ISAIAH 38-392008 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Isaiah 38-39

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2008. Alright, Isaiah chapter 38, we'll be looking at chapters 38 and 39 this evening. We're continuing the historical interlude here in the book of Isaiah.

Chapters 1 through 36, or 35 rather, were prophecies and really mostly judgments of God pronounced by Isaiah on those nations, including Judah and Israel, but also some of the surrounding nations that were disobedient to God and in rebellion to God.

Here in 38 and 39, we're finishing up the historical portion of the book, only a few chapters, during the life of Hezekiah, the history that took place towards the end of his life, and we'll see a little bit of that here this evening. As we head forward, next week we'll pick up in chapter 40, and it begins the second part of the book of Isaiah, which is very similar to the New Testament, and we'll talk about that a little bit more next week.

But here we're looking at a historical account which also appears in 2 Kings chapter 20. And here in this historical account, the background is Hezekiah is the king of Judah. Remember that the nation of Israel had been split in two. And the northern kingdom was called Israel. The southern kingdom was called Judah. The northern kingdom had already been conquered at this time by the nation of Assyria. It was no more.

The nation of Assyria had come against Judah, conquered many of the cities in Judah, but was not able to conquer Jerusalem by the divine protection of God. And that's what we talked about last week in 36 and 37, how God promised to protect and then did protect Jerusalem.

And remember, the angel of the Lord went out and slew 185,000 in one night of the Assyrian army as it was camped there against Jerusalem.

Well, now as we look at 38 and 39, this is just a little bit beyond that event. Not sure exactly how much farther ahead in history it is, but it's a little bit ahead in history. He's progressed a little bit. Assyria is no longer a threat. And now we come to a situation where Hezekiah is threatened with death. And so we pick it up here in Isaiah chapter 38. Let's look at verses 1 through 3.

It says,

and said, Remember now, 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. And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Can you imagine for just a moment getting the news that Hezekiah just received? Pastor Sisko knocks on your door. Hey, set your house in order. For sure, you are going to die.

And Hezekiah, as he receives this news, he's been sick for some amount of time. And as he receives this news, he's not very excited about it, as I'm sure you or I would not be either. And so what he does is he prays to the Lord. And he prays to God on the basis of

what the Word of God promised there in Deuteronomy chapter 28. God promised that if you love me, if you serve me, then you'll be blessed. And so Hezekiah says, Lord, remember now. Remember how I watched before you in truth.

I wasn't deceitful, God. I didn't lie. I wasn't a hypocrite. I didn't pretend to follow you. But in reality, Lord, I followed you. I didn't just put on a show for the people of Judah. I didn't just, you know, restore the temple just because, you know, I wanted to look good. But it was in truth, God, that I honestly loved you and I honestly have served you. I honestly desire a relationship with you. God, remember that I've walked before you in truth.

He also goes on to say, I walked before you with a loyal heart, a heart that wasn't wishy-washy, a heart that wasn't torn between, you know, you and some other idols. God, I've been loyal to you. I haven't gotten preoccupied with other things. I haven't taken you off the throne of my life, but I've been loyal to you, Lord. Remember that I've walked with you and not strayed.

And then he goes on to say, "Remember also, I walked before you and have done what is good in your sight." Hezekiah's relationship with God and his faith was genuine. There's many times I can remember in my life that the walk with God that I had was not in truth. You ever had a relationship with God that's fake? That's a facade that you put on when you're around other Christians that's not there other times?

Have you ever not had a loyal heart to the Lord?

Your heart, you know, we say things like, well, I love God, but... And we have those other things that we're tied to and those other priorities in our lives and we think that one day we'll get back to the Lord, but we just need to take care of these things or we get occupied with these things and they take away from our relationship with God and we lose the loyalty in our hearts to God because He no longer occupies the foremost place, the priority in our lives.

