Interesting chapter coming after what Brother Mike has mentioned. Just before the reading of chapter 20, the Sennacherib was defeated, Hezekiah had prayed, Isaiah brought the word of the Lord, and the Lord had fulfilled his promise by defeating Sennacherib, in fact calling him back, and the Syrian army is routed, and Sennacherib himself is killed by two of his sons. Another son reigns in his stead at the end of chapter 19. But it brings us to this prayer when Ezekiel is sick. And we have a message that's entitled, The Gospel According to Hezekiah, Hezekiah, or Hezekiahu in the Hebrew. Gospel lessons from a king's prayer, pride, and pool. And we're just taking basically the overall situations and then the very end of his life, but we'll use this verse, 2 Kings 20, verse 20, as you can see in your handout. And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made a pool and a conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? That's the word of the Lord. And I know that Brother Mike had already led us in prayer, but let's seek the Lord again so that we may worship Him through the exaltation of Christ. Our most blessed and gracious Father in God, in Jesus' name and for His sake, we thank you, Lord, for the... Blessed truth that is set before us. May we apply it to our lives so that Christ is exalted and that you're glorified. May we worship you from the Word, Lord. And may our day be filled with worship. May our week be filled with worship for you in the things that we go about doing day by day. we love you lord and thank you and ask that the distractions of the world may be put aside that we may give our focus and attention upon you and that you may receive it as our act of worship in jesus name for his sake we do pray amen so just a quick explanation or exposition of our text for these 21 verses really basically only in three parts we have the prayer of hezekiah we have the pride in his showing the treasures of his house and of the house of the Lord. And then, very interestingly, at the end of all the things that he had done and all the reforms that we had seen in Hezekiah's life in the last couple chapters, this conduit, this tunnel, that archeology has brought about, that we have actually seen the tunnel, amazing piece of engineering for that day. But why was the pool mentioned? And I think that you'll be surprised, well, not surprised, but, or at least pleasantly surprised if you hadn't seen this, but if you had kind of wondered about it, you'll see the blessing of it, these three. Ps that we have here prayer pride and pull which also reflect our lives well first the fatal sickness of and and the Word of God coming to to Hezekiah in verse 1 those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amos Came to him and said to him thus says the Lord set your house in order and you shall die You shall not recover well, that's a They're coming from the prophet, they think, okay, I guess I'm going to die, but Hezekiah in verses two and three, he turns his face to the wall and then prays. And watch that folks, you don't want to turn this into a formula. Because I know some folks that have preached this as if we need to turn our faces to the wall and be like Hezekiah and so forth. I guess you could do that, but we don't want to formulize our prayers. We want to be We want those to spring forth from the truth of who Christ is in us So that as we looked at last week when we looked at prayer that it is our communing with God and our Get as much as is possible by our understanding Afform ourselves to what God is doing because he's sovereign as we saw last week he's sovereign in prayers and that's what prayer is just our conversation with the Lord his conversation with us in communion and are getting right with his plan and not him getting right with ours and But he turns his face to the wall, he prays, and then in verses four and six, there's this fast answer from the Lord, and he receives 15 additional years. I mean, Isaiah had not even made it out of the palace. He's in the middle court, and he receives a word from the Lord as soon as, you know, Hezekiah is already praying, and he doesn't even make it out of the palace. When the Lord speaks to him, he goes back, and he says, take this poultice, a cake of figs like a you know like a old-fashioned poultices they have down south of the remedies. Cake of figs on this boil. We don't know what kind of boil he had, but that's not the point of the story, or whether the figs would do something. And you know, the fig is, as far as a fruit, is the sweetest fruit in the world, I believe. It has the most sugar content of any fruit. So I don't know if it's supposed to draw out some poisons or something, but we know that regardless of what the remedy is, all healing is from the Lord. And so he recovers. He recovers and he's given a sign. What sign will you have? In verses seven through 11. And he says, well, you want the sun to advance 10 steps or do you want it to fall back 10 steps? And he says, well, it's a light thing for it to, you know, it's always moving forward. That's the way that the sun goes. How about if it goes backwards? That would be a real miracle. So the Lord obliges them and has the shadow