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10/4/12. Isaiah 7:1-25. THE SIGN OF IMMANUEL-devotional

10/4/12. Isaiah 7:1-25. THE SIGN OF IMMANUEL-devotional

Isaiah 7:1-25
Key Verse: 7:14

Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF  Thursday, October 4, 2012

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

Dear Lord, thank you for your salvation that saves our souls and brings us near to you. Thank you for bringing friends into our lives. I especially thank you for Dave and Aurora whom we will see. Bless the time together. Bless the Network of Nations dinner. May we support them and may the Gospel be preached to non believers from other lands. Please grant me your word in my heart. I pray in Jesus’ holy name. Amen!

Part 1: Stand Firm in Your Faith (1-9).

Verses 1-9, “When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it. 2 Now the house of David was told, “Aram has allied itself with Ephraim”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind. 3 Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field. 4 Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood—because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah. 5 Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’sson have plotted your ruin, saying, 6 “Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.” 7 Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “‘It will not take place, it will not happen, 8 for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is only Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people. 9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.’”

When Aram and Israel joined up to attack Jerusalem, all the people, even King Ahaz, were shaken. But Isaiah and his son met Ahaz with the word of the Lord: “Don’t be afraid” (4). Isaiah helped the king to see what God was doing. The kings of Aram and Israel looked frightening to Ahaz, but they were two smoldering stubs of firewood. The Lord was working and ruling over all things. It was not the time to be afraid . It was the time to stand firm in faith and depend on the Lord.

I really like the verse, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” There are times when we want shrink back and avoid the mission or the cross that God is leading us into. We become fearful, hesitant with queasy feelings in our stomachs when we face the daunting task that God has before us. But we must learn to stand firm in our faith. We need to embrace challenges. We need to embrace things that are bigger than what we can accomplish. Students find themselves in this situation. They can learn faith. I found myself in that situation when I went to Uganda. I am facing the same situation as the mission to the First Nations unfolds. Everything without and within tells me to hide away and not bother anyone and just get my own business done. I need to stand firm in my faith or I will not stand at all.
Students need to stand firm in their faith or they will not stand at all. They say that 50% of Christian students, who believe in Jesus when they go into university, do not believe in Jesus when they come out of university. It is a spiritual battle ground. It is a place where people have to seriously assess what they believe and then they need to stand firm in their faith or they will not stand at all. I pray for the students of NIU to stand firm in their faith. I pray for my own kids to stand firm in their faith, or they will not stand firm at all.

What do I need to stand firm in the Lord, nowadays? I need to stand firm in the Lord, that he will help all of my children to have independent faith and that they will seek the Lord with all of their hearts. I need to know that as I stand firm God will help Julie and my kids and I be one the same page in regards to Christian mission. I need to stand firm that I will grow as a compassionate shepherd of the flock of God that can raise disciples of Jesus among students. I need to stand firm that God will here my prayer to make me into a missionary one day. But I know that I need to stand firm in my faith.

Part 2: Immanuel (10-25).

Verse 10-25, “10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.” 13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. 15 He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, 16 for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. 17 The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.” 18 In that day the LORD will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria. 19 They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices in the rocks, on all the thorn bushes and at all the water holes. 20 In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria—to shave your head and private parts, and to cut off your beard also. 21 In that day, a person will keep alive a young cow and two goats. 22 And because of the abundance of the milk they give, there will be curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds and honey. 23 In that day, in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be only briers and thorns. 24 Hunters will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns. 25 As for all the hills once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns; they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run.”

The Lord told Ahaz to ask him for a sign, but Ahaz refused. The Lord would give him the sign he did not ask for. He promised that a virgin would give birth to a child and call him Immanuel, “God with us.” A simple reading of this passage does not indicate that this virgin is Mary or Jesus. It means that a child will be a sign. A child will be born and when the child can reject the wrong and choose the right, which is about 2 years old or so, then two kings (of Aram and Israel)  would be vanquished and the Assyrians would come in and do lots of damage and take people of the Northern Kingdom off into exile. Then the northern Israel would be plunged into idol worship. Judah would almost be sacked but eventually spared from Assyria and carry on the faith. It doesn’t seem like good news. But apparently it is because in the midst of their suffering God will be with them. God would deliver Judah after much anguish and God would preserve a remnant.

The Lord also promised that he would send Jesus to be with us in all things. Mt 1:22-23, reads, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).” He sent Jesus to come and dwell among sinners. He loves and prayed and served and healed. He poured out his life to help others and lead them to the kingdom of God. Then, at the end of his earthly ministry he suffered and died on the cross as the Lamb of God. He bore the sin of the world on himself. After his suffering, death and resurrection, Jesus ascended to heaven. He sent us the promised Holy Spirit. The holy God can now be with us because he suffered and died on the cross for our sins and can forgive us. Now the holy can be with the unholy. He can also be with us because he wants to be with us. He loves us and wants to be our shepherd each and every day. He can also dwell in the hearts of all believers through his Holy Spirit. In this way he is our Immanuel.

In keeping with this passage in Isaiah, Jesus is God with us in the midst of terrible events and even when the terrible events seem to be getting worse. This seems to be the gist of this passage. This flies in the face of the nice encouraging Christmas card interpretation of this verse. Let’s face it. God does not promise everything to go well and he does not promise all things to be joyful and nice after we believe. But he promises to be with us through it all and bring us through it all.

I have no aches and pains. I have a career and a family and I live in nice quiet suburb. But I do have my inner sufferings of the heart. But even though I am not jumping for joy every day, I can not deny that Jesus is with me. He is getting me through it all. He is at my side comforting my heart, counseling me and planting hope in me. He is working in my situation and in my interpersonal relationships. He is helping my family to be family where the gospel can be communicated to the world. But it is not being done in a “bed of bed of roses” but rather in a “refiner’s fire.” I rejoice in the fact that Jesus is with me.
Prayer: Lord, I am subject to fear. Thank you that you are with me in all things so that I may stand in faith.

One Word: Immanuel – God with us




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