Ten Steps Back

An opportunity to learn:


In those days Hezekiah became sick and was
at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet
the son of Amoz came to him and said to him,
“Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order,
for you shall die; you shall not recover.’”

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and
prayed to the Lord, saying, “Now, O Lord,
please remember how I have walked before you
in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have
done what is good in your sight.”

And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And before Isaiah
had gone out of the middle court, the word of
the Lord came to him: “Turn back, and say to
Hezekiah the leader of my people,

Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father:
I have heard your prayer;
I have seen your tears.
Behold, I will heal you.

On the third day you shall go up to the house
of the Lord, and I will add fifteen years to your life.
I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of
the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city
for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.”

And Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And let them
take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover.”

And Hezekiah said to Isaiah,
“What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me,
and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord
on the third day?”

And Isaiah said,
“This shall be the sign to you from the Lord,
that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised:
shall the shadow go forward ten steps,
or go back ten steps?” And Hezekiah answered,
“It is an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen
ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps.”

And Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord, and he
brought the shadow back ten steps, by which it
had gone down on the steps of Ahaz.
‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭20‬:‭1‬-‭11‬ ‭(ESV‬‬)