ahaz at the crossroads

8/9/2019 Ahaz at the Crossroads

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Ahaz at the Crossroads

Isaiah 7:1-17

Before we read our passage let us pray.

PRAY

I know what some of you may be thinking is Tyler confused about the time of year I

mean, he is preaching on the Immanuel prophecy thats a Christmas passage its 110

degrees outside and my jingle bells are not jingling

Well rest assured I do know what text I have chosen and I hope by the end of today you

will see that this passage should not be pulled out on Christmas, and then repacked in

bubble wrap and stored until the next holiday season.

I want to first begin by orienting ourselves to the historical context in which our passage

takes place.

The year is 735 BCE and mighty Israel is fractured. Gone are the years of the rule of

kings like David and Solomon. Due to poor choice of alliances, infighting, and idolatry,

to name a few, the once unified nation of God has split into two kingdoms. To the north,

11 of the original tribes comprise Israel, which in our passage is also called Ephraim after

its most prominent Tribe; and to the south, the kingdom of Judah the tribe of King

David. Both kingdoms are in tatters and on the verge of imploding.

To make matters worse a new threat loomed on the horizon Assyria to the north. Under

king Tiglath-Pileser III, Assyria has been on an aggressive conquest to expand its empire

and its first stops on its trek down to its major rival Egypt, were Syria and Israel and

Judah.

In an attempt to stand against this mighty kingdom a coalition of nations banded together

including Israel and Syria. Their hope was that Judah would be sympathetic to their

cause, and in its own self interest would also join their union because if Syria and Israel

fell, Judah would be next. But their hopes were dashed as Judahs previous king, Jothamdenied their request. In an attempt to FORCE Jotham to join they had actually began a

two front war and invaded some of the northern townships of Judah and to some

success.


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Then, Ahaz is made King during his fathers failing health and eventual death. Israel and

Syria think they may have another chance to rope Judah in, but like Jotham Ahaz refuses.

So, Israel attempts to invade and conquer Jerusalem, the capital city of Judah but fails.

So Pekah, the king of Israel sends word to Rezin the king of Syria to come and help him

conquer Jerusalem. They plan on overthrowing Ahaz and placing a new puppet king on

Judahs throne to do their bidding. And this is where we find ourselves.

Message comes to Ahaz Syria is drawing near to assist Israel in overthrowing Judah.

And Ahaz, and the people of Judah tremble. They shake like trees in a mighty wind. Now

I grew up in the Santa Cruz mountains surrounded by the towering Redwood trees, and

let me tell you, when the wind blows, it is amazing that trees could bend so far without

snapping or uprooting In fact one winter a giant redwood actually DID fall on part of

our house crushing our car and part of our deck 10 or 15 more feet left and who knows

the damage it could have wreaked on us sleeping in our beds. And this was Ahaz and

Judah they had no allies they had just withstood one siege on Jerusalem but are notsure if they can last another King Ahaz is shaking in the wind.

I wonder how many of us would be any braver. I doubt I would.

It is at this point that God calls his prophet Isaiah to go to King Ahaz with a message.

Isaiah is told to bring his son Shear-jashub, which means A REMNANT WILL

RETURN and we will see why this is significant soon. They are told to go and meet

King Ahaz at the end of an aqueduct which brought water into the city. No doubt Ahaz

was making provisions for the next siege. Jerusalem at this time had no internal source of

water but would need plenty of it to withstand the incoming attack from the joint army of

Israel and Syria. Judah was small and on paper stood little to no chance of coming out

victorious.

Isaiah was to find Ahaz preparing for war and deliver the message that God had given

him.

Can you picture it a busy king, at the 11th hour making final provisions for what could

be the end of his kingdom and up walks a prophet. I can just imagine Ahaz thinking

Like this is what I need what is this prophet going to condemn me for now! Surely heis coming to tell me how futile my efforts are!


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Oh, I forgot to tell you that Ahaz was the most vile, wicked, and idolatrous kings in the

history of the Jewish monarchy. In 2 Kings 16 we learn about what kind of King Ahaz is.

