Roger Lewis – The Crisis of Hezekiah – Class 3 – The Sickness and The Shadow

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Brothers and sisters, we are
ready to begin our third class.

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Our speaker is Brother Roger
Lewis.

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The theme for Brother Roger’s
classes this week is The Crisis

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of Hezekiah.
Today’s class is entitled The

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Sickness and the Shadow.
Brother Roger.

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Well, thank you, brother
Chairman, and good morning, my

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dear brothers and sisters in our
Lord Jesus Christ.

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In our last study.
Then you might remember that we

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left Hezekiah lifted up with
confidence in Yahweh’s answer

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about the letter to Sennacherib,
that God had promised Hezekiah

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that he himself from heaven on
high was in complete control,

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that he would protect Jerusalem,
that he would remove the

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Assyrian from the land.
And you can imagine how thankful

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Hezekiah must have been that God
had taken full responsibility

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for the crisis, because that’s
exactly what he had prayed for

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in his God centered God focused
prayer.

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But the promised removal of
Sennacherib had not yet come,

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and in the meantime another
problem had arisen which loomed

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large in the life of the king.
For some time now, he’d been

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feeling unwell, but instead of
the complaint clearing up as he

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might have hoped, it grew
progressively worse.

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The news of his condition had
already spread around the royal

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household.
It was always difficult to keep

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secrets like that in the palace,
and so soon enough the nation

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itself was buzzing with reports
that Hezekiah was in trouble.

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Another catastrophe was about to
burst upon the beleaguered king.

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And all of that has caught up in
our study, which we might

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describe.
Under this idea of the sickness

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and the shadow, which brings us
to Isaiah chapter 38.

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So do you notice in Isaiah 38
and verse one, the record now

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goes on to say in those days was
Hezekiah second to death?

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In what days, What days were
these?

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Well, the answer is the days of
the Assyrian invasion, the days

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of the impending siege of of
Jerusalem, in the days of the

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crisis which the king was
already grappling with in those

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days.
In those days, was Hezekiah

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sick?
Now he already knew about the

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sickness that he had, but what
he didn’t know until this day,

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until this moment of time, is
that it was a sickness that

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could take him to the grave.
He’d probably been afflicted

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with his condition for weeks or
even months, but he became

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progressively worse but never
realized that at the end his

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condition would be assessed as
life threatening.

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That was that he was not only
ill, but the nation knew about

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it.
And with that perversity that’s

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so typical of human nature,
there were already some critical

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of the king suggesting that
perhaps his sickness might have

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been an indication of his
sinfulness, such as the

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perversity of human nature.
And what it did, is it all added

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to the immense pressure which
Hezekiah felt.

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And it was an important
question.

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You see, the question was this,
Was this sickness a trial of

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faith or a punishment for sin?
Well, the record will be left to

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unfold the answer for us this
morning.

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So Isaiah 38 and verse one says
in those days was Hezekiah

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succumb to death.
And Isaiah the prophet, the son

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of Amos came unto him and said
unto him, thus saith Yahweh, set

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thine house in order, for thou
shalt die and not live.

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Now where it says set thine
house in order, the margin says

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give charge concerning thy
house.

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It’s sort of like the Jewish
equivalent to ask the king to

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make his last will and
testament.

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So Hezekiah was being asked to
arrange the disposition of his

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estate, to confirm the process
for royal succession, to

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finalize all the things that
were left undone that now needed

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his urgent attention.
But Can you imagine the sorrow

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of Isaiah in having to come and
make this terrible pronouncement

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to Hezekiah?
Isaiah had laboured with this

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king.
He was a kindred spirit in the

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truth.
Imagine having to go to the

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royal.
Palace to bring this message of

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imminent death.
But bring it He did, because

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there was no point in hiding
from his Akai the true nature of

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his affliction.
It was in the purpose of God

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that His servant must know that
his condition was terminal.

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For thou shalt die and not live.
The literal Hebrew is thou art a

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dead man.
So what was this sickness?

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Which now had him in its grip,
in the King’s grip.

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Well, we’re told in verse 21 of
this chapter that he had a boil.

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And that word boil shaken
signified an ulcer or some other

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form of serious inflammation.
But it’s a word used about

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abscesses that could turn
leprous in Leviticus 13, verses

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18 to 23.
And it happens to be the same

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word used to describe the
terrible eruptions upon the body

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of Job in Job chapter 2, verses
7 and 8, the boils that covered

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Job.
And it appears that Job suffered

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from a particularly virulent
form of leprosy that excluded

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him from the camp, as the law of
leprosy required.

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We believe that Hezekiah Prophet
probably suffered from some form

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of leprosy.
The problem was that the type of

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illness involved often began
with blood poisoning, and only

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when the plague was deep inside
did the signs on the outside

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begin to appear.
And by the time they appeared,

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it already wasn’t good.
And if it was a form of leprosy,

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then Isaiah here takes the place
of the inspecting priest to tell

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the king that he had a sickness
unto death, how his heart must

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have sunk.
So verse 2 says Hezekiah turned

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his face toward the wall and
prayed unto Yahweh.

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I don’t think it was so much to
turn toward the wall as to turn

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away from all others, to turn
away from all else.

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For this moment of intense
privacy, he privacy.

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The king needed to be alone with
his God.

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It reminds us of Matthew 6 and
verse 6 when the Lord said that

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thou, when thou praised, enter
into thy closet.

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The Greek word to may on means
in a chamber.

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And when thou?
Hast shut the door, pray to thy

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father, which is in secret.
And I think that’s exactly what

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Hezekiah is doing on this
occasion.

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You see, there are times when a
crisis comes upon us and the

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burden’s almost too difficult to
bear.

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You see, here’s a car was
already struggling with the

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weight of all Judah depending
upon him.

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He’s emotionally and spiritually
and mentally exhausted.

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And now a second trial burst
upon him in another dimension,

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the pain of a physical
affliction which had grown.

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Steadily worse, but is now
declared to be fatal.

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And when those two trials came
upon him and met together, he

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felt absolutely crushed by their
weight.

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He didn’t know what to do.
We’ve got reason to believe,

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incidentally, that I think the
thing, the thing that Hezekiah

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struggled with the most, was not
death.

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It was the prospect of a
premature death, the sense of

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being cut off too early in life.
In fact, we know that that was

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his first reaction because,
well, this is what he says later

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on in this very chapter in
Isaiah 38 and the writing that

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he wrote later on after his
recovery, he said, I had said.

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In the middle.
Of my life I am to enter the

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gates of Seoul.
I have been deprived of the rest

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of my.
Years, he says.

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And again in Isaiah 38 verse 12,
my lifespan is gone, taken from

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me, cut off from the loom, he
cries.

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And again in one of the Psalms
that we believe Hezekiah wrote

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Psalm 102, verses 23 and 24, He
shortened my days.

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I said, Oh my God, take me not
away.

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In the midst of my days, yes, I
think what he feared most of all

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was the prospect of premature
death, a death far earlier than

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he expected.
And it produced huge anxiety

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about all the three.
Heads of unfinished business.

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He could see everywhere in his
Kingdom and in his reign all the

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things he wanted to finish and
he couldn’t.

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So there were many reasons,
weren’t there, why this man at

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this time might have prayed for
an extension of life.

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You see, in the first instance
he felt the dependence of the

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nation upon him.
At this moment of the Assyrian

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being at the very door.
You see, this nation leaned upon

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his words.
They were desperate for his

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guidance.
They needed the stability of

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his.
Faith.

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In fact, if there was ever a
time that the nation needed

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their king, it was right now.
But I think he also wanted to

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complete his work of spiritual
reformation because he knew that

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it was unfinished.
Hezekiah knew that much of the

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nation didn’t share his.
Faith.

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They remained in.
Idolatry.

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In fact, it was a crucial moment
in the history of the Kingdom of

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Judah.
Because you see, Israel, the

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northern Kingdom, had already
now gone into captivity.

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And Hezekiah knew that Judah
would suffer the same fate if

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they did not return to the true
worship of God, a worship which

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he had championed.
He desperately needed further

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time to advance that work.
And lastly, but certainly not

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least.
He had no ear, The Royal Lion of

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David.
Stood in jeopardy because when

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Isaiah the prophet said set
thine house in order, he didn’t

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have a house.
He had no son.

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He’d never married and his delay
in finding a bride and beginning

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a son I don’t think was
deliberate, but the neglect of

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his responsibility had now
caught up with him.

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So for many reasons, then,
Hezekiah might well have prayed

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for an extension of life, not so
much for himself As for an

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opportunity to complete all the
things that as yet were

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uncompleted.
And yet the surprising thing is,

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brothers and sisters, in this
chapter in Isaiah 38, that after

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his first initial reaction, in
despairing of the prospect of an

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early death, the true spirit of
the king asserted itself.

