The Book of Isaiah

Chapter 1 V.1 Part 5.14

Isa 37:33  Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.

Isa 37:34  By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.

Isa 37:35  For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.

Isa 37:36  Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they [were] all dead corpses.

Isa 37:37  So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

If this wasn’t a sign to Sennacherib of the power of God, I don’t know what could have been. It was enough to make him leave. And note where he dwelt…Nineveh. This was a capital city of the Assyrians.  I did not know that this was an Assyrian city. This gives me an understanding of the attitude of Jonah that we see in later books.

 Isa 37:38  And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

Nisroch = “the great eagle”

1) an idol of Nineveh worshipped by Sennacherib; symbolised by the eagle-headed human figure

Adrammelech = “honour of the king”
           or “Adar is prince”
           or “Adar is Counsellor, Decider”

1) an idol or god of the Sepharvites, introduced to Israel by Shalmaneser the fifth

2) the son and murderer of Sennacherib

Sharezer or Sherezer = “prince of fire”

1) son of king Sennacherib of Assyria and murderer of his father

Armenia: Ararat = “the curse reversed: precipitation of curse”

1) a mountainous region of eastern Armenia, between the river Araxes and the lakes Van and Oroomiah, the site where Noah’s ark came to rest

2) (TWOT) the mountain where Noah’s ark came to rest

Esarhaddon = “Ashur has given a brother”

1) king of Assyria in the seventh-century BC

It’s funny to me how this same king Sennacherib could say to Hezekiah that the Lord had told him to come against them; how he could acknowledge God, then return to worship a man-made idol resembling an eagle. Perhaps this eagle represented this king’s desire to ascend above the Lord.

It’s also interesting that he was murdered by his own sons in “the curse reversed” or Armenia.

The Book of Isaiah

Chapter 1 V.1 Recap

Isa 1:1 

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Remember the meanings of these names?

Isaiah: salvation of the Lord, Jehovah has saved or God is salvation.

Amoz = “strong”

Judah = “praised”

Jerusalem = “teaching of peace”

Uzziah: A contracted form of Azari’ah the Lord is my strength.

Jotham: Jehovah is perfect.

Ahaz: possessor. The son and successor of Jotham, king of Judah

Hezekiah: “Jehovah is my strength;” son of Ahaz, king of Judah.

Isa 1:1 

THE vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

The vision of “salvation of the Lord,” the son of “strong,” which he saw concerning “praised” and “teaching of peace” in the days of “the Lord is my strength,” “Jehovah is perfect,” “possessor,” and “Jehovah is my strength,” kings of “praised.”

It appears that this is a vision for one family. This family operated in a spirit of pride and arrogance and it was generational. So this vision was for this family of kings who failed to not only walk in faith, but most of whom refused to tear down the idols, and instead tried to compromise with things and people that are not of God.

So at last we get to the next section is the start of what that vision was.

The Book of Isaiah

Chapter 1 V.1 Part 5.13

Isa 37:21  Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria:

Isa 37:22  This [is] the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, [and] laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.

Isa 37:23  Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted [thy] voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? [even] against the Holy One of Israel.

This first part of the Lord’s response to Hezekiah confirms that he is in right standing with God, and that it was God that Sennacherib was coming against.

Isa 37:24  By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, [and] the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, [and] the forest of his Carmel.

Some similar words to reproached are to taunt, blaspheme, defy, jeopardise, rail, and upbraid. By the multitude of my chariots….this strikes a blazing similarity to the theology America has held to for so long; “Might makes right.” And there’s that phrase that Lucifer used so many times to his undoing… “I will…”

Lebanon = “whiteness”

Carmel = “garden-land”

Isa 37:25  I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.

This is indicative of the king of Assyria destroying hope. This is the reason why Hezekiah said he would not allow him to take the water.

Isa 37:26  Hast thou not heard long ago, [how] I have done it; [and] of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities [into] ruinous heaps.

Isa 37:27  Therefore their inhabitants [were] of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were [as] the grass of the field, and [as] the green herb, [as] the grass on the housetops, and [as corn] blasted before it be grown up.

Here, God says that he gave them the power they had, which they used to destroy these smaller nations.

Isa 37:28  But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

Isa 37:29  Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.

Tumult: 1) at ease, quiet, secure

a) at ease, secure

b) at ease, careless, wanton, arrogant

   2) security, pride, arrogance

a) one at ease

b) arrogance

Isa 37:30  And this [shall be] a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat [this] year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.

