The King, his diary, and the lion who broke his bones
Hezekiah was a good leader. The King had a strong economic and spiritual legacy during the 29 years he reigned over the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin. But here in chapter thirty-eight, we read of his reaction to some surprising news.
You’re going to die. Get ready to meet God. It’s been nice knowing you. This stunning news came to him from a good friend and a trustworthy one at that. Isaiah, his spiritual counselor was the messenger.
This chapter is very personal. Some of it reads as if it were taken directly from the King’s diary. It reads from a first-person point-of-view. We hear his own thoughts and see how he reacted and felt when the news came.
It’s not every day that we hear the news we are going to die. How would you or I handle that? We get to see first-hand how King Hezekiah handled it.
With permission from the king, let’s take a look at his personal diary.
Isaiah 38:1
“In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. 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, you shall not recover.”
There is a debate among scholars regarding the date of this chapter and the one that follows. Here are some links you may want to explore to see arguments on both sides. Here there and another.
Whatever the date or timing may be, we do learn some important things in this chapter. King Hezekiah was very sick. Isaiah predicted he would die. The king recovered to live another fifteen years. His total reign was 29 years and it was in his fourteenth year that Sennacherib invaded. We see that in chapter 36.
The prophet was so sure the king would die he essentially told him to get ready for it. “Set your house in order, for you shall die.” The King’s reaction to this somber message is interesting. The king had reached a high level of success. He was a good leader and one of the best kings in Judah’s history. But, he wasn’t at all happy to get this fatal notice from his trusted spiritual adviser. We will see in the following verses, how petty he gets in his response to the bad news. We can all learn from his reaction.
Did God’s prophet lie?
Isaiah used prophetic language when he said: “Thus says the Lord.” But, the king didn’t die so was the prophet or the Lord wrong? Neither of them was wrong. We see something similar in the story of Jonah. The Lord said the city of Ninevah would be destroyed in 40 days. But they repented so they were given more time. This is a parallel story because, like the people of Ninevah, King Hezekiah repented and thus was given more time.
Isaiah 38:2 King Hezekiah prayed to the Lord
“Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD.”
His first reaction to the bad news is a great one. It reveals his character as a godly man. He believed in and trusted God. But as we will see, he was also very human. He didn’t take the news well and began to complain as he continued to dwell on the fact that death would soon arrive.
Isaiah 38:3 The King asks why me Lord?
“And said, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.”
So, if his first response was to turn to the Lord, his second was to make a familiar complaint. “Why me?” The king began to argue that the Lord was making a mistake in taking his life so soon. “Don’t you remember how good I have been?” This was his cry to God. Then he made a bold claim, saying his heart was pure. Early death was an unfair reward for the good life he lived. But, life isn’t fair is it?
Isaiah 38:4 The Lord speaks
“Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah.”
Then some good news arrived but it went first to Isaiah. God had a message for the dying king.
Isaiah 38:5 God gives a life extension plan
“Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.”
King Hezekiah had trouble adjusting to the news of his death. The Lord saw his repentant heart and decided to make a change in the plans. But, was it really a change of plans? We’ll never know but my hunch is that it wasn’t. Of course, the God who knows the beginning and end of everything knew the king would make a “big stink” about dying.
God wasn’t caught by surprise and then came up with another plan. Can God extend a person’s life? Of course, but in this case, I believe this was in the plan all along. So God gave the king fifteen more years to get some more great stuff done. Did he use that time wisely? Do we use our time wisely?
Isaiah 38:6 God will defend the city
“I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria and will defend this city.”
God promised to defend the king’s city and the center of Jewish worship. He gave his word that he would drive away the Assyrian forces that threatened them. That’s exactly what happened.
Isaiah 38:7 The Lord will give you a sign
“This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he has promised.”
The Lord said he would give the king a sign, in order to erase any doubt that he would do as he promised. This is an interesting part of this story. To this point, we don’t read that the king asked for a sign. But God makes a shocking offer to confirm with the king that he would keep his promise.
Isaiah 38:8 God backed up the sun
“Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.”
When one can create everything from nothing, as God can, this amazing little miracle is probably fairly easy. It boggles my mind though. It’s one thing to stop the sun, but quite another to send it back in time. Einstein would have trouble explaining that one.
Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees,… Or lines made on a dial plate, to show the progress of the sun, and what time of day it was. Some think only the shadow was brought back by the power of God, the sun keeping its course as usual; but in the next clause the sun is expressly said to return ten degrees: besides, it is not easy to conceive how the shadow of the sun should go back, unless the sun itself did; if it had been only the shadow of it on Ahaz’s dial, it would not have fallen under the notice of other nations, or have been the subject of their inquiry, as it was of the Babylonians, 2 Chronicles 32:31,
Isaiah 38:9 The Diary of a King
“A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness.”
The king began to document this unusual phase of his life. He’d been given an extra fifteen years. The miracle involving the sun was spectacular, but after that, he may have been looking for fifteen years worth of spectacular. As we move further along in the story, we find there is a good reason to believe the king may have been better off dead. We’ll get to that.
Isaiah 38:10 The king becomes a drama queen
“I said, In the middle of my days I must depart; I am consigned to the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years.”
