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.
At that time Berodach-Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent a letter and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
God has just healed Hezekiah of a deadly illness, and turned the shadow backwards on the steps as a sign. Now a letter and a gift arrive from the king of Babylon — and this friendly note will do him more harm than an invading army did.
The verse gives Hezekiah's illness as the reason for the visit. Commentators point to something else as the real magnet.
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; they traced it to a small kingdom and a small king. That drew out their interest all the more, since everyone knew this king had resisted the proud king of Assyria — and resisted him so well that the Assyrian went home with all his plans defeated.
The courtesy carried an agenda. Both Babylon and Judah had shaken off Assyrian rule, which made them natural partners. Where the ESV says Hezekiah welcomed the envoys, older translations read that he listened to them.
Babylon's king had thrown off the rule of Assyria. He wanted to stop that power from attacking again, so he looked for friends among the nations west of his kingdom. That is why he sent a letter and a present to Hezekiah by his ambassadors. Our passage says that Hezekiah "listened to them." So they had something to ask of him, some alliance to propose against their common enemy — the enemy whose yoke Hezekiah had himself thrown off. The Word does not tell us that this alliance was ever made, only that the king gave the ambassadors a warm welcome.
This verse marks a turn in the story. A new power steps onto the page, under a king whose name is spelled two ways.
Merodach-baladan (Berodach is the error of some scribe; see Isaiah 39:1), king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah when he heard of his sickness and his miraculous recovery. This is the first time we hear of a king of Babylon.
Hezekiah had already received one letter from a foreign king. Sennacherib of Assyria sent threats. This one came with compliments.
The "letter" and the "present" from the king of Babylon were too much for his hidden vanity — something native to us all. Sennacherib's letter and his rude delegation could not achieve this; they only drove him to his knees. The letter and friendly mission from Merodach-baladan did it — and nearly ruined him and his kingdom. How like the Christian and this world! Its frown has little power. Its subtle favour is what we have most to fear.
Chronicles tells us what was going on inside Hezekiah while the envoys stood in front of him.
A brief passage in Chronicles... tells us of Hezekiah's state of soul when the ambassadors were sent by the king of Babylon: "In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to the LORD, and He answered him and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem. But Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah." Here we see the king's feelings when he received the messengers of Babylon. "His heart was lifted up."
Nothing scandalous happened here. No idol, no treaty. The damage was all inside.
Hezekiah's sin on this occasion was known only to God. It was not a moral breakdown but a sin of the heart, which God alone could see and judge... Besides, it was only the special favour and goodness shown to him that made such an offence possible. The enemy's cunning trapped him into boasting in a fleshly way about the blessing that should have drawn him nearer to God.
The welcome cost far more than Hezekiah could have guessed.
Hezekiah was glad of this, but it was accepting the friendship of the world, and as a result his descendants would be captives.
- Sign. The reversed shadow on the dial, not just the recovery, drew Babylon's attention to a small king in a small kingdom.
- Smile. Sennacherib's threats drove Hezekiah to his knees. Merodach-baladan's compliments undid him. Fear the world's favour more than its frown.
- Snare. Behind the courtesy lay a proposed alliance, and Hezekiah gave its envoys a warm welcome.
- Search. Chronicles shows what Kings leaves out: his heart was lifted up — a sin of the heart that God alone could see.
- Sentence. Accepting the friendship of the world cost his descendants their freedom.
And Hezekiah hearkened to them, and shewed them all his treasure-house, the silver and the gold, and the spices and the fine oil, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found among his treasures there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not shew them.
God had just healed Hezekiah and added fifteen years to his life when envoys arrived from Babylon with letters and a gift. He had survived an invading army and a death sentence — so why did he open his whole house to a compliment?
Hezekiah had faced two earlier attacks and won both. What arrived from Babylon looked nothing like an attack, and that is why it worked.
Here we have another king attacking Hezekiah. It was not the king of Assyria with a large army. It was not death, the king of terrors, with a summons to surrender. It was the king of Babylon with a present. And strange as it may seem, the present from Babylon proved too strong an attacker for the heart of Hezekiah. When the king of Assyria sent letters to him, "he went up into the house of the Lord and spread them before the Lord." So he conquered. When told to prepare for death, "he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord." So he was raised up. But when the ambassadors from the king of Babylon came to him, "he showed them all his treasure house." SO HE FELL.
The danger is not limited to kings and palaces.
It is always a dangerous thing for a saint of God when the world begins to be courteous to him.
Hezekiah's recent history gave him plenty to say about God. He gave his visitors a tour instead.
Pride was lurking in the hidden chambers of his heart. He could have told them about the One who dwelt between the cherubim, and about the great deliverance from the hand of the king of Assyria. He could have told them about the deep lessons learned at the gates of the grave, and about the pardoning love of God who had cast all his sins behind His back. Instead he showed them all his treasure house and his armory — which could not defend him from the king of Assyria. So it was all about himself and nothing about God.
The chance was real, and both sides missed it.
The wise men of Babylon had taken note of the wonder done in the land, and they had come to connect it with God's people and with the son of David. Here was surely an opportunity for testimony to the Lord. How great His power and His goodness towards His afflicted servant! But the king of Babylon saw only the creature in it; and Hezekiah, for his part, was glad to show it. How quickly we respond to flattery.
These treasures had a history and a character of their own. The problem was not their value but the way he now held them.
In 2 Kings 20:13 it is clear that Hezekiah saw the precious things only in relation to himself. He lost sight of their holy and unique character. He also forgot how much he owed to those who had laboured before him. So he came under judgment.
Two examinations were running at once, and only one of them was Hezekiah's idea. Older translations open the verse with "Hezekiah was glad of them."
He was glad of them: this explains it all. He calls them to examine his treasures; but God is calling him to the examination of his own heart. "I am king in Jerusalem," says that heart in its pride.
God already knew what was there; the trial was for Hezekiah's benefit.
It was all known to God; but the aim in His ways is to expose everything now, so that we may clear ourselves morally and humble ourselves in His presence. There may be much outward activity, and success too — success as men judge it — while He who searches hearts sees something secretly at work which, if not brought to light and judged now, would lead to final exposure.
Isaiah's answer fit the offence: everything paraded before Babylon would end up in Babylon.
All was to go to that very Babylon whose ambassadors had ensnared him. Everything his poor heart might boast of before the men of this world must go to ruin. He had displayed his treasures to the world, and the world was about to carry those very treasures away. But the "peace and truth" — the treasures he had in God — the world could neither give nor take away.
Babylon's courtesy had its own profit in view.
The world's wisdom cultivates profitable connections with the people of God. That wisdom is always a snare to them. Hezekiah might have made known the source and giver of all this; but he acted as a man.
- Threatened, then flattered. Assyria's threat drove Hezekiah to prayer and he won; Babylon's present found him off guard and he fell. The world's kindness is harder to survive than its hostility.
- Shown, not told. Visitors came asking about God's miracle. They left having seen only silver, gold and armory — a testimony traded for a tour.
- Borrowed, not earned. Others had laboured for these holy things. Hezekiah showed them off as his own, and lost sight of what made them holy.
- Tried, not trapped. The visit turned into God's examination of Hezekiah's heart, and pride was what it found.
- Lost, then kept. The world carried off everything he paraded before it. The peace and truth he had in God stayed beyond its reach.