Isa 37:31  And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:

Isa 37:32  For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.

This sign was for Hezekiah. At this point, God had allowed these Assyrian kings to defeat many fortified cities. Many of the tribes had been taken captive. Here, prophesy is given, and it is sealed in the number 3, as in the number of years for the sign God would give and that there would be a remnant in the future of survivors.

The captivity of the people of Israel was forthcoming because of their sins and disobedience prior to Hezekiah’s time, therefore a prophesy is given towards that fact. However, it would not happen at that moment because of the faithfulness of Hezekiah.

The Book of Isaiah

Chapter 1 V.1 Part 5.12

Isa 37:6  And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

Isa 37:7  Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

Right here we see God’s protective nature towards His own becoming visible. He says that the king of Assyria did not speak against Hezekiah, but instead against God, and has blasphemed Him. Therefore, the fight has become God’s and He will address it. Clearly Hezekiah understood this, and his own position here, because he did not attempt to do anything other than what Isaiah instructed him, per the Lord.

Isa 37:8  So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.

Isa 37:9  And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard [it], he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

Isa 37:10  Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

Isa 37:11  Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?

Isa 37:12  Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, [as] Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which [were] in Telassar?

Gozan = “a cutting off”

1) the Mesopotamian city on or near the middle of the Euphrates where exiled Israelites were settled

Haran = “mountaineer”

2) the city to which Abraham migrated when he left Ur of the Chaldees and where he stayed until his father died before leaving for the promised land; located in Mesopotamia in Padan-aram at the foot of Mount Masius between the Khabour and the Euphrates

Rezeph = “a hot stone”

Eden = “pleasure”

Telassar or Thelasar = “Assyrian hill”

Isa 37:13  Where [is] the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?

Hamath = “fortress”

1) the principle city of upper Syria in the valley of the Orontes

Arpad or Arphad = “I shall be spread out (or supported)”

Sepharvaim = “the two Sipparas”

1) a city in Syria conquered by the king of Assyria

a) perhaps near the modern ‘Mosaib’ and on the Euphrates above Babylon

Hena = “troubling”

1) a city in Mesopotamia which the Assyrian kings reduced shortly before the time of Sennacherib; site unknown

Ava or Ivah = “ruin”

Isa 37:14  And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.

What I like here is the fact that Hezekiah took the offensive letter, went to the house of the Lord, and spread it before Him. That’s the act of placing something upon the altar, or giving it to God.

Isa 37:15  And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,

Isa 37:16  O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest [between] the cherubims, thou [art] the God, [even] thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.

Isa 37:17  Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.

Isa 37:18  Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,

Isa 37:19  And have cast their gods into the fire: for they [were] no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.

Isa 37:20  Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou [art] the LORD, [even] thou only.

Now I’m looking at this prayer and I see a few things that may be indicative of a pattern of victorious prayer.

1. He identifies God; speaks of His reign and power and position as Lord over all – He praises God.
2. He requests that God listens to and hears as well as opens His eyes to see what this pagan king has said against God. So he’s not praying about his own shame or embarrassment here, but is saying that this king had the nerve to speak thus against the living God.
3. Then he mentions what the kings of Assyria have done against the works of man.
4. Lastly he requests that the Lord rescue them so that His name would be glorified in all the earth.

What I see is a totally unselfish prayer. He never once mentioned any of the works that he himself had done, in tearing down the high places and re-establishing worship at the temple unto God as a justification for why God should rescue them. It is also obvious that he was in right standing with God, because he did not have to ask for God’s protection despite the failing of the people to give God proper respect and honor and to serve Him alone.

His entire focus was on the fact that by attacking them, this king was, in fact, rising up against, and attacking God, and therefore, he must be put down, because of God’s glory, which must be evident throughout the earth. It doesn’t matter the number of times these kings rose up against other nations, but when they rise up against God’s own, they rise up against God, and therefore, they must be destroyed.

The Book of Isaiah

Chapter 1 V.1 Part 5.11

I’m back in 2 Ki 18, as this story is recorded there as well as Chr. 32: 1-15, 30; and Isa 36:2-10.  So let’s look at it here in 2 Ki 18.

2Ki 18:19  And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence [is] this wherein thou trustest?

2Ki 18:20  Thou sayest, (but [they are but] vain words,) [I have] counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?

2Ki 18:21  Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, [even] upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so [is] Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.

2Ki 18:22  But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: [is] not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

2Ki 18:23  Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

2Ki 18:24  How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

What got my attention was the next verse.

2Ki 18:25  Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.

