SECOND CHANCES IN LIFE

2 Kings 20:1 tell the story of King Hezekiah who was told to get his house in order for he was about to die.

Hezekiah, a good king, was at the pinnacle of success and the bottom dropped out of his life. He suddenly got deathly sick. His sickness was so bad the prophet came by to see him. And when the prophet comes to see you, it’s pretty serious. 

Prophets ought to be encouraging but Isaiah said, "You are going to die." Hezekiah was hesitant about dying. He didn’t want to die. He wanted to live. After all, who wants to die?

He had a tremendous reputation. He got rid of the Baal worship. He was a good king. He cleaned up the kingdom and was a welcome change from his wicked father Ahaz. And now was he gong to die? God was making a mistake here. You know, when you get somebody good, you need to keep him.

If you were to suddenly be diagnosed with cancer and told that it surrounded every organ and it is untreatable,

- How would you feel?
- What would you do?
- Would you need to set your house in order?
- Would there be some spiritual changes you would need to make?
- When the relatives come in to clean up and dispose of your things, what would they find under the bed and in the corner?  As they sit looking over your check book would they be startled at your giving records to the church and to charities?

How long does it take to put your house in order? I don’t know. But at that point - to have any time at all would be a good thing for most of us are not given that warning.

D. Getty gives us FOUR H's IN HEZEKIAH'S JOURNEY...

1 - HESITANT HEZEKIAH

Hezekiah was hesitant. He did not want to die. "I want to live." Maybe he should have submitted to God’s will which would have save him a lot of heartache later on in life.

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, and said, “Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. (‭Isaiah‬ ‭38‬:‭2-3‬ ESV)

He didn’t want to die. He did not want to accept God’s pronouncement upon him.

I imagine the people around wept as well. They didn’t want to see their good king die. Why would God let the best king in many, many years suddenly die? Obviously premature. Hezekiah was so good. Why him?

Hezekiah didn’t want to go. He did not submit to God’s will. He was a righteous man and he prayed fervently and when a righteous person prays fervently, what happens? DoeS prayer work? Yes!

When Isaiah told Hezekiah, "You’re going to die" he did not submit. Not at all. Hezekiah wept bitterly. And what happened? While Isaiah was still in the courtyard he received a message from God for Hezekiah. 

Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city. “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised: Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined. (‭Isaiah‬ ‭38‬:‭4-8‬ ESV)

Hezekiah did not even have to ask for a sign. God volunteered to give him one.

2- HEALED HEZEKIAH

So, let’s talk about Healed Hezekiah. Let’s leave Hesitant Hezekiah and come over here to his healing. It wasn't instantaneous. It was the result of applying natural medicines.

Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” (‭Isaiah‬ ‭38‬:‭21‬ ESV)

God could have given him instant healing, but God chose to use natural means and it took 3 days. He gave Hezekiah 3 days before he was healed completely, 3 days in which to think while he stills on his bed, 3 days to plan what he would do with those extra 15 years. Did he do much planning? No…

Not fully trusting God - He asked for a sign. God gave him a phenomenal sign.

“This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised: Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined. (‭Isaiah‬ ‭38‬:‭7-8‬ ESV)

Wow...The shadow went backward, 10 degrees! That’s phenomenal. Have you ever seen that happen? Shadows do not have a reverse gear, do they? They don’t go backwards. How did God do it? Did God reverse the rotation of the earth?

This was a miracle that was felt around the world. The word got out. In 2 Kings 20:12 - word got what had happened to Hezekiah and convoys come from all over the world to see this man of whom a miracle had come.

They came on camels, apparently. They came bearing gifts to the king. Much like the forerunners, perhaps, of the days of Jesus Christ. And do you know why they came? They came to learn "More of the God who was able to perform so great a wonder," in reversing the direction of the sun. They beat a path to Hezekiah’s door.

Think of the witnessing opportunity here. These great heathen dignitaries from Babylon came to sit at Hezekiah’s feet to learn about his God. Babylon at that time was already becoming a super power. These dignitaries arrive at Hezekiah’s palace and Hezekiah has the opportunity to change the course of world history. He could tell them, "I want to tell you about God. I want to tell you what happened. God can do anything." And they could have gone home, and the entire nation of Babylon could have been converted, and the entire world could have become believers in the true God. That could have happened. It didn’t happen. It was not to be.

