The Sign Of The Savior Series

Isaiah 7:10-17. [10] Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, [11]"Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven." [12] But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test." [13] And he said, "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? [14] Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. [15] He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. [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. [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." (ESV)

The English poet Alexander Pope wrote, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast: Man never is, but always to be blest.” But where do we turn when hope dries up? The director of a medical clinic told of a terminally ill young man who came in for his usual treatment. A new doctor who was on duty said to him casually and cruelly, “You know, don’t you, that you won’t live out the year?” As the young man left, he stopped by the director’s desk and wept. “That man took away my hope,” he blurted out. “I guess he did,” replied the director. “Maybe it’s time to find a new one.” Commenting on this incident, Lewis Smedes wrote, “Is there a hope when hope is taken away? Is there hope when the situation is hopeless? That question leads us to Christian hope, for in the Bible, hope is no longer a passion for the possible. It becomes a passion for the promise.” (Our Daily Bread, December 19, 1996)

The prophet Isaiah was used by God to deliver the most significant prophecy in all of history to the most significant sign of God’s love that His people may have Hope even in dark times. Isaiah is considered one of the greatest men of God in the ancient world, a counselor to kings and a writer whose Holy Spirit-inspired OT book is quoted more often in the NT than any other, except Psalms. When our Lord Jesus preached His very first sermon, He chose for His text a passage from this man’s writings. He was a contemporary to Amos, Hosea, and Micah, each radically devoted to the Lord of Israel and His purposes in the world. But this man is unique among them. He rises to grapple with the troubled times that marked the end of the 8th Century B.C. What was the trouble that Isaiah confronted in chapter 7? The relationship between Israel in the north and Judah in the south had been fractious since the division of the kingdom in the time of Jeroboam (some 200 years earlier). Judah’s strength had grown under Uzziah, and (Israel) her northern neighbours had every reason to fear a potentially hostile power on the southern borders (Derek Thomas. God Delivers. Welwyn Commentary Series. Evangelical press. 1998. p. 70).

In the midst of threats and challenges, the message of Isaiah 7 is for us to trust God and know that His promises are sure. The sign in the coming of Immanuel, God with us, is proof that God stands by His promises and cares for His people. It is a message of Hope in a time of hostility and uncertainty.

In Isaiah 7:10-17, the prophet explains three things: 1) The Meaning of the Sign. (Isaiah 7:10-11), 2) The Miracle of the Sign. (Isaiah 7:12-14), and finally, 3) The Message of the Sign. (Isaiah 7:15-17).

We can have hope in a time of hostility and uncertainty, by understanding first:

1) The Meaning of the Sign. (Isaiah 7:10-11)

Isaiah 7:10-11. [10] Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, [11]"Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven." (ESV)

Ahaz is now challenged to give God an opportunity to prove His trustworthiness. Although our faith is not to be in the signs, nevertheless God has, throughout all the ages, given His people evidence by which their faith might be strengthened. To this extent “the leap of faith” concept, as popularly held, is incorrect, presuming as it does that God cannot, or will not, intersect the world of space/time/matter and that thus there is no evidence for faith external to our own psyches. Rather, according to the Scriptures, God has always given such evidence, sometimes in greater or lesser abundance, but he never asks us to believe without rational foundation. The hallmark of the Judeo-Christian faith is that God has acted in space/time/matter in unique ways. If we now deny that He can or has done so, the whole reason for being a Christian drops to the ground. This is, in fact, a most decisive moment for the fate of Judah, but Ahaz now rejects the LORD deliberately (Widyapranawa, S. H. (1990). The Lord is Savior: faith in national crisis: a commentary on the Book of Isaiah 1–39 (p. 41). Grand Rapids; Edinburgh: Eerdmans; Handsel Press.).