Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Kings 20:20

Clarke's Commentary

Verse 2 Kings 20:20. The rest of the acts of Hezekiah — See the parallel places in Isaiah and in 2 Chronicles. In this latter book, 2 Chronicles 32:24-33, we find several particulars that are not inserted here; especially concerning his pride, the increase of his riches, his storehouses of corn, wine, and oil; his stalls for all manner of beasts; his cities, flocks, and herds, in abundance; and the bringing the upper water course of Gihon to the west side of the city of David, by which he brought a plentiful supply of water into that city, c., c., &c.

ON the subject of the Babylonian embassy I may say a few words. However we may endeavour to excuse Hezekiah, it is certain that he made an exhibition of his riches and power in a spirit of great vanity and that this did displease the Lord. It was also ruinous to Judea: when those foreigners had seen such a profusion of wealth, such princely establishments, and such a fruitful land, it was natural for them to conceive the wish that they had such treasures, and from that to covet the very treasures they saw. They made their report to their king and countrymen, and the desire to possess the Jewish wealth became general and in consequence of this there is little doubt that the conquest of Jerusalem was projected. History is not barren in such instances: the same kind of cause has produced similar effects. Take two or three notable instances.

When the barbarous Goth and Vandal nations saw the pleasant and fruitful plains and hills of Italy, and the vast treasures of the Roman people, the abundance of the necessaries, conveniences, comforts, and luxuries of life, which met their eyes in every direction; they were never at rest till their swords put them in possession of the whole, and brought the mistress of the world to irretrievable ruin.

Vortigern, a British king, unhappily invited the Saxons, in 445, to assist him against his rebellious subjects: they came, saw the land that it was good, and in the end took possession of it, having driven out, or into the mountains of Wales, all the original Britons.

The Danes, in the ninth century, made some inroads into England, found the land better than their own, and never rested till they established themselves in this country, and, after having ruled it for a considerable time, were at last, with the utmost difficulty, driven out.

These nations had only to see a better land in order to covet it, and their exertions were not wanting in order to possess it.

How far other nations, since those times, have imitated the most foolish and impolitic conduct of the Jewish king, and how far their conduct may have been or may yet be marked with the same consequences, the pages of impartial history have shown and will show: God's ways are all equal, and the judge of all the earth will do right. But we need not wonder, after this, that the Jews fell into the hands of the Babylonians, for this was the political consequence of their own conduct: nor could it be otherwise, the circumstances of both nations considered, unless God, by a miraculous interposition, had saved them; and this it was inconsistent with his justice to do, because they had, in their pride and vanity, offended against him. To be lifted up with pride and vain glory in the possession of any blessings, is the most direct way to lose them; as it induces God, who dispensed them for our benefit, to resume them, because that which was designed for our good, through our own perversity becomes our bane.

1. I have intimated, in the note on 2 Kings 20:11, that the shadow was brought back on the dial of Ahaz by means of refraction. On this subject some farther observations may not be improper.

2. Any person may easily convince himself of the effect of refraction by this simple experiment: Place a vessel on the floor, and put a piece of coin on the bottom, close to that part of the vessel which is farthest off from yourself; then move back till you find that the edge of the vessel next to yourself fairly covers the coin, and that it is now entirely out of sight. Stand exactly in that position, and let a person pour water gently into the vessel, and you will soon find the coin to reappear, and to be entirely in sight when the vessel is full, though neither it nor you have changed your positions in the least.

By the refracting power of the atmosphere we have several minutes more of the solar light each day than we should otherwise have. "The atmosphere refracts the sun's rays so as to bring him in sight every clear day, before he rises in the horizon, and to keep him in view for some minutes after he is really set below it. For at some times of the year we see the sun ten minutes longer above the horizon than he would be if there were no refractions, and above six minutes every day at a mean rate."-Ferguson.

And it is entirely owing to refraction that we have any morning or evening twilight; without this power in the atmosphere, the heavens would be as black as ebony in the absence of the sun; and at his rising we should pass in a moment from the deepest darkness into the brightest light; and at his setting, from the most intense light to the most profound darkness, which in a few days would be sufficient to destroy the visual organs of all the animals in air, earth, or sea.

That the rays of light can be supernaturally refracted, and the sun appear to be where he actually is not, we have a most remarkable instance in Kepler. Some Hollanders, who wintered in Nova Zembla in the year 1596, were surprised to find that after a continual night of three months, the sun began to rise seventeen days sooner than (according to computation deduced from the altitude of the pole, observed to be seventy-six degrees) he should have done; which can only be accounted for by a miracle, or by an extraordinary refraction of the sun's rays passing through the cold dense air in that climate. At that time the sun, as Kepler computes, was almost five degrees below the horizon when he appeared; and consequently the refraction of his rays was about nine times stronger than it is with us.

3. Now this might be all purely natural, though it was extraordinary, and it proves the possibility of what I have conjectured, even on natural principles; but the foretelling of this, and leaving the going back or forward to the choice of the king, and the thing occurring in the place and time when and where it was predicted, shows that it was supernatural and miraculous, though the means were purely natural. Yet in that climate, (LAT. thirty-one degrees fifty minutes north, and LONG. thirty-five degrees twenty-five minutes east,) where vapours to produce an extraordinary refraction of the solar rays could not be expected, the collecting or producing them heightens and ascertains the miracle. "But why contend that the thing was done by refraction? Could not God as easily have caused the sun, or rather the earth, to turn back, as to have produced this extraordinary and miraculous refraction?" I answer, Yes. But it is much more consistent with the wisdom and perfections of God to perform a work or accomplish an end by simple means, than by those that are complex; and had it been done in the other way, it would have required a miracle to invert and a miracle to restore; and a strong convulsion on the earth's surface to bring it ten degrees suddenly back, and to take it the same suddenly forward. The miracle, according to my supposition, was performed on the atmosphere, and without in the least disturbing even that; whereas, on the other supposition, it could not have been done without suspending or interrupting the laws of the solar system, and this without gaining a hair's breadth in credulity or conviction more by such stupendous interpositions than might be effected by the agency of clouds and vapours. The point to be gained was the bringing back the shadow on the dial ten degrees: this might have been gained by the means I have here described, as well as by the other; and these means being much more simple, were more worthy the Divine choice than those which are more complex, and could not have been used without producing the necessity of working at least double or treble miracles.

