“Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.’” (Isaiah 38:5)

Spiritual continuity continued throughout Israel’s history. The religion of Israel did not evolve; God was and is the same as He was for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; He was the same God for Moses and for David. Nothing revealed to any of the prophets or writers of Scripture differed from what had been made known before, though God progressively revealed more and more of Himself and His ways, adding to but never taking away. In fact, we say Judaism and Christianity are “revealed” religions, based not on human effort to discover God, but on God’s initiative to reveal Himself to mankind.

Twelve hundred years after God called out Abraham, and about 300 years after David was anointed king over Israel, Hezekiah, the 14^th king in the Davidic dynasty, “became mortally ill” and prayed for healing (Isaiah 38:1-3). Just previously, God had given a word through Isaiah at a time of threat against Jerusalem, “I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake” (Is 37:35). God’s faithfulness was to David, and all the kings that followed him were referred to as reigning in the “house of David” (Is 7:13) and sitting “on the throne of David and over his kingdom” (Is 9:7). So when Isaiah came to Hezekiah with a message of healing, the message came from “the LORD, the God of your father David.” He was one of the few “good” kings of Israel who “did what was good, right and true before the LORD his God” (2 Chron 31:20).

What is an illness to the God who had revealed Himself to the great king David before him? This was Yahweh, whose glory was more fully revealed when Moses was protected in the cleft of the rock when calling upon the name of the LORD (Exodus 34:5-6). It was this God, the true God revealed to the godly men who preceded Hezekiah, who healed him. The God of eternity injects Himself at various junctures in history. Life and events change, but He does not. And we today believe in and worship the same God as Hezekiah, David, Moses and Abraham. He continues to reveal Himself to us today. While the details and extent of His self-revelation may differ, the same One reaches into our lives as He reached into Hezekiah’s. Like pinpoints of glory shining through the backdrop of history, God continues to speak to us today.

Lord, I desire to rise above history and connect to You, the God of Abraham, Moses, David and Hezekiah. You never change; You always remain the same, yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8).