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Introduction
Opening Illustration: Police Sirens
A while back I saw a videok of a crime being committed.
There were some folks who were up to no good and they were putting civilians at risk with their behavior.
Eventually, the video shows that a team of police cars swarmed the scene.
And those blue flashing lights were a sign that meant two different things to the different people who were there.
To the guilty, the lights were a sign of terror.
Judgment has come—it’s time to run.
To the innocent civilians it was a sign of safety, of hope, of security.
Rather than running away from the lights, they ran towards them.
One sign, yet two completely different responses based on their condition.
Context
Today we come to one of the most memorable prophecies told in the Old Testament.
The promise of a child to be born to a virgin.
When Christ the messiah was born, the New Testament writers looked backwards to this prophecy and, inspired by the Holy Spirit, realized that Jesus fulfilled it when he had been born of the virgin Mary.
The prophet Isaiah had about a 60 year ministry that spanned the reign of many different kings.
Some of them wonderfully faithful men that led during times of great trust and faith in God.
Others were wicked rulers that forsaked God and led the nation into deep depravity.
Today’s message was given by Isaiah to the King Ahaz, who was a particularly wicked King.
What kind of sign will Emmanuel be for you today?
Part 1: The Immediate Context of Ahaz
Isaiah 7:10-14 “Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.”
And he said, “Hear then, O house of David!
Is it too little for you to weary men, that 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.”
The Very Words of God
Our text today begins with the Lord speaking to Ahaz.
This is remarkable language, because in fact the person speaking to Ahaz was the prophet Isaiah.
This whole section began back at the beginning of Chapter 7, where God told Isaiah to take his son with him, and to deliver a message.
So Isaiah is speaking, but the Bible says, “The Lord said...” When a prophet of God speaks, he speaks the very words of God Himself.
That is the level of authority of the words of the prophets.
Israel Big Picture - Two Kingdoms
In order for us to truly understand this passage, and to apply it rightly into our own hearts and minds, we’ll need to understand the context.
Who was King Ahaz, and what was the situation that God would send the prophet Isaiah to deliver a message to him?
And so, a bit of Biblical history to get us situated correctly.
If you recall, the nation Israel was set apart by God to be a shining city on a hill.
God chose that nation to be the place where His glory would dwell among men, particularly in the temple in Jerusalem.
But the entire nation was to be a people governed by God, submitted to God.
Well after the great King David, the Kingdom of Israel was divided, 10 tribes to the north became Israel, and they were polluted with tremendous idolatry.
Two tribes in the South, who’s capitol was Jerusalem, were a bit more faithful, and they had Jerusalem as their Capitol.
Ahaz was a King of Judah, the Southern Kingdom.
Ahaz’s Internal Wickedness
Ahaz was not just a wicked King of Judah, he was perhaps the single most wicked King of Judah’s history.
You could say that Ahaz’s reign was marked by wickedness internally and political turmoil externally.
Internally, Ahaz was a man whose every action revealed that he did not worship the God of the Bible.
Ahaz set up idols all across the land, to false Gods.
His wickedness was so atrocious that we are told:
2 Kings 16:3 “… He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.”
In the Bible, the sacrifice of living children is always the mark of a nation that has plunged into utter despair.
Internally, this nation was being led astray by wicked leadership.
Internally, the heart of Ahaz was wicked.
External Pressure
Externally, Israel was in a rought political situation.
The two Kingdom, Israel to the North and Judah to the South were on the verge of Civil War.
In fact the Northern Kingdom Israel had just hired the Syrians, another nation, as allies to go to war against Ahaz.
On top of that, the Assyrian Empire was growing and expanding westward towards Judah and they posed an ever-present and concerning threat.
Historically, the superpower of Egypt was a deterrent from empires like Assyria who wanted to expand westward, but Egypt was weak during this time period.
The First Battle
This is what happens when God’s people have wicked rulers.
Eventually Civil War did break out.
It was terrible, we read about it in 2 Chronicles 28 where we are told that 120,000 of Ahaz’s men were killed in the battle and 200,000 women and children were on the verge of being taken captive.
Things were a mess.
You can imagine the stress and the fear and the leadership challenges that a man like Ahaz would have been facing.
What Do We Do When Things Are a Mess?
What do God’s people do when things are a mess?
Well—God’s people trust in God.
And so our response is always God-centered, God dependent.
Three responses would have been proper.
Praise: First in praise.
We acknowledge even in times when it looks so bad that we cannot possibly understand what God is up to, we say, “Yes—You are good and you are God, and I trust you always!”
Confession: Next in confession.
We hold our lives with open hands before a holy God and ask, “God search me and know me.
What sins have I committed.”
Because sometimes the hardship and the devastation and the knots in our life are consequences for disobedience to God.
Ahaz needed to repent of killing his child.
He needed to repent of permitting idolatry to be in the land.
Prayer for Help: Finally he needed to go to God, his deliverer and seek His help.
God has ways of delivering and ways of providing that are far beyond our own.
Ahaz did none of this.
Rather, he did what most men do in these situations.
He took matters into his own hands.
Ahaz Takes Matters Into His Own Hands
Ahaz tries to partner with the Assyrians, that great empire to the East in order to beat his brothers up north.
Well, as to be expected the Assyrians betrayed him and overwhelmed Ahaz.
Ahaz becomes so desparate that rages against God.
He shuts the doors to the temple.
He strips it of its treasures.
He cuts the golden objects into pieces.
And then we read:
2 Chronicles 28:23 “23 For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.”
But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel.”
It seems to be working for them.
Why don’t I try it and see if it works for me.
Part 2: The Text
Into that context,God sends his prophet Isaiah to confront Ahaz.
Isaiah 7:10-12 “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.””
This response from Ahaz might sound godly at first.
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