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The real faith of this man who
trusted in his God and the

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substance of his prayer, the
actual prayer that’s given for

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us.
Written here in scripture in

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Isaiah 38, the Prairie did offer
well, it reads quite

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differently.
So this is what he actually did

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pray.
Isaiah 38 verse three.

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He said remember.
Now, O Yahweh, I beseech thee,

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how I have walked before thee in
truth and with a perfect heart,

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and have done that which is good
in thy sight.

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Now incidentally, these were not
the words of a boastful man in a

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time of extremity like this.
What he said was the utterance

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of his heart as to his true
state before his God.

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He prayed in the simple
sincerity of who he was.

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And by the way, his words were
an echo of God’s own estimate of

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His character.
The book of Second Chronicles

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says in chapter 31, verses 20
and 21.

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Thus did Hezekiah throughout all
Judah, and wrought that which

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was good and right and truth
with all his heart before Yahweh

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his God.
So his prayer here in Isaiah 38

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verse three really claimed no
more for himself than what God

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already thought about him.
But do you notice this?

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His prayer contained no
confession of sin.

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If that had.
Been the reason for his smiting.

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It made no petition for a longer
life.

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It offered no justification of
his.

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Position.
How his prayer really reads is

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as one who had accepted in
humility whatever God had laid

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upon him and who would submit
himself to the stroke of God.

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He surrendered to whatever the
will of Yahweh might be.

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And he did.
So because his deepest instinct

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born of a spiritual mind is that
he was always seek to trust his

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God.
It was an amazing spirit.

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His only request was that God
remember him.

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But there was such pathos in
that cry as he committed himself

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to the divine will.
And there was a man later on,

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but the sisters who had Hezekiah
as his hero, Hezekiah as his

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role model.
And that man’s name was

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Nehemiah.
And Nehemiah would utter these

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words in Nehemiah 13, verse 14.
Remember Me, Oh my God,

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concerning this, and wipe not
out my good deeds that I’ve done

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for the House of my God.
He took his prayer from Nehemiah

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from from Hezekiah Brothers.
Sisters and Nehemiah wasn’t

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asking for an extension of life.
He was asking God to remember

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him in the day of account, and
so was Hezekiah.

220
00:13:59,080 –> 00:14:01,760
Hezekiah didn’t pray, O Yahweh,
spare me.

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00:14:03,960 –> 00:14:07,760
He prayed, O Yahweh, Remember
Me.

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00:14:10,000 –> 00:14:12,560
And Hezekiah wept sore, it says
at the end of the verse.

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00:14:13,320 –> 00:14:16,640
Martin says with great weeping,
because they were the tears of a

224
00:14:16,640 –> 00:14:21,880
man whose spirit was broken, who
had no resources left to fight

225
00:14:21,880 –> 00:14:25,920
with, but who cast his burden
upon the Lord in submission to

226
00:14:25,920 –> 00:14:30,080
his will.
And verse 4 says, Then came the

227
00:14:30,080 –> 00:14:34,320
word of Yahweh to Isaiah,
saying, go and say to Hezekiah.

228
00:14:34,560 –> 00:14:37,840
Now, interestingly enough, the
book of Isaiah doesn’t tell us.

229
00:14:37,960 –> 00:14:41,680
How long it?
Was after Hezekiah’s prayer.

230
00:14:42,440 –> 00:14:48,440
Before Yahweh’s answer came.
But the Book of Kings does.

231
00:14:49,120 –> 00:14:52,240
So if you come with me to the
Second of Kings and chapter 20,

232
00:14:52,520 –> 00:14:55,400
we pick up now the parallel
record in the Book of Kings,

233
00:14:55,400 –> 00:15:00,240
which offers surprisingly rich
material, adding to the details

234
00:15:00,240 –> 00:15:03,360
of the prophet Isaiah at this
crucial moment, as it turns out,

235
00:15:03,760 –> 00:15:07,720
in the matter of the sickness of
the king, and we’re told this in

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00:15:07,720 –> 00:15:11,320
the Second of Kings chapter 20
and verse 4, he is now the

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00:15:11,400 –> 00:15:15,040
King’s record of the same moment
he’s prayed.

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00:15:15,040 –> 00:15:17,760
Verse 3, Remember now how I’ve
walked before thee?

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00:15:18,000 –> 00:15:21,240
And it came to pass, says verse
4A4.

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00:15:21,360 –> 00:15:26,160
Isaiah was gone out into the
middle court that the word of

241
00:15:26,160 –> 00:15:29,400
Yahweh came to him saying, turn
again and tell Hezekiah.

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00:15:30,040 –> 00:15:33,000
Now it’s not certain, brothers
and sisters, whether the phrase

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00:15:33,000 –> 00:15:37,280
middle court in this verse
answers to the central court of

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00:15:37,280 –> 00:15:40,880
the palace itself.
Or whether it’s a reference to

245
00:15:40,880 –> 00:15:45,320
the section of Jerusalem between
the upper and lower city of

246
00:15:45,320 –> 00:15:47,560
Jerusalem.
But whichever one it was,

247
00:15:47,560 –> 00:15:51,480
whether in the palace or in the
city, it’s what we’re being told

248
00:15:51,480 –> 00:15:54,520
is that before Isaiah even got
to that place, he’s asked to

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00:15:54,520 –> 00:15:57,640
turn around and go straight back
to the inner Chamber of the king

250
00:15:57,760 –> 00:15:59,600
with a message of reprieve.
And it can only have been a

251
00:15:59,600 –> 00:16:04,200
matter of minutes.
Now there’s something peculiar

252
00:16:04,200 –> 00:16:08,760
here, don’t you think?
So why was the edict that he

253
00:16:08,760 –> 00:16:11,920
would die revoked almost
immediately?

254
00:16:12,960 –> 00:16:16,280
The short space between the two,
the sentence of death verse one

255
00:16:16,720 –> 00:16:22,360
and the proclamation of.
Healing, verse 5 at least

256
00:16:22,360 –> 00:16:27,840
suggests that this was a test,
not a punishment, a test of his

257
00:16:27,840 –> 00:16:31,240
faith.
And it also suggests that the

258
00:16:31,240 –> 00:16:34,520
prayer of Hezekiah in verse 3
must have been of such a

259
00:16:34,520 –> 00:16:37,480
contrite and genuine spirit as
to delight as God.

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00:16:38,880 –> 00:16:40,760
And the words which follow, I
think, lead us to that

261
00:16:40,760 –> 00:16:43,760
conclusion, because the message
that Isaiah was asked to take

262
00:16:43,760 –> 00:16:46,760
back to the king was verse 10,
turn again, sorry.

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00:16:46,760 –> 00:16:50,600
Verse 5, turn again and tell
Hezekiah the captain of my

264
00:16:50,600 –> 00:16:52,360
people.
And that’s an interesting

265
00:16:52,360 –> 00:16:55,560
expression.
The captain, the norgeed, the

266
00:16:55,560 –> 00:16:59,120
leader, or the commander?
Brown driver.

267
00:16:59,120 –> 00:17:02,280
Briggs says that the proper
meaning of norgeed is the one

268
00:17:02,280 –> 00:17:07,880
who goes in front, but it was a
title especially associated with

269
00:17:07,880 –> 00:17:12,040
David.
Samuel calls David the norgeed

270
00:17:12,040 –> 00:17:17,319
in first of Samuel 13, verse 14.
Abigail called some the norgeed

271
00:17:17,319 –> 00:17:20,400
in first of Samuel 25 and verse
30.

272
00:17:20,520 –> 00:17:24,319
Nathan calls him the norgeed in
second of Samuel Chapter 7,

273
00:17:24,319 –> 00:17:26,440
verse 8.
David was the norgeed of his

274
00:17:26,440 –> 00:17:29,400
people.
So when God addressed Hezekiah

275
00:17:29,480 –> 00:17:33,640
in this way, he was comforting
him with the assurance that he

276
00:17:33,640 –> 00:17:37,200
regarded him in the same light
as David of old.

277
00:17:38,600 –> 00:17:41,160
And I think Hezekiah deserved
the epithet the captain of my

278
00:17:41,160 –> 00:17:43,240
people, because or because of
these words.

279
00:17:43,640 –> 00:17:47,160
Second Kings 18, verse 3.
Hezekiah did that which was

280
00:17:47,160 –> 00:17:49,760
right in the sight of Yahweh,
according to.

281
00:17:49,760 –> 00:17:55,000
All that David, his father did
you see he was the true heir of

282
00:17:55,000 –> 00:17:58,360
David’s spirit, David’s work,
and for that reason God would be

283
00:17:58,360 –> 00:18:01,640
merciful unto him and and the.
Words that follow confirm.