4. Before I proceed to the immediate object of inquiry, I shall beg leave to make some observations on the invention and construction of DIALS in general.

SUNDIALS must have been of great antiquity, though the earliest we hear of is that of Ahaz; but this certainly was not the first of its kind, though it is the first on record. Ahaz began his reign about four hundred years before Alexander, and about twelve years after the foundation of Rome.

Anaximenes, the Milesian, who flourished about four hundred years before Christ, is said by Pliny to have been the first who made a sundial, the use of which he taught to the Spartans, but others give this honor to Thales, his countryman, who flourished two hundred years before him.

Aristarchus of Samos, who lived before Archimedes, invented a plain horizontal disc, with a gnomon, to distinguish the hours, and had its rim raised all around, to prevent the shadow from extending too far.

Probably all these were rude and evanescent attempts, for it does not appear that the Romans, who borrowed all their knowledge from the Greeks, knew any thing of a sundial before that set up by Papirius Cursor, about four hundred and sixty years after the foundation of Rome; before which time, says Pliny, there was no mention of any account of time but by the rising and setting of the sun. This dial was erected near the temple of Quirinus, but is allowed to have been very inaccurate. About thirty years after, the consul Marcus Valerius Messala brought a dial out of Sicily, which he placed on a pillar near the rostrum; but as it was not made for the latitude of Rome, it did not show the time exactly; however it was the only one they had for a hundred years, when Martius Philippus set up one more exact.

Since those times the science of dialing has been cultivated in most civilized nations, but we have no professed treatise on the subject before the time of the jesuit Clavius, who, in the latter part of the sixteenth century, demonstrated both the theory and practice of dialling; but he did this after the most rigid mathematical principles, so as to render that which was simple in itself exceedingly obscure. Though we have useful and correct works of this kind from Rivard, De Parcieux, Dom. Bedos de Celles, Joseph Blaise Garnier, Gravesande, Emerson, Martin, and Leadbetter; yet something more specific, more simple, and more general, is a desideratum in the science of sciaterics or dialling.

Observations on the nature and structure of the

sundial of Ahaz, with a diagram on its supposed form.

5. When writing on the appointment of Jehu to be king of Israel, 2 Kings 9:13, I was struck with the manner in which the subject of the thirteenth verse was understood by the Chaldee: "Then they hastened and took every man his garment, and put it under him, on the TOP of the STAIRS;" according to the Hebrew, __ el gerem hammaaloth, which might be translated, on the bare (naked or uncovered) steps. This the Targumist has translated by __ lidrag sheaiya, "at the HOUR-STEPS." The other versions, knowing nothing of what was intended, have endeavoured to guess severally at a meaning. On turning to 2 Kings 20:11, where the same word __ maaloth is used, and most evidently there implies some kind of sundial, I found the Chaldee still more pointed, both in this and in the parallel place, Isaiah 38:8, rendering the Hebrew words __ betsurath eben sheaiya, "by the shadow of the stone of hours," from which I was led to conclude that some kind of gnomonic figure, or sundial, was intended; and that the hours or divisions of time were shown by a shadow, projected on stone steps, gradually ascending to a certain height. This thought I communicated to the Rev. Philip Garrett, one of the preachers among the people called Methodists, of whose rare knowledge in the science of gnomonics, and ingenuity in constructing every possible variety of dials, I had already indubitable proofs, and requested him, from the principle I had laid down, to try whether such an instrument could be constructed that might serve at once as a public tribunal, and as a dial, to ascertain all the inequalities of the Jewish division of time?

A more difficult problem in the science he was never called to solve. Though several had attempted to construct dials to show the mode by which different nations measured time, and among the rest the Jews; yet nothing properly satisfactory has been produced, although one nearly in the same form of outline with the present may be found in Hutton's Mathematical Recreations, vol. iii., p. 337, projected on a plane superficies, which could not possibly show the ascending and descending of the shadow like that now before the reader, which the ingenuity of the above gentleman has brought to almost as great a degree of perfection as can reasonably be expected. And that the dial of Ahaz was constructed on a similar principle, there can be but little doubt, as the words of the original seem to express this and no other form; and so the Chaldee appears to have understood it; nor is it easy to conceive that one on any other principle could ascertain in all seasons the varying admeasurement of the Jewish time.

6. Having said thus much relative to the circumstances which gave birth to this dial, it may be deemed necessary to give a general view of the natural and artificial divisions of time, and then a description of the dial itself.

The most obvious division of time is into day and night; these are marked out by the rising and setting of the sun. Modern writers call the time from sunrise to sunset the natural day; the night is the time from sunset to sunrise; these days and nights are subject to great inequalities in every part of the earth, except under the equator. The most ancient division of the equatorial day was into the morning and evening; the night was divided into watches.

Hours are either equal or unequal; an unequal hour is the twelfth part of a natural day, or the twelfth part of the night. In summer, when the days are the longest, the diurnal hours are the longest, and the nocturnal hours shortest; in winter, on the contrary, when the days are shortest, the hours of the day are the shortest, and the hours of the night longest. The difference between the hours of the day and those of the night is greatest at the solstices, because then there is the greatest inequality between the length of the day and that of the night. At the equinoxes, when the days and nights are of an equal length, all hours, both of days and nights, are equal.

The ancient Jews made use of unequal hours; with them sunrise was the beginning of the first hour of the day, noon was the end of the sixth hour, and the twelfth hour ended at sunset. Doctor Long observes, "These times might be measured by an astronomer; but how unequal hours can be marked for common use, is not easy to say." He farther observes that "the ancients had sundials; but I think unequal hours could not be marked thereon exactly." And in a note on this observation he remarks "The sundials of the ancients, to show unequal hours, were not made in the method used at present, with a gnomon parallel to the axis of the earth, but had a pin set upright upon a plane, rounded at the upper end, the shadow whereof marked their unequal hours in the following manner: by means of an analemma, or projection of the sphere, six curves were drawn upon the plane, to show where the shadow of the pin at the several hours terminated every month in the year; one curve served for two months, because the shadows are of the same length in January as in December, in February as in November, in March as in October, &c.; each curve was drawn long enough to take in all the hours of the longest day in the respective months, and was divided into twelve equal parts. It is easy to see that a dial made by this method, in order to show the unequal hours exactly, ought to have half as many curves, or parallel lines, as there are days in the year, but this would require so many lines as would make it all confusion; it is possible they had only one line for a month, and that for the middle of the month."

