Isaiah 38-39

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

Hezekiah’s Sickness, Recovery, Mistake and Consequences

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. God’s miraculous signs are not without meaning.

  2. God’s miraculous healings are not without lessons.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. Don’t assume maturity preserves you from stupidity.

QUESTIONS

  1. Discuss the scriptural context in the previous chapters, Isaiah 36-37.

  2. What did the Lord tell Hezekiah, through the prophet Isaiah, and what was his response?

  3. Based on Hezekiah’s example, should we as believers ask God for signs?

  4. How did Hezekiah respond to God’s confirming sign?

  5. What major mistake did Hezekiah make during the 15 years of extended life that God gave him?

ANSWERS

  1. In 701 BC Sennacherib, King of Assyria, invaded the kingdom of Judah and conquered all the outlying fortified cities surrounding Jerusalem. Then he besieged Jerusalem and sent threatening messages urging King Hezekiah to surrender. Hezekiah put his trust in the Lord and refused to surrender. Then one of the great miracles of the Bible took place. In one night, the angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 Assyrians and delivered Jerusalem.

  2. The Lord told Hezekiah to set his house in order for he was going to die. Hezekiah wept bitterly and bargained with God for more life.

  3. No, the actions of all Bible characters are not all right for us today. Their actions must be backed up by teaching passages of Scripture. It was not by faith that Hezekiah asked for a sign. While God may give believers confirming signs, we should let God decide if and when to give them.

  4. He composed a personal lament or psalm of thanksgiving after his recovery from sickness.

  5. He showed the officials from pagan Babylon all the treasures of Judah. Because of this unwise decision, the Babylonians would eventually return to conquer the land and take all these treasures to Babylon – including some of Hezekiah’s sons.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. We have learned much from King Hezekiah’s life. What was the most significant lesson to you personally?

CHALLENGE

  1. Don’t assume maturity preserves you from stupidity. As you grow older and more mature in your faith, don’t forget your dependence on the Lord. You would not want the closing years of your life to end as Hezekiah’s.

KEY VERSES

  • “In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.”’” Isaiah 38:1

  • “Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: ‘I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years.’” Isaiah 38:5

  • “‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the LORD.” Isaiah 39:6

Isaiah, Old Testament, TalksDeb HarmsIsaiah 38-39