And of course, if those two things are out of order, then what happens is we have not done what is good. Our faith in God, our relationship with God, affects the way that we live, the things that we do, the activities that we participate in. And so if we genuinely love God, if we genuinely have a relationship with God, if we walk before Him in truth with a loyal heart, the results will be

that we will have done what is good. And we're going to talk about that on Sunday mornings as we head into the book of Titus, where Paul, writing to Titus, talks a lot about good works, and it's a product of a right relationship with God and a right understanding of our place in God's plan and His purposes. So Hezekiah prays on the basis of these things, Lord, I've walked before you in truth, I've been loyal to you, I've been doing what is good.

And so, Lord, my request is, and I pray that I would not die. I pray that this would not be the death of me, that this illness would not do me in. And God answers this prayer in verse 4. It says, And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, Go and tell Hezekiah, 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.

I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city. And this is the sign to you from the Lord that the Lord will do this thing which he has spoken. Verse 8. Behold, I will bring the shadow on the sundial which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down.

Hezekiah is in deep distress. He weeps bitterly and he prays to God that he would not die as a result of this illness. And God responds through the prophet Isaiah. Now it was Isaiah who had originally delivered the message, set your house in order, set things in order, because you are going to die. And now God speaks through Isaiah again, a faithful servant of God, one who is open to be used by Him. And so God sends him again to Hezekiah and this is the word.

You shall not die. Well, that's not entirely accurate. He was going to die. But between now and his death, God said, I'm going to add 15 years. I wonder if that would be good news for you. If you had 15 more years to live, would that be good news or bad news? Harvey says, that's bad news.

For me, that'd be good news. For Hezekiah, it's good news. He's excited. He's not going to die at this moment, in this situation. There's going to be 15 more years. So God says, I'm going to add 15 years to your life. Not only that, He continues with some more promises. Hezekiah, not only will you live a little bit longer, but I am going to protect this city. I'm going to deliver you from the king of Assyria. You're not going anywhere.

to be overcome by them. You're not going to be conquered by them. And he accompanied these promises with a sign. The sign was, on the sundial of Ahaz, the sun would go back 10 degrees. Sundials in those days were not perhaps like we think of today, where we have the round thing with the triangle and it casts a shadow and you can see what time it is. It just covers time for the 12 hours a day.

But the ancient sundials, the ones that they would use in that day, there's a diagram on the back of the handout that you received this evening when you walked in, they would be like two sets of stairs that would meet in the middle coming from either side. And

And so the sun would come down and by the way the shadow would land upon the stairs, they would be able to tell what time it was. And many of the sundials of that day would have 360 steps or 180 on either side so that they would have a very accurate time just by the sundial that they had built.

So if that was the case, if there was 360 steps, hard to say, and it went back 10 degrees or 10 steps,

then that would be a total of about 20 minutes that it dropped backwards and gave him an extra 20 minutes of that day. Quite an amazing miracle that took place there that God promised as a sign for Hezekiah and it was fulfilled, it tells us. So the sun returned 10 degrees on the dial by which it had gone down.

So you can imagine if you could tell time by the sun, you would look up at the sun and it was 3 o'clock and then you look up a moment later and it's 2.40. How did that happen? It's gone backwards a little bit. It changed its direction. It changed its course and has gone back 10 degrees. Now there's lots of theories about how that might have happened physically and what, you know...

What events might have caused that in the galaxy or the universe, the stars, the planets and rotations and orbits and all of those things, why that may have happened. But regardless, God said he would do it. He promised it would be done. It was the sign that he would fulfill the request of Hezekiah. But even more than the request of Hezekiah, he would also protect the city. And so God accomplished it.

Now, that handout that I gave you, it's just if you want to dig in a little bit longer, the author there connects this event with the change from a 360-day year to a 365-day year, which we now use. And so it's a little bit interesting, but somewhat complicated. So if you feel like digging in, that's why you have it, so you can check it out on your own time.

But God promises 15 more years. He promises to protect Judah. He gives him a sign so that he would know this is for sure. This is going to happen. He knew he had exactly 15 years. He knew the city would be saved from the king of Assyria. And so in response, Hezekiah now writes down kind of what his thoughts were and what was going on in his head when all of this was taking place. Look with me at verse 9.

