Sermon Tone Analysis

Welcome God with Us (7:1-25)

We Welcome God with Us (7:1-25)

(Temple 12/09/2018) We are seeing the Lord through the eyes of the prophet Isaiah.

This morning we considered the natures of the Messiah from .

He would be a child born into this world and a Son given to the world.

He would have a human nature and a divine nature.

Tonight in , we continue that prophecy of a divine child born in the Jewish nation.

As a Deliverer in Times of Despair

Take heed, and be quiet;

Fear not, neither be fainthearted

For the two tails of these smoking firebrands,

For the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

5Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah,

Have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,

6Let us go up against Judah, and vex it,

And let us make a breach therein for us,

And set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal:

7Thus saith the Lord God,

It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.

The context of this prophecy is a time of national crisis.

The king of Israel, the northern kingdom, has joined forces with the Syrian ruler, Rezin, in an effort to subjugate Judah, the southern kingdom.

And their combined forces look intimidating.

8For the head of Syria is Damascus,

And the head of Damascus is Rezin;

And within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.

9And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,

And the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son.

If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.

The context of this prophecy is a time of national crisis.

The king of Israel, the northern kingdom, has joined forces with the Syrian ruler, Rezin, in an effort to subjugate Judah, the southern kingdom.

And their combined forces look intimidating.

The Lord said that the “two smoking firebrands” (Rezin of Syria and Pekah of Israel) are all smoke and no fire.

The army against Jerusalem may look impressive but they are no match against the Lord.

In fact, no army is nowhere near a match for the Lord.

The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Selah.

Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.

He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

In this backdrop, in verse 10, Isaiah called for Ahaz to believe the Word of the Lord and trust in His deliverance.

Sadly, Ahaz was not a good king of Judah.

In this backdrop, in verse 10, Isaiah called for Ahaz to believe the Word of the Lord and trust in His deliverance.

Sadly, Ahaz was not a good king of Judah.

Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father.

But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.

And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

In addition, he changed the altar for burnt offerings after the manner of an altar he saw in Damascus and he took down the giant bowl that Solomon had built and put upon four oxen statues.

Third, instead of trusting in the Lord, as a casual reader might assume from verse 12 of , he formed an alliance with the Assyrians against Syria and the northern kingdom.

The northern kingdom was destroyed during the reign of Pekah’s son, Hoshea, and the people were taken away to other lands.

Conquered people of other lands were brought in to inhabit the northern kingdom and they formed a confused religion hodgepodge.

Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father.

But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.

And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

In addition, he changed the altar for burnt offerings after the manner of an altar he saw in Damascus and he took down the giant bowl that Solomon had built and put upon four oxen statues.

Third, instead of trusting in the Lord, as a casual reader might assume from verse 12 of , he formed an alliance with the Assyrians against Syria and the northern kingdom.

The northern kingdom was destroyed during the reign of Pekah’s son, Hoshea, and the people were taken away to other lands.

Conquered people of other lands were brought in to inhabit the northern kingdom and they formed a confused religion hodgepodge.

In addition, he changed the altar for burnt offerings after the manner of an altar he saw in Damascus and he took down the giant bowl that Solomon had built and put upon four oxen statues.

Third, instead of trusting in the Lord, as a casual reader might assume from verse 12 of , he formed an alliance with the Assyrians against Syria and the northern kingdom.

The northern kingdom was destroyed during the reign of Pekah’s son, Hoshea, and the people were taken away to other lands.

Conquered people of other lands were brought in to inhabit the northern kingdom and they formed a confused religion hodgepodge.

Under Ahaz, Judah fell away from the Lord and worshipped idols.

Just like in the days of the judges, whenever God’s people got into apostasy, the Lord would send a threat and tribulation upon them so that they would repent and turn back to the Lord.

In this seventh chapter of Isaiah, doom seemed certain.

But God has a word for His people and a promise of hope.

Because of Ahaz’s rejection of the Lord, the kingdom was not established on a sure foundation as under previous kings.

Perhaps his alliance with the Assyrians led to the great crisis during the reign of Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz when Sennacherib set his army against Jerusalem and only the direct intervention of an angel of the Lord saved the king and the city.

Take another moment and reconsider the words of the Lord through Isaiah at the end of verse 9: If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.

That is a sobering thought for kings, servants, and citizens.

The CSB says, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all.”[1]

What was true for Ahaz and the people of Judah thousands of years ago is still true for us today.

This backdrop for the promises to come in this chapter reminds us that, even though troubles will come, maybe even some of our own doing, the Lord still reigns and invites us to turn to Him as our deliverer, as our Hope, and as our sure foundation when all around us is sinking sand.

The name of Isaiah’s son, Shear-jashub, means “a remnant shall return,” referring not only to the impending destruction of Israel, but just as significantly to the captivity of Judah.

So that is a summary of the backdrop for the Lord’s words of hope and deliverance.

Now let’s look at God’s promises.

As a Sign of God’s Greatness and Faithfulness

-25 Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying,

Jesus is the fulfillment of

11Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God;

Ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.

12But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.

13And he said,

Hear ye now, O house of David;

Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

14Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign;

Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,

And shall call his name Immanuel.

15Butter and honey shall he eat,

That he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

16For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good,

The land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

17The Lord shall bring upon thee,

And upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house,

Days that have not come,

From the day that Ephraim departed from Judah;

Even the king of Assyria.

18And it shall come to pass in that day,

That the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt,

And for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.