2 Kings 20 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

2 Kings 20 Short Summary:

King Hezekiah of Judah fell sick and was at the point of death. While on his bed, he prayed to God to extend his life. God sent Isaiah to Hezekiah to tell him his life would be extended 15 years. The second part of the chapter documents how Hezekiah showed off all the treasures of Jerusalem to a Babylonian envoy. Isaiah, by the Spirit of God, prophesied that one day, all the precious things in Jerusalem would be carried away captive to Babylon.

2 Kings 20 Extended Summary

WHEN:

• Hezekiah’s reign probably fits within the window of 730-695 B.C.

• He reigned for 29 years in Judah.

• The events recorded in 2 Kings 20 predate God’s destruction of the Assyrian army, which was discussed in 2 Kings 19 (19:35; 20:6).

CHARACTERS:

• Hezekiah – King of Judah. He was the son of Ahaz.

• Isaiah – The prophet of God and the author of the book of Isaiah.  

• Baladan – The king of Babylon

WHERE:

• Hezekiah reigned over Judah from Jerusalem.

• Babylon was located hundreds of miles to the northeast of Jerusalem, along the Euphrates River.

OUTLINE:

• 15 YEARS ADDED TO HEZEKIAH’S LIFE (20:1-11):

  • Hezekiah got sick and was “at the point of death.”

  • In his bed, he wept and prayed for God to help him recover.

  • God sent Isaiah to Hezekiah to tell him He would recover, and God would add 15 years to his life.

  • Hezekiah asked Isaiah for a sign that the Lord would heal him.

  • Isaiah called out to the Lord and the Lord made the shadow on the sun dial move backwards 10 steps, as if time were moving backward.

  • *We don’t know the exact instrument they used for measuring the shadow of the sun, the text doesn’t specify. It may have been a traditional sun dial or some other instrument.

• A BABYLONIAN ENVOY VISITS JERUSALEM (20:12-19):

  • Baladan, the king of Babylon, sent his son, Merodach-baladan, to visit Hezekiah in Jerusalem and bring him a gift.

  • When the envoy from Babylon arrived, Hezekiah showed them all his treasures and armories. “There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them” (20:13).

  • When Isaiah learned what Hezekiah had done, he prophesied that a day would come when all of Judah’s treasures would be captured by the Babylonians. He foretold that some of Hezekiah’s own sons would be eunuch servants in the palace of Babylon.

  • This prophesy was to be fulfilled after Hezekiah’s reign.

• THE DEATH OF HEZEKIAH (20:20-21):

  • Additional details about Hezekiah’s reign were recorded in the “Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.”

  • Hezekiah died. Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh, reigned in his place.

APPLICATION:

• The sun is 333,000 times heavier than the earth.

• 1.3 million earths can fit inside the sun.

• God either moved the sun or He manipulated the physics of light just to provide Hezekiah with a sign that he was going to recover from his sickness.

• God could have chosen an easier sign, but instead He chose to manipulate the largest thing in our solar system, the thing that contains 99.8% of all mass in our solar system.

• Let Hezekiah’s story give you the confidence to pray big prayers. And let it give you comfort that you’ll never have a problem too difficult for God to fix.