Sermon for MHBC (22 November 2020). You can listen on Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, or our website. Live at 11:00am on Sundays.
I think we can all agree that we are living in a period of great anxiety. The political scene in our country is turbulent. The pandemic is ongoing and many lives have best lost. Many are undergoing economic hardships. Life is hard. Sometimes it can be unbearably difficult.
In Isaiah 7, we learn that the King of Judah, Ahaz, is in a moment of great anxiety. At this time, the nation of Israel is split into two kingdoms. There is the northern kingdom called the Kingdom of Israel. And there is the southern kingdom called the Kingdom of Judah. In Isaiah 7:1, we are told that the king of Syria and the king of Israel have an alliance.
This is a scary situation for the southern kingdom. Look at v. 2: “When the house of David (i.e. the southern kingdom of Judah) was told, ‘Syria is in league with Ephraim (another name for the northern kingdom),’ the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.”
Just sit with that analogy for a second. His heart shakes as the trees. Can you feel it? These are feelings of intense fear. We live in a fearful world. One study released by the CDC concluded: “Elevated levels of adverse mental health conditions, substance use, and suicidal ideation were reported by adults in the United States in June 2020.”[1] One advantage of a global pandemic is that it has woken us up from any notion that things will just be OK. Life is scary and none of us will get out of here alive.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get overwhelmed by that thought. It’s really terrifying isn’t it? I know exactly what Ahaz is feeling. I know what it is for my heart to shake like a tree blowing in the wind. I know what it is to feel despair and fear deep in my gut. And my guess is that you know it too.
And on the surface, when we look at the hardships, when we are confronted by the fears that lurk in the dark, we are left feeling hopeless. We might say with Macbeth after the death of his wife:
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.[2]
But what if there’s an answer to the fear and the tragedy and the sorrow? Look at v. 3 with me. “And the LORD said to Isaiah, ‘Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field.” I want you to take note of two things. First, the LORD (notice all caps)—YHWH—speaks to Isaiah. A modern worldview might tell us that what we see and touch and observe in a laboratory is the extent of reality. There is only the natural world. But, here Scripture says that the LORD speaks. The Christian faith declares, to borrow a title from Francis Schaeffer, that God is there and he is not silent. This means there is more to the world than meets the eye. There are elements above the natural realm—we call these supernatural. There are things that we can’t observe in a laboratory or duplicate through the scientific method. But this also means that there might be more to the story than Macbeth supposed. It might mean that life is not a tell told by an idiot after all.
The second thing to note is the name of Isaiah’s son mentioned here. His name is Shear-jashub, which means “a remnant will return.” Implied in that name is God’s judgment—there will be a cleansing that will leave only a remnant. But there’s also God’s grace because he is going to redeem and restore a remnant. He will bring them back.
So we have a God who both speaks and acts into the darkest and most fearful parts of life. The armies are gathering. They are waiting. The king is trembling, and the LORD speaks and says, “I’m going to do something.” I like to remind people of these realities from Psalm 23. Psalm 23 has been a comfort to believers for centuries. It reminds us of our shepherd who remains with us, but there are some indications of great difficulties in the psalm. There is the darkest of valleys—often translated the valley of the shadow of death. There is evil—“I will fear no evil for you are with me.” It’s not the absence of evil that gives the sheep rest. It’s the presence of the shepherd. And then there are the enemies. “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” The psalm isn’t exactly bright and cheery, but it testifies to the reality that in those nights of life when our hearts shake like the trees, and the darkness will not lift, the one true God is there. He neither slumbers nor sleeps.
Here’s what he says. Verse 4: “And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah.’” Here’s clear instruction. Be careful. Be quiet. Do not fear. Do not let your heart be faint. You’ve got two nations coming against you, but I’m going to do something.
Verses 5–6: Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it.” As far as fearful situations go, this is certainly one. Two kings are coming to attack. From every earthly vantage point the situation is dire. There seems to be no hope. But again I remind you that the world is not a closed system. There is a living God who speaks and acts.
Verse 7 and following: Thus says the Lord GOD: “It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin. And within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”
The LORD says, “You don’t need to worry because I’m going to take care of these enemies. Their time is short. In sixty-five years, they will be no more.” But this will require faith. Ahaz must trust the LORD. If he doesn’t, fear will overtake him.