on the steps of Ahaz. And I believe that the steps of Ahaz are those steps that we encounter in chapter 16 and verse 18 that we read a couple of weeks ago. And you don't have to turn there if you don't want to, it's only a few pages away. But in verse 18, it says, And the covered way for the Sabbath that had been built inside the house and the outer entrance for the king, he caused to go around the house of the Lord because of the king of Assyria. And as you recall, Ahaz was a wicked king. He was the father of Hezekiah and he was completely wicked. And he took what they had in the days of Solomon that was a kind of a covert, either a canopy or some kind of covering like a porch, that allowed from the king's palace so that He didn't have to be thronged by the people, but because he's the king, he can go to the temple through this walkway. But what Ahaz seems to have done that we see as we can put some of the scriptures together, more than likely what he did is he caused another walkway to go completely around the temple from the king's palace. So there may have been 10 steps that were visible of this walkway that bypasses this covert that goes to the temple, and it may be that thing from the king's bedroom window that Hezekiah could see. And that might have been the 10 steps that it's spoken of. It might not be, but that's just a conjecture that I've made from putting some of the scriptures together. Then we have this episode with Hezekiah's pride. We know that it's Hezekiah's pride, but first, as far as for 2 Kings, in verse 12, a present and letters from Babylon's king comes to him because they heard that he was sick and that he was miraculously healed, and they even know that this miracle happened with the sun going backwards about, or at least the shadow, because it didn't just happen in Jerusalem, it happened all over the world by this, somehow this miracle that was going on that was pretty much visible. And we could see this in, I have it marked in my Bible, so you don't have to turn there, but in 2 Chronicles, Second Chronicles in chapter 32, both verses 25 and 31 give us some insights of what's going on. Because he gives them a temple tour when the emissaries come, the envoy comes, and he, in verse 13, he gives them this tour of the temple treasures, a prideful tour. if you will, because 2nd Chronicles chapter 32 verse 25 says, but Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. In other words, once he was sick and then he was healed, it's kind of, well, I must have favor with the Lord that he healed me, gave me 15 more years. I must be something special. Because he, so he did not return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him in Judah and Jerusalem. And like with typical Hebrew scripture, it goes back and fills in some details. It's verse 31 that says this. And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon who had been sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left him to himself in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart. So here's this test. And what is it, two weeks ago when we were looking at the end of the month and we had communion with Genesis chapter 22, God did test Abraham in Genesis 22 and verse one, that it was a test and not for God to see, oh, I wonder if Hezekiah, now that I healed him, if he, I wonder if he's still faithful. God is sovereign. He doesn't have to, if he has to learn, he's not God. He knows all. So we know that. And so here's this test to bring out in him, Humility, humility. And he is humbled by this, at least a little bit. We could probably talk on this because after this ended up happening in verses 14 to 15, the prophetic questions for the king comes from Isaiah. Hey, who are these guys? What did you do? And what did you show them? Well, I showed them everything. And so the prophetic word comes to the king. He says, look, because you did this, all the treasures that you showed them, they're going to be taken away. And even your sons are going to be taken away. And he says, well, good is the word of the Lord. Well, the word of the Lord is always good. Whether it brings judgment or whether it brings blessing, it's the word of the Lord. But he does say something that does sound kind of even a little bit prideful, doesn't it? Or a little bit selfish at the very least. Well, I'm glad it's not going to take place on my day. I still got peace. Let those other guys sort it out. It's causing, he caused the problem and others are going to pay for it. That does still sound a little bit selfish, doesn't it? And we won't get into that. Then finally, Hezekiah's pool. Now doesn't that sound strange? In verses 20 to 21, I'm going to read them again here from the English Standard Version. In verse 20 it says, And the rest of the deeds of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool and the conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the books of the king, chronicles of the kings of Judah? And Hezekiah slept with his fathers and Manasseh his son reigned in his place. And it sounds, of all the things that he did, he broke down the Baals, he broke down the high places, he destroyed all these things. He took the things that people were worshiping, that