THE LORD – OUR RESTORER!
Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 20:1-11 Amplified Bible (AMP)
Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery
In those days [when Sennacherib first invaded Judah] Hezekiah became deathly ill. The prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not recover.'”. Then Hezekiah turned His face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, “Please, O Lord, remember now [with compassion] how I have walked before You in faithfulness and truth and with a whole heart [entirely devoted to You], and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle courtyard, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Go back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father (ancestor): “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. Behold, I am healing you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life and save you and this city [Jerusalem} from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will protect this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”” Then Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And they brought it and placed it on the [painful] inflammation, and he recovered.”
Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will [completely] heal me,and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” Isaiah said, “This will be the sign to you from the Lord, that He will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow [indicating the time of day] go forward ten steps, or go backward ten steps?” Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to go forward ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps.” So Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and He brought the shadow on the steps ten steps backward by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.
1. THE NATURE OF LIFE IS UNPREDICTABLE
– Hezekiah was a good man.
– He was one of the greatest kings that Judah had had.
– He had achieved great things.
– He was someone who was ready to turn to God for help.
– God had blessed him to an unimaginable degree.
– He was exceedingly wealthy and blessed with much wealth and riches.
– He was living his life the best he knew how.
– But one day things changed.
– 2 Kings 20:1 ‘In those days [when Sennacherib first invaded Judah] Hezekiah became deathly ill.’
– In ‘those days’ when everything was going so well, things changed.
– And it did not come at a good time, because Judah was being invaded.
– At the very moment he needed to be strong for the nation, things change in his personal situation and a deathly illness strikes.
– It is in the very nature of the lives we live for things to change.
– Life is unpredictable, but God is good.
– Life is unpredictable, but God can be depended on.
– Life is unpredictable, but the Lord is our restorer.
– Life is unpredictable, but God is always faithful!
2. KEEP YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER
– In the midst of all of this the prophet arrives and gives him the worst possible news and the best possible advice.
– 2 Kings 20:1 The prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came and said to him, Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not recover.’
– This was truly dreadful news.
– In those days the words of the prophet were direct words from God Himself.
– The prophet spoke with authority and said: ‘Thus says the Lord!’
– He then gives him this terrible news, ‘for you shall die and not recover.’
– At the same time he gives him the best advice under the circumstances, ‘Set your house in order’.
– Perhaps there was something that was not in order? We don’t really get much information, but the instruction was given.
– The best thing we can do is to ensure that we ‘keep our house in order’.
– I want to encourage you to keep your house in order.
– Don’t say, ‘I will get things in order at some later stage’. You may not get the opportunity that Hezekiah got.
– Live a righteous life, do the right thing, and stay on the straight and narrow, live a life that honours God every day.
3. THE VITAL COMPONENT OF PRAYER CHANGES THINGS
– In this difficult situation Hezekiah turns to God.
– When we face difficult situations, the best thing that we can do is to turn to God.
– 2 Kings 20:2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord.
– Hezekiah obviously had a personal relationship with God.
– Hezekiah realized that he needed Divine intervention, he needed a miracle.
– When we need a miracle in our lives or situations, we should turn to the Lord.
– It’s an interesting note that was added to say that he turned his face to the wall.
– He looked away from anything else that may have been a source of hope.
– Perhaps, because he was so sick he could not go to a private place and in this way sought some privacy.
– It reminds me of what Jesus said: ‘But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.’ (Matthew 6:6)
– This is the prayer that he prayed:
– 2 Kings 20:3a “Please, O Lord, remember now [with compassion] how I have walked before You in faithfulness and truth and with a whole heart [entirely devoted to You], and have done what is good in Your sight.”
– It’s a very interesting prayer. At face value it could appear to be self-righteous but it was anything but that.
– He basically said: ‘Lord I’ve tried to do the right thing and live in a way that pleases You. Please remember me now with compassion.’
– He prayed for himself. Often we think others must pray for us and this is good, but we can pray for ourselves and our own situations, knowing that God hears those prayers too.
– 2 Kings 20:3b And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
– Sometimes it’s not the length of the prayers that matter, but rather the weight of the prayers.
4. GOD CAN TURN ANY SITUATION AROUND
– Hezekiah was faced with an impossible situation.
– He had been given a death sentence and what was worse was that he had not had children and as such had no heir to take over the kingdom.
– He realized the magnitude of the situation that he and the nation faced.
– The nation was being attacked and the king was deathly sick and there was no heir.
– This is the worst possible position for a king to be in.