This is the writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness. Verse 10, 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. 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. My lifespan is gone, taken from me like a shepherd's tent. I have cut off...

Verse 14. Verse 14.

Here Hezekiah records for us what was going on in his heart, what was going on in his mind as he receives the news that he would not survive. Of course it would be probably much like we would think. Just when things were getting good, in the prime of my life, I'm deprived of the remainder of my years. He's determined and decided that it's too soon, it's too early for him to die.

He says, I'm not going to see the Lord work any longer in the land of the living. I'm not going to be among the inhabitants of the world, the inhabitants of the earth. I'm leaving this place. My life is gone. It's been taken from me. He tells the Lord, you make an end of me. And so in response to this, or as a result of this, he says, I mourned like a dove. My eyes fail from looking upward. Oh Lord, I am oppressed. Undertake for me.

This is the prayer. This is the heart of Hezekiah amidst the news that he was going to perish. He goes on now. Instead of remembering his sorrows and mourning, he begins to write some praise of God. Verse 15, What shall I say? He has both spoken to me and he himself has done it. I shall walk carefully all my years in the bitterness of my soul.

Verse 2.

Verse 20.

Here Hezekiah now records the aftermath or what took place after the miracle had been accomplished, after God had healed him. And he says lots of things and not so important necessarily to take apart each of the things that he wrote, but a couple points of correction here because Hezekiah has a misunderstanding about the things of God.

Here in verse 18, he says, death cannot praise you. Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your truth. It seems Hezekiah was not fully understanding the eternal nature of life and the eternal plan that God had for those who lived upon the earth, for you and I today. And so he's under the impression that death, well, that ends the praise of God. We can only praise God here is what he is thinking.

It's not completely spelled out in the Old Testament, so it's understandable, his frame of thought. But here in the New Testament, now we have the promises, the assurance, that those who believe in Jesus Christ will not die. Though they die, yet they shall live, Jesus said.

And so there's the promise of eternity for those who believe in Jesus Christ. And what are we going to be doing for eternity? Well, we're going to be praising God. We're going to be worshiping Him. We're going to be serving Him. And so Hezekiah's understanding is somewhat mistaken here. The living man and the one who lives forevermore in the presence of Christ will be praising God.

So Hezekiah is thanking God. He makes a promise there in verse 15, I shall walk carefully all my years. Yet what we find later on in Hezekiah's life, as we'll get into chapter 39 in a moment, he didn't walk as carefully as he had hoped to, as he promised that he would. There were some issues later on in Hezekiah's life in these last 15 years that we'll discuss in just a moment. But let's finish off verse 21.

Now Isaiah had said, let them take a lump of figs and apply it as a poultice on the boil and he shall recover. And Hezekiah had said, what is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord? Here Isaiah goes back and fills in a little bit of information for us. God promised that he would heal Hezekiah when he prayed for healing. And the way he healed him was Isaiah gave the instruction to take a lump of figs,

and apply it to the boil, and then he would be healed. And so this took place.

Also, at the same time, Hezekiah had said, what is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord? So the sign that God promised of the sun going back 10 degrees was in response to Hezekiah's request. What is the sign? Lord, is there a sign that you'll give me to show me that you intend to give me the 15 more years and that you intend to protect our city and defend it from the king of Assyria? Chapter 39, verse 1.

At that time, Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. Verse 2, And Hezekiah was pleased with them and showed them the house of his treasures, the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory, all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

He starts out saying, at that time. So during this time, soon after perhaps, Hezekiah is healed. There come some messengers from Babylon. Now you guys know the history. You know the story. Later on, it's about a hundred years later, Babylon is going to conquer Jerusalem. Babylon is going to take captives from Jerusalem three times. The third time, Jerusalem is going to be completely leveled. There's not going to be anything left of the temple.

The walls are going to be broken down and the city is going to be destroyed. But that is a hundred years from now. And so as Hezekiah has been healed, the king of Babylon, Merodach-Baladan,

He sends messengers to Hezekiah and he sends a present because he heard that he had been healed. It's kind of a customary thing of that time. He's trying to negotiate, trying to set up treaties. He's trying to make good with the king of Judah, with Hezekiah, because at this time Assyria is still in power. And so Egypt, Judah, Babylon, all of these nations are seeking to make treaties and make peace.

I forget the word. You know, when someone's on your side. Allies. They're trying to make allies and they're trying to strengthen themselves in that way against the nation of Babylon.

Soon after this, Babylon is going to be able to conquer Assyria, but it has not yet happened. And so these messengers come to Hezekiah. They bring the message. They bring a present. Hey, congratulations, man. We heard you were about to die and then you were healed. We're so excited for you. Here's some special blessings from us and we just want to let you know that we're happy that you got healed.

And so Hezekiah is really happy with these guys. He's, you know, really excited about what God's done in his life. And so he takes them around and he shows them everything in his house, all of his treasury. It says everything in his dominion.

So I don't know exactly how that took place. Much of Judah had already been conquered. And so perhaps it was just, you know, a chariot ride around the city of Jerusalem. And he gave them, you know, over here on your right, you'll have the golden gate. And over here on your left, you'll have the treasury. And he gave them the run of the whole place so that they would know exactly what he had, the types of treasures that he had, what they were worth. They would know exactly what was there.

So these messengers of Babylon now head back. And Isaiah comes once again to King Hezekiah in verse 3. It says,

So Hezekiah answered,

So as we finish off chapter 39, Isaiah brings this message to Hezekiah. It's not as favorable as the message that you will be healed that Isaiah brought earlier. It's not as favorable as the message that you will be healed that Isaiah brought earlier.

Instead, this message is a promise of judgment that is to come. Isaiah comes to Hezekiah and he says, who are those guys? Where did they come from? What have they seen and what did you show them when they were here? And so you can see Hezekiah saying, oh, they're from a far country from Babylon. They're not important. They're not a threat. They're nothing to be concerned about. And so I've showed them everything that I have. There's not one treasure here.

I took them through the storeroom and I can picture Mr. Scrooge diving into his money and digging down to the bottom and showing them every last treasure that I have and that I've accumulated here. And I've showed them everything. They've seen everything that I have. They've seen all the treasures. And so Isaiah responds, well, since they've seen all of your treasures, since you haven't held back anything from them for them to see all of what they saw.

He says, everything that your fathers have accumulated, all the wealth of the nation is going to be carried away to Babylon. The nation of these messengers that came. Isaiah is promising later on that they would come back

And take all of those treasures. And we read about it happening there in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. Nebuchadnezzar comes in and he takes apart the temple and he takes all the pieces back to Babylon. He takes all of the wealth, all of the treasures, all the gold, all the silver. He takes it all and carries it off to Babylon. It's fulfilled just as Isaiah said about a hundred years earlier. But not only that, he says in verse 7, they'll also take some of your sons who will descend from you.

And they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. He promised also that some of Hezekiah's descendants would be taken and would serve as eunuchs for the kings of Babylon. And we find that this did take place. You might remember, well, he's a little known guy named Daniel in the Bible. He was the eunuch of the king of Babylon. Also, you may have heard of, remember your Sunday school days, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

They were eunuchs there. They were the sons of Hezekiah, the descendants. They were part of the royal line that were carried off to Babylon to serve as eunuchs for them in the Babylonian court. And so again, this promise was fulfilled about a hundred years later. But what does Hezekiah say? What does he say in response to this? He says, that's a good word.