284
00:18:02,000 –> 00:18:06,160
Thus says Yahweh.
This says Yahweh, the God of

285
00:18:06,160 –> 00:18:08,840
David thy father.
It says so.

286
00:18:08,840 –> 00:18:12,960
He was the divine recognition
that placed his a car in the

287
00:18:12,960 –> 00:18:16,320
same category as his
predecessor.

288
00:18:16,440 –> 00:18:20,160
He was a leader and a commander
of his people in the same way

289
00:18:20,160 –> 00:18:23,920
that David was.
And then came these wonderful

290
00:18:23,920 –> 00:18:26,240
words.
Say these words.

291
00:18:26,520 –> 00:18:31,000
I have heard thy prayer, I have
seen thy tears.

292
00:18:31,160 –> 00:18:32,880
And don’t you think those
expressions tell us,

293
00:18:32,880 –> 00:18:35,880
incidentally, that God must have
been close at hand?

294
00:18:36,000 –> 00:18:39,240
His presence, as it were, had
hovered over the royal palace

295
00:18:39,240 –> 00:18:44,040
all this time.
But the words.

296
00:18:44,080 –> 00:18:46,560
That came were actually in
response to Hezekiah’s prayer

297
00:18:46,560 –> 00:18:49,240
offered not for himself but for
the nation because hadn’t he

298
00:18:49,240 –> 00:18:54,480
prayed in Isaiah 37 verse 17 O
Yahweh incline thineer and here

299
00:18:55,040 –> 00:18:59,680
O Yahweh open thine eyes and see
and now comes back these words I

300
00:18:59,680 –> 00:19:05,360
have heard thy prayer I have
seen thy tears so that which he.

301
00:19:05,360 –> 00:19:08,440
Pleaded for others.
The Father returned upon

302
00:19:08,440 –> 00:19:10,920
himself.
Behold, I will heal thee, it

303
00:19:10,920 –> 00:19:12,800
says.
On the third day thou shalt go

304
00:19:12,800 –> 00:19:15,840
up into the House of God.
Now that was surprising because

305
00:19:15,840 –> 00:19:20,040
whatever the malady was.
Yahweh promised a full recovery

306
00:19:20,040 –> 00:19:24,120
within a very short space of
time and much shorter than the

307
00:19:24,120 –> 00:19:27,280
provision of the law.
Now you might recall that

308
00:19:27,480 –> 00:19:31,440
Hezekiah’s great grandfather
Azar had been smitten with

309
00:19:31,440 –> 00:19:34,240
leprosy.
He’d been obliged to spend the

310
00:19:34,240 –> 00:19:37,240
years of his life, the remaining
years of his life, in permanent

311
00:19:37,240 –> 00:19:40,440
isolation.
He could never, ever go up again

312
00:19:40,440 –> 00:19:43,200
to the House of God.
And even the law for the

313
00:19:43,200 –> 00:19:46,400
cleansing of the leper said that
even if they had been declared

314
00:19:46,400 –> 00:19:50,440
clean, they still had to remain
out of the camp for a further 7

315
00:19:50,440 –> 00:19:51,760
days.
And.

316
00:19:51,880 –> 00:19:54,360
Only on the 8th.
Day could they approach to the

317
00:19:54,360 –> 00:19:57,080
House of God.
Leviticus 14 verses 8:00 to

318
00:19:57,200 –> 00:19:58,800
11:00.
So if it has a card to be healed

319
00:19:58,800 –> 00:20:02,840
and restored so quickly, that
must have been a mark of divine

320
00:20:02,840 –> 00:20:04,760
favor.
And so it was, brothers and

321
00:20:04,760 –> 00:20:08,320
sisters, and there was more to
come, because verse six goes on

322
00:20:08,320 –> 00:20:11,800
to say, I’ll add unto thy days,
15.

323
00:20:11,800 –> 00:20:16,240
Years.
So why 15 years?

324
00:20:17,800 –> 00:20:21,680
Why not ten?
Why not 20?

325
00:20:24,640 –> 00:20:28,600
Well, may I suggest, because
Hezekiah’s greatest sorrow was

326
00:20:28,600 –> 00:20:31,360
the feeling that he’d been cut
off, as it were, in the very

327
00:20:31,360 –> 00:20:33,400
middle of his life, in the very
middle of his work.

328
00:20:34,200 –> 00:20:36,240
And at the time that the
sickness came upon him, he was

329
00:20:36,240 –> 00:20:38,800
in the 14th year of his reign.
And I think that God’s answer

330
00:20:38,800 –> 00:20:41,000
here, I’ll add unto thy days, 15
years.

331
00:20:41,200 –> 00:20:43,960
God’s answer was to double it by
adding as many years again as

332
00:20:43,960 –> 00:20:45,440
He’s already had upon the
throne.

333
00:20:47,160 –> 00:20:50,280
Or, if I put it another way, God
offered to credit his Akai’s

334
00:20:50,280 –> 00:20:52,920
account with the same length of
rain he’d already completed so

335
00:20:52,920 –> 00:20:55,720
he could use it all over again.
Could there be any better proof

336
00:20:55,720 –> 00:20:58,360
that God’s heard his prayer?
So you think this is the midst

337
00:20:58,360 –> 00:21:00,480
of your time?
You’ve lost 14 to 15 years.

338
00:21:00,480 –> 00:21:02,960
I’ll give it all back to you.
I’ll give all that time.

339
00:21:03,000 –> 00:21:05,360
Back to you again, he says.
But you see what’s interesting

340
00:21:05,360 –> 00:21:08,440
about all this?
Remember his Akai hadn’t asked

341
00:21:08,440 –> 00:21:10,400
for an extension of time, verse
3.

342
00:21:11,360 –> 00:21:12,920
He’d asked for God to remember
him.

343
00:21:13,840 –> 00:21:16,720
This was God’s response to
Hezekiah, spirit of committing

344
00:21:16,720 –> 00:21:19,240
himself.
This was God’s decree.

345
00:21:19,400 –> 00:21:23,000
I will add unto thy days.
That’s God’s own decision, not

346
00:21:23,040 –> 00:21:27,120
Hezekiah’s request.
I’ll add 15 years.

347
00:21:27,120 –> 00:21:29,720
I’ll give back everything you’ve
got and a little more besides.

348
00:21:30,080 –> 00:21:33,440
And and notice what it is, what
how significant these words are,

349
00:21:33,760 –> 00:21:37,880
and says verse 6, I will deliver
thee and the city out of the

350
00:21:37,880 –> 00:21:41,960
hand of the king of Assyria.
So here’s the proof for the

351
00:21:41,960 –> 00:21:46,600
timing of this episode.
Hezekiah’s sickness happened

352
00:21:46,720 –> 00:21:53,400
after the Assyrians had invaded
chapter 37, but before they were

353
00:21:53,400 –> 00:21:56,600
overthrown.
His sickness had come right in

354
00:21:56,600 –> 00:21:59,800
the middle of this whole crisis,
right in the very middle.

355
00:22:00,280 –> 00:22:03,360
The the Syrians have arrived,
but God has not yet dealt with

356
00:22:03,360 –> 00:22:04,520
them.
And now he’s sick.

357
00:22:04,680 –> 00:22:07,480
And the king promises therefore
deliverance for the king and his

358
00:22:07,480 –> 00:22:09,640
people, both for his own name’s
sake.

359
00:22:09,640 –> 00:22:12,840
And notice that comes first, and
also for David’s sake.

360
00:22:15,800 –> 00:22:19,440
So as I said, verse 7, take a
lump of figs.

361
00:22:19,440 –> 00:22:21,960
And they took him, laid it on
the boil, and he recovered.

362
00:22:22,320 –> 00:22:24,560
Now we’re not going to comment
on that this morning, brother

363
00:22:24,560 –> 00:22:27,400
sisters, because we hope, God
willing at a later time to

364
00:22:27,400 –> 00:22:31,760
consider those words, perhaps in
the proper setting based on the

365
00:22:31,760 –> 00:22:36,400
Isaiah record itself.
So verse 8 says Hezekiah said

366
00:22:36,400 –> 00:22:39,600
unto Isaiah, What shall be the
sign that Yahweh will heal me,

367
00:22:39,600 –> 00:22:41,280
that I shall go up to the House
of Yahweh?

368
00:22:41,280 –> 00:22:45,080
The third day Hezekiah believed
that he would be blessed, but he

369
00:22:45,080 –> 00:22:47,120
asked for a sign.
But that was a good thing, not a

370
00:22:47,120 –> 00:22:49,440
bad thing.
And the answer of his of Isaiah.

371
00:22:49,440 –> 00:22:54,080
Came back verse 9 Yahweh Isaiah
said This sign shalt thou have

372
00:22:54,080 –> 00:22:57,000
of Yahweh, that Yahweh will do
the thing that he has spoken.

