God answereth the prayer of Hezekiah. up. 20 Then Isaiah the son of A- corn blasted before it be grown moz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 21 This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. 23 By thy messengers thou hast reproached the LORD, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel. 24 I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places. 25 Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps. 26 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the house tops, and as 27 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. 28 Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. 29 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof. 30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this. 32 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. 33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. 34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. 35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. 37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead. LECTURE 629. That faithful Christians are a fruitful remnant. When such a blow as this was about to be given to the arrogant Sennacherib, the prophecy might well run in these strains of triumph, "The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee." The scornful terms of man's language well express the severity of reproof, which the pride of man deserves from God. And it was God whom Sennacherib had reproached; that Lord to whom he owed his former successes, in whose hands he had been an instrument "to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps." And now that the Lord was against him, he also would be turned back from his enterprize, as easily as a beast of burden is led and turned about, by a ring in his nose, and a bridle in his mouth. And that the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, might have no doubt that this was done by the arm of the Lord, the prophet gave them a sign, namely this, that they should enjoy plenty three years running, though the ground must be for two whole years untilled. And even as the seed remaining in the ground would thus yield future harvests in abundance, so the remnant of the house of Judah, Isaiah assured them, should "yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward." This was a most cheering assurance, at a time when the kingdom of Judah had been reduced to the last extremity. And this assurance, introduced after the manner of the prophets, in connexion with a passing event, had reference to other times and other persons; and may by us be applied to the deep root, and ample fruit, of that remnant which went forth out of Jerusalem, the true believers in the Gospel; the subjects of the kingdom of Christ. Few they have been, from the first, compared with what they might have been. And few now they seem to us, compared with what they ought to be. But small as this remnant is, it is deep rooted. And as it has already borne much good fruit to God's glory, so we trust, that through his blessing, it will yet bear much more. May He, out of his great goodness, hasten the time, when the tens of hundreds of thousands of the heathen shall fall, not smitten by his destroying angel, but conquered and taken captive by the heralds of his grace; not to die when we who live awake; but to rise together with us, in the morning of the resurrection, and with us to live through Christ for ever! Hezekiah is sick, and recovereth. 1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. 2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying, 3 I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. 4 And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD. 6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. 7 And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. 8 And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day? 9 And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? 10 And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. 11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz. 12 At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not. 14 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah,and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon. 15 And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them. 16 And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD. 17 Behold, the days come, that And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days? all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid np in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. 18 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. 19 Then said Hezekiah unto 21 And Hezekiah slept with Isaiah, Good is the word of the his fathers: and Manasseh his LORD which thou hast spoken. son reigned in his stead. 20 And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? LECTURE 630. Resignation to God's will. The sickness and recovery of Hezekiah appear to have taken place during the siege of Jerusalem. For by the same message God tells him "I will add unto thy days fifteen years," and "I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria." Not only was he "sick unto death," or afflicted with a mortal sickness, but he had an express warning by the prophet Isaiah, "Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order for thou shalt die, and not live." That after this he should pray for recovery, proves that he had faith to believe against hope. See Rom. 4. 18. That within three days from this time he should be well enough to go up into the house of the Lord, shews that God thought fit, in compliance with his prayer, to remit the sentence which had gone forth against him. That he should be encouraged to persevere in faith, by the shadow returning backward ten degrees, teaches us what great things God vouchsafes to do, rather than not confirm the faith of true believers. And yet for all this, he was afterwards tempted, out of vanity, to shew all his treasures to the messengers of the king of Babylon. And he was warned by Isaiah, that a king of that very city, though then it had no extensive empire, would hereafter spoil his treasures, and take away his descendants to captivity. Though this was mentioned on the occasion of his shewing his treasures, we are not to think that it was no more than a punishment for his doing so. Nor must we suppose, that it was out of selfish unconcern for others, that he was thankful to be assured of peace and truth during his own life. Only he was glad to think, that his people would at least have so much respite. And whilst he resigned himself, with all humility, to the impending evil, he gladly recognized the mercy which delayed it for a time. Happy are we, when with him we can sincerely say, that whether God chastise or spare, whether He make sick or heal, whether He impoverish or enrich, whether He take captive or set free, "Good is the word of the Lord." Manasseh's wicked reign; and that of Amon. 1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzi-bah. 2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. 7 And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: 8 Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. 9 But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel. 10 And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets, saying, 11 Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols: 12 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. 14 And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; 15 Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day. 16 Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD. 17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, |