He is the kind of king who goes into the temple and removes the altar to the Lord and

replaces it with multiple altars to pagan deities. He is the kind of king who paid tribute to

foreign kings with the gold from the temple of God! He is the kind of king who took that

bronze altar to the Lord and placed it in the back and commanded the priest to not use it

because it was to be his private oracle to make God his own personal genie in a bottle.

He is the kind of king who sacrificed his several of his sons as a burnt offer to the pagan

gods. That is how he rolled.

And this is the king that God chose to give the Immanuel prophecy too! This king! This

wicked and murderous king! Surely a more just and pious king would have been more

fitting! I mean why not even his father Jotham who is said to have done what is right in

the Lord. Or his son, the righteous King Hezekiah! Anyone but Ahaz!

But what we see is Gods amazing grace. That God was so intent to be faithful to his

promises to the house of David the house that was promised would be the house from

which the Messiah would come that he showed kindness to one even as wicked as

Ahaz. And if God shows kindness to Ahaz, surely he shows kindness to us. Arent you

glad that God still seeks out, in the 11th hour, even those who put all their efforts into

rejecting him?

So when Ahaz sees Isaiah coming, Im sure a knot began to form in his stomach. And I

would have loved to have been there to see his face when he heard what Isaiah was

actually sent to say.

Be carefulbe calm, and dont be afraid. Isaiah hadnt come to condemn him he came

to encourage him! He came to let him know that God would protect him! That God

would protect Judah if only Ahaz would trust in the word of the Lord! From the very

beginning of the Bible, when Eve was faced with the choice to take God at his word or

Satan at his, one of the main questions that God constantly confronts humanity with is

Who will you trust today? And so Isaiah is challenging Ahaz with that same question

Ahaz, who will you trust in today?

And before Ahaz could object with But you dont know what I am up against! Isaiah

chimes in. He says I know EXACTLY what you are up against! These two kings have

joined forces to come and kill you, crack your kingdom apart and split up the pieces for

themselves. I know Ahaz, I know what you are up against.


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But look what else Isaiah says. He says that Ahaz shouldnt be afraid of these two

smoldering stubs of firewood these arent blazing timbers they are smoldering embers.

They have no more fire in them. Sure their smoke may make your clothes smell and may

irritate your eyes but dont fear them. They are extinguished fire. Isaiah doesnt come

out and say it yet, but he will in chapter 8.

"Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy;

do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.

13 The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,

he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread,

14 and he will be a sanctuary;

Your SAFEHOUSE Your place of REFUGE!

What is it that keeps you up on those sleepless nights? What job are you worried about

getting or losing? What relationship do you think is too far gone that no matter how hard

you try will never be recovered? How tight is the money in your bank account? I dont

mean that these are not real concerns or to minimize your feelings, or mine but what is

your fear? What is my fear? That these embers can overthrow Gods plan for us?

When we are afraid of our circumstances, the opinions of others, of losing face, of risking

a relationship because of our faith in Christ we are letting that object, that thing, that

person function as a god to us an idol. We come to define our lives by it - it drivesour every decision, and thought. It saps our joy and our strength. God is telling us to not

fear the embers but wholly trust in my plan and power.

Who are you trusting in today?

Isaiah is telling Ahaz that these two kings are an extinguished match but that God is a

blazing inferno. Why would Ahaz fear them when God has said that he would protect

him. He even goes further with an insult when naming these kings Rezin and the son

of Remaliah he doesnt even name him. Its the classic You know whats his face...

He is a nothing Ahaz why would you fear this nothing? God has promised to protectthe Davidic throne and these two kings are trying to actually put a king on Davids throne

who is not from the line of David! Are you kidding me?! Its a no-brainer Ahaz who do

you think will win in their plan them or God?


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But God even goes further Isaiah reminds Ahaz that he is not up against two nations,

but really two kings. That the head of Syria was its capital city Damascus, and the head

of Damascus was its King Rezin. Likewise the head of Israel is Samaria and the head of

Samaria is whats his face? The son of Remaliah Pekah. Who should Ahaz trust

the word of these two nothing kings the threat of these two kings limited in power and

knowledge of the future? Or the King of King, the Lord of Lords, the one who is limitless

in power, all without lack of knowledge, the one who mighty to save?

Such trust in God will not guarantee a favorable outcome, but it will eradicate our dread

that events are spinning wildly out of control. That even our sin will ultimately bow the

knee to Gods control.

And he doesnt just say that they are dying embers, he says that within the next 65 five

years BOTH kings will be done and gone. There actually seems to be a play on words

with the number 65. He could mean something like what we mean when we say thingslike you cant take it with you. Isaiah could be reminding Ahaz that things kings are but

mere mortals that even if he should be conquered here, he would have stood with God,

which matters forever. Unless Ahaz is firm in his faith, he will not become firm in his

life. That he should have an eternal perspective.

But the Hebrew could also be rendered not sixty five but six AND five that is that they

will be over thrown within the next 11 years! We will see soon that God will actually

bump that number down to only a handful of years which in ancient military time was a

news flash.

So God is challenging Ahaz who are you going to believe these dying embers of these

nothing kings, or the mighty inferno of your God?

Ahaz, who are you trusting in today?

And to prove that these nations will fall to Ahaz this wicked king God says that Ahaz

can ask for a sign as high as heaven or as deep as death, Ahaz could ask for

ANYTHING and God would be obliged to do it. This is Ahazs chance! He always

wanted God to do his bidding, now he can!

See, I dont think you get it this is like the height of drama! This is better than

American Idol, the Young and Restless and The Bachelorette COMBINED! God

seriously just came to the most vile king and offered to give him any sign he wanted! The

tension was immense! Even Isaiah was probably on the edge of his seat wondering what

concoction Ahaz would dream up! What in the world would Ahaz ask for!?!?


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But he doesnt *sigh of frustration* rather than pull the trigger and accept Gods

offer, he gives this pretend pious answer I will not put the Lord to the test. This is the

modern equivalent of the Ill pray about it (some of you just got REAL squimish in

your seats)We say Ill pray about it when what we really mean is I really dont

want to but since I still want to look a good Christian and like I give a hoot, Ill couch it

in a religious excuse and be on my merry way that you very much.

So why does Ahaz reject it? Because he wants God to do his bidding now you might

be saying wait a minute didnt you just say that God was offering to do whatever

Ahaz wants?! To do his bidding? Well not exactly.

God has told Ahaz be still do nothing trust in me and in my plan and in my power

and you will be safe! See, even though Ahaz wants God to do his bidding, this sign was

meant to prove that Ahaz couldnt do this on his own. That he couldnt manipulate God

and that God would be the REAL one in control! And Ahaz didnt want God or hismeddling prophet involved! We learn in 2 Kings that he had other plans! He had already

decided that instead of joining Syria and Israel and becoming their puppet king in their

rebellion against Assyria, that he would do and end around to Assyria and promise to be

Assyrias puppet king, so long as Assyria came and bailed him out! He didnt want God

to rescue him because that would mean giving up his own plans! He had already chose

who his god would be the King of Assyria. He sent gold from the temple with a

message to King Tiglath-pileser I am your servant

Ahaz had a chance to trust God for deliverance, but instead trusted in his worst enemy.

He didnt want some trumped up evidence that would show him that his plans made by

his intelligence and for his own benefit were going to fail. The sign that God was

promising would have been embarrassing to Ahaz it would have shown that he had

been an idolater and needed to repent and change! So to avoid ending up with egg on his

face he tries to avoid looking foolish by looking religious by looking good and noble.

But his faithless heart is revealed by his actions rather than trust in God he trusts in his

worst enemy.

Isnt that the foolishness of all of our sin? That when we refuse to trust in God it suddenly

makes all the sense in the world to trust in anything else even our worst enemy? JohnWesley said, If a man will not believe God, he will believe anything. Why, he may even

believe a man could put himself into a quart bottle!


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And dont we do that all the time? We trust in our spouses, our children, our jobs, our

friends, our brains, our ministry, our church to meet our needs to do what is in our best

interest. How often does that work out for you? They will ALWAYS come up lacking.