373
00:22:57,520 –> 00:23:01,400
Shall the shadow go forward 10°
or go back 10°?

374
00:23:01,520 –> 00:23:03,720
So Hezekiah had asked for a
sign.

375
00:23:03,920 –> 00:23:06,760
Verse 8.
But it is Isaiah who determines

376
00:23:06,760 –> 00:23:12,600
what the sign shall be.
And Isaiah says the sign will be

377
00:23:12,600 –> 00:23:16,880
the sign of the moving shadow.
So notice the keyword verse 9

378
00:23:17,000 –> 00:23:21,040
shall the shadow go forward?
Verse 10 for the shadow to go

379
00:23:21,040 –> 00:23:23,600
down.
Verse 10 again let the shadow.

380
00:23:23,600 –> 00:23:26,080
Return backward verse. 11 He
brought the.

381
00:23:26,080 –> 00:23:29,160
Shadow backward.
Now, brothers and sisters, I

382
00:23:29,160 –> 00:23:33,480
don’t think that Isaiah chose
that sign of his own accord.

383
00:23:34,040 –> 00:23:36,680
I think that sign was given him
by Yahweh.

384
00:23:39,960 –> 00:23:44,760
Now that word shadow cell in the
Hebrew TSEL is a word that’s

385
00:23:44,760 –> 00:23:49,680
used to illustrate the ephemeral
and transient aspects of life,

386
00:23:49,800 –> 00:23:53,880
the life, our life that is both
impermanent and uncertain.

387
00:23:54,240 –> 00:23:57,280
Just have a look at these
passages and see how the use of

388
00:23:57,280 –> 00:24:02,000
the word shadow teaches that
lesson that life is transient.

389
00:24:02,840 –> 00:24:08,120
It is but a shadow.
Here it is in Job 14, verse 2.

390
00:24:08,560 –> 00:24:11,160
Man cometh forth like a flower,
and is cut down.

391
00:24:11,160 –> 00:24:14,120
He fleeth also as a shadow to
sell.

392
00:24:15,680 –> 00:24:19,120
Or again in Psalm 102,
Hezekiah’s Psalm.

393
00:24:19,160 –> 00:24:22,360
One of them, Thou hast lifted me
up and cast me down.

394
00:24:22,360 –> 00:24:24,600
My days are like a shadow to
sell.

395
00:24:24,600 –> 00:24:28,400
And.
Again, in Psalm 144, verses 3

396
00:24:28,400 –> 00:24:32,080
and 4, Yahweh, What is man that
thou art, that thou takest

397
00:24:32,080 –> 00:24:35,120
knowledge of Him?
Man is like to vanity as days

398
00:24:35,120 –> 00:24:37,680
are as.
A shadow, it says.

399
00:24:38,280 –> 00:24:42,240
And Ecclesiastes 6, verse 12.
Who knows what’s good for man in

400
00:24:42,240 –> 00:24:44,960
this life, all the days of his
vain, vain life, which he

401
00:24:45,160 –> 00:24:47,920
spendeth as a shadow.
Life is transient.

402
00:24:48,040 –> 00:24:52,080
Life is uncertain.
That look at these keywords in

403
00:24:52,080 –> 00:24:59,080
these 4 passages.
The shadow that flees, the

404
00:24:59,080 –> 00:25:06,840
shadow that declines, the shadow
that passes, the shadow that’s

405
00:25:06,840 –> 00:25:12,040
spent.
Yes, this is all about the sense

406
00:25:12,040 –> 00:25:17,160
of the brevity and fleeting
nature of life, and that’s no

407
00:25:17,160 –> 00:25:19,120
doubt how Hezekiah felt at this
very moment.

408
00:25:19,320 –> 00:25:21,920
But you see, the lesson of the
story of the shadow in this

409
00:25:21,920 –> 00:25:24,120
chapter, in this episode,
brothers and sisters, is that.

410
00:25:24,120 –> 00:25:27,320
Yahweh has the power to control
the shadow.

411
00:25:28,440 –> 00:25:31,520
God can lengthen or shorten the
shadow of life.

412
00:25:32,840 –> 00:25:34,800
And perhaps with that
understanding of its

413
00:25:34,800 –> 00:25:37,840
significance, Hezekiah responded
in the way that he did, because

414
00:25:37,840 –> 00:25:41,520
he gave a very good answer to
Isaiah’s question, Shall the

415
00:25:41,520 –> 00:25:44,760
shadow go forward or backwards?
Isaiah had asked verse 9.

416
00:25:45,000 –> 00:25:47,400
And the answer of the king comes
back verse 10.

417
00:25:47,520 –> 00:25:51,080
Hezekiah said, it is a light
thing for the shadow to go down

418
00:25:51,080 –> 00:25:55,120
10°.
Nay, but let the shadow return

419
00:25:55,120 –> 00:25:59,240
backward 10°.
So you see, Hezekiah reasoned

420
00:25:59,240 –> 00:26:02,760
this way that the shadow moving
forward would simply mean that

421
00:26:02,760 –> 00:26:05,120
time was advancing as it
normally does.

422
00:26:06,040 –> 00:26:08,160
Might be at a faster rate, but
that would just be the

423
00:26:08,160 –> 00:26:12,200
acceleration of time.
But for the shadow to return

424
00:26:12,280 –> 00:26:16,600
backward, that would mean that
time hadn’t just been slowed.

425
00:26:18,880 –> 00:26:22,680
That would mean that time had
been reversed, that as the

426
00:26:22,680 –> 00:26:25,840
shadow retreated, time had been
redeemed.

427
00:26:26,680 –> 00:26:30,200
Now that would be a miracle
indeed.

428
00:26:30,520 –> 00:26:34,480
And in that request, Hezekiah
was really asking for evidence

429
00:26:34,640 –> 00:26:39,960
that he would be granted the
opportunity to reuse the time to

430
00:26:39,960 –> 00:26:42,120
accomplish all the things that
he’d wept at earlier that

431
00:26:42,120 –> 00:26:45,040
remained undone, the things that
were needed for the spiritual.

432
00:26:45,040 –> 00:26:50,160
Good of the nation.
So verse 11 says Isaiah the

433
00:26:50,160 –> 00:26:52,840
prophet cried unto Yahweh, and
he brought the shadow 10°

434
00:26:52,840 –> 00:26:55,440
backwards, by which it was gone
down in the dial of Ahaz.

435
00:26:55,440 –> 00:26:58,400
Can you imagine, brothers and
sisters, how Isaiah offered that

436
00:26:58,400 –> 00:26:59,960
prayer that day?
He was in the King’s bed

437
00:26:59,960 –> 00:27:01,680
chamber.
He says which Which way would

438
00:27:01,680 –> 00:27:03,120
you like it to go, forwards or
backwards?

439
00:27:04,760 –> 00:27:05,960
The king said I could go
backwards.

440
00:27:07,760 –> 00:27:10,320
And Isaiah prayed right there in
the Chamber of the king, with

441
00:27:10,320 –> 00:27:13,840
Hezekiah listening.
Isaiah asked Yahweh to move that

442
00:27:13,840 –> 00:27:16,880
shadow, and he must have prayed
with all the fervency of his

443
00:27:16,880 –> 00:27:19,000
being.
And the shadow did move, says

444
00:27:19,000 –> 00:27:21,400
the record on the dial of
Ahai’s.

445
00:27:23,040 –> 00:27:28,160
Now why would we need to know
that it’s the sundial of Ahai’s?

446
00:27:30,440 –> 00:27:34,240
Well, I think because of Isaiah
Chapter 7, if you come to the

447
00:27:34,240 –> 00:27:39,360
prophecy of Isaiah Chapter 7
many years before.

448
00:27:40,400 –> 00:27:44,280
Isaiah the prophet had had a
meeting with Hezekiah’s father.

449
00:27:45,600 –> 00:27:51,520
Hezekiah’s father was none other
than Ahaz and in that meeting.

450
00:27:51,640 –> 00:27:56,440
He’d offered Ahaz a sign, and
this is what the record says in

451
00:27:56,560 –> 00:28:00,120
Isaiah Chapter 7 verse 10.
Moreover, Yahweh, but it’s

452
00:28:00,120 –> 00:28:02,640
through the mouth of Isaiah the
prophet Yahweh.

