the king (Isa 38:14, Isa 38:17). Instead of song is silence or complaint; for peace is bitterness of soul. Among the living, at any time, there will be found a large proportion of those to whom life is without any value, and who would gladly lay it down.
1. Do we appreciate the value of our health while we have it?
2. Are we laying up resources on which we can draw when the enjoyments of life will be gone, and the season of privation and infirmity has arrived?
III. THAT IT IS RIGHT TO ASK GOD FOR RESTORATION FROM SICKNESS. “O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me” (see 2Co 12:8; Jas 5:14). We should do so,
(1) believing that God hears our prayer, and that, if it be to our real and highest interest, he will grant our request;
(2) leaving it with him to determine how much of bodily evil it is good for us to suffer. Distrust of God’s promise and dictation to his will are the two opposite evils we should avoid. A living faith and a filial submission are the two perfectly consistent graces we should exhibit.
IV. THAT THE PERIOD OF CONVALESCENCE IS A TIME FOR THANKFULNESS AND CONSECRATION.
1. Thankfulness. “Himself hath done it” (Isa 38:15). Whatever the number or the nature of the measures we adopt (Isa 38:21), we trace the happy issue ultimately to the hand of the Lord. All remedial agencies are of him.
2. Consecration. “I shall go softly [reverently] all my years, [remembering] the bitterness of my soul.” When God gives back his life to any one of his children, it is surely a time when that soul should form a profound and prayerful resolution that, if past days have been godless, future years shall be devout; that, whatever has been the measure of piety in the time that has been spent, there shall be deeper devotedness and more faithful service m the span that may remain.C.
Isa 38:11, Isa 38:18, Isa 38:19
The great disclosure.
“If a man die, shall he live again?” asks the anxious, hopeful, human spirit. This composition of Hezekiah either indicates or suggests
I. THE LIGHT WHICH THE HEBREW SAINTS POSSESSED. They believed that death did not terminate man’s existence; that, after death, he dwelt in Sheol with the spirits of the departed, with “the inhabitants of the land of stillness;” in a region, deep, dark, shut up within impassable gates through which they that have entered may never more return (Isa 38:10).
II. THE PAINFUL FEEBLENESS OF THEIR LIGHT. This abode of the dead was dismal in a high degree to their imagination; it was “the pit of corruption” (Isa 38:17); it was the place where God was unapproachable (Isa 38:11), where his praises were untold and unsung (Isa 38:18), where the delights of human fellowship were unknown (Isa 38:11), where the opportunities of gaining the highest wisdom were closed against the soul, where men “cannot hope for thy truth” (Isa 38:18). Such life as there was in those sepulchral region, s would hardly be worth having, where privations like these prevailed.
III. THE GREAT DISCLOSURE BY JESUS CHRIST. He did not, indeed, for the first time announce that there was a life beyond death for men. But he did reveal such a life of blessedness and glory as gave a new meaning to immortality. As his disciples, we look for a life which will be characterized, not by the removal, but by the renewal and the immeasurable enlargement, of all the higher blessings of the present time. As exactly opposed to the privations here lamented, we look for:
1. The near presence of God. (Isa 38:11.) To depart is to “be with Christ,” is to “be with him that we may behold his glory,” is to be at home in “the Father’s house.”
2. A life of holiest, happiest worship. (Isa 38:18.) Where the praises of God will never tire the tongue. Heaven is, to our hope, the very home of praise: “The living, they that live indeed,”they will praise God in accents to which our fainter and feebler life is unequal now.
3. Communion with the perfected spirits of men. (Isa 38:11.) We hope to behold and to have ennobling fellowship with men at their very best, when they and we shall be purged of all that hinders or lowers our intercourse on earth.
4. Access to Divine truth. (Isa 38:18.) “Then shall we know even as also we are known” (1Co 13:12); then shall we look “face to face” on many truths which here we have only dimly espied; then shall we grasp with firm, rejoicing hold what now we can but delicately touch, or are ineffectually pursuing.
5. Life in its large and blessed fulness. (Isa 38:19.) It is they who dwell in the light of God of whom we rightly speak as “the living, the living;” it is they who “have life more abundantly.” We conclude that:
(1) This language of lamentation does not suit Christian lips.
(2) We have no need to think of death as Hezekiah thought.
(3) We who have such high hopes in us as these should live lives of purity, and so of preparation (1Jn 3:3).C.
Isa 38:16
The life of our life.
This verse is pregnant with suggestive truth, and finds fulfilment in Christian as well as in Jewish experience.
I. THAT THE LIFE OF OUR SPIRIT IS THE VERY LIFE OF OURSELVES. It is no uncommon thing for ungodly men, when they are pressed to give attention to the claims of their spirit, to excuse their negligence by contending that “they must live.” By this they mean that the necessities of the body will excuse their want of concern for the state of their spirit. On what a hollow and vain assumption do these thus build! “As if to breathe were life!” As if to eat, and drink, and sleep, and clothe the body and minister to its cravings constituted the life of man! No; “man does not live by bread alone,” and, when he has supplied himself with abundance of such things, he has not begun to live. The life of man is in the life of his spirit; it is that life in which he
(1) apprehends and appreciates Divine truth;
(2) approaches unto and communes wish the Divine Father;
(3) engages voluntarily and happily in his holy service;
(4) grows into his likeness as he manifests his spirit and illustrates his principles;
(5) serves the creatures he has made and the children he has fashioned in his own image. By these things, and in such things as these, does the life of his life consist.
II. THAT DIVINE ACTS AND WORDS ARE THE SUSTENANCE OF OUR SPIRIT‘S LIFE. “These things” refer primarily to the promise and the providential agency of God (see Isa 38:15); the Divine word and deed. For us, we find this in:
1. The truth spoken by Jesus Christ. All that he has told us concerning God, ourselves, human life, the way back to the heavenly Father and the heavenly home.
2. The life and death of the Saviour. His life devout, courageous, generous, sympathetic; his sorrows borne in patience and resignation; his death undergone for us. “In all these things,” in their apprehension, in their study, in their appropriation, is the life of our spirit.C.
Isa 38:19
Parental obligation.
“The father to the children shall make known thy truth.”
I. THAT TRUTH IS THE COMMON HERITAGE OF THE RACE. Of all open and common things truth is that to which our right is most indisputable. The air, the light, the sea, the sky, the beauty of the landscape, etc; are open to us all; but truth, above all these things, is common property.
II. THAT REVEALED TRUTH IS PECULIARLY PRECIOUS TO MANKIND. All truth may be said to be “thine”to be God’s. For it would never find illustration or apprehension without his action. But the truth which he has specially revealed is more peculiarly histhe truth which is contained in his Word, and, most especially, that which was revealed in (and by) his Son. This is the truth which is our very life (Isa 38:16), raising the fallen, bringing peace to the penitent, calling man into fellowship with God, comforting the afflicted, arming against temptation, preparing for the battle of life and for the hour of. death and the requirements of the eternal world.
III. THAT IT IS THE PART OF EVERY PARENT TO COMMUNICATE AND TO ENFORCE THIS TRUTH OF GOD. “The father to the children shall make known,” etc.
1. To communicate Divine truth to the young is the parent’s work; for
(1) he has access to his children which no one else can gain, in the time when they are docile and responsive;
(2) he can exert an influence upon them which no one else can acquire;
(3) he has a responsibility laid upon him by God of which no one else can relieve him;
(4) he has an interest in their well-being which no one else possesses,the joy or the sorrow of his later years will depend very largely on the choices they make and the courses they pursue.
2. To instil Divine truth into their minds should be his daily effort. This is to be effected by instruction, by example, by prayer.C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK
Isa 38:1
The strain of notice to die.
Satan is represented in the Book of Job as poetically describing man’s clinging to life thus: “Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.” Usually death creeps on us with so slow and silent a tread that we grow familiar with it; our powers fade, and passing becomes easy. But sometimes the arrest comes in the very midst of life, when hope smiles, when the future makes large promises, and the claims upon us seem so great that we cannot be spared. Then death is at his worst; and it is beyond man’s power, it is the triumph of Divine grace, to say, “Thy will be done.” This is seen in the case of Hezekiah, to whom death seemed an expression of Divine dissatisfaction; a terrible family affliction, seeing he had as yet no heir; and nothing short of a national calamity. Compare the announcement of approaching death made to Aaron and to Moses. But in their cases life-work was done. The strain on Hezekiah was that “his purposes were broken off.” We think this to be the severest test under which God puts his people. We are searched through and through by the questions, “Can you die?” “Can you die now?” Physicians’ work is often, nowadays, most difficult and trying. They must break, as it is called, to their patients the news of the hopeless character of their disease. What makes this strain?
I. NATURAL DREAD OF DEATH. For all creatures on his earth God has made life to be the supreme treasure which they dread to lose. The incentive to all enterprise is our love of life, and passionate clinging to life. The fear of death is the common instinct of humanity. The Christian cannot fix his thoughts quietly on dying; he shrinks as much as any one from putting his foot down into the cold stream. Divine grace alone can overcome this natural fear, which is implanted for the sake of the due preservation of the race.
II. DISAPPOINTMENT OF OUR HOPES. It is so hard for death to come just as we have “Canaan’s goodly land in view.” It may be that we have tolled, denied ourselves, persevered, overcome difficulties, and see life’s ambition just within reach, when the message comes that we must die. We have pulled down our barns and built greater; we are just ready for the harvest; and “this night we must die.”
III. UNCERTAINITY OF THE FUTURE. For the disclosures and revelations concerning it are made in such large poetical figures, rather than in such plain statements, that even in the best men faith and fear mingle; and often they hardly know whether faith or fear prevails. From the future, the other world, no traveller has ever returned with a report. It is to us all a terra incognita, a step into the dark.
IV. WANT OF FULL SUBMISSION TO GOD. We may think we have this, but news of speedy death searches us, and shows our submission to have been only good, but weak, sentiment. Many a man finds that the true submission has to be won when he stands face to face with death.R.T.
Isa 38:2
Private and personal prayer.
It should be noticed that Hezekiah was a man who so believed in prayer as to immediately resort to it in every new emergency of life. It was his first way of relief. He sought God at once. In a time of great national distress, he went into the house of the Lord, and spread the insulting letter of his enemies before the Lord. In a time of personal peril, when disease was gaining ground and vitality was failing, and it was made evident that he must die, he sought privacy that he might pray, wrestling with God, if so be he could win restoring mercies. Too ill to go to the sanctuary, he could make a secret place of the corner of the room where his royal couch was laid, turn his face to the wall, and pray to the “Father who seeth in secret, and rewardeth openly.” Only certain points of so large a subject as “private prayer” can be dealt with in one discourse. The points suggested by this action of Hezekiah are
I. WHAT ARE ITS APPROPRIATE CONDITIONS? Absolutely necessary are privacy, the sense of privacy, quiet-mindedness, and continuance in the prayer-exercise. It is the most serious evil affecting modern religious life, that household arrangements and business claims make privacy, quietness, and continuance for personal devotions so nearly impossible. The only hopeful revival will begin with the home place of prayer. Christian parents, by example and skilful management of family life, must make private prayer possible for all members of the family. They cannot make others prayerful; hut they can make suitable prayer-conditions. Christ says we must “shut to the door.”
III. WHAT SHOULD IT CONCERN? Everything, small or great, that is of direct personal interest, whether it concerns body, mind, or soul. Efforts are made to limit the spheres of prayer to matters of religious life and feeling. The godly man cannot be so limited. Fathers care for children’s bodies and minds and relations, as well as for their characters. And our heavenly Father surely concerns himself about our sicknesses, our anxieties, our material circumstances. We may pray for life, restored bodily life and health; then we may pray for everything less than that, but included in it.
III. WHAT SHOULD BE ITS SPIRIT? We may specially dwell on:
1. Openness; frankness; removal of reserve; tone that convinces of sincerity. Most grieving to God is our “keeping back anything.” Worthy parents gladly listen to both the bad and the good in their children’s requests.
2. Trustfulness; the spirit of confidence in God as Hearer and Answerer.
3. Importunity; the sign of really earnest desire. Parents often delay answering children’s requests because they have asked half-heartedly, as if answering did not much matter.
IV. WHAT WILL BE THE RESPONSE? Something always. No sincere cry ever rose to God unheeded or unanswered. The answer may be:
1. Refusal.
2. The call to wait.
3. The gift of what is asked.
4. The gift of something better.
5. The quieting down of our desire for the thing.R.T.
Isa 38:3
Man’s fair estimate of his own life.
Hezekiah ventures to say before God, “Ah, Jehovah, remember, I pray, how I have walked before thee in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done that which is good in thine eyes.” Can a good man rightly appeal to his conscious integrity? David did. Hezekiah may. It is not pious work to get up a case against ourselves. Confessions are too often utterly insincere things. It is right to keenly criticize self, and to recognize, and humble ourselves before God on account of, our sins and frailties; but it magnifies the grace of God to recognize the good in our lives, the established will, the earnest purpose, the persistent endeavour. We must be true to see the good, as well as the evil, and seek to appraise our life as God appraises it. David may speak of his “integrity.” Hezekiah may speak of his “perfect walk,” his firm resolve to obey and please God. But can such terms as “righteousness” be properly applied to any man? It has been pressed upon us from our childhood, as if it were a self-evident truth, and needed no argument or proof, and contained the whole of the truth, that man has no righteousness of his own. The best things in man are bad. “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we are all as an unclean thing.” Yet there must be some sense in which man has a personal righteousness. We have known men and women of integrity, right-hearted, sincere, and righteous. David may say, before the heart-searching God, “Judge me according to my righteousness that is in me;” and our Lord distinctly assumed that there is a sense in which man can have a righteousness, when he said, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.” Such a term will not stiffen into one rigid meaning. Sometimes it means right-heartedness, sincerity, and describes the man who is at heart centred on God and virtue. A man may be right at heart, though there may be twists and stains in the conduct. We have a way of speaking of men as being “good at bottom.” If we say that as any excuse for men’s sins, we are miserably and shamefully wrong. If we say it in recognition of human frailty, and with discernment of life as the conflict of the human will over the weakness of our bodies, and the disabilities of our circumstances, then it is a true and worthy speech. Many men around us, and even we ourselves, are like David, “good at bottom.” The desire of our soul is to the Divine Name. We are pilgrims, indeed, though men may find us wandered away into By-path Meadows, sleeping in arbours, and losing our rolls. Illustrate by the difference between King Saul and King David. Saul failed utterly, because his were sins of will. David failed only temporarily, because his were sins of frailty. David failed in the body-sphere, but Saul in the soul-sphere. Learn to judge your life fairly, and be willing to see, to rejoice in, and to thank God for, what has been and is good.R.T.
Isa 38:7, Isa 38:8
Signs for the help of faith.
In this case, as in that of Gideon, God granted signs. For the people of Palestine, and for his disciples, our Lord wrought miracles, which were signs; but he utterly refused to meet the demand of the Pharisees. “There shall no sign be given you.” Our Lord, however, reproved the desire for signs as showing some weakness of character in those who desired them. “Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe.” Exactly what the sign granted to Hezekiah was cannot certainly be ascertained. The shadow passing back on the dial may have suggested God’s putting back the death-angel for a while. Probably a shadow cast on a staircase by a column showed the height of the sun in the heavens. This shadow would travel upward as the day advanced, and its return down ten steps, beheld from Hezekiah’s sick-chamber, would be the most impressive emblem of the new lease of life bestowed. Miracles are never spoken of as mere wonders; they are signs, and have for their object to manifest forth God’s glory. They have been wrought in every age of the world. They would cease to do their work if they became ordinary Divine operations. We note that
I. DIVINE SIGNS ARE NOT FOR THE CONVINCEMENT OF SCEPTICS. This our Lord declared in his refusal to do mighty works for the Pharisees, and illustrated in the parable of Dives and Lazarus. Dives wanted one from the dead to go and warn his brethren. Christ plainly intimated that the man who can put away ordinary influences wilt find out how to resist special ones. No miracle could be wrought which a man of sceptical disposition could not explain away. We should speak very guardedly of miracles as Christian evidences. They are to those in right moods of mind.
II. DIVINE SIGNS ARE FOR THE PERSUASION OF THE WILLING AND OBEDIENT. “If a man is willing, he shall know of the doctrine.” In some places our Lord “could not do many mighty works because of the unbelief.” There are proper relations in which creatures should stand to their Creator, children to their parents, and men to God. Out of relations man’s wilfulness may resist anything and everything. The teacher demands a teachable spirit in the scholars; the master expects a willingness to learn in his apprentice; and God asks for “willingness and obedience,” proper attitudes of mind and feeling, in those to whom he reveals himself. There is a proper “receptive mood.”
III. DIVINE SIGNS ARE FOR THE STRENGTHENING AND CHEERING OF GOD‘S PEOPLE. They are the Divine response to those who unite firmness of will with frailty of body and mind, who are set on God, but battle hard with flesh and blood. “To will is present with them, but how to perform they find not.” Gideon wanted to trust God and serve him, but circumstances made the commission entrusted to him most perilous; therefore God encouraged him with a sign. Hezekiah wanted to accept the Divine assurance, but the pain and depression of disease made trust nearly impossible, so God strengthened him with a sign.R.T.
Isa 38:10-12
Figures of life and death.
Some of the Scripture figures of death are full of the sweetest poetry for sensitive souls. Illustrating Hezekiah’s figure, an Eastern traveller says, “It was in the bleak season of a cold autumn, by the side of a large moor, that I one day saw a shepherd’s tent. It was composed of straw and fern, and secured under the warmer side of a hedge, with a few briars and stakes. Thither for about a week, he took shelter, until the herbage failed his flock, and he removed I knew not whither. His tent was, however, left behind. A few days after I rode that way, and looked for the shepherd’s tent, but it was all gone. The stormy winds had scattered its frail materials, and only a few fragments strewed the ground, to mark out that once, for a brief day, the tent had its residence, and the shepherd his solace, there. And such is this life, and such are all the airy expectations, and imaginary felicities, and hoped-for ports and places beneath the sun. Time scatters them, as the storm did the fern and straw of the shepherd’s tent” “What is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away; My days are swifter than the post;” “They are passed away as the swift ships, as the eagle hasting to the prey;” “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle;” “Oh, remember, that my life is wind.” With what exquisite pathos it is said of wrestling, crafty, managing Jacob, “He gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people”! In view of his long and passionate affection for Rachel the beautiful, how tender is that last expression! Death for us is but passing from the fellowship of one company of beloved ones to join the other company that has gone on before. David speaks of the dead as “going down into silence.” Is not that also most expressive? The man who has been so full of anxious cares and worldly troubles just steps aside to restpasses from the bustle of life to the stillness, the silence, of death. The Apostle Paul says, “If our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved,” broken up, the pins removed, the ropes loosened, the canvas folded, “we have a building of God,” no mere tent, a substantial building,” a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” So the decay of our body is only our removal to a new house, built for us, fitted for us, and, as we pass into it, the old tent-body is taken down, folded up, and put away. Dr. A. Raleigh dwells very beautifully on one of the most familiar figures of the grave, “There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.” “This is man’s long home. Other homes are but calling-places, in which a wayfaring man tarries for a few days and nights in pursuing a great journey; but in this long home ‘man lieth down and riseth not, till the heavens be no more.’ There is no earth quite so profound as that of a quiet country churchyard. The hills stand in silence watching. The river, as it flows by, seems to hush its waters in passing; and the trees make soft and melancholy music with the evening wind, or stand in calm, voiceless grief, lest they should disturb the sleepers. Quiet is the dust belowquiet the scarcely moving grass of the gravesquiet the shadows of the tombstonesquiet the overarching sky. It is, indeed, a quiet resting-place, where we may lie in stillness for a while, until Christ shall bring us to another home, the last, the best of allin heaven, the quietest restingplace of all.” And Jesus our Lord said,” Our friend Lazarus sleepeth.” That is all. Death is only the sleep of God’s beloved ones; over it he watches with more than motherly care, and, one wondrous day, the sweet morning light of the great glory shall stream in at the windows, and wake the sleeping children. After showing thus the mingling of sadness with hope in the Bible figures of hurrying life and masterful death, illustrate the things which help to make dying and death seem to us a foe so greatly to be dreaded. It is a foe
I. BECAUSE OF THE BREAKING DOWN AND CORRUPTION OF THE BODY WHICH IT INVOLVES. There is something humiliating and revolting even in the change through which our bodies must pass. We turn away from the sight of the dead, and cannot bear to think that we must be even as they.
II. BECAUSE IT INVOLVES THE ENDING OF ALL OUR EARTHLY PLEASURES. And there are pleasures and friendships and scenes which make life very dear to us allrightly dear. It is no way of honouring God to call this earth and life that he has given us a “desert land, which yields us no supplies.” But death takes the cup right away from our lips, and bids us leave all the playthings on the board, and come away.
III. BECAUSE OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING IT. As Bacon long ago reminded us, it is the suffering body, the darkened chamber, the weeping friends, the pangs of separation, the trappings of woe, that make so much of the bitterness of death.
IV. BECAUSE OF THE UNTIMELINESS OF ITS COMING. And it is almost always untimely; oftentimes painfully so. He plucks young buds. He takes opening flowers. tie cuts down bearded grain. He delays until the grain is shed, and the straw is trembling to its winter fall. Always coming; almost never wanted. Yet, for true and trustful hearts, changed into an angel of light, the Father’s messenger calling his children home. They are quiet even from the fear of death who can pray with McCheyne
“In whatsoever form death comes to me
In midnight storm, whelming my bark, or in my nest
Gently dismissing me to rest;
Oh, give me in thy Word to see
A risen Saviour beckoning me.
My Lamp and Light
In the dark night.”
R.T,
Isa 38:14
Life a burden.
“Jehovah, I am hard pressed; be Surety for me” (Cheyne). Life has its shadow as well as its sunshine; and in our depressed times we fancy that the shadow almost blots out the shine. There is a poem which, with the touch of genius, pictures the shadow that, since the failure of our race-parents in Eden, lies close against everything for man. Go where he may, do what he will, man cannot get away from his shadow. It tracks his feet. This side or that it is found, whichever way he may stand to the light. It lies down with him; it rises with him; it goes forth with him; it comes back with him; until he even gets to fear it, and, seeing it flung everywhere, says, “Life is dark, and life is hard.” This sentence of the text is an utterance of genuine feeling. It is Old Testament feeling rather than Christian feeling; but the poetical form of it gives it largeness enough to cover and include the very best Christian thoughts. Hezekiah expresses what he felt when he lay on the “border-land.” His idea is that death is his creditor, and pressing for immediate payment, and he calls on God to be Surety for him, and release him from the clutch of this death. Some, oppressed, cry against advancing death. Others, as Tennyson’s “Mariana,” cry for it, saying
“I’m aweary, I’m aweary,
I would that I were dead!”
Can it be profitable for us to dwell on this despairing mood of Hezekiah? Perhaps, as we meditate, the clouds may part a little, and glints of glory may break through. Our soul may take wing and fly to God, and find rest in him.
I. LIFE A BURDEN It is such
(1) in view of the responsibilities under which we come; it is
(2) as a matter of feeling and sentiment oftentimes.
No man, indeed, ever comes to use life aright until he regards it as a sacred burden. It will be heavy or light, it will crush or it will ennoble, according to the spirit in which we accept it, and deal with it. Too readily we say that life always looks bright to youth and maiden. Is it so? We could find some of the saddest poetry ever written which had been composed by the young. Every right-hearted youth loosens the home ties, stands free, and stoops to lift up his own life-burden with a great sigh of anxiety and fear. What does the man of middle age say? However brightly and bravely a man may take up his daily care, still he feels that each new child, and each lengthening year with its new claims, adds to his burden. Business life, in modern times, seems a heavier burden than it ever wasa daily bearing and struggling to win daily bread, because we, and those related to us, want so much more than bread. Ask the old men what they think of life. The very best among them will reply, “I thank God for life, but he only knows what a burden it has been to me. His grace has enabled me to carry it, but sometimesoftentimesit has crushed me down on my knees.” Or take the faculties with which we are endowed, and the spheres in which those faculties find expression and operation. This body: what a constant care to keep it in health, and to get it fed, clothed, and wisely ruled! And sometimes it lies like a heavy log upon our souls, and from under it we can scarcely get our breath! This mind. The infinite realms of knowledge stretch out on either side, and it is our agony that life will only let us touch, with a passing foot, the mere skirts and edges of one or two of them. The soulour very selveswhat a prison-house for us this body is! Wherever we go we must carry the body. Our souls can “neither fly nor go.“ Quaintly, but effectively, our fathers drew an emblem. The skeleton was represented as the cage within which the living man was imprisoned. At some time in our lives we all have thanked God for the Book of Ecclesiastes, which is precisely thisa man who felt life as a burden, letting his heart out. But turn to consider
II. GOD IS THE ONLY TRUE BURDEN–BEARER. If the three words, “Undertake for me,” could be put into a Christian form of speech, they would be found to express that “full surrender,” that “perfect submission,” that “rest of faith,” which is the secret of the “higher life,” the true beginning and proper foundation of Scripture holiness. But, practically, how can the man who feels life to be a burden commit that burden to the Lord? It’ you do not believe in a living God, in the living Christ-God, actually present, ruling and overruling, you will never find out how. If God is away in the heavens, and Christ back in the centuries, our text has no real meaning; it is a vague sentiment. But if God is here, and Christ is with usin us; if the Father does see in secret, and the Son abide with us always;then it will be easy to unfold the secret of the rolled burden. One idea at least we can give. If we have a heart-sorrow we can relieve it by making a confidant. Robert Alfred Vaughan had long been ill, but one morning his wife saw signs which struck her with hopelessness. In her grief she thought of going to unbosom her trouble to her friend Mrs. George Dawson. Ere she could leave her house, that friend came in, she had come to open a new sorrow to her friendher only girl had been seized with fits of a kind which put in peril intellect and life. Those women lifted each others’ burdens by opening them in the confidences of friendship. We lose our burdens by freely telling God all about them. There is another way of rolling burdens on God, which is less easy to put into wordswhich is a matter of soul-feeling. We can give up the self-management of our lives. It can become a conscious ruling thought with us that we live, not for self, but for God; we can inwardly realize that God takes our life-rule into his hands; we go where he sends, we do what he bids. Come to the simplicities of life. How does a wearied child roll his burden on his mother? How does the husband lighten his life-care by rolling it upon a loving wife? Verily, the little things of man will help us to understand the great things of God.R.T.
Isa 38:15, Isa 38:16
Going softly after sickness.
We usually notice in persons who have passed through serious illness which has brought them to the “border-land,” and made the things of the other and eternal world familiar, a gracious loosening from this world, a maturing of character, a mellowness, a sacred seriousness, which may well gain poetical form in the expression of Hezekiah, “going softly.” We ought to regard all life as a gift, a trust, from God; but in a very special sense it comes home to us that the years of renewed life, after a severe illness, are a gracious permission, a special favour, of our God. His hand has been upon us; we have felt it, and the touch makes us other men, new men. The Rev. James Hervey wrote to a friend shortly before his death in this way: “Were I to enjoy Hezekiah’s grant, and had fifteen years added to my life, I would be most frequent in my application to the throne of grace; for we sustain a mighty loss by reading too much, and praying too little: were I to renew my studies, I would take my leave of those accomplished triflers, the historians, the orators, the Poets of antiquity, and devote my attention to the Scriptures of truth; I would sit with much greater assiduity at my Divine Master’s feet, and desire to know nothing but ‘Jesus Christ and him crucified.’ To have this wisdom, whose fruit is everlasting salvation, after death, I would explore through the spacious and delightful field of the Old and New Testaments.” The verse may be mere precisely read, “That I should walk at case in spite of the trouble of my soul.” It implies that Hezekiah was resolved to walk the rest of the journey of life with calm and considerate steps. The several meanings that can attach to “going softly” may be illustrated.
I. I WILL GO SOFTLY, AS ONE WHO REMEMBERS THE DISTRUST AND SINFUL REPININGS OF MY TIME OF AFFLICTION. It must always be a regret to the good man, a shadow on his life, that even suffering made him doubt God.
II. I WILL GO SOFTLY, AS ONE WHO CHERISHES THE MEMORY OF GOD‘S RESTORING MERCY. God’s special grace to the good man deepens his humility.
III. I WILL GO SOFTLY, AS ONE WHO HAS LEARNT A NEW LESSON OF THE BREVITY AND SERIOUSNESS OF LIFE. Hezekiah’s sickness was a warning.
IV. I WILL GO SOFTLY, OR PLEASANTLY, AS ONE WHO HAS BEEN BROUGHT SO NEAR To GOD THAT HE CANNOT FIND REST AWAY FROM HIM. Walking with God in all holy’ conversation, as having tasted that he is gracious.
V. I WILL GO SOFTLY, AS ONE WHO, AFTER A TIME OF TROUBLE, STRIVES TO RETAIN THE IMPRESSION OF IT, AND TO CARRY OUT THE RESOLVES THEN MADE, AND SHOW THAT HE HAS WELL LEARNED THE LESSONS OF AFFLICTION. Compare “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now will I keep thy Word.”R.T.
