God with us

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Isaiah 7:1–17 NIV

1 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’s son 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.’ ” 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.”

1. Bondage to misery.

The dark, lonely, sad and cold emptiness of sin and misery – the bondage of Satan, the hopelessness of despair. There is no peace on earth. No goodwill. No one worthy to open the scroll. If there is to be redemption, it must come from outside of the world of flesh and blood. It must come from outside of this present evil age.

2. The promise in Eden.

The development of the promise of kingdom

a. Land

b. People

c. King

3. promise to David

Psalm 89:1–4 NIV

1 I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. 2 I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself. 3 You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, 4 ‘I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.’ ”

The token and sign

The land - Israel

The king - David’s house

The people - Israel

4. Enter Ahaz

God’s land and God’s people and God’s king were being threatened.

The kingdom of David had been divided and the north (Israel) and the south (Judah) were now enemies.

The north was governed by a series of wicked, idolatrous kings, one dynasty after another. Now the dynasty was Pekah, the son of Remaliah. He wouldn’t last long.

The whole of the middle east was being threatened by the Assyrains, the new superpower

The Arameans used to be the superpower. In fact, their language is still spoken. Rezin has a plan. Coordinate all of the smaller kingdoms into one big kingdom and destroy Assyria that way. That would mean that the line of David would have to go.

Ahaz didn’t believe those old promises. He believed in a world of power, armies, politics.

But he doesn’t want to give up his throne and serve the Arameans. So he makes a plan to ally himself with the Assyrians and gain stability that way.

5. Now comes Isaiah.

God’s promise will stand. If you want stability, there is only one way - believe the promise that God made to your fathers.

Verse 9 - if you don’t amen, you won’t be amened.

And God in his mercy offered a sign for Ahaz.

But Ahaz persists in his unbelief.

So now Isaiah, holding his baby, addresses Ahaz

God is now finished with Ahaz. He has wearied God, just as he wearies men.

God offers rest - but he wouldn’t

God offers quiet waters - but he won’t

God offers peace - but he refuses

So now God is done. The Assyrians are coming.

And now Isaiah turns and addresses Israel. The administrators, the advisors, the ambassadors, the dignitaries - still holding his baby.

The pronouns are plural.

God will give you all a sign - but it isn’t going to come for hundreds of years.

You rejected the offer, but God won’t forget.

The time will come when the house of David will remember the sign.

Joseph

Matthew 1:18–22 NKJV

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:

Matthew starts with a genealogy. Abraham, through Joseph. And look - there is Ahaz in verse 9

Joseph is hit with some deadly news - Mary is pregnant.

He sees an angel at night and the angel tells him that the time is now. God has entered history, just as he said he would centuries ago.

What the angel tells Joseph isn’t new. He is simply saying, now is the time for the promise to burst into the earth.

The northern kingdom that Ahaz was so afraid of; the Arameans that everyone was afraid of; the old kings, the old castles and armies are all gone. Replace by another - Rome.

There isn’t salvation there.

There is only one worthy to open the scrolls and bring about the renewal of everything.

He will renew the heavens and the earth

But first he will conquer Satan and sin and misery and gather his people. Israel, Judah and all the nations

All who amen the promise of God. All who drink the cool calm water of the gospel.

“Their threats won’t stand. this isn’t the kingdom we seek.

What good is a kingdom when death takes Rezin, Pekah, Remaliah, Tiglath-pilesar, Nebuchadnezzar, Julius Caesar - and the rest.

Before Isaiah’s son even got to the point where he could decide what food was good and what was not good - Pekah and Rezin would be no more.

But when God comes in the womb of the virgin, apart from the strength of man, from outside of our cosmos, outside of our universe of death and pain and darkness - when God becomes flesh and dwells among us...

Their threats won’t stand. His kingdom will burst forth in all its glory on this age.

For a moment that curtain was pulled back. - the glory of the Lord burst onto the world while the angels sang...

And then that glory wasn’t seen again, because God became flesh. No longer blinding us with fear, but inviting us to believe, to drink, to feast -

If you believe that, you will have a solid place to stand, even if the world whirls apart.

It will. It always does - the promises of God will never be shaken.

Isaiah 61:1–4 NIV

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. 4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.

Isaiah 61:8–11 NIV

8 “For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.” 10 I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.