453
00:28:02,640 –> 00:28:06,640
Spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
Ask thee a sign of Yahweh, thy

454
00:28:06,640 –> 00:28:08,720
God.
Ask it either in the depth or in

455
00:28:08,720 –> 00:28:11,960
the height above.
But A has said, I will not ask,

456
00:28:12,080 –> 00:28:15,880
neither will I tempt Yahweh.
So A has was offered a sign,

457
00:28:15,880 –> 00:28:20,240
either from heaven or from
earth, from the height or from

458
00:28:20,240 –> 00:28:22,600
the depth.
But because of his lack of

459
00:28:22,600 –> 00:28:24,800
faith, he refused.
He didn’t want to know the

460
00:28:24,800 –> 00:28:27,360
divine intentions.
I don’t want to know anything

461
00:28:27,360 –> 00:28:30,280
that God might want to teach me,
so I will not tempt the Lord my

462
00:28:30,280 –> 00:28:33,120
God, he says with a righteous
show of piety.

463
00:28:33,600 –> 00:28:36,040
But he was a man actually, who
in his apostasy introduced

464
00:28:36,040 –> 00:28:38,720
foreign objects.
Into both the royal palace and

465
00:28:38,720 –> 00:28:42,440
the House of God.
But now his son, who’s a man of

466
00:28:42,440 –> 00:28:44,520
implicit faith.
Eagerly.

467
00:28:44,520 –> 00:28:47,800
Asks for a sign, nothing,
doubting that he will recover as

468
00:28:47,800 –> 00:28:50,680
God had promised.
And God gave him him this man

469
00:28:50,720 –> 00:28:56,120
Hezekiah, A sign from the
heights involving the sun and

470
00:28:56,120 –> 00:28:58,800
its shadow.
As it cast on its skywards

471
00:28:58,920 –> 00:29:02,080
journey, Hezekiah was a very
different man.

472
00:29:03,160 –> 00:29:07,160
And his father, well, that
brings us back to the record now

473
00:29:07,200 –> 00:29:13,240
of Isaiah chapter 38 as we take
up the passage again, I think

474
00:29:13,240 –> 00:29:15,040
incidentally, brothers and
sisters, there’s an interesting

475
00:29:15,040 –> 00:29:17,800
point here because those
conversations between the two

476
00:29:17,800 –> 00:29:21,840
men that Isaac, that Isaiah.
Obviously had with Hezekiah and

477
00:29:21,840 –> 00:29:24,800
that are recorded in the second
of Kings chapter 20 are not

478
00:29:24,800 –> 00:29:29,080
there in Isaiah’s chapter 38.
Why would that be the case?

479
00:29:30,160 –> 00:29:33,320
Why would all those special
pleadings of Isaiah be removed?

480
00:29:33,320 –> 00:29:38,600
But you see, I think the
prophets account removed

481
00:29:38,600 –> 00:29:40,720
anything that drew attention to
himself.

482
00:29:42,600 –> 00:29:47,280
So the part that Isaiah plays in
this is discreetly edited out.

483
00:29:47,800 –> 00:29:51,200
In Isaiah’s account, Oh yes, he
would speak, but the focus of of

484
00:29:51,200 –> 00:29:55,040
Isaiah was Isaiah 38 verse 7.
This will be the sign unto thee

485
00:29:55,040 –> 00:29:57,920
from Yahweh that Yahweh will do
this thing.

486
00:29:58,040 –> 00:29:59,800
And that’s what Isaiah was
focused on, is the.

487
00:29:59,800 –> 00:30:02,560
Work of God, and that whatever
the sign was, it would give

488
00:30:02,560 –> 00:30:05,520
proof that Yahweh was the source
of the miracle.

489
00:30:06,040 –> 00:30:08,840
And so it would prove to be
because only God could have

490
00:30:08,840 –> 00:30:11,760
wrought what happened in
Jerusalem on that day as events

491
00:30:11,760 –> 00:30:16,760
were to make very plain.
So it says verse 8.

492
00:30:18,080 –> 00:30:22,480
Behold, I will bring again the
shadow of the degrees which has

493
00:30:22,480 –> 00:30:26,440
gone down in the sundial of Ahaz
10° backward.

494
00:30:26,720 –> 00:30:30,480
So the sun returned 10°, by
which degrees it was gone down.

495
00:30:30,840 –> 00:30:33,560
So when it says incidentally
verse 8, behold, I will bring

496
00:30:33,560 –> 00:30:35,880
again.
The eye, of course, is God

497
00:30:35,880 –> 00:30:38,080
Himself.
After all, that’s what happened

498
00:30:38,080 –> 00:30:41,240
in the King’s record.
Isaiah cried unto Yahweh, and he

499
00:30:41,280 –> 00:30:44,480
Yahweh brought the shadow 10°
backwards.

500
00:30:45,760 –> 00:30:46,960
Now that word.
Degrees.

501
00:30:47,360 –> 00:30:50,400
We need to notice that because
it’s a keyword here.

502
00:30:50,800 –> 00:30:55,160
It’s used five times in this one
verse.

503
00:30:55,880 –> 00:31:00,400
It’s the feminine active
participle of Allah which means

504
00:31:00,400 –> 00:31:02,680
to take a journey to a higher
place.

505
00:31:03,040 –> 00:31:07,600
And in the Hebrew here this word
degrees is ma Allah, MA

506
00:31:07,640 –> 00:31:13,120
apostrophe ALAH ma Allah.
And it literally means a

507
00:31:13,120 –> 00:31:17,400
stairway or steps.
Now let me show you the use of

508
00:31:17,400 –> 00:31:19,920
that term in other places so
that you see what that word

509
00:31:20,160 –> 00:31:24,640
degrees here really means.
In Exodus chapter 20, we’re told

510
00:31:24,640 –> 00:31:28,920
in verses 25 and 26.
If that won’t make me an altar,

511
00:31:29,120 –> 00:31:32,480
thou shalt not build it of hewn
stone, neither shalt thou go.

512
00:31:32,520 –> 00:31:39,240
Up Allah by steps, ma Allah.
That’s the word for degrees in

513
00:31:39,240 –> 00:31:45,440
Isaiah 38, verse 8.
Ma Allah steps or again in

514
00:31:45,600 –> 00:31:48,960
Nehemiah chapter 12 verse 37, at
the fountain gate which was over

515
00:31:48,960 –> 00:31:54,080
against them, they went up Allah
by the stairs.

516
00:31:54,240 –> 00:32:00,800
Ma Allah of the city of David,
or again in Ezekiel 40, verse

517
00:32:00,800 –> 00:32:04,320
49, he brought me up by the
steps, Ma Allah, whereby they

518
00:32:04,360 –> 00:32:07,560
went up Allah to it and there
were pillars by the posts.

519
00:32:08,160 –> 00:32:11,520
And now this one here in Isaiah
38, behold, I’ll bring again the

520
00:32:11,520 –> 00:32:16,760
shadow of the degrees, Ma Allah,
which has gone down with the sun

521
00:32:16,760 –> 00:32:21,160
on the stairway.
Ma Allah of Ahaz, this is all

522
00:32:21,160 –> 00:32:27,880
about the shadow on the
staircase and whatever the sun

523
00:32:27,880 –> 00:32:30,440
was about.
Brothers and sisters, it’s

524
00:32:30,440 –> 00:32:33,160
about.
The movement of the shadow on

525
00:32:33,160 –> 00:32:36,360
this particular staircase, in
fact the literal rendering of

526
00:32:36,360 –> 00:32:39,120
the text in Isaiah 38 verse 8 is
this.

527
00:32:39,200 –> 00:32:40,960
This is how it should read based
on the.

528
00:32:41,160 –> 00:32:46,760
Use of that word, Behold, I will
turn the shadow of the steps

529
00:32:46,960 –> 00:32:52,200
which the sun has gone down on
the steps of a has backward 10

530
00:32:52,200 –> 00:32:56,520
steps, and the sun turned back
10 steps on the steps which it

531
00:32:56,520 –> 00:33:00,640
had gone down.
It was a staircase.

532
00:33:02,120 –> 00:33:05,520
The shadow on the staircase and
whatever the sun dial of a has

533
00:33:05,520 –> 00:33:09,720
was, it must have involved a
gnomon, a column or a block at

534
00:33:09,720 –> 00:33:13,400
the top of the staircase that
would cast a shadow from the sun

535
00:33:13,400 –> 00:33:15,640
as it traveled around.
The shadow would come across

536
00:33:15,640 –> 00:33:17,640
that block and.
Down the staircase.

537
00:33:17,920 –> 00:33:20,920
So the question is, as we see
from this record, how many steps

538
00:33:20,920 –> 00:33:22,720
did the shadow return?
Why 10?

539
00:33:24,160 –> 00:33:27,440
Now we don’t know what length of
time these steps measured.

540
00:33:28,440 –> 00:33:31,600
So we probably can’t determine
the specific time involved, but

541
00:33:31,600 –> 00:33:34,640
we can certainly suggest the
possibility because I believe

542
00:33:34,640 –> 00:33:37,160
that the steps most likely were
the measurements of an hour.