Isa 38:17
God’s way with sin.
“For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.” To cast behind one’s back, in Hebrew and Arabic, is a figure of speech meaning “to forget, to lose sight of, to exclude from view.” Roberts, writing of Hindoo life, says, “This metaphor is in common use, and has sometimes a very offensive signification. The expression is used to denote the most complete and contemptuous rejection of a person or thing. ‘The king has cast his minister behind his back,’ that is, fully removed him, treated him with sovereign contempt. ‘Yes, man, I have forgiven you; all your crimes are behind my back; but take care not to offend me again.'” What Hezekiah realized was that, in responding to his prayer for renewed life, God had graciously removed from consideration the just judgments for which transgressions called. He put them aside, out of sight. Matthew Henry sententiously says, “When we cast our sins behind our back, and take no care to repent of them, God sets them before his face, and is ready to reckon for them; but when we set them before our face, in true repentance, as David did when his sin was ever before him, God casts them behind his back.” Two other very striking figures of God’s ways with sin may be recalled.
1. He casts them into the depths of the sea, where they are lost, out of sight, and out of reach, for ever. Lost, as a jewel dropped in mid-ocean.
2. He puts them from us far as east is from westa figure whose fulness of suggestion only unfolds to meditation. There is a north pole and a south pole, giving limits to our conception of north and south. There is no east pole or west pole. East is on everywhere one way, and west is on everywhere the other way. God’s way with sin is
I. TO KEEP STRICTEST ACCOUNT OF IT. God “besets us behind and before.” “All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” There is a record. Illustrate by the idea that all our actions are photographed on the waves of air, and wafted on to God’s keeping, against the judgment-day. This is sureGod is never indifferent to sin. He is strict to behold iniquity.
II. TO APPORTION DUE, CORRECTIVE PUNISHMENTS OF IT. Some coming in the way of ordinary and natural results, and some as special Divine judgments. Thank God, his judgments wait close on our sins.
III. TO PARDON. In a royal, gracious way, whensoever the sinner humbles himself, and with penitence and confession seeks grace. “Though your sins be as crimson, they shall be whiter than snow.”
IV. TO PUT IT FROM CONSIDERATION IN MEETING THE DESIRES AND PRAYERS OF HIS PEOPLE. This is the case before us. This is the marvel of grace. God treats his people as if they were not sinners. He treats them as if standing in the goodness and the rights of his ever-obedient and acceptable Son, Christ Jesus.R.T.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Isa 38:1. In those days, &c. Though the sacred historian has placed this sickness immediately after the defeat and death of Sennacherib, yet it is evident from Isa 38:6 that it happened before that time. Hezekiah reigned in all twenty and nine years; he had reigned fourteen years when Sennacherib invaded him, and after his sickness he reigned fifteen years. Consequently this sickness happened in the very same year that the king of Assyria invaded Judaea; but the sacred historian thought proper to defer the account of it, till he had finished the history of Sennacherib. Schultens reads ill, instead of sick unto death. Compare Isa 38:21.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
II.THE WAY PREPARED FOR THE RELATIONS WITH BABYLON. HEZEKIAHS SICKNESS AND RECOVERY, AND THE EMBASSY FROM BABYLON THIS OCCASIONED
Isaiah 38, 39
1. HEZEKIAHS SICKNESS AND RECOVERY
38
a) The Sickness. Isa 38:1-3
1In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, 1Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live. 2Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, 3and said, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, 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 wept2 sore.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa 38:1. In we have a constructio prgnans, in as much as the preposition depends on a notion of movement onward, nearing, that is latent in the verb . Unless be regarded as a particle denoting design; he was sick in order to die, in which case the consequence would be represented as intention, as elsewhere similarly the reason is substituted as an object in clauses with , ,. It is said in like manner Jdg 16:16, . In the parallel place 2Ch 32:24 stands for our , which corresponds essentially with the first of the two explanations given above.The expression to command his house, for to make his last will known to his house is found again only 2Sa 17:23, where, however, the preposition is used instead of . The expression denotes the dying as certain, surely determined, by using the positive affirming participle (which presents death as abstract, timeless fact, thus a fact determined as to substance, though undetermined as to form, comp. Gen 20:3) and the negative clause that excludes the contrary. As analogous to the meaning to remain living, comp. = to retain alive, Isa 7:21 and the comment.
The differences between our text and 2Ki 20:1-3 are inconsiderable as to sense, and yet are characteristic: omitted at the beginning of Isa 38:2, and substituted at the end for our beginning Isa 38:2. Here our passage again gives evidence of an amended text. The absence of a subject for , when previously Hezekiah and Isaiah and Jehovah had been named, and Hezekiah in fact the furthest from the predicate, lets it be possible (though only grammatically) to think of Isaiah or Jehovah as subject. And the emphatic Isa 38:3 corresponds to the importance of the brief prayer much better than the short , that is only equivalent to our quotation marks. Thus we see here again that 2 Kings has the more original text. For it is inconceivable that the correcter and completer text has been changed into that which is less correct and complete. [The foregoing reasoning on the differences of the two texts must strike most readers as simply the fruit of a foregone conclusion. When, moreover, one takes the latter statement concerning and and compares the two texts at Isa 37:15 and 2Ki 19:15, this impression is confirmed. See the Authors comm. on Isa 37:15 under Text. and Gram. There we find precisely the reverse of what the Author remarks here on the occurrence of the two words in the parallel texts. In using Isa 37:15, instead of the found in 2 Kings, does the Isaiah text do injustice to the importance of the solemn prayer of Hezekiah in the Temple? And does he fail to observe how much better the emphatic corresponds to that importance? The reader is also referred to the comparison between Isa 7:1 (in loc.) and 2Ki 16:5. When all the details of this argument, (viz. for the text of 2 Kings being more original and the Isaiah text being amended from that, and so still more remote from a genuine Isaiah text), have been gone over, we may anticipate that the conclusion of most students will agree with the opinion of J. A. Alex., (see his comment on Isa 37:17-18), who characterizes most of it as special pleading and perverse ingenuity.Tr.].
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. In the fourteenth year of his reign, Hezekiah fell dangerously ill. It was no doubt a proof of especial divine grace when Isaiah announced to him his approaching end, and thereby gave him time to command his house. But Hezekiah was terrified at the intelligence. He prayed weeping to the Lord, and appealing to his life spent in the fear of God.
2. In those dayswept sore.
Isa 38:1-3. We have, above in the introduction to chaps. 3639sufficiently shown what is the relation of chaps. 3839 to the two that precede it. It can no longer be a matter of doubt that the time of Hezekiahs sickness preceded the overthrow of Sennacherib. The former as certainly belonged to the year 714 as the latter to the year 700. The transposition of the chapters, which was for the sake of the connection of the subject matter in them with the general contents of the book, occasioned the belief that the overthrow of Sennacherib also happened in the year 714. In consequence of this, expositors only differ in this respect, that some put all the events narrated 3637 before those narrated 3839 while others put the sickness of Hezekiah before 3637 but the embassy after them. An end is made to all this by the fact, now put beyond doubt, that Sennacherib only began to reign in the year 705, and made his first and only campaign against Phnicia, Judea and Egypt in the year 700. For these reasons in those days Isa 38:1 and at that time, Isa 39:1 are equally unauthentic and not genuine. Both must owe their origin to emendation. [See introduction before 36 Comp. SmithsDict. of the Bible, article Hezekiah.].
It cannot be certainly determined what was the nature of Hezekiahs sickness. Many have inferred from Isa 38:21; 2Ki 20:7, that he had the plague, and have associated this with the plague in the Assyrian camp. (Isa 37:36), and even used this as proof that Hezekiahs sickness occurred after Sennacheribs overthrow. But , ( a root unused in Hebrew, but meaning in the dialects (incaluit, calidus fuit) stands not only for the plague boil (bubo), but also for other burning ulcers, as it occurs in reference to leprosy (Lev 13:18 sqq.), and other inflammable cutaneous diseases (Exo 9:9 sqq.; Deu 28:27; Deu 28:35; Job 2:7). If Isa 38:21 be not taken collectively, so that there was only one boil, then the next meaning would be a carbuncle (i.e., a conglomeration of ulcerous roots). In respect to Gods promises and threatenings being, as it were, dependent on the subjective deportment of men, for their realization, comp. Jer 18:7 sqq.; where especially the , connecting with the celerity with which the potter transforms the clay, denotes the celerity with which the Lord, under circumstances alters His decrees. Comp. my remarks in loc. Hezekiah turned his face to the wall because at that moment he neither wished to see the face of men, nor to show his countenance to men. He would, as much as possible, speak with his God alone. It was different with Ahab, 1Ki 21:4. is animus integer, i.e., a whole, full, undivided heart (1Ki 8:61; 1Ki 11:4). It is an Old Testament speech, that Hezekiah makes. A Christian could not so speak to God. Hezekiah applies to himself the standard that Psalms 15 offers, and that Christ proposes in the Sermon on the mount (Mat 5:21 sqq.).
Footnotes:
[1]Heb. Give charge concerning thy house.
[2]Heb. With great weeping.
b) The Recovery
Isa 38:4-8
4Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, 5Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, 3I will add unto thy days fifteen years. 6And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend 7this city. And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this 4thing that he hath spoken; 8Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down 5in the 6sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa 38:5. On the construction of see on Isa 28:16; Isa 29:14.
Isa 38:21. The word , st. constr. , beside the text, and 2Ki 20:7, occurs only 1Sa 30:12; 1Ch 12:40. The Greek word , which means a cake of dried fruits, especially of figs, seems to have been derived from through the Aram. .
The 3 pers. plur. has for subject those who naturally performed the service in question. We use in such cases the indefinite subject they (Germ. man): (comp. Jer 3:16 sq.; Isa 34:16). occurs elsewhere only in the substantive form (contritus scil, testiculos contritos habens, Lev 21:20). The meaning is to crush, triturate. It is thus a constructio prgnans: let them crush figs (and lay them) on the boil. On , See on Isa 38:1.
In 2Ki 20:7 at the end of the verse it reads , and he lived, i.e., recovered, instead of as here . that he may live. Our text appears to be an effort to remove a difficulty. For seems primarily to mean that Hezekiah immediately recovered. But that such was not the case is seen from the kings asking: what shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the temple the third day? (2Ki 20:8). It was, therefore, no instantaneous cure: and this our text would intimate by . But the word in 2Ki 20:7 is only an anticipation of the narrator, who states the effect immediately after the application of the means although other events intervened.
Isa 38:21-22, are an epitome of 2Ki 20:7-8, with the omission of what is less essential. But it is to be noted, as a further proof of the second-hand nature of our text, that the words what is the sign, etc. 2Ki 20:8 have there their proper foundation in that the promise is expressly given (2Ki 20:5) that the king should go up to the temple, whereas that item is wanting in our Isa 38:5.Whether or not our Isa 38:21-22 were intentionally or accidentally put where they are by some later copyist cannot be certainly determined, and is in itself indifferent. But it seems to me most natural to assume that some later person, with the feeling that there was a disturbing gap, thought he must supply it from 2 Kings. An interpolation between Isa 38:6-7 would have involved a change in his actual text, thus he supplemented at the end. As they are found in the LXX. the addition must be very ancient. They are important, too, as proof in general that the text in our chaps. has suffered alterations; and especially that the dates have been changed.
On the text at Isa 38:8 b. An important difference is to be noted between this and 2Ki 20:9-11. Our text assumes an actual going backward of the sun, probably, as is also assumed by many expositors, because it was thought that this miracle must be put on a level with the sun standing still at Gibeon (Jos 10:12). In the Book of Sirach (Sir 48:23) it is expressly said: in his days the sun went backward and he lengthened the kings life. The older and original text of the Book of Kings knows nothing of this construction.7
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Then came the wordwas, gone down.
Isa 38:4-8. In 2Ki 20:4 we are told that the word of the Lord came to the Prophet when he had hardly left the king, when he had not yet traversed the , or, as the Kri and the ancient versions have it probably more correctly, , i.e., the inner court of the residence. Therefore actually (Jer 18:7), i.e., suddenly, Jehovah recalled the announcement so categorically made Isa 38:1. Just that so harsh sounding announcement had brought forth that fervent sigh of prayer from the depths of Hezekiahs heart. Precisely this was intended. Necessity must teach Hezekiah to pray. The Lord calls Himself the God of thy father David in order to give Hezekiah one more comforting pledge of deliverance. For He intimates that He will be still the same to him that He had been to David. The Lord had heard the prayer, He had seen the tears. Both were well pleasing to Him, He regarded both. And thus He promises the king that He will add yet fifteen years to his life.
I cannot accord with all that Baehr remarks on our passage (see the vol. on 2Ki 20:4 sqq.). But I agree with him when he says: The Prophet announces to the suppliant that God has heard him, and promises him not only immediate recovery, but, in fact, that he shall reign as long again as he has already reigned. Accordingly Hezekiah must already have reigned fifteen years. This could easily be the case if the historian (Isa 36:1) reckoned the fourteen years from the first day of the calendar year, beginning after Hezekiahs becoming king, while the Lord reckoned so favorably for Hezekiah that He counted the fragment of the first calendar year when he began to reign and the fragment of the current year as a whole year. Then is explained how by divine reckoning Hezekiah reigned 15+15 years, and by human reckoning only 14+15. In 2Ki 20:5 the additional promise for the immediate future is given: Behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. This is manifestly omitted in our text because included in the larger promise. The promise of Isa 38:6 is of course conceivable even after the overthrow of Sennacherib. For the latter was to the Assyrians, though a serious, yet by no means an annihilating blow. They could recover themselves after it, and fall on Judah with augmented force and redoubled rage. But our passage stands primarily in undeniable connection with Isa 37:35, especially when we regard it in the construction of 2 Kings (comp. 2Ki 19:34 with Isa 20:6, where only for and the wanting in Isa 20:6 makes the difference). If we are correct in construing the temporal relations of 38, 39, to 36, 37 (see on Isa 38:1), then our passage is older than Isa 37:35. But the latter passage promises deliverance from Sennacherib in words evidently taken on purpose from our passage, so that the promise there given to Hezekiah appears as a renewal and repetition of that he had received already fourteen years before. In addition to this, both our passage and Isa 37:35 have their common root in Isa 31:5. There as here and occur together; there, too, is illustrated by the touching image of a hovering bird. There it is expressly said that, not Egypt shall protect the people of Israel, but Jehovah has reserved this care for Himself. And this deliverance of Judah from Assyria was in fact definitively and forever decided by the defeat of Sennacherib. Assyria, as we have already seen, is done away. The deportation of Manasseh (2 Chronicles 33) was more a benefit for Judah than a punishment. One may say: Sennacheribs losing his army, not by the sword of Egypt, but by the hand of the Lord, is the true and proper fulfilment of the promises, Isa 31:5; Isa 37:35; Isa 38:6. For these reasons I believe that our passage is to be referred to Sennacheribs defeat and, because that was decisive for Judahs relations to Assyria, to no later event. But then our passage also puts a decisive weight in the scale in favor of the assertion that the events narrated 38 precede the events narrated 36 and 37.
In our text are wanting after Isa 38:6 the words that 2Ki 20:7-8 are found in the proper place, viz.: And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs, etc. Instead we have in Isa 38:21-22 an epitome of what is there said. We will, therefore, anticipate here the exposition of these verses. The Prophet proceeds at once to the fulfilment of the promise of Isa 38:5-6. To this end he orders a piece of figcake to be laid on the diseased spot. means a round (sometimes four-cornered) cake of dried summer figs, that were pounded in a mortar and put up in this form for better preservation and transportation (see Winer,R.-W.-B. art. Feigenbaum [SmithsBib. Diet. art. Figs]). It is well known that anciently, as now-a-days, too, figs were applied as an emollient to hasten the gathering of a boil. Comp. Gesenius on Isa 38:1 and Baehr on 2Ki 20:7. Already Jerome mentions the opinion that the sweet fig was a contrarium, i. e., an aggravation of the evil, and adds: Ergo, ut Dei potentia monstraretur, per res noxias et adversas sanitas restituta est. According to Seb. Schmidt,Hebraei communiter et Christianorum quidam (e.g., Grotius) share this opinion. We are told in the Scriptures of countless miraculous cures in which divine omnipotence made no use of natural means. Why such means were still sometimetimes employed (comp. Mar 7:33; Mar 8:23; Joh 9:6 sq.) we will hardly be able to fathom. If the means used in the present case were already known at that time as a cure of this disease, why did not the physicians apply it? Or was this cure still unknown at that time? Or did the physicians not understand the disease correctly? Or had the Lord, beside the object of the bodily cure, some other higher objects to which that means stood in a relation to us unknown? Such are the questions that men raise here, but can hardly answer to satisfaction.
Asking and giving signs is nothing unusual in the Old Testament, and especially in the life of our Prophet. The more the life of faith stands in the grade of childhood, the more frequent it is. Christ would give no sign on demand (Mat 12:38 sqq.; Isa 16:1 sqq.; Luk 11:16; Joh 2:18; Joh 6:30). But Moses received and gave them in abundance (Exodus 4). Also in the times of the judges and of the kings they were frequent (Jdg 6:17; Jdg 6:36 sqq.; 1Sa 2:34; 1Sa 10:1 sqq.). Isaiah himself was more than once the medium of such signs (Isa 7:11 sqq.; Isa 8:1 sqq.; Isa 20:3 sq.; Isa 37:30). They are sometimes threatening, sometimes comforting in their promissory contents, and are, accordingly, given now to the wicked as a warning, now to the pious for comfort and to strengthen their hopes. Thus Hezekiah here receives the second comforting sign. That his life shall be prolonged the Lord makes known to him by means of an implement used for measuring time. At Hezekiahs request the Lord actually causes the shadow on the sun-dial to go backward ten steps or degrees. Here we must note the not inconsiderable difference between our text and that of 2Ki 20:9 sqq. According to our text, the Prophet does not propose to the king the choice whether the shadow shall go forwards or backwards; moreover he does not call on the Lord to do the miracle. But the Prophet declares at once that he will (of course by the power of God) turn the shadow back. Finally our text says, Isa 38:8, that the sun returned back the ten degrees that it had gone down, whereas 2 Kings 20 speaks only of the return of the shadow ( ). The last mentioned difference is so far especially important because it intensifies the miracle. We have hitherto learned, in the character of an abstract that the Isaiah text bears, to recognize a mark of its later origin. This magnifying the miraculous may be regarded as a further symptom of the same thing. See Text. and Gram.
It is now admitted by all that by we are to understand a sun-dial. The ancient notion found in the LXX. in Josephus (Antiqq. X. 2, 1), the Syr., various Rabbis, Scaliger (Praef. ad can. chronol.) was that the steps were a simple flight of stairs exposed transversely to the sun. But to this it is objected that one may imagine the withdrawal of the shadow from ten stair-steps, but not the going down. For the sun must stand so that the upright faces or risers of the stair cast their shadows on the flat steps. But then all the flats must be shaded equally from the top to the bottom. One may of course picture that the ten lower steps lost their shade, but not that the shadow descended ten steps further, as all the steps must already have their shadow. This ascent or descent of the shadow is only possible where there is one object to cast the shadow, and serve as an indicator, whatever may be its form. Hence all expositors understand a sun-dial to be meant. [The words in the Hebrew literally mean the degree or steps of Ahaz in (or by) the sun. , like the Latin gradus, first means steps, and then degrees. The nearest approach to the description of a dial is in the words: degrees of Ahaz, which certainly do not obviously mean a dial. As investigation shows, there is no historical necessity for assuming that a dial could not be meant, and that we must assume that the shadow here meant was the shadow cast upon the stairs of Ahaz. The only question is, whether this (latter) is not the simplest and most obvious explanation of the words, and one which entirely exhausts their meaning. If so, we may easily suppose the shadow to have been visible from Hezekiahs chamber, and the offered sign to have been suggested to the Prophet by the sight of it. This hypothesis relieves us from the necessity of accounting for the division into ten, or rather twenty degrees, as Hezekiah was allowed to choose between a procession and a retrocession of the same extent. J. A. Alex. A neighboring wall might have cast its shadow on such a stair, which might be called the shadow of the stair, as Gods shadow is called thy shadow. , Psa 121:5; comp. , Num 14:9. The stair may have served designedly or undesignedly for a rude or even comparatively accurate gauge of time, or it may not.Tr.]
We learn from Herodotus (II. 109) that the Greeks received the sun-dial from the Babylonians, and he says expressly that the Greeks learned from them . Thus the Babylonians seem already to have known the division into twelve day and twelve night hours. The sun-indicator of Ahaz may also have had this division. For the mention of ten degrees does not warrant the inference that it was divided according to the decimal system. The sun-dial could easily pass from the Babylonians to the Syrians, and from the latter to the Jews. Ahaz was disposed to introduce foreign novelties (comp. 2Ki 16:10 sqq.), and may have introduced this with other things from Syria. But this is only conjecture. The same is true of any thing that may be offered concerning the form of Ahazs sun-dial [see Barnesin loco;SmithsBib. Dict.].
As the Prophet offered the choice of letting the shadow rise or fall ten degrees, it must have been at a time of day that allowed room for both on the dial. Of course this room was measured by the length of time represented by the degrees. Did they represent hours or a like larger measure, then a gnomon arranged for only twelve would not have sufficed. But what was proposed could have been done did the degrees mark half or quarter hours. Delitzsch says: If the performance of the sign took place an hour before sundown, then the shadow, going back ten degrees, of half an hour each, came to where it was at noon. But how then could the shadow at 5 oclock, P. M., go also ten degrees further down? Could the dial mark the tenth hour after noon? It is thus more probable that the Prophet came to the king nearer mid-day. [According to the old view defended above, it would be, say halfway, between sunrise and meridian.Tr.]
The expression is manifestly used with different meanings. It designates first the degrees or steps, however they may have been marked. And, in my opinion, it has this sense four out of the five times that it occurs in our passage. Moreover seems to me to be the shadow of the degrees, not the shadow of the gnomon. For it is not correct to say: the shadow of the gnomon that is gone down on the gnomon of Ahaz. For if be taken in the concrete sense, meaning that particular gnomon, that would be to distinguish what in fact is identical. But if the word be taken generally=the sun-dial shadow that is on every dial in general, then is quite superfluous. Hence I think that means here the degrees, and the shadow of the degrees is the shadow that, connected with the degrees, marks the hours, be it that the degrees themselves cast the shadow, or that the shadow strikes the degrees (be they lines, points, circles, or the like), and thereby marks the position of the sun or the time of day. Moreover, the third, fourth and fifth time the word means degrees. For in these it is only said that the sun has retrograded over the same degrees on which it went down. But the expression is manifestly to be taken as a metonomy, as far as it is pars pro toto. The language had no name for the novelty. It had only a word for the chief features of it, and thus that became the name of the whole. is both times the accusative of measure. stands in an emphatic antithesis: by means of the suns movement, thus in consequence of a natural cause, the shadow had gone down; but I, says the Prophet in the consciousness of the will and power of Jehovah, I bring it about that, contrary to nature, it must return ten degrees. This could happen indirectly by refraction of the suns rays (comp. Keil on 2Ki 20:9), or perhaps directly by an optical effect. It remains a miracle any way. [See Barnesin loc. for a full presentation of this subject.] Various natural explanations see in Winer,R.-W.-B. Art. Hiskia.Thenius (on 2Ki 20:9) supposes an eclipse of the sun, which, according to Seyffarth, took place September 26th, 713 B. C. But this date does not sufficiently agree with our event, nor would an eclipse explain the retrocession of the shadow. I believe that the Lord desired to give to His anointed, at a very important epoch of his personal and official life, the assurance that He, the Lord, could as certainly restore the sands of Hezekiahs life that were nearly run out, and strengthen them to renew their running, as He now lets the shadow of the sun-dial return a given number of degrees.
Footnotes:
[3]add.
[4]word.
[5]auf der Stufenuhr Achas vermoege der Sonne, or, on the degrees, or steps of Ahaz with the sun.J. A. Alex.
[6]Heb. degrees by, or, with the sun.
[7][This use of Sir 48:23 conflicts with the appeal the Author makes to the same text in his Introduction, 4 (at the end), in support of the genuineness of the Isaiah text. If it there serves to prove that an entire section, viz., the historical part, 3639 is Isaiahs own work, it must certainly prove as much for the particular language that Sirach actually refers to.TR].
c) Hezekiahs Psalm of Thanksgiving
Isa 38:9-20
No one doubts the genuineness of this song. That it was not composed during the sickness, appears from the second half, which contains thanks for recovery. But it is probable, too that the song was no involuntary burst of joyful and grateful feeling, such as might well forth from the heart in the first moments after deliverance. For, as Delitzsch has remarked, the song bears evident marks of art, and of choice, and partly of antiquated expression. Such forms of expression are: (again only Exo 38:21) and (. .) Isa 38:11; in the sense of dwelling (perhaps again Psa 49:20), (adjective form only here), and meaning licium (. .) Isa 38:12; meaning composuit animum (again only Psa 131:2) Isa 38:13; (again only Jer 8:7) and (. .) Isa 38:14; Hithp. (again only Psa 42:5) Isa 38:15; Isa 38:17 and Isa 38:20 with the accusative instead of the usual construction with ; as substantive=interitus, and joined with (only here) Isa 38:17. Added to this are echoes from Job, especially in the first, lamenting part of the song: Niph. Isa 38:12 (again only in Job 4:21). Isa 38:12, comp. Job 6:9 (Isa 27:8); Isa 38:12, comp. Job 23:14. Isa 38:12, Job 4:20; Isa 38:14, comp. Job 16:20; Isa 38:14, comp. Job 17:3; Isa 38:16, comp. Job 39:4. Compare the list by Delitzsch in Drechslers Komm. II. p. 620 sq. It is, therefore, conjectured, not without reason, that the learned king, well acquainted with the ancient literature of his people, produced this song later as he had time and leisure for it, as a monument both of his art and learning. Apart from the superscription Isa 38:9, the song has evidently two parts; a lament (Isa 38:10-14), and a joyful thanksgiving (Isa 38:15-20.
____________________
) SUPERSCRIPTION. Isa 38:9
9The writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered from his sickness.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
It is doubtful if = . For although b. and m. are in general kindred sounds, still an interchange specially of the roots and never occurs. For neither (Jer 2:22, see my remarks in loc.) nor the noun has anything to do with . We have besides, as derived from the unused root only in the superscriptions of Psalms 16, 56-60. Why should the exchange of and be made just for this species of Psalm? Why was not used in the superscription of those Psalms as well as for our passage, if both words are actually of like meaning? Beside occurs elsewhere, and means either abstractly the writing, mode of writing (Exo 32:16; Exo 39:30; Deu 10:4; 2Ch 36:22; Ezr 1:1), or in the concrete sense, a something written, piece of scripture, copy (2Ch 21:12; 2Ch 35:4). Here, too, it means a writing, a written document or record. The word would give us to know that another source for this song lay before the author than for other parts of chapters 3639. The Book of Kings does not contain the song of Hezekiah. From that therefore the author could not take it. There lay before him a document that was either held to be a writing of Hezekiahs or actually was such. In fact we may take the word writing in the sense of original manuscript. For the unusual word, , doubtless chosen on purpose, and on purpose put first, intimates that not only the contents of the writing came from Hezekiah, but also that the manuscript of it was his. It may be remarked as a curiosity, that Grotius conjectures that the song was dictated to the king by Isaiah, thus was properly the production of the latter. Excepting this no one has doubted Hezekiahs authorship. He is known to have been a very active man in the sphere of art and literature. He was the restorer of the Jehovah-cultus in general, and of the instrumental and vocal temple music of David in particular (2 Chronicles 29). According to Pro 25:1, he had a college or commission, called the , which appears to have been charged with collecting and preserving ancient documents of the national literature. See Delitzsch in Drechsl.Komm. II.2, p. 221. From the words and we see that the sickness and recovery are treated as a total. In the second of these periods, inexactly defined, the song originated. The second period is named, not by the infinitive as the first, but by means of the verb. fin., according to that frequent Hebrew usage, in which the discourse quickly returns from subordinate to the principal form. Comp. Isa 18:5.
) THE DISTRESS
Isa 38:10-14
10I said in 8the cutting off of my days,
I shall go to the gates of the grave:
I am deprived of the residue of my years.
11said, I shall not see the Lord,
Even the Lord, in the land of the living:
I shall behold man no more
With the inhabitants of the 9world.
