Lesson 15 - “Hezekiah: The Test of Success” - Isaiah
38-39
ID:
Inductive Questions (Asking the text questions like who, what, where, when,
why, & how?”)
CR:
Cross References (Comparing Scripture to Scripture, understanding the vague by
the clear.)
WS:
Word Study (Understanding definition, theological meaning, and usages in other
passages.)
The
WORD: What does the Bible say?
Context: Abraham
Lincoln is quoted as saying, "Nearly all men can
stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him
power." In this lesson we
study what success revealed about Hezekiah’s heart. Hezekiah’s sickness and reception of the
Babylonian delegation are summarized in 2 Chronicles 32:24-33 and recorded in
more detail in Isaiah 38-39 (also in 2 Kings 20).
1. ID: (Isaiah
38:1-2) What reasons did Hezekiah have to despair about his situation? What was his response?
2. WS: (Isaiah
38:3) Hezekiah based his prayer on
having walked before God “in truth/faithfulness
('emeth ) and with a loyal
(shalem) heart” and having done good in God’s sight. Can think of things in Hezekiah’s life that
would support (or contradict) that assertion?
3. ID: (Isaiah
38:5-8) What did Isaiah say moved God to
answer Hezekiah’s prayer? What does
verse five teach us about how and why we pray?
4. ID: (Isaiah 38:5-8)
What three things did Isaiah tell Hezekiah that God would do?
5. ID: (Isaiah
38:10-20) Make observations about
Hezekiah’s thoughts about his sickness and impending death in vv. 9-14 and then
about his changed attitude about his sickness and responses to the Lord after he had been healed in vv.
15-20.
6. ID: (Isaiah 39/ 2
Kings 20:12-19) What was given as the reason
for the visit by Merodach-Balabon? Does the text give any hints to why Hezekiah
was so pleased/glad with the emissaries that
he showed them all he had? (2
Chronicles 32:31)
The
WALK: What should I do?
1.
What does 2
Kings 20:7-11’s description of the use of medicine in a healing that was
promised by the Lord teach us about the combination of medicine and faith?
2.
Do you think 2 Kings 20:10 describes audacity or
great faith?
3.
Have you seen God answer prayer in a similar
way? (2 Kings 20:5-10) Have you ever felt complete peace that a
prayer was going to be answered? (Was
it?)
4.
What principles can we glean from Hezekiah’s
response to the Babylonian visit about how we should think about and respond to
attention from important people?
5.
What did Hezekiah’s reply to Isaiah’s prophecy in
2
Kings 20:19 (21:1-2) say about his commitment to his children,
grandchildren, etc.?
By Robert Godfrey, professor of church history and president of Westminster Seminary California
The
whole article is a good and worthwhile read.
Here is a short excerpt:
The
first thing we notice about Hezekiah's second prayer is that the very fact that
he prays is a remarkable sign of the faithfulness of Hezekiah. Think how
desperate his situation is. He feels sick unto death. He has had the prophetic
word that he is going to die. How would you have reacted? I suspect that for
many of us there would be a tendency not to pray but to be very angry, or
simply to be in a state of numb despair. “OK, I'm going to die; what's the
point of anything? I'll just roll over and die.” But that is not Hezekiah's
attitude. In his prayer we see the man of faith, the man of God, revealed to
us. In the midst of his sickness, in the midst of this terrible situation that
he confronts, in the midst of distress about as serious as anyone can face he
is a man of prayer. Here is an expression of the very heart of faith that in
distress, it turns to God, not away from God. In facing problems, faith seeks
help in God. It does not doubt God’s presence or despair of his goodness.
Hezekiah’s
prayer flows from a mind fined with Scripture. I believe that he had in mind a
psalm of David, Psalm 34. Let me read some verses out of Psalm 34 to show how
well they fit with the situation of Hezekiah, and how knowing these promises
would have encouraged the man of faith to turn to God in prayer: I sought the
Lord and he answered me, and answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.”
(v.4) “This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out all his
troubles.”(v.6) “Who is the man who desires life and loves length of days that
he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, and lips from speaking your
deceit. Depart from evil and seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are
toward the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord
is against evil-doers to cut off their memory from the earth. The cry and the
Lord hears, and delivers them out all their troubles. The Lord is near to the
brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the
afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivers him out them all. ft
(v.12-19)
Here are the
kinds of promises of the Word of God that encourage Hezekiah. The Lord has
promised to hear the righteous. The Lord has promised to deliver the righteous.
So Hezekiah turns to the Lord in prayer and says, “Lord, I have been faithful.
I have kept your covenant. I have been one who has sought to walk in your
ways.”
Was Hezekiah
saying that he was perfect? No! It is clear from Scripture that Hezekiah does
not claim to be perfect. In Isaiah 38:17 we read another prayer of Hezekiah.
…
We know that the only one who is truly
righteous and the only one who keeps God's law and covenant is Jesus, the
Messiah. And so we understand something about the covenant of grace even more
deeply and more fully than Hezekiah did. When we pray, we are careful to come
to God only in Jesus name. We come in the name of the one who is truly
righteous, the one who perfectly kept God's covenant in every way. Yet like
Hezekiah, those of us in Jesus Christ can come to God saying, “I am a covenant
keeper. I am not perfect, but out of the intention of my heart, renewed by your
grace, I am striving to live for you, to serve you. I am your child. I am part
of your covenant. O Lord, show me your mercy; show me your goodness.”
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