Hezekiah was declared to die by GOD Almighty, and then GOD Almighty changed His mind and healed him!
2 Kings 20:1-6
1 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. 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."
2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,
3 "Remember, O 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.
4 Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him:
5 "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD.
6 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 for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.' "
So first Hezekiah was declared by GOD Almighty that he was going to die and never will recover, and then GOD Almighty changed His mind, healed him and let him live. Hezekiah was after all recovered by GOD Almighty!
GOD Almighty does not change His mind, but yet, He did countless times before!
Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
2007-12-26 03:05:14 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Good point.
- If God had predetermined from the beginning that he would heal Hezekiah .. why did he tell him he would not recover? It's not about mercy and love but lie and deception.
- If God can change his word so easily .. why didn't he forgive Adam as well, and why did he have to kill his own son just to stop the effect of the so called original sin, that allegedly passed from Adam to his generations? why did God need to do such an unjust and cruel thing when he could just change his word!?
2007-12-26 03:57:19 · answer #1 · answered by Kimo 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Never forget that God gives mercy to those who He chooses to give mercy. Hezekiah asked God to be merciful to him and grant him more years on this earth. What is so bad about God giving him more time to live? If God did not change His mind, we would not be here, why? Because when He flooded the earth, he said, "no more people will be on the earth"- and then afterwards He decided to give mercy and created again- and sent a rainbow as a sign that He would never flood the WHOLE earth again.
2007-12-26 03:13:44 · answer #2 · answered by AdoreHim 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
God said that because of SIN, man would die.
Hezekiah is not still alive is he?
God did not change His mind as much as He "delayed" Hezekiah's death.
There are many examples of God's judgement being postponed following someone humbling themself before Him in prayer. That is what Hezekiah did! He fell on his knees and poured out his heart to God. He pleaded his usefulness to God and God agreed that Hezekiah was still useful to Him. Once Hezekiah's usefulness was ended, he did die.
Moral: Be useful to God and pray that He extends your days so you can accomplish great things for His kingdom.
2007-12-26 03:22:57 · answer #3 · answered by the sower 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
--An immediate answer was given to his prayer, containing an assurance that the Lord was mindful of His promise to David and would accomplish it in Hezekiah's experience, both by the prolongation of his life, and his deliverance from the Assyrians.
He did not change His mind however it might appear. He was fullfilling a promise.
2007-12-26 03:21:23 · answer #4 · answered by Dan S 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Respectfully. God did not lie. He did however choose not to go on ahead with his judgment against King Hezekiah. If you look at the account again you will see that Hezekiah repented of his many sins and sought forgiveness. It was granted to him and so his life was spared.
This is not the first time. Read the account of Jonah. He was sent to the Ninevites to bring a message of judgment against them from God. When the king heard the message he led the people repentance from their wrong actions .. spending time in prayer and in sackcloth and ashes. This too resulted in God's forgiveness and his turning away his original judgment of the people.
This shows that God tempers his justice with mercy and love. Rather than criticize, we should be grateful he does the same for us.
2007-12-26 03:11:08 · answer #5 · answered by Q&A Queen 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋
In the Bible, a "change of mind" by God symbolizes His mercy.
2007-12-27 04:35:51 · answer #6 · answered by Daver 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its an interesting question indeed.......but i dont think that God changed his mind, i think that he was testing hezekiah's faith.
hezekiah could have thrown a fit and said "God i hate you how could u let me die? look at all the stupid things i did for you yet u still let me die!"
but no hezekiah went humbly before the Lord, told him that he didnt understand, and webt. I=To me i think it was a test of faith :)
2007-12-26 03:14:13 · answer #7 · answered by JCman2010 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
There are a lot of these, and they are hard to explain. Ezekiel talks about conditional prophecy. If YHVH promises good things, then His people are bad, the good things won't come to pass, because the promise was conditional on their obedience. Likewise, the destruction of Nineveh (Jonah) Many many times. YHVH is long suffering, and does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked. (but don't push your luck)
2007-12-26 03:11:43 · answer #8 · answered by hasse_john 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The whole experience could have been devised for Hezekiah's benefit, as a test, excersice, etc. Kind of like the whole Abraham sacrificing his son bit.
2007-12-26 03:10:54 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
2 times in the Old Testament God tells Moses that he is going to kill all of the Israelites and start all over again. Both times Moses is able to persuade God to change his mind.
2007-12-26 03:11:13 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