Once again we have an embarrassment of riches in this passage. It is like a Russian doll of miracles; miracle within miracle, wonder within wonder. Yet the miracles are only the start. ‘The writing of Hezekiah’, this confession of the king in his sickness and upon his recovery, is full of spiritual wisdom and the earnest wrestling of a child of God. In facing his own mortality this dying man opened his heart and his mouth to the Saviour whom he loved and bequeathed to the church a blessed testimony of God’s grace, faithfulness and mercy. A lesson for all time Because the phrase ‘in those days’ is somewhat imprecise it is not clear exactly when this sickness afflicted Hezekiah, or indeed the order of…

Our passage begins a section of four historical chapters (Isaiah 36-39) that supply a link between the first and second parts of Isaiah’s prophecy. These chapters are almost identical to passages in 2 Kings 18-20 and rather than being prophetic relate to incidents in the life of Hezekiah, king of Judah. The first two chapters conclude Isaiah’s references to Assyria which had long been the dominant military power in the region. The latter two signal the beginning of a new series of prophecies concerning the Babylonian Empire. These prophecies provide Isaiah’s readers with still grander views of the coming Messiah and the glory and power of God in salvation.