(Continued-December 1945)

Hezekiah did not want to go down to Sheol, where all the departed at that time went. His reason for this attitude was that those who go to Sheol could not praise God and had no immediate hope of being delivered. David expressed the same thought in Psalm 30:9. The same theme is discussed in Psalm 88:10,11. The picture of Sheol presented in the Old Testament is that of a rather gloomy, dismal place--even that portion of it to which the righteous went. When Christ, however, came from the tomb He brought certain ones out of Hades, and their bodies were raised and came forth out of their tombs after Christ was raised (Matt. 27:51-53).

In Isaiah 38:19 appears a statement which should grip the heart of every mother and father especially: "The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: The father to the children shall make known thy truth."

Of course during our natural lives our chief business should be the praising of God and the doing of those things that will reflect glory and honor upon His name. All parents especially should praise God to their children from day to day. A family altar should stand in every home. Around it all should gather in the morning for the praise of God and the same order should prevail at the close of the day. Praise and worship are due the Lord. The redeemed of Jehovah should delight in magnifying and praising God because of His matchless grace which has been bestowed upon them.

"Jehovah is ready to save me: Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments All the days of our life in the house of Jehovah" (vs. 20).

The Lord showed that He was ready to save Hezekiah and did so when he took Him as his surety. God is ready to save any and everyone today, who will come to Him. God loved the world to the extent that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth upon Him should not perish but have life everlasting. The name of every man, woman, and child throughout the entire world may be substituted in this verse without doing violence to it. God personally wills the salvation of every soul. If anyone is lost, it is not due to the fact that God has not loved Him and has not made all provisions necessary for his salvation. God will see that His truth gets to everyone, regardless of where he is or the circumstances, who hungers and thirsts after righteousness.

After we are saved we should sing God's praises all the days of our lives in the house of Jehovah. Of course, the house of Jehovah to which Hezekiah referred was none other than the Temple. The house of God today is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of the truth: thus it should be the delight of every redeemed soul to attend the services of the church regularly and to join in with the rest of God's people in singing songs of praise and adoration to the Lord because of the wonderful salvation which He has granted to us.

From this brief survey of this marvelous song of Hezekiah we see that God caused Hezekiah to pass through the experiences narrated. Because of them he was brought to a saving knowledge of God and was assured of his salvation. He enjoyed a new life and a new outlook, took advantage of them, and lived accordingly. Nevertheless, as we shall see in the next chapter, he made a serious mistake. It was, let us believe, one of the head and not of the heart.

In verse 21 Isaiah tells us that he gave instructions that a cake of figs should be made into a plaster and laid upon the boil which had broken out upon Hezekiah. This simple home remedy was used, at least to a certain extent, in the restoration of Hezekiah to his health. There can be no doubt but that his healing was a miracle. Nevertheless the Lord works in conjunction with men oftentimes and effects cures. Some times Jesus healed people instantly. Then again He restored sight to the blind man by putting spittle upon his eyes and having him to go to the Pool of Siloam and to wash. Circumstances alter cases. God can use the faithful efforts of an honest, conscientious physician in restoring health to one of His children. Then again, in answer to believing prayer, apart from all medical aid or human assistance, God can and often does restore one of His children to perfect health in answer to believing prayer. Let us take the Lord at His word and let us avail ourselves of all that He has for us.

At this time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that he had been sick and had recovered. Ostensibly these letters were to congratulate Hezekiah upon his recovery to health and to inquire concerning the wonder which had been done in the land as we have already seen. The messengers feigned these purposes, but in reality they came to spy out the land and to acquire all the facts concerning the military strength and the strategic importance of the situation in Jerusalem. The Babylonians were planning at that time, as the sequel of the story shows, an offensive war against the Jews.

Hezekiah accepted the ambassadors in good faith and believed their story. It is quite likely that he felt rather flattered by receiving these letters and the present which was sent him. Being unsuspecting and feeling grateful and at the same time flattered that he had received such attention, Hezekiah opened up all his treasures of gold and silver and precious things and showed the ambassadors even the most secret things of the kingdom. In doing this, he made a fatal mistake. He failed to take this matter to God and ask for His guidance in respect to this most serious matter. We should profit by Hezekiah's mistake. We should take all matters to the Lord in earnest prayer, requesting that He guide and direct us as to what we should do, how we should proceed, and when we should act. Unfortunately too many of us are hasty and impulsive, rushing into things without due consideration and without first asking for wisdom from above. The Lord revealed to Isaiah what Hezekiah had done and sent him with a message to the king. In delivering it, the prophet was very diplomatic and elicited from the king the information concerning his visitors and what he had done. Hezekiah was candid, frankly stating everything that he had done. Thereupon Isaiah revealed to the king the seriousness of his blunder and the consequences which would follow; namely, that the kingdom of Judah should be overthrown and the flower of the population carried into captivity. At this time it was revealed that the southern kingdom also would go. This prophecy was made something like a hundred years before the event took place.

God overrules everything for the advancement of His cause, plans, and purposes. He uses the good deeds of men and also their mistakes and errors, weaving them into a fabric of providential occurrences for the carrying out of His beneficent plans among the nations. Of course, when the children of God are in perfect harmony with Him and do everything according to His will, their efforts will count most for the kingdom of God. Nevertheless, even their mistakes and the sins and transgressions of wicked men are in a similar manner worked into a chain of providential circumstances for the development of God's plan of the ages.

Isaiah's prophecy is followed by Hezekiah's statement to him:
"Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of Jehovah which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days" (39:8).

Hezekiah's attitude seemed to be deserving of censure. He was not, one may judge, so very much concerned about posterity as about himself and his own generation. This may be a hasty conclusion, but one naturally arrives at it by at least a superficial reading of Hezekiah's words.

But the rough edge of this criticism may be worn off by his first statement: "Good is the word of Jehovah which thou hast spoken." It is altogether possible that Hezekiah thought of the fatal mistake which he had made and was willing for God to take the situation in hand and deal with it as He chose. Furthermore, his statement in regard to there being peace and truth in his days may be interpreted as an expression of thanksgiving and praise that God by His mercy had seen fit to postpone the judgment. But let us not make any excuses for ourselves or for others in trying to justify failures.

With Hezekiah, however, we can say: "Good is the word of Jehovah," regardless of what it is. May we live for our own day and generation and also for the future of the people of God.

With the conclusion of Isaiah, chapter 39, we have reached the end of the first main division of the Book of Isaiah. With next month's installment we shall begin the second half of his prophecy.

<<<< previous     next >>>>