When the prophet Isaiah prayed for a sign to confirm that King Hezekiah would recover from his illness, God performed one of the most spectacular miracles in all of scripture: the sun moved backward in the sky. The shadow on the sundial retreated ten steps, as though time itself had reversed its course.
Far away in Babylon, King Merodach-Baladan woke up in a panic. The sun was in the wrong place. He had overslept — or so he thought. He had missed his morning ritual of bowing to the sun god, and he was terrified that the heavens would punish him for the oversight. He raged at his servants. He demanded to know how they had let him sleep so late.
His advisors calmed him and explained what had actually happened: the sun had moved backward over the land of Israel, a miracle performed by the God of the Jews on behalf of their sick king. Merodach was astonished. A god powerful enough to reverse the course of the sun? He immediately dictated a letter of greeting to Hezekiah, wishing him well.
But in his first draft, Merodach placed his own name before the name of God. When the messenger had already departed, Merodach realized his error. He leaped from his throne and took three steps to chase down the messenger and recall the letter. He rewrote it, placing God's name first and his own name after.
For those three steps of humility, God rewarded Merodach with three royal descendants who became kings. Three steps. That was all it took to earn a dynasty.