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2 Kings 20 Bible study: I have heard your prayer
Hezekiah's prayer never asks to live; it asks the LORD to remember (20:3). The answer came before Isaiah had gone out into the middle part of the city: "I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears" (20:5). And the son who reigned after him is named in Jesus' line: "Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh" (Matthew 1:10).
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“Turn back, and tell Hezekiah the prince of my people, ‘The LORD, the God of David your father, says, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day, you will go up to the LORD’s house.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“In 2 Kings 20, the LORD's answer to Hezekiah's prayer came to Isaiah before he had gone out into the middle part of the city.”
Is that in 2 Kings 20, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
"You will die, and not live"
"In those days Hezekiah was sick and dying" (20:1). "Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him" (20:1), and the words he brings are the LORD's: "The LORD says, ‘Set your house in order; for you will die, and not live.’" (20:1) (tap in order). "Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the LORD" (20:2) (tap prayed). His whole prayer is one sentence: "Remember now, LORD, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight" (20:3) (tap truth and perfect). He doesn't ask in words to be healed, or to live. Then, "Hezekiah wept bitterly" (20:3).
Where it leads to Jesus
Hezekiah's son, in Jesus' line
2 Kings 20:21leads toMatthew 1:10
The chapter ends, "Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place" (20:21). Matthew's "book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David" (Matthew 1:1) names the same father and son, "Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh" (Matthew 1:10), and runs on to "Jesus, who is called Christ" (Matthew 1:16). The verse before ends, "Ahaz became the father of Hezekiah" (Matthew 1:9). Matthew doesn't quote 2 Kings 20; he names Hezekiah and Manasseh, the father and son 20:21 ends with.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about 2 Kings 20
- The LORD said, "you will die, and not live" (20:1), and then added fifteen years (20:6). Did the LORD change his mind?
- "Isn’t it so, if peace and truth will be in my days?" (20:19). Was Hezekiah accepting the LORD's word, or glad it wouldn't touch him?
- If the LORD said, "I will heal you", why did Isaiah tell them to take a cake of figs?
That was a taste
The rest of 2 Kings 20 is waiting in Favor
- The answer came before Isaiah reached the middle of the city
- A cake of figs, and a shadow going back
- Nothing he didn't show them, and nothing left
- The same story in Isaiah 38-39
- The pool, the conduit, and the son who reigned
- 13 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach 2 Kings 20 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
רָפָאrafa'say ra-FA
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "heal". Strong's: "properly, to mend (by stitching), i.e. (figuratively) to cure". The LORD says, "Behold, I will heal you" (20:5), and Hezekiah asks for a sign "that the LORD will heal me" (20:8). 2 Kings uses the verb six times. Twice it is at the spring of Jericho, where Elisha spoke the LORD's words, "I have healed these waters" (2:21), and "the waters were healed" (2:22). Twice it is King Joram, who "returned to be healed in Jezreel" from his wounds (8:29, 9:15). The last two are here, and in both the LORD is the one who heals. It is the verb of "I am the LORD who heals you" (Exodus 15:26).
For your group
2 Kings 20 Bible study questions
- 1When the word came, Hezekiah "turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the LORD" (20:2), and "wept bitterly" (20:3). When bad news comes to you, where do you turn first, and what would it look like to turn to God as he did?
- 2"There was nothing in his house, or in all his dominion, that Hezekiah didn’t show them" (20:13). The chapter doesn't say why he showed them everything. When you show people what you have, what are you hoping for?
- 3"Isn’t it so, if peace and truth will be in my days?" (20:19). The LORD's word was about Hezekiah's house and the sons who would issue from him (20:17-18). How much do you think about what you are handing on to the people who come after you?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads 2 Kings 20 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home