HEZEKIAH’S ILLNESS AND RECOVERY After telling us about the delivery of Jerusalem from the siege of Sennacherib the prophet Isaiah presents us with a narrative of the sickness of Hezekiah to the point of death, and his recovery. By that he probably intended to confirm that God cares, not only for the congregation as a whole (Judah), but also for every single member of it (Hezekiah). He cares for His holy Church, being His body, and, at the same time does not disregard its individual members. God does not forsake His believers. He supported king Hezekiah when he took refuge in Him, in His holy temple, and through His prophet Isaiah, and did not lean on a human arm and temporary plans. And now, as Hezekiah got ill to the point of death and was unable to go to the holy temple to pray, he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord; weeping bitterly, he counted his illness as a defeat for the people, and a sign that the Lord has forsaken them. Listening to his yearning to consummate his mission, God added 15 years to his life. 1. ‘Put your house in order, because you are going to die’ 1-8. 2. A psalm of thanksgiving 9-20. 3. Treating Hezekiah with a poultice of figs 12-22. 1. PUT YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER, BECAUSE YOU ARE GOING TO DIE “In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death.” (Is. 38: 1) From this phrase and verse 6 it is obvious that Hezekiah’s illness happened during the invasion of Sennacherib, probably a result of an epidemic caused by the siege, or because of a physical and psychological collapse resulting from the difficult situation. Isaiah then came to deprive him of any remaining hope of recovery, saying to him: “Set your house in order, for you shall die.” (Is. 38: 1) That news of his death has probably been a shock to him for one of the following reasons: a. As was the case with the apostle Paul he was eager to depart from this world, yet he felt a commitment toward his ministry to others. b. As was the case with men of the Old Testament, he feared death, as it was connected in their minds with sin and God’s wrath upon human kind. c. He probably was hoping for witnessing, in his days, the coming of the Messiah, the second Adam, as is obvious in his psalm (Is. 38: 11). d. Or most probably his grief was because he had not begotten yet his son Manasseh (2 Kings 21: 1), whom he hoped to succeed him on the throne. This issue confused him, as how would then the divine promise to the house of David to stay forever be realized. Here Hezekiah’s weakness is a contrast to Abraham’s strength who fearlessly presented his son Isaac a burnt offering to the Lord, having complete confidence that God’s promise would surely be realized, even by raising him from the dead. Later on Hezekiah got Manasseh, lover of idol worship, who brought God’s wrath upon Judah (2 Kings 23: 26). Hezekiah was a man of prayer. He did not lose his hope in the Lord, but knew how to pray and strive. He turned his face to the wall, probably toward the direction of the temple, as it was the custom of the Jews, to pray to God, saying, “Remember, 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.” (Is. 38: 3) He looked back at his life as a trip in which he walked before the Lord (Genesis 5: 24; 1 Kings 9: 4), if not with complete perfection, yet with wholehearted devotion, aiming to perfection (Matthew 5: 45). “Hezekiah wept bitterly.” (Is. 38: 3) God instructed Isaiah to go to the king to say, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: ‘I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life.’” (Is. 38: 5) It was a very quick response (2 Kings 20: 4). God probably talked to Isaiah mouth-to-mouth before he departed the royal palace, while he was busy giving spiritual advices to the palace administrators, to prepare affairs that would follow the king’s death. When God listened to Hezekiah’s prayer and saw his tears, He recalled His covenant with David his father, as God fulfills His covenants with Fathers to their children (Exodus 20: 5; Psalm 89: 28, 29). He granted him what he uttered by his tongue and heart: an extension of his years, and a protection for the capital of his kingdom, Jerusalem. The Lord provided Hezekiah with a sign he requested (Is. 38: 22), in which He differed from his evil father who refused to ask for a sign from God (Is. 7: 10). That sign came to confirm the realization of the divine promise in the following way: The shadow, cast by the sun, goes back ten steps (Is. 38: 8) - that were, according to some leading to a terrace or to an upper room in the palace; while others believe it to be an eclipse of the sun, that actually happened on the eleventh of January 689 B.C.1 The sun, the true measure of time, had been used by God who controls time, events, and history, as a sign in the days of Joshua (Joshua 10: 12); of Hezekiah; on the day the Lord Jesus was crucified; and will happen just before His last advent, when the