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Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Do you sometimes feel that the global news is coming at you so fast, with such significant information and world impacting changes, that you can’t hardly process it all, much less build a sustained personal or family, wise, spiritual response to it all? You are not alone! And this is not the first time in history that humanity has experienced such volatility! It helps at times like this to step back a bit, take a big picture perspective, draw a deep breath, and pause, seeking God’s perspective on things. That’s what I’ve been trying to help us all do for the past several weeks as we’ve looked at the record of the kings of Israel.
Today may I invite you to Isaiah chapter 7. The prophet Isaiah had experienced a life changing encounter with God as he was at the Temple grieving the death of king Uzziah. In that profound encounter, Isaiah was overwhelmed with God’s Majesty as recorded in Isaiah 6! Isaiah responded to God’s call, received his commissioning from God, and went out as God’s prophet to begin speaking the advice and warnings of God, first to king Jotham, who succeeded his father Uzziah as the king of Judah, and now to king Ahaz, Jotham’s son. Contrary to how king Jotham welcomed any word that the prophet Isaiah could give him of God’s perspective on world news, his son king Ahaz had no interest in seeking God’s help or God’s advice.
King Ahaz was determined to chart his own leadership course, make his own mark in history, and disregard everything about the wise legacy of his father and grandfather’s leadership which had covered 60 good years for the people of Jerusalem and kingdom of Judah. That is a very dangerous leadership transition when a leader rejects the good legacy he or she inherits.
Isaiah 7 records that news came to king Ahaz that a military alliance was forming between the armies of the northern kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Syria, and they were advancing toward Jerusalem. The record says “…so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.” (Is. 7:1,2) This is an interesting moment in history. Ahaz had rejected God. Yet God loved His people very much, God loved Jerusalem and His great Temple in that city, and God had wisely led Ahaz’ father and grandfather, as they governed Judah for more than 6 decades. So in God’s deep desire to protect his people from the perils of a wicked leader, God sent His prophet Isaiah to meet king Ahaz with a profound statement from God which we, 2700 years later, still hold on to! Did you catch that? God is greatly compassionate for a people suffering under wicked leadership and God will often intervene for the deliverance of those people!
Let’s look closely at Isaiah 7:1-17 and see if God has a fresh word for us today! God sent Isaiah to a specific rendezvous point in Jerusalem where God knew Isaiah & Ahaz’s paths would intersect. Don’t miss that… does God know the future of your life so clearly that He already knows every person you’ll meet, every email you’ll receive, every phone call or text, everything in your life for the rest of your life? OR, is God watching, right along with you each day, having no idea what will happen next? This is an important question my friends with major implications for how you will live your life! Is God OMNISCIENT, does God have all knowledge and understanding, OR is God just as surprised as you are with the news each day?
Isaiah 40 is one of several places in God’s Word which makes it very clear: God is OMNISCIENT. God fully knows and understands ALL things about the past, the present and the future for every person, every business, every church, every government in the world! “Do you not know, have you not heard, the LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.” (Is. 40:28)
Isaiah had promised God that whenever & wherever God wanted to send a messenger with a specific message from God, Isaiah would ALWAYS be ready and obedient. He had said “Here I am, send me!” (Is. 6:8) May I ask my friends, can God count on you and me like that? God had a message… a very important message, because God’s people had a hard hearted leader who thought he could lead without God’s help! Look closely at the message God gave His spokesman Isaiah to give to king Ahaz that day: “Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood… who have plotted your ruin saying, ‘let us invade Judah, let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves…’ This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
‘It will not take place, it will not happen…
If you do not stand firm in your faith you will not stand at all.” (Isaiah 7:4-9)
Do you notice God did not ask Ahaz to do anything except stand firm believing God keeps His promises? God’s actions would be on behalf of a people and a city He loved dearly, IN SPITE of their terrible leader! God was going to protect Jerusalem even though wicked king Ahaz was trying to undo all the good God and two generations of good leaders had accomplished before Ahaz! God’s protection of His people, in this case, was NOT conditional upon their leader king Ahaz getting his life and leadership straightened out. God was NOT holding the people responsible for a terrible leader who was imposed upon them. They had not elected Ahaz, he had assumed the kingship as happens in Monarchy’s. God was going to show His mighty power, His love for His people and Jerusalem, and His faithfulness to His promises, regardless of king Ahaz!
In fact God fulfilled the promise He made that day by protecting Jerusalem from huge invading armies not once but at least twice in those years. We saw it in 2 Chronicles 20 with king Jehoshaphat, and we’ll see it again in 2 Chronicles 32 with king Hezekiah. And may I be so bold as to say we’ve seen it in our day, in the ’67 and ’73 wars in Israel and even other times when Jerusalem has come under attack by forces determined to expel Israel from their homeland again, but I believe God continues to protect Jerusalem.
In addition, the warning of God in Isaiah 7:8, and the horrific prediction of vs. 16-25 became reality as both Syria and the northern kingdom Israel were overtaken by the great empire of Assyria within a few years after Isaiah made this proclamation to Ahaz!
Now in closing today my friends, I ask you… what does it mean for you, your family, your church, and the Christians in your nation, to “Stand firm in your faith, or you will not stand at all.”? How strong is your faith in God and His truth, His Word, His Omniscient involvement in our world. How strong is your faith in the work of the Holy Spirit in your life as God continues to grow and develop you as a follower of Jesus Christ in a world which desperately needs God’s people ‘standing firm in their faith’?
How strong is your church as COVID once again threatens many churches with closure? This weekend I urge us all to give serious consideration to this powerful word from God through Isaiah, for we may right now be in a lull before a great storm. NOW is the time to make decisions and preparations for HOW we will stand firm in our faith, when the storm rages. Here’s a video song to help you consider the questions and this moment in our history. . .
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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