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ISAIAH: GOD'S DIRECTIVES TO THOSE TROUBLED AT GOVERNMENTAL APOSTASY
Part XXVII: Heeding God's Wake-Up Call For Prolonging A Godly Record
(Isaiah 38:1-39:8)
  1. Introduction
    1. Hopefully, we believers are currently walking in God's will, and hopefully we desire to keep doing so.
    2. However, we all know cases where believers started out well only to "fall by the wayside" in spiritual defeat. We may wonder how we might avoid such an end in our own "track records" of the Christian life.
    3. God in grace can provide a "wake-up call" to the godly to warn them they are getting into trouble in their lives so that they can repent and get on the right track again with the Lord. This is illustrated as follows:
  2. Heeding God's Wake-Up Call For Prolonging A Godly Record, Isaiah 38:1-39:8.
    1. In the days of Hezekiah, God promised through the Mosaic Covenant physical health for those who obeyed God's laws and a lack of such health if they disobeyed Him, cf. Deuteronomy 28:1-4, 15, 20-21.
    2. Well, even though he had a "good" track record, when he was about 40 years old [Z.P.E.B., vol. Three, p. 149], God told Hezekiah he was about to die prematurely, so he should set his house in order, Isa . 38:1. This was God's "wake up" call, that Hezekiah was in SOME way ERRANT before God, Dt. 28:20b!
    3. Hezekiah then pleaded with God to extend his years because of his good track RECORD, Isaiah 38:2-3.
    4. Since Hezekiah sought God, the Lord graciously gave him by another fifteen years of life, Isaiah 38:4-8. The implication of God's ANSWER to Hezekiah's prayer was that Hezekiah was not respecting so as to EXALT the LORD as MUCH as Exodus 20:3-7 had commanded him to do!
    5. However, Hezekiah did not fully APPLY this "wake up call:" after God added fifteen years to his life, he eventually became openly self-sufficient and much less righteous, Isaiah 38:9-39:8:
      1. Initially, Hezekiah rightly glorified God, praising Him for restoring Him to health, Isaiah 38:9-20:
        1. Hezekiah testified of his initial grief at being told by Isaiah he was going to die soon, Isa. 38:9-15.
        2. He testified of God's goodness in prolonging his life, Isaiah 38:16.
        3. Hezekiah rejoiced at God's adding fifteen more years to his earthly life, Isaiah 38:17-20.
      2. Isaiah testified of the physical details behind the prolonging of Hezekiah's life, Isaiah 38:7-8, 22:
        1. From the description of the affliction Hezekiah had, we know he had a poisonous boil, Isa. 38:21b.
        2. Isaiah gave God's miraculous prescription for a cure -- a cake of figs laid upon the boil, 38:21 ESV.
        3. Hezekiah had requested a miraculous sign from God as assurance he would recover, and God gave him that sign as follows: the shadow cast by the setting sun would back up ten steps on Hezekiah's western stairway, signifying the prolonging of his life , Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, ftn. to Isaiah 38:8.
      3. Yet, as his prolonged, fifteen years of life wound down, Hezekiah turned self-sufficient rather than God-exalting, so he ended up less righteous than he had been in the rest of his life, Isaiah 39:1-8:
        1. When a delegation of Babylonians arrived in Jerusalem to congratulate Hezekiah on his recovery from the deadly illness (and probably really to encourage Hezekiah to join them in rebelling against Assyria, cf. Bib. Know. Com., O.T., p. 1090), instead of glorifying God for his blessings, Hezekiah foolishly and arrogantly exposed his wealth, exalting himself in place of the Lord, Isaiah 39:1-2.
        2. We know from the complementary account of this event in 2 Chronicles 32:31 that God allowed this event to occur to expose all that was in Hezekiah's heart, and what was exposed was his pride !
        3. Hence, God sent Isaiah to inform Hezekiah the wealth he had shown to the Babylonian ambassadors would end up in Babylon, and his sons would become eunuchs for Babylon's king, Isaiah 39:3-7.
        4. Instead of repentance, Hezekiah selfishly responded, claiming God's word was good, for the calamity predicted for his pride would not occur in HIS lifetime , but after he had died, Isaiah 39:9!
Lesson: Knowing "good" king Hezekiah was becoming self-sufficient versus EXALTING the LORD as he ONCE did, God allowed a life-threatening, "wake-up call" illness to JAR him to exalt God so as to PROLONG his GOOD TRACK RECORD. To his loss, Hezekiah did not respond so well to this "call"!

Application: (1) When THREATENING CRISES rise AFTER we have left a "good" Christian track record, may we EXAMINE our HEARTS and ADJUST if NEEDED, for such CRISES may be God's GRACIOUS "wake-up call" to readjust to His righteousness so we can KEEP a good record GOING! (2) Better, BEFORE EXPERIENCING such a "wake-up call," may we EXAMINE ourselves NOW!