Now, I gotta say, that if I was one of the people…one of the Jews in Hezekiah’s kingdom, that statement might make me question things or rethink, particularly if Hezekiah had not already been standing for the Lord. If not for the fact that Hezekiah had prepared the people, and had strengthened them…they would have been shaken. Since I put most of what the king of Assyria’s message was already, I’m just jumping to the people’s reaction.

2Ki 18:36  But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

2Ki 18:37  Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which [was] over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with [their] clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

This story continues in chpt 19, but also in Isaiah 37, so I’m going to go there. Here is Hezekiah’s reaction.

Isa 37:1  And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard [it], that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.

Isa 37:2  And he sent Eliakim, who [was] over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

Eliakim = “God raises” or “God sets up”

Shebna = “vigour”

Isaiah or Jesaiah or Jeshaiah = “Jehovah has saved”

Amoz = “strong”

Isa 37:3  And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day [is] a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and [there is] not strength to bring forth.

Isa 37:4  It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up [thy] prayer for the remnant that is left.

Isa 37:5  So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

Now, not only did Hezekiah build up the people and exhibit faith, but sometimes we can burn out giving or feeding faith into others and we need to be refreshed and built back up ourselves.

The Book of Isaiah

Chapter 1 V.1 Part 5.10

So now, the test kicks into high gear. Here comes the attack…a “second” invasion. Be mindful that the first attack came after the watch tower was captured, despite the city being fortified. This second attack is after a transition or change of mindset, and a building up and strengthening has occurred.

2Ch 32:9  After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he [himself laid siege] against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that [were] at Jerusalem, saying,

Notice that he himself laid siege against “invincible.”

2Ch 32:10  Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem?

2Ch 32:11  Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

2Ch 32:12  Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?

2Ch 32:13  Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of [other] lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand?

2Ch 32:14  Who [was there] among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand?

2Ch 32:15  Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?

This sounds like the typical fear attack of the enemy. First, he’s got to attack our foundation and our faith, just like Satan did against Job. He went after his herds and flocks. He couldn’t strike him or his family until the hedge was removed, and the herds and flocks were destroyed.

2Ch 32:16  And his servants spake yet [more] against the LORD God, and against his servant Hezekiah.

2Ch 32:17  He wrote also letters to rail on the LORD God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of [other] lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand.

2Ch 32:18  Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ speech unto the people of Jerusalem that [were] on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city.

2Ch 32:19  And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, [which were] the work of the hands of man.

Then they attack with the terrible threesome of fear against…Vision: lust of the eyes: v 11; faith: lust of the flesh: v 12; spirit: pride of life: v 15-19. This is the standard of all of the enemy’s attacks.

And note how much talking was going on. Why? “Let him who hath an ear hear…” And what are you going to listen to? Is it what thus saith the Lord, or whatever anyone else says? Are you shored up? Are you built up in the word? Cause see, when the attack comes…you have to be prepared, because they didn’t stop talking after the first bit of discouragement. They continued their talk, they wrote letters; they even spoke and screeched in the Jews language.

This is a determined enemy, and they will do their utmost to discourage you, because once they can break your will, the rest is easy. They will overrun you without bars because your defenses will be down and you will be broken. This attack will work if you haven’t built up and repaired the broken places/walls…if you haven’t cut off the water/stopped listening to everyone but God and encourage yourself in Him and (the water of) His word. It will work if you haven’t strengthened yourself and build up weapons in abundance. We have to be prepared.

The Book of Isaiah

Chapter 1 V.1 Part 5.9

Now we are back to this point that shows us why Hezekiah is dealing with this situation. It is evident that this is a test. In other words, it’s like Sennacherib = “Sin multiplied brothers” came to “Jehovah is my strength” king of “praised” and said, I don’t believe you. I don’t believe Jehovah is your strength, or that you are the king of “praised.”  Me and my “multiplied brothers of sin” have come to challenge you and your “strength.” Now I want to view that invasion from 2 Chronicles.

2Ch 32:1  After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself.

2Ch 32:2  And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem,

Jerusalem = “teaching of peace”

2Ch 32:3  He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which [were] without the city: and they did help him.

Waters

1) water, waters

a) water

b) water of the feet, urine

c) of danger, violence, transitory things, refreshment (fig.)

When I looked up the word transition, I found: the passage from one place or state to another, change. Transitory means lasting only a short time.

Fountains

1) eye

a) eye

1) of physical eye

2) as showing mental qualities

3) of mental and spiritual faculties (fig.)

