{"id":64374,"date":"2019-10-15T10:35:29","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T07:35:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=64374"},"modified":"2023-05-09T12:43:12","modified_gmt":"2023-05-09T09:43:12","slug":"hezekiah-vs-isaiah-who-knows-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/hezekiah-vs-isaiah-who-knows-best\/","title":{"rendered":"Hezekiah vs. Isaiah: Who Knows Best?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[783,898,451,940,506,571],"acf":{"old_id":"64374","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34250,"related_cahpter":"329","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Bottom line: while we can\u2019t cheat fate, we can do our best, and hope - and pray - for it to work out","content":"

The Talmud\u2019s account of the exchange between King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah in the beginning of II Kings chapter 20 reminds me of the movie <\/span>Minority Report<\/span><\/em> and the questions it raises about acting in the present to prevent crimes of the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the Talmud (Berachot 10a), Hezekiah tried something similar. He perceived prophetically that he would produce wicked children, and chose not to marry rather than risk bringing such children into the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the king falls ill, the prophet Isaiah informs him that death is imminent, because of his failure to do due diligence towards the mitzvah of procreation. Hezekiah\u2019s good intentions, his desire to prevent the crimes of his future child, do not move the prophet, who responds: \u201cWhy are you getting involved with God\u2019s secrets? You must do what you are commanded, and God will do as He pleases.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ok, then,<\/em> <\/span>says Hezekiah.<\/span> If you think there\u2019s a chance my marrying could be a good thing, how about I marry your daughter?<\/span><\/em> \u201cMaybe my merit and her merit combined will produce virtuous children.\u201d Isaiah protests that the decree is already set, and the king kicks him out.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why won\u2019t Isaiah support the king\u2019s repentance by allowing him to marry his daughter? The Talmud\u2019s account implies Isaiah thought the marriage would be too little too late, that the king\u2019s death was already decreed; Hezekiah kicked him out because he realized he knew better than the prophet about hope. He could take it from there on his own, and pray for forgiveness and recovery \u2013 because no decree is truly set in stone.<\/span><\/p>\n

But I wonder if Isaiah was making another point. Hezekiah sinned because he hoped it would cheat fate, and he initially attempts to repent for that sin with the same perspective: trying to circumvent the destiny he knows is in store, this time through fancy merit mathematics. The prophet, however, responds by reiterating his earlier message: What we might call \u201cfate\u201d or \u201cdestiny\u201d is in God\u2019s hands, subject to His plans \u2013 not yours. You do what you are responsible to do, and let God worry about the rest; for if He has indeed already decreed that destiny, none of your tricks will change it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe they were both right.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We are not prophets and can\u2019t see future negative results of our positive actions \u2013 but we might easily examine the same trajectory in the reverse, questioning our positive actions when we see the negatives they enabled. Too often we wallow in the past, regretting our choices because of what we know now even though we never could have known it then.<\/span><\/p>\n

Isaiah reminds us that in the present, we can only do our best. We are responsible for our jobs, not God\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet as Hezekiah demonstrates, we should never lose hope. We can do our best to choose options with the greatest likelihood of success, and we can always pray that the results will be as He, and we, please.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":64376,"id":64376,"title":"2kings20-IsaiahandHezekiah","filename":"2kings20-IsaiahandHezekiah.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings20-IsaiahandHezekiah.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/hezekiah-vs-isaiah-who-knows-best\/2kings20-isaiahandhezekiah\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2kings20-isaiahandhezekiah","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":64374,"date":"2019-10-15 07:35:14","modified":"2019-10-15 07:35:24","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":566,"height":387,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings20-IsaiahandHezekiah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings20-IsaiahandHezekiah-300x205.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":205,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings20-IsaiahandHezekiah.jpg","medium_large-width":566,"medium_large-height":387,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings20-IsaiahandHezekiah.jpg","large-width":566,"large-height":387,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings20-IsaiahandHezekiah.jpg","1536x1536-width":566,"1536x1536-height":387,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings20-IsaiahandHezekiah.jpg","2048x2048-width":566,"2048x2048-height":387,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings20-IsaiahandHezekiah.jpg","post_full_size-width":566,"post_full_size-height":387,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings20-IsaiahandHezekiah.jpg","home_baner-width":566,"home_baner-height":387}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Hezekiah vs. Isaiah: Who Knows Best?\u00a0","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Bottom line: while we can\u2019t cheat fate, we can do our best, and hope - 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