1210Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherds tent;
I have 11cut off like a weaver my life:
He will cut me off 12with pining sickness:
From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
1313I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion,
So will he break all my bones:
From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
14Like 14a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter:
I did mourn as a dove;
Mine eyes 15fail with looking upward:
O Lord, I am oppressed; 16 17undertake for me.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa 38:10. Views differ very much about . The Ancient Versions guess at it. The LXX. have (they probably read ); the Vulgate, in dimidio (if this was not for the sake of resemblance in sound between and dimidium, then it was from a calculation that the point of culmination is at the same time solstitium). The Syrian, also, by reason of the same combination, has in mediis diebus meis; Targ. Jonatan has in moerore dierum meorum; Aqu. and Symm. have (they take the root = ); the Arab and various Rabbins translate in ademtione, excisione dierum meorum in which they proceed from the meaning to destroy, which certainly has, especially in the Niph. (comp. Hos 10:15; Isa 6:5; Isa 15:1, etc.). Many modern expositors, following the precedent of Eberh. Scheid (Diss. philol. exeg. ad Cant. Hisk. Lugd. Bat. 1769), translate the word as do the Vulg. and Syr., viz., in dimidio, medio (comp. Psa 102:25). This meaning is supported by reference to the supposed still-stand of the sun in the midst of its course; but it is over ingenious and entirely isolated here. For in other places of its occurrence undoubtedly means: being still, pause (Isa 62:6-7; Psa 83:2). Most expositors now adopt this sense (Gesenius, Maurer, Umbreit, Drechsler, Knobel, Delitzsch). Yet they differ also; some understanding by the stillness the political still-stand consequent on Sennacheribs defeat (Gesen. Maur., Drechsler), or that promised to follow the hoped-for retreat of the Assyrians (Knobel). Others refer to the expression (in the days of my harvest Job 29:4), and suppose the meaning to be the time of manly maturity when the spirit of men begins to be clearer and quieter (Umbr.), or the quiet course of healthful life (Del.). Thus all these expositors take in a good sense, i. e., of quiet, happy condition, of rest of spirit, of vigor of life, vigor. But I cannot think it has this positive meaning. One must not transfer to the sense of . The root has the predominant meaning not to be, to bring to nought, to annihilate, whether this comes from the notion of making like (the earth), or elsewhere. For means to destroy, once in Kal. (Hos 4:5), always in Niph. (Hos 4:6; Hos 10:7; Hos 10:15; Isa 15:1; Isa 6:5; Jer 47:5; Oba 1:5; Zep 1:11); in Piel in the solitary instance of this conjugation (2Sa 21:5). Kal. occurs beside only in the sense of negative rest, of being no more, ceasing (cessare): Jer 14:17; Lam 3:49. And also , in the three instances where it occurs (Isa 62:6-7; Psa 83:2), is primarily only a designation for ceasing to speak, being silent, as Delitzsch himself remarks on Isa 62:6. Accordingly I think that means rather being still, standing still, the quenching of life-power. Thus the king would say: as I noted that the clock of my life gradually stopped, I thought: now it goes in the gate of Hades. It is plain that, with this construction must be referred to , whereas those who construe positively must refer it to . For it is self-evident that one whose life-clock stops must enter the gates of Hades, whereas it needs to be made emphatic that one, still in the vigor of life, must make up his mind to this fatal entry. The Masorets understood the words in the latter sense; hence the pause in indicated by Tiphhha. One is necessitated thereby to construe emphatically to go off, and the connection with as a pregnant construction, which is needless with our exposition. The cohortative form in seems to me to mean that the speaker, as it were, spurs himself on to do what he must do, but does unwillingly (comp. Ewald, 228, a).Pual occurs again only Exo 38:21, where it means to be mustered, inscribed, inventoried. It is plain that it cannot mean this here. Hence some take it=made to miss, deprived of, frustrari. But Delitz. justly remarks that then it ought to read (comp. on Isa 29:6). Gesen. translates: I am missed through the rest of my years, grammatically correct but flat. The most inviting is the rendering: I am fined the residue of my years, which is grammatically possible since occurs with the accusative of the person meaning to visit, punish (Jer 6:15; Jer 49:8; Psa 59:6).
Isa 38:11. Concerning see on Isa 12:2.If the words are taken as parallel with , then of course one must cast doubt upon (. .) as Cheyne, Delitzsch, Diestel and others do, and read , i. e., world in the sense of earthly presence ( ) Psa 17:14; Psa 49:2; Psa 89:48. But if we are correct in referring to the object and not to the predicate (see comm. below), and if, according to the principle of parallelism, the same construction obtain in the second half of the verse, then the position of after and then also the difficulty of connecting and also , show that is not to be joined to the object but to the predicate, that therefore there is an antithetical parallelism. Therefore is correct, and is to be taken the sense of a relative not being, or being no more.
Isa 38:12. If be taken in its usual sense of tas, time, life-time (Drechsler) there ensues the disadvantage that the predicates do not fit to it. For they contain the notion breaking off, removal in respect to space, which is applicable to dwelling-space, room, but not to the time of dwelling. Hence most expositors recur to the dialects wherein (likely because of a relation to ) has very constantly the sense of dwelling. Thus in Chaldee is a very common word for dwelling; Dan. 2:38; 3:31; 4:9, 18, 32. Thence come the expressions of the Targum the inhabitant, the dwelling. In Syriac, too, dairo, dajoro, dairono is the dwelling; and in Arabic dar. It seems that the radical idea rotundum, orbis has in Hebrew developed more to the meaning circuit, periodus, period, age, whereas in the dialects it has been restricted more to the meaning of the round tent-dwelling. Still there are not wanting examples to prove that in Hebrew also the word has retained its original sense of being round in reference to things of space. Thus Isa 22:11 means ball; Isa 29:3 =circumcirca; Eze 24:5 = the wood-pile in round layers. Indeed Psa 49:20 very likely means specifically dwelling. It is very probable that Hezekiah, a learned prince and well acquainted with the ancient monuments of the national tongue, in solemn poetry, availed himself of an antiquated expression. used for pulling up the tent-pegs, Isa 33:20; Niph. Found again only Job 4:21, and with the same meaning. from to uncover, to clear out the land, evacuare, then specifically migrare, Niph.=migrare factus, deportatus. is an adjective formation from =pastoricius: it occurs only here. That (. .) does not mean to cut off seems probable to me also. For all kindred roots , ,, as also the derivative the porcupine, indicate that it means to contract, wrap together, lay together. Thus many moderns translate: I have wound up my life. But if one so understands it: I regard my life as wound up, i. e., done, finished, I have finished with life, then it seems to me not to suit the first person, nor the primary sense of . My rendering (see Exeg. and Crit. below) makes plain why we find the first and then the third person. (reminds strongly of Job 6:9, comp. Isa 27:8). recall Job 4:20; and Job 23:14.
Isa 38:13. is componere, complanare. We had the word with a physical sense Isa 28:25; here it has a moral sense like Psa 131:2, where it means composui et compescui animum. In our text is wanting. It is seen from this that the poet uses the word in that direct causative sense, so frequent in Hebrew, according to which can mean, not only to make alike, even, mild, quiet, but also to effect equality, evenness (aequitatem animi), equanimity, quietness., (pointed with the art. like Psa 22:17), though referred by the Masorets to still manifestly, as to sense, belongs to what follows. For the lion is no example of that animum componere.The retrospective after a immediately preceding occurs here like it does directly after, at the beginning of Isa 38:14.
Isa 38:14. The words are difficult. First, as to it is to be remarked that Jer 8:7, the only other place where the words occur, Kri would read . This shows that the word has nothing to do with horse, whatever may be the etymology of the latter word. The conjecture of Velthusen (Beitrag zur Aufklaerung des Dankliedes Hiskiae zur Befoerderung theol. Kenntnisse von J. A. Cramer, P. I. p. 61 not.), seems to me reasonable, that the Masorets, beside the pronunciation sus, intimate another ss or sis, because the latter better corresponds to the sound-mimicry of the word. For it is very probable that the bird receives its name from the sound it makes (like cuckoo, Uhu owl, etc.).. There is no root in Hebrew. It is regarded as coming by transposition from increpare, but which in Ethiopic is said to mean to sigh, in Arabic to implore plaintively. Boettcher (Aehrenlese, p. 33) takes for a softened =disturbed, troubled, and this as the peculiar mark of the restless swallow that flies back and forth. But this does not suit Jer 8:7, where it is pure arbitrariness to omit.It is, certainly no accident that in many languages the crane is designated by a word containing the sound g (k) and r, and it shows that all these denominations are . The name in Arab, is Kurki; Aram., kurkeja; Greek, ; Lat. grus, etc. This meaning suits very well Jer 8:7, but is less suitable in our text. is the same as (Fuerst): The asyndeton (the like occurs Nah 2:12; Hab 3:11) gives emphasis: like a swallow, (still more) like a crane I sigh. There are cases where, not the species, but the individual forms the basis of comparison. Thus the rule that would require it, to read if is co-ordinate and not subordinate, cannot be strictly carried out. Beside the examples just given, comp. Num 23:24; Num 24:9; Num 24:6; Job 16:14. is used for the note of the dove also Isa 59:11, comp. Eze 7:16; Nah 2:8.; so punctuated can only be perf. 3d per. fern., and the fem. is to be construed as neuter. But occurs no where else in an intransitive sense. Hence, and for the sake of antithesis to (as Luzzatto well remarks, see in Delitzsch), it is better to read , which must then be taken as substantative=oppressio, anxiety. to hang down limp, Job 28:4, then, generally, languidum, debilem esse, comp. Isa 19:6; Psa 79:8; Psa 116:6; Psa 142:7) is sponde pro me. The construction with the accusative of the person like Gen 43:9; Gen 44:32; Pro 11:15.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The poet depicts how he felt in the moment of extreme peril of life, when he thought he must enter the gates of Hades, and, as it were, pay the penalty of the remnant of his days (Isa 38:10). Then he believed he would for ever be robbed of the blessing that is enjoyed in contemplating the works of Jehovah and in the companionship of men, by his exile in the land of unsubstantial shades (Isa 38:11). He sees his body already broken up and removed away like the tent of a wandering shepherd; he was in the midst of the labor of weaving his life and rolling it up, like the weaver his web on the weavers beam; but in the midst of this labor he sees his life suddenly cut off. By day still untouched, it is mortally smitten before night comes (Isa 38:12). In anxious expectation he drags on till morning. But that brings only new suffering. Like a lion the disease falls upon him to crush his bones, and anew it seems as if between day and night his life must end (Isa 38:13). Mortally sick, he can only utter weak murmurs and groans, like the complaining sounds of the swallow, the crane, the dove. Yet his languishing eyes look upwards; he has great anguish, but he is able still to call on the Lord to be surety for him (Isa 38:14).
2. I saidof the world.
Isa 38:10-11. before , beginning Isa 38:10, seems to stand in antithesis to , Isa 38:15. I thought, the poet would say, that all was up; but the Lord thought otherwise. stands for what one says, i. e., thinks inwardly to himself (comp. Gen 26:9; Gen 44:28; 1Sa 20:3, etc.).
The expression gates of Hades occurs only here: comp. Psa 9:14; Psa 107:18; Job 38. By the rest of my days Hezekiah means, of course, the extent of life he hoped for according to the natural conditions of life. It is the same as is expressed in the half of my days (Psa 102:25; Jer 17:11). Having mentioned the evil that was in prospect (10a), and named the good in a general way of which he was to be deprived (10b), Hezekiah proceeds in Isa 38:11 to specify the particulars of this good. He puts first that he shall no more see Jah, namely, Jah in the land of the living. But can one any way see Jah? With the bodily eye, certainly not, and least of all in the land of the living. But to see Jehovah means nothing else than to observe and enjoy the traces of His being and essence. For to see stands here, as often, in the wider sense of perception of the senses generally (comp. Psa 37:13; Psa 34:13; Jer 29:32; Ecc 3:13; Ecc 9:9, etc.). [It is both more obvious and more edifying, and more to the honor of Hezekiah, to explain this seeing Jehovah by a reference to Psalms 63, especially Isa 38:2; Isa 38:6; coll. Isa 38:20 of the text. The whole Psalm mutat. mutand. may be taken as the amplification of our Isa 38:11 a; or, vice versa,11a may be taken as Hezekiahs epitome of Psalms 63, which may have been his solace in the languishing night-watches. It is strong confirmation of this explanation of the seeing, that Isaiah communicates to Hezekiah his near recovery by promising that in three days he shall enjoy what he here represents as the prime blessing of life: the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord (2Ki 20:5). The promise may be completed in the words of Psa 63:2 : to see () Jehovahs power and glory, as thou hast seen Him in the sanctuary. According to the exposition that follows, the third day might be from the beginning of the disease.Tr.]
The clause in the land of the living is a limitation and nearer definition. Not that he means that Jehovah is not to be observed in the land of the dead, and as if that land lay outside of Jehovahs power and dominion. How contrary to Old Testament Scripture that sentiment would be appears from Amo 9:2; Job 26:6; Psa 139:8 : Pro 15:11. Hence the poet defines his meaning: I thought never more to see theJah who reveals Himself in the land of the living. This is the first and greatest good that the deceased loses. But he loses also the companionship of men. And this, again, is not to be understood absolutely, but relatively. For in Hades the dead person is with other dead men. But they are even no right and proper men any more, but only shades. Comp. Naegelsbach:Homer Theol. VII. 25, p. 398 sqq.; Die nachhomer. Theol. des griech. Volksglaubens VII. 25, p. 413 sqq. (see Text. and Gram.).
3. Mine agefor me.
Isa 38:12-14. The king depicts in these verses, by a succession of images, the progress of his sickness to its culmination, then the turn brought about by his believing prayer, means my dwelling and not mine age (see Text. and Gram.). By this Hezekiah evidently means his body (comp. 2Co 5:1; 2Co 5:4; 2Pe 1:13-14). Though in the body still, he contemplates the separation of body and soul as already accomplished. Comparing the body to a shepherds tent, which after a while is struck, so his tent he regards as already struck and removed. The next image is drawn from the weaver (see Text, and Gram.). I understand the words thus: I sit at the loom and roll up my life continuously on the weavers beam; He cuts me off from the thrum (, i.e., the ends of the threads attached to the beam). The Lord, by His cutting off, interrupts the labor of Hezekiah, who is, so to speak, weaving his life. From day to night thou finishest me. This seems to depict the feeling of the poet at the close of his first day of suffering. Such was the rapid progress of the disease that it seemed about to do its work in one day. By evening, indeed, he was not dead, but only by the greatest effort the patient wards off despair. I composed myself to the morning (on see Text. and Gram.). On the following day the torments of the disease continue. He feels its power like that of a lion that crunches the bones of its prey (comp. Pro 25:15, where is a different sense). A second time he thinks the evening will end his sufferings, and awaits the issue with murmurings and groanings comparable to the querulous notes of the swallow, crane and dove.
The second clause of Isa 38:14 forms the turning point. With painful longing, under severe oppression, the poet lifts his eyes to the Lord. His prayer is only a short one. He regards himself as a debtor hard pressed by his creditor, and prays the Lord to be surety for him. is, moreover, a literal quotation from Job 17:3. Hezekiah thinks of suffering Job, and concludes a similar event with the same appeal.
) THE DELIVERANCE
Isa 38:15-22
15What shall I say?
He hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it:
I shall 18go softly all my years
19In the bitterness of my soul.
16O Lord, by these things men live,
20And in all these things is the life of my spirit:
So wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.
1721Behold, 22for peace I had great bitterness:
But 23thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of 24corruption:
For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
18For the grave cannot praise thee,
Death can not celebrate thee:
They 25that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
19The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day:
The father to the children shall make known thy truth.
20The Lord 26was ready to save me:
Therefore 27we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments
All the days of our life in the house of the Lord.
21For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon
22the boil, and he shall recover. Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa 38:15. The Hiph. (denoting the solemn walk of those visiting the temple), occurs again only Psa 42:6. To take it as meaning the walk of life seems to me unwarranted in view of that passage, and in the entire absence of any supporting passage. The same may be said of taking here, as in other passages after verbs or nouns denoting cumulation (Isa 38:5; Isa 32:10; Lev 15:25), in the sense of according to. Nor may we take =spite of, which it never means. It is here simply causal.
Isa 38:16. The suffix in can only refer to the two notions . The plur. masc, need not surprise: comp. Eze 18:26; Eze 33:18-19. joined to denotes the ground or cause of life; and it is to be noted that a Hebrew regards as the basis of life what we regard as the means of living. Hence that from which one lives in the usual sense, i. e., his support, is joined with (Gen 27:40; Deu 8:3). Much more may stand with when the absolute foundation of life is to be designated. The plural has for subject the living generally, for which we may use one.Among the many explanations, more or less forced, of the following clause, the most admissible seems to be that of Gesenius, afterwards amplified by Drechsler. It takes all from to as one clause, and thus has the double advantage of obtaining for a suitable reference and for the verbs at the close a suitable connection. And to the totality, i. e., the completeness, full power of the life of my spirit mayest thou by the same both strengthen and make me live. refers to Isa 38:15. The change of gender is common in Hebrew. The insertion of between and corresponds to the frequent insertion of after , a form of expression that occurs once in Hos 14:3 in reference to and in Isaiah even Isa 40:12 in reference to . with that meaning that alone suits here occurs only in this Hiph. and again in Kal, Job 39:4. The meaning of Kal is pinguis, fortis fuit; thus Hiph. would mean to make fat, strong, healthy. Instead of the Vulg. and Talmud seem to have read . One Codex reads thus, and many expositors adopt it. In fact there is no alternative but either to read [Lowth], or to take before in that demonstrative retrospective sense in which we had it Isa 37:26; Isa 17:14; Isa 9:4, and which, in fact, occurs generally in clauses that are expanded either extensively or intensively. Comp. 2Sa 14:10; Pro 23:24; Num 23:3; Isa 56:6 sqq. According to this the would refer to the remote . But would denote emphatically the chief result contemplated by the poet. Hezekiah was convalescent when he composed this song. He could therefore wish that he might be restored to the full power of his spirit. But if, instead of this imperative, one reads , then the double Vav before the verbs=etet, as in Isa 38:15. The sense remains essentially the same.
Isa 38:17. is not = . But the meaning is for peace, for good it was bitter to me. It is not to be objected to this that then ought not to be wanting, for, apart from its absence being quite normal here (comp. Isa 38:20), may itself be regarded as a verb [preterite Kal of , not elsewhere used, though the Hiph. is of frequent occurrence.J. A. Alex.]. (Comp. Isa 24:9; Job 22:2; Rth 1:20). But it is more likely that is adjective used as noun as in Rth 1:13; Lam 1:4. Comp. , Isa 38:14.According to our construction of we must regard a causal clause expressive of the situation.=to be lovingly attached (Deu 7:7; Deu 10:15, etc.); but while elsewhere construed with , it is here (comp. Isa 38:20, with the accusat. though elsewhere always with , joined with the accusat. of the object, and beside this with to designate the terminus a quo of the way of deliverance (construct. prgnans) [coll. Heb 5:7, Tr.].The combination the pit of destruction, occurs only here; even the substantive use of does not occur elsewhere.
Isa 38:18. before , by a familiar usage, (Isa 23:4; 1Sa 2:3, etc.) extends to the following clause.The (comp. Isa 14:19; Psa 28:1; Psa 88:5, etc.) are not those going down, but those gone down. For in Hebrew the Participle is in itself devoid of tense signification, which must be ascertained from the nature of what is affirmed or from the context. Here the hopelessness is during the endless stay in Hades.
Isa 38:19. with arises from the direct causative use of this Hiph. For = to make, prepare , knowing, knowledge. Accordingly he for whom the knowledge is prepared, i. e., to whom it is imparted must be in the dative. The object of knowledge is designated by in accordance with the frequent use of this preposition with verbis decendi (comp. Gen 20:2; 1Sa 4:19; 2Ki 19:9, etc.).
Isa 38:20. In we are to supply (comp. Isa 38:17; Isa 21:1; Isa 37:26). We must not translate: Jehovah was there to save me, for Hezekiah certainly did not feel the saving hand of God as something that withdrew after accomplishing its work. He felt it as something still present. He still needed it, as appears from Isa 38:16. This is precisely the sense of this periphrastic construction, that it does not represent the verbal notion simply, but with the additional notion of continued occupation with something. is pulsare, and is used of playing stringed instruments (1Sa 16:16; 1Sa 16:23, etc.). Hence is to be understood of instrumentum pulsatile, (not cantus), as in the superscriptions of many Psalms 4, 6, 54, etc.; Hab 3:19.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. In this second part of his song Hezekiah expresses his gratitude to the Lord. What shall I say? he begins, as if he could not find the proper word to express in a suitable manner what he had been permitted to experience. In two brief words, he first expresses comprehensively what he has to say. He promised it, and has also done it! But I, as long as I live, will walk before the Lord, in gratitude for His imparting to me by means of bitter suffering so much joy (Isa 38:15). Such is, as it were, the theme. In what follows the details are amplified. First, the king expresses the great truth that Gods word and act are the foundation of life for all, and adds the petition that God would by word and act, also fully restore him to life (Isa 38:16). This petition forms the transition to further thanksgiving. The poet acknowledges that his suffering had inured to his salvation: the Lord had precisely in the depth of suffering made him to know the height of His love. But how could such salvation accrue to the sinner? Because the Lord graciously forgave his debt (Isa 38:17). But also because it is in a measure important to the Lord Himself to preserve man alive. For in Hades there is no thanksgiving to God nor any more trusting in Him (Isa 38:18). Only the living can do this, and that both for themselves, and by handing down the praise of the divine faithfulness to their posterity (Isa 38:19). Because he knows the Lord to be near as his redeemer and Saviour, he will, in the church and in the house of the Lord, let his song sound as long as he lives (Isa 38:20). Verses 21, 22, which are here out of place, were explained above at Isa 38:6.
2. What shall I saymy soul.
Isa 38:15. The sentiment is, that there is properly an infinite amount to say. What shall the poet select from mass of material. One may compare 2Sa 7:20. Hezekiah resolves to make two things prominent: 1) that the Lord was as good as His word. 2) that he, for his part, will give solemn thanksgiving as long as he lives. The construction must not be taken as giving a reason. The antithesis of saying and doing reveals that we have here two correlative members, and that before does not point backward, but forward. The is here simply=et-et. In the second number idem is added for emphasis. For the truth that is so lauded Isa 38:18-19 only exists when the performer is identical with the promiser (comp. Num 23:19). Therefore He hath said refers back to Isa 38:5, and stands in an emphatic sense, as in general the notion is capable of various emphasis (comp. 2Ch 32:24). The second clause of the verse expresses in brief the thanks that Hezekiah means to pay. He promises zealous Jehovah-worship (on see Text. and Gram.), as proof of his thanks for the misfortune sent him that had become the source of so much good fortune to him, as he expressly confesses Isa 38:17. The thought recalls Isa 12:2, where the Prophet thanks Jehovah for being angry at him.
3. O Lordto live.
Isa 38:16. These words contain a nearer definition of he said and he did, Isa 38:15, from which is seen that the poet attaches great importance to this thought. By the words he first utters the general sentence, that all life rests on Gods word and deed (Drechsler appropriately refers to the creative word and act Genesis 1). The following clause applies this universal truth to the poet himself. (See Text. and Gram.).
4. Behold, for peacethy truth.
Isa 38:17-19. In these verses the poet gives in brief outline the story of his suffering and the deliverance from it. The bitter distress of death serves him as a foil that lets the light of the deliverance shine all the brighter. He praises the miraculous power of God that has brought it about that precisely what was bitter accrued to his salvation. Therefore he repeats emphatically bitterness (comp. Isa 38:19; Isa 24:16; Isa 27:5). This gracious deliverance comes from the Lords no more remembering the poets sins (Psa 90:8), and casting them behind Him (Psa 51:11; Mic 7:19).
In Isa 38:18-19 Jehovahs deliverance is explained from another side. It is shown that the Lord Himself has an interest in preserving Hezekiah alive. The Sheol (metonomy: the total for the individuals that constitute it) does not praise the Lord; death (also metonomy) does not celebrate Him: those that have gone down into the pit hope not in His faithfulness. We have here quite the Old Testament representation of the condition of the dead as something that excludes all free and conscious action. Thus in Psa 6:6 (5). For in death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave who shall give thee thanks? Bring together also in one conspectus the expressions Psa 88:11-13; Psa 30:10; Ecc 9:5-6 and comp. Job 14:10 sqq.; Psa 115:17. One sees that the spiritual activity of the dead was looked upon as paralyzed by the shades of death. They cannot hope,etc. points to the future as what precedes does to the past. The dead have as little remembrance of the benefits received from God in life, as they have hope in the faithfulness of God that rules over them and promises a better future. [The true explanation of the words is given by Calvin,viz., that the language is that of extreme agitation and distress, in which the prospect of the future is absorbed in contemplation of the present, and also that, so far as he does think of futurity, it is upon the supposition of Gods wrath. Regarding death, in this case, as a proof of the divine displeasure, he cannot but look upon it as the termination of his solemn praises.J. A. Alex.].
With jubilant emotions, Hezekiah feels that he again belongs to the living, hence the repetition of who lives, who lives, he praises,etc., and the joyous as I this day, in which appears how much the contrast between the mournful yesterday, and the blessed to-day moves the heart of the poet. The words father to the children,etc., have a peculiar significance in Hezekiahs mouth. His successor Manasseh, according to 2Ki 21:1, ascended the throne at twelve years of age. Consequently he cannot have been born at this time. Indeed, since it was customary for the eldest son to succeed, it is very probable that at that time Hezekiah had no son at all, which seems to be confirmed by ,39:7. Considered from this point of view our words appear prophetic. Yet, when one reflects what sort of a son Manasseh was, it would almost seem to have been better had Hezekiah done nothing to avert the sentence of death Isa 38:1.
5. The Lordhouse of the Lord.
Isa 38:20. Concluding verse, containing once again the chief thought, and a summons to continual praise of Jehovah. Jehovah is present to save me, see Text. and Gram.So will we touch my stringed instruments,ibid. The song accompanying the stringed instrument is not excluded, though the latter alone is mentioned. The plural has been urged as favoring the meaning song. But could not the musical King Hezekiah understand various sorts of playing on stringed instruments? Or, if not this, may not the plural be that of the general notion? Some suppose, that by the plural we will touch, Hezekiah sets himself as the chorus-leader of his family. But one must not forget the Levitical musicians that he himself had instituted for the service of Gods house (2Ch 29:30). Corresponding to the Isa 38:15, Hezekiah thinks here not of private divine service, but of the worship of Jehovah in the temple. The preposition is surprising. Perhaps one may compare Hos 11:11. Perhaps, too, the preposition has reference to the elevated way which, according to 2Ki 16:18, led the king into the temple, and afforded him an elevated place from which he saw the greater part of the house beneath him. Moreover it is to be remarked, that tarrying in the house of the Lord has a prominent place in many Psa 15:1; Psa 23:6; Psa 42:5; Psa 43:4; Psa 84:2 sqq. 11, etc.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Isa 36:4 sqq. Haec proprie est Satanae lingua et sunt non Rabsacis sed ipsissimi Diaboli verba, quibus non muros urbis, sed medullam Ezechiae, hoc est, tenerrimam ejus fidem oppugnat.Luther. In this address the chief-butler, Satan performs in the way he uses when he would bring about our apostacy. 1) He urges that we are divested of all human support, Isa 36:5; Isaiah 2) We are deprived of divine support, Isa 36:7; Isaiah 3) God is angry with us because we have greatly provoked Him by our sins, Isa 36:7; Isaiah 4) He decks out the splendor, and power of the wicked, Isa 36:8-9; Isaiah 5) He appeals to Gods word, and knows how to turn and twist it to his uses. Such poisonous arrows were used by Satan against Christ in the desert, and may be compared with this light (Mat 4:2 sqq.). One needs to arm himself against Satans attack by Gods word, and to resort to constant watching and prayer.Cramer.
The Assyrian urges four particulars by which he would destroy Hezekiahs confidence, in two of which he was right and in two wrong. He was right in representing that Hezekiah could rely neither on Egypt, nor on his own power. In this respect he was a messenger of God and announcer of divine truth. For everywhere the word of God preaches the same (Isa 30:1-3; Isa 31:1-3; Jer 17:5; Psa 118:8-9; Psa 146:3, etc.). But it is a merited chastisement if rude and hostile preachers must preach to us what we were unwilling to believe at the mild and friendly voice of God. But in two particulars the Assyrian was wrong, and therein lay Hezekiahs strength. For just on this account the Lord is for him and against the Assyrian. These two things are, that the Assyrian asserts that Hezekiah cannot put his trust in the Lord, but rather he, the Assyrian is counseled by the Lord against Hezekiah. That, however, was a lie, and because of this lie, the corresponding truth makes all the deeper impression on Hezekiah, and reminds him how assuredly he may build on the Lord and importune Him. And when the enemy dares to say, that he is commissioned by the Lord to destroy the Holy Land, just that must bring to lively remembrance in the Israelite, that the Lord, who cannot lie, calls the land of Israel His land (Joel 4:2; Jer 2:7; Jer 16:18, etc.), and the people of Israel His people (Exo 3:7; Exo 3:10; Exo 5:1, etc.).
