The gift of Prophecy

Isaiah 38

Have you spent time with a person whose main gift is prophecy?   Maybe it would be helpful to define the word “Prophecy:”  “A prophet’s basic motivational drive is to apply the Word of God to a situation so that sin is exposed and relationships are restored. Prophets might be considered the “trumpets” of the Body of Christ who sound the alarm in the face of sin and compromise.” From “The Institute in Basic Life Principles”

A prophet such as Isaiah was different in this way; he did not read what God had said, but heard from God and did or told the exact words God had spoken to him.  So when this good king Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, Isaiah the prophet came to him and proclaimed what God had told him.  “Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.”  I’m not sure about you, but I would rather not have had Isaiah’s first visit, and king Hezekiah did not enjoy his words of encouragement either.

This is what the king did: “Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, 

and said, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with 

a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.”  

(Isaiah 38:2-3 ESV)  Do you recall above I mentioned “first visit” and you also will recall that 

Scripture states; God’s ways are higher than our ways, and God’s thoughts are higher than 

our thoughts.  God heard Hezekiah’s prayer and saw his tears, and he spoke again to Isaiah; 

we have no understanding of the time line, it may have been that day, or many days later.   

But what is important is what God told Isaiah and Isaiah being faithful to go back to the king 

and give him this word from God. “Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: “Go and say 

to Hezekiah, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; 

I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this 

city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city.”  (Isaiah 38:4-6 ESV)

Take a moment and place yourself in Hezekiah’s place, Isaiah has come and told you; king 

your heading for the dirt, and now he is returning with a much better message, your going 

to be healed and more good news, God is going to defend the city and remove the oppression 

of the king of Assyria.

Now if you’re the king you may be wondering is this true, or has Isaiah found a little 

compassion and wants to make my last day a little better.  In that God knows all about you 

and I and Hezekiah, he told Isaiah to also tell the king about a sign that only God could do, 

so that the king could bet the kingdom on these words spoken by God’s prophet.  This was 

the sign: “Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says 

the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. 

Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of 

the king of Assyria, and will defend this city.”  (Isaiah 38:4-6 ESV)

You would be wise to read Isaiah 38:9-21, a writing of Hezekiah after he had recovered 

from his sickness.  My prayer is that you ponder on verse 17, “Behold, it was for my welfare 

that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, 

for you have cast all my sins behind your back.”  If you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, 

if you have bowed your knee to His will and authority, this verse describes what Jesus has 

done in your life.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice