Hezekiah becomes sick to the point of death and God gives a sign of the promise of extending his life. The sun on the sun dial is turned back 10 degrees.

Isaiah 38:1-8

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

• Hezekiah sick and near death.
• Hezekiah wept bitterly as he prayed to the Lord.
• Lord hears Hezekiah’s prayer and promises to add fifteen years to his life and deliver him from the Assyrians.
• Sun on the sundial is turned back ten degrees as a sign that God would do what He promised.

Hezekiah sick and near death.

“In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you will die and not live.’” Isaiah 38:1

“In those days” refers to the time that Sennacherib, the king of Asyria, took possession of fortified cities within Judah, as described in Isaiah chapters 36 through 37. Hezekiah was the king of the kingdom of Judah at that time. Somewhere during that time, Hezekiah became sick and was near death. Isaiah came to Hezekiah, by the Spirit of the Lord, to let him know that he would die and he needed to set his house in order.

That verse describes the sickness and sentence of death we have within ourselves because of the inherited sin within our human nature, “Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” 2 Corinthians 1:9a, Romans 3:23 The result of our spiritual sickness is certain death facing eternal hell, “For the wages of sin is death” 6:23a

“For to be carnally minded is death…If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us… If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. ” Romans 8:6a, 1 John 1:8, 10

We are called to set our house in order, our house being the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” 2 Corinthians 3:16 “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation…Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”” Romans 10:8-10, 2 Corinthians 6:2

Hezekiah wept bitterly as he prayed to the Lord.

“Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.” Isaiah 38:2-3

In his sickness that was leading to death, Hezekiah turned His face toward the wall. Today, as we lay sick with inherited sin that leads to spiritual death and eternal hell, we turn our face toward the wall. That is the wall that separates sinful human beings from entering into the presence of God. That wall is broken down by faith in Jesus Christ, who forgives sin and gives us fellowship with Him through the Holy Spirit, “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,” Ephesians 2:14 Our lord Jesus prays that we will be one with Him, “…that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” John 17:21

We live in very difficult times today because we live in a world that is governed by the power of darkness that gives people what to say, do, think, and feel. They despise the light shining on their secret and exposing the presence of the beast that speaks and lives through them. They do not want it to be known that the presence of the beast is in the world today. They want it to be kept secret that we are living in the night of the reign of the government of the beast and its global culture. Today’s culture loves the darkness more than light because what the beast gives them to say and do is spiritual evil. Their ritual is to come against belief in God, to defame the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and they intend to pollute the presence of the Holy Spirit. As followers of Jesus Christ, we might feel spiritually sick and near death in our faith, and like Hezekiah, our heart and soul cries out to the Lord, “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.”

When we feel spiritually sick and near death, we realize how much we need our Lord when the culture around us holds contempt for the life we live in the name of our Lord Jesus. Like Hezekiah, we may weep bitterly from being crucified daily within our thoughts and having heartache after heartache as if a spear has been run through our heart to drain all the Water and Blood of life within us. We often forget that Jesus says, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 16:24-25

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise” Psalms 51:17

“Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. Joel 2:12-13

 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,” Ephesians 2:8-9

Lord hears Hezekiah’s prayer and promises to add fifteen years to his life and deliver him from the Assyrians.

“And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.”’  Isaiah 38:7-6

The Spirit of the Lord, through Isaiah, reminded Hezekiah that he was in the lineage of king David, both from the tribe of Judah. This is written about Hezekiah, “And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.” 2 Chronicles 29:2 “Father” means the forefather within the family tree of David.

Solomon was the son of David, and this is his lineage, “Solomon’s son was Rehoboam… Azariah [Uzziah] his son, Jotham his son, Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son,” 1 Chronicles 3:10, 12-13 “Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah.” Matthew 1:9 It was promised to David that the Christ would set on his throne, and Hezekiah was part of that. “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” Revelations 22:16 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,” Acts 2:29-30

As followers of Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit wants to remind us who we are within His family tree, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10

The Lord hears our prayers and has seen our tears and as He said to Hezekiah, “…surely I will add to your days fifteen years.” Those years added to our life are eternal life in the New Jerusalem of the new heaven and earth. Our Lord Jesus says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and will not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” John 5:24

The Lord delivers us who are members of the “city of God”, delivers His City, and defends His city. That city is described in this way, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant,” Hebrews 12:22-24

The Lord delivers us from the hand of the “king” that governs by the power of darkness through the beast that has power over physiology to give people what to say, do, think, and feel. That “king” governs over the global government of the beast and the global culture. The culture of the beast welcomes the beast to speak and live through them. They are conformed to the mark, name, number of the beast by what they are given to say and do. Deliverance comes to anyone who believes God through Jesus Christ, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

The Lord hears every prayer that has ever been prayed to Him, and they are sitting in bowls at His throne. Through those prayers, He is preparing to send the wrath of His judgment to this earth, “…the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” Revelations 5:8 Click for post on Revelations 5. “And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.” Revelation 8:2–6 Click for a post on Revelations 8. The events of the Seven Trumpets are described in the posts on Revelations chapters 8, 9, and 11.

“The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. The Lord preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.” Psalms 145:18-21

Sun on the sundial is turned back ten degrees as a sign that God would do what He promised.

“And this is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing which He has spoken: Behold, I will bring the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.” So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down.” Isaiah 38:7-8

Click here for the scriptures from 2 Kings 20:1-11 for a detailed description of the conversation between Isaiah and Hezekiah about the sundial of Ahaz.

The Lord gave Hezekiah a sign of the promise that fifteen years would be added to his life and that he would be delivered from the hand of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria. That sign was to turn back the sun by ten degrees as measured on the sundial of Ahaz [the father of Hezekiah]. That would add more time to the day, like turning clocks back during “Daylight Savings Time”. A sundial is what is seen in the image below. The purpose of a sundial is to cause a shadow to be cast from a small post or “stick” to reveal where the sun is and to determine how much daylight has been spent or how much is remaining of the day. Ahaz made his own sundial.

How is turning back the sun on the spiritual sun dial a sign of extending our life, like given to Hezekiah? Turning back the sun on the spiritual sundial means that God gives us a second chance. Instead of being sick in our sin and destined for death in eternal hell, the clock is turned back when we are born-again. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 Our life is extended, as our Lord Jesus says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.” John 6:47 The Lord Jesus puts us into spiritual Daylight Savings Time by enabling us to walk in His Light. “…he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” John 3:21

How is turning back the sun on the spiritual sun dial a sign of the defeat the “king” of the government of the beast and its global culture? Turning back the clock gives more time for people to do what needs to be done before it becomes too dark. What we need to do is come to God through Jesus Christ who has the victory over sin, death, and the beast, “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17 “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:8-9

By turning back the clocks, the Lord shows His patience and mercy to give everyone the opportunity to seek forgiveness for unbelief in Him, to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ and our Lord, and to welcome the Holy Spirit to be part of who we are, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 The spiritual Daylight Savings Time gives people more time to repent, while it is still day, as our Lord Jesus says, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:4-5

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1