S) "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."
2 Kings 20:9-11 (NASB)
O) For this entry, I am choosing to ignore v.8, where Hezekiah asked for a sign. The topic of asking for signs is a deep, separate issue. In this anecdotal example, the LORD also seems to have ignored the negatives about asking for signs, when His people should simply believe the message of His prophets. Moving forward, we read that Isaiah presented a choice of signs to the king. The first option seemed to be much more aligned with the way the natural world works (hence the king's response that it would be an easy thing). We can only infer that the way this particular staircase was positioned, that as the sun moved through the sky, the shadow came down the steps. Instead, Hezekiah sought the more difficult thing, that the shadow would move backwards, in what can be termed: an unnatural motion. This is, without a doubt, a miracle of potentially astronomical proportions. In the ancient world, the scope of this miracle may not have seemed as enormous. Now, given what we know about astronomy, it has much different implications. In the ancient world, people had a geo-centric view of the universe. Even as they began to chart stars, realizing some as constant through the sky, and some as "walking" or "wandering" (terms we translated later to mean "planet"), they still understood the earth as the stationary constant. Now, modern sciences show us how nothing in the universe is stationary, perhaps least of all: Earth. The Sun doesn't actually "rise" in the east, so much as our planet spins in a direction, that our east is the first side to face the sun. Our earth is spinning a full revolution every 24 hours. With some calculations, we can figure that the city of Jerusalem is moving (around the axis of the earth) at roughly 880 mph. For God to stop the earth from spinning, in order to reverse the direction a shadow is falling, would mean bringing 880 mph to a stop. How, and why, and the details of such an arrest are surely beyond our understanding. However, is that the only option? After all, I certainly submit, and fully believe, that God is all-powerful. The shadow clearly reversed it's motion... but how did God do it, exactly? Could God have reverse the spin of the earth? Yes. Would that be potentially catastrophic? Of course. Could God have done it and protected us? Certainly. But, is there another way? Couldn't God have simply used an alternative light source to create such a shadow movement? Plenty of angels are described as unbearably bright. There are lots of references throughout the Bible, about God being light, Himself... In fact, as long as we're on the subject of what God could do, it is certainly possible for God to move a shadow, without altering any light sources! God is indeed omnipotent, so He really could have done this sign however He wanted, even with methods I cannot conceive.
A) Why did I bring all of this up? Well, I love math. That's one reason. Also, because I have heard a lot of people try to reason how God did certain things. In fact, I once watched a special on TV, trying to scientifically breakdown all ten plagues from Exodus, plus the crossing of the Red Sea, and the pillar of smoke by day and fire by night. But why? It seems sometimes we search for details of how and why, but miss the bigger point. This story reminds me that it is a dangerous path, trying to discern how miracles happen. Even still, I have found myself tempted to think too long about this very same thing, even when I am praying for a miracle in my own life! For one thing, this is what atheists and antichrists do, when trying to assert that belief in God and Christ are foolishness! I don't think I really want to be asking the same questions they are asking, when they are trying to tear down Christianity. Another thing, this type of questioning misses the much bigger point: God gave a sign! Regardless of how God made the shadow reverse, the simple truth is that He did it! So, rather than spending time asking, "How did God give the sign?" I need to be asking, "What does the sign say?"! This is the case for the miracles of the Bible (not how was Christ able to be raised in a physical world? but what does the Resurrection say?), and miracles in my own life (not who did this bill come to be paid on my behalf? but what does God want me to know, that His grace pays my debts?).
P) Father, Your goodness is plain and Your power is evident, but I am easily distracted. Your grace has been all over my life, from my very birth, all the way until this very day. I don't want to miss the forest for the trees, though. Give me eyes that remain open, Lord, that I will recognize Your miracles where they are. Give me ears that remain open, that I will hear the message You want me to hear, when I revognize those miracles. Don't let me be distracted by detailed questions of no consequence. Let me still approach life with critical thinking, but help me to not lose sight of the better goals. Help me to seek You, not just miracles. Help me to recognize Your character, not just Your actions. Let me know You, not only the wonderful things You have done. Yet, not my will, but Yours be done. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.
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