Глава 38

“At that time, Hezekiah was sick to the point of death... And Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying: Remember the Lord, how we have walked before You in truth and with an upright heart” (Is. 38:1-3). Hezekiah said this probably because he saw such kings who reigned evilly, but their sons inherited their throne. “Thus says the Lord God of David your father... Behold, I will bring back the shadow of degrees, in the image of which Ahaz your father came down, according to the degrees, I will bring back the sun ten degrees... And the sun will ascend ten degrees, in the image of the shadow that came down” (Is. 38:5, 8). The sign of ten degrees (steps) given to Hezekiah signified the mystery of death and rising from the deathbed; but we can say that this same sign also signified the darkness that, after the death of Hezekiah, covered the people of God. Just as the day increased by ten hours during the father’s time, so the darkness increased in the days of his wicked son. And yet, ten hours added to the day depict the mystery of the perfect Light Which was to shine upon the world. In addition, the number of steps also represents the decalogue from which Hezekiah drew light and life. “I said at the end of my days: I will go, that is, I will die, my last day has come, at the gates of hell, I will leave my rest of life” (Is. 38:10). I leave the rest of my years at the gates of hell; in the prime of life I go to the grave, and now I am already brought down to the grave. “Rekokh: no one will see the Lord in the land of the living.” I said after the judgment that Isaiah told me that I would not see the Lord in the land of the living, that is, I would not see the throne of the Lord in Jerusalem. “Unless I see a man with them that dwell in the pit,” that is, in the abodes of dust (Is. 38:11). “My age is taken and carried away like a shepherd’s tent” (Is. 38:12). My life was taken from me and transferred with my age, “like a shepherd’s tent,” which is here today, and in the morning is already in another place. “My life is woven together like a thread.” Like a twisted thread, the time of my life has shortened and diminished. “Like cloth that is soon to be cut” (Isaiah 38:12). I hasten to fulfill the measure of my days; I become like a cloth that will soon be cut. “I was betrayed from day to night” (Is. 38:13). Day and night I pray and mourn. “Like a twittering swallow I chirped, like a moaning dove I groaned in sorrow and crying, because of the definition spoken to me. I lifted up my eyes... on high: Lord, and... deliver me, and be merciful to me" (Is. 38:14). Hezekiah, when he heard a definition about himself from Isaiah, turned to prayer and raised his eyes to heaven, where God dwells, as to a place far away and inaccessible to sin. He asked the Lord for deliverance from the Assyrians and mercy for himself so that his life would be prolonged. “What will I say? Tell me." He asks that the very words he speaks be not his own, but that God Himself put into his mouth the words that please God. “And He did, and shook off all my sleep” (Is. 38:15), because God removed from him the sorrows of his soul. “The Lord will have mercy on them.” “For the sake of this life and my spirit,.. Lord,.. heal... and give me life...” (Is. 38:16). So he begs for a spiritual and virtuous life to give him healing and life to his flesh. He also expressed this in the following words: “I have created what is pleasing in Your sight” (2 Kings 20:3). “Has the world made my sorrows more bitter,” for after his deliverance from the Assyrians, a mortal illness befell him. “My soul was pleasing to You, so that it would not perish in corruption,” that is, Hezekiah did not perish when the Assyrians destroyed everything, “and You took away all my sins for You” (Isa. 38:17), showing by this that Hezekiah was saved only by the goodness of God. In another sense, this was fulfilled in our Lord. For He, having put on the body of our humility, took upon Himself and bore upon Himself the sins of us all. “For hell did not... bless you, and death did not praise you.” The lips of the dead cease to praise You. “Those who go down to the grave will not proclaim Your truth” (Is. 38:18), because everyone lying in the graves is deprived of the gift of speech. “The living will bless You, just as I did today,” because I was made alive from the dead; and You have done this to me today. When Isaiah, by God's command, pronounced death upon Hezekiah, then he was already as if dead. And when he appeased God with the prayer brought to Him, and God gave him life, then he proclaims and preaches that he became alive and was resurrected. “The Father will declare Your faithfulness to the children” (Is. 38:19), that is, one generation will announce this event to another generation. Or, according to the faithfulness and immutability of God’s promises, Hezekiah hopes that he will have sons. For indeed, three years later Manasseh was born to him. “And Isaiah said to Hezekiah: Take from the fig trees... apply... to the sore and you will be healthy” (Is. 38:21). He, for whom everything is not difficult, heals a cruel ulcer, which was not inferior to any medicine, with figs. You might be interested in: