The Sign of Immanuel

Part of the beauty of the Book of Immanuel is that in the midst of all of this chaos God is still calling to repentance, warning & reminding of His faithfulness to keep His promises

Between Isa. 6 & 7 we’ve skipped a king

Uzziah died in Isa. 6.

His son Jotham reigned 16 years

Jotham was godly but people of Israel continued in corruption

Isa. 7 is during reign of Jotham’s son, Ahaz

Ahaz was an ungodly king

This message comes to Ahaz in a time of great distress

When You’re in Distress…

Isaiah 7:1-2

When Trouble Swarms

Isa. 7:1 is a summary statement for a very complicated time

Many of the details can be found in 2 Kings 15-16 and 2 Chronicles 28

MAP

Assyria (Tiglath-Pileser) is on the rise & has already been active in & around Israel/Judah

Israel (Ephraim) to north bordered by Syria (Aram)

Israel (under Pekah) has made an alliance with Syria (Rezin) to stand against Assyria

Judah is feeling pressure from every side

Assyria’s rise has everyone moving to secure themselves

Philistines, Edom pressuring

Syria & Israel are attempting to force Judah to join their alliance (Isa. 7:6)

Judah is surrounded & extremely vlunerable

And Your Heart Shakes

Armies of Syria & Israel camped on border of Israel/Judah

confederate / deployed / camped describes a swarm

It was swarming with enemy armies

Remembering Uzziah was a good, strong, prosperous king people unsure what would happen when he died

Ahaz was not strong

Result was Ahaz was terrified & distressed which led to people being terrified & distressed

Sometimes we find ourselves in situations of distress

When we feel pressed in from every side

When we can’t seem to find a way out and it seems inevitable we will be crushed

Paul & co had situations like this

2 Corinthians 1:8–9 NKJV

8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead,

2 Cor. 4:8 - Paul describes times when they were ‘hard-pressed on every side’ like having life squeezed out of them

Sometimes these pressures come as a result of our own doing & sometimes from outside

People of God are not immune to immense pressure in this world

Pressure which for some will cause our hearts to shake like trees in the wind

Will You Believe God?

Isaiah 7:3-9

Trust God

Isa. 7:4-7

It’s in this time that God reaches out to Ahaz & Judah in grace

Sends Isaiah with a message & with his son

Shear-jashub = a remnant shall return

Name given perhaps in Isaiah’s great faith in God

Message is a call to Ahaz to trust God

Seen in the way God speaks to Ahaz

References to ‘the house of David’ are reference to promise

His instruction to Ahaz is good instruction for us too (Isa. 7:4)

Take care \ Be on guard - trust doesn’t mean laziness

Be calm - be confident in God, find rest & strength in God

Do not fear

Be courageous

These are the encouragements we hear all through the Bible

Every person of faith has had to learn to live like this: Abraham, David, Joshua, Gideon, Apostles, Paul

God gives perspective

They may look hot & fierce but God is in control

To God these two are like smoking embers about to be snuffed out by God

What they plan will not come to pass

Why will God do this? They plan evil against Judah, against the house of David

That cannot abide because God has promised The King is coming through house of David

Though Ahaz hasn’t been faithful to God, God will be faithful to His people and His promise

Paul understood God’s calls to trust

2 Corinthians 1:8–11 “8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, 10 who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, 11 you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many.”

Paul reminds us, that though we will often feel squeezed in on every side God will not let His people be crushed

2 Corinthians 4:7–15 NKJV

7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death is working in us, but life in you. 13 And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, 14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. 15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

Beware of Unbelief

Isa. 7:8-9

Isaiah 26:3–4 “3 You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. 4 Trust in the Lord forever, For in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.”

1 reason God calls to Ahaz to trust is because Ahaz is seeking to trust his own wisdom

In order to fight Israel/Syria he is seeking an alliance with Assyria

An alliance which may save them from Israel/Syria but will put them in submission to Assyria

God reminds Ahaz to trust Him but temptation to seek our own way is strong

So God also reminds Ahaz of the dangers of not trusting God, the God who promised to protect you

Much force of these words is in what God doesn’t say

Syria will shatter Ephraim

Ephraim…will shatter you

I’ve seen many commentators translate the last phrase similarly

If you will not believe, surely you will not be established

If in God you don’t confide, surely in power you will not abide

Truly, Christ is our only hope in life or death

So, belief in Christ is the only way of salvation

And unbelief will surely lead to destrution of our soul

Why does Scripture so often warn us to not lean on our own understanding, to not worry about what will be tomorrow, to be anxious for nothing and so on.

Because our strong temptation, natural inclination is not to trust God

or Will You Rely on Your Strength?

Isaiah 7:10-25 (esp. 10-17)

Strengthened in God’s Promise

A Sign for Ahaz

So now, the question arises, will Ahaz believe?

God does something remarkable here

He gives Ahaz freedom to ask for any miraculous sign to confirm his belief in God

Literally he could ask for any sign from the depths (sheol) of the earth

Or a sign in the heights of the heavens

God was willing to confirm His promise & strengthen Ahaz’ faith with a miracle

Ahaz rejects God’s offer, rejects God’s help, rejects God’s promise

He makes it sound spiritual and pious but it is a rejection of God to pursue his own way

The Sign of Immanuel

Remarkably, God will give His own sign any way

In fulfilment of Isa. 6:9-10 it is a sign Ahaz will not see

It is true there is difficulty in understanding the signs scope & full meaning in immediate context

Part of our difficulty is difference in wording between 7:14-15 & 7:16-17

7:14-15 There is a sign Ahaz will not see - future

7:16-17 a sign Ahaz will see

We are helped greatly in Isa. 7:14 by NT showing us explicitly this is about Christ

The boy of 7:16-17 there is some difference of opinion

I tend to think the boy referred to in immediate context is one of Isaiah’s sons

Shear-jashub who, by his name, becomes a visual aid for Isaiah

Or Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Isa. 8:1-4)

Key to the passage is the identity of the one in Isa. 7:14 - the Messiah, Immanuel

Matthew 1:23 “23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.””

An important reference to the virgin birth of Christ

The Virgin Birth:

Some suggests the virgin birth of Christ isn’t spoken of here

Word alma can be translated virgin (in LXX) could be maiden or young woman etc.

Bringing into question the virgin birth of Christ

It is true alma can be translated in other ways & there are other words which could have been used

Not likely any other word would have been clearer in intent

Alec Motyer’s comments on this are helpful:

The Prophecy of Isaiah The Word to Judah

Of the nine occurrences of ‛almâ those in 1 Chronicles 15:20 and the title of Psalm 46 are presumably a musical direction but no longer understood. In Psalm 68:25; Proverbs 30:19 and Song of Solomon 1:3 the context throws no decisive light on the meaning of the word. In Genesis 24:43 and Exodus 2:8 the reference is unquestionably to an unmarried girl, and in Song of Solomon 6:8 the ‛alāmôṯ, contrasted with queens and concubines, are unmarried and virgin. Thus, wherever the context allows a judgment, ‛almâ is not a general term meaning ‘young woman’ but a specific one meaning ‘virgin’. It is worth noting that outside the Bible, ‘so far as may be ascertained’, ‛almâ was ‘never used of a married woman’.

Isaiah isn’t as ambiguous as some would suggest but really is quite clear

Another reason to believe virgin is what is clearly meant is the context

God has just called Ahaz to ask for a miraculous sign (but he refused to ask)

It makes no sense for God’s chosen sign to less than miraculous

It’s not miraculous for a young woman to have a child but a virgin birth is miraculous

Only one woman meets the qualifications of this prophecy - Mary

Importance of the Virgin Birth of Christ

Virgin birth is a fundamental belief of Christianity - an essential

Matthew makes it clear, Luke describes Christ’s birth as being accomplished by Spirit so that Child is the Son of God

Their genealogies also help illustrate this truth

Mark opens Gospel with statement that Jesus is the Son of God

John’s Gospel is shaped around the truth that Jesus is the only begotten of the Father

Reason it is of central importance is because it speaks to the sinless nature of Jesus and His deity

Virgin birth is how God is manifest in the flesh in perfect sinlessness

That Jesus is perfectly sinless God in the flesh is important because our slavation from sin rests on it

Sinful man can’t atone for sinful man - only a perfect substition could atone for our sin

Thus, God’s sign is the miraculous advent of the Messiah who would save His people from their sin

A salvation that would come to those who trust God and believe, have faith in, the Son

Fall in Your Own Weakness

The remainder of the chapter is a statement of the obvious

Their refusal to trust God leads to the inevitable destruction

Not a vindictive, crushing of innocent people

It is the judgment of a holy God who has given more chances to them than anyone deserves

The destruction that comes is largely the consequences of their rejection of God

Conclusion

God asked Ahaz for a sign to show he believed God would deliver - He refused

God’s answer was to give a miraculous sign of deliverance for those who would believe

God would send Immanuel (God with us) who would provide the ultimate deliverance

Not just deliverance from oppression, trouble or kingdoms but deliverance from sin and death

The question posed to Ahaz then is the question posed to us today - Will you believe God?

If you do not believe, blessing you will not receive

Will you believe God?

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