“This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised: Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps. So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined." Hezekiah, king of Judah, contracted a serious illness. The prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and told him to get his affairs in order because his illness was terminal. Hezekiah immediately cried out to God and prayed for restoration and healing. God determined to heal Hezekiah and add fifteen years to his life and sent Isaiah back to report the good news to Hezekiah. Hezekiah asked Isaiah what would be the sign that he would be healed and Isaiah gave Hezekiah a choice of either shortening or lengthening the day. Hezekiah thought that lengthening the day was the more difficult miracle for God to perform and made that his request. So God turned back time as a sign to Hezekiah by causing the shadow on the steps of Ahaz, a sort of sundial, to move back ten steps--possibly the equivalent of ten hours. This miracle seemed to symbolize moving the clock back on Hezekiah's life. While some have speculated how this miracle could have occurred, what we can learn from Hezekiah's experience is that our God is a God of second-chances. When God redeems us and we are under His loving care, it is as if He has turned the clock back on all our mistakes and sins. Our God gives do-overs and He sends us His Holy Spirit so we do it right the next time around!
