What Child is This?
Notes
Transcript
For the month of December, we’re going to take a break from 2 Samuel, and think about Christmas from the perspective of the prophet Isaiah. “Christmas in Isaiah,” we’ll call it. Catchy, huh?
In the book of Isaiah, we’re a few centuries removed from the time when David was king. We’re dealing here in Isaiah 7 with Ahaz, the great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson of King David. David ruled from 1010-970 BC. Ahaz was king more than 240-some years after his great-great-great-great-great-great-grandpa (732-716 BC).
Just a few weeks ago, we looked at God’s promise to David, where the LORD God told David, through the prophet Nathan, that David would have a descendant on his throne forever (2 Samuel 7:13-14).
Here, in the time of Isaiah the prophet, when Ahaz is king, the kingdom David had ruled over is divided. There’s the northern kingdom (Israel, aka Ephraim) and the southern kingdom (Judah).
These are perilous times for the nation of Judah, the southern kingdom, and king Ahaz. Assyria was growing stronger and stronger.
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Assyria was threatening the smaller nations. The northern kingdom (aka Ephraim) and Syria/Aram were trying to pressure Judah/Ahaz into an alliance against the big, bad Assyrians.
But Ahaz refused to join them. Any guesses as to why? Because Ahaz had already secretly made a treaty with Assyria (2 Kings 16:5-9).
Ahaz was playing politics instead of trusting in the power of God.
When the kings of Israel and Aram went to fight against Judah, we read this great description:
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.
That’s a pretty good picture for the fear they had to be experiencing. Shaken. Like the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.
But they shouldn’t have feared anything at all. In fact, the LORD is going to say to Ahaz, through His prophet Isaiah, that they have nothing to fear. God’s covenant with David—the promise that David would have a descendant on his throne forever—should have given Ahaz all the confidence in the world.
“What God promised my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather means good things for me. It’s true for me, too!”
If only Ahaz believed that…
The promise of God should have steadied Ahaz. Instead, Ahaz opted to trust this earthly alliance. And so here, we find him shaken, like the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.
In response to this fear, the LORD tells Isaiah to take his son with him to meet Ahaz:
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.”
The LORD wants Ahaz to have some perspective. Aram and Ephraim are just smoldering stubs of firewood; they’re burnt-out cigarette butts. They’re spent forces. These two nations coming at Ahaz, plotting against just, are led by mere men; the LORD won’t allow them to succeed.
The LORD even knows the end of Ephraim (the Northern Kingdom).
There’s a plot against Ahaz/Judah, nations conspiring against the house of David. Ephraim/Aram were going to invade Judah, tear it apart, divide it, and replace Ahaz with their own puppet ruler, the son of Tabeel.
BUT. But the Sovereign LORD has something to say about that, including sharing with Ahaz the drop-dead date of his enemies.
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.’ ”
The Sovereign LORD speaks and says, “You know what Ephraim and Aram are plotting against you? Yeah, not gonna happen.”
Right there in the LORD’s word to Ahaz is the timeline of future events. Within 65 years.
Sure enough. The Northern Kingdom fell to Assyria in 722 BC. By around 670 BC, the ethnic identify of the former kingdom would have been almost entirely decimated.
Human threats are to be dismissed.
Divine promises are to be firmly and fully trusted.
Ray Ortlund writes: “God is offering Ahaz the opportunity of a lifetime to experience what it means to be saved by God. But that means Ahaz must treat God as God.”
Ahaz has to believe what God is saying. Ahaz has to trust Him alone. Ahaz has to place his faith in the only worthy recipient.
The last part of verse 9 is key to understanding this:
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.’ ”
Ahaz and his people (the southern kingdom of Judah, the house of David) must continue to place their faith in God. They’ll live by faith, or they won’t live at all. If they want the LORD’s support, all they have to do is lean on Him.
Unbelief in God destabilizes everything for Ahaz. Everything, not just his religious life.
Let’s replace ‘Ahaz’ in that sentence and put ourselves there: Unbelief in God destabilizes everything for me, for you. Everything, not just our religious life.
When you stop believing in God, trusting in God, in whatever situation, you will find your entire life destabilized. And quickly. Not just the religious/churchy part of your life, but every bit of your life will become destabilized.
The basic issue in Isaiah 7 is that Ahaz and the LORD have completely different views about the threat of Aram and Ephraim.
Ahaz has placed his faith, his hope for salvation in human power rather than in the LORD Himself.
Hear that again, and think about it: Ahaz has placed his faith, his hope for salvation in human power rather than in the LORD Himself.
I dare say we do the same thing. And often. We are fairly fickle with our faith and our hope, if we’re honest.
Ahaz, like you and I do, has placed his faith, his trust, his hope in mere mortals. And he’s leading the people of Judah to do the same.
He’s playing a cat-and-mouse game, where he’s the mouse is being picked on by a couple of rats. The mouse cries out to the cat for help. And the cat helps, gets rid of the rats. But later that day, the mouse becomes the cat’s dessert.
Isaiah calls for Ahaz and all of Jerusalem to put their firm faith in a far more reliable ally: the LORD Himself.
Why God’s people are so slow to depend upon the LORD is bewildering! Our actions defy all logic. If we could step back and take a look at ourselves, we’d shake our heads just like we do when we read these accounts in the Bible.
Look at what the LORD does for Ahaz. He wants Ahaz to trust Him. So,
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.”
The LORD Himself invites Ahaz to request a sign, in order to strengthen his faith. Ahaz play the pious, religious card and answers the LORD with something the LORD instructed in Deuteronomy 6 (“Do not put the LORD your God to a test”).
It’s a really good thing to know what God has said. But to argue with the LORD, refusing to comply with Him is lunacy. Another word for it? Whackadoodle.
God hands Ahaz a blank check, but he refuses to cash it.
Why? Maybe because he doesn’t want to trust God. Ahaz knows there are strings attached. If he lets God in, God will take control. Ahaz declines help from God. Doesn’t want a sign. Ahaz has decided Ahaz knows best.
Isaiah then addresses the house of David:
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?
They’re walking a fine line, testing the patience of God.
But, gracious as He is, the LORD Himself is going to offer a sign. Ahaz wouldn’t ask for a sign, even when the LORD told him to do so.
So the LORD Himself give a sign.
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.
This is the famous announcement. We’re finally to the “Christmas” portion of the text.
This is our first introduction to the term “Immanuel” in the Bible.
This is a highly significant verse in the Christian faith, to be sure. Matthew quotes this verse in the first chapter of his Gospel. I’m pretty sure we hear this a handful of times every December, and for good reason.
It’s a beautiful promise. A wonderful assurance.
But, in the context of Isaiah, it isn’t simple to understand.
The NT says this promise is fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, centuries after Isaiah speaks these words. And it is!
But the OT says this promise is linked to Isaiah’s own day. And it is!
This is a promise with a dual-fulfillment. There is more to Isaiah 7:14 than first meets the eye. This prophecy comes true in not one, but two ways
In the immediate context, it predicted the birth of—get ready for it—Maher-shalal-hash-baz, Isaiah’s own son (makes me feel a little better about my own name, but only marginally).
We read about Isaiah’s son in Isaiah 8. This boy’s birth is tied to the fall of the Syro-Ephraimite alliance (the nations who were plotting against Ahaz).
The three verses following the promise of Immanuel make clear this a promise that will take place soon.
Isaiah says of him:
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.”
The parallel between verse 16 and the verses that introduce Isaiah’s son are unmistakable.
Isaiah writes this:
1 The Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.” 2 So I called in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me. 3 Then I made love to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 4 For before the boy knows how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
The birth of Isaiah’s son, born of a young woman, was a sign.
A Sign
A Sign
The sign in Isaiah’s day was this: the enemies of God’s people are doomed because God is with His people.
The message of this young boy’s life was a sign to the people. His long ol’ name means quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil (or so the margin of your Bible tells you; something like that).
The message is: their enemies will be plundered and spoiled.
Is God present with His people in this time of emergency? When enemies press in on them from every side? When Ephraim and Aram and Assyria threaten their safety and security? Is God present with His people?
You bet He is. Immanuel is God’s sign.
This is a sign, or should be, to the people of Judah. In just a few years, before the boy knows how to say “My father” or “My Mother”, before the child goes on solid food, still eating curds and honey, the northern alliance, the two kings Ahaz dreads will be laid waste.
In Isaiah’s time, for Ahaz and the people of God in the 8th Century BC, the sign was that God is with His people as they face some very real enemies.
The same is true many centuries later, in the fullest meaning of Isaiah’s prophecy. Isaiah says, (Isaiah 7:14) “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
Matthew records the meaning of the OT passage and how it foreshadows the coming Messiah.
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
In Jesus, the Messiah, the child whose birth we celebrate and remember each December—in Him, we have the ultimate sign of God’s presence.
The eternally-existing, Second person of the Trinity, took on flesh and made His dwelling among us.
John 1:14
14 The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.
The message the LORD was communicating through Isaiah to Ahaz and to us, is this: He has promised to be present with His people.
Ahaz and Judah received a sign in their day.
And then, one day many years later, in the fullness of time, Isaiah’s sign found its ultimate fulfillment in the person of Jesus. Born of a virgin, in the small, backwater village with shepherds to witness comes Immanuel. God with us.
When the apostle Matthew was writing his Gospel, inspired by the Holy Spirit, Matthew saw in Isaiah’s prophecy of the Immanuel sign-child, a picture of our ultimate salvation.
A Savior
A Savior
Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the OT passage we looked at this morning.
Isaiah 7 is about the events surrounding Ahaz and the people of Judah, absolutely.
But even more, it’s about Jesus.
The child of which Isaiah foretold was a miraculous sign that God is going to save His people from their sins.
The Holy God condescending to us. Stooping down to us. To be with us. But not just to be present with us. He’s with us to save us.
We face a coalition of hostile powers far worse than Aram and Ephraim, Assyria or any other neighboring enemy.
Sin and death are what assail us. We have, all of us, turned to our own way. Lost and ruined by the fall. Broken. Sinful. Wrecked.
In our sin, in our darkness, Jesus steps-in. Not just to hang-out with us. But to die for us.
There was a lot going on when the angel announced all of this to Joseph. I mean, just the fact that an angel appeared to the guy in a dream is a lot.
But then, to hear that they are to give Him the name Jesus. I think that would stop them in their tracks.
Jesus is a variant of the name “Joshua,” which means, The LORD saves. That’s a lot right there.
But the angel continued, saying, “You are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
It won’t be done by magic trick or a few nicely-spoken words. Not a snap of the fingers or some religious ceremony enacted by Jesus.
No, to cover sins, to atone for sin, to pay for sin, there must be blood.
For Jesus to save His people from their sins means that Jesus, Immanuel, God-with-us is going to shed His blood.
The announcement of the birth of this child is incredible and shocking news.
Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of God is going to come down and be present with humanity. But, this sign of God’s presence is also our Savior.
The promise the LORD made hundreds of years before Jesus was born to the virgin came true.
And now, 2,000-some years after Jesus took on flesh and dwelt among us, we have to reckon, here today, with who He is and what that means for us; what that requires of us.
We sing, “What Child is This” and entitle a sermon “What Child is This?” because it’s festive. It’s December. It’s the first Sunday of Advent.
But, when we come to the book of Isaiah and we read:
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.
When we read these words, we actually have to ask: What child is this? There’s a bit of historical stuff to wade through, and quite a lot to think about.
“What child is this?”
A better question is: what is this child?
He’s the sign of God’s presence. God with us. GOD. WITH. US.
This child is the Savior. He will save His people, not just from some geographical, military enemies. But He will save His people from their sins.
Jesus is Sign and Savior. That’s who He is.
Don’t just glimpse the baby in the manger. See Jesus as the very presence of God with us. Never to leave you or forsake you. With you to the very end of the age. He is Immanuel.
He is with His people, not just to comfort and handhold or to be our buddy who always approves of whatever we do. No, Jesus, Immanuel is with us to deal with our sin.
He calls us to repentance. To turn from our sin and idolatry, our self-reliance and self-righteousness. To turn from that and run to Him.
And why wouldn’t we? Run away from the sin which separates us from God’s presence, and run to Him who saves us from sin once for all.
Run to Jesus who is Himself GOD WITH US.