was even used to save people in the days of Moses, that serpent in the wilderness, the brass thing, in the Hebrew, Nehushtan. It's just a brass thing. And he broke that down because people were worshiping that. and he trusted in the Lord, and he walked in the Lord, and he knew the presence of the Lord, unlike his father, and unlike his son Manasseh, which is very interesting that this pool would be mentioned. And again, 2 Chronicles chapter 32 mentions in verse 30 has a gives us some insight here, that verse 30 says that this same Hezekiah closed up the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works. So it gives us the source of this, which is the river Gihon in the valley. And this would end up being this tunnel that was digged so that they would have a supply of water if a siege ever came again. And this is the pool that's mentioned. It actually ends up being what we see that's recorded in the New Testament. In the New Testament in Greek, it's called the Pool of Siloam. It is the pool of shalach in Hebrew or brachat ha-shalach. That's its name in Hebrew. It means the pool of the scent or the one brought because it brought water in and it would be a supply in case there was a siege. But what is our holy application for this as we look at it? Hezekiah's prayer is a prophetic picture. You'd think, interestingly, that here's the end of the life of the king. And I read verse one, and in verse two it says, then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, now, O Lord, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart and have done what is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly." And he receives an answer to this prayer. Now, when he receives this answer to the prayer or his prayer, if we think of it in earthly perspectives, it might become a difficulty for us. I know it did for me when I first read it years and years ago, some 30 plus years ago. And I'm reading this and went, well, I did the math real quick. He got 15 more years. And when he died, his son Manasseh was 12 years old, which means that during this extended stay, Manasseh was born, who ends up becoming the most wicked king in all of Judah. And since we recognize, and that's chapter 21, verse one, you don't have to go too far to see that he's 12 years old when he begins the reign, and he was given 15 years. That means he was born during this time of his extended life. Lord, why would you do such a thing? And we recognize that in 2 Corinthians 5, verse eight, in the old King James version, it says, as Paul says, we are confident I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord." And the lady's doing their Bible study, they've been in Philippians, and Paul is in a straight between the two, whether to be with the Lord or whether to be with you, but to be with you is more important when Paul's in prison. And he says in Philippians 1, verse 21, for me to live is Christ, but to die is gain. Because Paul sees that the presence of God, both as he writes to the Corinthians and he writes to the Philippians, that's much better for him personally. So here is this guy who's wanting to extend his life rather than to be in with the Lord, to be in Abraham's bosom, to be in paradise and waiting for the resurrection. Wouldn't that be better? But we see something much more wonderful going on here. In Luke chapter 22 and verse 42, we see the life sacrifice for the king of kings as opposed to life's end for the king. We see this picture here because the king of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ, God who became man, The night before He was to go to the cross, the night that He was arrested, He was in the Garden of Gethsemane and He was praying. And He prayed, Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done. The cup that He was praying about was the cup that would be filled with the wrath of God. That when He was going to the cross, that He would experience God's holy wrath poured out upon him for sins he did not commit, that he would be forsaken of God, is Psalm 22. And verse one says, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And he quoted that in Aramaic while he hung upon the cross. Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. And so when he quotes this, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He was forsaken of God. because he is the Lord of light and life, and though his mission was to go, and I've preached this so many times, and I hope that you're not tired of hearing this, but he is the Lord of light and life, and for him to just plunge himself willy-nilly into death, well, this is what my mission is, I'm gonna go into death, without seeking from his Father, Permission to go and in fact even not wanting to go because life is precious. He's the Lord of light and life Because that's what Adam did. He disobeyed God thinking well this stuff doesn't hurt and that if My wife hasn't died and if she is going to die, I might as well die along with her I'll go ahead and just he plunged the whole human himself and the whole human race into into death without seeking any information any any communion with the Lord, but Jesus would not go even unto death, though he came specifically to live and die. He