Isaiah chapter 38 - Zechariah

The account of Isaiah chapter thirty-eight is that of God promising to extend the life of Hezekiah by fifteen years, and supernaturally moving the sundial shadow back ten degrees as a sign that He would do what He promised to Hezekiah.

Don’t you think that is odd? Why did God move the sundial shadow back ten degrees? Why didn’t He move it fifteen degrees to agree with the number of years He promised to add to Hezekiah’s life?

“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 38:5-8)

I think that God had a definite purpose in doing what He did; don’t you? Maybe He had even more than one purpose. Suppose God wanted to make a connection to the book of Zechariah. Was that something God could do? Of course it was. Would that have been something God wanted to do? That is the premise of this treatise. Take a look at this.

“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.” (Zechariah 13:7-9)

What is the ratio of ten to fifteen? We might write it as; 10/15 but we usually write it this way; 2/3 (two thirds or two parts out of three). Isaiah was saying ten DEGREES and fifteen YEARS, so the units of measure are not the same, but the ratio is still there. And, don’t you think it is kind of strange wording to say; “I will bring again the shadow…”?

So, within the story of God extending the life of Hezekiah there is a numerical connection to something in the book of Zechariah. There might be a similar numerical connection to some other book of the Bible as well. I don’t know, but there is more to this one if we look again. What was Hezekiah doing to obtain this promise from God?

“Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.” (Isaiah 38:2-3)

And what was the LORD’S response?

“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:” (Isaiah 38:5a)

What did God tell Zechariah?

“And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.”

Now, God hearing the cry of His people and responding to it is a theme that can be found everywhere in the Bible, but it is found here, and it is in combination with the 2/3 ration in both books. Continuing, in the eleventh chapter of Zechariah we find the following.

“Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.” (Zechariah 11:8)

“For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces.” (Zechariah 11:16)

Certainly, this is not a thematic connection between our text in Isaiah and the book of Zechariah, but it is a connection of word combinations in single verses, and like the following verse, THESE WORD COMBINATIONS DO NOT OCCUR ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE BIBLE.

“Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.” (Isaiah 38:12)

Three distinct usages of the word ‘shepherd’ are seen here. A different one in each verse, and yet, they occur in this usage and in these combinations nowhere else, and that fact is made even more significant when you consider that shepherd, shepherds or shepherd’s is found in nine places in the book of Zechariah.

There is also the thematic connection between the death of Hezekiah and the destruction of Jerusalem both being prevented by God in Isaiah chapter thirty-eight and Zechariah respectively. But, then, Zechariah is the thirty-eighth book of our Bible. They are connected.