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CHAPTER 20
Appointed unto death, Hezekiah pleads with the Lord, and his life is
lengthended fifteen years—Shado goes back ten degrees on the dial of
Ahaz—Isaiah prophesies the Bablyonian captivity of Judah.
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1 IN those days was
aHezekiah 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 bdie, 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. |
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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 peoplea, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will aheal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD. |
5a the captain of my people The President of the United States has the titled position of being the Commander and Chief. It is a role in which he is to stand at the head of the military of the country and lead them in the highest level of integrity and truth. He is to be an example of placing service to one's country upon that of seeking out what is desired of himself. The benefit of the nation and its people is of the highest of priorities of such a position. And this is that which the Lord spoke of Hezekiah, that he was the Captain of his people. He had stood against the enemy without being faint of heart nor lacking in courage. And hand in hand with the Lord and his righteousness did Hezekiah lead his people in the highest of values and in the depths of trust in the Lord. When such a man has placed the good of his nation first above all, then certainly the Lord will hear his plea of continued service unto the people whom he has led in ways of the highest morale integrity and of the highest human values. So should all be the measure of the President of the United States. He ought not fear the whims and winds of special interests over that which is correct and right and of the greatest service and value to the nation and its moral societal development. He ought not 'kowtow' to popular low values, the corruption the valueless immorally liberal media and the opinions of the vain, wicked and desires of the flesh of a degenerate and corrupt lobbying society, who are in effect on their own way to 'hell in a basket' seeking the pleasures of a wicked world above the moral standards pressured unto the establishment of this nation. Hezekiah did not stand against the Assyrians because of the fears of the people, but because it was the right thing to do. Today we ought to not select the dictatorial leadership of a socialist leader but the elected leadership dedicated to the American ideal of self reliance, work and freedoms of the American dream. And thus the challenge is perhaps even the greater to the elected leader to properly lead and guide the people in the ways of what is good, true, correct and the best for the well being of the people and society even above that which their vainer and more corrupt desires might pressure the president into because of 'popular peer pressure'. Great leaders stand above such denigrating pressures in an honest effort to lead the people and nation in that way which will left and inspire the country to greater heights and the benefits of good. He ought not cave to the pressures of popularly going along with the seemingly 'crowd' who is determined to follow the low way. The responsibility of a nation's leader is to left the people to the level of the high road and that path which will built the nation and not to let it corrupt itself in the way of beginning to crumble and deteriorate and degenerate into the ways that will led it unto self destruction. Where is a captain of the Lord's people when America needs him? Certainly he is not found in such as Obama who has caved to the deterioration of the corruption of the basic unit of social health, that be the values of family with father, mother, son and daughter building society and America rather that backing the attack against the sanctity of the marriage of a man and a woman so instituted by God from the very time and begin with Adam and Eve. Those who are mindful of the things of the Lord of this nation ought to well see in the platforms of the candidates those who seek to serve the God of this nation and the welfare of the people above the peer pressures of the wicked. God ought not to be an 'after thought' but the main thrust for only in serving and following in the ways of the Lord of this nation will this nation be successful and avoid falling into ruin into which other such governments have fallen historically throughout the history of the world. | |
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6 And I will add unto thy adays
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. |
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8 ¶ And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall
be the asign 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 ashadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? |
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10 And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for
the ashadow 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 abackward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz. |
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12 ¶ At that time
aBerodach-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 atreasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not. |
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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. |
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16 And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD.
17 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be acarried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. 18 And of thy asons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be beunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. 19 Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days? |
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20 ¶ And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and
all his might, and how he made a apool, and a conduit, and
brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Judah?
21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead. |
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