Can we just pause for a moment and talk about fear? There are numerous reasons to be afraid in this world. But the Lord says the same to us. Be firm in your faith. Trust me. Jesus once told a fearful father, “If you believe, all things are possible.” Isaiah and the witness of Scripture are about to show us that that God’s plan surpasses our wildest expectations.
Verses 10–11: Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” Verse 12: But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” Now this is false piety. This likely reveals Ahaz’s distrust. Sometimes when I get fearful, I fail to pray. It’s because my faith is weak.
Verses 13–14: And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” So the Lord promises a sign. Someone is going to give birth to a son and his name will be Immanuel. Immanuel means God with us. It is as if God is saying, “Look, Ahaz, I know you’re afraid, I know you’re faltering, but I’m not absent, I’m not distant, I’m here, I’m with you.” He’s going to be present through judgment in destroying these enemies. Pick up in v. 16: For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. Verse 17: The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!
The LORD is going to bring justice. And then, according to v. 17, he’s going to do something so new that it is hasn’t been seen in ages. But Ahaz couldn’t possibly imagine what this would be, and unfortunately his faithfulness is short lived. And it’s likely that Isaiah couldn’t imagine the extent of what God was promising. See the Lord promised a sign—the birth of a child. That appears to happen in ch. 8. But, and this is the fascinating thing about biblical prophecy and about God’s plans in general, that’s only a shadow of the real plan.
In the New Testament, Matthew picks up on this prophecy and says, “Hey, guess what? God was doing something bigger than you could possibly imagine. He wasn’t just talking about Syria. He was talking about all of creation!” And this is what’s truly amazing. Here is Ahaz who is terrified and so faithless that he can’t trust God, but the LORD is still doing something more than he could possibly imagine. He’s not just dealing with these armies. He’s remaking all creation. The living God is taking on flesh and coming into this world to redeem it and to make it new.
Matthew understands this as well. In Matthew 4, he quotes from Isaiah 9 as proof that God is doing something more than we could have ever imagined. I want to take you through that wonderful passage in Isaiah 9, beginning in v. 2.
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Darkness will be turned to light. This child is more than a man. He will be a ruler. He is identified as Mighty God and Everlasting Father, the prince of Peace. And he will rule perfectly forever. His dominion will never end. He will sit on the throne of David forever. Now if you recall, this was the promise God gave to David in 2 Samuel 7—one of your children will sit on the throne forever. Here is Isaiah repeating that prophecy. And Matthew is saying, “It’s Christ.”
The Christian religion is so unique because it declares that God isn’t just distant and far off. He is also near because he chooses to come near. In Christ, the living God becomes incarnate to redeem his creation from the curse of sin. Search the world religions, you will find nothing like this. In the midst of a world that is dark and seemingly in chaos, God is doing something new.
Look at Isaiah 11:1–2: There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Out of all the chaos and darkness, there is this shoot that pops up out of the ground. And it will bear fruit. In fact, it will blossom into a beacon for people of every tribe, tongue, and nation. Isaiah 11:10: In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
Look, I think we could fill in the blank with dozens of things that make us anxious and fearful. This world can be so impossibly cruel. And there are no easy answers for that. But Christianity has an answer. It says, “Yes, there are things to be afraid of. Yes, there are things that are concerning and dreadful. But there’s a God who is intervening and most importantly there is a God who is near. It’s the very lesson of Job. There are no easy answers, but there is the presence of the living God. Nowhere is that clearer than in the incarnation. For unto us a child is born. God with us.
How should we respond? I think Isaiah tells us in 12:5–6: Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. He is not distant or far off. He is not removed from his creation. He is in the midst of his people.
I’ll confess to you that life scares me. The future scares me. There’s so much uncertainty. I have fears about many things. But all hope is not lost. God has not abandoned the world. He has come near. In Christ, he has entered into his creation. He has brought his kingdom near.
Now, if you’re afraid or anxious or exhausted or despairing, Scripture is urging you to look to Christ. Look to the one who will renew this broken world. Look to the one who has come and suffered, who is no stranger to our feelings. Look to the one who redeems you with his blood. Safety is found nowhere else.
[1] https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6932a1.htm
[2] Macbeth, 5.5.