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Key Outcomes

The Evergreen COGIC Prayer and Bible Band held Lesson 9, titled "After Hezekiah's Sickness," . Rather than delivering a traditional lecture, the facilitator played a video lesson by Elder Derrick Strickland (YouTube channel: Faith Unbound Ministry) as the primary teaching vehicle, followed by group discussion. The session explored Hezekiah's character, his illness and miraculous healing, the spiritual dangers of pride after blessing, the role of prayer and medical treatment together, and the responsibility of passing faith to the next generation. Five core teaching points were drawn from Elder Strickland's lesson and affirmed through participant discussion. 

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Lesson Content: Background on Hezekiah

Historical and Political Context

• Hezekiah reigned as king of Judah (southern kingdom), not the northern kingdom of Israel, a distinction Elder Strickland emphasized as important. 

• He became king at age 25 and reigned for 29 years in Jerusalem. 

• The Assyrian Empire was the dominant military threat of the era — it had already conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and was threatening Judah. 

• Jerusalem was under intense political, military, and spiritual pressure throughout Hezekiah's reign.

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Hezekiah's Reforms

• His father, King Ahaz, was an ungodly king who encouraged idolatry, neglected worship, and shut the doors of the temple. 

• Ahaz also made a political treaty with Assyria rather than trusting God — relying on man instead of the Lord 

• When Hezekiah became king, he enacted sweeping reforms: 

  • Reopened and repaired the temple

  • Sanctified the priests and Levites

  • Removed high places of idolatrous worship

  • Destroyed the bronze serpent Moses had made, because the people had begun burning incense to it — a powerful lesson that what God once used can become an idol if people place confidence in the object rather than God Himself - It was noted: "You cannot allow the memory of something God once did to replace your present obedience to God Himself." 

  • Renewed the observance of Passover (2 Chronicles 30), restoring the nation's covenant memory

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Lesson Content: Hezekiah's Illness and Prayer

The Diagnosis and Response

• The prophet Isaiah delivered a message from God: Hezekiah was to set his house in order because he would die. 

• Hezekiah had a boil, though the full medical diagnosis is not specified in Scripture; the condition was life-threatening. 

• Rather than panicking or blaming God, Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed, weeping bitterly before the Lord. 

• Elder Strickland emphasized: faith does not mean you will never cry, never be afraid, or always understand what God is doing — "sometimes faith looks like a person with tears running down their face who still believes God is worth calling upon." 

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God's Answer

• Before Isaiah had even left the middle court, God reversed the message: He had heard Hezekiah's prayer, seen his tears, and promised healing — adding 15 years to Hezekiah's life. 

• God also gave Hezekiah a miraculous sign: the shadow moved backwards 10 degrees on the structure associated with Ahaz, confirming the promise. 

• Elder Strickland cautioned against misreading this account as a formula: God is sovereign; He does not promise physical healing in every situation. Sometimes He restores health, sometimes He gives strength through the struggle, and sometimes believers must trust Him even when the outcome differs from what they asked. 

 

Prayer and Medical Treatment Together

• The central verse, Isaiah 38:21, records Isaiah instructing that a lump of fig (a poultice) be applied to Hezekiah's boil as part of his treatment. 

• Elder Strickland and the group agreed: trusting God and seeking appropriate medical care are not opposites. 

• Participants affirmed this unanimously when asked whether faith means refusing medical treatment — the answer was a clear "No." 

•  Noted that God placed medical professionals on earth for a reason, and even Paul traveled with a physician.  

• Added historical context: people have long used herbs and natural remedies, and reliance on God does not exclude responsible use of available treatments. 

•  Summarized: "God can heal us all kinds of ways — through doctors, through medicine. We just have to put our faith and trust in Him and know He is the source of our healing." Added that prayer offered over  medication taken. 

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Lesson Content: Pride After Blessing

The Babylonian Visitors

• After Hezekiah's recovery, Berodach-Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift — likely motivated in part by political interest in building an alliance against Assyria. 

• Hezekiah welcomed the visitors and showed them everything: silver, gold, spices, precious ointments, armor — nothing of value was withheld. 

• 2 Chronicles 32 reveals the spiritual diagnosis: Hezekiah's heart became lifted up — pride had become a problem after receiving God's blessing.

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Isaiah's Confrontation

• Isaiah came to Hezekiah and asked two pointed questions: "Who were these men? Where did they come from? What have they seen in your house?" 

• Hezekiah admitted they had seen everything.

• Isaiah then delivered a prophecy: the treasures Hezekiah had displayed, and even some of his descendants, would one day be carried away to Babylon. 

• The facilitator was careful to clarify: Babylon's eventual destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC was not caused solely by this one act — it was connected to a much larger history of Judah's covenant unfaithfulness — but Hezekiah's actions were spiritually serious. 

