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Both the Temple and the king's treasure were therefore depleted, yet when the
emissaries of the king of Babylon arrived with congratulations at Hezekiah's recovery:
"He showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the
spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found
in his treasures; there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah
showed them not" (Isa. 39: 2).
Where did this wealth come from? The answer is supplied from II Chronicles:
"Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of
Sennacherib . . . . . And many brought gifts unto the Lord to Jerusalem, and presents to
Hezekiah, king of Judah, so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from
henceforth. In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death, and prayed unto the Lord: and
He spake unto him, and He 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. And Hezekiah
had exceeding much riches and honour; and he made himself treasures for silver, and
for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of
pleasant jewels . . . . . And Hezekiah prospered in all his works. HOWBEIT in the
business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of
the wonder that was done in the land, GOD LEFT HIM, to try him, that he might know
all that was in his heart" (II Chron. 32: 22-31).
Here is the Divine comment; humbling in its illumination, not only of the recesses of
the heart of Hezekiah, but of our own.
Hezekiah was, at this time, without a son, so that there was no heir to the throne of
David. This would intensify his grief on receiving Isaiah's communication that he should
"die and not live". It is therefore with purpose, that in the message of hope and
restoration sent to the sick king, the Lord is called "The God of David thy father".
Hezekiah was granted another fifteen years of life, and as his son Manasseh was
twelve years old at his father's death, he must have been born three years after the sign
and promise had been given to Hezekiah. The sign was:
"Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the
sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward" (Isa. 38: 8).
In the record of II Kings we find that the original sign promised by the Lord was that
the shadow should move forward, but Hezekiah, conscious of the growing shadow over
his own life, and the relentlessness of the forward moving shadow, cried,
"It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow
return backward ten degrees" (II Kings 20: 10).
As is natural, various explanations of this miracle have been suggested, as that the
earth may have been made to reverse its revolution; or the sun have been move in the
firmament. But such solutions are contrary both to common sense and the teaching of the