would not go into death unless he met with the Father and was approved by the Father. In fact, even Matthew, we compare it to Matthew 26. I left it as a reference for you in your handout so that you could look it up later in verses 36 to 44, that he prayed three times. kept on going back, if it be your will, nevertheless not my will but thine, that he must make sure that it was the Father's will in order for him to go into death. Not because he doubted, but because he must do this in order to fulfill all righteousness. It would have been unrighteous for Jesus to just go into death without still at this point, still having the intimate relationship he had with the father. And Luke's gospel says he was ministered unto by angels in this to encourage him and hold them up. And how does this minister run to us? We see life's value for the king's children, for you and me, us. who are saved by God's grace, how valuable life is. Now, certainly when we talked about death a couple of weeks back when we were looking at in 2 Kings about, you know, here is death and that we have to have a perspective of death and that even suicide isn't the unpardonable sin. You know, the corruptions of our flesh might cause somebody to take their own life, but it doesn't give a justification for that. Somebody that has taken their own life, that has had a true confession of faith, maybe in a moment of weakness, they've taken their own life. So we don't justify it. We just say, you know, that's in the hand of the Lord. We're not as the Roman Catholic Church does still say that that's unpardonable and that they will never go to heaven for that. But we see that death is Christ's enemy. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 26 says that the last enemy to be destroyed is death. And life is a precious gift from God. Going all the way back to the garden in Genesis chapter two, that when Adam was formed from the dust of the ground and God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and he became ha-nefesh, he became a living soul. And so life therefore is precious. But immediately following that, as we saw in 2 Chronicles 32, that the Babylonians heard of this. Now the Babylonians have only started coming into power, and Beradach-Baladon has an interesting name. In Isaiah chapter 39 and verse 1, Isaiah calls him Merodach. Morodach with an M as opposed to Borodach that we have in our text here. It's not a problem because many in the Middle East, we see many in the Bible that had two names. Jacob's name was Yaakov and he is also Israel. Esau and Edom, two names. Abraham had two names, Abram, and then God changed it to Abraham, Abraham. So two names is not a difficulty. But he sends envoys to him. Wow, what about this miraculous thing? And it was a test for the king's temperament. And in this, we recognize, because we did see this a couple, two weeks ago in Genesis 22, James 1, verse 12 through 16, blessed is the man that endure temptation, for when he has tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which is given to all those, given to all those who love his appearing. Anyway, but let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil. neither tempteth he any man. For every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed, and when lust bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." And then it says, do not err, my beloved brethren. We need to recognize that the temptations of Satan, when we submit to them, will drive us to sin. But the testings of God, sometimes used the word as temptation, But if they come from God, it's meant to draw out in us where we are so that we can see and then submit unto Him. This is why in the prayer, it says in Matthew 6, verse 13, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. When we separate that out a little bit and just stick on, lead us not into temptation. In other words, Lord, let me grow in grace so that when temptation comes, I don't have to submit to it to see where I am for it. That I don't have to say, oh no, I failed again. That Lord, lead me in such a way that when temptation comes, I've already overcome. Lead me not into temptation. The Lord's testings will come because, hey, somewhere along the line, we've stepped a step off, either to the left or to the right, instead of keeping Jesus front and center in our lives. And so this pathetic picture is there because he was lifted up in pride. How so? How so? By just showing him these things around. And here's something that Charles Spurgeon pointed out years ago in a sermon that he preached upon this particular passage. Only taking this, he says that the judgments of God upon God's people are much more severe than they would be for unbelievers. If the treasures of Babylon, the hanging gardens say of Nebuchadnezzar, which was supposed to be one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, Nebuchadnezzar shown the hanging gardens to anybody, no big deal. God wouldn't have brought any different judgment upon him than on anybody else. But under God's people, when we, in some of our infractions, and you all know this, that as the light of Christ comes from God's word and you're communing with him in prayer, you see, the much more