“And I will add to your days fifteen years. 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 the sake of My servant David.” Then Isaiah said, “Take a lump of figs.” So they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. (2 Kings 20:6-7)

Figs And Faith

Hezekiah was the thirteenth king of the southern kingdom of Judah. In contrast to his father, Ahaz, Hezekiah was a king who loved the Lord and did what was right in the sight of God. He inherited the throne at age twenty-five, ruling for twenty-nine years. At thirty-nine, Hezekiah developed a boil that made him sick nigh unto death. Isaiah went to Hezekiah and told him to set his house in order, for he would die and not live. Hezekiah prayed fervently to the Lord with bitter tears pleading for his life. Before Isaiah could leave the palace, the Lord told the prophet that Hezekiah’s prayer had been heard. Through the mercy of God, the king would enjoy fifteen years of life.

The power of God to heal is instantaneous in many cases. Jesus healed the multitudes of all diseases and infirmities. Many of those the Lord healed experienced the cure immediately. The paralytic man delivered to Jesus through the roof was told to rise from his bed and go to his house. He immediately stood up, took his bed, and went out in the presence of them all. Jesus healed a blind man by spitting on the ground and making clay from the saliva. He then anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. The blind man was not healed immediately. Jesus told him to go to the pool of Siloam (still blind) and wash. The blind man went to the pool and washed and was made whole.

When Isaiah told Hezekiah he would not die, the king rejoiced in his heart. Hearing that he had fifteen more years to live would have given him a more profound love for the God he served. However, the boil had not been removed at the word of Isaiah, and the king remained near death’s door. Isaiah told the servants of Hezekiah to take a lump of figs and press it on the boil. When the cake of figs was placed on the boil, the king recovered. God could have removed the boil immediately, but He chose not to do so. If the king had rejected the fig remedy, he would have died. God promised to give Hezekiah fifteen years, but the king had to obey the word of the Lord. Without his faith in the promises of God and placing the figs on the boil, the king would have died. Like Abraham, Hezekiah found faith working together with his works, and by works, faith was made perfect. The king was justified by works when he placed the fig remedy on the boil. You see then that a man is justified by placing the cake of figs on the boil and not by faith only.