And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What [shall be] the sign that Jehovah will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of Jehovah the third day?
God has just told Hezekiah he will live. He has heard the king's prayer and promised to heal him, and on the third day Hezekiah will walk into the temple again. Yet the king still asks for a sign. Readers have argued over it ever since: some hear weak faith, others hear boldness.
Some writers read the question as a lapse. God had already spoken, and Hezekiah wanted more than the promise.
Was the word of the Lord not enough for Hezekiah to rely upon? No! He asked Isaiah to give him a sign to confirm God's promise that he would go up to the house of the Lord the third day (v. 8).
Others defend it. They set Hezekiah beside his own father, Ahaz. This same prophet told Ahaz to ask for a sign, and Ahaz refused:
Hezekiah quite properly asks for a sign to assure himself of his recovery. His hypocritical father, in mock modesty, refused to ask for a sign. He used a pious phrase to refuse: "I will not tempt the Lord." But no one asked him to "tempt God." God Himself had told him to ask for a sign. Unbelief and self-will lay behind his flat refusal, hidden under this pious phrase.
Commentators differ here.
Isaiah offers a choice, and the choice itself tests the king.
And so God gave him a certain sign — a sign that Hezekiah takes in remarkable contrast with his father. When God bids us ask, it is a serious thing to refuse. We ought to be bold in faith, and Hezekiah was. He was offered a double sign: the dial could go forward or go backward. He chooses the harder of the two.
Hezekiah picks the movement that waiting could never produce.
Isaiah gave Hezekiah a choice: would the shadow go forward ten degrees or backward ten degrees? Either way this would be an amazing miracle. But Hezekiah thought it an easy thing for the shadow to go forward, since it would do so in time anyway — though not 10 degrees at once. So Hezekiah asked that the shadow go backwards.
The dial had only ever run one direction. Turning the shadow back says something about God far larger than one man's recovery.
Ahaz had set up this dial. Since his reign the shadow had gone forward. Time was running on fast and must end in night, in the complete disappearance of the monarchy under God's judgment. The Lord could have hurried this end, for the measure was full. But it pleased Him to answer the desire of the godly king and the prophet's request by delaying the hour instead of hurrying it… This miracle has a deeper meaning. It means that God could and would overturn the whole order of nature, and the laws that put the sinner under death, so that He might save those He loves… Asking for this showed complete confidence in God, who alone can do the impossible.
People have long argued over how it happened. Writers refuse to make the method the question.
It is not for us to speculate whether this sign was by refraction or otherwise. GOD gave it. That is enough for faith.
Notice what Hezekiah wants confirmed. Not the extra years — the walk up to God's house.
The message to the weeping king names the third day, on which he should go up to the house of the LORD. For Israel there is also a third day in store. Then God will raise them up as a nation, and they will worship the LORD (Hosea 6:2)… Hezekiah's experience is a great encouragement for God's people to pray.
The sign did not stay inside Judah. Watchers of the sky in Babylon noticed it.
We know from elsewhere that it was not just the sickness that struck the Babylonians. It was this very return of the shadow ten degrees on the dial. They were great watchers of the heavens — watchers of a sign like this — and they were quite right. They traced it to king Hezekiah.
What he did with that attention is the sad sequel.
Here was surely an opportunity of testimony to Jehovah. How great His power and His goodness on behalf of His afflicted servant! But the king of Babylon saw only the man in it, and Hezekiah was glad to show it off. Alas! how soon we respond to flattery. When the shadow of death lay on him, he cast himself on God.
- Asked — Hezekiah asks for a sign after God has already promised to heal him. Writers differ: weak faith, or the boldness his father Ahaz refused to show?
- Chosen — Offered two signs, he picks the harder one. A shadow moves forward on its own, so only backward proves anything.
- Given — God reverses the shadow. He never explains how. That He did it is enough for faith.
- Meant — The reversal pictures God overturning the order that holds the sinner under death, to save those He loves.
- Aimed — The sign he asked to have confirmed was worship: going up to the house of the LORD on the third day. Yet the same wonder drew Babylon's admiration, and there the healed king fell.
And Isaiah said, This [shall be] the sign to thee from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do the thing that he hath spoken shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?
God had promised the dying Hezekiah healing and fifteen more years, yet the king still asked for proof. Isaiah answered with a choice about a shadow, and that choice raises two questions: why ask for a sign at all, and why was one direction harder than the other?
Either direction would have taken an act of God. But the two did not look the same to the king. (Where the ESV reads "ten steps," older translations read "ten degrees," as the writers below do.)
Isaiah gave Hezekiah a choice: would the shadow go forward ten degrees or backward ten degrees? Either way this would be an amazing miracle. But Hezekiah thought it an easy thing for the shadow to go forward, since it would do that in time anyway — though not 10 degrees at once. So Hezekiah asked that the shadow go backwards.
One writer sees the king's boldness in which sign he picked:
We ought to be bold in faith, and Hezekiah was. There was a double sign: the dial could go forward, or it could go backward. He chooses the harder of the two.
Commentators differ on the asking itself. Some see it as right, and lay the fault on his father's refusal instead:
Hezekiah rightly asks for a sign to assure himself that he will recover. His hypocritical father, in mock modesty, refused to ask for a sign. In refusing, he used a religious phrase: "I will not tempt the Lord." But no one asked him to "tempt God." God Himself had told him to ask for a sign. Unbelief and self-will lay behind his flat refusal, though a pious phrase covered them.
Others see the same asking as a failure, since God had already given His word:
Was the word of the Lord not enough for Hezekiah to rely upon? No! He asked Isaiah for a sign to confirm God's promise that he would go up to the house of the Lord on the third day… Yet the Lord would still give Hezekiah the sign he wanted.
How God did it is open to question. One writer lists the options, then says they change nothing:
It was a miracle, whatever way we take it. God could have reversed the turning of the earth, if He had seen fit to do so. Even a clockmaker is a poor one if he cannot turn back the hands of his own work. Or He could have brought it about by the ordinary law of refraction, the bending of light… Either way it was a miracle, whatever the rationalist or doubting astronomer may say against it.
The shape of the miracle was not random; it pictured exactly what God was doing in the sick man's body.
For the shadow on the sundial to go ten degrees backward was completely against nature. But it was a fitting sign, because God was about to reverse Hezekiah's sickness. Against the nature of his disease, it would end in life and not death. A paste of figs does not normally cure a badly infected boil, but it did here, as an act of God.
One writer finds a deeper meaning in the delay:
Ahaz had set up this dial. Since his reign the shadow had gone forward. Time was passing quickly and had to end in night… The Lord could have hurried that end, for the measure was full. But it pleased Him to answer the godly king's desire and the prophet's asking by delaying the hour instead of hurrying it… But this miracle has a deeper meaning. It means that God could and would overturn the whole order of nature, with the laws that put the sinner under death, so that He might bring about the salvation of those He loves.
News of the sign travelled, and one writer notes who took it in:
We know from elsewhere that it was not just the sickness. It was this very return of the shadow ten degrees on the dial that struck the Babylonians. They were great watchers of the heavens — watchers of such a sign as this — and they were quite right.
- Offered: God gave more than a promise — He let Hezekiah pick the sign, forward or back.
- Chosen: Hezekiah passed over the easy option and asked for the one nature could never supply.
- Granted: However it happened, the power at work was God's.
- Matched: The shadow went backward, and so did the disease — death turned to life.
- Meant: The reversal pictures something larger: God overturning the order of nature that holds sinners under death, so He can save those He loves.
And Hezekiah said, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees no, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
Hezekiah is sick, and Isaiah offers him a sign with a choice: the shadow can move forward ten steps or go back ten steps. Why would he turn down the easy option, and what did that moving shadow on a sundial mean?
(The quotes below say "degrees" where the ESV says "steps." Both mean the same marks on the dial.)
The choice Isaiah gave was real: forward or backward. Hezekiah judged one of the two to be no great test.
Isaiah gave Hezekiah a choice: would the shadow go forward ten degrees or backward ten degrees? Either way this would be an amazing miracle. But Hezekiah thought it an easy thing for the shadow to go forward, since it would do so in time anyway — just not 10 degrees at once. So Hezekiah asked that the shadow go backwards.
The dial belonged to Hezekiah's father, Ahaz. The two kings handled an offer from God very differently.
When this same prophet asked Ahaz to look for a sign in heaven or on earth, Ahaz pretended that he could not do such a thing — that it was not for him to ask a sign. But his heart would have been far more truly subject to God if he had asked. When God tells us to ask, it is a serious thing to refuse. We ought to be bold in faith, and Hezekiah was. There was a double sign, either the dial going forward or going backward, and he chooses the more difficult of the two. Moving the dial forward would in a certain measure be only natural, even though it might be an extraordinary act of God. Making the dial go back was a far more striking proof that Jehovah had stepped in.
Commentators differ on how far it is worth guessing. One reference work describes the dial, suggests a possible cause, then says the cause is not the point.
Some device, not clearly described, which worked out the divisions of the day from the shadow of a pillar, cast by the sun onto a series of steps or degrees... The same thing may not have happened anywhere else, since its purpose was only to strengthen the faith of Hezekiah. There is also no need to suppose that the earth reversed its motion. Could an unusual state of the atmosphere have bent the light passing through it? However it was brought about, it was by the power of God.
Another writer declines the question and points to what the sign was for.
This sign shows us the sovereign supernatural power of God. He will use that power to deliver and bless Israel, inwardly as well as outwardly. It is not for us to speculate whether this sign was by refraction or otherwise. It was given by GOD. That is enough for faith.
The dial of Ahaz was more than a piece of furniture. The shadow crossing it had been counting down a kingdom.
Ahaz had set up this dial. Since his reign the shadow had gone forward. Time was passing quickly. It had to end in night, in the complete disappearance of the monarchy under God's judgment. The Lord could have hurried that end, for the measure was full. But it pleased Him to answer the desire of the godly king and the prophet's request. He delayed the hour instead of hurrying it, and so gave the king's rule more time. But this miracle has a deeper meaning. It means that God could and would overturn the whole order of nature and its laws, which made the sinner subject to death. He would do this to save those He loves... His request showed complete confidence in God, who alone can do the impossible with the impossible.
