When nothing is making sense…
When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it. Isaiah 7:1
Notice that the King marching against Judah here is the King of Israel. This is not a foreign enemy. This is an enemy from within. A divided nation. The people of God have become divided. The twelve tribes of Israel have taken sides. Israel and Judah once were together the people of God, God’s holy nation, God’s chosen people.
And God’s message that Isaiah has to deliver to Ahaz, King of Judah?: Do not be afraid.
Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Isaiah 7:4
If you do not stand firm in your faith,
you will not stand at all. Isaiah 7:9
God encourages Ahaz to ask for a sign, but Ahaz is cautious – he’s seen and heard of that going wrong too many times in the past. God’s sign will be this –
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14
A verse that is quoted often in the Christmas story as a promise of the Saviour to come, the promise of the coming of God’s Son, Jesus, into the world. Which would not actually happen until hundreds of years later. So Ahaz would never see this sign for himself. God sees the bigger picture, the whole of human history, the trajectory of the whole human race. Some things may never make sense in the lifetime of one man, but over the course of the whole of human history, then yes, God’s perfect plan is revealed…
Immanuel means ‘God with us’.
God is with us.
Even when the whole of the land is laid waste.
Even when the leaders are completely humiliated.
In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the River Euphrates – the king of Assyria – to shave your heads and private parts, and to cut off your beards also. Isaiah 7:20
Isaiah and his wife have a son and at God’s command name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz which means ‘quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil’. Nice. A constant reminder of what is to come.
Living with a son of that name, living among a people who are going about their daily lives in constant fear of attack, it must be hard for Isaiah to keep calm and carry on. Hard not to get sucked into the fear and hysteria of the people around him. Hard not to get drawn into listening to the wrong people. Hard not to lose perspective.
Rather like living in our land at this time, as we cope with the destabilising effects of the referendum and the ever-increasing reports of terrorist attacks across the globe.
This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people:
‘Do not call conspiracy
everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
and do not dread it.
The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
he is the one you are to fear,
he is the one you are to dread.
He will be a holy place;
for both Israel and Judah he will be
a stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be
a trap and a snare.
Many of them will stumble;
they will fall and be broken,
they will be snared and captured.’
Bind up this testimony of warning
and seal up God’s instruction among my disciples.
I will wait for the Lord,
who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob.
I will put my trust in him. Isaiah 8: 11-17
God’s hand is on each one of us.
Guiding us in His ways.
God wants us to follow His way, not the way of the people around us.
He doesn’t want us to fall for all the conspiracy theories.
He does not want us to live in fear. To dread the future.
God is holy. Set apart. He is the One we should be turning to.
He will unite Judah and Israel (He will be just in the punishments they face as well as in the blessings – if that is any consolation!). He will unite a divided nation.
Trust God. Even if it feels like He is hiding.
Trust in Him. Even if nothing is making sense.
I will put my trust in Him.
