It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment. - Hebrews 9:27
For the past 2 weeks we’ve been discussing the life and work of King Hezekiah. We’ve talked about his godly character, his religious reforms, and his reliance on God to deliver Judah from the hands of the Assyrians. In this morning’s message, we are going to wrap up our comments about Hezekiah with a look at the final years of his reign.
I. ILLNESS AND RECOVERY (2 Kings 20:1-11; 2 Chronicles 32:24-26)
Sometime after Sennacherib and the Assyrians departed from Judah, King Hezekiah became mortally ill. Isaiah the prophet came to visit him with the word of the LORD saying, “Get your house in order because you are going to die.” Hezekiah was devastated. He began weeping and prayed to God that he might somehow survive. The LORD told Isaiah, who had already left, to go back and tell Hezekiah that He had seen his tears and heard his prayer. God said that he would heal the king’s illness after all, add another 15 years to his life, and protect Jerusalem and Judah from the Assyrians.
Following the LORD’s command to Isaiah, Hezekiah’s servants took a cake of figs and laid it on the king’s sore. The treatment worked and he recovered. Hezekiah went up to the temple 3 days later, just as Isaiah had instructed him to, in order to thank God for cleansing his sickness and making him well.
Before he was healed, however, Hezekiah asked Isaiah for the LORD to show him a sign that he would live. Isaiah gave Hezekiah a choice. “Would you rather the sun jump forward or backward?” Hezekiah chose for it to move backward, so God supernaturally caused the sun to move back slightly in the sky as evidenced by its shadow going back 10 steps on the staircase of Ahaz which descended from the palace and the temple. Amazing!
According to 2 Chronicles, Hezekiah didn’t express much gratitude in the immediate aftermath of his remarkable healing. Instead, his heart became proud. When God’s wrath came upon him, he and his people humbled themselves. The LORD’s anger subsided and remained calm for the remainder of Hezekiah’s life.
This incident is 1 of 2 places in the Bible where God temporarily altered time. In this case, He actually caused the earth to rotate backwards just a bit so that the sun appeared to move backward in the sky! The other occasion was when God caused the earth to stop spinning for about a whole day, so that the sun stood still giving Joshua enough daylight to defeat the Amorites (Joshua 10:12-14).
II. SHOWS HIS TREASURES TO BABYLON (2 Kings 20:12-19; 2 Chronicles 32:27-31)
At that time, the king of Babylon sent messengers to Hezekiah with a “get well” letter and gift - he had heard that he was sick. When they arrived, Hezekiah took the Babylonians on a tour and showed them all of the spectacular treasures in his house and throughout his dominion. They were shown great amounts of gold, silver, spices, precious oils, and armor.
Later Isaiah prophesied that the Babylonians would someday come and take all of these valuables for themselves. This was the first prophetic warning of the fall of Judah, which would occur over 100 years later. When Isaiah revealed that this coming catastrophe wouldn’t take place during the reign of Hezekiah, the king dismissed it as something beyond his control.
Over the years, Hezekiah amassed great wealth and honor. Not only were his treasuries filled with all sorts of riches, but he also had vast storehouses of grain and abundant flocks of animals. Hezekiah even oversaw a major infrastructure project that routed waters into the city of Jerusalem, on its west side.
III. DEATH AND BURIAL (2 Kings 20:20-21; 2 Chronicles 32:32-33)
As mentioned earlier, after Hezekiah recovered from his severe illness he lived another 15 years. When he finally died, he was buried in Jerusalem. His body was laid to rest in the upper section of the king’s tombs, an indication of his noble and righteous character. All of the southern kingdom mourned his passing. His son Manasseh became king in his place.
