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Hezekiah is given a longer life

Isaiah, King Hezekiah and the sundial.
Contributed by Richard Gunther
Story also available on our translated websites: Spanish, Portuguese
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King Hezekiah was a good King who did all he could to encourage people to obey God. But he became very ill when his body became infected. – Slide 1
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As days went by the King became weaker and weaker. – Slide 2
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Soon the infection was so bad that everyone thought he would die. – Slide 3
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God sent the prophet Isaiah to the King to give him some very bad news. – Slide 4
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‘God says you must put your affairs in order as you are going to die,’ the prophet told the King. ‘You will not recover.’ – Slide 5
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Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed, ‘Lord, remember that I have obeyed you faithfully and served you with all my heart.’ – Slide 6
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And Hezekiah wept bitterly. – Slide 7
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Before Isaiah had left the middle court of the Palace, God spoke to him again. ‘Tell the King that I have heard his prayers and seen his tears.’ – Slide 8
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Isaiah rushed to tell the King the good news. ‘God has heard your prayers and in three days time you will be well enough to go up to the Temple. God is going to add fifteen years to your life. He will also protect this city from your enemies the mighty Assyrian army.’ – Slide 9
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Isaiah asked for a poultice of figs to be used to treat a very infectious boil. <br/>‘What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and I will be well enough to go to the Temple in three days from now?’ – Slide 10
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Now in those days people told the time by using a sundial. As the sun moved across the sky from east to west it cast a shadow. – Slide 11
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And as the sun only moved across the sky in one direction the shadow would only go in the same direction day after day. – Slide 12
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‘The Lord’s sign will be to move the shadow by ten steps,’ Isaiah explained. ‘Should the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?’ <br/>‘It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,’ said Hezekiah. ‘Rather, let it go back ten steps.’ – Slide 13
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And that is what God did. The shadow on the sundial moved a long way in the opposite direction to the rotation of the earth. – Slide 14
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We don’t know how God did this but He is the creator of everything and can do the impossible. Hezekiah recovered and lived for another 15 years – just as God had promised. – Slide 15
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Slide 16