Today's Scripture Reading (June 1, 2026): Isaiah 38 & 39
In 1716, Christopher Bullock wrote
in his comedy play "The Cobbler of Preston," that "'Tis impossible to be sure of anything but Death
and Taxes." It is the reality of
life. The two things that we will not escape are death and taxes. They are also
the two things we often try to put off. Every year, I make a deal with myself:
this year, I am going to do my taxes early, and every year I am sitting at my
desk during that last week before the tax deadline, trying to figure out what I
owe the government. And death? Well, we simply don't think about that, or we
convince ourselves that our deaths are still a long way down the road.
I have had the conversation with a
few people who believed that they would never die. Jesus will come and take
them away before their expiry date on this earth. And most of those people have
already died. Even those who continue to live on this Blue Marble have to
confront the idea that even though we believe that we will receive a new body,
a perfect body, for that to happen, we have to die.
The author of Hebrews writes this;
Just as people are
destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed
once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to
bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him (Hebrews 9:27-28).
Isaiah was an advisor to King
Hezekiah. Hezekiah was a good king who did what was right. But even that did
not save him from the decree that one day he would die.
Hezekiah was a good king, but
there was evidence that he was a little unfocused. And while he led the nation
through a revival, he also needed a revival for himself. And then Isaiah
appeared on his doorstep with the news that the good King was going to die. The
problem was that Hezekiah was in his late 30s at the time, and he still had
things to do. The Jewish rabbis in the Talmud wrote that there had been an
argument taking place behind the scenes. Hezekiah and Isaiah were arguing about
who should visit whom. So, when Isaiah comes to King Hezekiah, he may not have
been in a stellar mood. King Hezekiah was the opposite of his ancestor, King
Solomon. Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Hezekiah was 39 and still a
confirmed bachelor. He hadn't found a wife, and he hadn't produced an heir.
Then Isaiah announced that the King would die, meaning he would never marry or
have a son to take over the throne of David.
Hezekiah does exactly what we
should do in times of stress and trouble. He turned and cried out to God with
his petition. God doesn't always respond the way that we want him to, but we
should still turn to him with our questions and desires. For Hezekiah, the
petition was, "Do not let it end this way. There are things that I have
not done, but if you will give me the gift of time, I promise that I will do
them." And God relented. He gave Hezekiah the gift of time he had
requested.
Hezekiah did not forget this
experience. He became very cognizant of his expiry date. Tradition says that
Hezekiah married Hephzibah, the daughter of Isaiah. And together, they had a
son and heir named Manasseh. Hezekiah, even though he was a good king, had
never really humbled himself before God. But now, he humbled himself. It is an
example that we all need to understand and follow throughout the various stages
of our lives.
Tomorrow's
Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 17