CONCLUSION
Before we finish this morning, I want to take a quick peek ahead. The first verse of 2 Kings 21, which we will explore in depth next week, states that Manasseh was just 12 years old when he became king. This means that he was conceived and born after Hezekiah recovered from his mortal illness. This is interesting because, as we will discover, Manasseh was an evil and godless king who brought incredible misery to the people of Judah for most of his 55 year reign. It leads me to wonder if, perhaps, the southern kingdom would have been better off in the long run if Hezekiah would have died when God originally stated so that Manasseh would have never been born.
On the other hand, seeing that the throne almost almost always passed to the eldest son, presumably Manasseh, this would strongly suggest that Hezekiah didn’t have any sons before becoming mortally ill. If so and he would have died, the royal line of David would have ended and the Davidic Covenant would have been broken. Thus, the extension of Hezekiah’s life may have been necessary in order to maintain God’s promise. Of course, God in His foreknowledge already knew all of this and acted in accordance with His sovereign will (Job 14:5).
Regardless, this story always causes me to think about the timing of our deaths. Is it always better to live longer? Whenever someone is mortally ill, it can be difficult to know how to pray. There is a big difference between preserving life and prolonging death. These decisions are not always black and white, and in many cases, are a matter of individual conscience. I am going to speak freely for a moment, so forgive me if I offend anyone. I am speaking only for myself, so feel free to disagree with me…
As a Christian, I know where I will spend eternity - and it's a far more wonderful place than here on this fallen earth. So if I become “mortally” ill, I doubt I’ll be praying for a miraculous recovery. In fact, I am a bit surprised that Hezekiah did. Instead, I’ll be praying that God will go ahead and take me home, and I hope that my loved ones will be praying likewise.
In my opinion, it's selfish and cruel to keep someone alive artificially when they would otherwise die naturally, especially in cases where they have little to no quality of life - unless they are lost and there is a chance they might be saved. But for Christians, who are literally a breath away from being united with family and friends who are eagerly awaiting them in Heaven, let them die.
So when my time comes, let it come. I’m ready. Don’t resuscitate me. Let me go. I don’t need another 15 years of this life, or even another 15 minutes. I’d much rather spend them, and the rest of eternity for that matter, with my glorious King Jesus…
For the past 2 weeks we’ve been discussing the life and work of King Hezekiah. We’ve talked about his godly character, his religious reforms, and his reliance on God to deliver Judah from the hands of the Assyrians. In this morning’s message, we are going to wrap up our comments about Hezekiah with a look at the final years of his reign.
I. ILLNESS AND RECOVERY (2 Kings 20:1-11; 2 Chronicles 32:24-26)
Sometime after Sennacherib and the Assyrians departed from Judah, King Hezekiah became mortally ill. Isaiah the prophet came to visit him with the word of the LORD saying, “Get your house in order because you are going to die.” Hezekiah was devastated. He began weeping and prayed to God that he might somehow survive. The LORD told Isaiah, who had already left, to go back and tell Hezekiah that He had seen his tears and heard his prayer. God said that he would heal the king’s illness after all, add another 15 years to his life, and protect Jerusalem and Judah from the Assyrians.
Following the LORD’s command to Isaiah, Hezekiah’s servants took a cake of figs and laid it on the king’s sore. The treatment worked and he recovered. Hezekiah went up to the temple 3 days later, just as Isaiah had instructed him to, in order to thank God for cleansing his sickness and making him well.
Before he was healed, however, Hezekiah asked Isaiah for the LORD to show him a sign that he would live. Isaiah gave Hezekiah a choice. “Would you rather the sun jump forward or backward?” Hezekiah chose for it to move backward, so God supernaturally caused the sun to move back slightly in the sky as evidenced by its shadow going back 10 steps on the staircase of Ahaz which descended from the palace and the temple. Amazing!
According to 2 Chronicles, Hezekiah didn’t express much gratitude in the immediate aftermath of his remarkable healing. Instead, his heart became proud. When God’s wrath came upon him, he and his people humbled themselves. The LORD’s anger subsided and remained calm for the remainder of Hezekiah’s life.