2. On Isa 36:12. [In regard to the indelicacy of this passage we may observe: 1) The Masorets in the Hebrew text have so printed the words used, that in reading it the offensiveness would be considerably avoided. 2) The customs, habits and modes of expression of people in different nations and times, differ. What appears indelicate at one time or in one country, may not only be tolerated, but common in another. 3) Isaiah is not at all responsible for the indelicacy of the language here. He is simply an historian. 4) It was of importance to give the true character of the attack which was made on Jerusalem. The coming of Sennacherib was attended with pride, insolence and blasphemy; and it was important to state the true character of the transaction, and to record just what was said and done. Let him who used the language, and not him who recorded it bear the blame.Barnes in loc.].
3. On Isa 36:18 sqq. Observandum hic, quod apud gentes olim viguerit adeo, ut quaevis etiam urbs peculiarem habuerit Deum tutelarem. Cujus ethnicismi exemplum vivum et spirans adhuc habemus apud pontificios, quibus non inscite objici potest illud Jeremiae: Quot civitates tibi, tot etiam Dei (Jer 2:28).Foerster.
4. On Isa 36:21. Answer not a fool according to his folly (Pro 26:4), much less the blasphemer, lest the flame of his wickedness be blown into the greater rage (Sir 8:3). Did not Christ the Lord answer His enemies, not always with words, but also with silence (Mat 26:62; Mat 27:14, etc.)? One must not cast pearls before swine (Mat 7:6). After Foerster and Cramer.
5. On Isa 36:21. Est aureus textus, qui docet nos, ne cum Satana disputemus. Quando enim videt, quod sumus ejus spectatores et auditores, tum captat occasionem majoris fortitudinis et gravius premit. Petrus dicit, eum circuire et quaerere, quem devoret. Nullum facit insidiarum finem. Tutissimum autem est non respondere, sed contemnere eum.Luther.
6. [On Isa 37:1-7. Rabshakeh intended to frighten Hezekiah from the Lord, but it proves that he frightens him to the Lord. The wind, instead of forcing the travelers coat from him, makes him wrap it the closer about him. The more Rabshakeh reproaches God, the more Hezekiah studies to honor Him. On Isa 37:3. When we are most at a plunge we should be most earnest in prayer. When pains are most strong, let prayers be most lively. Prayer is the midwife of mercy, that helps to bring it forth.M. Henry, in loc.]
7. On Isa 37:2 sqq. Hezekiah here gives a good example. He shows all princes, rulers and peoples what one ought to do when there is a great and common distress, and tribulation. One ought with sackcloth, i. e., with penitent humility, to bring prayers, and intercessions to the Lord that He would look on and help.
8. On Isa 37:6 sq. God takes to Himself all the evil done to His people. For as when one does a great kindness to the saints, God appropriates it to Himself, so, too, when one torments the saints, it is an injury done to God, and He treats sin no other way than as if done to Himself. He that torments them torments Him (Isa 64:9). Therefore the saints pray: Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily (Psa 74:22).Cramer.
9. On Isa 37:7. God raises up against His enemies other enemies, and thus prepares rest for His own people. Example: the Philistines against Saul who pursued David, 1Sa 23:27.Cramer.
10. On Isa 37:14. Vitringa here cites the following from Bonfin Rerum Hungar. Dec. III. Lib. VI. p. 464, ad annum Isaiah 1444: Amorathes, cum suos laborare cerneret et ab Vladislao rege non sine magna caede fugari, depromtum e sinu codicem initi sanctissime foederis explicat intentis in coelum oculis. Haec sunt, inquit ingeminans, Jesu Christe, foedera, quae Christiani tui mecum percussere. Per numen tuum sanctum jurarunt, datamque sub nomine tuo fidem violarunt, perfide suum Deum abnegarunt. Nunc Christe, si Deus es (ut ajunt et nos hallucinamur), tuas measque hic injurias, te quaeso, ulciscere et his, qui sanctum tuum nomen nondum agnovere, violatae fidei poenas ostende. Vix haec dixerat . cum proelium, quod anceps ac dubium diu fuerat, inclinare coepit, etc.
[The desire of Hezekiah was not primarily his own personal safety, or the safety of his kingdom. It was that Jehovah might vindicate His great and holy name from reproach, and that the world might know that He was the only true God. We have here a beautiful model of the object which we should have in view when we come before God. This motive of prayer is one that is with great frequency presented in the Bible. Comp. Isa 42:8; Isa 43:10; Isa 43:13; Isa 43:25; Deu 32:39; Psa 83:18; Psa 46:10; Neh 9:6; Dan 9:18-19. Perhaps there could have been furnished no more striking proof that Jehovah was the true God, than would be by the defeat of Sennacherib. The time had come when the great Jehovah could strike a blow which would be felt on all nations, and carry the terror of His name, and the report of His power throughout the earth. Perhaps this was one of the main motives of the destruction of that mighty army.Barnes, on Isa 37:2].
11. On Isa 37:15. Fides Ezechiae verba confirmata magis ac magis crescit. Ante non ausus est orare, jam orat et confutat blasphemias omnes Assyrii. Adeo magna vis verbi est, ut longe alius per verbum, quod Jesajas ei nunciari jussit, factus sit.Luther.
12. On Isa 37:17. [It is bad to talk proudly and profanely, but it is worse to write so, for this argues more deliberation and design, and what is written spreads further and lasts longer, and does the more mischief. Atheism and irreligion, written, will certainly be reckoned for another day.M. Henry].
13. On Isa 37:21 sqq. [Those who receive messages of terror from men with patience, and send messages of faith to God by prayer, may expect messages of grace and peace from God for their comfort, even when they are most cast down. Isaiah sent a long answer to Hezekiahs prayer in Gods name, sent it in writing (for it was too long to be sent by word of mouth), and sent it by way of return to his prayer, relation being thereunto had: Whereas thou hast prayed to me, know, for thy comfort, that thy prayer is heard. Isaiah might have referred him to the prophecies he had delivered (particularly to that of chap. 10), and bid him pick out an answer from thence. The correspondence between earth and heaven is never let fall on Gods side.M. Henry.].
14. On Isa 37:31 sqq. This is a promise of great extent. For it applies not only to those that then remained, and were spared the impending destruction and captivity by the Assyrians, but to all subsequent times, when they should enjoy a deliverance; as after the Babylonish captivity, and after the persecutions of Antiochus. Yea, it applies even to New Testament times from the first to the last, since therein, in the order of conversion to Christ, the Jews will take root and bring forth fruit, and thus in the Jews (as also in the converted Gentiles) will appear in a spiritual and corporal sense, what God at that time did to their fields in the three following years.Starke.
15. On Isa 38:1. Isaiah, although of a noble race and condition, does not for that regard it disgraceful, but rather an honor, to be a pastor and visitor of the sick, I would say, a prophet, teacher and comforter of the sick. God save the mark! How has the world become so different in our day, especially in our evangelical church Let a family be a little noble, and it is regarded as a reproach and injury to have a clergyman among its relations and friends, not to speak of a son studying theology and becoming a servant of the church. I speak not of all; I know that some have a better mind; yet such is the common course. Jeroboams maxim must rather obtain, who made priests of the lowest of the people (1Ki 12:31). For thus the parsons may be firmly held in rein (sub ferula) and in political submission. It is not at all good where the clergy have a say, says an old state-rule of our Politicorum. Feuerlein, pastor in Nuremberg, in his Novissimorum primum, 1694, p. 553. The same quotes Spener: Is it not so, that among the Roman Catholics the greatest lords are not ashamed to stand in the spiritual office, and that many of them even discharge the spiritual functions? Among the Reformed, too, persons born of the noblest families are not ashamed of the office of preacher. But, it seems, we Lutherans are the only ones that hold the service of the gospel so low, that, where from a noble or otherwise prominent family an ingenium has an inclination to theological study, almost every one seeks to hinder him, or, indeed, afterwards is ashamed of his friendship, as if it were something much too base for such people, by which more harm comes to our church than one might suppose. That is to be ashamed of the gospel.
16. On Isa 38:1. [We see here the boldness and fidelity of a man of God. Isaiah was not afraid to go in freely and tell even a monarch that he must die. The subsequent part of the narrative would lead us to suppose that, until this announcement, Hezekiah did not regard himself as in immediate danger. It is evident here, that the physician of Hezekiah had not informed him of itperhaps from the apprehension that his disease would be aggravated by the agitation of his mind on the subject. The duty was, therefore, left, as it is often, to the minister of religiona duty which even many ministers are slow to perform, and which many physicians are reluctant to have performed.
No danger is to be apprehended commonly from announcing to those who are sick their true condition. Physicians and friends often err in this. There is no species of cruelty greater than to suffer a friend to lie on a dying bed under a delusion. There is no sin more aggravated than that of designedly deceiving a dying man, and flattering him with the hope of recovery, when there is a moral certainty that he will not and cannot recover. And there is evidently no danger to be apprehended from communicating to the sick their true condition. It should be done tenderly and with affection; but it should be done faithfully. I have had many opportunities of witnessing the effect of apprising the sick of their situation, and of the moral certainty that they must die. And I cannot now recall an instance in which the announcement has had any unhappy effect on the disease. Often, on the contrary, the effect is to calm the mind, and to lead the dying to look up to God, and peacefully to repose on Him. And the effect of that is always salutary. Barnes in loc.]
17. On Isa 38:2. It is an old opinion, found even in the Chald., that by the wall is meant the wall of the temple as a holy direction in which to pray, as the Mahometans pray in the direction of Mecca. But cannot mean that. Rather that is correct which is said by Forerius: Nolunt pii homines testes habere suarum lacrymarum, ut eas liberius fundant, neque sensu distrahi, cum orare Deum ex animo volunt.
18. On Isa 38:8 :
Non Deus est numen Parcarum carcere clausum.
Quale putabatur Stoicus esse Deus.
Ille potest Solis cursus inhibere volantes,
At veluti scopulos flumina stare facit.
Melanchthon.
19. On Isa 38:12. Beautiful parables that picture to us the transitoriness of this temporal life. For the parable of the shepherds tent means how restless a thing it is with us, that we have here no abiding place, but are driven from one locality to another, until at last we find a resting-spot in the church-yard. The other parable of the weavers thread means how uncertain is our life on earth. For how easily the thread breaks. Cramer. When the weavers work is progressing best, the thread breaks before he is aware. Thus when a man is in his best work, and supposes he now at last begins really to live, God breaks the thread of his life and lets him die. The rational heathen knew something of this when they, so to speak, invented the three goddesses of life (the three Parcas minime parcas) and included them in this little verse:
Clotho colum gestat, Lachesis trahit,
Atropos occat
But what does the weaver when the thread breaks? Does he stop his work at once? O no! He knows how to make a clever weavers knot, so that one cannot observe the break. Remember thereby that when thy life is broken off, yet the Lord Jesus, as a master artisan, can bring it together again at the last day. He will make such an artful, subtle weavers-knot as shall make us wonder through all eternity. It will do us no harm to have died. Ibid.Omnia sunt hominum tenui pendentia filo.
[As suddenly as the tent of a shepherd is taken down, folded up, and transferred to another place. There is doubtless the idea here that he would continue to exist, but in another place, as the shepherd would pitch his tent in another place. He was to be cut off from the earth, but he expected to dwell among the dead. The whole passage conveys the idea that he expected to dwell in another state. Barnes in loc.].
20. On Isa 38:17. [Note 1) When God pardons sin, He casts it behind His back as not designing to look upon it with an eye of justice and jealousy. He remembers it no more, to visit for it. The pardon does not make the sin not to have been, or not to have been sin, but not to be punished as it deserves. When we cast our sins behind our back, and take no care to repent of them, God sets them before His face, and is ready to reckon for them; but when we set them before our face in true repentance, as David did when his sin was ever before him, God casts them behind His back. 2) When God pardons sin, He pardons all, casts them all behind His back, though they have been as scarlet and crimson. 3) The pardoning of sin is the delivering the soul from the pit of corruption. 4) It is pleasant indeed to think of our recoveries from sickness when we see them flowing from the remission of sin; then the cause is removed, and then it is in love to the soul. M. Henry in loc.]
21. On Isa 38:18. [Cannot hope for thy truth. They are shut out from all the means by which Thy truth is brought to mind, and the offers of salvation are presented. Their probation is at an end; their privileges are closed; their destiny is sealed up. The idea is, it is a privilege to live because this is a world where the offers of salvation are made, and where those who are conscious of guilt may hope in the mercy of God. Barnes in loc.] God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2Pe 3:9). Such is the New Testament sense of these Old Testament words. For though Hezekiah has primarily in mind the preferableness of life in the earthly body to the life in Hades, yet this whole manner of representation passes away with Hades itself. But Hezekiahs words still remain true so far as they apply to heaven and hell. For of course in hell, the place of the damned, one does not praise God. But those that live praise Him. These, however, are in heaven. Since then God wills rather that men praise Him than not praise Him, so He is not willing that men should perish, but that all should turn to repentance and live.
22. On Isa 39:2. Primo (Deus) per obsidionem et bellum, deinde per gravem morbum Ezechiam servaverat, ne in praesumtionem laberetur. Nondum tamen vinci potuit antiquus serpens, sed redit et levat caput suum. Adeo non possumus consistere, nisi Deos nos affligat. Vides igitur hic, quis sit afflictionum usus, ut mortificent scilicet carnem, quae non potest res ferre secundas. Luther.
23. On Isa 39:7. God also punishes the misdeeds of the parents on the children (Exo 20:5) because the children not only follow the misdeeds of their parents, but they also increase and heap them up, as is seen in the posterity of Hezekiah, viz.: Manasseh and Amon.Cramer.
HOMILETICAL HINTS
[The reader is referred to the ample hints covering the same matter to be found in the volume on 2 Kings 18-20. It is expedient to take advantage of that for the sake of keeping the present volume within reasonable bounds. Therefore but a minimum is here given of what the Author offers, much of which indeed is but the repetition in another form of matter already given.Tr.]
1. On Isa 37:36. 1) The scorn and mockery of the visible world. 2) The scorn and mockery of the unseen world. Sermon of Domprediger Zahn in Halle, 1870.
2. On the entire 38. chapter, beside the 22 sermons in FEUERLEINS Novissimorum primum, there is a great number of homiletical elaborations of an early date; Walther Magirus, Idea mortis et vitae in two parts, the second of which contains 20 penitential and consolatory sermons on Isaiah 38. Danzig, 1640 and 1642. Daniel Schaller (Stendal) 4 sermons on the sick Hezekiah, on Isaiah 38. Magdeburg, 1611. Peter Siegmund Pape in Gott geheilighte Wochenpredigten, Berlin, 1701, 4 sermons. Jacob Tichlerus (Elburg) Hiskiae Aufrichtigkeit bewiesen in Gesundheit, Krankheit und Genesung, 18 sermons on Isaiah 38. (Dutch), Campen, 1636. These are only the principal ones.
3. On Isa 38:1. I will set my house in order. This, indeed, will not be hard for me to do. My debt account is crossed out; my best possession I take along with me; my children I commit to the great Father of orphans, to whom heaven and earth belongs, and my soul to the Lord, who has sued for it longer than a human age, and bought it with His blood. Thus I am eased and ready for the journey. Tholuck, Stunden der Andacht, p. 620.
4. On Isa 38:1. Now thou shouldest know that our word order his house has a very broad meaning. It comprehends reconciliation to God by faith, the final confession of sin, the last Lords Supper, the humble committing of the soul to the grace of the Lord, and to death and the grave in the hope of the resurrection. In one word: There is an ordering of the house above. In reliance on the precious merit of my Saviour, I order my house above in which I wish to dwell. Moreover taking leave of loved ones, and the blessing of them belongs to ordering the house. And finally order must be taken concerning the guardianship of children, the abiding of the widow, and the friend on whom she must especially lean in her loneliness, also concerning earthly bequests. Ahlfeld, Das Leben im Lichte des Wortes Gottes, Halle, 1867, p. 522.
5. On Isa 38:2-8. This account has much that seems strange to us Christians, but much, too, that quite corresponds to our Christian consciousness. Let us contemplate the difference between an Old Testament, and a New Testament suppliant, by noticing the differences and the resemblances. I. The resemblances. 1) Distress and grief there are in the Old, as in the New Testament (Isa 38:3). 2) Ready and willing to help beyond our prayers or comprehension (Isa 38:5-6) is the Lord in the Old as in the New Testament. II. The differences. 1) The Old Testament suppliant appealed to his having done nothing bad (Isa 38:3). The New Testament suppliant says: God be merciful to me a sinner, and Give me through grace for Christs sake what it pleases Thee to give me. 2) The Old Testament suppliant demands a sign (Isa 38:7-8; comp. Isa 38:22); the New Testament suppliant requires no sign but that of the crucified Son of man, for He knows that to those who bear this sign is given the promise of the hearing of all their prayers (Joh 16:23). 3) In Hezekiahs case, the prayer of the Old Testament suppliant is indeed heard (Isa 38:5), yet in general it has not the certainty of being heard, whereas the New Testament suppliant has this certainty.
Footnotes:
[8]in the pause of my days
[9]non-existence.
[10]My dwelling is broken up.
[11]rolled up.
[12]Or, from the thrum.
[13]I composed myself.
[14]a swallow, a crane.
[15]languished upward.
[16]Or, ease me.
[17]be my surety.
[18]walk solemnly.
[19]For.
[20]And to the full life of my spirit strengthen me thereby and let me live.
[21]Behold for peace bitterness inured to me.
[22]Or, on my peace came great bitterness.
[23]Heb. thou hast loved my soul from the pit.
[24]destruction, or nothingness.
[25]that are gone down.
[26]is present.
[27]we will touch the stringed instruments.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
Isa 38
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Added Years
Isa 38:5
I. God adds Years to Many Men’s Lives. For example:
a. In recovery from sickness. The sickness seems unto death. Hope is gone, or wellnigh gone. But a ‘favourable turn,’ as we say, is taken, and another course of years is added unto the man’s days.
b. In the gradual strengthening of the constitution. A new and deeper spring seems to be found in the blood, which has ‘earnest in it of far springs to be’. The delicate youth becomes a strong man.
c. In escape from peril. The ship was foundering, and you were saved. A mere step or tuft of grass saved you from a fatal fall, etc. In one way or another, at one time or another, God has said to us, as to Hezekiah, ‘I will add unto thy days fifteen years’.
II. How we should Look Upon those Added Years.
a. With gratitude, as a special gift from God. Hezekiah sang a hymn of gratitude on his recovery. Do we remember to thank God for our added years; for ‘healing our diseases, and redeeming our lives from destruction’?
b. With awe and resolution, as peculiarly our charge from God. What to do with those fifteen years: how shall we make them fruitful for the glory of God and the good of our fellow-men? They are God’s, by special and solemn trust; may we discharge that trust as under His eye, and as with the day of account hastening on.
c. With constant mindfulness that soon they must be given back to God. They are only a small added portion; the last act in the drama of our life; the last stage in our earthly journey. Let your loins be girt, and your lamps burning, and be as those who are watching for ‘the coming of the Bridegroom ‘.
References. XXXVIII. 11. J. M. Neale, Sermons for Some Feast Days in the Christian Year, p. 1.
The Blessing of Persecution
Isa 38:16
It will be good for us if life is imbued with the feeling that all they who live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution, that suffering is as much our way of bearing testimony and winning victory as labour can ever be, and that by these things, by humiliations, by anxieties, by impoverishment, men live, and in these is the life of their spirits.
I. Let me recall Christ’s own anticipation of persecution and suffering, an anticipation fulfilled in Himself, in His Apostles, and in His Church. We hardly realize the wonder of His first prophecy. At the very dawn and outset of His career He knew what the course and the end would be. He had none of an enthusiast’s dreams, none of the bright and daring hopes so often quenched in blood. The morning of His life was red, and all the weather of the day was foul, and His sun set as He knew it would, in a tempest of agony and woe. All through the history of His Church there have been the painful following, the hard battle, the heroic death. Until the spiritual earth and heaven are completed we shall have them again.
It was persecution that ended by degrees the earthly life of all the Apostles. One by one they filled up His sacrifice of weariness, crowning life by death. The words of one are enough: ‘Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep ‘ This is among the first pages of the noble and unfinished catalogue of Christian labours and Christian suffering. So much did the Church suffer at the beginning, that one of the early Christian poets represents the cities of the earth, each offering the Lord when He came to judge the world the relics of the martyrs who reposed in them. Not one city in all the habitable world failed of her gift So it has been all through. Some have gone home by a short, rough road; others have toiled on with bleeding feet for years ere they reached their last cross. In Japan, Christianity was literally killed out by the killing of every Christian. One form of torture there was to feed the mothers delicately, and to starve the children. The cries of their famished little ones would, it was hoped, shake the constancy of the mothers, and lead them to trample on the Cross. The martyrs have been tortured on the rack till every bone has been dragged from its place, and every nerve of the body has thrilled with agony. They have been flung into the dungeon to recover strength, and then been taken through the street loaded with chains to the place where they were burned to death. More dreadful even than the public martyrdoms have been the cases where the saints have been put to death in secret. In the Low Countries the Baptists used to be drowned alone and in the darkness, in huge vats of water, hearing nothing but the jests of the murderers who had ‘given the dipper his last dip’. We must have patience, not for a short time only, not for a long time only, but to the end. The opposition to truth and freedom takes ever new forms. Such a difficulty rises up, such a trial stands in the way, such a temptation opposes, so we shall have it till the voice comes, ‘Ye have compassed this desert long enough,’ till the eternal day breaks, the one day known to the Lord when at eventime it shall be light.
II. The effect of persecution and of accepted suffering is life. When a great trial befell his Church, it was said of the leader by many who little knew, ‘This will kill him’. By these things men live. It might kill weaklings, but if we are bound up with Christ, filled with His Spirit, the trial of faith is the minister and stimulant of life. We know how it is in the daily experience. We know how any great initiation into sorrow sobers, deepens, strengthens every nature that has in it the germs of good. There are regions of thought and feeling which may not be profitably discussed by those who have not traversed them. Many and many a time, even natures that seem poor and meagre are strangely enriched and ennobled by a baptism of fire. For the Christian, the trial brings the inner peace and power, and so we have the succession maintained in the world of men and women who out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the army of the aliens. The soul that seemed rootless and fruitless has, again and again, disclosed itself under trial as a branch of the True Vine that rejoiceth God and man. Persecution has killed Churches, but hardly ever, I think, save in cases where the members have actually been exterminated. It will destroy a feigned profession, but by these things the true, the brave, the faithful live as they never live when the sun went on shining, and the winds were soft, and the world wore a fair face.
III. The lessons are very simple, but they go very deep. Trials borne for Christ bring us to the heart of Christ The nearer we are to Him, the more calmly we shall look on the sunshine and the shadow too. It is His sunshine, and it is His shadow. Joined to Him we shall arm ourselves with the same mind, and pray for those who have wronged us or are wronging us. If they refuse to own us or receive us, let us hope for the time when the clouds will pass, and for the day of Christ, when all the flock will be gathered in the fold upon the everlasting hills.
W. Robertson Nicoll, The Lamp of Sacrifice, p. 226.
References. XXXVIII. 16. J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Prophets, vol. i. p. 151. XXXVIII. 17. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vi. No. 316; vol. xix. No. 1110; vol. xxiii. No. 1337.
The Value of Life
Isa 38:18-19
These words form part of the writing of Hezekiah, King of Judah, when he had been sick and was recovered of his sickness.
I. Notice the lessons there are for us in the conduct of King Hezekiah:
1. To have recourse to God, in all time of our sickness, ‘to turn our face (as Hezekiah did) to the wall, and pray’.
2. ‘To give God thanks on our recovery,’ to think of Him as our Deliverer, our Healer. The God of our life, in Whom we live and move and have our being, Who has added to our life a longer share of days. To think why He has added them: why He ‘has prolonged our days on earth, even for this end, that we may serve Him more faithfully, walk before Him with a more perfect, less divided heart.
3. The value of life the value as giving us the greater opportunity for serving God.
II. Death was to Hezekiah a far darker, far drearier state than it is to us who are Christians, us to whom Jesus Christ hath brought immortality of life. If he had any hope of a life beyond the grave, it does not appear in his words.
But it is this very view of death, as the end all and be all of man’s brief existence, which enhances to Hezekiah the value of life. Because life offered, as he thought, the single field for serving God, he grudged to have it shortened.
We who possess the Gospel need not, and ought not, to think thus gloomily of death. The question put so touchingly, so doubtingly, by the Psalmist, ‘Dost Thou show wonders among the dead?’ has been answered for us by the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
III. In that darker view of death which Hezekiah held, there is a lesson for our learning. Though death be not now the end of life, it is the end of this life, the end of our day of grace, the end of the period which God gives us in which to see if we will serve Him or not.
And remember, every life is wasted, every life is a misspent life which is not led to the glory and praise; of God.
R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons, 3rd Series, p. 22.
References. XXXVIII. 18, 19. R. Scott, Oxford University Sermons, p. 232. XXXIX. 3, 4. J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Prophets, vol. i. p. 160. XL. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlvii. No. 2733; vol. xlix. No. 2812. XL.-LXVI. Lyman Abbott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lv. 1899, p. 124.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
The Blasphemy of Rabshakeh
Isaiah 36-39
The prophecies of Isaiah constitute a threefold division: first, Isaiah 1-35; second, Isaiah 36-39; third, Isaiah 40-46. We have just considered the noble words which formed the peroration of Isaiah’s political eloquence. The four chapters (Isaiah chapters 36-39), were possibly not written by Isaiah himself; they may, it is thought, have been appended by some disciple or editor in the time of Ezra. In proper chronology Isa 38 , Isa 39 should come first. For our purpose it will be enough to pause here and there at some point of direct spiritual utility. For example, here is a man, a chief officer or cupbearer, Rabshakeh by name, who represents the king of Assyria, and embodies the brutality and blasphemy which have ever distinguished the enemies of truth and righteousness. Rabshakeh began his communications with Hezekiah by a taunt. He reminded the king that he had trusted in the staff of a broken reed, that is, upon Egypt; “whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him” ( Isa 36:6 ). Rabshakeh had the advantage of truth on this occasion, and he wished to push it to undue uses or extract from it fallacious inferences, on the supposition that Hezekiah being able to confirm his testimony upon one point would be predisposed to accept it on another. Rabshakeh offered to lay a wager when he said, “Now therefore give pledges” ( Isa 36:8 ). The proposition is marked by extreme ludicrousness, being nothing less than to find two thousand horses for the use of Hezekiah if the king on his part should be able to set riders upon them. This was the taunt of defiance; this has about it all the brutality of men who know that their proud offers cannot be accepted. Where there is great weakness on the one side, it is easy to boast of great pomp and power on the other.
Rabshakeh continued his empty boast either personally or representatively, when he said, “I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it” ( Isa 36:10 ). Here we have an instance of a perverted truth. Isaiah had distinctly taught that it was Jehovah himself who had brought the king of Assyria into Judah, and they who were opposed to the people of God were prepared to say that such being the case it was evident that the king of Assyria was really the representative of the God of heaven, and now Rabshakeh or the king of Assyria may be said to assume the character of a defender of the faith.
Rabshakeh made a bold appeal to the people when he said, “Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards” ( Isa 36:16-17 ). How eloquent was Rabshakeh in the telling of lies! Hezekiah’s people had only to leave the besieged city, and to go into the Assyrian camp, and they would be allowed the greatest privileges; thus Rabshakeh adds the torment of sarcasm to the sufferings of war, and actually proposes to the people to accept the doom of exile as if it were a change for the better! It is supposed that the taunt and the promise may perhaps be connected with Senra-cherib’s boast that he had made the water supply of the cities of his empire.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Hezekiah Warned
Isa 38
Everything depends upon when that notice comes. Often the tenant of the body has been known to long for the termination of his lease. Hezekiah was not in that position, and he had no right to be in it. To have cut him off then would certainly have been to deprive him of the residue of his years, as he himself complains. Here is a man who was warned of his approaching death. Is there any peculiar significance in the announcement? There ought not to be. All life is a warning that we are going to die. Life is but a variety of death, so far as the body is concerned. We bring into the world with us the writing of dissolution, and if we live a day it is a marvel. We were born to die. Yet how wonderful it is that no man believes this in any practical sense, though every one acknowledges it as a commonplace, yea, if it were told him that man is mortal he would smile upon the speaker as a person who was accustomed to utter truisms. As if it could ever be a truism that man must die! But we can debase anything: we can turn the sunlight to foul purposes; we can, so to say, harness the very lights of heaven, and make them take us down the wrong road. So it: has come to ass, in our familiarity with the most solemn music that to say man must die is to utter a platitude. There is no platitude in death; when it comes it turns the commonplace into a surprise, a terror, a joy, a revelation. We should beware how we make unnecessary commonplaces in the literature of life, Better find out the inner, secret, deepest meaning of things, and abide by that, not heeding the foolish prating that would take us away into meanings that have no direct bearing upon the dignity, utility, and destiny of human life.
Not only was Hezekiah warned of his approaching dissolution, he was religiously warned. Isaiah was the man who was charged with the intelligence. How much depends upon the man who speaks to us when the message is soul-harrowing, distressing, fatal! But did Isaiah always speak with the right accent? Has not even Isaiah been charged with occasional harshness of tone? Was he upon this occasion somewhat exasperated with Hezekiah, and did he announce the intelligence rather abruptly than sympathetically? That we can never determine. The great fact we have to deal with is that the dissolution of man is religiously announced. It is not the physician who has found out that man must die, for whilst he is shaping that very sentence he himself drops down and is dead. That man must die is a religious announcement, a spiritual prophecy. Mortality is taught from heaven. We should, therefore, look for the religious acceptation of the intelligence. Every man knows that dogs die, that the beasts of the field were made to be slaughtered for man’s use: but when man dies the revelation must not be made to him as a piece of scientific intelligence, it must be spoken to him tenderly, solemnly, religiously, in a tone that means prayer, though there be no direct attitude of adoration and suppliancy. This is the great function of the religious prophets of the age. When they declare unto us that we must die, they deliver but half their message, nay, they do but begin to call attention to their message, for they are not sent to announce death only, but thus to awaken interest, solicitude, anxiety, and then to reply to all the yearning which they have excited and inspired, telling the souls who are thus aroused to attention what God is, and what life is, and what there is just behind the blue screen, the frail trembling curtain that we can almost see through. When the Church undertakes that business it will always draw around itself men in their best estate; the flippant and the frivolous and the worldly may not be there, but sober-minded men, men who have been chastened by much experience, men who want to know the reality of things, will be there, not to be affrighted, but to be attuned, prepared, and qualified for higher society.
Not only was Hezekiah warned, and religiously warned; he was considerately warned. He was not to die on the morrow, he was to have time to set his house in order. Sometimes we feel as if we would rather not have that time, and yet there is a merciful dispensation in the arrangement which gives a man an opportunity of calmly approaching the end. Sometimes we long to be stricken down, and taken up to heaven instantaneously: but what of those who survive; what of the shock, the pain, the distress, the demoralisation, of those who are thus suddenly themselves struck with a living death? Men should always be ordering their house with a view to the end. The modern phrase would be Make your will: arrange your affairs: die wisely. Yet every man has notice. So we began, so we must continue. Who waits for a special message from heaven, saying, Tomorrow thou shalt die? Every day is dying day; every day is birth day; every day is New Year’s day; every day is Chrisl:’s anniversary: we do amiss to put things away at a time-distance, to write them down upon a calendar many pages thick: better bring into immediate view and realisation all the points of time that throb with spiritual inference, that burn with spiritual significance, so that we may walk wisely, safely, hopefully, and yet with a subdued triumphing, all the days of our life. Is it a surprise to you that you are going to die? It should be the best ascertained fact in all experience. “Every beating pulse we tell leaves but the number less.” This is universally acknowledged, and yet universally trifled with: we do not want the acknowledgment, but the answer to it, in all steadfastness of faith, in all beneficence of life, in all sacred industry, in beneficent occupations. He is best prepared to die who is best prepared to live. He who lives well is always expecting death and always welcoming it, not in any fearful sense, but in the sense in which the slave expects the emancipator, the prisoner expects the knock on his door to announce that his release is at hand: in that sense men may live, and so living they die, yet cannot die. These are only literal contradictions, they are spiritual music, perfect entrancing harmony.
But Hezekiah’s life was prolonged; he had an interview with the Giver of life
“Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, and said, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight” ( Isa 38:2-3 ).
Hezekiah’s life was prolonged; the shadow on the dial was turned back. It was a wonderful dial; it was the dial of Ahaz, mayhap a mural dial, visible to Hezekiah when he lay in his sick-chamber; he may have actually seen the shadow going back. Some say it was a prolonged after-glow. Why trifle with the miracle? We know nothing about it, we have no answer to it; the Lord has given the fact, he has not given the explanation. Call it, if you please, a long eventime, a prolonged sunset So be it. Did the man live after it? As a matter of fact, we know, according to history, that he did live after it, and became the father of his successor upon the throne of Judah, and did many wonderful things. That is enough. As to dial and shadow and miracle, these must be to us symbolical of a providence which is mighty enough to do all these little things, and which has been doing in all the ages works compared with which these things are but trifles. Granting the almightiness of God, we need have no difficulty as to anything that has taken place; granting that God was before all things, and is above all things, and holds all things in the hollow of his hand, it ought to be easy for us to believe that he has done nothing but wonders, that miracles are the commonplaces of his government, and that to do aught but miracles would be to be less than God.
Here we must abide as to all such transactions or occurrences, for he who wishes to explain them simply wishes to be wise above that which is written.
How interesting it is to discover what Hezekiah really felt when he was in the pit of humiliation, and going down into the pit of corruption! A wondrous pensiveness there is in his tone:
“I 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. I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world” ( Isa 38:10-11 ).
How Hezekiah found in all the nature round about him just what he wanted in his mood of dejection! “Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove” ( Isa 38:14 ). He takes this, however, as an example of what he himself felt, when their voice of mourning was heard. Instead of “a swallow” read “the swift” “like a crane or the swift…. Then I did mourn as a dove.” We hear what we want to hear. Nature will help us in any mood. Sweet mother, sweet nurse, best, tenderest of friends, next to the Father! Nature herself seems to be always speaking in a minor tone; here and there, and now, and once more, she may break into loud and vivacious singing, but when she is, so to say, left to herself, how she lowers her voice, how she sobs and moans, and comes down to human sorrow, as if to claim kinship with all the griefs of the heart! Call her mother, and go as near worshipping her as you can, for she is the garment and tenement of God.
Hezekiah said, “O Lord… undertake for me:” literally, be surety for me; death has come to claim his bill, and I do not want to pay it, I want to live: speak to him, undertake to be my surety; tell him that he shall have me by-and-by, but let it be a long by-and-by: Lord, step into the breach, satisfy the death claim, and give me a broad margin of life. This was the appeal of Hezekiah. He said, “Behold, for peace I had great bitterness” ( Isa 38:17 ). This misrepresents the thought of the man; it should be otherwise namely, thus: through great bitterness I got peace. The aloes was a bitter medicine, but what good it wrought, how it operated like a tonic, how it made me healthier and stronger altogether! I got peace through bitterness: “Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption,” literally, thou hast loved me out of the pit, drawn me by love out of the pit of corruption. This was the experience of Hezekiah. It may be our experience. The purpose of God’s love is to draw us away from all pits, dejections, humiliations, prostrations, and to give us life, vigour, triumph, sense and guarantee of immortality.
“The living, the living, he shall praise thee” ( Isa 38:19 ). That is the object of life. If we are using life for any other end, we are misusing it; we are arrested as felons in creation. Life is a sacred thing, a religious gift, a holy trust, and it is handed to us that we may make it an instrument of divine praise. Marvellous life! no man has seen it; it will not be looked at. It may be seen in incarnation, in temporary form, in some transient phase, but itself will never be gazed upon. Men have attempted to surprise life, but they have always failed in their endeavour. They have said, Let us quietly withdraw the veil, and see the angel. They have withdrawn the veil, and lost their labour. No man ever yet saw his own pulse. Tear off the skin, open all that wondrous mechanism, where is it? Gone! It will not be found, touched, weighed, painted. You can paint form, but you cannot paint life. You say, That eye wants fire, that head wants dignity, the whole frame wants the accent which is vital. Give it! The artist may partially succeed, but one lifting of an infant’s hand throws all the artist’s skill away like a vain thing. One flash of the eye of anger, one gleam of the eye of love, one touch of friendship, who can paint these, represent these? We can only speak of them, and remember them, and hide them in our grateful hearts: but to speak of them is almost to destroy them; they love the temple of silence, they delight in the sanctuary of holy things. Who will live unto the Lord’s praise? who will say, I will now sing unto the Lord as long as I live: God helping me, no longer shall my life be mean, and empty, and poor, vicious, sophistical, self-seeking; hence on by God’s help as revealed in Christ’s Cross I will praise the Lord? Then we shall come to see what life can really rise to, and embody, and realise. No man yet knows what is in him: you have more intellect than you have yet supposed; you have greater capacity than you have yet measured; you only need the right inspiration, and out of you there will come sparks cf fire, and as it were in the very hem of your garment there will be healing, and all life will be a blessing to all other life.
Do not believe that you have attained your majority, that you are now going down the hill, that you have left life to others. In Christ Jesus we shall live to the very last. The last of your days shall be amongst the brightest jewels of your time. He who lives in Christ never tires; he is fed with energy divine, he is sustained from on high; he has indeed a long after-glow. And there are those who have not scrupled to say that, beauty for beauty, the prize must be given to eventide.
Note
“From 720, when Isa 11 may have been published, to 705 or, by rough reckoning, from the fortieth to the fifty-fifth year of Isaiah’s life we cannot be sure that we have more than one prophecy from him; but two narratives have found a place in his book which relate events that must have taken place between 712 and 705. These narratives are Isaiah 20 : How Isaiah Walked Stripped and Barefoot for a Sign against Egypt, and Isa 38 and Isaiah 39 : The Sickness of Hezekiah, with the Hymn he wrote, and his Behaviour before the Envoys from Babylon. The single prophecy belonging to this period is Isa 21:1-10 , Oracle of the Wilderness of the Sea, which announces the fall of Babylon.”
Rev. G. A, Smith, M.A.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XXVII
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST IN ISAIAH
The relation between the New Testament Christ and prophecy is that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. To him give all the prophets witness. All the scriptures, the law, the prophets, and the psalms, testify of him. And we are fools, and slow of heart to credit adequate testimony when we distrust any part of the inspired evidence.
Of the ancient prophets Isaiah was perhaps the most notable witness of the coming Messiah. An orderly combination of his many messianic utterances amounts to more than a mere sketch, indeed, rather to a series of almost life-sized portraits. As a striking background for these successive portraits the prophet discloses the world’s need of a Saviour, and across this horrible background of gloom the prophet sketches in startling strokes of light the image of a coming Redeemer.
In Isa 2:2-4 we have the first picture of him in Isaiah, that of the effect of his work, rather than of the Messiah himself. This is the establishment of the mountain of the Lord’s house on the top of the mountains, the coming of the nations to it and the resultant millennial glory.
In Isa 4:2-6 is another gleam from the messianic age in which the person of the Messiah comes more into view in the figure of a branch of Jehovah, beautiful and glorious. In sketching the effects of his work here the prophet adds a few strokes of millennial glory as a consummation of his ministry.
In Isa 7:14 he delineates him as a little child born of a virgin, whose coming is the light of the world. He is outlined on the canvas in lowest humanity and highest divinity, “God with us.” In this incarnation he is the seed of the woman and not of the man.
The prophet sees him as a child upon whom the government shall rest and whose name is “Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6 ). This passage shows the divinity of Christ and the universal peace he is to bring to the world. In these names we have the divine wisdom, the divine power, the divine fatherhood, and the divine peace.
In Isa 11:1-9 the prophet sees the Messiah as a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, i.e., of lowly origin, but possessing the Holy Spirit without measure who equips him for his work, and his administration wrought with skill and justice, the result of which is the introduction of universal and perfect peace. Here the child is presented as a teacher. And such a teacher! On him rests the seven spirits of God. The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. He judges not according to appearances and reproves not according to rumors. With righteousness he judges the poor and reproves with equality in behalf of the meek. His words smite a guilty world like thunderbolts and his very breath slays iniquity. Righteousness and faithfulness are his girdle. He uplifts an infallible standard of morals.
In Isa 40:3-8 appears John the Baptist, whom Isaiah saw as a voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way for the coming King.
In Isa 11:2 ; Isa 42:1 ; Isa 61:1-3 the prophet saw the Messiah as a worker in the power of the Spirit, in whom he was anointed at his baptism. This was the beginning of his ministry which was wrought through the power of the Holy Spirit. At no time in his ministry did our Lord claim that he wrought except in the power of the Holy Spirit who was given to him without measure.
In Isa 35:1-10 the Messiah is described as a miracle worker. In his presence the desert blossoms as a rose and springs burst out of dry ground. The banks of the Jordan rejoice. The lame man leaps like a hart, the dumb sing and the blind behold visions. The New Testament abounds in illustrations of fulfilment. These signs Christ presented to John the Baptist as his messianic credentials (Mat 11:1-4 ).
The passage (Isa 42:1-4 ) gives us a flashlight on the character of the Messiah. In the New Testament it is expressly applied to Christ whom the prophet sees as the meek and lowly Saviour, dealing gently with the blacksliding child of his grace. In Isa 22:22 we have him presented as bearing the key of the house of David, with full power to open and shut. This refers to his authority over all things in heaven and upon earth. By this authority he gave the keys of the kingdom to Peter one for the Jews and the other for the Gentiles who used one on the day of Pentecost and the other at the house of Cornelius, declaring in each case the terms of entrance into the kingdom of God. This authority of the Messiah is referred to again in Revelation:
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying. Fear not: I am the first and the last, and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Rev 7:17
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphis write: These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and none shall shut, and shutteth and none openeth. Rev 3:7
In Isa 32:1-8 we have a great messianic passage portraying the work of Christ as a king ruling in righteousness, in whom men find a hiding place from the wind and the tempest. He is a stream in a dry place and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
In Isa 28:14-18 the Messiah is presented to w as a foundation stone in a threefold idea:
1. A tried foundation stone. This is the work of the master mason and indicates the preparation of the atone for its particular function.
2. An elect or precious foundation stone. This indicates that the stone was selected and appointed. It was not self-appointed but divinely appointed and is therefore safe.
3. A cornerstone, or sure foundation stone. Here it is a foundation of salvation, as presented in Mat 16:18 . It is Christ the Rock, and not Peter. See Paul’s foundation in 1 Corinthians:
According to the grace of God which was given unto me; as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1Co 3:10-11 .
In Isa 49:1-6 he is presented as a polished shaft, kept close in the quiver. The idea is that he is a mighty sword. In Revelation, Christ is presented to John as having a sharp, twoedged sword proceeding out of his mouth.
In Isa 50:2 ; Isa 52:9 f.; Isa 59:16-21 ; Isa 62:11 we have the idea of the salvation of Jehovah. The idea is that salvation originated with God and that man in his impotency could neither devise the plan of salvation nor aid in securing it. These passages are expressions of the pity with which God looks down on a lost world. The redemption, or salvation, here means both temporal and spiritual salvation salvation from enemies and salvation from sin.
In Isa 9:1 f. we have him presented as a great light to the people of Zebulun and Naphtali. In Isa 49:6 we have him presented as a light to the Gentiles and salvation to the end of the earth: “Yea, he saith, It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”
In Isa 8:14-15 Isaiah presents him as a stone of stumbling: “And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble thereon, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.”
The prophet’s vision of his maltreatment and rejection are found in Isa 50:4-9 ; Isa 52:13-53:12 . In this we have the vision of him giving his “back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair.” We see a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. His visage is so marred it startled all nations. He is a vicarious sacrifice. The chastisement of the peace of others is on him. The iniquity of others is put on him. It pleases the Father to bruise him until he has poured out his soul unto death as an offering for sin.
The teaching of Isaiah on the election of the Jews is his teaching concerning the “holy remnant,” a favorite expression of the prophet. See Isa 1:9 ; Isa 10:20-22 ; Isa 11:11 ; Isa 11:16 ; Isa 37:4 ; Isa 37:31-32 ; Isa 46:3 . This coincides with Paul’s teaching in Romans 9-11.
In Isa 32:15 we find Isaiah’s teaching on the pouring out of the Holy Spirit: “Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest,” and in Isa 44:3 : “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.”
In Isa 11:10 he is said to be the ensign of the nations: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, that standeth for an ensign of the peoples unto him shall the nations seek; and his resting place shall be glorious.”
Isa 19:18-25 ; Isa 54:1-3 ; Isa 60:1-22 teach the enlargement of the church. The great invitation and promise are found in Isa 55 .
The Messiah in judgments is found in Isa 63:1-6 . Here we behold an avenger. He comes up out of Edom with dyed garments from Bozra. All his raiment is stained with the blood of his enemies whom he has trampled in his vengeance as grapes are crushed in the winevat and the restoration of the Jews is set forth in Isa 11:11-12 ; Isa 60:9-15 ; Isa 66:20 . Under the prophet’s graphic pencil or glowing brush we behold the establishment and growth of his kingdom unlike all other kingdoms, a kingdom within men, a kingdom whose principles are justice, righteousness, and equity and whose graces are faith, hope, love, and joy, an undying and ever-growing kingdom. Its prevalence is like the rising waters of Noah’s flood; “And the waters prevailed and increased mightily upon the earth. And the water prevailed mightily, mightily upon the earth; and all the high mountains, that are under the whole heavens, were covered.”
So this kingdom grows under the brush of the prophetic limner until its shores are illimitable. War ceases. Gannenta rolled in the blood of battle become fuel for fire. Conflagration is quenched. Famine outlawed. Pestilence banished. None are left to molest or make afraid. Peace flows like a river. The wolf dwells with the lamb. The leopard lies down with the kid. The calf and the young lion walk forth together and a little child is leading them. The cow and the bear feed in one pasture and their young ones are bedfellows. The sucking child safely plays over the hole of the asp, and weaned children put their hands in the adder’s den. In all the holy realms none hurt nor destroy, because the earth is as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the fathomless ocean is full of water. Rapturous vision! Sublime and ineffable consummation! Was it only a dream?
In many passages the prophet turns in the gleams from the millennial age, but one of the clearest and best on the millennium, which is in line with the preceding paragraph, Isa 11:6-9 : “And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together: and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.”
The prophet’s vision of the destruction of death is given in Isa 25:8 : “He hath swallowed up death for ever; and the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of his people will he take away from all the earth: for Jehovah hath spoken it,” and in Isa 26:19 : “Thy dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead.”
The clearest outlines of the prophet’s vision of “Paradise Regained” are to be found in Isa 25:8 , and in two passages in chapter Isa 66 : Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn over her; that ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream: and ye shall suck thereof; ye shall be borne upon the side, and shall be dandled upon the knees, as one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And ye shall see it, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like the tender grass: and the hands of Jehovah shall be known toward his servants ; and he will have indignation against his enemies. Isa 66:10-14
For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make shall remain before me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Jehovah. Isa 66:22-23
QUESTIONS
1. What is the relation between the New Testament Christ and prophecy?
2. What can you say of Isaiah as a witness of the Messiah?
3. What can you say of Isaiah’s pictures of the Messiah and their background?
4. Following in the order of Christ’s manifestation, what is the first picture of him in Isaiah?
5. What is the second messianic glimpse in Isaiah?
6. What is Isaiah’s picture of the incarnation?
7. What is Isaiah’s picture of the divine child?
8. What is Isaiah’s vision of his descent, his relation to the Holy Spirit, his administration of justice, and the results of his reign?
9. What is Isaiah’s vision of the Messiah’s herald?
10. What is the prophet’s vision of his anointing?
11. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a miracle worker?
12. What is the prophet’s vision of the character of the Messiah?
13. What is the prophet’s vision of him as the key bearer?
14. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a king and a hiding place?
15. What is the prophet’s vision of the Messiah as a foundation stone?
16. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a polished shaft?
17. In what passages do we find the idea of the salvation of Jehovah, and what the significance of the idea?
18. What is Isaiah’s vision of the Messiah as a light?
19. Where does Isaiah present him as a stone of stumbling?
20. What is the prophet’s vision of his maltreatment and rejection?
21. What is the teaching of Isaiah on the election of the Jews?
22. Where do we find Isaiah’s teaching on the pouring out of the Holy Spirit?
23. Where is he said to be the ensign of the nations?
24. What passages teach the enlargement of the church?
25. Where is the great invitation and promise?
26. Where is the Messiah in judgment?
27. What passages show the restoration of the Jews?
28. What is the prophet’s vision of the Messiah’s kingdom?
29. What is the prophet’s vision of the millennium?
30. What is the prophet’s vision of the destruction of death?
31. What is the prophet’s vision of “Paradise Regained?”
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
XVII
THE BOOK OF ISAIAH PAST 9
Isaiah 34-39
Isaiah 34-35 form an appendix to the preceding parts of the book, setting forth the storm of God’s wrath upon the whole world, and the face of nature in its sweetest forms and brightest colors, after the storm is over.
They constitute the counterparts to one great picture. The first part contains a denunciation of divine vengeance against the enemies of God’s people and the second, a description of the glorious state of things after the execution of these judgments is finished. The awful picture, with its dark lurid hues, prepares the way for the soft and lovely portraiture of the blessed condition which follows.
This section opens with a call to all nations and people, the earth and the fulness thereof, the world and all things therein, to hear the prophet’s message concerning Jehovah’s indignation, which shows that the judgments to follow embrace the whole world.
There are three distinct paragraphs in Isa 34 . In Isa 34:1-7 we have announcement of the final judgment upon the whole world, including Edom as the leader. In Isa 34:8-15 we have the details of the judgment upon Edom as the ideal representative of the world. In Isa 34:16-17 the prophet appeals to the written word.
The allegorical view of the use of the word, “Edom,” in this chapter is in no way inconsistent with the existence of a basis of historical fact, therefore we adopt this view for the following reasons:
1. The invitation shows that the message to be delivered was on universal interest arid application, yet the language is parabolical in kind.
2. The allegorical character of Isa 35 is undeniable, but the two chapters are linked together by the very phraseology’. As the Zion of Isa 35 is the ideal “city of God,” so the Edom of Isa 34 must include all who hate and persecute the mystical Zion.
3. The names, “Edom and Bozrah,” occur in another allegorical passage (Isa 63:1-6 ).
4. Edom, the surname of him who “despised the birthright,” was a fitting designation for those who profanely slighted their privilege as God’s special people.
5. The context is admittedly figurative, but if the lambs, bullocks, and goats be symbolical, then the unclean animals that are to occupy their places should be so, too.
6. In Heb 12:16-17 Esau stands as the type of profane and sensual-minded men, who are identified with those against whom Moses warned Israel in Deu 29:18-23 . The idea is further carried out in the next paragraph. In Isa 34:8-15 we have the more detailed account of God’s vengeance against the enemies of Zion, which is likened unto that upon Sodom and Gomorrah. This, of course, is not literal, but typically represents the punishment of God’s dreadful vengeance upon all his enemies while Edom is here again made the type. Isa 34:10 shows that this curse is to be everlasting in its typical aspect while the following verses show that Edom, as an example of such destruction, was to be literally and perpetually laid waste, and history verifies this prophecy respecting Edom.
The book referred to in Isa 34:16 is the book of Moses and perhaps includes the earlier prophets which had written in them the threatenings against the ungodly. At this time the Pentateuch and history of Joshua and Judges, and the history of the reigns of the kings up to this time had been written and preserved, but the reference is very likely to the Pentateuch, primarily, which was complete in one book and kept in the ark of the covenant. This appeal to the book by Isaiah is to prove that he was in line with the threatenings and judgments which preceded his time and that his prophecies were to be regarded as equal in inspiration and authority with the other scriptures of his day.
Isa 35 is a glorious counterpart of the judgment on Edom in Isa 34 and is distinctly messianic. The outline of these contents consists of three items. In Isa 35:1-2 we have the blessings on the land pronounced which reverses the corresponding desolation of Lebanon, Carmel, and Sharon, because of “the glory and excellency of our God.” This is a general statement of the reversal of the judgments before predicted. In Isa 35:3-4 is a general announcement of the hope and good cheer on account of the recompense of God. Then in Isa 35:5-10 the prophet particularizes these blessings which were literally fulfilled in the ministry of Christ. Then the prophet shows us the highway that shall be there, the way of holiness, with no unclean person, no fools and no ravenous beasts walking therein, over which the redeemed shall walk and the ransomed of Jehovah shall return with songs of joy to Zion, where they shall have everlasting joy upon their heads and where sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Thus commencing with the restoration to their land, then passing on to the coming and healing work of the Messiah the prophet closes with the blessing of their conversion. This hope is kept constantly before the holy remnant of Israel by Isaiah, stimulating them in these dark and gloomy hours, just As when the weary traveler gains The height of some o’er-looking hill, The sight his fainting spirit cheers, He eyes his home, though distant still.
This section, Isaiah 36-39, in our outline of Isaiah is called “The Historical Interlude,” sometimes called “The Book of Hezekiah.” There is a reference to this section in 2Ch 32:32 , thus: “Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.” as a matter of history almost all this section is embodied in 2 Kings 18-20, which should be carefully studied in connection with this passage in Isaiah.
This section may be regarded as the history of how Hezekiah stood the test applied to him. A like test was put to Ahaz (Isa 7:3-17 ), and he, an unbeliever as he was, simply put the offered grace from him, as swine would deal with pearls cast before them. But Hezekiah’s test reveals a different character, one vastly more interesting and instructive for God’s people in all ages. He proves to be a man of faith in God and, in a large measure, wins out in the conflict, but fails in the matter of the Babylonian messengers and the pride of his heart. Yet again he shows that he was a child of God in that he humbled himself so that the threatened wrath of Jehovah came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah. The case of David and Solomon, in which the consequences of Solomon’s sins were deferred till after his death for the sake of David, is similar to this.
This section divides itself into two parts, viz: (1) Sennacherib’s invasion (Isaiah 36-37) ; (2) Hezekiah’s sickness, and the embassy from Babylon (Isaiah 38-39).
Isaiah 36-37 contain a history of an event which had been predicted long before and frequently alluded to afterward (see Isa 8:5-10 ; Isa 10:12-19 ; Isa 10:33-34 ; Isa 30:28-31 ; Isa 31:8 ). It was stated definitely that the stream of Assyrian conquest, after it had overflowed Samaria, would “reach even to the neck” of Judah, and then be suddenly turned back. The fact of the prediction is unquestionable. The actual overthrow of the Assyrian power is as certain as any event in the world’s annals. These two chapters are thus the historical goal of tile book from Isaiah 7-35. So this part of the book is as inseparable from the preceding part of the book as fulfilment is inseparable from prediction itself.
Isaiah 38-39 are, on the other hand, the historical starting point for the rest of the book. These two chapters tell of the failure of the man who had checked the stream of national corruption; who suppressed idolatry, restored the Temple worship, and followed the guidance of the prophetic word; who had been rescued, both from a fatal malady and from the assault of the Assyrian king. When such & one fell away, no higher proof could be given that Judah must be subjected to the severe discipline of the captivity. With this dark foreshadowing there was a necessity for the following chapters of comfort.
The date of Sennacherib’s attack on Jerusalem is significant. The record tells us that this event was in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, king of Judah, which was forty-six years after the vision of Isa 6 . This taken in connection with Isa 37:30 indicates that they were on the threshold of the Jubilee Year which, with its blessings, should be the sign unto Hezekiah that God would make the Jubilee laws effective at this time and deliver the land from the hand of Sennacherib.
From 2Ki 18:13-16 we learn that the immediate cause of Sennacherib’s invasion at this time was Hezekiah’s refusing to pay tribute. But the record also tells us that Hezekiah righted this wrong to the king of Assyria by sending the tribute and begging his pardon. This did not satisfy Sennacherib because he had a motive beyond that of getting the tribute, for we see him demanding the unconditional surrender of Jerusalem avowedly to be followed by deportation. This was an act of perfidy, as well as of cruelty and arrogance. Undoubtedly Sennacherib’s motive was not merely political, but he was bent on proving that Jehovah was on a level with the gods of other nations. Assyria had become a great power and, as she thought, had overcome the gods of all the other nations, including Samaria whose God was Jehovah. Just one more step now was needed to make Assyria the lord of the world, and that was the capture of Jerusalem. This evidently was his ulterior motive in this invasion.
In Isaiah 36-37 we have the details of this history which is a thrilling account of a conflict between the true and the false religion, similar to that of Moses and Pharaoh, or Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Here it is the Assyrian gods versus Jehovah. The items of this history are as follows: Rabshakeh was sent by Sennacherib from Lachish against Jerusalem with a great army which stopped at the upper pool near the Joppa gate, where Isaiah met Ahaz some forty years before.
Messengers from Hezekiah at once went out to meet Rabshakeh through whom he sent a message to Hezekiah belittling his confidence in Egypt and in Jehovah, saying that Egypt was a bruised reed and could not be depended upon, and that Jehovah had commissioned him to destroy the land of Judah. Then the messengers asked Rabshakeh to speak in the Assyrian language so the people on the wall could not understand, but he deliberately refused to comply, saying that he was sent to speak to the people on the wall. Then he grew bold and made a strong plea to those who heard him to renounce allegiance to Hezekiah and come over to Sennacherib, but they held their peace as they had been instructed to do. Upon this came the messengers to Hezekiah with their clothes rent and told him the words of Rabshakeh. Hezekiah when he heard it rent his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of Jehovah.
