St. Timothy's Church

Advent IV 2010 Isaiah 7:10-17

The Rev. W. Terry Sweeney

"Reason is the left hand of the soul and faith is the right". John Donne

"Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His Name Immanuel" Isaiah 7:14

In the Name of God: + Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Many a person has caught themselves wondering when their lives started to go wrong.

Sometimes a freakish accident has changed the whole course of their lives as it did Charles Krauthammer, the Pulitzer Prize winning commentator. Dr. Krauthammer sustained a paralyzing diving accident in his first year of medical school, he was hospitalized for a year, during which time he continued his medical studies.

Disease blindsides us; Layoffs or being fired; natural disasters; personal sin or being sinned against. Life goes wrong for a number of reasons. And in a number of ways it can sometimes be put back on track – but often in a new way. e.g. Krauthammer.

Nations are not immune from finding themselves in the same conundrum.

Nations can be turned upside down and find themselves asking the same question: when did this start going wrong? Greece, Spain and France are examples that come to mind.

Our own country is struggling with the same question: wars on two fronts, sticky foreign policy issues with Iran and North Korea; Russia and China behind the scenes and no true friends to America. Europe drowning in red ink and in public strikes and violent civil protest due to over zealous social policies which have to be cut back. Our own country with a stated 9.8% unemployment rate that is probably closer to 17%, home foreclosures at record highs, issuers of taxes, spending, government oversight in our daily lives. Freedom – faith – traditions – terrorism – all are important issues facing us as a nation.

Many have lost their faith in government. So where do we turn?

If you turn back to Isaiah Chapter 7 and find verse 10 you'll see a king and a nation gone wrong, and God speaking through the prophet Isaiah offers a solution.

Will the king take it or come up with his own idea?

Let me set the stage.

The hostile nation of Assyria (north and east of Palestine) is expanding. At the height of its power it will lay claim to what we now today as Egypt, Israel, Iran, Iraq and Syria. Raids are occurring in the northern kingdom of Israel and a small nation called Aram.

Aram (Syria) under King Rezin and Israel under King Pekah attacked Judah (the southern kingdom whose capital is Jerusalem) in an effort to force them into a three nation alliance against Assyrian aggression.

The heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. . . . 7.2 . . . . this was a fearful time for the leadership and the people. What should King Ahaz do? What if I said he was to do nothing . . . . northing that is but trust God's promise to protect and establish the throne of David in an everlasting covenant?

God sent Isaiah and his son Shear-jashub to speak with King Ahaz near an aqueduct just outside the city. God told Isaiah to say this: Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands . . . . He went on to say that God would take care of them.

DO NOTHING.

Ahaz is to trust God for Judah's safe keeping. There is however a warning: If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.

In 2 Kings 16 we see some further details of the story: Ahaz sent a message to the Assyrian King Tiglath-Pileser saying, "I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me . . . . . " Ahaz took silver and gold from the house of the Lord and his own house and paid tribute to the Assyrian king. Tiglath-Pileser took Damascus the Syrian capital and killed King Rezin and carried many of his people off into captivity.

Ahaz met Tiglath-Pileser at Damascus and saw the altar and instructed Uriah the priest to make a replica which upon arrival from Damascus Ahaz offered burnt offerings, grain and drink offerings upon. The altar in the house of the Lord was cut off at the legs and moved to another location. Eventually offering were made at both altars even though the original altar became Ahaz's personal altar.

What was the result of Ahaz's alliance? Syria was attacked and defeated. Israel was eventually defeated and wiped off the map completely in 721.

The Assyrians are defeated by the Babylonians in 612. And on August 14, 586 the Babylonian army under Nebuchadnezzar break through the walls of Jerusalem and the city and Temple are sacked and burned – many of the people are deported to Babylon.

Because of the alliance made by Ahaz, from roughly 715 on the throne of David was not the same.

The fundamental error of Ahaz was this: He turned to politics and alliances (with a brutal nation) when confronted with an invading force. His alliances resulted in Judah to become a vassal of a tyrant nation. He took on the religious practices of other nations.

Ahaz would not trust God beyond the immediate situation.

The result took 129 years but nonetheless it meant defeat and destruction.

Our decisions about following God can have generational effects that we have no way of seeing at the time.

Who we marry – how we obey the law – are we people of faith or not – where we go to school – what vocation we choose – our ethics and morals – all of these can have a generational impact, that can shape our families in future generations.

