Isaiah 38:1
In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live. In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.
In the midst of a prosperous reign Hezekiah was suddenly struck with a fatal sickness beyond any human power to cure. God sent Isaiah to tell him to put his house in order because he would die and not live, taking away the last hope and leaving the outlook dark except for prayer to God as refuge and strength. Though told he would die, he cried to the Lord, the Lord heard him, and fifteen years were added to his life. Though one word could have healed him at once, God directed the use of a lump of figs laid upon the sore, giving divine sanction for joining prayer with helpful natural remedies and human means without denying faith. The command to set the house in order calls for both practical settling of affairs and counsel to family and for urgent putting of heart and life right with God in repentance and readiness for judgment without delay.
Hezekiah's Sickness and Message
In the midst of a prosperous reign Hezekiah was suddenly stricken with a fatal malady and was sick unto death. His illness was mortal and lay beyond the power of man to help, with no apparent hope of recovery by human means.
God sent Isaiah the prophet to him with the word of the Lord to set his house in order and put his affairs in order, for he would die and not live. The message removed the last vestige of hope and made the outlook seem utterly dark. Yet it still left him able to turn to God in prayer as refuge and strength and very present help in trouble.
God afterward spared his life and granted him a new lease on life for fifteen years. As a sign of that recovery the shadow on the sundial was changed, the sun going back ten degrees.
Prayer, Healing and Remedies
Though told by the prophet that he would die and not live, Hezekiah cried to the Lord, the Lord heard him, and fifteen years were added to his life. His prayer for life when expected to die was heard and answered with promise of prolonged life. Though one word from God would have healed him instantly, God gave special direction for his recovery to lay a lump of figs as a plaster upon the boil. That direction meant applying a fig to the affected part, a bunch of figs placed on the sore.
The account gives divine sanction for using remedial agencies together with prayer for the sick. Using helpful natural remedies and working in harmony with natural laws does not deny faith, but acts in line with God's providence. Practical means to aid recovery are to be used in cooperation with God's providence rather than neglected, including human means and means God provided to aid nature. God may work through natural remedies used by human beings.
The simple natural remedy was directed to teach that elaborate medical preparations were preventing the king's recovery. God used a simple means of nature that could aid restoration, and turned attention away from treatments that hindered the body's recovery.
Setting House in Order
To set the house in order when facing death means to make needed practical arrangements and give counsel to family and friends rather than assuming prayer will bring healing. It means settling practical affairs, making clear how property should be disposed of and family cared for, and giving needed counsel to loved ones. Making such preparations for possible death, or using available measures that support recovery, does not deny faith. Setting the house in order includes faithfully arranging the disposition of entrusted property while reason and life remain, so it can serve God's work rather than pass to those who would use it against the truth. Setting one's house in order is what a dying man does to prepare for death, arranging his affairs and bidding solemn farewell, as Gustavus II did before leaving Sweden never to see it again to deliver the oppressed Protestant nations.
The verse recalls the Lord's deliverance of Hezekiah from deadly sickness and the later visit of Babylonian ambassadors. His visitors saw his worldly treasures rather than the Lord's works, making his experience a warning to show guests God's goodness and point them to Christ, not to display possessions or worldly interests. The call gives an urgent warning to put one's life in order before death comes by making peace with God, turning away from the world, and becoming ready for judgment. Delay may harden the heart and leave a person relying on false assurance until it is too late to gain a well-grounded hope. The command is applied to preparing for judgment by putting one's life in order through separating from the world, refusing its ways, and living in keeping with one's profession of faith.
The call is applied to earnest, diligent preparation for salvation, both one's own and others'. The command is applied to setting one's own heart and life right by repenting of personal sins and correcting personal wrongs instead of taking responsibility for another person's salvation or directing that person's conscience. Each answers for their own wrongs, not another's, and should leave room for God's agents to convict and guide. The call is applied to putting one's life in order in that loving the truth is not enough unless it sanctifies the character. Rough traits and unevenness must be removed through God's work to become fit for the society of heaven.
The warning is applied as a call to remove and remain separate from every influence not wholly consecrated to God. The verse calls for a person to prepare and put affairs in order as a warning to get ready and hold fast to God. The warning to put the house in order is applied to ordering one's life and affairs without delay, since time is short. The warning is applied as a call to make thorough work of putting one's own life in order. The call applies to each church member's own heart and household as part of becoming right with God.
The command means waking to the needs of the family and putting home life right, with husband and wife taking hold of the work together unitedly, calmly, prayerfully, faithfully and in faith instead of staying blinded. God will bless their efforts to do so. Setting the house in order means setting the heart in order through a deep and thorough work of grace that gives a sense of one's true state and brings family example, visiting and talk, truthful speech, and purity of thought and action up to the standard elevated by the divine Lord. Putting heart and home right is the work required of a husband and church elder whose home influence counteracts good. Reform of heart and family life and conversion alone qualifies him to be useful in the church and to exert a sanctifying influence, and only after that conversion can he strengthen his brethren.
Setting the house in order means a father resolutely arousing himself to do his long-neglected work at home with the spirit of Christ, acquitting himself as father and priest of the household by disciplining his children and maintaining family discipline and order instead of indulging them to do as they please and choose their own society to their ruin. Taking up this duty allows hope that God will aid the effort and impress the hearts of the family. The phrase is applied to preparing the family spiritually at home before gathering to worship, through prayer, heart-searching, teaching children to value clean hands and pure hearts above fine clothes, and removing differences and obstacles that hinder fellowship with God. The call is applied as an urgent warning to correct dangerous family relationships and conditions before they ruin souls. Setting the house in order means making a thorough change in the home without delay.