543
00:33:38,040 –> 00:33:39,480
That’s what most sundials
measured.

544
00:33:39,480 –> 00:33:43,920
Even in those ancient times,
they measured time in increments

545
00:33:43,920 –> 00:33:47,080
of hours.
So if each step was an hour, and

546
00:33:47,080 –> 00:33:50,440
the shadow began to move
backwards between 3:00 or 4:00

547
00:33:50,440 –> 00:33:54,400
in the afternoon, then the
shadow went back from 4:00 in

548
00:33:54,400 –> 00:34:02,080
the afternoon all the way back
to. 6:00 in the morning, which

549
00:34:02,080 –> 00:34:04,040
was the official start of the
day.

550
00:34:05,560 –> 00:34:08,480
It was as if the day was to
start right from its beginning

551
00:34:08,480 –> 00:34:13,840
again.
Now 10 is the number of fingers

552
00:34:13,840 –> 00:34:20,639
on a man’s hand, and a woman’s
hand for that matter, but it

553
00:34:20,679 –> 00:34:23,440
symbolized, you see, the
aggregate of the whole.

554
00:34:24,120 –> 00:34:27,280
Job 19 verse three Job said
these 10 times he have

555
00:34:27,280 –> 00:34:29,560
approached me.
Daniel one verse 20 and all

556
00:34:29,560 –> 00:34:31,960
matters of wisdom.
He found them 10 times better

557
00:34:31,960 –> 00:34:35,639
than all the magicians.
Zechariah 8 verse 2010 Men shall

558
00:34:35,639 –> 00:34:39,840
take hold out of all nations. 10
was the sum of the whole.

559
00:34:40,760 –> 00:34:43,239
And as the number as an
aggregate, it represented that

560
00:34:43,239 –> 00:34:46,639
which was total or complete.
So when the shadow returned by

561
00:34:46,639 –> 00:34:50,840
10°, it symbolized the complete
reversal of time.

562
00:34:50,960 –> 00:34:53,560
So here’s a car was going to
have his answer the time he.

563
00:34:53,560 –> 00:34:57,960
Stood to lose would be totally
returned back to him back to

564
00:34:57,960 –> 00:35:01,920
6:00.
So in some way, the shadow

565
00:35:01,920 –> 00:35:05,720
moving up by 10° or steps became
the proof that his life would be

566
00:35:05,720 –> 00:35:08,760
extended by 15 years.
The problem is, how do you

567
00:35:08,760 –> 00:35:11,120
reconcile those two seemingly
different measurements?

568
00:35:11,280 –> 00:35:15,480
Wouldn’t it have been wonderful
if there was 15° matching 15

569
00:35:15,480 –> 00:35:17,960
years?
Isn’t that all what we secretly

570
00:35:17,960 –> 00:35:20,560
want?
But you couldn’t have 15.

571
00:35:20,560 –> 00:35:22,840
Degrees, you see, because if
they’re measuring hours.

572
00:35:23,040 –> 00:35:26,000
There were never 15 hours of
daylight to cast shadows.

573
00:35:27,000 –> 00:35:29,080
The car they’ve ever been 15
stairs.

574
00:35:29,480 –> 00:35:33,880
So with regard to the 10°, if
each step measured an hour and

575
00:35:33,880 –> 00:35:37,360
the sign took place at around
4:00 in the afternoon, then

576
00:35:37,360 –> 00:35:40,000
there are two important facts
that emerge.

577
00:35:40,280 –> 00:35:43,280
The 1st of this is the.
Time of day?

578
00:35:44,080 –> 00:35:46,880
Well, that’s the time in the
afternoon when the shadows would

579
00:35:46,880 –> 00:35:51,520
descend the stairs with
increasing speed, because that’s

580
00:35:51,520 –> 00:35:55,160
the time, scripturally, when the
shadows are at their fastest as

581
00:35:55,160 –> 00:35:58,280
they lengthen.
Remember this passage in Psalm

582
00:35:58,280 –> 00:36:00,640
102 again, the Psalm of
Hezekiah.

583
00:36:00,800 –> 00:36:03,120
My days are like a shadow that
declineth.

584
00:36:04,040 –> 00:36:07,360
The Hebrew word means to stretch
out, and the new King James

585
00:36:07,360 –> 00:36:10,160
Version says like a shadow that
lengthens.

586
00:36:11,400 –> 00:36:15,080
That’s the afternoon sun, that
as it sinks, the shadows grow

587
00:36:15,080 –> 00:36:19,360
longer and faster.
The Song of Solomon chapter 2,

588
00:36:19,360 –> 00:36:21,560
verse 17.
This is a translation from a

589
00:36:21,560 –> 00:36:25,160
brother until the day breathed
and the shadows be lengthened.

590
00:36:25,480 –> 00:36:29,400
And brother Roy Wood dupe in his
book on Song of Songs says in

591
00:36:29,400 –> 00:36:32,360
the late afternoon, as if a
breeze cools the air, as the

592
00:36:32,360 –> 00:36:37,200
shadows lengthen and vanish, as
the dusk of the evening heralds

593
00:36:37,200 –> 00:36:40,680
a speedy change.
Tonight the growing longer

594
00:36:40,680 –> 00:36:43,840
shadows of the afternoon.
And in our reading, daily

595
00:36:43,840 –> 00:36:48,000
reading yesterday, Jeremiah 6
verse 4 says, Woe unto us, for

596
00:36:48,000 –> 00:36:50,840
the day goeth away, for the
shadows of the evening are

597
00:36:50,840 –> 00:36:54,320
stretched out.
So when you think about that,

598
00:36:54,320 –> 00:36:57,680
you see.
The shadows of the afternoon.

599
00:36:58,840 –> 00:37:02,880
For this shadow to be reversed
and to ascend the stairs at a

600
00:37:02,880 –> 00:37:06,960
time when the shadows are
rapidly lengthening was an even

601
00:37:06,960 –> 00:37:10,720
more remarkable miracle.
But moving the shadow back back

602
00:37:10,720 –> 00:37:14,600
by 10° took the time, as we
said, back to 6:00 in the

603
00:37:14,600 –> 00:37:16,920
morning.
That was the Lord who said John

604
00:37:17,000 –> 00:37:20,120
11 verse 9.
Are there not 12 hours?

605
00:37:20,440 –> 00:37:24,000
In the day.
So even measuring ten of those

606
00:37:24,000 –> 00:37:27,600
hours still allows us to take
the time back to the start of

607
00:37:27,600 –> 00:37:30,520
the day.
And if the number 10, taking it

608
00:37:30,520 –> 00:37:33,760
back to 6:00 represented the
complete reversal of time back

609
00:37:33,760 –> 00:37:36,200
to the beginning of the day,
There is a connection with the

610
00:37:36,200 –> 00:37:38,360
15 years.
Because you see, when it came to

611
00:37:38,360 –> 00:37:42,120
see that same sign of bringing
it back to the start in the

612
00:37:42,120 –> 00:37:45,720
context of Hezekiah’s kingship,
we must.

613
00:37:45,720 –> 00:37:52,160
Move from the measurement of
time in hours degrees to the

614
00:37:52,160 –> 00:37:56,840
measurement of a reign in years.
And since he has a car was

615
00:37:56,840 –> 00:38:00,520
already in his 14th year, the
addition of another 15 years

616
00:38:00,520 –> 00:38:04,120
took his reign right back to its
beginning so that he could start

617
00:38:04,120 –> 00:38:06,480
it all over again.
His kingship was returned to

618
00:38:06,480 –> 00:38:11,200
6:00 in the morning, and the 15
years were the perfect

619
00:38:11,200 –> 00:38:15,240
counterpart to the 10°, the
marvellous Bill and Sisters.

620
00:38:16,920 –> 00:38:20,000
And the next thing to notice in
that verse, Isaiah 38, verse 8,

621
00:38:20,160 –> 00:38:23,440
do you notice twice it mentions
the word gone down, and the

622
00:38:23,440 –> 00:38:25,360
Hebrew word literally means to
descend.

623
00:38:25,480 –> 00:38:28,360
It had descended because it was
moving down the steps of the

624
00:38:28,360 –> 00:38:30,920
staircase.
And the sign that Hezekiah had

625
00:38:30,920 –> 00:38:35,160
asked for was to see a reversal
of the direction of that shadow.

626
00:38:35,520 –> 00:38:37,320
So how do you think the miracle
was performed?

627
00:38:38,880 –> 00:38:41,920
Well, it didn’t need the cosmic
forcing of the sun into a

628
00:38:41,920 –> 00:38:44,360
different trajectory.
That would have been somewhat

629
00:38:44,360 –> 00:38:48,240
catastrophic.
There was a much simpler way for

630
00:38:48,240 –> 00:38:50,800
this moving of the shadow to be
accomplished.

