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.’ ”

Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, saying, “Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD. And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David.” ’ ”

Then Isaiah said, “Take a lump of figs.” So they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. (2 Kings 20:1-7)

God’s open to hearing you out. Hezekiah was considered one of the righteous kings of Judah. That didn’t keep him from becoming deathly ill. When Isaiah visited him, he gave the king bad news from God: “You’re going to die.”

That was not what Hezekiah wanted to hear, so he prayed. God answered his prayer favorably, granting him fifteen more years of life.

The lump of figs placed on the boil were a symbol for Hezekiah that God would act: an illustration. Lumps of figs do not inherently have healing properties that somehow Hezekiah’s physicians had missed until then.

Had God lied to Hezekiah when he first told him he would die? Had Hezekiah’s eloquence in his prayer changed God’s mind? Neither. Hezekiah had mistakenly assumed God meant he would die from his illness. In response to Hezekiah’s prayer, God told him he would still die. But God added a new detail: not just yet.

His son, Manasseh was twelve when Hezekiah finally died fifteen years later. Hezekiah could have trained him well in the years he had with him. Instead, Manasseh was the most evil king Judah would ever have. Hezekiah failed to take the opportunity God gave him. It’s easy to miss the opportunities that could have been ours.

Send to Kindle