We're still teaching in the book of Isaiah. If you have your Bibles, open to Isaiah chapter 38. Chapters 38 and 39 have to do with a section of Isaiah's prophecy that has to do with Hezekiah, as well as the last two chapters we studied in our last lesson. Kind of an interlude or intermission or parenthesis in the book of the prophet Isaiah. But these two chapters, 38 and 39, we'll take together. We want to take up chapter 38 that has to do with the sickness of Isaiah and his prayer to God. And we may refer to the book of 2 Kings chapter 20 because there are some details in 2 Kings 20 where it records the same things, only it gives you one additional or two lines and points that we need to bring out that Isaiah does not record. So we read it from Isaiah chapter 38. Isaiah 38 verse 1, it says, In those days was Hezekiah sickened to death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos, came unto him and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, set thine house in order, for thou shalt die and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed unto the Lord. Now, when you read this verse, Hezekiah turning his face toward the wall. It was not as in the case of one of old Ahab when he turned his face toward the wall and he was pouting because he couldn't have Naboth's vineyard. It was not like that. Hezekiah was turning his face from people and turning his face toward the wall so that he would be talking to God only. And it's altogether a different statement here. 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. Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, 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, and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city." Now, let's turn to the book of 2 Kings, and I think we'll take this particular study about Hezekiah from the book of 2 Kings. 2 Kings chapter 20, and you'll see in a moment why I will refer to this book to give you another detail or two of what transpired. Let's begin to read it and read it through verse 7. 2 Kings 20, verses 1-7. In those days was Hezekiah sickened to death, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amos came to him and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, set thine house in order, for thou shalt die and not live. Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed unto the Lord, saying, I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now 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. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah, the captain of my people, Now notice he mentions the captain of his people. Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father. Now notice, I have heard thy prayer. I have seen thy tears. Behold, I will heal thee. Now then, in the book of Isaiah it said, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. But I will heal thee. And on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. 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." Now look, for mine own sake and for my servant David's sake. And then it says, And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs, and they took and laid it on the ball, and he recovered. Now here you have the complete story. Now the last verse. of that 38th chapter speaks of this same thing in a little different way in the book of Isaiah. But I want you to look at this sickness of Hezekiah. He was sick unto death. And by the way, this is a solemn announcement to him. And so he prays a very earnest prayer in verses 2 and 3. You need to be mindful of the fact that Hezekiah had only reigned 15 years. He had only been on the throne 15 years, and he was now only 39 years old. So he was fairly a young man. And for a young man to have the announcement made that he's going to die and not live, not have any opportunity to continue his life, as well as not have any opportunity to serve the Lord, it's a very solemn announcement, isn't it? So he prayed a very earnest prayer. And in that prayer, he wept and he prayed. And we find that Isaiah came to Hezekiah and told him, he says, that God says, Thus said the Lord to God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer. He says, I have seen thy tears. Behold, I will heal thee. Now, I want to talk just a moment about Isaiah's, I mean, about Hezekiah's healing. How did he heal him? What did happen to him? Well, we notice in verse 7, Isaiah said, take a lump of figs and they took and laid it on the ball and he recovered. So we find that in the healing, in God healing, Hezekiah, that they used medicinal means. Natural means were not neglected. Someone says, well, you know, I pray for healing, but I'm just going to trust the Lord to heal me. But if you've got some medication you should apply, you better do that too, because God can heal by any means that He desires. And it's in this way they made a poultice. They laid it on the boil, and if you go back and study the boil, it was one indication of a a certain stage of leprosy, which would have eventually caused his death. And it was a very serious thing. Well, you could tell that the seriousness of it by the announcement that God made, you'll die and not live. And so the healing came about as a result of not the neglecting of natural means, and that God can heal by any means that He desires to. And it's very noteworthy that it's a combination of medicinal remedy along with prayer and faith that led to Hezekiah's recovery. It's a combination of those things. We have a lot of folks that do not want to recognize the fact that when God heals, He does use other means besides a miraculous healing, so to speak. Now then, God can heal in a miraculous way if He so desires. If you read in the Gospel