631
00:38:51,000 –> 00:38:55,440
You see, all that was required
was a source of light stronger

632
00:38:55,840 –> 00:39:00,760
than the sun that could reverse
the shadow it cast and cause it

633
00:39:00,760 –> 00:39:05,200
to retreat.
And the scripture tells us of

634
00:39:05,200 –> 00:39:09,480
such a source of light.
It’s the Shekinah glory of

635
00:39:09,480 –> 00:39:13,320
Yahweh that was manifested in
His angels.

636
00:39:14,680 –> 00:39:18,360
Daniel 10 verses 5 and 6 says
behold a certain man clothed in

637
00:39:18,360 –> 00:39:22,000
linen, his face as the
appearance of lightning.

638
00:39:23,440 –> 00:39:26,080
Matthew 28 verses 2 and three
says the Angel of the Lord

639
00:39:26,080 –> 00:39:30,040
descended from heaven, and his
countenance was like lightning.

640
00:39:30,360 –> 00:39:33,280
So here’s the incredible.
Brilliance of the Shekinah

641
00:39:33,280 –> 00:39:37,520
glory, but the interesting thing
is that the angels could reveal

642
00:39:37,920 –> 00:39:42,720
or conceal that glory when they
conversed with mortals.

643
00:39:43,560 –> 00:39:46,120
That’s an ability that Christ
and the Saints will share,

644
00:39:47,080 –> 00:39:49,080
Habakkuk chapter 3, verse 4
says.

645
00:39:49,280 –> 00:39:51,200
And his brightness was as the
light.

646
00:39:51,320 –> 00:39:56,400
He had bright beams out of his
side, and there was the hiding.

647
00:39:56,400 –> 00:40:00,640
Of.
His power Zechariah chapter 14

648
00:40:00,840 –> 00:40:05,640
verses 5 and 6 is translated by
brother Thomas reads And Yahweh,

649
00:40:05,640 –> 00:40:07,800
my God shall come, and all the
holy ones with thee.

650
00:40:07,800 –> 00:40:10,120
And it shall be in that day
there shall be no brightness.

651
00:40:10,120 –> 00:40:16,320
The splendid ones drawing in.
So those that possess the

652
00:40:16,360 –> 00:40:20,120
Shekinah glory have the power to
reveal only so much of it as

653
00:40:20,120 –> 00:40:22,960
they wish their onlookers to
see.

654
00:40:25,120 –> 00:40:29,440
And lastly, ponder this passage
when the risen and glorified

655
00:40:29,440 –> 00:40:32,560
Christ spoke with.
Paul on the road to Damascus.

656
00:40:32,600 –> 00:40:37,600
Paul described their meeting
this way in acts 26 verse 13.

657
00:40:38,240 –> 00:40:42,320
He said at midday, O King, I saw
in the way a light from.

658
00:40:42,320 –> 00:40:49,400
Heaven.
Above the brightness of the sun.

659
00:40:50,920 –> 00:40:56,120
Above the brightness of the sun.
And now picture the scene in

660
00:40:56,120 –> 00:40:59,680
Jerusalem on that fateful day
when the king lay upon his bed,

661
00:40:59,680 –> 00:41:02,400
and the prophet of God prayed
with all his might that Yahweh

662
00:41:02,480 –> 00:41:05,440
would move the shadow.
I think God sent an Angel, one

663
00:41:05,440 –> 00:41:07,080
that could make himself
invisible.

664
00:41:07,080 –> 00:41:09,320
If he pleased.
And to permit only so much of

665
00:41:09,320 –> 00:41:10,880
his brilliance as he wished to
show.

666
00:41:11,080 –> 00:41:13,480
And now imagine that Angel at
the foot of the of the

667
00:41:13,480 –> 00:41:16,720
staircase, right at the very
bottom, down which ran the

668
00:41:16,720 –> 00:41:19,600
deepest, darkest shadow cast by
the sun.

669
00:41:19,840 –> 00:41:23,680
And as the Angel climbed the
stairs, he allowed each step to

670
00:41:23,680 –> 00:41:27,440
be illuminated as he trod.
But all that could be seen by

671
00:41:27,440 –> 00:41:32,120
others looking was the Shekinah
light itself moving up the

672
00:41:32,120 –> 00:41:36,200
staircase one step at a time, so
that the shadow moved and the

673
00:41:36,200 –> 00:41:39,720
shadow retreated up the stairs.
It had to be that way, didn’t

674
00:41:39,720 –> 00:41:40,840
it?
Because if the shadow had gone

675
00:41:40,840 –> 00:41:44,600
down the steps, the sign had to
be in the same sense of the

676
00:41:44,600 –> 00:41:49,640
shadow going up the stairs.
And that’s what the Septuagint

677
00:41:49,640 –> 00:41:53,720
says, The Septuagint says.
So the sun reascended the 10

678
00:41:53,720 –> 00:41:55,520
steps by which the shadow had
gone down.

679
00:41:55,520 –> 00:41:58,400
I think that’s exactly what
happened, except I don’t think

680
00:41:58,400 –> 00:42:00,040
it was the sun that ascended the
steps.

681
00:42:00,040 –> 00:42:03,000
Mother and sisters, I think it
was an Angel that trod their

682
00:42:03,000 –> 00:42:05,400
treads as he walked up the
stairs.

683
00:42:05,680 –> 00:42:08,600
And the shadow, step by step,
retreated before the Shekinah

684
00:42:08,600 –> 00:42:11,840
glory, which was a brilliance
more powerful than the sun,

685
00:42:11,840 –> 00:42:13,920
which had cast the shadow to
start with.

686
00:42:18,000 –> 00:42:21,680
What do you think the king
thought as he saw the shadow

687
00:42:21,680 –> 00:42:25,600
moving?
It was a visual graphic display

688
00:42:25,600 –> 00:42:29,320
of his recovery.
He watched the shadow as seen

689
00:42:29,320 –> 00:42:33,280
the stairs and was not a little
comforted.

690
00:42:35,320 –> 00:42:37,960
And there’s another interesting
thought here, because you see in

691
00:42:37,960 –> 00:42:38,960
the second.
Of the Kings.

692
00:42:39,360 –> 00:42:42,160
When Hezekiah had asked for the
sign, he said this.

693
00:42:42,200 –> 00:42:45,080
What shall be the sign?
That I will go up to the House

694
00:42:45,080 –> 00:42:47,840
of Yahweh?
And the word is, go up Allah.

695
00:42:49,360 –> 00:42:54,320
But it so happened that between
the King’s palace and the House

696
00:42:54,320 –> 00:42:58,120
of Yahweh there was a set of
steps.

697
00:42:58,960 –> 00:43:01,800
Now hold your hand in Isaiah 38
and come back to the Second of

698
00:43:01,800 –> 00:43:05,520
Chronicles Chapter 9, because in
the Second of Chronicles Chapter

699
00:43:05,520 –> 00:43:09,280
9.
We’ve got a reference to those

700
00:43:09,280 –> 00:43:12,040
steps.
This is the visit of the queen

701
00:43:12,040 –> 00:43:16,400
of Sheba to Solomon, and we’re
told this in Second Chronicles

702
00:43:16,400 –> 00:43:18,880
9.
Perhaps reading from verse 3 for

703
00:43:18,880 –> 00:43:24,840
connection.
Second Chronicles 9 verse 3,

704
00:43:24,840 –> 00:43:27,400
when the Queen of Sheba had seen
the wisdom of Solomon.

705
00:43:27,400 –> 00:43:29,640
And the house that he had built,
and the meat of his tabled, and

706
00:43:29,640 –> 00:43:32,120
the sitting of his servants, and
the attendance of his ministers

707
00:43:32,120 –> 00:43:34,960
and their apparel, and his
cupbearers and their apparel,

708
00:43:35,280 –> 00:43:40,440
and.
His ascent by which he went up

709
00:43:42,160 –> 00:43:46,160
into the House of Yahweh.
So there was a special staircase

710
00:43:46,160 –> 00:43:49,200
between the King’s palace and
the Temple Mount, which was for

711
00:43:49,200 –> 00:43:51,720
the exclusive use of the king
and going up to the House of

712
00:43:51,720 –> 00:43:53,800
God.
And that phrase, his ascent

713
00:43:53,960 –> 00:43:57,280
aliyah, by which he went up
Allah.

714
00:43:57,640 –> 00:44:00,360
Uses words formed from the same
root.

715
00:44:00,360 –> 00:44:04,200
Is Ma Allah the staircase or the
degrees?

716
00:44:04,600 –> 00:44:07,120
And that staircase built in
Solomon’s time would have been

717
00:44:07,120 –> 00:44:08,840
used by all the kings that
followed.