Our expectations will ALWAYS be frustrated. We look to people or things that will

never fully have our best interest at heart in place of the one person who always has our

best interest at heart? Who promises For I know the plans that I have for you, plans to

prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.

*mocking* I will not put the Lord to the test. But God wasnt havin it. Isaiah calls

him out! He says Look Ahaz, you can try my patience all you want with your false altars

and your filial sacrifices, but now do you really think your can try the patience of God

longer than you already have?!

But the amazing thing is that God gives a sign anyway. And Isaiah prefaces his prediction

by saying behold. Now we sometimes skim over the use of words like behold in theBible and think they mean something like see or look at or just something that has to

do with our eyes. But when the Bible says Behold it doesnt mean just hey look at

this Its means, WAKE UP! YOURE ABOUT TO HEAR OR SEE SOMETHING

INCREDIBLE SOMETHING WONDERFUL! SOMETHING TO MARVEL AT! or

in modern terms, GOD IS ABOUT TO BLOW YOUR MIND! And God promises a

sign.

Before we see what the sign is, we have to ask who does he give it to? This is not just to

Ahaz. I sometimes wish our translation would be done by some southerners some good

ol boys, because in proper English we dont have a plural you like Hebrew does.

When Isaiah says The Lord himself will give you a sign he is not talking to Ahaz, he is

talking to yall. ALL YALL ALL Yall listen up now! This is to the whole Tribe of

Judah and the House of David to those whom God has promised a Redeemer through.

If Ahaz wont ask for a sign that God will protect him, then God is going to give a sign.

But now it wont be a sign to prove that Ahaz will be safe but rather a sign that what

God had said will come true AND that Ahaz will surely get what he wants rather than

what he needs.

Throughout the book, Isaiahs childrens names are object lessons. The son he brought

with him to bring the message to Ahaz was Shear-jashub A remnant will return. This is

a promise of blessing a remnant will be saved! Yay! But it is also a promise of curse

ONLYa remnant will be saved. The nation will eventually fall, and its people will be

carried off into exile but God will keep for himself a faithful remnant.


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So what does this promised child Immanuel signify? Since we usually only read this on

Christmas and in its connection to the virgin birth of Christ, we so often miss that the

child was first a sign to Ahaz and the house of David. We focus so much on if the

Hebrew word alma should be translated virgin but miss its historical context here in

Isaiah. There are several interpretations of who the child was but I dont really have time

to go into them now, so suffice it to say that I believe the child is Isaiahs own son. After

all, how could this be a sign that God promised the demise of Syria and Israel if it was

only fulfilled 725 years AFTER their destruction? In fact, in the next chapter Isaiah goes

to his wife, the prophetess, and they bear a son who is said to not be able to say my

father or my mother before Syria and Israel fall. You see this child was to be a sign

that Syria and Israel would fall before the child knew good from bad which could also

mean before he could taste bitter from sweet. In either case, these both occur at a

relatively young age. That 11 year gap has now been cut down to just a couple of years.

And it happened in just that way. Within just 3 years Syria would fall to the Assyrianinvasion, and Pekah, the king of Israel would be assassinated and his kingdom would also

fall to Assyria. And then nothing would stand between Assyria and little Judah and

Ahaz would get what he asked for. Isaiah describes Assyria and its king as a swarm of

bees that infest the land even the cliffs and the uninhabitable places. They are called a

flooding river that breaks its banks and floods the land. Ahaz will get the king of Assyria

but he will not get rid of him. Because of Ahazs foolishness Judah would also be

carried off into captivity just 10 years later.

But what of this Immanuel did I just ruin every Christmas sermon you ever heard? I

hope not because I believe Jesus actually is, over 700 years later, the fulfillment of the

Immanuel prophecy. But Tyler, didnt you just say that Isaiahs own son fulfilled the

prophecy? Not exactly I said Isaiahs own son was the sign not the fulfillment or the

true Immanuel. This is probably why Isaiah didnt use the word Betula which meant

Virgin but chose the more ambiguous term alma which can mean virgin but can also

mean a young woman of marrying age like our English word maiden. This word

could apply to Isaiahs soon to be pregnant wife or the unwed virgin Mary. You see the

Immanuel child is first a sign but also a prophecy a prediction. A warning sign on a

freeway is a message to you, but it also points beyond itself to what lies ahead to what

it is actually warning you about.