The same is true for a nation.

The right leaders making the right decisions will result in one set of outcomes for the nation; the wrong leaders and wrong decisions will result in another. . . even the right leaders making wrong decisions will have an impact.

So how far was God willing to go to help Ahaz – the wrong leader – to make a right decision?

You might be surprised:

It's important to know that God sent Isaiah back to Ahaz with another important message. This time it was a message of a sign – a way that Ahaz might be able to trust in God's ability to manage this crises.

God said to Ahaz, "ask a sign of the Lord your God. . . . .

Gideon asked for a sign not out of disbelief but because he wanted to be doubly certain that he was going about God's will (Judg. 6.36ff)

Isaiah is saying, Ahaz, God is willing to confirm what I've said to you . . . .just ask Him to show you a sign that you choose – go ahead make it something that moves heaven and earth if necessary – there's nothing out of bounds.

I think this shows the seriousness of the situation and the importance God attaches to the exercise of faith.

Ahaz says, "No" he won't put God to the test.

There is the sin of 'testing God' – it's the sin of unbelief. "I will trust God if he gives me reason to trust him, he's got to first show Himself to me.

According to Psalm 81:7-8 God put the people to a test (Ex. 17) at Massah; and according to Psalm 95:9 they tested Him. His test was whether they would now trust Him based upon His past care for them; their test was to suspend belief, to doubt the goodwill of God. To ask God for a sign in this spirit is proof of lack of belief and faith.

God is not a well trained dog that will fetch and do tricks on command.

However to refuse an offered sign from God is proof that one does not want to believe – for what ever reason Ahaz did not want to believe – he would make his own bad choices for his own disbelieving reasons.

Old Testament scholar Walter Kaiser said, " . . . for the only way it is possible to accord God's deity to Him is by using him and risking one's life upon God's word by trusting his promises and obeying the revelation of His will."

Ahaz willfully did not do that.

v. 14, "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. 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."

Even though Ahaz said he did not want to ask for a sign, Isaiah tells him what the sign will be anyway.

God has set a course of action that will happen – there is no way to stop it.

The birth of Immanuel will confirm that God has spoken to Ahaz (and in this case that Ahaz has refused).

Yet because we've been told earlier that Judah would survive this threat we can understand that Isaiah leaves Ahaz in the tension of wondering when/if the child would come.

In order to see how grave Ahaz's lack of belief really we have to let the course of time run out further.

You see from the time of Ahaz there was never again a "house of David" in the truest sense but instead a line of vassel/puppet kings under alien domination through exile and a return under King Cyrus in 539 BC.

There are some things we have to get right in our lives:

God IS . . . . . it's not a matter of if there a God . . . . it's a matter of whether or not we're going to do everything we can to be found by Him. We're the lost one's; He's not.

Our thoughts are not His thoughts but they can be more than not.

How's that? Practice belief and faith.

I don't mean just doing foolish things to see if God will save you . . . . that's not faith.

I mean trusting God for His hearts desire for you. That means being at peace with the situation you find your self in – looking for Him in the ordinary. Waiting for Him to lead you with His love.

Ahaz admittedly faced a huge and scary problem . . . . overwhelming forces about to attack Jerusalem.

As well known as Isaiah would have been, it is a stretch to follow his advise and do nothing.

Yet look at what Ahaz's actions eventually cost Judah – becoming a weak nation that was full of idolatry and eventually exiled to Babylon.

You see he not only did not trust God but he willfully took on the worship of other gods – he would not believe in his heart and filled it with false gods as well.

Our decisions must be fueled by God's word. . . . a life lived in seeking Him and acknowledging His presence in our lives.

People are ruining their lives because they act on worldly standards – cultural standards that allow for sexual promiscuity, gluttony, infidelity, sorcery, jealousy, rivalries, divisions, drunkenness, orgies and on and on . . . . . .

God's kingdom lived in a personal way leads us to a much different set of behaviors and attitudes.

One act of sexual acting out can change the course of a man's life forever. . . . there is no taking that back.

One lie can change the course of a woman's life forever . . . there is no taking that back.

One act of violence and a life can be wasted– one act of deceit and trust is lost and may not be regained.

Trusting in God – walking in His footsteps – believing on Him – not acting in ways that are contrary to His nature. . . . .

This is what leads us to abundant, substantial lives that know that our days are in His hands.

Trust in the Lord to lead the way! Lean not on your own understanding – lean on Him. Amen.

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