Good morning my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you simply could not find the words to express what you were feeling, no matter how many languages you speak? Maybe it was shocking news that either sent you into euphoria or gripped you with paralyzing fear? Maybe a surprise visit of someone you love? Maybe an unexpected windfall blessing? It has happened to me, several times!
Come with me again to Jerusalem in about 700bc and the palace of King Hezekiah who finds himself almost speechless in the face of shocking news, not once but twice, within a very few moments!
We looked at this scene yesterday as the prophet Isaiah first brought to king Hezekiah the dreadful news that his illness would be fatal and God was urging him to ‘get his house in order’. But then within perhaps less than 30 minutes, Isaiah brought Hezekiah equally shocking news, only this time it was euphoric news that God was going to heal Hezekiah to full health and give him 15 more years of life and reign on the throne of Judah in Jerusalem!
Emotionally I imagine Hezekiah was absolutely exhausted after those two opposing and powerful messages came to him from God within a few moments of each other! We are so blessed that the prophet Isaiah gives us a detailed record of this remarkable event. He was right in the middle of this strange sequence of events, since God was using Isaiah to be His spokesman to king Hezekiah with both outlandish messages. Isaiah was moved by the Holy Spirit of God to include something very special in the 38th chapter of his book. It’s called “A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery.” (Is. 38:9)
I wonder if you are a person who has ever kept a journal of your life journey? A log book of sorts where you record your significant life events or even your deeply personal thoughts? That is what this ‘writing of Hezekiah’ reminds me of. I don’t know if this was something Hezekiah wrote and then gave to Isaiah as a personal gift or was it recorded in the official annals of Hezekiah’s kingship, but I’m grateful to God that God moved Isaiah to share it with us.
May I urge you to read this entire ‘writing of Hezekiah‘ or listen to it with the Dramatic Audio Bible link at the conclusion of our “WWJ” today? (Isaiah 38:9-20) May I point out a few verses which Hezekiah wrote that strike me? Having faced death myself with a highly aggressive cancer, and now being ‘cancer free’ for 9 years, Hezekiah’s words have powerfully impacted me. Hezekiah begins with this: “I said, ‘In the prime of my life must I go through the gates of death and be robbed of the rest of my years?” (Is. 38:10) That is the first, dreadful reaction of almost every person I’ve ever met who has received a terminal diagnosis long before they feel elderly. “Robbed of the rest of my years”!
What a powerful, gut wrenching, statement which reflects quite accurately what we feel as we wrestle with our anticipated LOSS of so much life. And that’s for normal people like you and me, but can you imagine what it must have been like for Hezekiah? He was KING of Judah and Jerusalem, and they had just been spared an enemy attack. They were delivered by Almighty God’s great defeat of the advancing emperor Sennacherib and his massive Assyrian army!
As king Hezekiah looked out ahead I can only imagine he was very, very excited anticipating the next many years of what life would be like for Jerusalem with no threat from any enemy, for the word had spread and as we saw in 2 Chronicles 32:23 “From then on Hezekiah was highly regarded by all the nations.” Oh what a great sense of loss must have swept over Hezekiah as he thought about dying. After all, Hezekiah was only 39 years old!!
But Hezekiah’s next statement gives us even more insight into his sense of loss which is also what you and I have felt if you’ve stared death in the face: “I will not again see the LORD Himself in the land of the living. No longer will I look on my fellow man, or be with those who now dwell in this world.” (Is. 38:11) The reason we grieve at funerals is that we miss our dear loved ones who have died and we know we will no longer see them or enjoy life with them here on earth during our lifetimes. Love creates the pain of separation doesn’t it.
But for Hezekiah, he was also grieving that he would greatly miss the remarkable closeness he had enjoyed with God. Remember from his first month as king Hezekiah prioritized taking whatever action was necessary to draw the people of Jerusalem and Judah BACK to God passionately and destroy anything that drew people away from God toward idolatry. Over the past several days we’ve walked that path with Hezekiah and Isaiah and we’ve seen the great blessings God poured out on them.
For Hezekiah, if those were the great things God did in the first 14 years of his kingship, he could only imagine what more God had planned for the next many years. But now, with news he was dying, oh my what a heartbreak to consider all that he might miss in several great years ahead with God’s hand of leading, protecting and blessing the kingdom of Judah.
Let’s look today at one more statement in Hezekiah’s ‘writing’. This is a powerful and very practical statement of estate grief: “Like a shepherd’s tent my house has been pulled down and taken from me.” (Is. 38:12) Almost everyone knew what shepherd’s tents were like 2700 years ago in Israel. Even today, if you visit that part of the world, you can easily see Bedouin shepherd’s tents out in the open countryside. These tents were often specially designed to be collapsable quickly with one pull of the center pole. Once collapsed, they could be packed up and carted away quickly in the face of a storm or even a sudden approaching enemy.
Hezekiah knew all too well the history of his ancestors. Almost always when one king died and his son succeeded him to the throne, dramatic and sweeping changes were made within days. He had done it after his father Ahaz died, and Ahaz had done it after his father Jotham died. At that moment God’s blessing upon Jerusalem and Judah was so wonderful, Hezekiah grieved to imagine his successor might make sweeping changes to counter or destroy the God honoring leadership Hezekiah had given Jerusalem. A new king might even return Judah to a place of idolatry and God’s judgment! Oh how that thought grieved Hezekiah!
These three powerful statements written by King Hezekiah as he reflected on the incredible experience of the double shocking news Isaiah brought him, lead me to ask myself and all of us these three questions as we reflect on life:
1. If suddenly you received news that you had only a very brief time yet to live, what LOSS would you grieve most as you contemplate being ‘robbed of the rest of your years’? Friends, family, material possessions you enjoy, your career, your popularity with people, your yet unrealized ambitions?
2. And what about your relationship with God? Would you grieve you’d no longer have opportunities to see God work His mighty miracles in your life or the lives of those you love? Or because you know Jesus, would you be celebrating that death here will mean for you entrance into God’s presence?
3. And what about your ‘shepherd’s tent’? Let’s let that be your estate plan, your legacy. If you only have a short while longer to live, do you have a good plan and will your descendants treasure your legacy and all you will leave them as much as you have treasured it?
Tomorrow we’ll look at a few more remarkable statements in this ‘writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery.’ It’s really quite amazing, isn’t it? For today, why not take a moment and thank God for the life journey He has walked with you?
Today’s Scripture: Isaiah 38:9-20.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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