of John, when there was this blind man, Jesus spat on the ground and made a poultice or an ointment of clay. But you know, this man was blind, and what did he anoint? His forehead, or the side of his head, or some other kind of a thing? He anointed his eyes. Because that's where the problem was. And he says, I know that a man named Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and he told me to go to the pool of Siloam and wash. And I went and washed and I was cleansed. My eyes were opened. I could see. So you see, even then, though the Lord has the perfect medicine, He was showing that it was by means that He was using, and He used means And you would think that that would make this blind man more blind to put clay on his eyes, but with a touch of Jesus, it brought about healing. And it was because it was in response to faith that the healing was brought about, because this man knew that, I mean, he had to have faith or he wouldn't say, well, can you imagine a blind man, say, stumbling off to try to find the pool and go wash his eyes if he didn't think that something was going to happen? But he did that in faith because the man told him to go wash Jesus. He said, a man named Jesus made clay and no one in my eyes. And he said, I know I just did what he told me to do. And now I see. And that was this story. And he says, I'm sticking to it, didn't he? Remember when they tried to get him to change it? He says, no, sir. That's exactly what happened. And so natural means, medicinal means are to be used. So don't ever think by using a doctor and using the medicine that God has given us that you're neglecting faith, because that is a part of faith. And it's a part of the way that God chooses to heal many people. And if you remember the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke's Gospel, chapter 10, remember when Jesus gave us Get that parable in Luke 10, verse 30, Jesus answering said, a certain man, he tells of the man that fell among thieves, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise, the Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him and passed by on the other side. A priest and a Levite. But a certain Samaritan, listen carefully, as he journeyed, came where he was. You know, you have to get where people are. He came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion on him and went to him. And what did he do? And bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine. This mixture would be able to. not only cleansed, but to heal. He bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, set him on his own beast, and brought him to an end, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave to the host, and said to him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee." And Jesus uses this parable to show who is our neighbor, which now these three thinkest thou was neighbor unto. Him that fell among thieves. And He said, He that showed mercy on him, then said Jesus unto him, Go and do thou likewise. We are to be that merciful. Another scripture you might want to look at in Isaiah as well, chapter 1, When God sees His people stricken and revolting, He says in Isaiah 1, verse 5, Why should ye be stricken any more? Isaiah 1, verse 5. Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick. The whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it. Now listen carefully at this description. But wounds, and bruises and putrefying sores. They have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." And if you have a marginal reference, it says oil. This refers to the application of oil to the wounds or to its ingestion for medicinal purposes that it might be mollified or softened with this ointment. So you see, God shows us that we are to use means when we have sicknesses. And even in the wonderful lifting up of Hezekiah from his illness, God used. Notice the statement now in 2 Kings 20, verse 5. I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears, behold, I will heal thee. Now, God didn't say how He was going to heal him there, did He? He just said, Isaiah, you tell Hezekiah, behold, I will heal thee. And then evidently the instructions came through the prophet Isaiah, because he's the one that received the message from God, to have this done. To apply the lump of figs, to make a poultice of it, and put it on the boil, and it says he recovered. Now I think that's noteworthy that we take note of what we've said about the healing of Hezekiah. There's something else that I want to mention. actually has to be bruised before it would be applied to the fatal sore metapoltis and applied. And it reminds us of Christ. Christ himself is that fig that's used for healing. And he has to be bruised. He had to be bruised. And as a bruised fig, he is applied to the fatal sore of man's sin. And he alone can and does heal poor man's death-bearing sickness that he has. We have a disease of sickness. And only by the bruised Christ, in Isaiah 53, it says, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. So we have a spiritual malady that only can be healed by the Lord's bruising. And so you might say that he is a type of that fig that is bruised. I want to read, there's two more sections. Isaiah chapter 38 gives us of what Hezekiah thought during this time of sickness. And he gives us other things that we don't find in the book of Second Kings, or at least a portion here. But then we want to come back to Second Kings to show you something else that that Isaiah is talking about when he talks about Hezekiah showing the ambassadors from Babylon what he has in his house, and that's in the next chapter. But I want to read in Isaiah chapter 38, and we'll go on a little bit with something