A Sovereign God and Death

Let’s talk about it. I just finished watching the story, “Flame On”, about the death of the son of J.J. Jasper on KLOV radio. It is a compelling story and it speaks of the sovereignty of God. I believe in the sovereignty of God even more than the sovereignty worshippers. To me, God is so sovereign, in His Word, that He can use His foreknowledge of man’s response to Him to make a decision about what to do with that man before the man is even born. For some, that means that God was dependent on the man to show Him what to do. But we know that God made the man and gave Him a free will, just like Adam and Eve. Yes, God knows what the man or woman will do, but He does not make the choice for them. He is powerful enough and so omniscient as to be able to sovereignly work His will while still giving us a free will. My God is bigger than their God.

So, God knows the length of our days. I know that is true. But J.J. and his wife tell of a friend that says that it would not have mattered if they had carried there son around on a feather pillow all day, he still would have died. Is that true? 2 Kings 20:1-11 is one story from the Bible where God’s prophet tells the king: God says to get ready for you are about to die. Look at these verses-

“In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’ ”

2     Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying,

3     “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

4     Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

5     “Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.

6     “I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.” ’ ”

7     Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

8     Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord the third day?”

9     Isaiah said, “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?”

10     So Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps.”

11     Isaiah the prophet cried to the Lord, and He brought the shadow on the stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.

So, God was so sovereign that He knew that Hezekiah would pray and cry out to Him; or God is not all knowing. Without this prayer and crying out to God by Hezekiah, he would have died. God knew that he would cry out and pray and so God sent the prophet back not only to let him know about the additional 15 years, but to even give the king a verifying miracle for his miracle. Somehow God changed the natural path of the sun or the earth to make the sun go back on the steps. If asking for the miracle was not enough, Hezekiah also asked for a miracle to prove that what God had promised would come to pass. Now all of this comes from an Old Testament king that does not have Christ in his life or the power of the Holy Spirit. Hezekiah prayed to a sovereign God that had already announced his impending death and he was granted two miracles- 15 more years and a confirming miracle that required the alteration of the laws of nature. God knew about the additional 15 years that would come because of Hezekiah's prayer and weeping. This is not a surprise at all for an all powerful, all knowing, sovereign God.