When the odds are against you? 2 Kings 20:1-8 When the odds are against you?

1. The setting, verse 1a In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. “in those days” : Isaiah 36:1 “In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.”

King Hezekiah faced three “Crises” in his reign. 1. The crisis of Choice. 2. The crisis of Invasion 3. The crisis of Death

2.  Bearing bad news, 1b The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”

3.  A Prayer full of Integrity, verses 2, 3 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,  “Remember, LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

“wholehearted devotion” means there was no double-mindedness There was no boasting in this prayer: he simply states that he is doing right things with right priorities.

4.  God’s Amazing Response, verses 4—6 Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah:  “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life.  And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.”

“the God of your father David “the God of your father David.”  - God is absolutely committed to the Davidic Covenant God would save a nation because of a righteous king, his heartfelt prayer, and his earnest tears. Hezekiah based his plea on his past goodness; God based his answer on Hezekiah’s prayer & tears.

5. God’s Amazing Sign, verses 7 - 11 ” ‘This is the LORD’s sign to you that the LORD will do what he has promised: I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’ ” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down. v11

If you think of the eastern horizon to the western horizon as 180 degrees (half of a complete circle), then 10 degrees would be calculated like this - If daylight is 12 hours then 180 degrees equals 12 hours. 12 hours x 60 minutes per hour = 720 minutes 720 minutes divided by 180 degrees = 4 minutes per degree 10 degrees that God moved the shadow backwards x 4 minutes per degree = 40 minutes!

You Tube Video –Billy Graham 99th Birthday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz4pFVVMzLw