sun will darken. God, the Father of all lights, moves the sun, and directs it for our edification. Some will probably ask: Did God change His mind by adding to Hezekiah’s years? St. Augustine2 believes that God’s decree was pre-known to Him before creation, kept in His divine will. His decision realized what He preplanned for Hezekiah. We should not concern ourselves, with whether God changed His mind by adding fifteen years to Hezekiah’s age, but rather with an apprehension of the power of prayer, that has granted a new life to a man, who was supposed to die through natural laws. Prayer, being an attachment to God, the grantor of life, is capable of everything, a conqueror of death - death of sin. St. John Chrysostom3 says that we, through prayer for the sake of forgiveness of sins, consummate the will of God, and accordingly be sure that it will be received. Through prayer, offerings were well received. Prayer delivered Noah from the great flood; cured from barrenness; defeated armies; proclaimed mysteries; divided the sea; cut off the water of the Jordan; drove back the sun; froze the moon; destroyed the unclean, and brought down fire. Prayer shut off heaven; released people out of prison, and rescued from the sea. The power of prayer is as great as that of pure fasting. Hezekiah prayed; and his prayer defeated 185,000 men through an angel of the 1 R.E. Clements, p. 291. 2 The Literal meaning of Genesis 6:17. 3 Expos. In Ps. 4:4; PG. 55:44 ff. Lord (1 Kings 10: 15, 35). Daniel prayed, and his prayer sealed the mouths of lions. Our righteous Fathers carried the weapon of prayer, and have overcome sorrows. Fr. Aphrahat4 Blessed is he, who makes himself a friend to faith and prayer; he will live with one thought. Prayer rising in a man’s heart will open up the doors of heaven. Prayer sets peace with God’s wrath. St. Ephram the Syrian5 Prayer can press on the devil who presses on human kind. It can deliver from his hand and from all temptations of the world; that is why the Lord instructed us to: “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.” (Matthew 26: 41) Fr. Martyrus6 2. A PSALM OF THANKSGIVING a. We often remember the Lord in times of affliction and trouble but we forget Him in times of rejoice. But Hezekiah proved to be a man of prayer and tears in the midst of pains, as well as a man of praise in the midst of relief, to thank God for His goodness. In this psalm he revealed that he was a man of prayer, a man of praise, a poet, a psalmist; filled with hope in the Lord, the Savior from death, and Grantor of joyful life. b. Hezekiah did well by presenting this psalm, as an offering of thanksgiving to God, Grantor of life. Yet unfortunately he presented a praise of thanksgiving, but not a life of thanksgiving; as it is said: ”But Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor shown him, for his heart was lifted up; therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem.” (2 Chronicles 32: 25) It is fitting for us to praise the Lord, not just with our tongues, but with all the members of our bodies, with our feelings and senses, as well as with our behavior; so that our whole life turns into a multi-stringed guitar that plays a symphony of love for the Lord, our Creator and Savior. c. It is obvious from Hezekiah’s psalm that he suffered at first from a spirit of despair, saying, “I said, ‘In the prime of my life, I shall go to the gates of Sheol, I am deprived of the remainder of my years,” (Is. 38: 10) He was 39 years old, feeling that in the prime of his life, his happy days were cut off; was deprived of serving his God and his people, something he has put in his heart, hoping to consummate along the years of his life. It is as though he was saying the words of David: “I said in my haste, ‘I am cut off from before your eyes.’” (Psalm 31: 22) d. Hezekiah was probably looking forward to see the Lord Christ in his days, or was even hoping that the Lord would come incarnated from his seed. And now, he is about to die before all that. That is why he is crying out in despair: “I said, ‘I shall not see YAH, the Lord, in the land of the living. I shall observe man no more among the inhabitants of the world.” (Is. 38: 11) What hope would be for us in this world or in that to come, if we do not enjoy seeing the Lord, here, through the eyes of the heart by faith, and there face-to-face? Blessed, triple-blessed, and even multi-blessed, are those who are worthy of 4 Demonstration 4, on Prayer 1,8,9. 5 Cf. The Syriac Fathers on Prayer and the Spiritual life, p. 36. 