2) spring, fountain

City

1) excitement, anguish

a) of terror

2) city, town (a place of waking, guarded)

a) city, town

So what I see here is that Hezekiah stopped the waters of the fountains without the city in order to prevent the passage or change in the mindset of those outside of excitement, anguish or terror; in other words…this was an effort to proclaim: “Trouble don’t last always.”

2Ch 32:4  So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?

2Ch 32:5  Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken, and raised [it] up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired Millo [in] the city of David, and made darts and shields in abundance.

So Hezekiah stopped doubt and at the same time, strengthened himself, and built up broken areas, and invested in weapons in abundance. It sounds to me like he was getting filled with the word.

2Ch 32:6  And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spake comfortably to them, saying,

2Ch 32:7  Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that [is] with him: for [there be] more with us than with him:

2Ch 32:8  With him [is] an arm of flesh; but with us [is] the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

The Fifteen “Songs of Degrees”:

Fifteen years were added to the life of Hezekiah. In the restoration of the second temple by Herod fifteen steps led from the Court of the Women to the Court of Israel, and on these steps the Levites during the Feast of Tabernacles were accustomed to stand in order to sing the fifteen “songs of degrees” (Pss 120-134). At the head of these same steps in the gateway, lepers who had been cleansed from their disease presented themselves to the priests. It has been suggested that Hezekiah himself was the compiler of these fifteen “songs of the steps,” in thankfulness for his fifteen years of added life. Five of them are ascribed to David or as written for Solomon, but the remaining ten bear no author’s name. Their subjects are, however, most appropriate to the great crises and desires of Hezekiah’s life. His great Passover, to which all the tribes were invited, and so many Israelites came; the blasphemy of Rabshakeh and of Sennacherib’s threatening letter; the danger of the Assyrian invasion and the deliverance from it; Hezekiah’s sickness unto death and his miraculous restoration to health; and the fact that at that time he would seem to have had no son to follow him on the throne—all these subjects seem to find fitting expression in the fifteen Psalms of the Steps.

The Book of Isaiah

Chapter 1 V.1 Part 5.8

Hezekiah’s Choice of the Sign:

We can therefore understand the nature of the choice of the sign that was offered by the prophet to the dying king. Would he choose that ten more steps should be straight- way engulfed in the shadow, or that ten steps already shadowed should be brought back into the light? Either might serve as a sign that he should arise on the third day and go up in renewed life to the house of the Lord; but the one sign would be in accordance with the natural progress of events, and the other would be directly opposed to it. It would be a light thing, as Hezekiah said, for the shadow to go forward ten steps; a bank of cloud rising behind the Temple would effect that change. But no disposition of cloud could bring the shadow back from that part of the staircase which had already passed into it, and restore it to the sunshine. The first change was, in human estimation, easily possible, “a light thing”; the second change seemed impossible. Hezekiah chose the seemingly impossible, and the Lord gave the sign and answered his prayer. We need not ask whether the king showed more or less faith in choosing the “impossible” rather than the “possible” sign. His father Ahaz had shown his want of faith by refusing to put the Lord to the test, by refusing to ask a sign, whether in the heaven above or in the earth beneath. The faith of Hezekiah was shown in asking a sign, which was at once in the heaven above and in the earth beneath, in accepting the choice offered to him, and so putting the Lord to the test. And the sign chosen was most fitting, Hezekiah lay dying, whether of plague or of cancer we do not know, but his disease was mortal and beyond cure; he was already entering into the shadow of death. The word of the Lord was sure to him; on “the third day” he would rise and go up in new life to the house of God.

It’s interesting that that this perspective is one of “putting the Lord to the test by asking for a sign.” From what we saw earlier of Ahaz, I don’t think he was in the position to “put God to the test.” He did not follow God, so I think that is the difference here. For him, Ahaz to ask for a sign would have been reminiscent of Mat 12:39-41 that I mentioned two posts ago. 

Isa 38:9  The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:

Isa 38:10  I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.

Isa 38:11  I said, I shall not see the LORD, [even] the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.

Isa 38:12  Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day [even] to night wilt thou make an end of me.

1) tent

a) nomad’s tent, and thus symbolic of wilderness life, transience

b) dwelling, home, habitation

c) the sacred tent of Jehovah (the tabernacle)

Isa 38:13  I reckoned till morning, [that], as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day [even] to night wilt thou make an end of me.

Isa 38:14  Like a crane [or] a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail [with looking] upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.

Here, he recognizes God’s purpose in the sickness.