that's found here. Isaiah 38, verse 4, and we read that, Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, 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, and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city. We said last week that this sickness of Isaiah took place before the deliverance you read of in chapter 37. Because you can see that it was not written in chronological order, because in chapter 37 we read where God did deliver them, right? In a miraculous way. He sent an angel to destroy 185,000 of the Assyrian army. And it tells us of the death of this a Sennacherib king of Assyria in the last part of the 37th chapter. We had it in our last lesson. So this sickness took place before that and it was in promise to Isaiah's prayer and deliverance from his illness that he also promised to deliver him from the Assyrians. Now then, let's go on. How does Isaiah know this? It says, And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has spoken. Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down. Now then, the sundial was probably a pillar whose shadow marked the hours on a double set of stairs. And the sundial must have been visible from Hezekiah's sick chamber so that he could see that God gave him this sign. In fact, if you look back in the book of 2 Kings, chapter 20, the Lord gave him a choice as to this sign. 2 Kings 20, verse 9. It says, Well, let's read verse 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? And Isaiah said, This sign, this sign shall thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has spoken. Shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?" So he gave, in the book of 2 Kings, he gave Hezekiah a choice as to whether the shadow on the sundial would go forward ten degrees or would go back ten degrees. And by the way, the word degrees Actually in the Hebrew is steps. So it indicates that the sundial was by something shining or its shadow or projection on steps that were made. So when it says degrees, it says steps. So there must have been that kind of a sundial in the days of Ahaz. And Hezekiah answered and said, it is a light thing for the shadow to go down. ten degrees, nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees." He says, let the shadow of this sundial turn backward ten degrees. He says, if God's going to give me a sign, I'm going to make it harder than ever. Now, God can turn the sun forward or backward either way He wants to do it. If you remember, the sun stood still for about a whole day in the days of Joshua. Some say that this is setting the whole a clock correct that by this that happened to Hezekiah was the balance of that about and whole day of the days of Joshua. Now, I don't know that. There's all kinds of speculation and study on it. But we find that there is a whole day that they had missing when they came to the time to fix the calendar that we now go by, and calendars later on, I should say. various calendars of time. So what happened to that day? God made the sun stand still about a whole day in the days of Joshua. Remember when he was in Babylon? And then it says here, ten degrees. We don't know how much time that is on the sundial, but it could make up the balance of that whole day so that now it's all corrected. But anyway, what I wanted you to see is that Hezekiah evidently knew exactly what the Lord would show him as far as the degrees on the sundial. So let's turn back to the book of Isaiah again now, chapter 38, and he's going to tell about his feeling during all this time of sickness. In Isaiah 38, verse 9, it says, The writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he had been sick and was recovered of his sickness. I said, in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave. Here's what he felt before this prayer was answered. He says, I shall go to the gates of the grave. I am deprived of the residue of my years. Can you imagine 39 years old? He would be deprived of the residue of his years, wouldn't he? It would be a sad feeling to get the announcement you're going to die when you're about 35, 40 years old. It'd be a sad feeling to find that at any time. I'm 70 years old and I don't want to hear that message. I want to live till I do die. I don't want God to say to me, now you're going to die and not live, set thine house in order. It might be a good idea to set your house in order anyway. It's probably a good idea to set your house in order as far as your spiritual life is concerned. And it's also a good idea, friend, to set your house in order as far as your physical and material life is concerned. And make sure everything is on the up and up as far as your family is concerned. But especially in such a short time he had. Make arrangements for the rest of your house. Take care of that. 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. 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. He's turned his back on all of it. Wouldn't see the faces of his friends or mankind. He says, mine age is departed and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent. In other words, like a shepherd's tent that was dismantled and torn down and moved to another location. And by the way, our life is compared to a tent too. The Bible tells us in the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 5 that we know if our earthly house, listen, verse 1, we know if our earthly house of this tabernacle, tabernacle or tent, We are dissolved. We have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. He says in this tabernacle we do groan, being burdened. And he goes on to speak of the fact that we have an eternal home. And the Bible says we walk by faith there and not by sight, knowing that while we are present in this body, we are absent from the Lord. But when we become absent from this body, we shall be present with the Lord. from this body is to be present with the Lord. And you read that in verses 1-8. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Back to this now. He says, My age has departed and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent. I have cut off like a weaver my life. Like a weaver would cut off a piece of weaving that's being done and not finish the whole of it. He will cut me off with pining sickness. And he says, from day even into night wilt thou make an end of me. I reckon till morning that as a lion, so will he break all my bones. In other words, this death that was coming was like a lion that was ready to devour him. From day even into night wilt thou make an end of me. He says in verse 14, like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter. I did mourn as a dove. fail with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed, undertake for me." In other words, do something for me. Come to my aid. 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. So he's about ready to resign, isn't he? He says, Oh, Lord. Now, listen, he learned a lesson. Hezekiah, in these next two verses, acknowledged that by these afflictions, man live and that they have a beneficial influence on a man's character. If God were to say to you this very evening, thou shall die and not live. And you had all these emotions and feelings that now your life is going to be cut off. It's going to be shortened. You have no more opportunity for life or service. How would you feel about these things? And then for God to tell you also through Isaiah, the prophet, that he's going to add to your days 15 years and he's going to prolong your life. What would you have learned by this? He says, O Lord, verse 16 and 17, look at them, are very important. He says, 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. Behold, for peace I had great bitterness, but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption. Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. He was not only healed, but he was forgiven. You know, God has cast all of our sins behind His back. He says, your sins and iniquities will I remember no more. As far as our sins, they are buried in the depths of the sea. And the Bible says in the Psalms, as far as the East is from the West, so far have they removed our transgressions from us. That's pretty much removed, isn't it? The Bible says that Jesus, behold the Lamb of God that, listen, taketh away the sin of the world. You know what that word taketh means? Beareth. Behold the Lamb of God in John chapter 1 verse 29. And it says it twice over, verse maybe 36, but there's two places in John chapter 1. But it says, John says, behold the Lamb of God which taketh away, beareth away the sin of the world. Now what does it mean, beareth away? We've given you the illustration time and again, how that the high priest in the Old Testament, on the Day of Atonement, would bring the two goats for an offering, and these two goats constituted one offering for sin, and it was a sin offering. And one goat would be sacrificed, and the blood would be taken, and the blood would be shed, and the proper thing done with the goat out at the brazen altar in the head in front of the tabernacle, and it was taken later on by the high priest into the the Holy of Holies and sprinkled on the mercy seat and thus making atonement for the sins of the children of Israel for a year. But then the other goat, the live goat, the one that was not killed, was a part of that same sacrifice. You see, Jesus not only died, but he rose again. He not only died, but he took our sins into a land of forgetfulness. And this other goat represents Christ as bearing our sins away, not only atoning for our sins by His blood, but in atoning for our sins, bearing them away. Now listen carefully. So the priest would put his hands upon the head of that live goat, and he would confess, and these are the words of scripture, all the sins and all the iniquities of all the children of Israel. By transferring, by implication, he would be transferring all sins and all iniquities of all the children of Israel to the head of that live goat. Then he would be taken by the hand of a fit, it says a fit man or a qualified man, a faithful man, by the hands of a fit man into the wilderness to be let go so that that goat could never be found anymore. Because upon the head of that goat, all the sins and all the transgressions of all the children of Israel were being borne away into a land of forgetfulness. And that man would return. And when he returned, the children of Israel could rest assured that their sins were gone. And this was done for a year at a time. But when Jesus came, and he shed his blood as that one goat that was sacrificed to atone for our sins, And then he tasted death, and he took our sins in death and hell and the grave into a land of forgetfulness. And he rose again. He came back so that it was guarantee and proof that our sins were forever gone. And he came back in the resurrection, and this was proof that our sins are forever gone and taken away and born into a land of forgetfulness. And he says, their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Jesus did that for us. You say, where are my sins? You know, the little children used to sing, gone, gone, gone. Yes, my sins are gone. Buried in the deepest sea. And they would sing the song about their sins being gone. You and I have the same privilege to claim our sins are gone into a land of forgetfulness. All because of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, by His death and