Then he sent messengers to Isaiah to ask him to pray for the remnant. Isaiah returned word that there was no need of fear, for Jehovah would send Sennacherib back to his own land and there he would die. Rabshakeh returned to find his master pushing the conquest on toward Egypt and hearing at the same time that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, was coming out to help Hezekiah. This seemed to provoke Sennacherib and he sent a letter to Hezekiah to warn him again putting his trust in Jehovah, reminding him also of the Assyrian victories over the gods of the other nations. Then Hezekiah took the letter and spread it before Jehovah and prayed.
For pointedness, faith, and earnestness, this prayer has few equals on record. Just at this time came another message from the Lord through Isaiah, assuring Hezekiah of the Lord’s intervention, as in very many instances before, to deliver his people from this Assyrian, whom he would lead by the nose back to his own land. Then follows the sign of Jehovah to Hezekiah assuring him that the remnant should prosper under Jehovah’s hand, reannouncing also the defeat of the plan of Sennacherib to take Jerusalem. The rest of Isa 37 is an account of the destruction of the Assyrian army by the angel of Jehovah and the death of Sennacherib in his own land.
Isa 38 opens with the statement, “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death,” which is far from being a precise date, but the promise of fifteen years added to his life and the twenty-nine years of his reign in all, fixes the date in the fourteenth year of his reign, which is the date given in Isa 36:1 . In Isa 38:5-6 the two deliverances are coupled together in a way which suggests that they stood in some close relation to each other. Thus we are led to look on these two pairs of chapters, not as successive in point of time, but as contemporaneous.
In the record here Hezekiah’s malady is called a boil, but we learn that it was a special disease marked by the signs of leprosy. The same word occurs in Exo 9:9-11 to describe the Egyptian plague of “boils,” in Lev 13:18-20 to describe the boil out of which leprosy sprang, in Deu 28:27 ; Deu 28:35 to describe the “boil of Egypt” and the “sore boil that cannot be healed,” and in Job 2:7 to describe the “sore boils” with which Job was smitten. So, humanly speaking, his disease was incurable.
When the prophet announced that Hezekiah must die he prayed and wept. The prayer, as recorded here, is very brief but pointed, pleading his own faithfulness to Jehovah, an unusual petition though allowable in Hezekiah’s case because it was true and was in line with the promise made to Solomon (1Ki 9:4 ).
It was no weak love of life that moved Hezekiah to pray for recovery. It was because that he, who had followed God with all sincerity, appeared to be stricken with the penalty fore-ordained for disobedience. Leprosy means “a stroke,” and was believed to be a stroke from God. That was what made the stroke so exceedingly bitter. He was not to witness that great exhibition of God’s truth and mercy toward which the faithful had been looking for almost thirty years. Such was a sore trial to Hezekiah.
Upon the direction of the prophet, a cake of figs was applied. This remedy is said to be employed now in the east for the cure of ordinary boils. But it was quite an insufficient cure for this incurable “boil” from which Hezekiah was suffering. In miraculous cures, both the Old Testament prophets and our Lord himself sometimes employed means, insufficient in itself, but supernaturally rendered sufficient, to effect the intended cure. (See 1Ki 17:21 ; 2Ki 4:34 ; 2Ki 4:41 ; 2Ki 5:14 ; Joh 9:6 ; Mar 7:33-8:23 , etc.) These are examples of the natural and the supernatural working together for the desired end.
The sign given Hezekiah was the turning back of the shadow on the dial ten degrees. The dial was, perhaps, a large structure consisting of steps upon which the shadow of a great shaft was allowed to fall, which indicated the position of the sun in the heavens. In this case the shadow was made to run back, instantly, ten degrees. How this miracle was performed the record does not say, but it may have been seen by the law of refraction which does not make it any less a miracle. Hezekiah wrote a song of thanksgiving for his recovery, which in the first part looks at the case of his sickness from the standpoint of the despair and gloom of it, while the latter part treats the case from the stand point of the deliverance and wells the note of praise. In the middle of this poem we find his prayer which he prayed in this dark hour.
Hezekiah made a great mistake in the latter part of his life in allowing himself to become exalted in his prosperity and not humbling himself before the Lord as in former years (2Ch 32:24-33 ). So when God tested him again in the matter of the messengers from Babylon, he failed because he had not the spirit of discernment so as to know their purpose to spy out the land. He showed them everything and thus prepared the way for the capture of Judah by the Chaldeans.
The closing part of this section shows the necessity for the second division of the book. This part closes with the announcement of the captivity and gives us a very dark picture which calls for the opening sentence of comfort in the next division. Hezekiah is reconciled to it as we see from his language, but evidently it is to be understood in this connection that the prophet had already revealed to him that there should be peace and truth in his days. Now, if Hezekiah had his message of comfort and was thereby able to joyfully acquiesce in the future calamity already announced, should we not expect a message of comfort also for Judah? The last twenty-seven chapters furnish just such comfort for Judah, that she too might not despair in view of the approaching captivity.
From the many lessons that might be selected from the life of Hezekiah I take but one. Though he was upright and so highly commended in the Scripture (2Ki 18:5-7 ) he had a burden of guilt, from which only God’s grace could absolve him. He could not stand as the “Righteous Servant,” who should “justify many” by “bearing their iniquities.” If good Hezekiah could not, what child of man can? Nay, we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the relation of Isaiah 34-35 to the preceding parts, especially the preceding section, of the book?
2. What is the relation of these two chapters to each other?
3. How does this section open and what the nature of the prophecy as indicated by it?
4. What is the analysis of Isa 34 ?
5. Why adopt the allegorical view of the use of the word, “Edom,” in this chapter?
6. How is the idea further carried out in the next paragraph?
7. What is the book referred to in Isa 34:16 and what the import of this appeal to the Word?
8. What is the nature of Isa 35 and what the brief outline of its contents?
9. What is the section, Isaiah 36-39, called, where may we find a reference to them and where do we find nearly the whole of them embodied?
10. What, briefly, is the theme of this section, what similar test was applied to a king of Israel prior to this and what the difference in the deportment of the two kings under the test of each, respectively?
11. What case in the history of Israel similar to this?
12. How is this section divided and, briefly, what does each part contain?
13. What is the date of Sennacherib’s attack on Jerusalem and what the significance of the date in the light of Isa 37:30 ?
14. What is the cause of Sennacherib’s invasion at this time?
15. What are the essential points in the narrative of Sennacherib’s attack upon Jerusalem?
16. What is the date of Hezekiah’s sickness?
17. What was Hezekiah’s malady and what ita nature?
18. What did Hezekiah do when the prophet announced that Hezekiah must die and what plea did he make?
19. Why did Hezekiah pray to be healed?
20. What is remedy did he apply and why?
21. What is the sign given Hezekiah?
22. How was this miracle performed?
23. What expression have we of Hezekiah’s gratitude for this divine deliverance and what the viewpoints from which it deals with the case?
24. What was Hezekiah’s great mistake in the latter part of his life?
25. How does the closing part of this section show the necessity for the second division of the book?
26. What is great lesson from the life of Hezekiah?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Isa 38:1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.
Ver. 1. In those days was Hezekiah sick. ] See 2Ki 20:1-2 2Ch 32:24 See Trapp on “ 2Ki 20:1 “ See Trapp on “ 2Ki 20:2 “ See Trapp on “ 2Ch 32:24 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isaiah Chapter 38
The history we have seen in the preceding chapters is but a testimony to the total destruction which awaits the final Assyrian as well as his hosts, in the latter day and upon the mountains of Israel. This will be the more striking because he will, first of all, be allowed to capture Jerusalem, and slay a portion of the men and treat with indignity some of their women. Jerusalem must pay the penalty of its sins. The Assyrian, or king of the north of Daniel, will then retire southwards for other projects of ambition; and coming up again, when Jehovah meanwhile has owned His people Israel, he will be for ever put down and destroyed.
This being so, it is evident that the mention of these historical circumstances, and no other, in the midst of our prophecy, is a remarkable sign, not only that their character is typical, but also that God would make plain to His people how far the prophecies already given had been accomplished. They might thus be encouraged to take what was already verified as an earnest of what was to come in full delivering power and glory. Nothing since that day has in the slightest degree resembled these intimations of the prophets. The past Assyrian, after having lost an immense part of his army, returned to his own land, and there was killed by his sons. The future Assyrian, after a partial success, is to come up a second time, and there and then be overwhelmed. The difference is made particularly manifest by the introduction of the past history here; typical of yet greater things, as we know from direct prophecy in Isa. 28.-29, not to speak of other scriptures.
But now in chapter 38. we see another lesson: Hezekiah is sick, and apparently unto death. “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto Jehovah, and said, Remember now, Jehovah, I beseech thee, 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 much” (vv. 1-3). The king in this shadows forth the spiritual work God will by-and-by accomplish in His people. For Israel is destined in that day not only to furnish a grand external display of His power, but to experience a deep internal change – the great practical lesson of death and resurrection. This we learn not in our souls alone, but still more profoundly according to the full scope of grace and truth in our Lord Jesus Himself.
Hezekiah then is given up to die; but he humbles himself before Jehovah, Who sends word by the prophet that he was to live. And here we have exercise of spirit; at first, exceeding sorrow, not unmingled with fear, with regrets at leaving the land of the living, and a certain shrinking from God. “And the word of Jehovah came to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add to 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. And this [shall be] the sign unto thee from Jehovah that Jehovah will do this thing that he hath spoken: behold, I will cause the shadow on the steps, which is gone down with the sun on the dial (or, steps) of Ahaz, to return ten steps backward. So the sun returned on the dial ten steps whereby it was gone down” (vv. 4-8).
Is it possible that any professing to know and teach the truth do not perceive that this is not life and incorruption brought to light by the gospel – not what we should look for in a Christian now, though Hezekiah was as truly a saint of God as any Christian? The working of the Holy Spirit in a godly Jew was necessarily modified in both depth and height for the Christian because of accomplished redemption. When believers, Jews or Gentiles after the flesh, are brought to the knowledge of Christ now, they are entitled to the same high privileges. If they see or enjoy them not, it is because the flesh is not judged; they are merely following in this respect their own thoughts, instead of entering into the new revelations of God founded on a dead, risen, and ascended Christ, made known by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. The natural thought and hope converted Jew then was to live long upon the earth. not say “to depart and be with Christ is far better.” the land of the living he desired to praise Jah, as he living, the living shall praise thee.”
Israelites looked not within the veil; they saw not the Forerunner for them entered in. No such precious sight was revealed to their faith, though they did most truly expect, by God’s teaching, a coming Messiah to deliver and bless them. But they could not yet know death vanquished, nor raise the song of resurrection, nor look on a known Saviour theirs through the opened heavens. Hezekiah goes through the sign of death; he was sentenced however to it, and shrank from it; earnestly pleading, he hears the sentence reprieved. This is the token of the spiritual work God will effect in Israel – not only deliverance from foes without but deliverance from the power of death working in them. But the millennial kingdom will not furnish to Israel or any other on earth, the faith or experience of the Christian, properly speaking nor will they be raised from the dead or changed to go through that reign, but after it for eternity. The valley of dry bones is merely the symbol of their resurrection from death, when they are as a nation caused once more to live, though doubtless there will be a real spiritual work within. But still theirs will be a very different thing from our portion either now or when we are caught up to meet the Lord.
“The writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness. I said, In the still noon (or, cutting off) of my days I shall go to the gates of Sheol I am deprived of the residue of my years. I said, I shall not see Jah, Jah in the land of the living. I shall not behold man longer with the inhabitants of the world Mine age (or, dwelling) is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent. I have rolled off like a weaver my life; from the thrum he cutteth me off; from day to night wilt thou make an end of me. I kept still till morning: as a lion he breaketh all my bones; from day to night he will make an end of me. Like a swallow, a crane, so did I chatter; I mourned as a dove; mine eyes failed [with looking] upward. Jehovah, I am oppressed: undertake for me. What shall I say? He hath both spoken to me, and himself hath done [it]: I shall go softly all my years for the bitterness of my soul. Lord, by these things [men] live, and wholly in them [is] the life of my spirit; and thou recoverest me and makest me to live Behold, for peace I had bitterness on bitterness; but thou hast in love delivered my soul from the pit of destruction, for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. For Sheol doth not praise thee, [nor] death celebrate thee; they that go down into the pit do not hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I this day; the father to the children shall make known thy truth. Jehovah – to save me! My song too we will sing to stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of Jehovah” (vv. 9-20).
Death was to him the most painful prospect. What can more pointedly differ from this than the triumphant language of 2Co 5:1-8 for instance? There the apostle says, “In this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon.” “We are always confident, willing rather to be absent from the body [the very thing good Hezekiah was not] and to be present with the Lord.” Living here “we are absent from the Lord.” You, no doubt, find the king turning his face to the wall; but who could imagine such a thing of dying Stephen? If a Christian were in the spirit beholding Christ, it could not be so. It is not for any of us to say what chastening might fall on self-confidence, on negligence of walk, or anything else unjudged: God might smite the pride of heart which looked down upon a person thus tried. In Old Testament times there could not be the rest and peace and joy of heart created by the revelation of Christ’s work and glorified person.
In Hezekiah’s case God made him, as thus manifesting the feelings of a godly Jew, to be the sign of the quickening of the Jews, who will by-and-by go, as a nation, through a spiritual process which is likened to death and resurrection. In the future however, one gathers from other scriptures that their outward and inward deliverances will be in the inverse order of that which appears in the history given here. The quickening of at least the remnant will precede their external triumph. Ere the antitypical Babylon has been smitten, the Jew will go through no small spiritual sifting with God, and then the mighty outward deliverance will follow when the last Assyrian is broken and disappears. Thus distinctly is the future marked off from that which has been already accomplished. God will work in them first, and then display His power in their behalf. He gives us now in Christ that in which we shall be displayed at His appearing. Thus we know death and resurrection, because we are taught everything in Christ. Therefore, the apostle asks, having died with Christ, “why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances?” (Col 2:20 ). They will be like men living in the world; and so they will have their splendid temple, and their venerable priesthood, and their impressive ordinances, “Touch not, taste not, handle not.” The seventh or sabbath day will be resumed. In the millennium it will not be the Lord’s day but the sabbath-day. God will renew His sabbaths, instead of continuing the first day of the week, the Christian’s memorial of redemption. The sabbath-day occurs once more enforced beyond doubt, as we read in the prophecy of Ezekiel.
Thus God will have prepared His people Israel for their future glory, not by what we know now in the gospel, but by what we have seen represented by Hezekiah’s sickness. He prays that he may not be brought to the gates of hell. “I said, I shall not see Jah, Jah in the land of the living.” To see the Lord in the heavenly country among the glorified is far better than to see Him in the land of Israel. Our joy is that we are to be with Him in heavenly blessing, as we know ourselves in Him in heavenly places even now. Such thoughts never entered the king’s mind. He desired as a Jew that his life might be prolonged to see Jah in the land of the living. So Israel will see Him in the land of the living, and be themselves brought under the shadow of His wing, spite of all their mighty foes. The pure in heart shall see God. We shall be with the Saviour and see Him as He is (not as He was, but as He is), and be with Himself above in the Father’s house, in the presence of God.
But here, on the contrary, the king mourns over his failing strength. “Mine age is departed.” “He will cut me off as from a [weaver’s] thrum.” “As a lion, He breaketh all my bones.” He repines at God’s will, not having a dead and risen Christ to interpret all by. He views death in itself, or its bearing on himself here. How deeply even saints needed a revealed Saviour and a known redemption! “Like a swallow, a crane, so did I chatter. . . . What shall I say? He hath both spoken to me, and himself hath done [it].” Now light begins to dawn somewhat more. He has asked Jehovah to undertake for him: “He hath both spoken to me,” etc. He began to appreciate better the blessed truth that it is not what we say to Jehovah which is the great matter, but what Jehovah says to us, and, more than that, what Jehovah does for us. “I shall go softly all my years.” All this trial was just the needed discipline, and good for him. “And thou recoverest me.” He anticipates his sure deliverance, as Israel will know “in that day,” and surely be brought out of their distresses.
However blessed it all may be, as showing us the working of God in the heart of a real saint of old and the type of the future ways of God to be made good in the hearts of the Jewish remnant, need I repeat that God does not give this as the full standard we ought to apply now? It is a serious thing, this misappropriation of scripture, through attempting to lump together all its testimonies, old and new, as if all must be about one and the same object. Thus what is of earth for the Jew is jumbled up with what is of heaven for the Christian: the result is a mere waste of uncertainty. Of course the Spirit of God never allows the real children of God to suffer all the consequences of their folly. There is a merciful preservative from going through with their mistakes. But still the loss is great indeed. How much we have to desire, that we may be enabled to feel, serve, walk, and worship as Christians entering into all the will of Jehovah concerning us, not foolish but as wise! All depends on a better knowledge of Christ, for this is the only sure and holy way for every need.
God’s will as regards His people on the earth depends on His counsels and ways at any given time in His Son. Where is Christ now? He is at the right hand of God, cast out of the earth, as He said, “I go to My Father.” That is, He has total rejection here but all glory there, as may be seen in John 13.-17. He is thus separated to heaven, as He says, “For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth” (Joh 17:19 ). Not of course that there ever was anything impure in or of Him: such a thought of Christ would be blasphemy. It was taking a separate place from the earth, setting Himself apart from all here below as the heavenly Model-man, so to speak. This is the key to Christianity. It is the power of the Holy Ghost working in the hearts of God’s children upon earth and forming them after the fashion of Christ in heaven, on the basis of His death and resurrection, which has justified them by faith. Thus it necessarily supposes Christ’s cross, resurrection, and ascension, and that we know ourselves in Him there (Joh 14:20 ). We become heavenly because related to Him there. “As is the Heavenly, such are they also who are heavenly.”
When Christ comes in glory by-and-by, and takes the earth under His government, and in the truest sense fills the throne of Jehovah over it, the saints here below (not those risen and glorified) will be earthly. They will be born anew; but it will be for the earthly things of the kingdom of God. So the Lord says, “If I have told you earthly things . . .” (Joh 3:12 ). There is the earthly department of His kingdom no less than the heavenly. To confound them, or the scriptures that relate to them, is to ruin the distinctness of revealed truth, and to sink into half-Jews, half-Christians. The new age, or dispensation, will accordingly, as far as earth is concerned, be the forming man here below according to the character in which Christ is then displayed and will deal. It will be no longer the Spirit making us heavenly, because of uniting us to the Head on high. Christ will then govern the earth and its inhabitants as King, instead of gathering believers out from the world into one as His body. This may serve to show what a wonderful place is ours: in the midst of all the ruin of the outward framework of Christendom there is one body and one Spirit, even as also we were called in one hope of our calling.
“Now Isaiah had said, Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover. Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of Jehovah?” (vv. 21, 22).
If this addition seems trivial or spurious to the natural mind, it was not to the inspiring Spirit. God shows His interest in His own, whatever their infirmity, and explains the means employed, and why the sign was given. To unbelief such a detail has no value; for literary criticism knows as little of divine love or of the soul’s need, as man’s philosophy.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 38:1-3
1In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, Thus says the LORD, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’ 2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, 3and said, Remember now, O LORD, 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 bitterly.
Isa 38:1-8 This is a good example of the fact that God is in control of history, yet history is also affected by our prayers (cf. Isa 37:21). But also remember that it was during this extra time of Hezekiah’s life that his evil son and successor, Manasseh, was born. In some ways God’s answer to Hezekiah brought judgment on Judah. We must pray in God’s will, for we never see the big picture.
Isa 38:3 Remember The VERB (BDB 269, KB 269, Qal IMPERATIVE) is an IMPERATIVE of request. Hezekiah, like Nehemiah (cf. Neh 13:14; Neh 13:22), is asking God to take note of his lifestyle faith. It is interesting that in the Bible humans pray for God to forget their sins, while God asks for them to remember His word.
God’s memory is a way to plead with Him to be faithful to His word and promises lived out in an individual life.
Notice what Hezekiah asserts.
1. I have walked (BDB 229, KB 246, Hithpael PERFECT) before You in truth (lit. faithfulness, BDB 54). Walked is a biblical metaphor of lifestyle faith (i.e., Psa 26:3; Psa 86:11).
2. I have done this with a whole heart, this is a biblical metaphor of total dedication.
3. I have done what is good in your sight.
with a whole heart This is a statement which is usually related to the reign and life of David (cf. 1Ki 3:6; 1Ki 9:4; 1Ki 11:4; 1Ch 28:9); the people (1Ch 29:9); or Asa (cf. 1Ki 15:14). Hezekiah is considered to be one of the godly kings of Judah (cf. 2Ki 18:5-6).
wept bitterly There is some question as to why Hezekiah was so upset at the thought of his death: (1) his fear of dying in middle age, based on Isa 38:10 or (2) the fact that he had no heir (cf. Isa 38:19; Isa 39:7; 2Ki 21:1). It is uncertain which, if either, of these is true because we do not have any psychological way to analyze the statements of people in history. The tragedy is that during this additional fifteen-year extended life span the birth of Manasseh occurred and he was the most evil king that Judah had and was greatly responsible for the Babylonian exile.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
In those days: i.e. Hezekiah’s fourteenth year: for fifteen years (603-588 B.C.) are added to his life (Isa 38:5), and he reigned twenty-nine years (2Ki 18:2); 14 + 15 = 29.
sick. This sickness was therefore during the siege.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
Set thine house in order = Give charge concerning thy house.
die, and not live = thou wilt certainly die. Figure of speech Pleonasm: by which a thing is put both ways (positive and negative) for emphasis.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 38
In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set your house in order: for you shall die, and not live ( Isa 38:1 ).
These are pretty heavy tidings. You get sick and a prophet of God comes and says, “Hey, set your house in order, man, this is it. You’re going to die and not live.” There are things that we must take care of before we die. Important things to take care of. The most important thing that I take care of before I die is my relationship with God. And that’s really what the prophet was referring to. “Set your house in order. You’re going to die and not live.”
So Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before you in truth and with a complete heart, and have done that which is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept. Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen your tears: behold, I will add fifteen years to you. And I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city. And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken; Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down ( Isa 38:2-8 ).
Interesting thing. Just to prove a point that what God said is true. “All right, I’ll give you fifteen years. Don’t cry. And to prove it, I’ll bring the shadow on the sundial back ten degrees.” So here is actually a long day. Ten degrees backward, and by the time it started again would give you about a forty-five minute lapse time here as God took… Now how did God pull that one off? I don’t know. There are those who scoff at the miracles in the Bible and try to either rationalize them completely or just say that they didn’t exist. We have the case in Joshua’s time where the sun stood still for the space of almost a day in order that Joshua was able to completely wipe out the enemies.
Now if the sun stood still in the evening time and the moon there in the valley of Ajalon, then it would mean that over here on this side of the earth they would have had a long night, which, of course, the Aztec and Inca records do record. And Velikovsky in his book, Worlds in Collision, traces this long day of Joshua around the world. Now there are the scoffers who say, “Wait a minute, the sun doesn’t revolve around the earth anyhow. We have that kind of an illusion only because the earth is spinning on its axis. So rather than the sun standing still, it must be that the earth came to a halt. But the earth is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and if the earth would suddenly stop, everybody would be thrown off.” And so they tried to deny the reality of that miracle through this idea that anything stopped spinning at a thousand miles an hour, everything would be thrown off of it.
Well, who said God put on the brakes that hard? Say God took fifteen minutes to slow the earth to a stop? Oh my, that’s easing down, because from a thousand miles in fifteen minutes, you would hardly even notice the brakes being applied at that speed. So if God, say, slowed it down in five minutes, it would be like applying your brakes at sixty miles an hour to stop at a signal that is a half a mile away. So there’s no problem. God didn’t just slam on the brakes, yank, and everybody goes flying off. He just applied the brakes, stopped the thing. The miracle to me is how did He get it going again? Now here is a little bit better. He actually reversed the thing a little bit. Let it go back ten degrees before He fired it up. So the only reason why people have difficulty with these facets of scriptures is because their concept of God is so small. And the reason why their concept of God is small is because they have created their own ideas of God.
If you believe in the God that is revealed in the Bible, then these things present absolutely no problem at all. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” ( Gen 1:1 ). That’s a pretty big God. And if He created the heavens and the earth, He has no problem in guiding and directing and in stopping if He wants the rotation of this earth upon its axis for a moment. Starting it up again. It’s an interesting thing Velikovsky in his book believes that when God started up again, He started in the opposite direction. That actually the earth used to rotate from west to east. He believes and seeks to prove it in his book. But interesting. God just to prove to the king, “Hey, I mean it. Show you little proof just to encourage you.”
Now when Hezekiah was sick, this is what he wrote. You talk about a negative confession. I mean, this guy had a classic negative confession. So this is what Hezekiah wrote when he was sick.
I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go down to the gates of hell: I am deprived of the residue of my years. I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world. Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me ( Isa 38:10-13 ).
Boy, what a negative confession! Now if what you say is what you get, then Hezekiah really would have been done in. But in spite of all of his negative confessions, God answered his prayer and gave him fifteen years. But that brings up a problem. Should he really have died at that time? It would appear that God’s primary will for Hezekiah was that he should die at that time.
There’s a theological debate on whether or not prayer really changes things. Can I by prayer really change the mind of God? God declares, “Behold, I am God, I change not” ( Mal 3:6 ). Should I by prayer seek to change the mind of God? What would be the purpose of changing the mind of God? The only purpose I can see of seeking to change the mind of God is that I’ve got a smarter thought than God does. “Now God, I want You to see it my way.”
It is interesting how that so often in our prayers they are really real hyped jobs in trying to, in a sense, change the mind of God-at least the way we pray it. It is as though we’re trying to make God see it our way and to convince God that our way is right. To sell God on my program here. But is that really the real thrust of prayer and the purpose of prayer, to change the mind of God? Does prayer really change God?
Now it would appear that there is a direct will of God for our lives, but then there is this area that we might title the permissive will of God for us. And quite often, God’s direct will is expressed first. This is what is best. But I get in there and I begin to push and shove and insist and God says, “Well, all right. If that’s what you really want, have at it.”
It would appear that this did happen when Barak the king sent to Balaam to curse the people that were coming through the land. And Balaam prayed unto the Lord and the Lord said unto Balaam, “Do not go down to the king. Do not curse these people because they are My people.” So Balaam sent back a message to Barak and said, “I’m sorry, king, I can’t come down. The Lord won’t let me. Neither can I curse these people for the same reason.” So king Barak sent other messengers with great rewards, a lot of loot, and said, “Just come on down and counsel me concerning these people that are coming through the land.” So Balaam was a greedy fellow and when he saw all the loot that the king was offering for counseling fees, he thought, “Wow, could I ever use that! Get me a new donkey and a new house.” And greed really filled his heart.
So he prayed again. Now God had already said don’t go down. But I can hear Balaam this time, “Oh, Lord, just please let me go. Lord, just, I’ll be good, Lord. But oh, just let me go down, Lord. After all, what can it hurt me going down, Lord? Please, God.” God finally said, “All right, go ahead, but you just be careful you don’t say any more than what I tell you.” But the anger of the Lord was kindled against Balaam. Evidently, you see, though Balaam insisted and God more or less gave him a tentative, “Sure do it,” yet it wasn’t God’s direct will for this guy’s life because an angel of the Lord stood in the path with a drawn sword. And that wise little donkey saw the angel though Balaam didn’t. And he turned off the path and Balaam beat him and got him back on the path. But again the angel of the Lord stood where there was a cliff and the donkey edged up against the side of the cliff and got old Balaam’s ankle, and he beat the donkey again and got him going. The third time and the angel stood in the path there was no place for the donkey to go; he just sat down. And Balaam began to beat him. And the donkey turned around and said, “You think that’s right beating me three times? Haven’t I been a faithful donkey ever since you owned me? Have I ever done anything like this to you before?” Balaam was so angry he answered the donkey back and said, “You bet your life I’d do right to beat you. If I had a stick I’d kill you.”
He evidently was insisting that God allow him to go and God permissively said, “Yes, go.” And yet, it wasn’t the direct will of God. God allows things that are not His direct will. I can force my will. I can force my way. Where God more or less reluctantly says, “Well, if that’s what you want, have at it.” But yet, it isn’t really pleasing to God. Now whenever these issues are forced, then the consequences are always disastrous.
I believe that Hezekiah’s time to die had come and I think he would have been much better off. I know the nation of Israel would have been much better off had Hezekiah died at that time. Those extra fifteen years that God allowed him were disastrous. For two years later he had a son named Manasseh who became the ruler, the king over Judah when Hezekiah died, and Manasseh was indeed the foulest, rottenest king that ever reigned in Judah. And it was a result of Manasseh’s ungodly reign that Judah got on the road downhill from which it was never able to recover. Now had Hezekiah died when God planned and wanted him to die, then Manasseh would never have been born and the history for the nation could have been different.
Whenever we insist upon our way over God’s, you’re not getting the best. God’s way is always the best. Though we may not understand it or see it at the time, God’s way is always the best. So it is possible that through our pig-headed bullishness, we might be able to get God to consent to something that we desire. But the result is always negative. How much better that we learn to say, “Oh God, Thy will be done,” and to flow in the center of God’s will. So Hezekiah prayed, cried, oh, he really was going at it.
Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter ( Isa 38:14 ):
All night long here he was chattering like a little bird.
I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me ( Isa 38:14 ).
You see, he was really going at it. And God said, “Come on, you want fifteen years, all right.” The guy’s just really going at it. God said, “Ah, shut up. Fifteen years, go ahead, take it.”
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. O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live. Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth. The LORD was ready to save me: therefore will we sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life ( Isa 38:15-20 )
So this is a song that he wrote during this time and it’s a psalm of Hezekiah.
For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it on as a plaster on his boil, and he shall recover. Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD? ( Isa 38:21-22 ) “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Isa 38:1-8
Isa 38:1
This chapter has the account of the fatal illness survived by Hezekiah and of God’s 15-year extension of his life, and also the record of the Psalm which Hezekiah wrote in commemoration and thanksgiving for the event.
Isa 38:1
“In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said unto him; set thy house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live.”
“In those days” (Isa 38:1) does not fix the date of Hezekiah’s illness; and, consequently, there are diverse opinions as to when this event occurred. Kelley pointed out that it “is very difficult to fix the date, but thought it might be around 705 B.C. Hailey gave the date as “701 B.C. Rawlinson noted that, “The illness of Hezekiah is fixed by Isa 38:5 here and 2Ki 20:6 to the fourteenth year of his reign, or B.C. 714. Adam Clarke listed 713 B.C. in the margin of his commentary on this verse; and Cheyne wrote that, “Since, according to 2Ki 18:2, Hezekiah reigned 29 years, his illness must have occurred in his fourteenth year, and must have synchronized, or nearly so, with the invasion of Sargon.
There is too much uncertainty as to when the beginning and ending of the reigns were calculated for some of the kings mentioned in Isaiah to allow dogmatic conclusions to carry very much weight. There is also the possibility mentioned by several that God actually extended Hezekiah’s life somewhat longer than the fifteen years promised here. There is also the question of the overlapping of reigns in certain cases. See the Introduction. Another possibility, already mentioned earlier is that Hezekiah calculated the latter part of his reign, after the extension of his life, as a “Second Reign.” We do not pretend to have an adequate solution of this problem.
Isa 38:2-3
“Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto Jehovah, and said, O Jehovah, I beseech thee, 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.”
Hezekiah’s turning his face to the wall, “Resembles that of Ahab (1Ki 21:4); but the spirit is wholly different. Ahab turned away to the wall for a sullen pout; but Hezekiah did it for privacy and to collect his thoughts for the prayer.
Josephus tells us that the reason for Hezekiah’s bitter weeping was due to the “Knowledge that he was childless and the thought of his leaving the kingdom without a son to succeed him. So the king was in great dread, and in terrible agony at this calamity.
Jamieson commented, “How often do our wishes when gratified prove curses”! Hezekiah lived to have a son, Manasseh, (2Ki 21:1), by all standards the most wicked and evil of all the kings of Judah, whose reign ended with the overthrow of the kingdom and the deportation of the people to Babylon.
Isa 38:4-6
“Then came the word of Jehovah unto Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, 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.”
The parallel account in 2Ki 20:4 reveals that Isaiah left Hezekiah and was on the way to departing from the palace, being as far as the middle court, when the Word of God came to Isaiah again, instructing him to reveal that the Lord had heard his prayers and was extending his life by some fifteen years. “So swiftly does God answer the prayer of faith! From this we may conclude that God approves of our prayers for health, for life and for strength.
As Douglas commented, this great prayer of Isaiah, “May be ranked with Abraham’s intercession for Sodom, with Elijah’s prayer for rain, and with the Syrophoenician’s pleading with the Saviour for her daughter.
Notice that the disease that threatened Hezekiah was a fatal malady; yet Hezekiah did not fail to pray. We believe that Christians today, due to the increase of knowledge, appear to settle such matters without regard to God, much in the same manner that a deacon in Bakersfield, California, once prayed for a patient diagnosed as being terminally with cancer, praying, in substance, as follows: “God, we know there’s nothing you can do for him, but if possible help him to be easy in his last days!” To us, such a prayer approaches blasphemy. This writer has definite knowledge of a man from Moundsville, West Virginia, who was diagnosed as having “inoperable cancer of the trachea” by seven of the leading surgeons in Washington, D.C., whose principal physician was Dr. James Jerry McFarland, a noted surgeon in that city. That man was given a maximum life expectancy of six months, but eight years later he walked into Dr. McFarland’s office completely whole. He said that God healed him. This report, incidentally was reported in the American Medical Journal (approximately 1955).
As Jamieson correctly commented: “At this point, Isa 38:21-22 would normally have appeared in the narrative; but Isaiah placed them later in order not to interrupt the message of God.
Isa 38:7-8
“And this shall be the sign unto thee from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do this thing that he hath spoken: behold, I will cause the shadow on the steps, which is gone down on the dial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps. So the sun returned ten steps on the dial whereon it was gone down.”
The account in 2Kings mentions that it was by the specific request of Hezekiah that this sign was given in preference to a sign in which the shadow on the dial would have advanced ten steps. We receive this as an astounding miracle, wrought by the power of God himself, a miracle that is in every sense equal to that of Beth-horon (Jos 10:12-15). All that we wrote in connection with that miracle is also applicable here.
We are not interested in the learned dissertations by men explaining `why they cannot believe this.’ Since when did unbelief ever need an explanation? Christ has already explained it. “Men have loved darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil” (Joh 3:19). As to `how’ God performed this wonder, no man may claim to know. Given the fact that it was God who intervened here, where is there any problem? Is anything too hard for God?
We fully agree with Douglas on this. He said, “The attempts to explain the going back of the shadow by a parhelion (mock sun), or by an eclipse, or refraction have been utterly unsuccessful. Those who do not reject the narrative as a falsehood, nor explain it as a conjurer’s trick, must accept it as a miracle.
REPINING: Isa 38:1-3. Hezekiah died in 695 B.C. The phrase In those days, of Isa 38:1 must refer to a time at least 15 years prior to 695 B.C. or somewhere near 710 B.C. Hezekiah was sick unto death at least nine or ten years prior to the confrontation at Jerusalem recorded in chapters 36-37 (Sennacheribs invasion of Judah in 701 B.C.) Therefore, Isaiah, chapter 38, is chronologically out of order. That is no problem. The historical data of chapter 38 is accurate, and that is what is important. The Hebrews were not as concerned with chronology as they were with the events and their meanings. Matthews gospel is a prime example of a Hebrew man writing as an eyewitness what he saw accurately, but recording it out of chronological order. The proper order of these chapters in Isaiah might be as follows: 38, 39, 36, 37.
Isaiah came to the king with this message from the Lord: Order your house, for die you shall, and not live (literally from the Hebrew). With the Hebrew language, the verb is usually first in the sentence because the action being done or to be done is more important than the actor. The Hebrews were not as egotistical as Westerners. Leupold translates it, Give your last orders, for you shall die and not recover. Isaiahs message is very blunt. We do not know what the kings sickness was. There were evidently boils associated with it. Lange has suggested the Hebrew word shehiyn translated in Isa 38:21 boil stands not only for the plague boil, but also for other burning ulcers, as it occurs in reference to leprosy (Lev 13:18 ff) and other inflammable cutaneous diseases (Exo 9:9; Deu 28:27; Deu 28:35; Job 2:7).
Hezekiah turned his face to the wall to pray not that there was any special efficacy in facing the wall but probably as an instinctive reaction to hide his countenance from others standing near. It may be he did it to gain what little privacy he could obtain. Hezekiah appeals to God on the basis of Old Testament standards (see Psalms 15). Hezekiah surely does not claim for himself sinlessness. His claim is that of a life based upon the truth as he knew it from God and a complete (perfect) hearts motivation to do what was good in Gods sight. It was a prayer of faith, trusting God to fulfill His will in Hezekiahs life. Wept sore would better be translated wept greatly. The Hebrew bechiy gadol might well be translated, as the RSV does, wept bitterly.
But why did not Hezekiah resign himself to what apparently was Gods will-his immediate death? Hezekiah was only 39 or 40 years old when this terminal illness struck him. Manasseh was not to be born for three more years (Mannaseh was 12 years old when Hezekiah died at the age of 54; see 2Ki 21:1; 2Ch 33:1). It was contrary to all Hezekiah believed concerning the perpetuation of the dynasty of David (which God had certainly promised) that he should die without a successor to the throne of David! It was also considered by any Jewish male to be a sign of Divine disfavor to be cut off in the midst of ones life without a male child to carry on the family name (Job 15:32; Job 22:15-16; Psa 55:23; Pro 10:27; Ecc 7:17). As much as anything else, Hezekiah was questioning whether, in view of his godly life, he deserved such an untimely death or not. Death with such suddenness and in the prime of life has a sobering effect-a humbling effect.
Isa 38:4-8 REPRIEVE: While Isaiah was walking in the middle court (2Ki 20:4) the word of Jehovah came to him. He was to go back and tell Hezekiah that his prayer was heard. Note, it does not say answered. God answered Hezekiah with His own answer. God hears our prayers and He cares about our difficulties. He is sad that we have to suffer. He is hurt by our disobedience. He is gladdened by our praise and supplications. But, He is not convinced, argued into, worn down by persistence, Gods mind is not changed by the perfect logic, massive amount or unending persistence of our prayers. He knows what is best for us and always answers according to His will. He insists that we pray in order that we may put ourselves in the proper attitude of faith, humility and dependence to receive what He wills-whether it be weal or woe. The apostle Paul did not want a thorn in the flesh, and, in fact, prayed three times that it be removed. Gods answer was, every time, No! So here, Hezekiah did not change the mind of God, but by his prayer of faith, humility and dependence upon God put himself in the proper condition to be the agent through whom God could continue His work of perpetuating the throne of David. God added to Hezekiahs life 15 years-time to produce an heir and prepare him for the throne of David. The very fact that Jehovah said, the God of David thy father, indicates God was answering according to His own purposes and not simply to satisfy Hezekiahs desire for more years of life. And it is not just Hezekiahs life that is to be spared-the city of David and its inhabitants are also to be protected from annihilation. God will continue His program of redemption through Hezekiah and his countrymen in spite of all the threats of the Assyrians.
In 2Ki 20:8-11 and Isa 38:22 we are informed that Hezekiah asked for a sign. To Ahaz God had offered a sign (Isaiah 7) but Ahaz did not want a sign for he was depending upon help from Assyria. Hezekiah, realizing the severity of his situation, asks for a sign to strengthen him for the great task of leading his nation to trust Jehovah for deliverance.
The Hebrew word maeloth may be translated dials, degrees or steps, (cf. Exo 20:26; 1Ki 10:19; 2Ki 20:9-11). In the absence of any materials for determining the shape and structure of the . . . instrument . . . the best course is to follow the most strictly natural meaning of the word, and to consider that the dial was really stairs, and that the shadow (perhaps of some column or obelisk on the top) fell on a greater or smaller number of them according as the sun was low or high. The terrace of a palace might easily be thus ornamented. Ahazs tastes seem to have led him in pursuit of foreign curiosities (2Ki 6:10), and his intimacy with Tiglath-pileser gave him probably an opportunity of procuring from Assyria the pattern of some such structure.
When Hezekiah asked for a sign, Isaiah said, . . . shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps? Hezekiah replied that it was easier for the shadow to lengthen than go back, so he asked that the shadow go back ten steps. (2Ki 20:8-11) Isaiah says the sun returned ten steps while 2Ki 20:11 says the Lord brought the shadow back ten steps. The Lord used the sun to produce the moving of the shadow backward. Whatever the method, whether by refraction of light or by suspending or reversing the laws governing the orbit of the earth around the sun, it was an act performed by the supernatural power of God at work upon the natural world and provided a sign of supernatural verification to Hezekiah.
Alas, Hezekiah was still a man with weaknesses. He was like many men (even the apostle Paul, Rom 7:13-25) whose intentions are higher than their deeds. After his recovery, Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud, (2Ch 32:24-25), when the envoys of Merodachbaladan came (Isa 39:1 ff). On the other hand, when Hezekiahs ideals and deeds are compared with some of his ungodly predecessors and successors he was, like his ancestor David, a man after Gods own heart. His faith, humility and trust in God saved the nation and preserved a remnant through which redemption came to all men.
Let every reader be here reminded of the uncertainty of this life and the imperative need to set your house in order. As a poet once wailed, too commonly at the mercy of a moment are left the vast concerns of an eternal scene. Too often men and women procrastinate setting themselves in order with God until there is no more time or they are incapable. Now is the time; Today is the day of salvation!
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
In this chapter we have the story of the sickness of Hezekiah. That sickness would seem to have been intimately connected with the invasion of Sennacherib, for in Isaiah’s message to Hezekiah that his prayer was heard it was promised, “I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.”
The last verse of the chapter tells us that Hezekiah had asked a sign that he should go up to the house of the Lord, this in explanation of the account of the sign of the dial given in verses Isa 38:7-8. The going up to the house referred to is in all probability that described in chapter 37, when he went there penitently in the hour of Rabshakeh’s taunting. All this would indicate that his sickness was due to some failure on his part. Turning to the Lord, he sought deliverance, and his life was lengthened by fifteen years. In the middle of the chapter we have the psalm of praise which Hezekiah wrote to celebrate his deliverance. It first describes the days of darkness in which he found himself in the noontide of life, approaching the gates of death. In the second part he breaks out in praise of God for deliverance, and throughout the whole of it there is evident his consciousness that the affliction itself had wrought good in his life. After the deliverance he consecrated himself anew to Jehovah, to His praise, and to His service.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
EXPOSITORY NOTES ON
THE PROPHET ISAIAH
By
Harry A. Ironside, Litt.D.
Copyright @ 1952
edited for 3BSB by Baptist Bible Believer in the spirit of the Colportage ministry of a century ago
ISAIAH CHAPTERS THIRTY-SIX TO THIRTY-NINE
THE HISTORIC INTERLUDE
WE NOW GLANCE at the next four chapters which relate certain important incidents in the life of Hezekiah, King of Judah. I say “glance at,” because I do not intend to take these chapters up verse by verse, quoting and endeavoring to explain them, as in the case of the first prophetic division of the book.
These chapters are almost duplicates of II Kings 18:13-21:26 and the major events are also covered by II Chronicles 32, 33. In all probability it was Isaiah who wrote these records and who was guided by the Holy Spirit in transferring the lengthier one into its place in his great prophetic book.
There was a very special reason for giving us these four historical chapters. They all have to do with a son of David upon whom all Judah’s hopes were centered, who came down to the very verge of death but was raised up again in order that the purpose of GOD might be fulfilled. That, of course, points forward to our Lord JESUS CHRIST, who went down into death actually and was raised up again to carry out GOD’s counsels. They have to do with certain events in the life of King Hezekiah, who in some degree foreshadowed this in the experiences through which he was called to pass.
In the fourteenth year of his reign the invasion of the Assyrians under the cruel and ruthless Sennacherib took place. After destroying or capturing various fenced cities, he sent a great army to besiege Jerusalem. This host was under the direct leadership of a general named Rabshakeh, a bold but vulgar and blustering officer who had a supreme contempt for the Jews and for their religion.
He took his stand at a prominent place outside the wall of Jerusalem, where his voice could be heard. easily by the defenders of the city, and called upon the leaders to surrender before he undertook to destroy them completely.
Eliakim, Shebna and Joah, who were what we would call members of Hezekiah’s cabinet or privy council, undertook to parley with the arrogant Assyrian. Speaking on behalf of his master,
Rabshakeh inquired as to what confidence they trusted in, daring to refuse to yield to his commands. Insolently he declared that if they hoped for deliverance to come through the power of their GOD, their expectations were doomed to disappointment. Had not Sennacherib proved himself more than a match for all the gods of the surrounding nations?
And had not Hezekiah himself destroyed the altars of the Lord and thus forfeited all claims upon Him even if He did have the power to protect him? Not realizing that the destroyed altars were connected with idolatrous shrines, Rabshakeh supposed that they had been dedicated to the God of Judah (chap. 36:1-7).
Demanding unconditional surrender to be ratified by a large tribute, as pledge that the Jews would abide by the proposed terms, Rabshakeh even went so far as to insist that it was by direction of the Lord that Sennacherib had come against Judah.
He may in some way have become familiar with some of the prophecies which we have been considering; he knew of Samaria’s fall, and so may have learned that their own GOD had declared that He would use Assyria as a rod to punish Judah for their disobedience and waywardness (vss. 8-10).
Fearful that these words might have an ill effect upon the morale of the defenders of the city, the Jewish leaders asked that the Assyrian general speak to them in his own language with which they were familiar, and not in the Hebrew tongue. This request only roused Rabshakeh to greater insolence. He used language that was disgusting and revolting as he declared that he had been sent not to parley with the representatives of Hezekiah as such, but with all the people of Jerusalem, of whom he continued to demand instant obedience to the call for surrender and the promise of allegiance to the king of Assyria.
In that case their lives would be spared and they themselves transported as prisoners of war to other lands where they would be permitted to live in peace and security.
Derisively he referred again to the folly of trusting in their GOD and reminded them that the gods of Hamath, Arphad, Sepharvaim and Samaria had been unable to cope with the might of Sennacherib. What reason had they then to hope that the Lord should intervene on their behalf and deliver Jerusalem from threatened ruin?
To all these demands and taunts the people answered “not a word,” for the king had so commanded them. Eliakim and his companions returned to Hezekiah with their clothes rent in token of their grief at being unable to come to terms with the Assyrian general whose arrogant and defiant words they reported to their king (vss. 12-22).
When Hezekiah heard it, he too rent his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and “went into the house of the Lord” (chap. 37:1). There he could pour out his heart to the GOD of his fathers who had so often given deliverance to His people in times of great distress and adversity. Feeling the need of counsel and prayer he sent Eliakim, Shebna, and the elders to call upon Isaiah, to whom he said,
“Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble and of rebuke and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left” (vss. 3, 4).
Such faith could not go unrewarded. GOD never fails those who commit everything to Him. He has said, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me” (Psa 50:15). Hezekiah was soon to prove the truth of this promise, even though his faith must first be tested severely.
Isaiah’s answer was most cheering and reassuring. He said, “Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me” (vs. 6). It was not a question between the two opposing forces, or between Rabshakeh and Hezekiah. The Assyrian had dared to challenge the power of the Lord. He, Himself, would take up the challenge, and would manifest His power and might, thus showing that He was not a mere idol, nor an imaginary deity like the gods of the heathen whose inability to save their devotees from destruction had been so readily manifested.
Sennacherib and his servants had dared to rush upon the thick bosses of the bucklers of the Almighty (Job 15:25, 26), and were soon to prove the folly of daring to fight against the omnipotent GOD who had created the heavens and the earth, and who declared through His prophet, “Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land” (vs. 7).
The “rumour” was a report that Tirhakah, King of Ethiopia, was on his way to fight against Assyria, whose armies were divided; part besieging Jerusalem, and part warring against Libnah. Reluctantly, Rabshakeh was obliged to lift the siege and to withdraw to Assyria, but he sent a last defiant message to the king of Judah as his armies were withdrawing. “Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?” (vss. 10, 11).
Again he taunted Hezekiah concerning the folly of presuming that his GOD would prove any more powerful than the gods of other nations. This message was put in the form of a letter which Hezekiah received at the hands of certain messengers who brought it from the camp of the Assyrians. It was a letter of blasphemy, and Hezekiah did right in not attempting to answer it himself. Instead, he took it into the house of the Lord and spread it out before GOD.
Bowing in His presence, he pleaded that the Lord would intervene to save His people. He
frankly acknowledged that the fake gods of the nations had no ability to save, but he confessed his confidence that the living GOD would undertake for those who put their trust in Him. The conclusion of his prayer is very beautiful and heart-moving: “Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art the Lord, even Thou only” (vs. 20). Such confidence could not go unrewarded, nor such a prayer unheard.
The answer came through another message from Isaiah, assuring him that God had heard and was about to answer his petition; and that in such a way, that “The virgin, the daughter of Zion,” should despise the haughty foe whose army had at first seemed invincible.
Rabshakeh had reproached the Lord. He had blasphemed the GOD of Judah. In his pride and folly he had lifted up himself against the Holy One of Israel. Trusting in the vastness of his army, the number of his chariots and horsemen, he had thought it would be but a small matter to conquer Jerusalem and to carry its inhabitants away as captives, but he was soon to learn the difference between the senseless idols of the heathen and the One in whom Hezekiah had put his trust (vss. 21-28). Therefore the word of the Lord came to him saying: “Because thy rage against Me, and thy tumult, is come up into Mine ears, therefore will I put My hook in thy nose, and My bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.”
To Hezekiah the promise was given that the land which had been overrun by the enemy should bring forth of itself for two seasons and in the third year should be planted and would produce an abundant harvest, while the remnant of Judah, escaped out of the hand of the Assyrian, should once more begin to prosper and “again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of Mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.”
As for the king of Assyria, he should not be permitted to enter Jerusalem, nor even shoot an arrow into it, nor threaten it again in any way. He was to return by the way that he came, for the Lord had undertaken to defend Jerusalem for His own sake and for His servant David’s sake.
The judgment was not long deferred, for GOD sent a terrible plague upon the camp of the Assyrians, so severe in character that in one night one hundred and eighty-five thousand died, and the scattered remnants of the once-great army of Sennacherib departed for their own land, led by their defeated and crestfallen ruler.
Upon reaching his home city and worshiping in the house of his god he was set upon by two of his own sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, who slew their dishonored father with the sword and escaped into Armenia. One of their brothers, Esarhaddon, became king in his father’s stead.
Thus had GOD vindicated His holy name and freed His people from the impending doom that seemed about to fall upon them.
In chapter thirty-eight we read of Hezekiah’s illness and recovery. It might have been supposed that after such a remarkable experience of GOD’s intervention on behalf of His people, in answer to prayer, Hezekiah would have been drawn so close to the Lord that he would never have doubted His love and care again, but have lived constantly in the sunshine of the divine approval. But alas, with him, as so often with us all, it was far otherwise. When new tests came doubts and fears again prevailed and only the grace of GOD could bear with His poor failing servant.
The first test came through illness. Hezekiah was “sick unto death,” we are told. The prophet
Isaiah was sent to say to him, “Thus saith the Lord, Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die and not live.”
To the stricken king these words were evil tidings indeed. He was still a comparatively young man, for he had come to the throne at the age of twenty-five, and his entire reign was but twenty-nine years, so that at this time he was but thirty-nine. Long life was one of the promises to the obedient Israelite. Therefore the announcement that he was to die ere he was forty seemed to Hezekiah like an evidence of the divine displeasure.
He received the message of the prophet with real distress and pleaded for a reprieve from the sentence imposed upon him.
In reading his prayer we need to remember that Old Testament saints, however godly they might be, did not have the light on the after-life that has now been vouchsafed to the children of GOD. Our Lord JESUS CHRIST has brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel (2Ti 1:10).
He has revealed the truth as to that which GOD has prepared for those who love Him. Having gone down unto death and come up in triumph, He has annulled him that had the power of death, even the devil, and so delivers those who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage (Heb 2:14, 15). We know now that for the believer death simply means to be absent from the body and present with the Lord (2Co 5:8), and that this is far better than any possible earthly experience (Php 1:23).
But all this was unknown in the days before the advent of our Lord JESUS CHRIST, who declared, “If a man keep My saying he shall never see death” (Joh 8:51).
Therefore when the word came to Hezekiah that he must die, his soul was filled with fear, and he cried to GOD in his wretchedness, pleading the integrity of his life as a reason why his days should be prolonged.
GOD who sometimes grants our requests but sends leanness into our souls (Psa 106:15), heard his cry and sent the prophet to him once more; this time to tell him that his prayer was heard, and that GOD would add to his life another fifteen years and would also continue to defend Jerusalem from the evil machinations of the Assyrian king.
To confirm the promise, a sign was given which involved a stupendous miracle, for GOD said, “I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun-dial of Ahaz ten degrees backward.” When this actually took place, Hezekiah knew, beyond all question, that the prophet had spoken by divine authority.
This is not the place to discuss the miracle itself. Whether it was caused by some amazing event in the planetary system, or whether it was a miracle of refraction, we need not try to decide; but the fact that the astronomers of Babylon had knowledge of it would indicate that it was something far-reaching and of grave import.
Upon his recovery, Hezekiah wrote of his exercises and described vividly the experiences he passed through when he felt that he was under sentence of death. Bitterly he complained that he was about to be deprived of the residue of his years. To leave the world seemed to him like being banished from the presence of the Lord. His days and nights were filled with grievous pain, not only of body, but of mind, as he awaited in fear the carrying out of the decree, when GOD, as he put it, would “make an end” of him. He mourned “as a dove”; his eyes failed from “looking upward.” Yet he knew that he was in the hands of the Lord, and his heart cried out to Him for help.
It is evident that as his exercises continued, his soul entered more restfully into the truth that all must be well when one is in the care of a covenant-keeping GOD. “O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt Thou recover me, and make me to live. Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.”
These precious words express his realization of the goodness and the wisdom of GOD, after health returned, for he took this as an evidence that GOD had pardoned all his sins and cast them away forever. As an unenlightened Old Testament believer, he could only think of early death as, in some sense, an expression of divine disapproval.
He could see nothing in the grave but darkness and forgetfulness. In life the Lord could be praised, not in Sheol. He wrote, of course, of conditions as he understood them; but he closed his writing with a note of praise and thanksgiving for renewed strength and added years of life.
The deliverance came in a very simple way. He had been suffering from a malignant boil, but a poultice of figs, prescribed by Isaiah, drew out the poison, and started the king on the way to recovery.
It is hardly necessary to point out that had Hezekiah died at the age of thirty-nine, Manasseh, who proved to be the most wicked king who ever sat on the throne of Judah, would never have been born, for he was but twelve years old when he began to reign (2Ch 33:1). He tried to undo everything that his father had done. Hezekiah had destroyed the altars of idolatry, had swept the land clear of idols. Manasseh brought in more forms of idolatry than were ever known before and he went to spiritists, mediums, and filled the land with those who professed to be able to talk with the dead, practices which GOD had forbidden. And he brought down the indignation of GOD upon Judah, because of the corruption and sin committed.
Yet how wonderful is the mercy of GOD; at last an old man fifty years of age and almost facing eternity, GOD brought that godless king to repentance. Manasseh broke down, confessed the sins of a long, ungodly life, undertook again to cleanse the land of its idols and tried to bring about a reformation, but it was too late to recover the people. His son Amon went right on in the sins of his father.
But in the next generation, GOD came in in wondrous grace again and raised up another son of David, King Josiah, who honored the Lord in his very youth and was the means of bringing about the great revival in Judah.
The thirty-ninth chapter tells of another failure on the part of this king who was, in the main, so devoted to the will of GOD. We read in 2Ch 32:31 concerning him, “Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that He might know all that was in his heart.”
There are few of us indeed, who could stand such a test as this. To be left alone by GOD, in order that our own hearts might be manifested, our inmost thoughts revealed, could only mean a moral or spiritual breakdown. Such was the trial to which Hezekiah was now exposed, and in which he failed through self-confidence. He acted upon his own judgment instead of turning to the Lord for guidance, and the result could only bring harm instead of blessing.
After the Lord had so graciously granted his request and raised him up from the very brink of the grave, we are told that “Merodach-Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.”
How would the King of Judah react to this apparently friendly overture from the prince of the great city which was the very fountain-head of idolatry?
When Rabshakeh sent a letter of blasphemy, Hezekiah went into the sanctuary and spread it out before the Lord; but when there came a letter and a present, he felt no need of bringing this before GOD, or seeking instruction from Him. Do we not all know something of this self-confidence when we have to do with the world, not seen as in open opposition to that which we cherish most, as of GOD, but rather when it approaches us in an apparently friendly, patronizing manner, extending the hand of friendship instead of the mailed fist of enmity? Yet we are never in greater danger of missing the mind of GOD than at such a time as this. The letter that is accompanied with a present may cover up a far greater danger than the letter of blasphemy.
Evidently elated by the visit of the Babylonian envoys and their retinue, and pleased with the present, Hezekiah felt no need to ask counsel of the Lord, but without hesitation he received the embassage, “and shewed them 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.”
This was exactly what the Chaldeans desired. No doubt, as they looked with covetous eyes on all these things, they were pondering in their hearts how best they should proceed in order that, some day, they might conquer Judah and have all this vast treasure for themselves.
Scarcely had they gone from the presence of Hezekiah before Isaiah appeared upon the scene to confront the king with two questions: “What said these men? And from whence came they unto thee?” Ingenuously Hezekiah replied, “They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.” Surely he could not have been ignorant of the prophecies Isaiah had spoken as to this reserve power in the northeast that was yet to come against Judah, and be used by the GOD whom His people had neglected, as a rod to punish them for their willful disobedience.