Isa 38:15  What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done [it]: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.

Isa 38:16  O Lord, by these [things men] live, and in all these [things is] the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.

Isa 38:17  Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul [delivered it] from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

This sickness’ purpose was to deliver his soul, so that God’s name would be praised and glorified.

Isa 38:18  For the grave cannot praise thee, death can [not] celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

Isa 38:19  The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I [do] this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

Isa 38:20  The LORD [was ready] to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.

Isa 38:21  For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay [it] for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.

Isa 38:22  Hezekiah also had said, What [is] the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?

2Ch 32:27  And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour: and he made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels;

2Ch 32:28  Storehouses also for the increase of corn, and wine, and oil; and stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks.

2Ch 32:29  Moreover he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance: for God had given him substance very much.

2Ch 32:30  This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.

2Ch 32:31  Howbeit in [the business of] the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was [done] in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all [that was] in his heart.

The Book of Isaiah

Chapter 1 V.1 Part 5.7

One of the most striking instances recorded in Holy Scripture of the interruption, or rather reversal, of the working of a natural law; is the going back of the shadow on the dial of Ahaz at the time of Hezekiah’s recovery from his illness. The record of the incident is as follows. Isaiah was sent to Hezekiah in his sickness, to say:

“Thus saith Yahweh, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee; on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of Yahweh. …. And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I shall go up unto the house of Yahweh the third day? And Isaiah said, This shall be the sign unto thee from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps? And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to decline ten steps: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten steps. And Isaiah the prophet cried unto Yahweh; and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz” (2Ki 20:5-11). And in Isa 38:8, it is said, “Behold, I will cause the shadow on the steps, which is gone down on the dial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps. So the sun returned ten steps on the dial whereon it was gone down.”

The Sign a Real Miracle:

The first and essential point to be noted is that this was no ordinary astronomical phenomenon, nor was it the result of ordinary astronomical laws then unknown. It was peculiar to that particular place, and to that particular time; otherwise we should not read of “the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent …. to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land” (2Ch 32:31). It is impossible, therefore, to accept the suggestion that the dial of Ahaz may have been improperly constructed, so as to produce a reversal of the motion of the shadow at certain times. For such a maladjustment would have occasioned the repetition of the phenomenon every time the sun returned to the same position with respect to the dial. The narrative, in fact, informs us that the occurrence was not due to any natural law, known or unknown, since Hezekiah was given the choice and exercised it of his own free will, as to whether a shadow should move in a particular direction or in the opposite. But there are no alternative results in the working of a natural law. “If a state of things is repeated in every detail, it must lead to exactly the same consequences.” The same natural law cannot indifferently produce one result, or its opposite. The movement of the shadow on the dial of Ahaz was, therefore, a miracle in the strict sense of the term. It cannot be explained by the working of any astronomical law, known or unknown. We have no information as to the astronomical conditions at the time; we can only inquire into the setting of the miracle.

Time of Day of the Miracle:

At certain times of the day the shadow of some object fell upon this staircase, and we learn from both 2Ki and Isa that this shadow had already gone down ten steps, while from Isa we learn in addition that the sun also was going down. The miracle therefore took place in the afternoon, when the sun moves on its downward course, and when all shadows are thrown in an easterly direction. We are not told what was the object that cast the shadow, but it must have stood to the west of the staircase, and the top of the staircase must have passed into the shadow first, and the foot of the staircase have remained longest in the light. The royal palace is understood to have been placed southeast of the Temple, and it is therefore probable that it was some part of the Temple buildings that had cast its shadow down the stairway in full view of the dying king, as he lay in his chamber. If the afternoon were well advanced the sun would be moving rapidly in altitude, and but little in azimuth; or, in other words, the shadow would be advancing down the steps at its quickest rate, but be moving only slowly toward the left of those who were mounting them. It may well have been the case, therefore, that the time had come when the priests from Ophel, and the officials and courtiers from the palace, were going up the ascent into the house of the Lord to be present at the evening sacrifice; passing from the bright sunshine at the foot of the stairs into the shadow that had already fallen upon the upper steps. The sun would be going straight down behind the buildings and the steps already in shadow would sink into deeper shadow, not to emerge again into the light until a new day’s sun had arisen upon the earth.

The Book of Isaiah

Chapter 1 V.1 Part 5.6

Isa 38:4  Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying,

Isa 38:5  Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.

The book of 2 Kings gives more of a description of this conversation.