entombment, and then by His resurrection He returned to guarantee that they were forever gone. Behold the Lamb of God, which beareth away, taketh away the sin of the world. And you and I owe all of our praise to the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. I want to quickly and briefly have little more time because I got it late. Now, remember that. Some of them sang late. You see, I can justify myself in that, can't I not? But this 39th chapter only has eight verses, and there's only one or two important things I wanted to point out. And let me do that at this time. Chapter 39. It says, At that time, Merodach, Beladon, the son of Beladon, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and was recovered. And Hezekiah was glad of them." This is chapter 39 of Isaiah. He was glad of them. Now, remember, there were letters and there were gifts, presents, and they were sent to him. And Hezekiah was glad of them and showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. And there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not." You know, that's a mistake. That's a mistake. Hezekiah wanted them to know just what all they had. We have in 2 Chronicles something about Hezekiah's pride. Let me read that and we'll come back to this. Let me read a verse. In 2 Chronicles 32, you don't have to turn. Let me just give you this and I'll try to herd back to the other. In those days Hezekiah was sickened to death and prayed unto the Lord, and He spake unto him and gave him a sign. 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. 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 you find that there was a bit of pride in Hezekiah. He wanted everybody to know what all he had, how rich he was. Notice what it says. Now it says in verse 3, back in Isaiah 39 verse 3, Then came Isaiah the prophet unto King Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said thou to these men? He says, What did you tell these men from Babylon? Now listen, And from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon. Now he was really making the impression because the Babylonians had their wealth. Then said he, What have they seen in thy house? Isaiah said to Hezekiah, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in my house have they seen. There is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them. Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts. Behold, the days come that all that is in thine house and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. You see, there's some people you can share with what you have, but there's a whole lot of people you better not share it with. You better not let them know. Just it's not any of your business, fella, right? Don't tell them how much you've got and what all you've got, and show them every little thing. Now, they have to be a close friend to know what I've got in my house. I'll tell you for sure. But I'll tell you for sure, you don't go around trying to show and make a show of how wealthy you are because there's somebody there that's ready to take it away from you. It's better to just be yourself and be humble. It's better to be what God would have you to be and not try to be a show-off. Because in this case, it really backfired on Hezekiah. And it says, And of thy sons that shall issue from thee which thou shalt beget, they shall take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, he couldn't say anything else. Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. He said, Moreover, for there shall be peace and truth in my days. Well, he was some question whether that is in the form of a statement or a question. In other words, it might be that he is saying, shall there be peace and truth in my days? He might be saying, well, since this has happened, I know God's word is good, but in spite of that, shall there be peace and truth in my days? So you see, the lesson is that Hezekiah was making it very convenient for the captivity to come. And the prediction that, let me say this and I'll close. The prediction of the Babylonian captivity was fulfilled through King Nebuchadnezzar about a hundred years later. About a hundred years later, this thing that Isaiah spoke of came to pass, and they were carried away to Babylon, and all the things that are spoken of here. If you remember, in the book of Daniel, they were drinking. out of those golden vessels and silver vessels and all the choice things of the temple that was taken away, right? And they were drinking wine out of those vessels. And that's when God says, I'm going to put an end to this kingdom too. And it was delivered to the Medes and the Persians in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. So if you get these two lessons out of these two chapters in the next section, of Isaiah, the 40th chapter, we will pick up next Sunday evening because we have the visitors with us Wednesday night. So you be prepared to take up the very last section of the book of Isaiah. There are three sections up until what we studied. The 36th, 7th, 8th and 9th chapters were the intermission or interlude or parenthesis, you might say, dealing with Hezekiah. And we said his name was mentioned no less than 39, I believe it was 39 times in these four chapters, dealing specifically with him during that time of the Assyrian invasion and what they had to do with Assyria. The first section is the first 35 chapters. The last section is chapters 40 through the rest of the book. So you have those three divisions, main divisions in the book of Isaiah. We'll take up the 40th chapter beginning in our next study. And we thank you for your patience and your kind attention. I hope you've reaped something from what we've said tonight.