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… that’s 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 Judah’s previous king, Jotham
denied 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.
Then, Ahaz is made King during his father’s 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
Judah’s 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 not
sure 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 he
is coming to tell me how futile my efforts are!”
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 God’s 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, I’m 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 careful…be calm, and don’t be afraid. Isaiah hadn’t 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 don’t 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.”
But look what else Isaiah says. He says that Ahaz shouldn’t 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 don’t fear them. They are extinguished fire. Isaiah doesn’t 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 don’t
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 God’s 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 drives
our 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 doesn’t even name him. It’s the classic “You know what’s his face...
He is a nothing … Ahaz why would you fear this nothing? God has promised to protect
the Davidic throne and these two kings are trying to actually put a king on David’s throne
who is not from the line of David! Are you kidding me?! It’s a no-brainer Ahaz – who do
you think will win in their plan – them or God?”
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 it’s capital city Damascus, and the head
of Damascus was it’s King Rezin. Likewise the head of Israel is Samaria and the head of
Samaria is “what’s 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 God’s control.

And he doesn’t 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 things
like “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 Ahaz’s chance! He always
wanted God to do his bidding, now he can!

See, I don’t 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!?!?
But… he doesn’t… *sigh of frustration*… rather than pull the trigger and accept God’s
offer, he gives this pretend pious answer – I will not put the Lord to the test. This is the
modern equivalent of the “I’ll pray about it” (some of you just got REAL squimish in
your seats) We say “I’ll pray about it” when what we really mean is “I really don’t
want to but since I still want to look a good Christian and like I give a hoot, I’ll 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… didn’t 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 couldn’t do this on his own. That he couldn’t manipulate God
and that God would be the REAL one in control! And Ahaz didn’t want God or his
meddling 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
Assyria’s puppet king, so long as Assyria came and bailed him out! He didn’t 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 didn’t 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? John
Wesley 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!”
And don’t 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 wasn’t 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 the
Bible 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 doesn’t mean just “hey look at
this…” Its means, “WAKE UP! YOU’RE 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 don’t 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 y’all. – ALL Y’ALL – ALL Y’all 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, Isaiah’s children’s 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 –
ONLY a 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.
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 don’t really have time
to go into them now, so suffice it to say that I believe the child is Isaiah’s 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 Assyrian
invasion, 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 Ahaz’s 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, didn’t you just say that Isaiah’s own son fulfilled the
prophecy?” Not exactly – I said Isaiah’s own son was the sign – not the fulfillment or the
true Immanuel. This is probably why Isaiah didn’t 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 Isaiah’s 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.
Isaiah’s son would be the sign to Ahaz that God’s 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!

Who are you trusting in today?

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 God’s 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 don’t have the same things at stake
right? I mean have any of you inherited a crumbling kingdom since last Sunday that I
don’t know about? But we don’t realize our need is actually MORE desperate, NOT
LESS! We may not have to worry about foreign armies, or have our nation’s future
resting squarely on our shoulders. But our need is one that Isaiah’s 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 God’s protection – or God’s 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 didn’t 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 to
demand 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
Ahaz’s are too wicked for me to come to you!”
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 don’t 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 Matthew’s
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.

It’s not too late…even 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 else’s life you would know immediately how foolish
it is but you’ve 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.

Who are you trusting in today?