The Promise of Immanuel Isaiah 7:1-16 FBC Rhinelander
One hot summer day, a lady picked up a few groceries and placed them in the rear seat and forgot about them as she went to the office for work. At the end of the day she entered her car in the parking lot when she heard a loud bang and then felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. She screamed and then held her hands behind her head when someone walked by and asked, “Are you OK?”
The woman answered, “I’ve been shot in the head, and I’m holding my brains in.”
Well, it wasn’t her brains.
It was dough. A Pillsbury biscuit canister had exploded in the back seat, apparently from the heat, which made a loud explosion and shot the dough onto the back of the woman’s head. (“Strange World,” Campus Life, Vol. 56, no. 2; www.PreachingToday.com)
That woman’s story reveals the fact that a lot of people live in fear. They hear about trouble all over the world and worry that they too are going to be affected. Worry leads every other issue for people, since the 2001 Twin Towers attack, one of the major concerns among Americans is national security.
Many people today in the 21st Century are uncertain of their future. Maybe it’s the continued unrest in the Middle East or worries about finances, health, and family stability.
We are blessed with the knowledge of what God’s Word has to say about being frightful. I invite you to turn with me to Isaiah 7, where God sent the prophet Isaiah to a group of people shaking with fear like leaves on a tree.
Isaiah 7:1-2 “Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but could not prevail against it. And it was told to the house of David, saying, ‘Syria’s forces are deployed in Ephraim.’ So his heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.”
These two nations rose up from the north to conquer Judah. Ahaz was the eleventh king of Judah, son of Jotham, and reigned between 741-726, around sixteen years. He was once a wise and gifted King who introduced the sun-dial. During His reign, Rezin, king of Damascus and Pekah, king of Israel formed an alliance against Judah, and they proceeded to lay siege to the city of Jerusalem. Meanwhile the Philistines were invading the west and south. 2 Kings 16; 2 Chronicles 28.
Charles Schulz wrote a cartoon strip how Charlie Brown expressed fear when he said, “I have a new philosophy. I’m only going to dread one day at a time.” (James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, p.107).
So, is the best choice to fear? Isaiah chapter 7 tells us how we should overcome our fears. Note what God has to say to King Ahaz and the people in Isaiah 7.
Isaiah 7:3-4 “Then the LORD said to Isaiah, ‘Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field,’ and say to him: ‘Take heed, and be quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah.’”
God said that His people should not be afraid of their enemies, because they are but “smoldering stumps of firebrands.” In other words, they are like a couple of short sticks left over after a campfire. Oh, there might be a little smoke yet, but there is not much left and soon they’ll be forgotten. In fact, the two men leading the attack against Judah and the city of Jerusalem died just a couple of years after Isaiah told this prophecy.
So, what does God say to us feeling fearful today? He says; don’t be afraid of any enemy. Because they’re nothing, they’re here today, but gone tomorrow.
Isaiah 7:5-7 “Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, ‘Let us go up against Judah and trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them, the son of Tabel’ — thus says the Lord GOD: ‘It shall not stand, Nor shall it come to pass.’”
One of the provisions, as a child of God, is to know peace because we know that every day is under God’s control.
Isaiah 7:8-9a “For the head of Syria is Damascus, And the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken, So, that it will not be a people. The head of Ephraim is Samaria, And the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son.”
God knows of the evils of this world; there will be men who think they can stand before the God of the Universe and devise evil. But they will not prosper long. But God desires that His people put their trust in Him.
The people of Judah were to depend on God Himself, who is bigger than any man and any problem they would encounter.
Look at the second part of verse 9. There, God says,” If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.”
In other words, if you are weak in faith, you will be weak in life; but if you are strong in your faith, you will stand strong against any enemy. That truth is good for us today. We don’t have to be intimidated when we are on the Lord’s side.
“A pastor was walking along a board walk on the beach front with two friends. They walked past a bar where a fight had been going on inside. The fight had spilled out into the street, just like in an old western. Several guys were beating up on another guy, and he was bleeding from the forehead. Reluctantly the pastor and his friends knew they had to do something, so they decided to break up the fight… we walked over and said, ‘Hey, you guys, cut that out!’ but they seemed as if they didn’t hear it because it didn’t do much good.”
“But then, all of a sudden, the attackers stopped and stared at them with fear in their eyes. The guys who had been beating up on the one guy started to slink away. The Pastor and his three friends didn’t know why until they turned and looked behind them. There stood the biggest man they had ever seen. He was well over 6 feet tall, about 300 pounds, but 2 percent body fat. A HULK LIKE GUY. They nick named him bubba!”
“Bubba didn’t say a word. He just stood there and flexed, as he was hoping the trouble-makers would try and have a go at him. All of a sudden, the three men’s attitude was transformed, and the pastor turned to say to those guys, ‘You better not let us catch you coming around here again!’”
“But because they had great, big Bubba right behind them. They felt ready to confront and resolve the conflict without any anxiety and fear. They were filled with boldness and confidence. Why? because they were convinced that they had support and were safe.” (John Ortberg, in his sermon Big God/Little God, www.PreachingToday.com)
Those who depend on the Lord have something better than a great, big, 300-pound Bubba. We have the “I Am” God of the Universe, “Who cannot be contained even in the highest heaven.” (1 Kings 8:27).
We shouldn’t let fear control us or be intimidated by anyone or anything. Instead, we need to move forward with life, and do what God has called us to do. Serve the Lord with a strong faith in Him. Trust in the Lord, first of all. And then 2nd…
HOPE IN HIS PROMISE.
In Isaiah chapter 7, during a time when everybody else is afraid, God gave a great assurance that His people would not be alone or be crushed. The promise was in God’s foretelling of a virgin-born Son; the Messiah, the Deliverer. That’s what God wants King Ahaz to do, Trust in His promise to provide for him and the people!
Isaiah 7:10-11 Moreover the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying, “Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.”
In other words, Ahaz was to ask for any sign that he wanted. Ask for anything that he needed to prove that God would keep His Word.
Isaiah 7:12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the LORD!”
Ahaz DID NOT ask for a sign even though God told him to do so. Do you see a gracious God in this account who wanted to reassure this king that He is faithful to His word and His people?
But there are always some people who do not believe because like Ahaz, it’s too big of a faith step to take.
One person like that was in the 18th Century, a French Atheist named Voltaire. He said, “If a miracle occurred in the market place of Paris and in the presence of 2,000 men, I would rather disbelieve my own eyes and the 2,000.” Even if he had clear evidence for God, he would still refuse to believe.
And that’s the way it is for some people, who in the face of evidence that God exists, still choose not to believe God. There is the unmistakable evidence of the irreducibly complex design in the universe, from the microscopic to the telescopic level. Historically we have the unmistakable evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the empty tomb, stipulated even by Jesus’ enemies, to the testimonies that are sealed in martyrdom, and the many witnesses to His resurrection. And then there is the unmistakable evidence of transformed lives from those who trust Christ as their Savior.
Today there are plenty of signs to confirm faith in God. But still people will not trust Him by faith. Notice what God told Ahaz and the people. This prophecy came at a time when Judah was nearly wiped out. There was not much for any person to hope in, but God!
Isaiah 7:13-14 “Then he (Isaiah) said, ‘Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”
God graciously gave a sign to King Ahaz and to all, whether they chose to believe it or not. The sign would be the impossible against all possibility the Messiah would be born to a virgin! A woman will give birth to the Deliverer of not just Judah but the world! Wow! What a sign!
The prophet Isaiah was sent to give advice and encouragement to Ahaz, to tell him these will be failed attacks. Isaiah 7:8-9. Yet these threats made Ahaz fearful and he forfeited God’s protection and sought deliverance from these enemies and troubles by appealing to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, who freed him from his most formidable enemies. But Ahaz purchased this help at a costly price; he became tributary to Tiglath-pileser. He and his nation became weak, He became an idolater, sought safety in idol worship and even made his son pass through the fire to Molech. He later consults wizards and necromancers ( those who speak to the dead). (Isaiah 8:19) and other idolatrous practices. (2 Kings 23:12). When he died at the age of 36, he was refused a burial with the kings and his ancestors of David because of His wickedness against God. (2 Chronicles 28:27)
In a 2008 survey, a group found that 10 percent of U.S. adults drove a car while it had a “Check Engine” light on. Of those surveyed, 50 percent of them said that their cars also had signs of other impending problems for over 3 months. 10 percent of them said the light had been on between 1–2 months.
Kristin Brocoff, marketing manager for CarMD.com, says it’s a particularly troubling statistic, because “the U.S. government put the on-board diagnostic system in place to… alert drivers when their vehicle had a problem. The check engine lights purpose was to signify something potentially costly or dangerous to the passengers or others on the road.”
The survey found that drivers had a whole litany of excuses for ignoring the light. Some ignored it, because the car seemed to be “running fine.” Others pointed to a lack of sufficient funds. Still others said they just didn’t have time to get their car fixed. (“Snapshots: How long the light’s been on,” USA Today, 6-22-08; www.PreachingToday.com)
Trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior, could be compared to the “check engine” light of your life! Ignore it or refusing to believe God, like King Ahaz did, can only lead to undesired circumstances. For Ahaz and for us, the virgin birth is a sign to believe by faith, but it also a sign that will condemn those who refuse to believe.
John 3:18 says, “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
This sign was for those who chose to believe God. The virgin birth of the Messiah was a sign of deliverance for all who trust Him.
Isaiah 7:15-16 “Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.”
In other words, in the time that it takes for the Child to be old enough to know the difference between right and wrong, Judah’s enemies will be laid waste. That is what happened. Within about 3-5 years both the land of Syria and the land of Israel became desolate.
Three years later God raised up Tiglath-Pileser III, king of Assyria, who destroyed both Damascus and Israel in 732 B.C. The two nations that had threatened Judah and the city of Jerusalem were gone and for a time the people of Judah were saved.
However, there was no virgin-birth in Ahaz’ day. This prophecy awaited a much greater fulfillment, which didn’t come until 700 years later, when Jesus was born in Judah of Bethlehem. At that time, when Joseph (a descendant of Ahaz; Matt 1:9), found that his fiancé was pregnant and wanted to call off the engagement, an angel said to him, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear (Maybe like his ancestor Ahaz!) to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21).
The rest of the passage says, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means God with us)” (Matthew 1:22-23). (“God with us”) If God be for us who can be against us? Romans 8:31
Matthew, in his Gospel, makes it very clear. The virgin birth of Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy recorded in Isaiah 7:14. Jesus, the virgin-born son of Mary, is God with us, who came to save all people!
Importantly, that means God knows that there is an even bigger threat, than Judah had, in Isaiah’s day. In fact, there is a greater threat than any political or foreign enemy. The threat we face is our sinful state. Sin will condemn us to hell for eternity. I think a similar thing happened to Ahaz, when he died; his body was refused burial in His ancestral home. The same is true of people who refuse God’s sign of Jesus virgin birth, death and resurrection. They will be refused rest in eternity!
Every person needs a Savior from sin, and that’s why Jesus came. That’s why God put on human flesh and dwelt among us, so He could pay the price for our sins on the cross and rise again. And now He offers the assurance of His presence and eternal life to anyone who will put their trust in Him.
A little boy was scared, because he had to walk past a dark, spooky house each evening on his way home from school. However, there were some adults in his life who tried to help.
One gave him a good-luck charm.
Another put up a street light in front of the house.
Still another scolded him: “It’s sinful to be afraid; trust God and be brave.”
But none of these things helped the boy.
Then finally, an adult came along who said, “I know what it’s like to be afraid. I will walk with you past the house.”
That’s what God does for us in Jesus Christ. He did not send us good luck charms. He did not just give us a light or words of discouragement.
God is our protector in this life. In Hebrews 13:5-6 “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So, we may boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
Can Jesus walk with you today? He will, but we must have faith. You must put your trust in this virgin-born son of Mary, Jesus, the one who came to save people from their sins.
It is foolish to resist like Ahaz did. God provided, all you need to start relying on Him today. Trust in the Lord, and hope in His promise.
During this Christmas season, if you have any fear or worry that you might have because of the turmoil going on in the world, or maybe in your life, please know that God yearns for and desires your joy. It’s not wise to find a way to protect yourself when God has promised to do that for you. Instead, embrace the love He has for you. Put your trust in the Lord and dare to hope in His ways.
Psalm 34:8-10 “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.