20:12-13  The record here simply records what happened. It is the record in 2Chron 32:31  which informs us that the event as ‘from God’ to ‘prove’ Hezekiah that he might know himself. It is so easy so leave God out of our lives and think that we can muddle on without any regard to His involvement in our lives. He creates environments to ‘prove’ us. We must be alert to this and be ‘exercised’ Heb 12:11, else we will not benefit from the experiences of life.

V.1 Hezekiah had shown faith and had received Yahweh's grace up until the pronouncement of his death.  But, after begging for extended life, things went wrong.  Yahweh tested his pride through the visit of the Babylonian envoys (v.12; c.f. 2Chron 32:31). 

Hezekiah failed by showing off his possessions (v.13).  Moreover, when confronted by Isaiah with the error, Hezekiah did not repent by confessing his sin (vs.14-18).  Instead, he expressed his gladness in being able to live the rest of his life in peace (v.19). 

The fifteen extra years could have jeopardized his eternal life, because his former righteousness would not be able to save him from current sin, unless forgiveness was sought (Eze 33:12). 

 Let's be careful for what we ask.

20:1-6 These words are found also in Isa 38:1-8. It is very rare indeed to see such a close duplication of the words of the historical narrative in the writing of the prophets. Maybe this is just one of the details which highlight what a close relationship Hezekiah had with the prophet Isaiah.

V.1 We are living in the end times, and Jesus will shortly return to earth.  Is it not time that we set our house in order?  Besides, like Hezekiah we could be personally presented with death at any time.  It would be a pity to imperil our hope of eternal life by not being ready to meet Jesus.

Vs.5,8 Hezekiah had already been told by Isaiah that he would be healed: I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD (KJV).  And so, why did Hezekiah need a sign that this would occur?

Hezekiah’s being condemned to death, but rising to life on the third day, was a foreshadowing of Jesus’ death and resurrection (1Cor 15:4).  

The scribes and Pharisees wanted a sign from Jesus. He gave them the sign of the prophet Jonah concerning His death, and resurrection in three days (Matt 12:38-40).

Hezekiah had been told by the prophet Isaiah that he would, in effect, rise from death in three days.  And yet, like the faithless scribes and Pharisees, Hezekiah wanted a sign.  Hezekiah’s lack of faith is a commentary on Israel’s lack of faith concerning its Messiah, Jesus.

Note, that Hezekiah is not entered in the book of the faithful in Hebrews 11.

20:5 David’s response to this generosity of God is seen in Isa 38:17

2Kin 20:1-3 - Hezekiah is considered by some a type of Christ; Hezekiah's facing death perhaps echoed that of Christ; the skin disease (leprosy?) perhaps echoed Christ taking on our sins (2Cor 5:21;Isa 53:5,6,12;38:1,16-19).

2Kin 20:4-11 - Hezekiah is considered by some a type of Christ; Hezekiah had a third day restoration/recovery which perhaps echos the resurrection and glorification of the Son (Heb 9:12;Rom 1:4).

Some of the above gleaned from The Story of the Bible, by H.P. Manfield, Vol. 4, P.109.

10:1 sapphire stone Exodus 24:10
10:2 wheels 1 Kings 7:30 etc
10:4 house ... filled ... smoke 1 Kings 8:10
10:4 The Lord's glory 1 Kings 8:11
10:5 cherubims 1 Kings 6:27
10:6 wheels 1 Kings 7:30 etc
10:7 one cherub stretched forth 1 Kings 6:27
10:8 hand under 1 Kings 7:32 axletrees
10:9 four wheels 1 Kings 7:32
10:12 backs 1 Kings 7:33 naves

The description of the glory of God that Ezekiel sees leaving the temple draws on the language of elements of Solomon's temple in 1 Kings. The temple was to show the glory of God - but had been profaned by Israel. Because of this He could no longer 'walk in the midst of them'
The journey of the glory cloud is a pattern of the departure of Jesus from Jerusalem after his resurrection to his ascension which was followed by the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Thus Jesus' 'your house is left unto you desolate' Matthew 23:28 is showing the Pharisees that a terrible end is to come consequent on the death of Jesus.

Ezekiel, the captive in Babylon, was given great and heavenly visions of the power of almighty God. The angelic Beings that surround God were here recognised as “Cherubims” by Ezekiel (Eze 10:20). It’s interesting to speculate why Ezekiel was given such visions in Babylon, whereas Jeremiah and some of the other prophets did not receive such visions back home in the Holy Land. See the note on tomorrow’s chapter for one possible answer.

10  The appearance of the glory of God contrasts starkly with the appearance of the six men with destroying weapons in their hands in Eze 9

Vs.20,21 At the same time Yahweh is removing His glory from Jerusalem in stages (see yesterday's note), He is preparing the city for fiery destruction. 

The cherubim, with the four-fold faces represent the four Major Prophets and their comparative gospels.  These all, of course, herald the Lord Jesus who is Immanuel, the true embodiment of Yahweh's glory.

And, by extension, the four cherubim represent the Redeemed who will be with Jesus, in the kingdom, to carry out the righteous work with Him.

10:20,22 Again we see that Ezekiel is drawn to comment that what he saw departing from the temple, in vision, was what he had seen at the beginning of his ministry in Chapter 1.

