King Hezekiah

IN MY LAST post, I wrote briefly about King Hezekiah being healed by the Lord. I left out a good portion of the story, the juicy part if you will, and I would be doing a disservice to not continue the story. The Lord had spoken to King Hezekiah saying:

Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: 'I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you, and on the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David.'

King Hezekiah then asked Isaiah what the sign would be that God would do what He said. Isaiah replied that either the "shadow of the sundial will move forward ten degrees, or should it go backward ten degrees?" Hezekiah asked that the sundial be moved back ten degrees so Isaiah cried out, and it was done as the Lord said.

Last year I heard an excellent sermon on this story in which I will reference. In this story, King Hezekiah represents humanity; he was near death, scared and suffering, and pleading to God for deliverance. Hezekiah had fallen to pride and was stricken with an infirmity to which he was pleading with the Lord only after he realized his days were numbered. God was merciful to Hezekiah, even though mercy was probably undeserved. This represents Christ's coming to Earth and dying for our sins. God then turned back the sun ten degrees. Why ten? The ten degrees represents the ten commandments humanity failed to uphold. Thus, Christ's atonement of our sins is our second chance to make it right.

Hezekiah's story is overflowing with symbolism, prophecy, and examples of God's might and power. Think about it, God moved the entire universe backwards, just to prove that He was good for His word. But as a Christian, this doesn't impress me. I already know this is within God's power; the impressive part is God's mercy and patience. Hezekiah was disobedient and forgot about the Lord, and then remembered Him only in his last days. This is sufficient for God, but he wants so much more from us. This story should be an example for us. Yeah, God wants us to keep His commandments, but He is also abundant in mercy and will do so much to have us back. Even after He has done more than we are deserving of, He will give us signs to show us His glory. May we set the bar high though and not resort to falling into King Hezekiah's position by withholding God's commandments.