Isaiah put another question: “What have they seen in thy house?” The king answered: “All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.” He had no idea of the serious import of this, for he had not realized that the princes were actually spies, who had come to search out the land, and to report to the King of Babylon all that which they found.
It must have been a real shock therefore to the unsuspecting monarch, when Isaiah said, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. 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.”
All this was fulfilled years later, when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah, and carried away their chief men as captives to Babylon, including a large number who were of the blood royal, as well as those very treasures (2Ch 36:18).
One can imagine Hezekiah’s disappointment and his deep chagrin, as he heard these words of the prophet; but he could only bow his head and accept them as the revelation of the judgment of GOD. So he replied, “Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken . . . For there shall be peace and truth in my days.”
The after-history of Judah shows how, in spite of occasional revivals, things went from bad to worse, until at last “there was no remedy” (2Ch 36:16) for their evil condition, and the prophesied judgment was fulfilled in the days of Zedekiah.
One to whom so many owe so much in rightly dividing the Word of truth, J. N. Darby, aptly points out that in this first part of the book, “We have had rather the outward history of Israel, but now we have their moral or inward history in their place of testimony against idolatry, in their relationship with CHRIST and the separation of a remnant.”
That inward history was a complete failure as the next part of Isaiah’s great prophecy clearly shows.
~ end of chapter 36-39 ~
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Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Isa 38:1
I. Many have sought to realise the moment after death, and have strained imagination and faith to their utmost in the effort to pierce the veil beyond, and understand how we shall feel. The effort is not altogether in vain; for the attention of the mind will, at all events, give increased reality to the fact of the great change, and of the transit from one world into another, if it do no more. Before the intensity of that gaze one earthly thing after another will disappear, till the fact of the change stands out in all its single solemnity, and we look at it face to face, without a lingering earthly disturbance to cloud its distinctness as earthborn mists cloud the sun, and to clothe the fact with terrors not its own.
II. Why should we shrink from the thought of death, or why should it be painful to us? If there be pain, it is simply and solely because the thought is not habitual. The terror is in us, not in death. Let the thoughts habitually extend over both states, and it will be gone; the strangeness will all disappear. The mind will be in harmony with the facts; and if in some small degree the brightness of life be subdued, it will be only as the slanting shades of summer evening soften the glare, and make the landscape more beautiful than before.
E. Garbett, Experiences of the Inner Life, p. 267.
Perhaps the most awful moment of our lives is when we first feel in danger of death. All our past life then seems to be a cloud of words and shadows; one less real than another, moving and floating round about us, altogether external to the realities of the soul. Not only childhood and youth, happiness and sorrow, eager hopes and disturbing fears, but even our communion with God, our faith in things unseen, our self-knowledge, and our repentance, seem alike to be but visions of the memory. All has become stern, hard, and appalling. It is as if it were the beginning of a new existence; as if we had passed under a colder sky, and into a world where every object has a sharpness of outline almost too severe for sight to bear. Let us see what we ought to do when God warns us.
I. First, we must ask ourselves this question, Is there any one sin, great or small, of the flesh or of the spirit, that we willingly and knowingly commit? This is, in fact, the crisis of our whole spiritual life. By consent in one sin, a man is guilty of the whole principle of rebellion, of the whole idea of anarchy in God’s kingdom and in His own soul. A holy man is not a man who never sins, but who never sins willingly. A sinner is not a man who never does anything good, but who willingly does what he knows to be evil. The whole difference lies within the sphere and compass of the will.
II. We must next search and see whether there is anything in which our heart in its secret affections is at variance with the mind of God; for if so, then so far our whole being is at variance with His. We may love what God hates, as the pride of life; or hate what God loves, as crosses and humiliations.
Surely we ought to fear so long as we are conscious that our will is surrounded by a circle of desires, over which self and the world so cast their shadows as to darken the tracings of God’s image upon them.
III. A third test by which to test ourselves is the positive capacity of our spiritual being for the bliss of heaven. When St. Paul bids us to follow after “holiness, without which no man shall sec the Lord,” he surely meant something more than a negative quality. Doubtless he meant by “holiness” to express the active aspirations of a spiritual nature, thirsting for the presence of God, desiring “to depart and to be with Christ.” We must learn to live here on earth by the measures and qualities of heaven, in fellowship with saints and angels, and with the ever-blessed Trinity, before we can think to find our bliss in the kingdom of God.
IV. There are two short counsels which it may be well to add. (1) The first is, that we strive always to live so as to be akin to the state of just men made perfect. (2) The other is, that we often rehearse in life the last preparation we should make in death. Joseph made his sepulchre in his garden, in the midst of his most familiar scenes. And he had his reward, for that tomb became a pledge of his election.
H. E. Manning, Sermons, vol. iii., p. 311.
References: Isa 38:1.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 363. Isa 38:1-5.-E. M. Goulburn, Occasional Sermons, p. 403. Isa 38:9-20.-S. Cox, Expositions, 2nd series, p. 59. Isa 38:12.-R. W. Evans, Parochial Sermons, vol. iii., p. 95; W. V. Robinson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxx., p. 29.
Isa 38:14
These are some of the words which King Hezekiah wrote when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness. This is surely a good prayer for a sick man, and it is a good prayer for a healthy man too; for if we understand what sickness is, we shall find it is sent that we may learn what is good for us when we are well. A man is broken down then that he may learn his true condition at all times. He feels the burden of death then that he may know he is carrying it about with him continually. The Church today gives us a prayer which is a little longer and fuller than this sentence of Hezekiah’s, but which has the same sense in it, and will perhaps help you to see more clearly what it means. The prayer is: “Almighty God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves; Keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
I. The thought concerning God which is set before us in this collect is contained in the words, “Almighty God, who seest.” The recollection that God knoweth the very want which we are going to tell Him of is at the bottom of all prayer. It is in God’s light that we see light. It is when we believe He is looking into our hearts that we begin to know something of what is passing there. We begin to know ourselves because God knows us; and then this feeling, that He knew us before we knew ourselves, and that our knowledge comes from His knowledge, helps us to pray.
II. The collect supposes a man who has suffered trials without and temptations within, who has found that he has a poor suffering body of death with him continually; and what is worse than a body of death-a weak heart, an inconstant will, unequal to all the ten thousand dark and evil thoughts which are assailing it. It supposes him, after long striving with himself, to know how he may overcome this evil and weakness, suddenly struck with the thought, “But God knows that I have no power of myself to help myself.” He does not intend us to help ourselves; He did not send us into the world that we might learn to help ourselves, but to depend on Him. Is not this experience of our weakness and evil mercifully given us that we may throw away the vain confidence which has caused it, that we may see our own weakness even as God sees it, and that we may learn wholly to give up the keeping of ourselves to Him?
III. Our wants are (1) to be kept outwardly in our bodies; (2) to be kept inwardly in our souls. The life of the body perishes unless God preserves it; but the life of the soul perishes unless it is trusting Him to preserve it, unless it is understanding His care and love and resting in Him.
F. D. Maurice, Christmas Day and Other Sermons, p. 114.
There is such a vast disproportion between a man and some of his own feelings-between the inner and the outer life of a man-that the wonder is, not that we should sometimes feel the burden of existence, but that there should be any man who should not be always saying, “I am oppressed.”
I. There are few minds who do not look out for sympathy. It is an instinct of our nature, that we must lean somewhere. Almost all error, all superstition, all worldliness, resolves at last into the feeling that a man must lean; but he is leaning on a wrong base. It is upon this great principle in the man’s breast that the Gospel lays hold and points it to Christ. It sets Him forth as the one great Undertaker for all His people’s wants; it bids all of us come to Him with the feeling, “Undertake for me, Lord.”
II. What are Christ’s undertakings for us? (1) He has undertaken to pay all our debts: they are very great. (2) He has undertaken that we shall never be alone: “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” (3) He has undertaken that you shall never be really overcome: “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (4) He has undertaken to place you on the sunny side of everything all life through: for “He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (5) He has undertaken that you shall always have a place of refuge: “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (6) He has undertaken that death shall be to you only a name, not a reality: “He that believeth on Me shall never die.”
J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 4th series, p. 274.
References: Isa 38:14.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. xiii., p. 346; A. Watson, Sermons for Sundays, Festivals, and Fasts, 2nd series, vol. i., p. 125.
Isa 38:15
The restoration of belief.
In the especial case of “Hezekiah, belief was restored by a great shock, which brought him into contact with reality. God appeared to him-not as to Adam, in the cool of the day, but as He came to Job, in the whirlwind and the eclipse-and Hezekiah knew that he had been living in a vain show. The answer of his soul was quick and sad: “By these things men live, O Lord.” These are the blows which teach men what life really is.
I. The blow which sobered Hezekiah was a common one. It did nothing more than bring him face to face with death. The process whereby his dependence on God was restored was uncomplicated. But there are far worse shocks than this, and recovery from them into a godlike life is long and dreadful. There are things which at first seem to annihilate belief, and change an indifferent or a happy nature into earnest, even savage, bitterness. One of these is the advent of irrecoverable disease, protracted weakness, or protracted pain. God forgives our human anger then, but we speak roughly to Him at first. It is a dark anger, and may grow in intensity till faith and love are lost for this life; but it will not reach that point if we have some greatness of soul, if we are open to the touch of human love. One day the Gospel story in all its sweet simplicity attracts and softens the sufferer’s heart. He reads that Christ’s suffering in self-sacrifice brought redemption unto man. Surely, he seems to dream, this is no isolated fact. I too, in my apparent uselessness, am at one with the Great Labourer: I bear with Christ my cross for men. This is not only the restoration of belief, it is the victory of life.
II. But there are more dreadful things than long disease. There is that shipwreck which comes of dishonoured love. Many things are terrible, but none is worse than this. In some there is no remedy but death, and far beyond, the immanent tenderness of God. But there are many who recover, whom God leads out of the desert into the still garden of an evening life of peace and usefulness and even joy. Lapse of time does part of the work. In the quietude of middle life we look back upon our early misery, and only remember the love we felt. Faith is restored, hope is renewed, when like Christ you can turn and say, Father, forgive him, forgive her, for they knew not what they did.
III. There have been and are many of us who are conscious that, as we have passed into the later period of life and mingled with the world, our early faith has also passed away. We have lost belief because our past religion was borrowed too much from others. If we wish for perfection, and are not content to die and love no more, the restoration of belief may be attained by the personal labour of the soul. It is worth trying what one personal effort to bring ourselves into the relation of a child to a Father, in all the naturalness and simplicity of that relation, will do towards restoring faith and renewing life with tenderness.
S. A. Brooke, Christ in Modern Life, p. 380.
Isa 38:16
Affliction as related to life.
I. Take first the conception of life as a whole, and see how that is modified or altered by experiences like those through which Hezekiah passed. They who have had no such critical experiences in any form have never fully awakened to the difference which there is between mere existence and life. In how many instances has a serious illness, or a terrible business humiliation, or a trying domestic bereavement when the world seemed going from beneath him, and he was left alone, in the blank and solitude of things, to face eternity and God, brought a man to revise his theory of life! He has rectified the per spective of his existence, and has been led to value the now for its bearing on the hereafter; the present for its motherhood of the future.
II. But passing now to the quality of the life, we may see how that also is affected by such experiences of affliction. Such experiences develop (1) the element of strength, whether in its passive exercise as patient endurance, or in its active manifestation as persevering energy. Afflictions are to the soul what the tempering is to the iron, giving it the toughness of steel, and the endurance too, and if that be so we may surely say regarding them, “By these things men live.” (2) Unselfishness. When a man has been in the very grip of the last enemy, and has recovered, or has been within a little of losing all he had, and has escaped, you can understand how such an experience sends him out of himself. It intensifies for him the idea of life as a stewardship for God, and he sees the folly of making all the streams of his effort run into himself. Affliction of some sort seems to be requisite for the production in us of thoughtfulness for others. (3) Sympathy is born out of such experiences as those of Hezekiah. He who has passed through trial can feel most tenderly for those who are similarly afflicted. (4) Experiences like Hezekiah’s have much to do with the usefulness of a man’s life. Usefulness is not a thing which one can command at will. It is, in most cases, the result of a discipline, and is possessed by those who in a large degree are unconscious that they are exercising it. It depends fully more on what a man is than on what he does; or if it is due to what he does or says, that again is owing very much to what he is; and what he is now has been determined by the history through which he has been brought.
W. M. Taylor, Contrary Winds, p. 136.
References: Isa 38:17.-Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Ecclesiastes to Malachi, p. 231; Ibid., Sermons, vol. vi., No. 316, vol. xix., No. 1110, vol. xxiii., No. 1337.
Isa 38:18-19
Hezekiah presents to us here, in the strongest contrast, the two states of life and death.
I. Death was to him-for he lived before the day of Christ-a far darker, far drearier state than it is to us. If he had any hope of a life beyond the grave, it does not appear in his words. He probably looked upon death as the close of all,-the gate, not to an immortal life, but the entrance into a land dark and silent, where all things are forgotten. But it is this very view of death, this looking at it as the end-all of man’s short existence, which enhances to Hezekiah the value of life. Because life afforded his single field for serving God, he grudged to have it shortened. Every hour saved from that dark silence was precious to him.
II. Even in this darker view there is a lesson for our learning. Though death be not now the end of all life, it is the end of this life-the end of our day of grace-the end of that period which God gives us to see if we will serve Him or no.
III. Every life is wasted and misspent which is not led to the glory and praise of God. To lead such a life we must begin early. None are too young to work in God’s vineyard. God will not be put off with the leavings of our days. We owe Him, and He expects of us, the best that we can offer-the prime of our years, the vigour of our faculties, our life whilst it is fresh and young. “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, in which thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.”
R. D. B. Rawnsley, Sermons for the Christian Year, p. 38.
Hezekiah was, in the full sense of the word, a good king. His piety is shown (1) in his conduct with reference to idolatry; (2) in his conduct in the matter of the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib. But there are two passages in his life which show the weak side of his character. One is his parading his treasures before the ambassadors of the king of Babylon; the other is his conduct in the matter of his severe illness, which is recorded in the chapter from which the text is taken.
I. The essence of the history is this, that in the prospect of death Hezekiah’s strength of mind quite broke down. He looks upon death as a thing to be dreaded and shunned; he speaks of it in a way in which no Christian who has learned the Lord’s prayer could ever venture or even wish to speak of it. Hezekiah looked to his grave with such melancholy feelings, because he could not clearly see a life beyond it. He knew that he must serve God while life lasted; he had manifestly no express revelation beyond, and therefore he looked upon the grave with dismay.
II. If it were not for the light which Christ our Lord has thrown into the grave, we should mourn like Hezekiah, and our eyes would fail as did his. We have greater spiritual help than Hezekiah, and brighter light, and clearer grounds of hope, and it is incumbent on us to act, not like those who groped their way in the twilight of the old dispensation, but like those upon whom the brightness of the knowledge of the glory of God has shined in the face of Jesus Christ.
Bishop Harvey Goodwin, Parish Sermons, 3rd series, p. 78.
References: Isa 38:19.-J. N. Norton, Golden Truths, p. 98. Isa 38:20.-R. W. Evans, Parochial Sermons, vol. iii., p. 104.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 38
Hezekiahs Sickness and Healing
1. Isaiahs startling message (Isa 38:1) 2. Hezekiahs prayer (Isa 38:2-3) 3. The prayer heard and the sign (Isa 38:4-8) 4. The kings sorrow and joy, a psalm of praise (Isa 38:9-20) 5. The remedy for the recovery (Isa 38:21-22)The message of approaching death startled the king because at that time he had no son. If he had died what then would have become of the Messianic hope through the house of David? Beautiful it is to hear the Lord say through Isaiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David, thy father. Before that Isaiah gave him the message For I will defend this city to save it for Mine own sake and for My servant Davids sake.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
am 3291, bc 718
was Hezekiah: 2Ki 20:1-11, 2Ch 32:24, Joh 11:1-5, Act 9:37, Phi 2:27-30
And Isaiah: Isa 37:21, Isa 39:3, Isa 39:4
Set thine house in order: Heb. Give charge concerning thy house, 2Sa 17:23, Ecc 9:10
for thou: Jer 18:7-10, Jon 3:4, Jon 3:10
Reciprocal: Gen 27:2 – I know not Gen 42:2 – that we Deu 31:14 – that thou must die 2Sa 12:22 – I fasted 2Ki 15:37 – In those days Psa 116:4 – called Ecc 3:2 – and a time Isa 38:10 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 38:1-8. In those days was Hezekiah sick See notes on 2Ki 20:1-11.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 38:1. Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live. This burden of the Lord placed the prophet in a critical situation. God saw that nothing milder than this harsh and tremendous stroke would bring the royal mind to recollection, and elicit those fine sentiments of repentance which follow in the subsequent psalm. But the prophets life would also have been in danger, had it not been for the recession of the solar shadow on the dial of Ahaz, having as a false prophet terrified and deceived his sovereign, and given a falsehood to the nation.
Isa 38:2. Towards the wall. Either to hide his tears, or rather to look towards the temple.
Isa 38:6. I will deliver thee out of the hand of the king of Assyria. Of course, this sickness was presently after the Assyrians had fled.
Isa 38:8. The sun returned ten degrees on the dial of Ahaz. The Chaldaic reads ten hours, but nearly all the Versions ten steps; and though we are ignorant of the construction of this dial, it was no doubt correct, its gnomen or stile indicating on the steps of the palace the time or hours of the day. The ancients divided the day and the night into four parts, as we learn from Mat 20:3-6; calling them the third, the sixth, and the ninth hour; they therefore had dials by which time was measured. All authors agree that dials were invented by the Chaldeans, yet they must in some form or other have been coval with the labours of man, Job 7:2. The dials of Greece and of India, are all found standing on pedestals, or are of mural structure. Though Jerome represents the dial of Ahaz as placed on a staircase, it is thought to have been otherwise constructed. Be the form what it might, the gnomen was parallel with the poles of the earth. The lines marked on the plane are what the text calls degrees; but whether those lines were three to the hour, as in India, or four as with us, we have no certainty.
How was this retrogation of the solar shadow on the dial effected? Our rational theologians say, by a deflection of the suns shadow. That might indeed have convinced the priests in the temple; but how could it convince the people that Isaiah was a true prophet? The phenomenon seems to have been observed in Chaldea, as well as in Judea, which induced the king of Babylon to send an embassy to congratulate Hezekiah on his recovery. The event was also registered at Heliopolis in Egypt, where all the people were called astronomers. The priests assured Herodotus that from the time of their first king, to the destruction of Sennacheribs army, the sun had four times changed from east to west; that he had risen twice where he now sets, and that he had twice set where we see him daily rise.Euterpe, chap. 142. It is also added, that no change had been produced by these phenomena, on the Nile, on the nation, or the affairs of Egypt.
Had it not been for this stupendous miracle, the recession of the suns shadow, Isaiah would have been denounced as a false prophet, who had presumptuously afflicted both the king and the people; but providence took care to seal the divine prediction. And it is surely some help to our faith, to see the facts of sacred history confirmed by pagan testimony; nor does it appear that any reputable author has denied the correctness of the above statement, though some have smiled at the Egyptian chronology in dating back eleven thousand years. See also the note on Joshua 10.
Isa 38:10. In the cutting off of my days, being then in his fortieth year. The word is used of weavers, who cut off one piece, and then proceed to work the rest of their warp or chain, as is repeated in Isa 38:12. It would also have been the cutting off of his house, Manasseh not being born till the third year after the kings sickness.
Isa 38:11. I shall not see the Lord. I shall not go and thank him in his temple for my recovery, and praise him for the victory over the Assyrians by enjoying its fruits. Many think that this sickness happened while Sennacherib was fighting in Egypt.
Isa 38:17. Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. A phrase of the same import occurs in the Wisdom of Solomon, 11:23. Thou lookest another way, and beholdest not the sins of men that they may repent. sop has given us a fable of a Greek, who put all his own faults in one end of a wallet, and his neighbours in the other. Unluckily, he threw the end with his own faults behind his back, and carried his neighbours before.
REFLECTIONS.
Hezekiah reformed his kingdom of idolatry, and restored the worship of the Lord, but he purged not his heart from vanity. He walked with God with so perfect a heart that he spared not the brazen serpent when it became an occasion of sin; and yet he retained certain idols in his own breast. After the destruction of the Assyrians, he proudly placed their armour in the arsenals of David, and displayed the banners of nations, not taken by his own sword, in the sanctuary of God. The wealth and spoil he put in his treasuries, which were considerably augmented by the gifts of kings and ambassadors who crowded his court and temple. Thus his favours were great, and high above all the kings of the earth; but he rendered not again unto the Lord. He did not possess the excellent spirit of his Sire, who said, What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits? Hence we learn a most instructive lesson, that when God has raised a man from poverty and affliction, and loaded him with prosperity, to be forgetful, and less pious, is highly provoking in his sight.
We may also remark, that such is the proneness of human nature to vanity as to render it necessary for the Lord greatly to try those whom he greatly honours. Thus it was with the patriarchs, with the prophets, and with the apostles; and so it must ever be in the wise administration of providence.
Hezekiah was smitten with a mortal sickness in the midst of his years, when he was a father to the church and the joy of his kingdom. So it daily happens that many good men, in the prime of life, and at the crisis of their greatest usefulness to their families and the public, are arrested by affliction and death. The Lord it may be sees some dangerous snares before them, and death is infinitely preferable to sin. And if not, the bringing of a mans heart and affections home to heaven, is more than any temporal services he can do in health.
When Isaiah approached his afflicted sovereign it was not to comfort, but to sanctify his soul. He was commissioned to say, Set thy house in order; set thy heart and thy kingdom in order, for thou shalt die, and not live. Oh, language is not able to describe the situation of a careless professor, when he is suddenly seized with affliction, and brought to the gates of eternity, and without any evidence of his adoption; but on the contrary, a heart which reproaches him for hoarding up wealth, while his soul was barren, cold, and poor. He has made a hard struggle to excel his neighbours in riches, but has lost sight, too much lost sight, of the unfading crown of life and glory. Ministers ought not, like Drelincourt, to comfort these men against the fears of death till they have first sanctified them. In their prosperity they have not rendered again unto the Lord, by kindness to the poor, and adequate support of the christian ministry, but have wasted much in household establishments, and tours of pleasure. They have encreased in the spirit of the world, instead of encreasing in piety and the fear of the Lord. Providence therefore is obliged to sanctify them with the rod.
Hezekiah raised from death in answer to prayer, very piously committed his sentiments to writing, that he might not again forget, as he had partially done with regard to the Assyrians. He blames himself for despairing, though his affliction was very heavy. He paints all the scenes of his suffering in delicate sentiments, that he might repeat them in devotional songs. He particularly thanks God for healing his soul, as well as his body, by removing the bitterness of his mind and refusing to look at his sins, implied in casting them behind his back. His sentiments also are finely marked, in regard to his future good intention. The dead cannot praise the Lord in his earthly temple, therefore the living shall praise thee; and this vow he faithfully performed.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isaiah 36-39. This section has been extracted from 2Ki 18:13 to 2Ki 20:19, and the Song of Hezekiah has been added. For an exposition see the notes on 2 K.; here we have simply to deal with the Song of Hezekiah.
Isa 38:10-20. Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Imminent Death.This is now generally regarded as a post-exilic psalm. Its absence in the parallel narratine in Kings is significant. Apparently it was inserted here by an editor who thought it suitable to Hezekiahs circumstances. If, as seems likely, it has been influenced by the Book of Job, it must be post-exilic. The title cannot, any more than the Psalm titles, weigh against internal evidence.
Hezekiahs writing after his recovery from sickness. I thought that when I had reached the zenith of my life I should be banished to Sheol, where I should have fellowship with Yahweh no longer, nor yet with my fellow-men. My habitation (mg.) is torn from the soil. I have rolled up my life as a weaver rolls up his web when it is finished; He will cut me off from the thrum (mg.), day and night Thou deliverest me to my pain. I cried out until morning, my bones broken with torment. I twittered like a swallow, moaned like a dove; my failing eyes looked up with appeal to Yahweh, that He would be my surety. What shall I say to Him? It is He who has done it. I toss all the time I am sleeping, because of the bitterness of my soul. Lord, for this my heart waits on Thee. Quicken me and restore me to health. Affliction was bitter, but it has been for my peace. Thou hast kept back my soul from the pit, and utterly forgotten all my sins. For in Sheol there can be no praise of Yahweh. Those who descend to the pit cannot hope for His faithfulness. Only the living can praise God. the father can declare to his children Yahwehs faithfulness. Here the song closes. Isa 38:20 seems to be an addition fitting it for use in the Temple.
Isa 38:10. noontide: lit. stillness. The metaphor is of the sun having risen to its height and pausing before it descends.
Isa 38:12. loom: better thrum (mg.), i.e. the threads that fasten the web to the loom.From day . . . of me: better day and night thou didst deliver me up.
Isa 38:13. quieted myself: better cried.
Isa 38:14 c. He is like a debtor who is being taken to prison; he appeals to Yahweh, to the creditor Himself, to become his surety (Job 17:3).
Isa 38:15. Very difficult. Duhms restoration, adopted above, gives the probable sense.
Isa 38:16. Duhms emendations of the obscure text are adopted above
Isa 38:18 f.Observe the characteristic Hebrew conception of Sheol.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
38:1 In those {a} days was Hezekiah sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thy house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.
(a) Soon after that the Assyrians were slain: so that God will have the exercise of his children continually, that they may learn only to depend on God and aspire to the heavens.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Hezekiah’s illness 38:1-8
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The phrase "In those days" evidently identifies the event in Hezekiah’s reign just referred to in chapters 36 and 37, namely: the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib (cf. Isa 39:1). Isa 38:6 clarifies that Hezekiah became mortally ill before God delivered Jerusalem from Sennacherib. Consequently the events of chapters 38 and 39 must predate those of chapters 36 and 37. Since the Lord added 15 years to Hezekiah’s life (Isa 38:5), and since Hezekiah died about 686 B.C., [Note: Thiele, A Chronology . . ., p. 75.] the time when he became mortally ill was evidently early in 701 B.C.
The formal introduction of the prophet signals a new section of the book. Isaiah visited the king with a message from the Lord-to set his domestic affairs in order, because he would not recover from his illness but die (cf. 2Sa 17:23; 1Ki 2:1-9). Sometimes what God announced through His prophets seemed inevitable, but when His people prayed it became negotiable (cf. Gen 32:26; Exo 32:7-14; Jas 4:2).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
-25
BOOK 4
JERUSALEM AND SENNACHERIB
701 B.C.
INTO this fourth book we put all the rest of the prophecies of the Book of Isaiah, that have to do with the prophets own time: chapters 1, 22 and 33, with the narrative in 36, 37. All these refer to the only Assyrian invasion of Judah and siege of Jerusalem: that undertaken by Sennacherib in 701.
It is, however, right to remember once more, that many authorities maintain that there were two Assyrian invasions of Judah-one by Sargon in 711, the other by Sennacherib in 701-and that chapters 1 and 22 (as well as Isa 10:5-34) belong to the former of these. The theory is ingenious and tempting; but, in the silence of the Assyrian annals about any invasion of Judah by Sargon, it is impossible to adopt it. And although Chapters 1 and 22 differ very greatly in tone from chapter 33, yet to account for the difference it is not necessary to suppose two different invasions, with a considerable period between them. Virtually, as will appear in the course of our exposition, Sennacheribs invasion of Judah was a double one.
1. The first time Sennacheribs army invaded Judah they took all the fenced cities, and probably invested Jerusalem, but withdrew on payment of tribute and the surrender of the casus belli, the Assyrian Vassal Padi, whom the Ekronites had deposed and given over to the keeping of Hezekiah. To this invasion refer Isa 1:1-31; Isa 22:1-25. and the first verse of 36.: “Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib, King of Assyria, came up against all the fenced cities of Judah and took them.” This verse is the same as 2Ki 18:13, to which, however, there is added in 2Ki 18:14-16 an account of the tribute sent by Hezekiah to Sennacherib at Lachish, that is not included in the narrative in Isaiah. Compare 2Ch 32:1.
2. But scarcely had the tribute been paid when Sennacherib, himself advancing to meet Egypt, sent back upon Jerusalem a second army of investment, with which was the Rabshakeh; and this was the army that so mysteriously disappeared from the eyes of the besieged. To the treacherous return of the Assyrians and the sudden deliverance of Jerusalem from their grasp refer Isa 33:1-24, Isa 36:2-22, with the fuller and evidently original narrative in 2Ki 18:17-19. Compare 2Ch 32:9-23.
To the history of this double attempt upon Jerusalem in 701-chapters 36 and 37 – there has been appended in 38 and 3 an account of Hezekiahs illness and of an embassy to him from Babylon. These events probably happened some years before Sennacheribs invasion. But it will be most convenient for us to take them in the order in which they stand in the canon. They wilt naturally lead us up to a question that it is necessary we should discuss before taking leave of Isaiah-whether this great prophet of the endurance of the kingdom of God upon earth had any gospel for the individual who dropped away from it into death.