The doctor is perfectly correct in observing, that "the sundials of the ancients, to show unequal hours, were not made in the method used at present, with a gnomon parallel to the axis of the earth;" because such a dial could not be of any use to those nations whose divisions of the solar hours were unequal, or more or less than sixty minutes to an hour. But the doctor is mistaken in supposing the difficulty, or rather impossibility, of constructing a sundial to show these unequal hours; for eleven lines are all that is necessary to show the hours for every day in the year; and forty-four lines would show all the quarters: whereas, on his plan, it would require near eleven hundred calculations of the altitude of the sun, and the same number to show where the shadow of the gnomon at the several hours terminated. His dial would therefore require above one hundred and eighty parallel lines, and nearly eleven hundred marks for the hours only; but if the quarters are inserted, four thousand four hundred marks would be necessary. This would require the labour of six or eight months, whereas the plan here adopted would not require in its calculations and construction as many hours.

7. A description of the dial. This dial consists of eleven steps placed parallel to the horizon, with a perpendicular gnomon fixed in the upper or middle step, which step is placed exactly north and south, and forms the meridian or sixth-hour line.

All the operations of this dial are determined by the point of the shadow projected from the gnomon on the steps of the dial.

Every day for six months the shadow from the point of the gnomon makes a different angle with the gnomon, which makes the hours of one day to differ in length from the hours of the preceding and following days. The same observations apply to the other six months in the year. The shadow crosses each step of the dial every day in the year.

Each day in the year consists of twelve hours from the time of sunrise to sunset, which makes a difference of twenty minutes between an hour in the longest day and an hour in the shortest. The longest day, consisting of twelve hours of seventy minutes to an hour; and the shortest of twelve hours of fifty minutes to an hour; but when the sun enters Aries or Libra each hour consists of sixty minutes.

To be able to understand this dial, one example will be sufficient: On the 21st of March, or the 23d of September, the shadow from the print of the gnomon will enter or ascend the first step of the dial, at the first hour of the day, at the west side of the dial on the equinoctial line; eleven minutes afterwards the shadow comes in contact with the circle marked fifteen degrees, which is the altitude of the sun at that time; twenty-four minutes afterwards the shadow touches the circle of twenty degrees; and in twenty-five minutes it ascends the second step, at the second hour of the day, when the altitude of the sun is twenty-five degrees eight minutes.

In twenty-four minutes the shadow comes to the circle of thirty degrees; and twenty-five minutes after it arrives at the circle of thirty-five degrees; and in eleven minutes it ascends the third step at the third hour of the day, when the altitude is thirty-six degrees fifty-seven minutes. In sixteen minutes the point of the shadow intersects the circle of forty degrees; and in forty-four minutes it ascends the fourth step at the fourth hour of the day, when the altitude of the sun is forty-seven degrees twenty-two minutes; and in eighteen minutes of time it comes in contact with the circle of fifty degrees, &c., &c., until it arrives at the meridian step or line at the sixth hour of the day, when the altitude is fifty-eight degrees ten minutes; than the shadow descends the sixth step, and moves on to the seventh, &c., descending step after step, tracing the equinoctial tine on the east side of the dial, intersecting the steps or hour lines, and the circles of altitude, until it leaves the dial at the eleventh hour of the day.

A dial of this construction is the most simple, useful, and durable that can be made; and as exclusively and completely adapted to ascertain the ancient Jewish divisions of the solar hours. The steps of this dial render the construction a little more difficult than it otherwise would be if the lines were drawn on a plane superficies, which would give exactly the same divisions of the hours.

N. B. A vertical south dial, in lat. thirty-one degrees fifty minutes, (the latitude of Jerusalem,) could be of little or no use to ascertain these divisions for several months in the year. The same remark may be made respecting a south vertical concave dial. The sun cannot shine upon a south vertical plane, in lat. thirty-one degrees fifty minutes in the longest day before fifty-three minutes past eight, or nearly nine, in the morning.

With respect to the dimensions of this dial, if we suppose the height of the stile from the bottom of the lowest step to be four feet, this would allow six inches for the thickness of each step, and twelve inches for the height of the stile above the upper step. According to this scale the south end of the dial would be ten yards; the north end sixteen yards; and the east and west sides eight yards two feet. The ground-work might be eighteen yards by twelve, making an oblong square facing the four cardinal points of the heavens.

N. B. All the lines upon a dial-plane are inverted, with respect to the cardinal points of the heavens.

The lines which show the hours from sunrise to the meridian, are on the west side of the dial-plane; and the lines which show the hours from the meridian to sunset are on the east side of the dial-plane; the southern tropic, Capricorn, is on the north end of the dial-plane; and the northern tropic, Cancer, is on the south end of the plane.

The narrow end of the dial looks towards the south, and is marked north; the wide end looks north, and is marked south. The side which looks west is marked sunrise, and the side which looks east is marked sunset.

8. In the annexed diagram a transverse section of the dial is represented where the steps are seen at one view ascending and descending to and from the gnomon or stile on the upper or sixth step. These steps are all equal in their height, but unequal on their upper surface, as the diagram shows, and for the reasons alleged above. Each of these steps might have been divided into parts or degrees, to mark the smaller divisions of time; and to this sort of division there appears to be a reference in the text, where it is said, the shadow went back ten degrees. It seems the miracle was wrought in the afternoon, for it is said, The shadow was brought ten degrees BACKWARD, by which it had GONE DOWN; so it appears that the shadow had reascended ten degrees on the afternoon steps; and when this was done, so that all were fully convinced of the miracle, the shadow again descended to its true place on the steps; and this would be the immediate consequence of dissipating the vapours which I have supposed to be the agent which God employed to produce, by refraction, this most extraordinary phenomenon.

A dial constructed in this way, in the centre of a town, or some public place, would serve, not only to give the divisions of time, but also as a place from which proclamations might be made; and especially from the upper step, where the speaker might stand by the gnomon, and be sufficiently elevated above the crowd below.

On such-a place I have supposed Jehu to have been proclaimed king; and to do him honour his captains spread their garments on the steps; the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth, by which he ascended, to the sixth step, on which the gnomon was placed, and where he was proclaimed and acknowledged the king of Israel; for it is said, The captains hasted, and took every man his GARMENT, and put it under him on the TOP of the STAIRS, and blew with trumpets, saying, JEHU is KING! 2 Kings 9:13; where see the note.

Pietro Nonius or Nunnex, a celebrated Portuguese mathematician about the middle of the sixteenth century, proved that the shadow on a stile in a sundial might go backward without a miracle; which was founded on the following theorem: —

"In all countries, the zenith of which is situated between the equator and the tropic, as long as the sun passes beyond the zenith, towards the apparent or elevated pole, he arrives twice before noon at the same azimuth and the same thing takes place in the afternoon." This gave rise to the demonstration that a dial might be constructed for any latitude on which the shadow shall retrograde or go backward. And it is effected in the following manner: —

Incline a plane turned directly south in such a manner that its zenith may fall between the tropic and equator; and nearly about the middle of the distance between these two circles. In the latitude of London, for example, which is fifty-one degrees thirty-one minutes, the plane must make an angle of about thirty-eight degrees. In the middle of the plane fix an upright stile of such a length that its shadow shall go beyond the plane; and if several angular lines be then drawn from the bottom of the stile towards the south, about the time of the solstice, the shadow will retrograde twice in the course of the day, as mentioned above. This is evident, since the plane is parallel to the horizontal plane, having its zenith under the same meridian, at the distance of twelve degrees from the equator towards the north; the shadows of the two stiles must consequently move in the same manner in both.

Of these principles some have endeavoured to make an unholy use, contending that what the Holy Scriptures consider to be a miracle, in the case of the retrogradation of the shadow on the dial of Ahaz, was the effect of a mere natural cause, without any thing miraculous in it. On this subject Dr. Hutton very properly remarks: "It is very improbable, if the retrogradation which took place on the dial of that prince had been a natural effect, that it should not have been observed till the prophet announced it to him as the sign of his cure; for in that case it must have always occurred when the sun was between the tropic and the zenith." Hutton's Mathematical Recreations, vol. iii. p. 323.

To this we may add, that if the dial of Ahaz had been thus constructed, the effect must have been generally known; and Hezekiah would never have taken that for a miracle which he and all his courtiers must have observed as an occurrence which at particular seasons, took place twice every day. And that the matter was known publicly to have been a miracle we learn from this circumstance: that Merodach-baladan, king of Babylon, sent his ambassadors to Jerusalem to inquire after the wonder that was done in the land, as well as after Hezekiah's health: see 2 Chronicles 32:31. But the miraculous interposition is so obvious, that infidelity must be driven to pitiful shifts when it is obliged to have recourse to the insinuation of imposture, in a case where the miraculous interference of God is so strikingly evident. Besides, such a dial could not be constructed for the latitude of Jerusalem without having the north end elevated twenty degrees seven minutes; which could not be used for the purpose which is indicated in the text. See No. 3 of the preceding observations.

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Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Warning concerning Babylon (20:1-21)

It seems that the events recorded in 20:1-19 occurred before those recorded in 18:13-19:37. Hezekiah was about to die, but, in answer to his prayer, God promised to extend his life. This was for the purpose of bringing Judah through the time of conflict with Assyria that has just been described (20:1-7). God gave Hezekiah a miraculous sign to prove that he would do what he had promised (8-11).

At this time Babylon was increasing in power and was looking for allies to help it overthrow Assyria. Hezekiah’s illness gave the Babylonian king an excuse to send representatives to Jerusalem, in the hope that they could encourage Hezekiah to join with Babylon against Assyria. Hezekiah was proud of the prosperity he had brought to his kingdom, and was willing to cooperate (12-13; 2 Chronicles 32:25,2 Chronicles 32:31). Again Isaiah condemned this willingness to enter into foreign alliances. He saw that it would result in conquest by the allied nation (14-21).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE RECOVERY OF HEZEKIAH FROM A FATAL ILLNESS

This chapter, along with its parallel in Isaiah 38 and Isaiah 39, is one of the most difficult in the O.T. "Due to the variations in the duplicate texts, and even more to the complex historical problems, no other section of Kings has produced more critical debate."International Critical Commentary, Kings, p. 513. We cannot allow in a work of this kind sufficient space for a thorough discussion of all the questions. We shall note here a few of the problems that concern scholars.

Regarding the date of Hezekiah's fatal sickness, capable scholars have dated it at several points between 713 and 701 B.C.. Some say it connected with the invasion of Sargon, and some with that of Sennacherib, some with his alleged first invasion, and others with his so-called second invasion!

And then, there is the business of the shadow going backwards upon the sun-dial. What we get on that from many of the commentators is an anthology of why men do NOT believe it! We don't allow any explanations of unbelief, since our Lord has already explained "unbelief' as the result, not of education, nor of intelligence, but as appearing, "because their deeds are evil" (John 3:19).

This wonder is very similar to the great miracle at Beth-horon in the time of Joshua. We pray that some unbelievers will be shocked to know that there is a genuine, undeniable, and very reasonable scientific explanation of both wonders.

Another great fact in the chapter is that, although God Himself had diagnosed Hezekiah's illness as fatal, terminal, and "unto death," Hezekiah did NOT hesitate to pray God for his own recovery. What an admonition there is in this for Christians whose physicians have "given up on them," and who are confronted with what is called "a terminal illness." This writer knows of at least one person who fully recovered from such an illness.

(Now, for the further explanation of this writer's conviction regarding this chapter, the reader is referred to Vol. 1 of my series on the major prophets (Isaiah), pp. 347-354, also pp. 355-361, and Vol. 1 (Joshua) of my series on the historical books, pp. 110-113, where a recovery from inoperable cancer of the trachea is reported, and where the scientific explanation of the shadow's moving backwards on the sun-dial is included.)

One other thought which we wish to register here is that death is, by no means, the worst thing that can happen to a person! Hezekiah would have been much better to have meekly accepted the Divine verdict on his illness, because three years later, during the extension of his life, Manasseh was born to him, and that ruler was the very worst of all the kings of Judah!

The report in this chapter of the letter and present from Berodach-baladan (2 Kings 20:12) to Hezekiah is more fully reported in Isaiah 39, where the name of the same Babylonian ruler is spelled Merodach-balladan. (See my comment there, Vol. 1 (Isaiah), pp. 355-361.)

The mention of this Babylonian king gives no help in determining the date of Hezekiah's sickness, because, "He was twice king, in 722-710 B.C. and again in 703-702 B.C."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 361.

Still another portion of this chapter is of very great importance, namely, the great prophecy of Isaiah that Babylon (not Assyria) would destroy Jerusalem, deport its people, and rob the treasures which Hezekiah had foolishly displayed for that embassy from Babylon. Of course, the radical critics who foolishly reject all prophecy, a priori, promptly refer to this prophecy as having been "added to the text not long after 597 B.C."International Critical Commentary, op. cit., p. 510. Any evidence of such a thing? Certainly not!

As a matter of fact, there are a number of other prophecies that Israel would be "plucked off their land" and removed from Palestine, such as Deuteronomy 28:63-64; 1 Kings 14:15; Amos 5:27; and in every one of these, although not specifically stated, it is clear enough that only Babylon could have been intended in all of them as the place where God would punish Israel. From such facts as these, it is evident that getting rid of predictive prophecy cannot be achieved by canceling a single text here and there. The only way would be to remove the whole Bible. But of course, that is exactly the evil intention of those who would deny predictive prophecy.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Consult the marginal references.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 20

Now in those days Hezekiah was very sick ( 2 Kings 20:1 ).

Actually he was dying.

And Isaiah came to him, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Set your house in order; for you're going to die, and not live ( 2 Kings 20:1 ).

The word of the Lord from Isaiah to Hezekiah. Set your house in order, you're going to die and not live.

And so Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and he prayed unto the LORD, and he said, I beseech you, O LORD, remember now how I have walked with you in truth, with a perfect heart, and I have done that which is good in your sight. And Hezekiah just really wept before God. So it came to pass, when Isaiah was leaving, as he was going through the middle of the court, the LORD said, Go back and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears: behold, I will heal you: on the third day you will go up unto the house of the LORD ( 2 Kings 20:2-5 ).

I've heard your prayer, see your tears. Okay, you'll be healed. In three days you'll be going up to the house of the Lord.

And I will add to your life fifteen years; and I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake. And Isaiah said, [Now take a make a poultice from figs.] And lay it on the boil, and he recovered. And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What will be the sign that I'm going to be healed? And Isaiah said, Well, you want the sun to go back ten degrees on the sundial, or you want it to go ahead ten degrees? ( 2 Kings 20:6-9 )

Imagine asking for a sign for something and God working a sign with the sundial, either moving the sun backward or forward ten degrees for you. What would you like? He said, "Well, if it goes forward ten degrees, that wouldn't be too much." You'd think the earth is just tilting that much faster. "Let it go back ten degrees." And so the sun went back ten degrees on the sundial.

You say, "Impossible." Yes, if you've got a puny little God of your own creation. But if you can believe the first verse of Genesis, why would you have any problem with that? "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" ( Genesis 1:1 ). That's how big our God is that we serve. It is important that we remember that especially when we pray over our little problems. "O Lord, thou art God, thou hast created the heaven, and the earth, all that in them is" ( Acts 4:24 ). That's the way the apostles began their prayer, and it's a good way to begin prayer. Just sort of reminding you who you're talking to.

Now there were emissaries that came from Babylon, when they heard that Hezekiah was recovered from his sickness, and they came in to Hezekiah and they said, "Oh, we're so glad that you're well." And Hezekiah said, "Oh, let me show you around." And he took them into the treasury. He showed them all the treasures, all of the gold and silver that was in the house of the Lord. All the treasures of the land. And so Isaiah came to Hezekiah and said, "Who were those fellows? Where they come from?" And he said, "Oh, they came from a long way out. They came from Babylon." "What they want?" "Oh, they wanted to tell me they were glad I was..." "What did you show them?" "Oh, I showed them the treasures." "What? How much?" "Oh, I showed them everything." He said, "Ah, that's foolish because all of those treasures that you showed to them will be carried away captive to Babylon."

Hezekiah said, "Well, that's good." He said, "What do you mean that's good?" He said, "Well, you said it won't happen in my days."

So the rest ( 2 Kings 20:20 )

Strange way to look at it, isn't it? The rest of the acts of Hezekiah are recorded in Second Chronicles and in Isaiah. An awful lot about Hezekiah in Isaiah. How he made this tunnel from the spring of Gihon to the pool of Siloam in order that they might have a fresh water supply when they were anticipating the attack from the Assyrians. And this conduit that he built, the tunnel...and I hiked through that tunnel on a few occasions, and you feel like you're hiking in history as you are walking through the water as the spring of Gihon flows through that and on out to the pool of Siloam. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

8. Hezekiah’s death 20:20-21

Hezekiah’s 1,777-foot long tunnel was a noteworthy accomplishment. It brought water from the Gihon spring outside the city wall, under the wall of Jerusalem, and into the city, specifically to the pool of Siloam. This made Jerusalem much more self-sufficient in times of invasion than it would have been otherwise. [Note: See Kathleen Kenyon, Jerusalem, pp. 69-71.]

Hezekiah’s reign was one of the best in Judah’s history because of the king’s humility and dependence on God, evidences of which the writer of Kings provided in abundance. Judah declined from then on, however, because most of the subsequent kings were wicked. Judah fell to the Babylonians exactly 100 years after Hezekiah died. The prophet Isaiah ministered during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (Isaiah 1:1). Micah ministered during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (Micah 1:1). Both eighth-century prophets ministered in the Southern Kingdom.

"Perhaps Hezekiah’s only serious flaw is his inability to prepare Manasseh, his successor, to be like himself. On the other hand, how can anyone guarantee the quality of their children’s life choices?" [Note: House, p. 376.]