A sign given to strengthen one man's faith did not stay private. Men who studied the sky in a distant empire noticed it.
We know from elsewhere what struck the Babylonians. It was not just the sickness, but this very return of the shadow ten degrees on the dial. They were great watchers of the heavens — watchers of just such a sign as this — and they were quite right. They traced it to king Hezekiah, to a fairly small kingdom and king, and this drew out their interest.
- Asked — His father Ahaz turned a sign down. Hezekiah asked, and asked boldly. When God tells us to ask, refusing is the serious thing.
- Harder — The forward move looked easy to him, since time moves that way anyway. He chose the reversal, which only God could produce.
- Given — Commentators differ on how it happened. One suggests the air bent the light; another refuses to guess. Both say the power was God's, and that this is enough for faith.
- Reversed — On Ahaz's own dial the shadow had been running forward toward judgment and night. God delayed that hour instead of hurrying it. It is a picture of God overturning the order of death itself to save those He loves.
- Reported — The wonder reached Babylon. Its sky-watchers traced it back to a small king in a small kingdom, and it drew out their interest.
And Isaiah the prophet cried to Jehovah, and he brought the shadow back on the degrees by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.
Hezekiah was healed and given fifteen more years. He asked for a sign, and the sign he chose was time running backwards on his father's dial. Most readers ask how God did it. The writers here press a better question: why He did it, and what the reversed shadow was meant to teach.
Isaiah offered a choice, and Hezekiah picked the harder half of it. One writer compares his choice with his father's.
God gave him a certain sign — and Hezekiah takes it in remarkable contrast with his father. The same prophet once asked Ahaz to look for a sign in heaven or on earth. Ahaz pretended that he could not do such a thing — that it was not for him to ask for a sign. But his heart would have been far more truly subject to God if he had asked. When God tells us to ask, it is a serious thing to refuse. We ought to be bold in faith, and Hezekiah was. There was a double sign — the dial could go forward or backward — and he chooses the harder of the two.
Another writer looks past the sickroom to what the sign displays.
Now, on the time dial of that very king Ahaz, the shadow returns "ten degrees" — the same degrees the sun had already gone down. This sign shows us the sovereign supernatural power of God. He will use that power for Israel's deliverance and blessing, inward as well as outward.
Older translations say "degrees" where the ESV says "steps." What these marks belonged to is uncertain, and one writer quotes a description that reads them as real steps.
The term "steps" seems to point to a tall stone pillar surrounded by steps, and the shadow on it marked the hours. In the morning the shadow fell westwards, first on the lowest step, then climbed to the flat top. After midday it came back down the steps eastwards.
One writer runs through the possible mechanics, then refuses to let them settle the question.
The shadow turned back on the dial of Ahaz ten degrees, in answer to the prophet's prayer. God could have reversed the turning of the earth, had He seen fit to do so. Any clockmaker who cannot turn back the hands of his own work is a poor one. Or He could have caused it by the ordinary law of refraction… In any case it was a miracle, whatever the rationalist or sceptical astronomer may say to the contrary.
One writer reads the moving shadow as a picture, and finds the gospel in its reversal.
Ahaz had set up this dial. Since his reign the shadow had gone forward. Time was passing quickly, and it had to end in night, with the monarchy vanishing completely under God's judgment… But this miracle has a deeper meaning. It means that God could and would overturn the whole order of nature and its laws, which made the sinner subject to death. He would do it to save His beloved ones. Death no longer keeps its fatal course. The life that was fading would begin again for the faithful remnant in the resurrection of the Messiah, their representative. For us it begins again in eternal life through the resurrection of the Saviour.
Commentators differ here. Where one praises Hezekiah's boldness, another asks why God's promise was not enough on its own.
But we have serious lessons to learn from this history. Was the word of the Lord not enough for Hezekiah to rely upon? No! He asked Isaiah to give him a sign to confirm God's promise that he would go up to the house of the Lord on the third day. Are we also like Hezekiah and the nobleman of John 4:46-53, to whom the Lord said, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe"? Yet the Lord would still grant Hezekiah his desire for a sign.
The sign was given to one sick man in private. It did not stay private.
We know from elsewhere that it was not only the sickness that struck the Babylonians. It was this very return of the shadow ten degrees on the dial. They were great watchers of the heavens — watchers of just such a sign as this — and they were quite right. They traced it to king Hezekiah, to a fairly small kingdom and king, and that drew out their interest.
- Asked — Hezekiah asked for a sign. Writers differ: was it bold faith, or a weak grip on a promise already given?
- Answered — The shadow moved when "Isaiah the prophet called to the LORD." The miracle came through prayer.
- Reversed — God pushed time backwards on the very dial of Ahaz, the king who had refused an offered sign.
- Meant — The reversal pictures God overturning the order that holds sinners under death. A fading life begins again in resurrection.
- Reported — News of the wonder reached the sky-watchers of Babylon, and their interest turned toward Hezekiah.