Like Antigone (line 198, etc.), he lamented his sad fate, not merely because he was to die, but because he was being cut off in the middle of his days, and when 38 yet he ha,! no heir (cf, Oen. xv, 2). (2) Stron11: arguments, He had walked before Jehovah in truth and with e. perfect heart, nnd hnd done what was good in his sight; and was thus in e. ma.oner entitled to the blessing of long life (Deut. xxv. 15; Pa. xxxiv. 12). 3. In what ended, Jehovah spo.ke unto him, granting hie request, adding fifteen years to his life, o.nd gave him e. sign, The cure was effected by Isaiah laying a ca.ke of figs upon tho boil-the vis medicatrirr:, however, proceeding not from the fruit, but from him who had said, "Behold, I will heal thee." Jehovah-rophi (Exod. xv. 26) one of Jehovah's names. The sign granted at Hezekiah's request was the turning back of the shadow upon the sun-dial, or step-clock, of Ahaz (2 Kings xx. 11; Isa. xxxviii. 8). This sun- dial, or step-clock, was probably "an obelisk upon a square or circular elevation ascended by steps, which threw the shadow of its highest point at noon upon the highest steps, and in the morning and evening upon the lowest, either on the one side or the other, so that the obelisk itself served as a gnomon." How the shadow was turned back is best explained by "the assumption of a miraculous refraction of the sun's rays, effected by God at the entreaty of the prophet" (Keil on 2 Kings xx. 11; cf. Delitzsch on Isa. xxxviii. 8), though it has been well said, "refraction to the extent required would be very strange and abnormal" (Rawlinson, 'Kings of Israel and Judah,' p. Hl9). LESSONS. 1. The liability of all to affliction. 2. The certainty of death. 3. 'l'ho contingency of many of the Divine decrees. 4. The efficacy of prayer. 5. The weak- ness of faith in some good men-Hezekiah needed a sign. 6. The condescension of God-in stooping to regard faith's infirmity, 7. The Divine control over nature's resources.-W. Vers. 25, 26.-Hezekiah'sfall and repentance. 1. HEZEKIAH's BIN, 1. Its character. (1) Ingratitude. "He rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him." 'l'hat benefit had been great-deliverance from a more powerful assailant than the King of Assyria, even from the king of terrors (Job xviii. 14)-and ought to have awakened undying thankfulness in Hezekiah's bosom, as, indeed, he promised it would (Isa. x.x.xviii. 20). But it did not. Ingratitude, a sin of which Uzziah (eh. xxvi. 16) and Rehoboam (eh. xii. 1) before him had been guilty, with which men in general are often chargeable (Luke xvii. 17 ; Rom. i. 21; 2 Tim. iii. 2), and into which the best of men occasionally fall (2 Sam. xii. 7, 8, 9). (2) Pride. "His heart was lifted up." Like other good men before and since, his vows upon his sick-bed were better than his performances when health was restored. He had engaged "to go softly all his years, because of the bitterness of his soul" (Isa., xxxviii. 15); but instead, his heart was lifted up, not as Jehoshaphat's had been, "in the ways of the Lord" (eh. xvii. 6), but as Uzziah's (eh. xxvi. 16) and Amaziah's (eh. xxv. 19) had been, in self-sufficiency-the allusion being to his behaviour in connection with the Babylonian envoys, who shortly after his recovery visited Jerusalem, and endeavoured to enlist him in a league against Assyria (see homily on ver. 31). 2. Its punishment. The wrath of Jehovah was threatened (1) upon himself, the immediate offender, which was righteous (eh. xi..x. 2; xxiv. 18; cf. Rom. i. 18); and (2) upon Judah and Jerusalem, by the law of imputation, and in accordance with the solidarity of nations. The punishment of sin often falls on the innocent, because of their connection with the guilty. Children suffer for the evil-doing of their parents, and subjects for that of their rulers. "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge" (Jer. xxxi. 29; Ezek. xviii. 2). II. HEZEKIAH'B REPENTANCE. 1. The self-abasement of the king. "He humbled himself for the pride of his heart." The wrath of Jehovah, pronounced against him and his people by Isaiah, was the Babylonish captivity. When Hezekiah heard the prophet's threatening, he realized that he had sinned, and humbled himself before Jehovah, saying," Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken" (2 Kings xx. 14--19; Isa. xxxviii. 3-8). 2. The concurrence of the people. '' He and the inhabitants of Jerusalem." Probably they had not been unfavourable to a Babylonian alliance against Assyria., and were really "art and part" co-criminals with Hezekiah; if they had no share in Hezekiah's action, they had still cause to humbl~themselves before God on account of Hezekiah their king. 3. The demency of ,Jehovah. The judgment was to fall on Hezekiah's sons rather than on himself, which Hezekiah recog- 4'00 THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. [err. xxxn. 1-33,
nizc>d as a mercy, and acknowledged by adding, "Is it not so [i.e. good] if peaco and truth shall be in my days?" LEssoNs.. ~- The pos~ibility of spiritual decl_ension. 2, The duty of repentanoo, 3. The obhgat1on of gratitude. 4. The sin of pndo.-W.