To Read: Isaiah 7:7-14
Thus says the Lord God:
“‘It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass.
8 For the head of Syria is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you[a] are not firm in faith,
you will not be firm at all.’”
10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: 11 “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” 13 And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Ahaz, to whom this prophecy is given, is one of the worst kings in Judah’s history. Judah is the southern kingdom in Israel, and while all kings of the Northern kingdom were unfaithful to God, the southern kingdom of Judah, had some good kings and some bad. Ahaz did what was evil in God’s eyes (2 Kings 16:2), and even burned his own son as an offering to a pagan God. The prophecy of the baby to be born comes in the midst of a tumultuous time for God’s people, while the northern kingdom was in league with other nations in order to attack the southern kingdom. God’s people were divided and at war – and while Ahaz should have trusted God’s Word of protection on his behalf, he refused to trust the Lord.
Here Ahaz offers a hypocritical, false statement of faith when he says he will not put the Lord to the test. God invites him to ask for a sign, and even says this sign will be massive – as deep as Sheol and as high as heaven. This is just God’s way of saying, ‘ask for something big!’ And even in the refusal of Ahaz, God gives his sign: a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and will be called Immanuel.
We will talk more in this series about the significance of the virgin birth – but for today, let’s focus on this name: Immanuel – it means, ” God with us”. What a surprise this would have been, 700 years before the birth of Jesus, that God’s presence with mankind would begin at birth – a baby. He will not come down in a blazing ball of fire, but he would be born in a feed trough. Immanuel means that he would be with us in every way he could: he would experience a full life – including the hardships of being in a refugee family, living in poverty, working for a living, and eventually being despised, rejected, and killed.
But see that God gives this sign in the worst of times, not the best of times. He sees the world not as a place that needed improvement, but as a place that needed desperate rescue – and the prophecy of the baby comes at such a strange and unexpected time. But it shows us that despite the worst circumstances, Jesus loves to come to our rescue.
Song to Sing: Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Pay close attention to the opening lyrics in this one: “God and sinners reconciled!”
Echoes of Eden: Have you ever been to a symphony show where they play the Hallelujah Chorus as part of Handel’s Messiah? Amazingly, people stand when this is played, which is a tradition started by King George II, who stood during this part of the music in 1743. If you ever get to witness it, it’s marvelous.