"Between the death of Hezekiah and the final fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians there lay precisely a century (687-587). Seldom has a nation experienced so many dramatically sudden reversals of fortune in so relatively short a time. Through the first half of the period a vassal of Assyria, Judah then knew in rapid succession periods of independence and of subjection, first to Egypt then to Babylon, before finally destroying herself in futile rebellion against the latter. So quickly did these phases follow one another that it was possible for one man, as Jeremiah did, to have witnessed them all." [Note: Bright, p. 288.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might,.... Which he exerted in his wars with his enemies, and in the reformation of religion, and abolition of idolatry:

and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city; at the same time that he cut it off from the enemy without, see

2 Chronicles 32:3,

are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? a book often referred to in this history, but since lost; many of his acts are recorded in the canonical book of Chronicles, 2 Chronicles 29:1.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      12 At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.   13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and showed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not.   14 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.   15 And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them.   16 And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD.   17 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.   18 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.   19 Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?   20 And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?   21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

      Here is, I. An embassy sent to Hezekiah by the king of Babylon, to congratulate him on his recovery, 2 Kings 20:12; 2 Kings 20:12. The kings of Babylon had hitherto been only deputies and tributaries to the kings of Assyria, and Nineveh was the royal city. We find Babylon subject to the king of Assyria, 2 Kings 17:24; 2 Kings 17:24. But this king of Babylon began to set up for himself, and by degrees things were so changed that Assyria became subject to the kings of Babylon. This king of Babylon sent to compliment Hezekiah, and ingratiate himself with him upon a double account. 1. Upon the account of religion. The Babylonians worshipped the sun, and, perceiving what honour their god had done to Hezekiah, in going back for his sake, they thought themselves obliged to do honour to him likewise. It is good having those our friends whom we perceive to be the favourites of heaven. 2. Upon the account of civil interest. If the king of Babylon was now mediating a revolt from the king of Assyria, it was policy to get Hezekiah into his interest, in answer to whose prayers, and for whose protection, heaven had given that fatal blow to the king of Assyria. He found himself obliged to Hezekiah, and his God, for the weakening of the Assyrian forces, and had reason to think he could not have a more powerful and valuable ally than one that had so good an interest in the upper world. He therefore made his court to him with all possible respect by ambassadors, letters, and a present.

      II. The kind entertainment Hezekiah gave to these ambassadors, 2 Kings 20:13; 2 Kings 20:13. It was his duty to be civil to them, and receive them with the respect due to ambassadors; but he exceeded, and was courteous to a fault. 1. He was too fond of them. He hearkened unto them. Though they were idolaters, yet he became intimate with them, was forward to come into a confederacy with the king their master, and granted them all they came for. He was more open and free than he should have been, and stood not so much upon his guard. What reason had he that was in covenant with God so eagerly to catch at an alliance with a heathen prince, or to value himself at all upon his respectful notice? What honour could this embassy add to one whom God had so highly favoured, that he should please himself so much with it? 2. He was too fond of showing them his palace, his treasures, and his magazines, that they might see, and might report to their master, what a great king he was, and how well worthy of the honour their master did him. It is not said that he showed them the temple, the book of the law, and the manner of his worship, that he might proselyte them to the true religion, which he had now a fair opportunity of doing; but in compliment to them, lest he should affront them, he waived that, and showed them the rich furniture of his closet, that house of his precious things, the wealth he had heaped up since the king of Assyria had emptied his coffers, his silver, and gold, and spices. All the valuable things he had he showed them, either himself or by his officers. And what harm was there in this? What is more commonly, and (as we think) more innocently, done, than to show strangers the riches and rarities of a country--to show our friends our houses and their furniture, our gardens, stables, and libraries? But if we do this in the pride of our hearts, as Hezekiah did, to gain applause from men, and not giving praise to God, it turns into sin to us, as it did to him.

      III. The examination of Hezekiah concerning this matter, 2 Kings 20:14; 2 Kings 20:15. Isaiah, who had often been his comforter, is now his reprover. The blessed Spirit is both, John 16:7; John 16:8. Ministers must be both, as there is occasion. Isaiah spoke in God's name, and therefore called him to account as one having authority: "Who are these? Whence come they? What is their business? What have they seen?" Hezekiah not only submitted to the examination (did not ask him, "Why should you concern yourself and question me about this affair?"), but made an ingenuous confession: There is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them. Why then did he not bring them to Isaiah, and show him to them who was without doubt the best treasure he had in his dominions, and who by his prayers and prophecies had been instrumental in all those wonders which these ambassadors came to enquire into? I hope Hezekiah had the same value for Isaiah now that he had in his distress; but it would have become him to show it by bringing these ambassadors to him in the first place, which might have prevented the false step he took.

      IV. The sentence passed upon him for his pride and vanity, and the too great relish he had of the things of the world, after that intimate acquaintance he had so lately been admitted into with divine things. The sentence is (2 Kings 20:17; 2 Kings 20:18), 1. That the treasures he was so proud of should hereafter become a prey, and his family should be robbed of them all. It is just with God to take that from us which we make the matter of our pride and in which we put our confidence. 2. That the king of Babylon, with whom he was so fond of an alliance, should be the enemy that should make a prey of them. Not that it was for this sin that that judgment should be brought upon them: the sins of Manasseh, his idolatries and murders, were the cause of that calamity; but it is now foretold to Hezekiah, to convince him of the folly of his pride and of the value he had for the king of Babylon, and to make him ashamed of it. Hezekiah was fond of assisting the king of Babylon to rise, and to reduce the exorbitant power of the kings of Assyria; but he is told that the snake he is cherishing will ere long sting the bosom that cherishes it, and that his royal seed shall become the king of Babylon's slave (which was fulfilled, Daniel 1:1-7, c.), than which there could not be any thing more mortifying to Hezekiah to think of. Babylon will be the ruin of those that are fond of Babylon. Wise therefore and happy are those that come out from her,Revelation 18:4.

      V. Hezekiah's humble and patient submission to this sentence, 2 Kings 20:19; 2 Kings 20:19. Observe how he argues himself into this submission. 1. He lays it down for a truth that "good is the word of the Lord, even this word, though a threatening; for every word of his is so. It is not only just, but good; for, as he does no wrong to any, so he means no hurt to good men. It is good; for he will bring good out of it, and do me good by the foresight of it." We should believe this concerning every providence, that it is good, is working for good. 2. He takes notice of that in this word which was good, that he should not live to see this evil, much less to share in it. He makes the best of the bad: "Is it not good? Yes, certainly it is, and better than I deserve." Note, (1.) True penitents, when they are under divine rebukes, call them not only just, but good; not only submit to the punishment of their iniquity, but accept of it. So Hezekiah did, and by this it appeared that he was indeed humbled for the pride of his heart. (2.) When at any time we are under dark dispensations, or have dark prospects, public or personal, we must take notice of what is for us as well as what is against us, that we may by thanksgiving honour God, and may in our patience possess our own souls. (3.) As to public affairs, it is good, and we are bound to think it so, if peace and truth be in our days. That is, [1.] Whatever else we want, it is good if we have peace and truth, if we have the true religion professed and protected, Bibles and ministers, and enjoy these in peace, not terrified with the alarms of war or persecution. [2.] Whatever trouble may come when we are gone, it is good if all be well in our days. Not that we should be unconcerned for posterity; it is a grief to foresee evils: but we should own that the deferring of judgments is a great favour in general, and to have them deferred so long as what we may die in peace is a particular favour to us, for charity begins at home. We know not how we shall bear the trial, and therefore have reason to think it well if we may but get safely to heaven before it comes.

      Lastly, Here is the conclusion of Hezekiah's life and story, 2 Kings 20:20; 2 Kings 20:21. In 2 Chronicles 29:1-32; 2 Chronicles 29:1-322 Chronicles 29:1-32 much more is recorded of Hezekiah's work of reformation than in this book of Kings; and it seems that in the civil chronicles, not now extant, there were many things recorded of his might and the good offices he did for Jerusalem, particularly his bringing water by pipes into the city. To have water in plenty, without striving for it and without being terrified with the noise of archers in the drawing of it, to have it at hand and convenient for us, is to be reckoned a great mercy; for the want of water would be a great calamity. But here this historian leaves him asleep with his fathers, and a son in his throne that proved very untoward; for parents cannot give grace to their children. Wicked Ahaz was the son of a godly father and the father of a godly son; holy Hezekiah was the son of a wicked father and the father of a wicked son. When the land was not reformed, as it should have been, by a good reign, it was plagued and ripened for ruin by a bad one; yet then tried again with a good one, that it might appear how loth God was to cut off his people.

Kelly Commentary on Books of the Bible

"And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz" (2 Kings 19:1-37). He goes to Jehovah; they are sent to Jehovah's servant. This was right. He looks in prayer to God himself, and he expects an answer through His servant. "And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. It may be Jehovah thy God will hear all the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which Jehovah thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left. So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah." And the answer is immediate. "Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith Jehovah, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. "

What a humiliation, and yet how simple! First a rumour in his own land after the blast that Jehovah would send in His land, and last of all himself reserved for a fate incomparably more humiliating in presence of his own subjects in his own land. "So Rab-shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah" a second, and, if possible, more insulting word. Hezekiah takes the letter and still goes to God. He "went up into the house of Jehovah and spread it before Jehovah. And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah, and said, O Jehovah God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. O Jehovah, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, O Jehovah, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God."

And so the whole trial is cast into the bosom of Jehovah. Isaiah gives the answer: as before, so now. "Thus saith the Jehovah God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard." Trust in Jehovah is never in vain. Impossible to trust Him over much. "This is the word that Jehovah hath spoken concerning him: The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee." How blessed and yet what an extraordinary word it was for these trembling Jews to hear. "The virgin, the daughter of Zion." Was there not then fear? Was there not anguish of heart? How could it be truthfully said? Because God speaks according to His own thoughts. God looks at Zion as that which the Assyrian's foot had never defiled. It was a virgin daughter of Zion, and God never meant that the Assyrian should tread there. He had allowed him to ravage elsewhere, but Zion, even if Zion were ever so faithless, Zion was not reserved for the hand of the Assyrian. Zion might fall even under wars, but the Assyrian must fall himself.

Such was the decree of God, for even in the case of the enemies God is just as peremptory, and as thoroughly governs as among His friends. It is not man that governs in any case, but God. God is sovereign, and therefore does according to His own will. It is not a question of the party that has the most strength or the most wisdom. It is never so in the world, for God acts according to His own sovereignty. It was not because of their superior power that Babylon, or Persia, or Greece, or Rome achieved the empire of the world. Small beginnings in most of them. And in those too who made the longest and the most permanent conquest of the world, it was in no way a question of their own strength, but God was pleased so to work in His sovereignty. So here in this case this diminutive and reduced kingdom of Judah God meant to put honour upon, and now we may say Jerusalem scarcely had anything left. The fenced cities of Judah were taken, and here was Jerusalem, and it seemed as if a shovel of earth, so to speak, would be sufficient to bury Jerusalem in those days. But not so. The very fact that the Assyrian came full of his proud confidence was that which drew out the arm of Jehovah in defence of His despised city; but when He speaks by the prophet because of the Assyrian despising Zion, it is Zion that despises the Assyrian. For, as we have already observed, God speaks according to His thoughts.

"That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. This is the word that Jehovah hath spoken concerning him: The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee." We know right well that the Assyrian shook his hand at Zion, and quite expected to have an easy conquest. But God retorts now for His despised city. "The daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even again the Holy One of Israel." The Assyrian little knew that. I do not doubt that there was a certain uneasiness. There always is: I care not how simple the Christian may be; I care not how great the man of the world may be; you will never find a man of the world, let him be ever so bold, or ever so great in the presence of a genuine trial of God without a certain anxiety, a certain uneasiness. He may despise; he may see things that draw out his scorn and contempt; but he is conscious, in spite of his will, of something strange, something that baffles him, something that he cannot understand. I have no doubt then that so it was with this great Assyrian, in presence of this contemptible city which stood out against him in a manner so unexampled. And so the Lord appears, and the prophet brings out, in the most grand and sublime terms, the manner in which He would deal with this haughty conqueror; and as he closes, he says, "For I will defend this city." Jehovah would take it upon Himself: "I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake." He must return by the way he came. "And he shall not come into this city, saith Jehovah."