718
00:44:09,080 –> 00:44:13,800
They have their own private
entrance into the temple courts.

719
00:44:15,200 –> 00:44:18,640
Hezekiah had asked for a sign
that he would again be permitted

720
00:44:18,640 –> 00:44:21,000
to ascend those stairs.
And the sign of the shadow

721
00:44:21,000 –> 00:44:24,000
climbing the steps was the
perfect answer that he would.

722
00:44:26,560 –> 00:44:27,960
So verse 8 says at the end of
the.

723
00:44:27,960 –> 00:44:32,320
Verse.
So the sun returned 10°, by

724
00:44:32,320 –> 00:44:39,120
which degrees it was gone down,
and since the sign was visible

725
00:44:39,120 –> 00:44:46,360
to the king on his sick bed
through a window in the royal

726
00:44:46,360 –> 00:44:49,920
bedchamber.
Perhaps the very staircase on

727
00:44:49,920 –> 00:44:53,040
which the miracle was performed
was the steps that he would

728
00:44:53,040 –> 00:44:55,680
climb in just a few days to
visit the House of God where he

729
00:44:55,680 –> 00:44:58,400
worshipped and served.
And now perhaps we know why the

730
00:44:58,400 –> 00:45:02,640
whole story was to revolve
around the sign of the shadow on

731
00:45:02,640 –> 00:45:06,840
the stairs.
So he was a moment in his

732
00:45:07,040 –> 00:45:09,440
Hezekiah’s life.
And in the moment of his crisis,

733
00:45:09,440 –> 00:45:12,120
when he was taken from the
depths of despair to the heights

734
00:45:12,120 –> 00:45:16,320
of happiness, he tasted an
indescribable sense of relief

735
00:45:16,480 –> 00:45:19,320
and joy that must have filled
him with wonder at the ways of

736
00:45:19,320 –> 00:45:20,880
God.
But he learned a lesson as well.

737
00:45:20,880 –> 00:45:25,080
And there was a lesson for.
Us, and He is the lesson for us

738
00:45:25,880 –> 00:45:31,400
in terms of how we might go
about facing moments of crisis.

739
00:45:34,000 –> 00:45:37,160
And the lesson from our
consideration this morning is

740
00:45:39,640 –> 00:45:49,000
learning to reveal the spirit of
resignation before our God when

741
00:45:49,000 –> 00:45:52,360
such things come upon us.
Do you remember the spirit of

742
00:45:52,360 –> 00:45:56,800
Job when a series of
catastrophes rained down upon

743
00:45:56,800 –> 00:46:00,200
him and left him disconsolate?
Job 121 And what was the

744
00:46:00,200 –> 00:46:02,360
response of the King?
Where was his focus?

745
00:46:02,840 –> 00:46:09,360
Yahweh gave, Yahweh hath taken.
Blessed be the name of Yahweh,

746
00:46:11,080 –> 00:46:15,640
He surrendered completely to the
sovereign will of God.

747
00:46:17,280 –> 00:46:20,840
He remained resolute in
declaring God’s supremacy.

748
00:46:21,040 –> 00:46:23,080
That’s the spirit of
resignation.

749
00:46:23,440 –> 00:46:26,880
Do.
You remember when David fled

750
00:46:26,880 –> 00:46:29,880
from Jerusalem as Absalom’s
rebellion threatened to

751
00:46:29,920 –> 00:46:33,280
overwhelm his reign.
And these were his words in the

752
00:46:33,280 –> 00:46:37,240
second of Samuel chapter 15 and
verses 25 and 26.

753
00:46:37,480 –> 00:46:41,640
David prayed with these words
when he said, I, If I find

754
00:46:41,640 –> 00:46:43,560
favour, he God will bring me
again.

755
00:46:43,560 –> 00:46:46,720
But if he say, I have no delight
in the Behold, here am I, Let

756
00:46:46,720 –> 00:46:48,640
him do to me, as seemeth good
unto him.

757
00:46:49,400 –> 00:46:52,080
You see, it brings you to tears
to see David’s despair on this

758
00:46:52,080 –> 00:46:54,440
occasion as his own son rebelled
against him.

759
00:46:54,600 –> 00:47:04,000
But where was David’s focus?
Let him do to me as seemeth good

760
00:47:04,000 –> 00:47:08,840
to him.
He left his destiny in the hands

761
00:47:08,840 –> 00:47:13,880
of his God, and he did so in the
spirit of complete submission to

762
00:47:13,880 –> 00:47:15,800
his will.
That’s the spirit of

763
00:47:15,800 –> 00:47:19,520
resignation.
Paul wrote these words in second

764
00:47:19,520 –> 00:47:21,360
of Timothy, chapter one, verse
12.

765
00:47:21,680 –> 00:47:24,600
I know whom I have believed, and
I’m persuaded that he’s able to

766
00:47:24,600 –> 00:47:26,400
keep that which I’ve committed
unto him.

767
00:47:26,640 –> 00:47:28,520
But the full verse reads as
follows.

768
00:47:28,840 –> 00:47:32,160
For the which ’cause I also
suffer these things.

769
00:47:32,720 –> 00:47:37,000
Nevertheless I’m not ashamed.
For I know whom I’ve believed,

770
00:47:37,120 –> 00:47:39,920
and I’m persuaded that he’s able
to keep that which I have

771
00:47:39,920 –> 00:47:41,600
committed unto him against that
day.

772
00:47:41,720 –> 00:47:43,560
You see, Paul was under
suffering when he wrote these

773
00:47:43,560 –> 00:47:45,200
words.
But what was his focus?

774
00:47:45,280 –> 00:47:48,520
His focus was.
That he truly believed in God’s

775
00:47:48,520 –> 00:47:51,560
power to watch over him through
to the day of judgement,

776
00:47:51,600 –> 00:47:54,320
whatever might happen to him.
That that which he committed

777
00:47:54,320 –> 00:47:58,120
unto God was his spirit, just as
our Lord Jesus Christ head.

778
00:47:59,840 –> 00:48:01,440
That’s the spirit of
resignation.

779
00:48:04,600 –> 00:48:11,280
And now look at the spirit of
Hezekiah in our story today he

780
00:48:11,280 –> 00:48:14,080
says, Remember now, O Yahweh, I
beseech thee, how I’ve walked

781
00:48:14,080 –> 00:48:16,480
before thee in truth, with a
perfect heart, done that which

782
00:48:16,480 –> 00:48:17,400
is good.
And I sight.

783
00:48:17,400 –> 00:48:24,200
You can feel his Akar’s anguish,
you can almost touch the witness

784
00:48:24,200 –> 00:48:27,240
of his tears, but where’s his
focus?

785
00:48:28,880 –> 00:48:30,960
Remember now, O Yahweh, I
beseech thee, I’ve walked before

786
00:48:30,960 –> 00:48:36,520
thee, I’ve walked before thee.
I’ve done good in thy sight.

787
00:48:37,080 –> 00:48:40,080
And what his Akar was really
saying is, I am your man.

788
00:48:41,720 –> 00:48:47,440
I always have been.
So I resign my life into your

789
00:48:47,440 –> 00:48:50,960
keeping, and I commit myself
unto you as the arbiter of my

790
00:48:50,960 –> 00:48:54,200
ultimate destiny.
There’s nothing more I can do

791
00:48:54,360 –> 00:48:56,840
but to plead that thou wilt
Remember Me in the day of

792
00:48:56,840 –> 00:48:58,360
account.
That’s the spirit of

793
00:48:58,360 –> 00:49:03,040
resignation.
It’s that moment, brothers and

794
00:49:03,040 –> 00:49:07,400
sisters, when we finally
surrender to the will of God and

795
00:49:07,400 –> 00:49:14,280
leave our crises in His hands.
It’s when we ask Him to work a

796
00:49:14,280 –> 00:49:19,040
work which we cannot accomplish,
and to take control of those

797
00:49:19,040 –> 00:49:22,640
things that lie beyond our
control.

798
00:49:24,600 –> 00:49:26,880
And that’s the spirit of
resignation, that it’s one of

799
00:49:26,880 –> 00:49:32,720
the greatest lessons for how
best we might face the trials in

800
00:49:32,720 –> 00:49:37,720
the crises of life.
As it says in one of our hymns,

801
00:49:39,840 –> 00:49:46,520
Lord, uphold me day by day.
Shed a light upon my way.

802
00:49:47,840 –> 00:49:50,280
Guide me through perplexing
snares.

803
00:49:50,280 –> 00:49:56,360
Care for me in all my cares.
Should thy wisdom, Lord, decree

804
00:49:56,360 –> 00:50:03,480
trials long and sharp for me.
Pain or sorrow, care or shame,

805
00:50:05,120 –> 00:50:09,360
Father glorified thy name.