Turning back the Clock

2Ki 20:5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.
2Ki 20:6 And I will add unto thy days 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.
2Ki 20:7 And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
2Ki 20:8 And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day?
2Ki 20:9 And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?
2Ki 20:10 And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
2Ki 20:11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.

Not since the days of Joshua, when the Lord caused the earth's rotation to stall for several hours so the battle could progress, had God shown such a miracle against the laws of nature.

Here, the godly king Hezekiah, who had fervently served the Lord, is given a 15 year reprieve from the Grim Reaper. And to prove this miracle of an additional 15 years tacked onto the kings life, a greater miracle is wrought by the hand of the Lord through Isaiah. He causes the shadow on the sundial of Ahaz to recede 10 degrees. That is 40 minutes of time regained, and then another 40 minutes would have to elapse to bring the clock back to the original point, and then an additional 40 minutes to catch time back up to where it would have been. That means that God added 2 hours to that miraculous day!

Application: We serve a great God of miracles Who is still in the business today! As Hezekiah served God with great zeal in a day when everyone around him was forsaking the Lord, so we can take our strong stand on His behalf. And because of his allegiance to what was right, God smiled upon him by providing a miraculous supply to his dire need.

Serve God with your whole heart and be assured that He will have your back in all you do!