Nor was the answer of God long delayed. "It came to pass that night, that the angel of Jehovah went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses." The consequence was that the king retreats in dismay returns and dwells in Nineveh but as Jehovah had sent a blast upon him in Palestine, so now he must fall in his own land. "And it came to pass as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead." Thus every word of Jehovah was accomplished.

But now (2 Kings 20:1-21) we have the dealings of God, not with the Assyrian in defence of Jerusalem, but with Hezekiah. "In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die and not live." So, as his manner was, he bows; he turns his face to the wall. What had he now to do with anything outside? "He turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto Jehovah, saying, I beseech, O Jehovah, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore." Up to this time it could not be said that death was conquered, for indeed it was not. Even to a believer death was not without its terrors. Now it is stripped of its terrors, and death is no longer the king of terrors to a Christian, and for this simple reason, that death is now compelled to be the servant of the Christian, compelled to usher the departing Christian into the presence of the Lord. This is not loss, but gain. Who would weep sore at a great gain? Indeed, there might be some, but certainly they are souls who do not understand their privileges. However, it was not so then, and this is one of the great changes now effected by the mighty work of redemption. Hezekiah then wept sore.

"And it came to pass afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of Jehovah came to him saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah, the captain of my people, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer." There again it was not long; it was immediate. If in the previous instance, it was that same night there came the destroying angel, so now I may say, that same minute came the prophet, or at any rate the word of Jehovah to the prophet. The answer was immediate. "I have heard thy prayer; I have seen thy tears" for God did not despise them. "Behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of Jehovah. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake." And so a certain sign was given him a sign that Hezekiah takes in remarkable contrast with his father. When the same prophet asked Ahaz to search for a sign in heaven or earth, Ahaz pretended that he could not do such a thing that it was not for him to ask a sign. But there would have been far more real subjection of heart if he had asked. When God bids us ask; it is a serious thing to refuse. We ought to be bold in faith, and Hezekiah was; for whereas there was a double sign, either the dial going forward or going backward, he chooses the more difficult of the two. To advance the dial would be only, in a certain measure, natural, though it might be an extraordinary act of God, but to make the dial go back was a far more striking proof of the interference of Jehovah, and, accordingly, Hezekiah does ask; and Hezekiah was right. Hezekiah answers, "It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees; nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees." And so it was.

Immediately after this we find the Babylonian (ver. 12) "Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick." We know from elsewhere that it was not merely the sickness, but it was this very returning of the shadow ten degrees upon 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. It was traced to king Hezekiah; it was traced to a comparatively small kingdom and king, and this drew out the interest, more particularly as that king, it was well known, had resisted the proud king of Assyria, and in fact so effectually that he returned to his own land utterly frustrated in his purposes. Now, as the Babylonian wished to shake off the fetters of the king of Assyria, and in point of fact did did destroy the kingdom of Assyria by a junction with the Medes or Persians in early days, so we find that now this embassy comes to the king.

And it would be a great mistake to suppose that all these circumstances have only an historical aspect. This very part of the book is strongly typical. Anyone who is familiar with the prophets is aware that these two kingdoms which were then about to contend for the sovereignty of the world, will have their representatives in the last days. The Assyrian, strange as it may sound, will reappear. Not only will there be an Assyrian in the last days, but he is the last national enemy of the Jewish people. When God shall have accomplished His whole work in mount Zion and Jerusalem, He is to deal with the Assyrian. And Babylon too will have also its representative in the last days quite distinct. And it is of very great importance to distinguish; for Babylon was the beginning of the great imperial system. The Assyrian was the last leader of the national system. These are two distinct systems which we find in the word of God. As long as Israel was owned as a nation for God, the Assyrian had power. When Israel received its first great humiliation and Judah was about to be destroyed, Babylon was allowed to come into supremacy on the fall of Assyria. The Assyrian therefore was the last holder of the great national power of the Gentiles. The Babylonian was the first that was allowed to become the sovereign of the world to acquire an imperial authority. In the last days there will be the counterpart of these two powers, but in an inverse order. The Assyrian was before Babylon, viewed now in the manner which I have been describing. In the last days what answers to Babylon will be before the Assyrian. The reason is manifest. Babylon has to do with Judah, Assyrian with Israel. Now, in point of fact, Israel will only be brought back after God has dealt with Judah. It is the enemy of Judah that comes first in the last days, and the enemy of Israel will come up afterwards. That is the reason of the inverse order in the last days.

What then is the typical aspect of Hezekiah's sickness? And I answer, The great secret is that here we have, in type, the true Son of David, the One on whom depend the deliverance of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Assyrian. Who that will be in the last days I need not tell you. You know right well it is no mere king of man, but the true King, the great King, that is, the Lord Jesus; that it is the Messiah, that it is the true and ever-living Son of David not one that weeps sore to escape from death, but one who goes down into death and rises up again in power and glory, and that thus, and thus only, He will be the crusher of the Assyrian power after Babylon has been destroyed; for He, and He alone, will be the destroyer of what is represented by Babylon, as well as the destroyer of the Assyrian. It is the Lord Jesus, and His very first act when He comes from heaven, or in coming from heaven, is, He destroys antichrist. He has not come to the earth: it is a mere flash, so to speak, of lightning, and antichrist is destroyed cast into the lake of fire.

When dealing with the Assyrian it is different. He puts himself at the head of Israel. He is pleased to use them as his battleaxe. He comes as the head of the armies of Israel not as a mere human king, but nevertheless He is pleased to put honour upon them, and so He will fight for His people. So it is described in the fourteenth of Zechariah. There it is not the antichrist or the beast that is destroyed. It is not the Babylonish power, or the last holder of the Babylonish power. It is the Assyrian. The Assyrian is destroyed when the Lord is with Israel. The one that answers to Babylon is destroyed when the Lord is coming from heaven, before He is joined to His people Israel. It is then the inverse order. In the actual history the Assyrian was swept away first; but it will not be so when the Lord comes. The last holder of the image power of Babylon and that is the reason why I call it Babylon will be destroyed by the Lord Jesus coming from heaven; and then will remain the great Assyrian, the head of the nations who will make a conspiracy of the nations to destroy Israel, and the Lord will overthrow him for ever. Such is the order of events in the future, so that the dead and risen Son of David has a most important place in the last days as the instrument of the deliverance from both the power of Babylon and also from the power of Assyria.