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The Danger of Prosperity

• Elder Strickland's key contrast: when Hezekiah was sick, he turned his face to the wall; when the visitors arrived, he opened the doors of his treasure — two moments revealing very different spiritual postures. 

• The lesson: "Don't assume that the only dangerous season of your life is a season when everything is going wrong. Sometimes prosperity presents temptation that adversity could never." 

• This can affect anyone — pastors, business owners, ministry leaders, parents, young people. The pattern: God opens a door → we start thinking the door opened because of how impressive we are. 

• The difference between gratitude (recognizing God as the source) and pride (placing confidence in the gift itself) was highlighted as the critical distinction. 

• The same intensity that we seek God in sickness and in bad times, we need to seek Him that much more in the good times." 

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Lesson Content: Stewardship of Blessing and Time

• A blessing is not simply something to enjoy — it is something to steward. 

• Hezekiah's written reflection (Isaiah 38:9 onward) functions as a personal testimony: fear of dying, bitterness of the experience, and ultimately gratitude and praise to God. 

• Key principle: "When God brings you through something, your testimony should not stop with you." The survivor's story can encourage someone currently facing what they survived. 

• The facilitator connected this to stewardship of time, noting that daylight saving time (falling back) serves as a reminder that time slips away — "before you know it, it's 12 o'clock and what did I do with my time?" 

• The central question of the lesson: What happens after God answers? After healing, after the door opens, after the burden lifts — do we grow more faithful, or do we drift back to self-reliance? 

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Lesson Content: Faithfulness Across Generations

Hezekiah → Manasseh

• Hezekiah was granted 15 additional years, during which his son Manasseh was born (Manasseh was 12 when he began to reign — 2 Kings 21). 

• Despite his father's godly reforms, Manasseh became one of Judah's most notorious wicked kings: 

  • Rebuilt the high places Hezekiah had removed

  • Established altars for Baal

  • Practiced occult religion

  • Placed a graven image in the house of God

• Participants noted Manasseh more closely resembled his grandfather Ahaz than his father Hezekiah. 

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Manasseh's Repentance

• 2 Chronicles 33 — often overlooked — records that Manasseh was taken captive, and in his distress he humbled himself before God, prayed, and was restored to Jerusalem and his kingdom. 

• This does not erase the damage of his earlier actions, but it reveals the mercy of God: "Even a person with a horrible history is not beyond a call to repent." 

• It was noted: something Hezekiah instilled in those 12 years together stuck — Manasseh's eventual prayer and repentance suggests the Word planted in him as a child came back. 

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The Generational Principle

• One person's faithfulness does not automatically transfer to the next generation — children must come to know God for themselves. 

• The group cited Proverbs 22:6: "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." 

• Even if a child wanders, when trouble or success comes, they will remember God — but only if the Word was first instilled in them. 

• A personal example from participant: her grandson, when his mother faced a job loss due to a company merger, came to her and said, "Grandma, we gotta pray." — evidence that the faith passed down was alive in the next generation. 

• The question for every believer: "What am I leaving behind? Not just financially — but what kind of example, what kind of teaching, what kind of faith am I helping somebody else develop?" 

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Five Teaching Points (Elder Strickland)

1. Faithful people can still experience suffering — Hezekiah's illness was not proof of unfaithfulness; suffering does not equal spiritual failure. People in pain need compassion before explanation. 

2. Prayer belongs at the center of our relationship with God — not merely an emergency response. Hezekiah did not hide his tears or pretend strength; believers can bring fears, questions, and burdens before God. 

3. Prayer and appropriate medical treatment can go together — the fig poultice and God's healing promise appeared together in Scripture; trusting God and following qualified medical guidance are not mutually exclusive. 

4. Prosperity can test character just as adversity can — Hezekiah's pride after his recovery contrasts sharply with his humility during sickness. Some of the most important decisions are made when everything appears to be going well. 

5. Spiritual influence should extend beyond our lifetime — our faithfulness must reach the next generation through prayer, Scripture, and living example — not only financial inheritance. 

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Participant Discussion Highlights:

• Emphasized that going through hardship as a believer is "part of the package" — it doesn't mean one isn't serving God. God sometimes allows difficult things so He can receive glory through the outcome, citing Bishop Richard White's song "Accept What God Allows." 

• Connected this to Lazarus: his sickness was "for the glory of God that people may see what God can do." God allows things beyond our understanding so He can receive glory. 

• Reinforced the generational inheritance theme — leaving the Word of God and a living example matters more than material possessions. 

• Reflected personally: "The more you know about God, the more you rely on Him." He acknowledged past seasons of self-reliance and credited growing knowledge of God with changing that posture. 

• Ahaz relied on political alliances rather than God —  Ahaz's treaty with Assyria instead of trusting the Lord. 

• Affirmed the lesson's quality and highlighted the need for the same intensity of seeking God in good times as in bad — Hezekiah's drift into pride after intense prayer being the cautionary example.