- Isaiah 7:7 KJV
Ahaz was faithless. Neighboring countries of Syria and Israel banned together to fight the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Ahaz, the king of Judah, sent for the king of Assyria to come to his rescue.
The LORD God is sovereign in the affairs of the nations and He sent the Hebrew prophet Isaiah to counsel Ahaz. Isaiah said, “...Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands...” (Isaiah 7:4 KJV). The two threatening countries are just burned up pieces of firewood. God said, “...It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass” (v. 7).
What would you have done if you were Ahaz? The pressure on Ahaz was intense, not just the threat of war, but the LORD was breathing down his neck as well. “...If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established” (v. 9). Ahaz, you are as good as gone yourself if you do not trust Me. If you trust Me I will deliver you from this smoke, but if you don’t you are through as a king. Moreover, trusting in the Assyrian army is not trusting in Yahweh.
Ahaz refused to trust in the LORD. So He spoke to the king again, “Ask for a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; make it as deep as Sheol or high as heaven” (v. 11). Go ahead, ask Ahaz! What an opportunity to see God do the impossible!
King Ahaz got a little religious. “...I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord” (v. 12). That was exactly what he was doing by not trusting Yahweh. God invited Ahaz to ask for the “sign.” He was not testing God; God was testing him. The “sign” was a pledge of divine certainty, a miracle wrought for evidential purposes.
What would you have asked for? How would you have responded?
Now if Ahaz had been a wise man he would have gone ahead and asked. When God proposes a sign it is not a test; it was an invitation to come and see what God can do in a time of crisis. “Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?” (v. 13). Isaiah did not say “your” God, but “my God.”
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (v. 14).
I have no problem with the “virgin” because I do not have any problem with “Immanuel.” The greater event is not the “virgin,” but “God with us.” The Incarnation, God becoming flesh, is the great mystery. Isaiah was referring to something very unusual. It would not be unusual for a maiden to conceive; that happens every day. However, a “virgin,” a marriageable young lady of unblemished reputation would be a very unusual “sign.” It pointed to the greater event.
J. W. Watts said the sign of the virgin would be “an encouragement to a faithful remnant to Israel. As a wonder of wonders such as had just been offered, and as a condemnation of the faithless elements in the line of David.”
The prophet Isaiah developed the idea of the child to be born (7:14), His birth (9:6f), His reigning (11:1f), and His death as the suffering servant of the LORD (Isa 52:13-53:12).
“God with us.” That is the wonder of wonders. God in the corporeal self-manifestation of Himself would be a super-human person. God with us is the God-man. He is the incarnation of Deity. Immanuel would Himself be El (God). This child to be born would be God among His people, and characteristic of Him.
“God with us” is “...Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27 KJV). “[9] For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. [10] And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:” (Col. 2:9-10 KJV).
How did the LORD God fulfill His “sign” given to Ahaz? The angel Gabriel said to the virgin, “...The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35 KJV). “God with us” is “...Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
“God with us.” “Christ in you.” Not only is all the fullness of Deity dwelling “...ye are complete in him...” (Col. 2:10 KJV).
The apostle Paul, in the verses that follow, stresses the Christian’s vital union with Jesus Christ. “[11] In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: [12] Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. [13] And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;” (Col. 2:11-13 KJV).
Don’t miss the greatest mystery in the Bible. “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (1:27 KJV).
God’s great goal in the gospel ministry is “...that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (v. 28).
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