2Ki 20:4  And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,

2Ki 20:5  Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.

There’s the first sign; the number 3.

2Ki 20:6  And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.

2Ki 20:7  And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid [it] on the boil, and he recovered.

2Ki 20:8  And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What [shall be] the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day?

What I question is why did Hezekiah ask what the sign of this healing would be? Was it that he was asking when it would take place? Because surely being healed would be evidence itself. And too, wasn’t he just healed of a boil? But he still wasn’t convinced? This reminds me of another scripture:

Mat 12:39  But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

Mat 12:40  For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Mat 12:41  The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas [is] here.

And here we see the number three again. It’s everywhere, but no one seems to realize it. And look who will arise in judgment. We will see this name mentioned again later.

2Ki 20:8  And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What [shall be] the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day?

2Ki 20:9  And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?

2Ki 20:10  And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.

2Ki 20:11  And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.

Dial: for the measurement of time, only once mentioned in the Bible, erected by Ahaz (2Ki 20:11; Isa 38:8). The Hebrew word (ma’aloth) is rendered “steps” in Exd 20:26, 1Ki 10:19, and “degrees” in 2Ki 20:9, 10, 11. The _ma’aloth_ was probably stairs on which the shadow of a column or obelisk placed on the top fell. The shadow would cover a greater or smaller number of steps, according as the sun was low or high.

Probably the sun-dial was a Babylonian invention. Daniel at Babylon (Dan 3:6) is the first to make mention of the “hour.”

The Book of Isaiah

Chapter 1 V.1 Part 5.5

Now perhaps this attitude of nonchalance had to do with pride. I see evidence of this later, so this is what draws me to that conclusion. Hezekiah, it seems, did not want to admit that he had messed up by revealing the wealth of his kingdom to the foreigners from Babylon. There are three accounts of what happened next.

2Ch 32:24  In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death, and prayed unto the LORD: and he spake unto him, and he gave him a sign.

This verse is like an overview of the situation.

 2Ki 20:1  In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.

Isa 38:2  Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,

Isa 38:3  And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done [that which is] good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

Perfect:

1) complete, safe, peaceful, perfect, whole, full, at peace

a) complete

1) full, perfect

2) finished

b) safe, unharmed

c) peace (of covenant of peace, mind)

1) perfect, complete (of keeping covenant relation)

This was the error of Hezekiah. He claimed this perfection, and it was not so.

Sore:

1) great

a) large (in magnitude and extent)

b) in number

c) in intensity

d) loud (in sound)

e) older (in age)

f) in importance

1) important things

2) great, distinguished (of men)

3) God Himself (of God)

g) great things

h) haughty things

i) greatness

In another translation, the NIV, the word sore is replaced with “bitterly.” So Hezekiah did have pride. He felt that he should not be cut down so soon, “after all he had done” for God. It was that same pride that caused him to open that door to the Babylonians and show off what he had accomplished.

2Ch 32:25  But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit [done] unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

Rendered:

1) to return, turn back

a) (Qal)

1) to turn back, return

a) to turn back

b) to return, come or go back

c) to return unto, go back, come back

d) of dying

e) of human relations (fig)

f) of spiritual relations (fig)

1) to turn back (from God), apostatise

2) to turn away (of God)

3) to turn back (to God), repent

4) turn back (from evil)

g) of inanimate things

h) in repetition

b) (Polel)

1) to bring back

2) to restore, refresh, repair (fig)

3) to lead away (enticingly)

4) to show turning, apostatise

c) (Pual) restored (participle)

d) (Hiphil) to cause to return, bring back

1) to bring back, allow to return, put back, draw back, give back, restore, relinquish, give in payment

2) to bring back, refresh, restore

3) to bring back, report to, answer

4) to bring back, make requital, pay (as recompense)

5) to turn back or backward, repel, defeat, repulse, hinder, reject, refuse

6) to turn away (face), turn toward

7) to turn against

8) to bring back to mind

9) to show a turning away

10) to reverse, revoke

e) (Hophal) to be returned, be restored, be brought back

f) (Pulal) brought back

Lifted up:

1) to be high, be exalted

a) (Qal)

1) to be high, lofty, tall

2) to be exalted

3) to be lofty

a) to be lofty (of Jehovah’s ways – good sense)

b) to be haughty, be arrogant (bad sense)

b) (Hiphil) to make high, exalt

2Ch 32:26  Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, [both] he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

So it is evident that pride can make one sick, as well as incur wrath on their house/kingdom, and that this can not only affect them, but the next generation.