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Isaiahs son would be the sign to Ahaz that Gods promise would come true and that

Assyria would come and conquer, but also that he would spare a remnant for himself

but the child will also point to the true fulfillment the true Immanuel the one of which

it can be rightfully said that not only does his name MEAN God with us, but that he

really IS God with us! Who could rightly be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace as the child is called just two chapters later in

Isaiah 9. God did not only promise that he WOULD be with us, but he really did come

and dwell with us!


So what does it mean for Jesus to be Immanuel? To be God with us?

It may be easy for us to scoff at Ahaz for his stubbornness we may look at him and

think well yeah he rejected Gods promise! That dude burned his own kids to idols!What kind of whack job does that?! We think that if we can distance ourselves from

Ahaz, that we are some how off the hook. And we dont have the same things at stake

right? I mean have any of you inherited a crumbling kingdom since last Sunday that I

dont know about? But we dont realize our need is actually MORE desperate, NOT

LESS! We may not have to worry about foreign armies, or have our nations future

resting squarely on our shoulders. But our need is one that Isaiahs son could never have

met. Our need is for the saving of our very lives. We are not just the Ahaz in this story

we are also the Rezin and Pekah were are the Tiglath-Pilser The Syria, the Israel, and

the Assyria. We are the ones who do not deserve Gods protection or Gods own

presence. But because of his great love for us, that is exactly what he gave us.

Himself

Not just an illusion of himself for us to grovel before him and beg and plead and to

somehow earn his forgiveness. God came down from heaven, from all his splendor and

glory and beauty. He took on our humanity and then walked the path to the cross

Immanuel did not just come to dwell with us but to die for us, to die in our place, so we

could dwell with him forever. He didnt just come to save us from political strivings, but

from the very bonds of fear, of sin, and of death because he hates sin enough todemand justice, but also unceasingly, unashamedly, unquestionably loves you!

Even though our sinfulness may not be very important to us you may think sin is an old

fashioned and ugly word this passage presents us with a very vivid reality. That our sin

is very important to God and we are even more important. God could have said you

Ahazs are too wicked for me to come to you!


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But instead he spoke comfort to us, Be careful, keep calm, and do not be afraid for I am

WITH YOU and your sins are forgiven by the blood of Christ God with us. Christ in

you, the hope of glory.

And this God is here with us today here in worship. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14,

that when we worship God in truth, that those who do not yet know Jesus who may be

present among us today, will have their heart lay bare before the Lord and declare that

God is really among you Jesus Christ really is Immanuel - and join in worship with

us. We dont just come to church on Sunday to do our pious duty, to be seen by the

whose who and the opinion makers of the community, to get oogy gooey warm fuzzy

feelings we come to join in fellowship and to meet the living God in our prayers, in our

singing, in our confessions, in our tithes and offerings, in our time of fellowship, in the

proclamation of the word, and in our participation in the sacraments. We come to

commune with the God who is there and who is not silent.

We hear about Immanuel nearly every Christmas from the beginning of Matthews

Gospel. But we seldom make the connection to the end of Matthew. Immanuel is literally

the bookends of the gospel. Matthew begins by declaring to us in chapter 1 that God had

finally come to dwell with us that Jesus Christ is the promised Immanuel moment

God with us. And then he closes out his gospel in chapter 28 with these last words of

Jesus: And surely, I am with you always to the very end of the age. And God is with us

today.

Its not too lateeven in the 11th hour God calls out to you not to trust in your own

personal Assyria. Where are you shifting your trust away from our God who is mighty to

save, because you are worried about something that only appears to be secure that if

you saw it taking place in someone elses life you would know immediately how foolish

it is but youve been ignoring it in your own life.

The God who created the heavens and the earth, who holds all things in the palm of his

hand calls to you, be calm, do not fear, and know that I am with you, even to the end of

the age.


ahaz at the crossroads

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