The king went overboard in his dramatic depiction of his situation. He had already lived about thirty-nine years judging by the biblical records. He wasn’t in the prime of his life, but he wasn’t ready to die. Sheol was a familiar name to the Jewish people. It was and still is, the place where the dead go. We call it Hell. The drama queen Hezekiah seemed miffed that he would be “consigned” to such a place.
Isaiah 38:11 The King didn’t want to be dead.
“I said, I shall not see the LORD, the LORD in the land of the living; I shall look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world.”
The king was very well-versed in the Jewish teaching about Sheol. When he left the land of the living he could be there for a very long time. He wouldn’t expect to see the Lord or any person for that matter. He didn’t look forward to going to the dark place of the dead. The king had reached a very high level in life, he didn’t want to go to the place of the dead where everyone was equal in their shared misery.
Isaiah 38:12 The King wanted more from life
“My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent. Like a weaver, I have rolled up my life. He cuts me off from the loom, from day to night you bring me to an end.”
In these words in the king’s diary, we see a small picture of the culture of his day. Of Course, we are familiar with flocks of sheep and shepherds. But some things we aren’t familiar with are the weaver and the loom. I’ve posted a picture below of an older-style weaver and loom. These were used to weave threads together to make cloth. He paints a picture of the shepherd or the cloth-maker abruptly ending his work, folding up the tent or cloth, and going home.
But the king wasn’t ready to fold things up. He wanted more out of his life.
Isaiah 38:13 The Lion broke the bones of the King
“I calmed myself until morning. Like a lion, he breaks all my bones; from day to night you bring me to an end.”
The king remembered back to when he first heard the news. “You’re going to die.” He tried to calm himself after he went through his drama Queen phase. He decided to wait until the next morning. As he did that, he likened the Lord to a lion that was breaking his bones. I guess the drama Queen had awakened from her nap. I’m being hard on the good king but he didn’t seem to take things very well.
Isaiah 38:14 The king kept looking up
“Like a swallow or a crane I chirp; I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety!”
The King, as he complains, does one thing right. He kept looking up to the Lord. We’re made of the same flesh as everyone else. We’re going to complain about life’s troubles. Sometimes we play the drama queen. But if we can keep looking up to the Lord for help, we’re on the right track.
Isaiah 38:15 He walked in the bitterness of soul
“What shall I say? For he has spoken to me, and he himself has done it. I walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.”
He continued to moan about how the terrible news. But the more amazing news was that God chose to extend his life. The King should have written more about how he felt when he received that news. But he’s just like us. He leads with the bad news.
Isaiah 38:16 O’ Lord, make me live.
“O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these is the life of my spirit. Oh restore me to health and make me live!”
Now we begin to see the words Hezekiah must have uttered after many days of wallowing in self-pity. Again, we read these stories and hopefully learn something about ourselves. Hezekiah complained and sulked for a while and then he finally came around to sincerely asking the Lord for an extension of his life.
Isaiah 38:17 The king was brought back from the pit
“Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love, you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.”
Here, the king explains why he played the drama queen. It was for his welfare, his own benefit. Maybe we’re not a king or a queen but we can relate to Hezekiah’s emotions. He cried and complained because he thought he could do so much more if he had more time to live. When his wish was granted he recognized it was the love of God that brought him back from the pit of destruction.
Isaiah 38:18 The dead don’t sing praises
“For Sheol does not thank you; death does not praise you; those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness.”
Those in Sheol, don’t offer any thanks to God. They don’t sing praises to the Lord. At least that’s what we all assume. The king was ready to burst out with singing since he would have another fifteen years added to his life. Sheol would have to wait a little longer.
Isaiah 38:19 Good fathers teach their children
“The living, the living, he thanks you, as I do this day. The father makes known to the children your faithfulness.”
It’s in the land of the living where the people praise God. And the fathers instruct their children about the loving ways of God. Springtime had arrived for the King. He felt a new birth, and it made him think about the fathers who were wise enough to instruct their children with the stories found in God’s Word.
We might even teach our kids about The King who once was a drama Queen.
Isaiah 38:20 “The Lord will save me,” said the king
“The LORD will save me, and we will play my music on stringed instruments all the days of our lives, at the house of the LORD.”
It was time to rejoice, the Lord had decided to save him. He would plan a party with lots of good, happy music.
Isaiah 38:21 God can even use figs
“Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.”
This seems like an afterthought, but it’s another good picture of the biblical culture. We read in the New Testament about Jesus putting mud in a blind man’s eyes and the man is healed. Here, it’s not mud but a paste of figs applied to a boil that begins the healing process. In the end, it’s always the Lord who heals. Even if it’s cancer or a deadly boil. God knows the time of our birth and death. Whether it’s Jesus with mud or Isaiah recommending a fig patch, it is always the Lord who does the healing. And when the time comes for us to depart this land of the living…we should be careful that we are ready to cross over to the other side.
Just in case you aren’t sure you’re ready, read this here.
Isaiah 38:22 Give me a sign Lord
“Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?”
Now the king is asking for a sign, does this indicate the story is out of order? Many times we see this in scripture. It helps us see why we need to capture the full context of a passage.
We saw in one of the earlier verses that God offered to give him a sign. Now we see, in this last verse, that the King is asking for that sign.
The story of the King continues in the next verse. In that chapter, we come to the part in which we see the king might have been better off dead instead of getting those extra fifteen years.
Learn what the early Church Father’s believed about the Antichrist.
Let me know what you think.