severe things in your life, which to you... years ago would have seemed minor, but now they seem huge. We see, ladies know this, that like when you're vacuuming and dusting in the house, or some of you men, when you end up doing this, I do this all the time. Lisa's not feeling well, I go in and I start cleaning up. And I think I did a really good job, and then I open up the blinds and go, man, where's all this dust come from? Apparently I didn't do such a good job, Lisa. would get on me about that. Well, she actually wouldn't get on me about that. She'd just go and look and go, oh, you cleaned up, didn't you? Yeah, I didn't do a very good job, did I? She said, oh, that's good for you. It's not good for her, though. She is very meticulous. She married the wrong guy. I'm a slob. Actually, we're somewhat compatible that way. She's strong where I'm weak. I think that's good enough. So Spurgeon points that out. But what did he do that was so anti-gospel in this? What did he show them? He showed them the treasures of the house of God. He showed them the treasures of his own palace. Those are the works of men's hands. See, when those things that were built as far as the temple and even the treasures that are collected by kings, that's like our service unto God. That's not the gospel. We point people to Christ. We introduce them to Christ. We don't show them that though good works spring forth from our lives because of Christ, it's not by the works in which men are saved. Those are not the things that we point out. Oh, look at our families. Oh, look at our homeschool kids. Look at this or look at that. No, that's all by the grace of God. And Manassas would have still grown up Despite what had happened, whether we were saved in our prayer or whether we died, children are saved by the grace of God. We are to do what we can in order to live righteously before them, but they're still saved by the grace of God. And in showing the unbelievers He did that which was un-gospel-y, un-gospel-like. He showed them the works of men's hands as opposed to the grace of God that allowed for us to have these things. Instead of introducing them to Jehovah God, he showed them the temple in which we worship God. That would be like us coming in and instead of me telling you all about Jesus, hey, look at these pews, aren't those in nice condition? Look at those blinds, man. They've been cleaned up really nice. Hey, how about our fellowship meal? That's some pretty good cooking. Instead of telling them about Jesus, instead of opening up the Word of God and seeing what God has for our lives, this is the real bread. When we have the fellowship meal, that's just to fill these bodies that are going to be They're gonna perish anyway. This perishable must put on imperishable. And this corruptible must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. It doesn't mean that, it says bodily exercise profiteth little. So it doesn't mean men, women, that you could just let, go ahead and let everything go. Stay healthy as much as you can. Be a good steward of the body that God gave you. Remember, life is a precious gift. But I'm not going to go overboard about it so that I could be like the Arnold Schwarzenegger or the Baptist pulpit. It's just ridiculous. I'm waiting for a new body. Right, Brother Mike? Amen. Where we could worship rightly. Hezekiah's pool, now we have the profound picture, and I think I've gone way too long on those other two things. But let me just close it up with this. Water and conduit, verse 20, and I've already read it twice, but I don't have to, so I won't read it again. But in Hebrews chapter eight, verse five, yesterday I wrote a devotional about that. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. Now certainly the scripture in Hebrews 8.5 was talking about the tabernacle in the wilderness and Christ's superiority as the great high priest and all these things were copies and shadows. But this is too. I mean, why would that pool and that conduit, that tunnel, be of such significance in reflecting in Hezekiah's last days and the rest of his acts? because I say it's a copy in a shadow. It's a witness and testimony of Christ, and it's a witness and testimony for Christ. So for Christ, it has an application for us, but before it can be applied, let's look at its application prophetically. The witness and testimony of Christ is that in this tunnel that was built, it created a pool just below the palace and right next to the, right there by the, at what would be the Temple Mount. the pool of Shalom, brachat ha-shalak, the pool of the one who is sent, or the pool of bring, because shalak means to bring or to send. It's a great Hebrew word, because it means both, depending upon its context, and I believe it means both. It can bring water and it can also send water, and it can also stop water. But why is that significant? Because, well, Jesus healed a man there according to John's gospel, told him to wash in the pool, but everybody runs out because apparently the water gets stirred. But even more than that, in John chapter seven and verses 37 to 39, that during the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus was there because it was required that all