The Sign of Immanuel

Isaiah 7:14

Introduction.

  1. This week is the Christmas holiday.

    1. I don’t know how you celebrate it, if you celebrate it at all, but in many families they present others with a Christmas wish list.

    2. When I became an adult, I ceased creating them, much to my wife’s frustration.

    3. It just felt awkward to ask people for certain things I could easily get myself (and would probably like better if I did) or that were so expensive I couldn’t get it.

    4. My wife would tell me, “That’s not the point,” but I still can’t escape that feeling.

    5. Well, there is a man, a king even, whom God asked for a sort of list.

    6. He refused to give it, and the prophet He was speaking through said, “Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?” (Isa. 7:13).

    7. God was frustrated with this man for not doing what He asked, but instead of giving him nothing or a gift he may or may not like, God offers something that is absolutely amazing!

  2. Today we return to Isaiah.

    1. Isaiah is sometimes called the “fifth gospel” because of its emphasis on the Messiah.

    2. Chs. 7 and 9 specifically talk of the birth of Christ, and today we will focus on Ch. 7.

    3. This week, much of the religious world will celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus.

    4. As a result, there will no doubt be many TV programs that will look into the events surrounding the birth of Christ, including the prophecy from Isa. 7—it’s been true for many years before, at least.

    5. They bring up topics that the scholarly world has debated over for many years, putting them in the public spotlight.

    6. They present it as if this is something your preacher won’t tell you, or that there is a scholarly consensus at odds with what you’re being taught at church.

    7. But the reality is they typically bring up minority opinions that many scholars have rejected, or they leave out the counterarguments that believing scholars have brought up.

    8. The reason the preacher might not talk about it is because their arguments don’t amount to much, despite the pretty packaging these programs give it.

  3. We will be looking at Isaiah 7.

    1. Background (7:1-2).

    2. Smoking Firebrands (7:3-9).2

    3. The Lord’s Sign (7:10-17).

Body.

  1. Background (7:1-2).

    1. At the top, we find three kings are involved here.

      1. The three are Ahaz of Judah, Pekah of Israel, and Rezin of Syria (Aram).

      2. This is perhaps the most difficult era in the chronology of the kings to figure out based on the biblical evidence.

      3. In my research, this seems to be the most likely timeline, despite a lack of explicit details that could clear things up.

    2. Kings of Judah.

      1. Isaiah 6 opens up by saying that Isaiah’s calling takes place the year King Uzziah died at around 740 b.c.

      2. Because of Uzziah’s leprosy, he was unable to rule, therefore his son Jotham ruled as a co-regent.

      3. At that time, however, since Uzziah was unable to rule at all, Jotham had his son Ahaz also rule with him as co-regent—so this is a time where Judah had three kings.

      4. Recall that, while Jotham himself was not objectionable, there was still much corruption in the land (2 Chron. 27:2).

      5. Ahaz, we find out, ends up being a very wicked king, even sacrificing children to false gods (2 Chron. 28:1-4).

      6. He likely deposed Jotham the first chance he got, even before his death, so he could reign alone.

      7. But then Pekah and Rezin come up against him.

    3. Kings of Israel.

      1. In Isaiah 6, when Uzziah dies, there appears to be a split Northern Kingdom—Menahem and Pekahiah reigning on the west side of the Jordan, and Pekah reigning in Gilead in the west.

      2. Pekah is able to gain control of the whole of Israel after killing Pekahiah.

      3. He decides he wants Judah, too, and enlists the help of the Syrians in his goals.

      4. Pekah was unable to conquer Judah (2 Kgs 16:5), but he and Rezin still wrought much destruction (2 Chr. 28:5-8).

      5. It’s possible, sensing weakness in Pekah, that Hoshea assassinated Pekah to become king himself.

    4. The prophets speak.

      1. Oded, the prophet to Pekah, condemns him for his destruction in Judah, and demands that he return the captives he took (2 Chr. 28:9-11).

      2. Isaiah, the prophet to Judah, speaks to Ahaz, assuring them of victory.

  2. Smoking Firebrands (7:3-9).

    1. Despite this wicked king, God brings comfort.

      1. God tells Isaiah to go see Ahaz and deliver a message to him.

      2. It’s no coincidence that God tells him to bring his son, Shear-Jashub, with him.

      3. Perhaps He wants Isaiah’s son to see these things, but it’s far more likely that it has to do with his name.

      4. My footnote states that his name means “A Remnant Shall Remain.”

      5. This has been a common thread in Isaiah so far, that when destruction comes, there shall remain a faithful remnant.

      6. By his son’s very presence, God is sending a message to Ahaz—a remnant shall remain.

      7. Even so, that destruction will not come yet—“be quiet and do not fear or be fainthearted” (7:4).

      8. 1It would seem the wickedness of Judah was not complete, particularly since righteous Hezekiah who had been born by this point has yet to rise to power.

    2. Two stubs of smoking firebrands.

      1. One way in which God comforts Ahaz is in diminishing the threat of Pekah and Rezin.

      2. He calls them two stubs of smoking firebrands.

      3. A firebrand is a piece of burning wood, here it’s a wooden poker that’s on fire.

      4. Metaphorically, it’s one who agitates a particular person, people, or situation.

      5. Yet, this firebrand is described, not as being on fire, but smoking.

      6. That fire has been put out, and all that remains are two stubs and some smoke.

      7. These agitators are done agitating, so take comfort!

      8. They had hatched a plot to replace Ahaz with some other king, not of David’s line.

      9. You see, the Lord isn’t protecting Ahaz per se, but is protecting His plan to bring in the Christ as a son of David.

      10. So this may be a reason why God allows the wicked to prosper: to carry out His ends that are greater than that one person’s wickedness.

    3. Against Pekah and Rezin.

      1. Now we find the prophecy the Lord makes against Rezin and Pekah.

      2. First, the plans they have for Judah will not stand or come to pass—Ahaz can take comfort in this.

      3. Then we see the prophetic element of this passage: “Within 65 years Ephraim will be broken, so that it will not be a people” (7:8).

      4. This certainly took place, and far sooner than the 65-year upper limit.

      5. We have a range of these events beginning to occur anywhere from 17 to 8 years after these events when the Assyrians take Israel captive.

      6. The destruction of the Northern Kingdom may not have been complete for another 50 years or so—we don’t have many records of what happened to the Israelites in Assyria.

      7. Ephraim is mentioned here representing the whole of the Northern Kingdom as the most prominent tribe, and because Pekah had recently taken it when he killed Pekahiah.

      8. In the following chapters, we read of the destruction Assyria will bring, particularly to the Northern Kingdom, and then Assyria, too, will face judgment—Babylon conquers them.

      9. In 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles we find that Ahaz attempts an alliance with the Assyrians to help him fend off Pekah and Rezin.

      10. It would seem, based on these two accounts, that Assyria was hesitant at first, but ultimately came to Judah’s aid.

      11. Rezin’s reign did not last long after this, for the king of Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser, went to Damascus, carried its people away and killed Rezin (2 Kgs 16:9).

  3. The Lord’s Sign (7:10-17).

    1. Now is the time that the Lord through Isaiah asks Ahaz for a sign from God.

      1. Such signs are used to assure the witnesses of the truth of the prophecy.

      2. Typically, when we see signs in Scripture, it is not the choice of the individual who sees the sign.

      3. This is a fairly rare event—the only other person I can think of who asked for a specific sign was Gideon in Judges 6.

      4. But Gideon wasn’t asked to come up with a sign like Ahaz was. This is a fairly unique situation, I think.

      5. Ahaz, on the other hand, refuses to ask for a sign, equating it with testing the Lord.

      6. Since this is actually a command in the Law of Moses, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him in Massah” (Deut. 6:16), something quoted by Jesus when resisting the temptations of the devil.

      7. So, without further context, we might assume Ahaz was saying this out of piety, and we might wonder why Isaiah reacted the way he did.

      8. No, this is a false piety that Ahaz is expressing, to the point that the Lord is fed up with it—“Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?” (7:13).

    2. A virgin shall conceive.

      1. The impossible is foretold: a virgin shall conceive and give birth to a Son.

      2. So what does this mean? There is a principle in interpreting prophecy: there may be a future fulfillment, but the prophecy should have relevance to the initial hearers unless otherwise stated.

      3. If true, then there are two virgin births, which reduces the significance of the one that brought Jesus into the world.

      4. Those TV programs make a big deal of the Hebrew word translated as “virgin” here: almah.

      5. Some claim this only means “young woman” rather than “virgin,” yet in every instance we find this word it refers to someone who has done nothing that would naturally result in a baby.

      6. This is confirmed by the Greek use of the term παρθένος when translating this verse in Matt. 1:23 – that word unquestioningly refers to a virgin.

      7. But if the earlier birth in Isaiah’s time was not particularly miraculous, then what’s the sign?

      8. I think there may have been a contemporary, yet incomplete fulfillment, similar to the prophecy of 2 Sam. 7.

      9. That prophecy is ostensibly about Solomon, but upon closer examination, Solomon did not fit the description—there must be a future Son of David.

      10. Similarly, there is no one of Isaiah’s day that could have truly fit this prophecy.

      11. Sure, there are guesses, but nothing concrete—this is about Jesus!

      12. This is evident in the next few verses.

    3. Choose the good.

      1. Curds and honey He shall eat—this is a diet of the poor.

      2. This cannot be a prophecy about Hezekiah or Josiah, good kings to come after, because, well, first of all they were not virgin born, but second, they were anything but poor.

      3. But Jesus was, growing up the Son of a carpenter in Galilee, far away from the elites in Judea and Jerusalem.

      4. He was even born next to the animals, and a feeding trough was His bassinet—hardly befitting a child born into royalty.

      5. It shows His humble beginnings, which makes it easier for people to refuse the evil, choosing the good.

      6. Those born into riches must be cognizant of the tendency toward evil, being greedy, forgetting the poor, having money to do more wicked things.

      7. This is the potential for us all if we had the wealth—it becomes more difficult to empathize with those who are without.

      8. Jesus was born into a humble and poor family, which made the choice to do right much easier.

    4. The land forsaken.

      1. Then Isaiah uses this phrase: “before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good” (7:16).

      2. Some say this is a reference to the Age of Accountability—that we all reach an age where we have the choice.

      3. It implies we did not have a choice before, we didn’t know any better.

      4. Maybe it is a reference to that, but I’m not so sure.

      5. This is likely a reference to the fact that Jesus will not be born until after the land, Israel and Syria, would be forsaken by both her kings.

      6. It would only be a few years before Israel and Syria would be conquered and carried away by the Assyrians.

      7. Hoshea assassinates Pekah and takes his place as king, but it would not be long before Assyria under Shalmaneser would take them captive.

      8. And we have already discussed Assyria under Tiglath-Pileser taking Damascus and killing Rezin.

      9. Then Assyria under Sennacharib will later come upon Judah in an attempt to conquer Jerusalem while Hezekiah, a righteous king, reigned.

      10. While there is comfort given to Ahaz in this moment, there is also foretold destruction due in part to his wickedness.

      11. Now Sennacharib will ultimately fail, but it would only be because of divine intervention, yet he still causes much destruction throughout Judah (2 Kings 18–19).

      12. Ultimately, we find out in Ch. 8, the only reason for Judah being saved up to this point is for the sake of Immanuel—God with us.

    5. Immanuel.

      1. Let us consider this name as we close this morning.

      2. We do not call Him Immanuel, but Jesus. Why?

      3. Jesus comes from the Hebrew Joshua, which means Yahweh Saves or Yahweh is Salvation; Immanuel means God With Us.

      4. This verse is even referenced around this time in Matt. 1.

      5. It’s not that this is the label by which we call Him, but it is a description.

      6. Jesus is Immanuel, He is God with us!

      7. He came to live among us for about 33 years on this earth, but promises never to leave us nor forsake us, being with us until the end of the age (Matt. 28:20).

      8. Jesus is God with us from now on, into eternity! That’s what His Incarnation means for us.

      9. While the rest of the religious world may take this time to honor His birth, we can do so every time we worship, every time we pray, every time we thank God for sending His Son to this earth to live as one of us, and to die as a criminal, though innocent, for each one of us.

      10. His virgin birth is so important for that, because it shows that He is the one who was prophesied, He is the Messiah, chosen to die to take our sins away!

Conclusion.

  1. Recall one of the key verses of Isaiah, “Come now, and let us reason together” (Isa. 1:18).

    1. Isaiah offers many proofs in this book of God and that we should follow Him.

    2. One of those proofs is this miraculous sign, a sign the wicked King Ahaz refused to acknowledge, the sign of a virgin birth.

    3. Granted it would not happen for another 730 years or so, but he should have trusted God—his predecessors Uzziah and Jotham did for the most part, as did his successor Hezekiah.

    4. We should trust in Him, too.

    5. After all, a virgin conceived and gave birth to a Son—an impossibility without God’s miraculous intervention! … no matter what the esoteric and/or unbelieving scholars say.

    6. This should prove to us His existence and that Jesus is the Messiah, as Isaiah later calls Him in Ch. 9: “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (9:6), and as John later called Him, the “Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14).

    7. There are plenty of proofs of these things—this is just one example of one of them.

  2. Wouldn’t you want to follow this Mighty God, this Everlasting Father, this Prince of Peace, this Savior of the world?

    1. He came into the world over 2000 years ago so that He could die about 33 years later.

    2. He came to die for you and for me, to save us from our sins.

    3. That only happens when we obey His gospel.

    4. Will you obey it this morning?