This verse records God's answer to Hezekiah's prayer during his grave illness after he had been told he would die, with the word coming to Isaiah for Isaiah to convey to the king. God heard Hezekiah's prayer and crying out and promised through that message that fifteen years would be added to his life. The message also gave the sign that the sun would go back ten degrees, seen as the sundial's shadow turning back.
The account of illness and recovery stands before the visit of the Babylonian ambassadors, which followed that sign. As part of his recovery, God directed through Isaiah that figs, described as a fig poultice or bunch of figs, be applied to Hezekiah's sore or affected part by those caring for him, and Hezekiah was restored. The healing was miraculous and divine, yet given through directed means, since one word from God could have healed instantly but God instead blessed a natural remedy rather than healing without any means.
The verse therefore teaches that prayer for the sick is heard and answered and sanctions using remedial agencies together with prayer, showing that trusting God and faith work in harmony with providence and natural laws and do not mean neglecting simple remedies. The use of that simple natural remedy taught that drug preparations and the elaborate treatments being pursued were hindering the body's ability to rally and recover, turning attention away from them toward a means that allowed the body to recover.
This verse records God's answer to Hezekiah's prayer during his grave illness after he had been told he would die, with the word coming to Isaiah for Isaiah to convey to the king. God heard Hezekiah's prayer and crying out and promised through that message that fifteen years would be added to his life. The message also gave the sign that the sun would go back ten degrees, seen as the sundial's shadow turning back.
The account of illness and recovery stands before the visit of the Babylonian ambassadors, which followed that sign. As part of his recovery, God directed through Isaiah that figs, described as a fig poultice or bunch of figs, be applied to Hezekiah's sore or affected part by those caring for him, and Hezekiah was restored. The healing was miraculous and divine, yet given through directed means, since one word from God could have healed instantly but God instead blessed a natural remedy rather than healing without any means.
The verse therefore teaches that prayer for the sick is heard and answered and sanctions using remedial agencies together with prayer, showing that trusting God and faith work in harmony with providence and natural laws and do not mean neglecting simple remedies. The use of that simple natural remedy taught that drug preparations and the elaborate treatments being pursued were hindering the body's ability to rally and recover, turning attention away from them toward a means that allowed the body to recover.