6 Ibid p. 219. beholding that glory. About this the prophet says, “Let the wicked be cast away, and be deprived of beholding the glory of the Lord.” (Is. 36: 10 LXX) I pray to God that would not be for any of us! For, why are we living? Why are we breathing? What would it be for us, if we fail to behold our Lord? If those who cannot see the light of the sun count life as being worse than death, so what would it be for those who are deprived of beholding the light of the Lord?7 St. John Chrysostom Before I show you our Lord, show us your man. Provide me with the proof that the eyes of your soul can see, and the ears of your heart can hear! As those, whose eyes are covered with a cloud of sin, cannot behold the Lord. When you get rid of your corrupt nature, and be clothed with incorruption, you will be worthy of beholding God. God will give life to your body, and will let it be, imperishable, together with your soul. Then you will behold the only imperishable, if you believe in Him now8. St. Theophilus, of Antioch e. He presents several parallels to describe his temporary life: (1) “Like a shepherd’s tent,” (Is 38: 12) on the move all the time; that gives the impression of being a foreigner, with no place to settle down; the way our father Abraham has been, as he kept on moving all his life. We stay in this ever-moving tent until we cross over to an eternal home, not made by human hand. This same parallel was used by the apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 5: 1), and also by the apostle Peter (2 Peter 1: 14). (2) A fabric, “I have cut off my life like a weaver. He cuts me off from the loom. From day until night you make an end of me.” (Is. 38: 12) As such, God will weave our lives like a fabric cut off from the loom, weaved according to body size; not to last long, but to be cast off after a certain time. And as Eliphaz the Temanite says, “Who are crushed before a moth? They are broken in pieces from morning till evening.” (Job: 4: 19, 20) (3) A victim of a lion that breaks all its bones in one night (Is. 38: 13). (4) Like a swift or thrush crying weakly; its voice feeble because of sickness, or rather because of despair of recovery. “I moaned like a dove. My eyes failed from looking upward.” (Is. 38: 14) f. Now, we find a sudden shift from feeling an “anguish of his soul” (Is. 38: 15) to an experience of a new life, as he says, “O Lord, by these things men live. And in all these things is the life of my spirit. So you will restore me and make me live.” (Is. 38: 16) He moves from death to life and from bitterness to sweetness, through the intervention of the Lord Christ, and the discovery of His divine work of salvation. He says, “The Lord was ready to save me. Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the house of the Lord” (Is. 38: 19, 20) What did he find in his Savior? (1) His life changed from a terrible trip and a bitter soul to a peaceful life, through which a believer does not fear even from the pit of corruption (Is. 38: 17). 7 In Joan. Hom 12:3. 8 Ad Autolyeus 1:1-7; PG. 66:1024-36. (2) His soul rejoiced, not just for his recovery from sickness and adding to his life but because of the forgiveness of all his sins (Is. 38: 17). (3) He became eager to deliver this new life to the coming generations (Is. 38:19). (4) The rest of his life turned into a continuous joyful psalm (Is. 38: 20), singing it as though in the house of the Lord. That is why St. Athanasius the Apostolic says that feast (or joy) is “Christ,” the Source of our continuous joy. He also says, [Those who live in Christ are alone capable of glorifying and blessing God, and by that they ascend to the feast9.] The believer who lives in Christ will enjoy a continuous life of joy and thanksgiving, in the midst of both his passions and joys. There is no better time for man to harbor feelings of gratitude towards God like that when he is suffering temptations and troubles, and when he comes to comfort after passing through afflictions and strives10. St. Athanasius the Apostolic A prayer is joy expressed in thanksgiving11. St. Evagrius Through spiritual prayers and thanksgivings, we are raised from earth to highs12. Fr. Martyrus 3. TREATING HEZEKIAHWITH A POULTICE OF FIGS The prophet Isaiah asked for a poultice of figs (a cake of pressed figs) to be applied to the inflamed part of Hezekiah’s body, and he will recover. By that, God intended to proclaim, that although he is the divine Physician, yet He utilizes material medications that He created for our needs. From another aspect, to confirm that healing is a free gift granted by God. A poultice of figs is like a bunch of grapes both refer to Church life. A fig bears an uncountable number of very tiny seeds; a single seed is both valueless and tasteless, unless gathered together with the rest of seeds under one cover, as though in a bond of sweetness of love and unity. That is the mystery of the sweetness of the Church, and that is the mystery of our healing. Despite whatever mystery personal relationship, that anyone of us may have with God, we gather together as a sweet fig in God’s mouth. That is why Hezekiah said, as a sign of his healing: “I will go up to the temple of the Lord” (Is. 38: 22) to gather together with the people of God through the Lord Himself. 9 Dwar. Ep. 7. 10 Ibid 8. 11 Cf. The Syriac Fathers p.249. 12 Ibid p. 229.
Welcome