Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 20
Hezekiah would later write about his desperate prayer during this serious illness (Isaiah 38:9-20). He was not afraid of death itself. Rather, he considered it wrong for him to die before the proper time. If he died too soon, he would lose his opportunity to praise God in this world. He would also lose his opportunity to tell his children about the goodness of God.
On the other hand, if he lived, then he would benefit from this experience. It would give him a special reason not to live in a proud manner, but to live with humble attitudes. God’s goodness to him would constantly remind him of the fact that God had forgiven his wrong and evil deeds. Each day he would praise God; and especially, he would praise God at God’s holy temple, the house of God in Jerusalem.
God’s answer to Hezekiah’s prayer came quickly. God sent Isaiah back to tell Hezekiah that God would cure him. Hezekiah would live for another 15 years. Just three days later, he would be able to go to the temple to pray.
Isaiah directed Hezekiah’s nurse just to use a very simple remedy. God would do everything else that was necessary for Hezekiah to recover.
Today, sometimes people try to argue that it would have been better for Hezekiah not to live for another 15 years. During those years, his son Manasseh was born and he was a very wicked king. Hezekiah himself became proud although he later turned back to God (2 Chronicles 32:25-26).
We would answer that Manasseh was responsible for his own wicked behaviour (Ezekiel 18:5-13). As we see in 2 Chronicles 33:11-13, even he turned back to God. In the same way, Hezekiah too was responsible for his own proud and wrong decisions. When God cured him, his attitudes were right and proper. The foolish decisions that he made later, did not make his original prayer to God, or God’s answer to it, wrong.
Next part: The sign: the shadow goes back (2 Kings 20:8-11)
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