Immanuel

The Broad Context

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In there earth there was a garden, and in that garden there was a man and a woman. At this point in the narrative, not other information is given regarding their names, simply man and woman. We do know that everything in the garden was good and that this man and woman were made in the image of God and intended to represent Him. Life was good. They were free to live in relationship with God and glorify Him by enjoying one another and enjoying the world God had created. Another way they were uniquely designed to glorify God was by submitting to His law, which was simple: Do what you want, and don’t eat from the tree in the center of the garden. Put plainly, we aren’t told why God forbade the eating of the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden, but I am inclined to that that more than prohibition, this was an invitation to trust God and believe that they had all they needed in Him.

However, this man and this woman broke God’s law. They consulted with a creature regarding the creator and believed the testimony of a created thing more than they believed the testimony of the Creator himself. This act of treason brought upon all of God’s creation a divine curse that would encompass all of life. And yet, in that curse there is a promise.

We often talk about the promise of God to be send a deliverer, one who will crush the head of the serpent and set right all that has been made wrong. We don’t, however, talk often enough about what is implicit in that promise—that God is going to again dwell with His people. The point of the the redemption is not to make a better world for man to live in, but to make a world suitable for God Himself to live in with His redeemed people.

So—fall, curse, and the promise to dwell with His people. The work of fulfilling that promise is the predominant storyline of the Bible. We are invited in these 66 books to trace the narrative and see the mighty hand of God as He makes good on His promises to dwell with his people.

Fast forward now several hundred years and we meet a prophet named Isaiah assigned to the nation God has created, Israel, and more specifically, the southern portion of the nation, Judah. While we can look at Israel on the map and see one land mass, at the point in history in which Isaiah was working, the nation had divided into Israel in the north and Judah in the south.

As we pick up in chapter 7, Israel has joined forces with Syria, a world super power, for the purpose of coming into Judah, defeating them, and replacing their king, Ahaz, with a puppet king, sympathetic to the causes of Syria and Israel. When Ahaz heard this, tells us that the heart of Ahaz and of his people trembled like trees in a forest blown by the wind. The question that marks the first 39 chapters of Isaiah revolves around this issue; “will we trust God, or will we trust Assyria”? Ahaz was tempted to put his trust in Assyria, being that they were an even greater power than Syria, the war partner of Israel. Assyria had offered to make a covenant with Judah, if they would swear allegiance to Assyria, then Assyria would protect them from the coming invasion. So, into that tense situation, we insert ourselves as we read in .

Isaiah comes to Ahaz at the command of the Lord and tells him, “Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint, because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands” ().

On Tuesday night my community group had a thanksgiving dinner at the Jones house. Johnathan made a fire it was great. Now, every little bit, the fire would cause the log to break off and a small bit would roll to the edge of the fire pit. It would burn for a minute, and then glow, and then just smolder, and then be forgotten. That is what the Lord is comparing this mighty alliance to.

“Don’t fear them!” They are just a smoldering piece of stump, here today and gone tomorrow. This is how the Lord sees and speaks of the nations of the earth and the problems of men. This is helpful and timely for us as a body. We can become so consumed by our problems that we can’t see past them, forgetting just how mighty and powerful God is. It is good to lament. It is good to mourn and grieve. It is good to think long and carefully about the things that plague us. While all of these things are good, it is even better to know that in the midst of them there is One who is better and stronger and mightier than all that bothers and afflicts us. Let us remember to look to Him and not the smoldering stumps of problems we encounter. This is the word to Ahaz and it remains for us—trust the Lord.

This encouragement is followed now by a warning. See verses 7-9.

“It will not stand, and it shall not come to pass…If you are not firm in faith, then you will not be firm at all”.

The implication is clear--”Ahaz, this is a moment of decision, will you trust me or will your trust man”?

Now, God has just promised Ahaz that which seems impossible, “you will not be harmed by these nations that threaten you”. To seal that promise, God comes to Ahaz again and tells him to ask for a sign that this promise will come to pass. Ahaz refuses, sighting , claiming that he will not put the Lord to the test. While this seems like a pious and holy response, Ahaz is doing the Devil’s work, twisting scripture to fit his own ends. It is right not to put the Lord to the test. Yet, when He comes and asks you to test Him, you ask for a sign. He offers to move heaven and earth, as far down as Sheol and as high as the heavens, the invitation is to ask. Ahaz refuses. This is not holiness, this is unbelief.

Since Ahaz will not himself ask for a sign, God decides the sign and gives it to him. “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son and call His name Immanuel”.

Now, this time of year, that is a familiar promise, and we know where we are going, but let’s don’t jump too quickly.

Prophecy in the Bible, we have said this before, is often like a mountain range. It may seem like one peek from a distance, but the closer we get, we see that there are many peeks, many fulfillments. So it is with this prophecy. The prophecy remember, is intended to serve as a sign to Ahaz that God is going to be with His people. So, spoken to a real person, in real time, in a real place, it has to mean something to him before it can mean anything to us. It had to serve its function before it can accomplish another.

Look now in chapter 8.

The Lord commands Isaiah to write the name “Maher-shalal-hash-baz”. Isaiah and his wife then have a son, and they name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz, which means the spoil speeds, the prey hastens. Now we are told in 8:4 that before this child can distinguish his mother from his father, these nations that threaten Judah will be no more. Finally, in verse 8, this child is referred to as Immanuel. Although this is not the ultimate fulfillment, Maher-shalal-hash-baz is, in a real way, the word (prophecy) become flesh. He is himself a sign that God will be with and finally deliver His people.

Now, some of you may know that in recent years there has been much debate regarding the word translated in 7:14 as virgin. My purposes in this sermon are not to provide for you an apologetic defense of the virgin birth. Let me provide 2 sources of confidence for me that we have it right before we move on.

The early church, as early as the second century, saw the virgin birth as essential to the core Gospel truths that define Christianity

The Bible itself affirms this passage as testimony to the virgin birth of Jesus

Future Fulfillment (The True Immanuel)

In we read that Joseph, betrothed to Mary, is visited by an angel who tells him that Mary, a young woman of marriageable age and a virgin, is pregnant with a child conceived of the Holy Spirit. She will give birth and name this child Jesus, because He will save His people from their sin. The we read, “all this was spoken in order to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet (that’s Isaiah): Behold, the virgin shall conceive and give birth and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”.

So, Matthew sees the birth of Jesus by the virgin Mary as the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah to Ahaz. Which means that Jesus is pictured as the sign that God will be with His people—to help them—and to deliver them from their sin.

Final Fulfillment (God with Us)

We now live in a time in which we no longer look forward to the incarnation of a Messiah-Savior, but to the return of a king. We too are confronted with the same dilemma that Ahaz was. In our time of waiting, in our exile, in our hardships, will we look to and trust in God who has spoken the ends from the beginnings, or will we fall prey to the temptation to trust man?