Extra Time

Mark Dunagan
06/02/13 - Sunday Morning

Extra Time

2 Kings chapters 18-19 describe the heroic efforts of Hezekiah to rally God’s people and resist what looks like an irresistible foe, the dreaded Assyrians.  With firm faith in God Hezekiah keeps the people together and prevents any aspect of his government or people from surrendering or selling out to the enemy.  At the end of chapter 19 the crisis is over and God delivers Jerusalem as promised.  Yet in the very next chapter, instead of Hezekiah riding off into the sunset and living a comfortable life, he gets sick and it is serious (20:1 “sick to the point of death”).  The prophet Isaiah pays him a visit and tells him to “Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live”). 

Hezekiah’s Prayer

Even though Hezekiah had been faithful to God (18:3, 5; 20:3), he was not ready to die. 

• Seeing that God listens to and grants his request that he would not die at this time in his life, I believe we learn that there is nothing necessary wrong with a Christian wanting to live a little longer. 
• We should be longing to be with God in heaven (Philippians 1:21-23), but we also have a number of responsibilities here.  We may want to live here long enough to raise our children to adulthood, or enjoy as many years as we can of a good marriage, or be around as long as we can to share the gospel with the lost and encourage young Christians in the faith. 
• So it is not necessarily a lack of faith to want to recover from a life-threatening diagnosis or situation, or God is not offended if we don’t want to die and be with Him as soon as possible.  He knows that our presence here is greatly needed (John 4:34-35). 
• I am also impressed that Hezekiah did not have a question mark over the spiritual condition of his soul.  He plainly says, “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech Thee, now I have walked before Thee in truth and with a whole heart” (20:3). 

I find all of this encouraging.  Hezekiah was a man of God who had been very faithful and had his life together, and yet there were things that still scared him.  So being afraid of something or being not completely comfortable with something does not necessarily mean that we are failing spiritually.

The Prayer is Answered

In fact, it is answered very quickly, before Isaiah can even leave the palace area (20:4).  Among the things that God tells Hezekiah is that He has seen the tears of the king (20:5).  I believe that God is moved when adults such a Hezekiah humble themselves and say to God, “I am afraid, I cannot handle this alone and You are my only hope”.  God finds this very refreshing, because many adults through the centuries have tried to face scary situations with a false and fake sort of confidence. 

Fifteen Extra Years

Observe that God does not give Hezekiah unlimited time, but rather 15 extra years.  One day Hezekiah would die, but he did not have to die this year.

The Cure

“Then Isaiah said, ‘Take a cake of figs’.  And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered’” (2 Kings 20:7).   “The instruction to prepare a poultice of figs to be applied to the boil or sore or infection that was life threatening does not imply that the sore was a minor illness that could be cured by a simple remedy.  This act of healing might be put in the same category as Naaman’s dipping in the Jordan for healing from his leprosy.  The application of the poultice was in obedience to the instruction of the man of God who had brought two specific commands of God in the last couple of hours or so” (Vos p. 204).  In addition, this may be another example of God’s power to heal through providential means, such as God’s ability to heal through the hands of doctors, various medical procedures and applications of medications.  I believe that many people into “faith healing” forget such principles.  Just because I am going to a doctor, or having a procedure or taking a prescribed medication does not mean that God has been eliminated from the healing process.

What Will I Do With It?

Like Hezekiah, many Christians have in a similar way been given extra time.  Some of us barely escaped something in childhood, others might have narrowly avoided death as a teen and others have come back from a terminal illness.  So what did Hezekiah do with his extra time?

The Visit

“At that time Berodach-baladan a son of Baladam, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.  And Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and the house of his armor and all that was found in his treasuries.  There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not show them” (2 Kings 20:12-13).

The writer of Second Chronicles states that after his recovery Hezekiah became a proud man for a while (32:25).  Showing the Babylonians all his “stuff” might have been motivated by pride.  Instead of telling such men about the true God and His power, Hezekiah might have bragged on himself and his accomplishments, and proudly displayed all the resources that he had to resist the Assyrians. “Hezekiah was dazzled by the attention bestowed upon him by these visitors from Babylon…He may have been trying to convince these guests that he indeed would be a valuable ally” (Smith pp. 623-624).   “Hezekiah had gotten involved with a nation which ultimately would destroy Judah.  All the treasures he boastfully had displayed to the ambassadors would one day be carried off as plunder to far-off Babylon…Mere human foresight would never have suspected that within a century, insignificant Babylon would have completely turned the tables on mighty Assyria” (Smith p. 624).

Applications for Us

All of us could have left this earth a while back.  We could have died in childhood by either illness, foul play or an accident.  The same could be true during our teens or twenties.  So what will we do with the extra time that God has given to us—that was not granted to others? 

• I will use my time to marry:  Okay, but what type of spouse will you be?  If God gives us the time to fall in love and marry, then we need to be the best mate that anyone could have.  Or, will I become proud? 
• I will use my time to have a family:  Good, but how will you raise your children?  Will you value them (Psalm 127), discipline them and bring up them with God’s instruction (Ephesians 6:1-4)?  Or, will I become proud and forgetful of God’s blessings.
• I will use my time to graduate from school and get a job:  Okay, but how will you work?  Will you work for the Lord?  (Colossians 3:23)  Will you put that education or job before God or always keep Him in first place?  (Matthew 6:33). 

With My Time I Will….

• Grow as a Christian and be more and more involved and faithful: 2 Peter 1:5-11
• I will continually cleanse myself from unworthy attitudes and actions: 2 Corinthians 7:1
• I will increase in gratitude.
• I will seek more and more opportunities to share the gospel with others and serve.
• I will use my time to develop a closer relationship to God in prayer and with study.

Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net