God With US
Notes
Transcript
10 Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying,
11 “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”
13 Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?
14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
15 “He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.
16 “For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.
10 Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying,
Notice the AGAIN God had already spoken once to Ahaz earlier in this chapter telling him not to worry, to remain calm.
11 “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
Isaiah, Volume 1 (Chapter 7)
Ask thee. Ask for thyself; ask a sign that shall be convincing to thyself, since thou dost not fully credit the words of the prophet. It is evident that the words of the prophet had made no impression on the mind of Ahaz…
This proposition was made, probably, not so much from respect to Ahaz as to leave him without excuse,…
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”
I will not ask. In this case Ahaz assumed the appearance of piety, or respect for the command of God. In Deut. 6:16, it is written, ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God;’ and Ahaz perhaps had this command in his eye. It was a professed reverence for God. But the true reason why he did not seek this sign was, that he had already entered into a negotiation with the king of Assyria to come and defend him; and that he was even stripping the temple of God of its silver and gold, to secure this assistance…
When men are depending on their own devices and resources, they are unwilling to seek aid from God;
and it is not uncommon if they excuse their want of trust in him by some appearance of respect for religion
13 Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?
The prophet broadened his audience beyond Ahaz to include the whole faithless house of David.
The nation was guilty of wearying God
It would be wise to note that many times a government reflects the hearts of it’s governed.
If we want to see change in a nation it starts with the hearts of the people,
who charge the hearts of their home,
who change the hearts of their community,
who change the hearts of their region,
then state,
then clusters of states,
then the nation.
14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
Immanuel = God With Us
Even when a man rejects any sign or aid from God, He still loves us to be Immanuel. Despite how we feel He is still with us.
15 “He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. 16 “For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.
MacArthur Study Bible NASB (Commentary)
7:15 curds and honey. Curds result from coagulated milk, something like cottage cheese. This diet indicated the scarcity of provisions which characterized the period after foreign invaders had decimated the land.
The Message of Isaiah: On Eagles’ Wings (The Immanuel Sign (7:13–25))
By the time this child has reached an age of accountability (within a few years at the most), the land will have been so devastated and depopulated by Assyria that cultivation will be impossible;
the survivors will have to exist on the products of the few animals they have and any wild food they can gather
7:16 refuse evil. Before the promised son of Isaiah was old enough to make moral choices, the kings of Aram, or Syria, and Ephraim were to meet their doom at the hands of the Assyrians.
Two important themes:
The first is the LORD’s supreme, universal sovereignty
The second theme is closely related to the first, namely, the absolute necessity of wholehearted reliance upon the LORD
If you will not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.’ Whatever we rely on instead of trusting in God will eventually turn and devour us. - Barry Webb
Take Home:
Do You Rely on God’s Love?