10:2 The man ‘clothed in linen’ who is going to oversee the departure of the glory of God is the same man who marked the foreheads of the faithful – Eze 9:2

10:4-12 The description Ezekiel gives here is full of allusions and quotations from issue to do with Solomon’s temple.

10:4 The way in which the glory of God filled the house is just like it was when Solomon dedicated the same building – 1Kin 8:10. However now it marks the beginning of the end of the temple.

In v27-31 he explains how far we have to go before our actions to our neighbour become a credit to us in God's eyes. This credit is found in v35 "your reward will be great, and you will be the sons of the most high." But the next phrase is interesting "For he is kind to the unthankful and evil.... therefore be merciful". Hang on, hasn't he just said that if we do these things then we're good, rather than evil!

At this point your point of view will diverge from mine if you believe yourself to fit into the group of "righteous", and not into this group of "unthankful and evil". If we feel we are, or have been, in this latter group, then the next verses come alive. If we believe that we are doing quite a good job of tallying up this "credit", then they won't.

Jesus is saying, "you are evil, unthankful, blind, and sinning, so since God is having mercy on you, shouldn't you also have mercy on those who are in the same boat as you?". Likewise "how can you condemn, or point out the error of someone who is no worse than you are?". The giving in v38 is the giving of mercy and forgiveness as God has given it in v35-36. Jesus is making the point that if we forgive EVERYTHING, then all will be forgiven us. This is born out in v42, because since we can never remove the plank from our own eye (because we sin over and over again), so we will never be in any fit state to judge our fellows.

6:6  ‘Another sabbath’ continues the point of conflict between the Jewish leaders and Jesus about what could be done on the sabbath – clearly Jesus had been doing things between the sabbaths.

V.7 The pedantic Pharisees were looking for an occasion to catch Jesus healing on the Sabbath because they wanted to accuse Him of working.  Jesus explained that this was not a problem (v.9 c.f. Matt 12:10-12).  In any event, He confounded them by orally commanding the healing.  In what way does speaking constitute work (v.10)?

Besides which, as Jesus points out, the priests break the Sabbath law when they perform their duties in the temple, and are not held to account (Matt 12:5).

6:15 Whilst ‘Matthew’ and ‘James the son of Alphaeus’ are separated in Luke’s list of the twelve they were, in fact flesh brothers. Mark 2:14 shows that Levi was the son of Alphaeus but Levi is another name for Matthew for in Mark 3:18 ‘Lei’ has become ‘Matthew’.

6:7-8  We should not presume that Jesus ‘knew their thoughts’ because of any supernatural power that he possessed. He understood human nature and had experienced the ire of the leaders on the Sabbath and so would have worked out what they were likely to think and do.

Vs.28-30 Today, it is the norm to stand up for your human rights.  If you do not demand satisfaction for wrong done to you, you can be considered weak and peculiar.  And yet, that is what the Lord demands of His followers.  We are not here to contend for any rights.  We are here to show the submissive example of Jesus to all, even if it means personal loss.  It takes strength, courage, and faith to do that. 

Let us remember that this is their world and we are just sojourning, just passing through, representing Jesus as we go.  And when Jesus returns, we shall inherit our world.

6:19 We regularly read of Jesus healing people. Do we think that Jesus’ miracles required effort on his part? This use of ‘virtue’ indicates at least that Jesus was aware of each healing he performed. Doubtless performing miracles was a tiring experience. It certainly involved as fellowshipping of the suffering of the one being healed as can be seen from the way that amidst a number of miracles Matthew – Matt 8:17- says that Jesus healings was a fulfilment of Isa 53:4

WE SET THE STANDARD

The day of judgement is coming. I wonder how harsh Jesus will be in his judgement of me? If he wanted to, he could point out all my faults, the ones I know about and the ones I don't know about. He could tell me all of the opportunities I have missed to serve him, and all of the times I just stuff up, even though I do my best. But I also wonder how forgiving and generous he will be when he judges me. If it is a mans glory to overlook an offense (Prov 19:11), then it must be even more so for the King.

We can wonder all we like, but the answer is found in the way we live, in the judgement we measure out and in the generosity with which we give and forgive. Jesus said, "Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:37-38)

What Jesus is saying is that we set the standard. The standard of judgement, kindness, love and forgiveness that we show to other people will be the standard by which we will be judged. If you want to be judged harshly, live harshly. But if you, like me, realise the need to be forgiven, we also must learn to be generous in our forgiveness.

We set the standard. How will we be judged?

Vs.2-4 This exchange illustrates the difference between the letter of the Law, and the spirit of the Law.  Strictly, under the Law, David should not have eaten the showbread. But, the greater principle of saving a life surpassed the strict adherence to the Law. 

V.5 Jesus used the example of David purposefully. David was the anointed of Yahweh (1Sam 16:13). He foreshadowed Jesus. Jesus will be the one to assume sitting on the throne of David (Luke 1:32).

And so, David as Yahweh’s anointed, could override the Letter of the Law.  Jesus, who is the Messiah, the Son of God, the greater David, came to fulfil the Law (Matt 5:17).  In fulfilling the Law, Jesus became Lord of the Sabbath.

6:35  Jesus’ instruction that we should be merciful as God is merciful adds to Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount – Matt 5:48– where he enjoins perfection on us.