Now, which part was good? Are they going to take all your treasures? Are they going to take everything? Are they going to take your sons? Are they going to serve the Babylonian kings? Which part was good? Well, here's what's good, Hezekiah says. At least there will be peace and truth in my days. Hezekiah was only concerned really with his own life. Now, he had 15 years. He didn't want to waste them. He didn't want to be worried about things that was going to happen afterwards. And so, instead of that, he just decides, well, at least I'll have peace. At least these things won't happen in my lifetime. And

Later on, the kids will have to deal with it, but that's okay. That's their problem, and I'm not concerned about it. That's a good word. Not a very good attitude to have. Now, these two chapters, 38 and 39, lead many people to ask a whole lot of questions. What do you think? Now, you don't have to answer out loud, but was it God's will for Hezekiah to be healed or not? The word of the Lord comes to him through Isaiah. Set your house in order. You're going to die.

So he prays, he pleads, he begs, and then seemingly God changes his mind and says, okay, never mind, you're not going to die. And then the last 15 years of his life, well, they don't seem to be done very well. Certainly not as well as he started off, getting the people right with God and restoring the worship of God and rebuilding or restoring the temple and opening the doors again and holding the feast of Passover and all of the things that Hezekiah did to promote salvation

A walk with God there in the nation of Judah. But here in these last 15 years, we don't have any such accounts. We don't have any noteworthy things that were done for God. And so many would say, well, it wasn't God's will for Hezekiah to be healed. God granted it and perhaps, you know, there's a discussion, it was God's permissive will instead of His perfect will and God would have rather him died, but because he begged and pleaded the way he did, God allowed it. And so...

You know, that's why those last 15 years were not so good. Plus, God promised judgment as a result during those last 15 years. So was it God's will or not? You know, I would share with you that I don't believe that through this God is trying to say that Hezekiah shouldn't have prayed that. Hezekiah shouldn't have asked. It wasn't right for him to ask. You know, God doesn't have to fulfill the request if He doesn't desire to. He doesn't have to answer the prayer. He doesn't have to

respond favorably from Hezekiah's perspective. God has our eternal good in mind and He's not so concerned with our temporal happiness or temporal things that we think are best for us. And so sometimes what is best is for us to go to be with the Lord. But in Hezekiah's case, as we saw, consider for a moment the city of Nineveh when the prophet Jonah was sent to them. What was the word of the Lord?

The word of the Lord was, in 40 days, this place is going to be judged. But what happened at that point? Well, the people repented. And God did not judge the city of Nineveh at that time. He would later, when they rebelled against him again. But when they repented, God withheld his judgment. Very often, in the way God works, his pronouncement of judgment is an invitation to repent.

It's an invitation to get right with God. It's an invitation to turn from your ways and live walking with God, as Hezekiah did, in truth, with a loyal heart, and doing what is good. When we hear from the Word of God, the judgment that comes upon those who continue in sin, it's an opportunity for us to repent and not continue in that sin.

It's not saying that there's no hope. If there was no hope, then you wouldn't be alive any longer. No, the fact that we're living means we have the opportunity, the chance to repent. And so as God brings this word to Hezekiah, I believe God is giving Hezekiah a chance, an opportunity to pray and to ask God and watch God work. And as he prays and asks God, God does work and he is healed.

Just because those last 15 years didn't seem to be so good, I don't think it's a safe assumption to say that God did not desire for Hezekiah to live or God did not desire that Hezekiah would ask that or request that in his prayer. The nation of Judah was not judged necessarily

Because of Hezekiah's 15 extra years. The pronouncement of judgment that he gives in chapter 39 was not because Hezekiah prayed that or not because he had 15 extra years, but it's because of what he did in those 15 years. Again, there's nothing noteworthy that we have in his account that he did for God in those last 15 years like we have accounts of what he did in his early years in the kingdom.

During those 15 years, he had a son, but he didn't do such a good job in raising that son. He turned out to be the worst king in Judah's history. In fact, in 2 Kings chapter 24, when this judgment, when Babylon is conquering Judah, God says there in 2 Kings 24, 3, that it's as a result of the sins of Manasseh, who is the son of Hezekiah, that was born in those last 15 years.

Hezekiah lived 15 years, but he didn't do anything noteworthy for God in that time. He didn't raise his son well in the ways of God. He lacked discernment when the enemy came to him. The Babylonian envoys come, and, oh, they're from far away, and let me show them everything that I have. He lacked the discernment when the enemy came. Not only that, but he was callous about those who would remain after him. We see that there in verse 8. Hey, at least there'll be peace and truth in my days. Let the rest of the people worry about themselves.