This incident is 1 of 2 places in the Bible where God temporarily altered time. In this case, He actually caused the earth to rotate backwards just a bit so that the sun appeared to move backward in the sky! The other occasion was when God caused the earth to stop spinning for about a whole day, so that the sun stood still giving Joshua enough daylight to defeat the Amorites (Joshua 10:12-14).
II. SHOWS HIS TREASURES TO BABYLON (2 Kings 20:12-19; 2 Chronicles 32:27-31)
At that time, the king of Babylon sent messengers to Hezekiah with a “get well” letter and gift - he had heard that he was sick. When they arrived, Hezekiah took the Babylonians on a tour and showed them all of the spectacular treasures in his house and throughout his dominion. They were shown great amounts of gold, silver, spices, precious oils, and armor.
Later Isaiah prophesied that the Babylonians would someday come and take all of these valuables for themselves. This was the first prophetic warning of the fall of Judah, which would occur over 100 years later. When Isaiah revealed that this coming catastrophe wouldn’t take place during the reign of Hezekiah, the king dismissed it as something beyond his control.
Over the years, Hezekiah amassed great wealth and honor. Not only were his treasuries filled with all sorts of riches, but he also had vast storehouses of grain and abundant flocks of animals. Hezekiah even oversaw a major infrastructure project that routed waters into the city of Jerusalem, on its west side.
III. DEATH AND BURIAL (2 Kings 20:20-21; 2 Chronicles 32:32-33)
As mentioned earlier, after Hezekiah recovered from his severe illness he lived another 15 years. When he finally died, he was buried in Jerusalem. His body was laid to rest in the upper section of the king’s tombs, an indication of his noble and righteous character. All of the southern kingdom mourned his passing. His son Manasseh became king in his place.
CONCLUSION
Before we finish this morning, I want to take a quick peek ahead. The first verse of 2 Kings 21, which we will explore in depth next week, states that Manasseh was just 12 years old when he became king. This means that he was conceived and born after Hezekiah recovered from his mortal illness. This is interesting because, as we will discover, Manasseh was an evil and godless king who brought incredible misery to the people of Judah for most of his 55 year reign. It leads me to wonder if, perhaps, the southern kingdom would have been better off in the long run if Hezekiah would have died when God originally stated so that Manasseh would have never been born.
On the other hand, seeing that the throne almost almost always passed to the eldest son, presumably Manasseh, this would strongly suggest that Hezekiah didn’t have any sons before becoming mortally ill. If so and he would have died, the royal line of David would have ended and the Davidic Covenant would have been broken. Thus, the extension of Hezekiah’s life may have been necessary in order to maintain God’s promise. Of course, God in His foreknowledge already knew all of this and acted in accordance with His sovereign will (Job 14:5).
Regardless, this story always causes me to think about the timing of our deaths. Is it always better to live longer? Whenever someone is mortally ill, it can be difficult to know how to pray. There is a big difference between preserving life and prolonging death. These decisions are not always black and white, and in many cases, are a matter of individual conscience. I am going to speak freely for a moment, so forgive me if I offend anyone. I am speaking only for myself, so feel free to disagree with me…
As a Christian, I know where I will spend eternity - and it's a far more wonderful place than here on this fallen earth. So if I become “mortally” ill, I doubt I’ll be praying for a miraculous recovery. In fact, I am a bit surprised that Hezekiah did. Instead, I’ll be praying that God will go ahead and take me home, and I hope that my loved ones will be praying likewise.
In my opinion, it's selfish and cruel to keep someone alive artificially when they would otherwise die naturally, especially in cases where they have little to no quality of life - unless they are lost and there is a chance they might be saved. But for Christians, who are literally a breath away from being united with family and friends who are eagerly awaiting them in Heaven, let them die.
So when my time comes, let it come. I’m ready. Don’t resuscitate me. Let me go. I don’t need another 15 years of this life, or even another 15 minutes. I’d much rather spend them, and the rest of eternity for that matter, with my glorious King Jesus…