II Kings 20, Healing and Hubris

Hezekiah has survived the threats from Assyria. We now have two stories from Hezekiah's reign.

2 Kings 20: 1-3, At the point of death

In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, "This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover."

Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, "Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Isaiah has bad news for Hezekiah.  Hezekiah turns his face to the wall and prays, weeping as he does so. His prayer is reminiscent of some psalms of David -- a desperate cry (eg Psalm 6), with a reminder of his past devotion (eg Psalm 26.)

2 Kings 20: 4-6, YHWH answers 

Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, `This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD. I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.'"

 

YHWH answers Hezekiah's prayer and says he will add fifteen years to his life. The answer comes to Isaiah in a specific location, "before he had left the middle court" of the palace. YHWH will not only give Hezekiah fifteen more years of life but will defend Jerusalem, for two reasons: for the glorification of YHWH Himself, and also for the kingdom of David.

2 Kings 20: 7, A poultice of figs

Then Isaiah said, "Prepare a poultice of figs." They did so and applied it to the boil, and he recovered.

A physical remedy is prepared; a paste of crush figs is applied to a "boil". The illness is unclear; Hubbard says the physical remedy may have drawn out an infection.

2 Kings 20: 8-11, Back ten steps

Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, "What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the LORD on the third day from now?"

Isaiah answered, "This is the LORD's sign to you that the LORD will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?"

"It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps," said Hezekiah. "Rather, have it go back ten steps."
 

Then the prophet Isaiah called upon the LORD, and the LORD made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.
 

In a miracle reminiscent of the sun standing still in Joshua 10. The shadow of the sun, possibly on a stairwell, will go back ten steps, in the opposite direction that the shadow typically moves.

The healing of Hezekiah is mentioned briefly in 2 Chronicles 34: 24-26. It is described in greater depth in Isaiah 38, which includes a psalm of thanksgiving by Hezekiah.

2 Kings 20: 12-13, Envoys from Babylon

At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of Hezekiah's illness.
 

Hezekiah received the messengers and showed them all that was in his storehouses--the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine oil--his armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.

Hezekiah brings envoys from Bablylon into the treasury. This is a mistake, built on optimism and naivete. 

2 Kings 20: 14-19, "What did they see?"

Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, "What did those men say, and where did they come from?" 

"From a distant land," Hezekiah replied. "They came from Babylon."
 

The prophet asked, "What did they see in your palace?" 

"They saw everything in my palace," Hezekiah said. "There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them."

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, that will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."

"The word of the LORD you have spoken is good,"  Hezekiah replied. For he thought, "Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?"

Isaiah interrogates Hezekiah over his action with the foreigners. He chastises Hezekiah for this foolish display of wealth and says that a time will come when Babylon remembers this and comes back to take it.  Hezekiah seems somewhat unperturbed by this for he has been promised that this will not occur in his lifetime. (Not a good viewpoint for a king!)

2 Kings 20: 21-22, Hezekiah rests

As for the other events of Hezekiah's reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

Hezekiah rested with his fathers. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king.

The long reign of Hezekiah is over.  The visit by the envoys of Babylon is also described in Isaiah 39.

Mentioned only briefly is a water tunnel Hezekiah made to bring water into the city, apparently in prepartion for the seige of Sennacherib. That engineering project, sometimes called the the Siloam Tunnel is described a little more in 2 Chronicles 32: 30. One can visit the Siloam tunnel today.