And this is a reason that I believe God has ordained that the rapture be an unexpected event. Because if we knew exactly the day, if we knew exactly the hour, we might live like Hezekiah lived in those last 15 years. If I knew that two years from now the Lord was going to come back, and I was sure, and He brought the sun back 10 degrees so that I would know that He was coming back in exactly two years, I can tell you that I would be tempted. My flesh...

would be excited while I can have a good time and seek after my own things and enjoy my flesh and just live like I want to live and repent 600 or 700 and 23 days from now. No need. There's no urgency. There's no really need to really be concerned about those things. And if we know the time, then we won't be living appropriately if we submit to our flesh. It will be a greater temptation. But,

Remember when Jesus was about to be crucified as well as when he was about to ascend, one of the things that he told his disciples over and over and over and over and over and over and over again with extra parables and things to illustrate his point was that we were to watch, we're to be expecting his return. In Matthew 25 verse 13 he says, "...watch therefore for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."

The command to his disciples, the command to you and I is to watch, to be expecting his return, to be looking for his coming because we do not know the day or the hour. He warned them against falling asleep. Paul would later say in the book of Romans, it's high time to awake from our sleep because the day is nearer than when we first believed. Hezekiah, I believe, is a good example for us to be watching.

Because although we don't know the day, we don't know the hour, if we do not watch, we become like Hezekiah. If we're not expecting Jesus' return, if we're not looking forward to His return, we will not do anything noteworthy for God. If we're not excited about Him coming back and to meet with Him, we're not going to be accomplishing things for God. We're not going to be taking steps of faith and stepping out and watching God work and doing work for God.

There'll be nothing noteworthy to record for our lives if we're not expecting and watching and waiting for His return. If we're not expecting and watching and waiting for His return, like Hezekiah, we won't do well in training the next generation. It's often said, wrongly said, someone is so heavenly minded they're no earthly good. But that statement is completely false and backwards. The more we're like Christ, the more we're looking for His return.

the better we are for training the next generation, for preparing them and encouraging them in their relationship with the Lord. If we're not hoping for and watching and waiting for the return of Jesus Christ, like Hezekiah, we will lack discernment when the enemy comes. We'll be easily deceived. We'll be easily led astray. When the enemy comes with temptation, with deception, we'll be susceptible to it.

Because there's no urgency. We're not looking for the Lord Jesus Christ. We're not watching as He told us to. Instead, we've fallen asleep. And finally, if we're not expecting His return, if we're not excited about it and hoping for His return, we'll become callous about those who will remain after us. Like Hezekiah said, hey, at least there'll be peace in my day. Sometimes as Christians, what do we say? I'm going to be caught up in the rapture. Let the rest of the world deal with their mess. Let them deal with the things that they've

passed in legislature and all of the issues that they've created and all of the things that they've done. Who cares? We're going to be caught up. Let's get out of here. We can develop a callousness for the world that will remain after us. Watching and expecting the return of Jesus Christ gives us an urgency and a burden and a passion for the lost. There's so much that's included in this command to watch. When we watch,

The rest of our lives become the way that God intends it to be. That we would be doing noteworthy things for God. Not that everybody gives us a lot of attention, but that we're walking with God and we're obedient to Him and we're doing the things that He's called us to do. If we're watching and expecting for the return of Jesus Christ, we'll do well in training the next generation and teaching them to walk with God and to watch for His return.

If we're expecting His return and we're looking to Jesus Christ, we'll have discernment when the enemy comes. We won't have our eyes taken away. We won't be distracted. We won't lose focus on the return of Jesus Christ. And when we're watching for His return, we'll have a burden and a passion for those who will remain. Even a sorrow for those who would remain. For those who will not repent, who will not heed the words of Jesus Christ.

