The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-07-05
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR JULY 9.

Subject: He~zekiah's Prayer, lisa. x1xviii.s
1.S-Golden Text, Pisa. xlvi., 1-Mem-
DRY Verses, 4.6-Com1nentary on the
Days Lesson.
I. Isaiah warns Hezekiah of ap-
preaching death ". y. In those
days" This may only mean in the
days of Hezekiah. That this vas in
tile fourteenth year of his reign is evil
dent when We consider that fifteen
years were added to his life ". 81, and
yet he only reigned twenty-nine years
e Kings IS: p. 1t must have been be-
fore the invasion by Sennacherib from
the fact that God promised to deliver
them out Of tile hand of the King Of
A.ssyria and to defend Jerusalem.
"Sick unto death" Sick of a malady
which. i'll the natural course Of things.
would have proved fatal. From .
Kings 20: I we learn that the disease
was probably a carbuncle. God sends
illness upon the good, not in punish
ment for sins past, but as a trial Of
their faith and patience Rom. 5: 81.
Isaiah" Isaiah's character stands
before US as one of almost superhuman
elevation. Game unto him." There Is
no species Of cruelty greater than to
suffer q friend to lie OH a dying bed
under q delusion. And there is evil
IDENTIFY no danger to be unprecedented
from communicating to the sick their
true condition. 1t should be done ten
derry and with affection, but it should
be done faithfully. "Set thine house in
order" Arrange your affairs so that
they will go on without you; referring
to his family. his plans, his successor
and his kingdom. Thou shalt die"
Death was the natural result of his
sickness.
II. Hezekiah prays in great distress
Tvs. o, 3.
.. Face toward the wall" He
turned away from those who were
present so that he might pray more
freely and collectedly. 3. Remember
now" The Old covenant promised tenn
poral prosperity. including length Of
days, to the righteous. walked"
Life is 4 journey; Gods people walk
with Him (Gen. 5: "a: 1 Kings 8: ~.
- perfect heart" Literally, with a
whole heart" mi absolutely devoted
to Jehovah. The king pleads his up
rightness and holy conduct before God.
He could not have done this, in the
face of death, had he not felt in his
heart the truthfulness of his state
ments. His influence had been wholly
on the side of true religion; he had not
forsaken the wa; S Of the Lord. "Wept
sore" Literally, with q great weep
ing" The great sorrow Of Hezekiah
at the approach Of death was only nat
ural. The desire to live ones full term
If years is right. Hezekiah felt that
his work was unfinished.
4-G). 4. Then came" etc. God spake
to Isaiah Immediately e Kings 20:4).
3. God Of David thy father" God
remembers the covenant with the faith
ar 10 the children Exod. 20-5). Heard
thy prayer" God still hears prayer.
1t is His will that We pray Matt. I: &
IL; John 10: y. Why then are there so
many unanswered petitions? Because
there IS so much aimless praying
James 4: -. "Seen thy tears" Aztec
tomato prayers are especially pleasing
to God. Cold. lifeless prayers are not
answered. David refers to his tears
(Psa. sc: 3 as though God bottled them
and kept an exact account Of them in
His book" Add unto thy days" In
Kings the promise is, II will heal thee;
on the third day thou shalt 60 up unto
the house of the Eord." The Lord still
heals people. sometimes by directing
the sufferer to the proper remedy and
sometimes without the use Of 4 renl-
edy. In this case (see . Kings 20: q
the Lord told Hezeiiah to make a poui-
| tice of figs and put it on the boil. or
carbuncle. Fifteen years" ,Hezekiah
is the only man who was ever Informed
Of the term of his life. God in mercy
has hidden the time of our death from
our eyes. We should be always ready
and should work as though each day
was our last. 6. "Will deliver" The
A.ssyrians were n powerful enemy and
were constantly to be feared.
w. The sign given Hezekiah Tvs. {.
s.. Z. a sign" Eezekiah asked for
4 sign q Kings 60: 81. Asking for 4
sign is y pious or O wicked act accord
ing to the spirit in which it is done.
Hezekiah is given his choice Of two
signs. and he chose what appeared to
him to be the more difficult.
8. Shadow of The degrees" "The
shadow OF the steps" r. V. Many
opinions are held with regard to this
miracle. The older commentators be-
licved that the earth's motion was act
ually reversed around its axis. 1t has
been urged with q good deal of force
that the true cause Of the phenomenon
was a solar eclipse, in which the moon
obscured the upper limb OF the sun,
which would have the effect of length
ening all shadows and thus causing the
appearance Of going backward on the
dial of the stairs. But the opinion gen.
orally held at present is that it was 4
miraculous use Of the laws OF refrac-
ton. Dial Of -AhaZ." Steps OF
A.laz." II. ", margin. The dial which
Alaz set up. and which he probably
obtained from Babylon, for he appears
to have been fond of foreign objects OF
art - Kings 16: 10l. The !ASsyrians
were the first to divide the day into
twcnty-four hours. Herodotus states
that the Greeks obtained their knowl-
edge of the dial and the division Of the
day into twelve parts from the Baby
loniauS. who were in. constant inter-
course with the A-ssyriaIs. Returned
ten steps" (R. W We must suppose
that the steps whatever they were.
could ne seen from the sick chamber
of HcZekiah. to whose mind the sign
was significant. The retreating shadow
mea1It added years to his life. What
kind of apparatus is denoted by the
"stc"ls OF Ahaz" We have 10 means OF
determining.
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