When Ahaz, son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Syriaa and Pekah son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, set out to attack Jerusalem….
The news had come to the royal court of Judah: “Syria is allied with Israel against us!” So the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, like trees shaking in a storm.
Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “…go out to meet King Ahaz…. Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn’t need to fear… this invasion will never happen…. Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.”
Later, the LORD sent this message to King Ahaz: “Ask the LORD your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.”
But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the LORD like that.”
Then Isaiah said, “Listen well… Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).
A summary of Isaiah 7:1-14, NLT; words in bold, mine.
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are excited about the dawn of a new year. If you didn’t, or if you’re not, I hope this post brings you strength in some way.
The fascinating passage above is the context of the much-quoted “Behold, a virgin will conceive…” Christmas prophecy.
King Ahaz is afraid. He’s not an oak and his anxiety sets off a domino effect among the forest of his local leadership in such a way that he and all his people become like “trees shaking in a storm.”
God tells the prophet Isaiah to tell Ahaz to “stop worrying,” because the invasion he fears “will never happen.” And that, in his case, his unbelief is tied to his instability: “Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.”
Isaiah then tells Ahaz to ask God for a sign and to make it as difficult as he wants. I love the way Eugene Peterson translated this: “Ask for a sign from your God. Ask anything. Be extravagant. Ask for the moon!”
It’s Ahaz’s response, however, that—albeit, spiritual-sounding—is so disconcerting: “But Ahaz said, “I’d never do that. I’d never make demands like that on God!”
God doesn’t want us to make demands of him but he does want us to dream and believe him for great things: “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us….” (Ephesians 3:19, NKJV)
And here’s maybe the most encouraging, steel beam of hope in this passage. Even when we fail like Ahaz, even in our fear and unbelief, even given all our religious-sounding nonsense and excuses, the passage above ends with God’s grace initiating and breaking through anyway: “All right then, the Lord himself will give…” Thank God for Immanuel’s supernatural birth and, later, death on a cross that brought justification to the ungodly![1]
2020 Take Home’s:
- Stop worrying. As you start the new year, give all your biggest anxieties to God. What are they? Name them and cast them on him, being reminded that he cares for you (1 Pet. 5:7). Much of what we worry about never happens. As Mark Twain once said, “I’ve lived through many tragedies, most of which I’ve never experienced.” Plus, we have little control over the present or the future. Only God does.
- Trust Him and dream big. In the classic It’s a Wonderful Life, George Baily tells his soon-to-be-bride, “What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That’s a pretty good idea. I’ll give you the moon, Mary.” This is a big-hearted, fairy tale promise made by a mortal, but how much more the real, loving offer of the omnipotent God of the universe! As Isaiah told Ahaz: “Ask for a sign from your God. Ask anything. Be extravagant. Ask for the moon!”
- Plan for favor but leave room for God. Our plans are not always His plans (James 4:13-15). For example, over the Christmas break, Dr. Tony Evans lost his wife, Lois, to cancer. Here’s an incredibly honest and moving short talk he gave to his church family reflecting on this.
- Lead. In the spirit of “Thy Kingdom come…,” make the world God has placed you in—your sphere of influence— a better place.
- Read and listen more: Make a list (books, audiobooks, podcasts, lectures, etc.) and prioritize your choices. Books, especially, are portals into other worlds and perspectives. To inspire you, here’s a new short collection that my daughter and son-in-law just gave me for Christmas: C.S. Lewis on The Reading Life: The Joy of Seeing New Worlds Through Others Eyes.
- Determine to think about Immanuel’s ever-present help and unfailing love 365 days this year. “To say that God is ‘with’ someone or a people means that God is guiding and helping them to fulfill their calling.”[2] What is yours? Remember God will both guide and help you to fulfill it in 2020.
And it’s for these great reasons, dear friends, that I
wish you a Happy New Year!
[1] Romans 5:1-2.
[2] ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008), 1254.