– BUT he had prayed and wept to God.
– In the midst of all of this God intervenes.
– 2 Kings 20:4-5 Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle courtyard, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Go back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father (ancestor): “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I am healing you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.”
– The prophet was on route out of the place and half way across the courtyard and the Lord changes everything and sends him back with the best news ever.
– Never underestimate your calling and prayers to God.
– The prophet must have been confused.
– It is almost as if the prayers of Hezekiah changed the mind of God.
– Hezekiah was a descendant of David.
– This was a very important fact!
– Then God promises to turn both his health and situation and the nation’s situation around.
– 2 Kings 20:6 ‘I will add fifteen years to your life and save you and this city [Jerusalem] from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will protect this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’
– Here we notice the Lord says: ‘for my servant David’s sake.’
– Years before God had made promises to David and so He was not only healing a man and saving a nation, He was also being faithful to the promises He had made to those who had gone before.
5. DO THE POSSIBLE AND LEAVE THE IMPOSSIBLE TO GOD
– Sometimes we may think that we must just leave everything to God.
– It is true that we should leave things in His hands, but I believe that we should also do what is in our power to do and especially if He tells us we need to do something.
– 2 Kings 20:7 Then Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And they brought it and placed it on the [painful] inflammation, and he recovered.”
– Why figs and why such a strange instruction?
– Was this just the prophet Isaiah’s instruction, or was it part of the instructions from God?
– Do figs have some special healing quality that humanity knows nothing about?
– We do not know!
– What we know is that this instruction was given and they did their part in doing this simple thing.
– They obeyed and followed this strange, yet simple instruction.
– From the scripture it appears that this brought relief from the acute suffering that the king was facing and it was instant.
– But the king knew he needed to be completely cured.
– 2 Kings 20:8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will [completely] heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?”
– He had done the possible and seen the start of the miracle and was wanting reassurance that the healing would be complete.
– Then God offers him a phenomenal sign.
– 2 Kings 20:9 Isaiah said, “This will be the sign to you from the Lord, that He will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow [indicating the time of day] go forward ten steps or go backward ten steps?”
6. GOD CAN TURN BACK THE CLOCK FOR YOU
– The Lord gives Hezekiah a choice.
– 2 Kings 20:10 Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to go forward ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backwards ten steps.”
– His choice was interesting.
– He wanted every doubt to be removed and so he asked that the sun would ‘move backwards’ as this was more unlikely than having the sun move forward as it would do naturally.
– In a moment God did a great miracle and turned back the clock.
– 2 Kings 20:11 ‘So Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and He brought the shadow on the steps ten steps backward by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.’
– What a wonderful thought that God would turn back the clock just as a sign of His promise to Hezekiah.
– It was a sign that He would turn back the situation the king was facing in his health and turn back the attack that the nation was facing.
– God can turn back the clock in your situation.
– Perhaps you have things you look back on and wish you could just have the time over or turn back the clock.
– God is a clock turning back God.
– He can turn back the clock on the shadow of lost opportunities.
– He can turn back the clock on the shadow of mistakes we have made.
– He can turn back the clock on the shadow of wasted time.
– He can turn back the clock on the shadow of happier days.
– He can turn back the clock on the shadow of lost love ones – for one day we shall see them again if they too have followed God.
– Joel 2:25 ‘And I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, and the consuming locust, and the cutting locust, my great army which I sent among you.’
7. THE LORD IS YOUR RESTORER!
– God knew exactly what He was doing.
– He was restoring a man’s life and saving a nation, but He was also fulfilling His great plan for humanity.
– You see Hezekiah was in the blood line of David and out of David would one day come the Messiah, Jesus.
– Had Hezekiah died without an heir the linage would have been broken.
– The Lord was making sure that His eternal plan was being fulfilled.
– Hezekiah’s son was Manasseh and he was not a good king and did many bad things and some have ventured to ask if Hezekiah’s prayer would not have been better unanswered.
– But God knew that there was a bigger plan and so He stepped into the situation and restored it so that His promise to David and His plan for humanity would come to pass.
– In the same way the Lord is your restorer and He knows the bigger plan and wants to restore you so that His plans and purposes will prevail in and through your life.
– The Lord is our restorer!
– He moved heaven and earth to reassure Hezekiah and to bring about His plans.
– He will move heaven and earth to be faithful to you and bring you to His place for you.
– So lift up your eyes, to the One from whom your help comes.
– He is your restorer and He is more faithful than the rising sun.
By: Andrew W Roebert
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