3. HAUGHTY HEZEKIAH

So, let’s not talk about Hesitant Hezekiah anymore. Let’s not talk about healed Hezekiah. Let’s talk about arrogant Hezekiah, proud Hezekiah. 

Babylon would be the next world Superpower. Here they come beating a path to Hezekiah’s door. He has just been healed. What a testimony, what an opportunity of a lifetime he has to tell. He has a once in a lifetime opportunity to give the credit to God. To tell about the true God in Heaven. And what does he do? He blows it.

These seekers of truth to seek God and what does he show them? Look at 2 Kings 20:13.

And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. (‭2 Kings‬ ‭20‬:‭13‬ ESV)

Hezekiah received the messengers and showed them all that was in:
- HIS storehouses --the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine oil
- HIS armory and everything found among
- HIS treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all
- HIS kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.

So, what did he show them? He exalted himself instead of exalting God. These seekers of truth came to see God’s healthy healed prophet and instead he showed them his gold and his silver and his treasures and his defenses. He showed gold to the Babylonians superpower! I

Hezekiah was haughty. "Look at my shiny house of armor. Look at all this jewelry I’ve accumulated, this collection of stuff." And he told them all about himself, braging. "I did this, I did that." He got out his movies. He showed them his slides, his dazzling treasures. His wife put on a feast showing off her best. 

You might say... "I’m glad I'm not like Hezekiah!" Are we not like him? When company comes over, do you talk about yourself or about how God has blessed you? If God has rescued you from cancer, if God has rescued you from a fire in the home burning down, or bankruptcy, or sinful life or whatever it is… when company comes over, put the magnifying glass on God instead of yourself. Hezekiah’s house was in order but his heart was not in order.

As we read this story in the Bible we must realize how God felt about Hezekiah’s actions. This was a big time sin in God’s sight. Hezekiah sinned. Look at 2 Chronicles. Now again you may say, "Why are we going clear over here? Well, here’s another of the stories of this tremendous experience. 

So, let’s go to 2 Chronicles 32:25 But Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him, therefore the Lord’s wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.

In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to the Lord, and he answered him and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem. (‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭32‬:‭24-25‬ ESV)

In Hezekiah's first prayer - God answered him and gave him a great miracle. God doesn't answer him here because of his pride.

4. HEZEKIAH’S HERITAGE

Let’s leave hesitant Hezekiah and healed Hezekiah and haughty Hezekiah and let’s go to Hezekiah’s heritage, his future. Let’s fast-forward this story 100 years. 

Nebuchadnezzar was the king of the world. The makers and shakers of the world now lived in Babylon. And, Babylon did indeed remember what they had seen so many years. They remember all that gold and silver things. And, what did they do?

-They invaded Judah and Jerusalem.
-They invaded the temple.
-They invaded the palace.

And they took all of the gold and all of the silver and all those things and hauled them all the way back to Babylon.

You know, if you are given a second chance at life, if you were doomed to death in some accident, fire or wreck or some bad circumstance and God saved you from it, don’t blow the extra bonus years. If God healed you from your heart attack, if He delivered you from your stroke, you use those bonus years in the proper way. If your life was spent in sin and now you regret and you are here praising Him for His salvation, be careful. Don’t spoil your relationship with Him. Don’t use your resources to curse God, but to honor Him. Be a blessing to God. Advance His work. Use your time, use your resources to do something special for God wherever you’re at. You can do it. Wherever you are, put God first in your life.

The wrath did not come in Hezekiah’s day. But the evil seed had been sown. Hezekiah died and was buried. His children and grandchildren did not walk in the ways of The Lord. In fact, we are told that there was 55 years of idolatrous worship in Israel. Not until we read of Josiah later on do we find anything to do with God.

Here is something to think about... Had Hezekiah submitted to God in the first place - Manasseh (his son) would have never been born and Israel would never have had to go through heartache and trial.

The reason he was born was because Hezekiah refused to submit to God’s will. It is a lesson here…

Do we dare, ever, to pray for our own will to be done? Is it ever appropriate for us to pray for our will to be done? Well, yes, it is. Did Jesus ever do that? Oh, yes He did. How did He pray? He said, "Father, if possible, I don’t want to drink this cup. But, if not, go ahead and give it to me. I will drink it." "Father, I don’t want this cancer. I don’t want this problem. But if You don’t remove it, it’s okay. I’ll submit to it. That’s the position of strength. That’s the position where we need to be. We trust the sovereignty of God. We pray. We believe. We put it in the hands of God who knows what is best for our lives.