males 20 years old and up should appear before the Lord three times a year. Oh, actually, even earlier than that, every male is supposed to appear before the Lord. And Jesus was there, and in John 7, verse 37 to 39, it says, on the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, if anyone thirsts, let him come unto me, and out of his belly, and drink, let him come to me and drink. And it says, whoever believes in me, as the scriptures had said, out of his heart, will flow rivers of living water out of his belly in the old King James Version. Now this he said about the Holy Spirit, from whom who, for those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not yet been given. The Holy Spirit would be given after he was crucified, resurrected, ascended into heaven, and sending the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Why is that significant? Well, the Feast of Tabernacles, which is around the fall time, September, October, on the Hebrew calendar, it's a seven-day feast. And what they would do by tradition, in this seven-day feast, on the seventh day, which is a holy convocation. It was a Sabbath. What they did for six days, the first day, which is a Sabbath, they would take water from the Pool of Siloam. A priest, one of the priests that's assigned for that particular year, he would take water from this golden vessel and he would take water and he would go up to the temple and there was a empty vessel at the altar and the high priest was there and he would pour the water in. Some traditions say that it was, some rabbinical traditions say that he poured it on rock. Some say that it was poured on a vessel. Some say he poured it on a rock because of the rock in the wilderness where they drank from. But they were in, it's to commemorate the wilderness wanderings. And they would do this for six days. But on the seventh day, when the water came up, they were allowed to drink. from the water that came up, because it shows several things that they now received the Holy Spirit, according to tradition. And also that on the eighth day, it's supposed to symbolize that it was a prayer for rain for the next day, which they call Shmonei Etzeret, which means the eighth assembly. or the eighth day assembly. So the eighth day, that's when the rain comes and the Holy Spirit is poured out. And so when Jesus says this, instead of them taking a drink, Jesus stands up in the middle and says, if any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. And whoever believes in me from his belly or from his heart shall flow rivers of living water. And that was somewhat of an upstart. What are you talking about? You're talking about that you're sending the Holy Spirit. Because they take this from Isaiah chapter 12 verse 3. It says, with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And Jesus has this picture from the Pool of Siloam that comes from the river Gihon, and that travels through this conduit, this tunnel. This tunnel is huge. It's that they've dug up archeologically in the last many years. And you can, in some places that you could walk right through there. Brother Steve and I, You know, we're both over six feet tall, and we could stand up and walk in some of these places. Some places you might have to crouch, but we could go all the way through there. And it comes up into this pool of Siloam where Jesus makes this statement. And we recognize the truth of that, that the Holy Spirit, that salvation comes by the Holy Spirit, but it comes through Christ. He's the giver of life. that by His death, burial, and resurrection, by that which He suffered, by praying in the garden and then going to the cross, spreading out His hands upon that tree, suffering God's wrath and taking on Himself our sins as if they were His own. and dying a death, and his side is pierced, his blood is shed, and not a bone of his is broken. He's in the tomb for three days and three nights, ascends into heaven, and then by his promise, he sends the Holy Spirit. And that's a witness and testimony for us, that as the wells of salvation in Isaiah 12, verse 3, I'm having you turn to a Psalm, Psalm 84, verse 5 through 7, to close this out. That is, Jesus gives water, and this is the thing. Though Hezekiah's, excuse me, not Isaiah, but Hezekiah's pride had been lifted up, his salvation wasn't lost because even at the end of this, this wonderful picture of Christ's testimony before Christ even comes because the pool is mentioned. And so the prayer, which points to Christ, but the sad situation that we are still sinners. And he did humble himself. It does show that he humbled himself, both as far as for the text. And that's when we do succumb to temptation, when temptations come, that we If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Then Lord, may I walk humbly before you. That's what lead me not into temptation is, is that that I recognize that I'm prone to temptation, but Lord, that if I'm humble. if you by your grace humble me time and time again, that I might not submit so often to these temptations, and I can be glorious to you and a witness to you. And how is that witness as far as for a pool? Because the Holy Spirit doesn't come from us, it comes through us as conduits. and sit in a pool, whereas we are the supply in which Jesus says to drink. And so as he sent the Holy Spirit, which shalach means salome, means the scent, and he sends the Holy Spirit and it goes through us that we're just vessels, we're channels, we're conduits like that, channels only. But if our faces are upon Christ, if we turn our eyes upon Jesus and look full in his wonderful face, And the things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. I think we're going to sing that at the end here. If our look is upon Jesus and knowing that the Holy Spirit comes from Him and just works through us, that others can drink because of our lives. That Hezekiah made this tunnel and cause for this pool of Siloam to be in a place where it was accessible unto God's people and unto others if they were drinking. that we have a reflection here in Psalm 84, in a portion of a Psalm I particularly love because it's one of my favorite Psalms. Verse five says, blessed are those whose strength is in you and whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go, in verse six, as they go through the valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs. The early rain also covers it with pools. In verse seven, they go from strength to strength. Each one appears before God and Zion. But verse six is like the key verse here. The early rain also covers it with pools and pools ties into the pool of Siloam. That in the valley of Baca, Baca is the Hebrew word for tears. Bochim is the word that we have in Judges, that was the place of weeping. And Baca is the valley of tears that in the worst of the situations and circumstances we might go through. The pride lifted up like in Hezekiah's life. The death that he faced and cried out to God because life is precious. That still our lives can be a testimony. That in the valley of tears, that in the worst of our situations, we dig for ourselves, we dig holes for wells to come forth. That we look to God, and even in our desperate times, we look in His Word for refreshment. We look to Christ alone, not only as our salvation, but as our sanctification, our rock, our refreshment, as it were, that we also drink from Him. And so as we dig these wells, we know that the water that comes from that is not from our work. It comes from the Lord Himself who put the underground water system in there. And many of us have our own wells at home, but here the water springs up. It might be limited, it might dry out, but God now brings rain. And so anyone that comes through in their troubled times afterwards, they'll drink from the places where we dug in the Valley of Tears. Through that which we've endured. on this planet until Christ returns, it has been a blessing unto others that follow behind us, or even beside us, that we have struck water here, but they're digging a hole there, that they could drink from the well that the Lord has provided just from our digging. in the Pool of Siloam, and as it reflects to that, as we see the Holy Spirit that comes forth, the Spirit ministers unto all those through the work, certainly, that God has allowed us to take part in. But we don't show off our digging. We leave the pools there so that Christ alone receives the glory of the water that He supplies, of the Holy Spirit, and know that it's all of grace. It's all of His work. And so when that's going on, When that's going on, the wells of salvation come forth by God's grace. And even unbelievers will drink from those wells as they come before. And their thirst will be somewhat quenched, tasting of the good things of God. But it's still by God's grace that they are able to be saved, that they may drink, and if they believe on Christ. And that we were just vessels for that. And the end of our life should be at this testimony. Bless you. The end of our life should be, well that testimony too, bless you. But that is it. By God's providence. The end of our life should be a bless you. It's a bless you unto God. Bless you Lord. that I have been able to be used. Bless you, Lord, that Christ was exalted in my life. Lord, bless you and thank you that Jesus Christ may be the prominent figure of living water in a life such as mine, that I might be a conduit, a tunnel, for the pool of Siloam, the Holy Spirit, to minister unto others long after I'm gone, until you return." And that's the blessing of it. God could use Hezekiah, and God could use someone like you and me. to be that channel blessing for others until they come again. Let's pray. Our most blessed and gracious Father in God, in Jesus' name and for his sake, we thank you, Lord, for the blessed truth of your word in 2 Kings 20. We thank you, Lord, that you used men of prominent stature like Hezekiah, but he was just a man. And the best of men, at best, are still merely men. And we pray, Lord, that as you used Hezekiah, in the times of desperation and seeking life and precious life, in the times of pride and failure and temptation, that we may still be humbled by your word, your prophetic word, and also that you may be glorified at the end of our lives that you've made us what we are to be witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ. In his name and for his sake we do pray. Amen.