Here in Isaiah 38 and 39, we have several prophecies and promises that God made. Number one, that Hezekiah would live 15 more years. That promise, that prophecy was fulfilled. In verse 6 of chapter 38, God promises that Assyria will not invade Jerusalem. That promise also was fulfilled. In chapter 38, verse 8, God promises that the sun will go back 10 degrees.

That promise, that prophecy was fulfilled. In chapter 39, God promised that all of the treasures and all the things that the nation of Judah had accumulated would be carried off to Babylon. That prophecy, that promise was fulfilled. God also promised that sons of Hezekiah, the descendants of His, would be carried away captive and would serve as eunuchs there in the nation of Babylon.

That promise, that prophecy was also fulfilled. That's five. Just here in chapters 38 and 39, there's many more, but there's one more that I think you know where I'm going with this. Jesus promised that he would return. There in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, we have the promise of being caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

It's a promise. And just as all the rest of promises and prophecies of God have been fulfilled, this promise is true and it will be fulfilled. And so the command to you and I is to watch because it's going to happen. As Jesus shared with his disciples in Matthew 26, 41, he tells them to watch and pray. And that's the two things that I want to end with this evening. Watch and pray. We don't know the day or the hour.

We don't know when Jesus Christ will come back. So we need to be watching, expecting His return. He designed it that way so that we, well, we would live in earnestness, not in dullness, not falling asleep in our spiritual walk, but that we would live with a passion for Him, for His return, anxiously desiring to see Him, to be with Him.

Because that anxious desire, that earnestness for Him, will not take away from our ability to impact this world, but it will intensify our ability to impact this world. In fact, we won't be able at all to impact this world if we're not anxiously awaiting and expecting the return of Jesus Christ. So we need to watch. But I also want to encourage you to pray. As Jesus said, to watch and pray. Again, I don't believe that it was against God's will for Hezekiah to request prayer.

to ask that he would be healed. God didn't desire for him to use those last 15 years as he did, that's for sure. But he asked. And it tells us in verse 5 of chapter 38, Isaiah says, or God says through Isaiah, 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 15 years. What's the implication here? God is responding because he heard his prayer.

God heard his prayer and he answered his prayer according to that which he prayed. The book of 1 John tells us that when we ask according to God's will, we know that he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, then we know that we have what we ask for. James also tells us that you have not because you ask not. And so this evening, I want to encourage you to pray because perhaps this evening you do not have because you have not asked. And it may be as dramatic as

As a physical healing. And maybe something more simple. Maybe something complicated. It might mean that mountains would need to be moved in your life. But God did that for Hezekiah. He took the sun back ten degrees. He healed his body. He worked miraculously on his behalf. And this evening, I believe God wants us to know that He still does that. And He desires to do that. And perhaps this evening, you do not have because you do not ask.

And God wants to work miraculously in your life. And He wants to work through you. And He wants to bless you. But you need to ask. Now the promise is, if it's according to His will, He hears us and we have what we ask. If it's not according to His will, let me tell you, I don't want it. Because God desires what is best for me. What is eternally best for me. And yet at the same time, He tells me that I should ask. And sometimes I don't have because I haven't asked.

And so I don't ask with the demand, God, you must give this to me. I don't ask because I'm so righteous, but by the grace of God under the new covenant, by His mercy, by His goodness, I ask, Lord, if this is your will, would you let this be done in my life? And so I want to encourage you this evening to watch and pray. The worship team is going to come up and lead us in a few songs. And as we do usually on Wednesday nights, during this first song,

I want to encourage you, just you by yourself, to spend some time with the Lord, to worship Him, and to allow God to speak to you even further about these things that we've been looking at this evening and the command to watch and to pray. And if there's something on your heart and there is something that you need to pray for, then take this time to pray to God, to receive because you've asked according to the will of God, and allow God to do that work in your life. I want to encourage you

to seek the Lord if you don't have a passion for his return if you're not excited about his return you're not watching now's the time ask the Lord to give you that passion to give you that earnestness that you would watch and that you would pray let's worship the Lord together we pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching the power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources