The Greatest Sign

For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover. Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord? Isaiah 38:21-22 (KJV)

Hezekiah asked for a prophetic sign that he would recover from his sickness. What was the sign given by God?

Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city. And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken; Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down. Isaiah 38:4-8 (KJV)

The sign given by God was the sun returning ten degrees, it’s shadow being reversed. This occurred as a prophetic sign of the Lord to reassure Hezekiah.

And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day? And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz. II Kings 20:7-11 (KJV)

God brought the shadow back 10 degrees on the sundial, just to reassure Hezekiah. Consider what God did to make this happen. The appearance of the sun moving in the sky is not because the sun moves. It appears to move because the earth is rotating. In order to give Hezekiah a sign, God had to stop the earth’s rotation, reverse it, and restart its rotation! God is a caring God. As we cry out to Him in faith, He gives us confirmation that He will do what He said. He gives us signs to let us know He is working, and that He is faithful to perform what He has promised. We must pay attention or we might miss them.

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14 (KJV)

The greatest sign God gave us is Jesus. We are to look to Him and take Him at His Word. The sign of our healing is His Word that by His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). Every word of God is a sign that He wants to do good for us. Keep looking to Jesus, the greatest sign God ever gave, for all your needs to be met.