The Second Sunday In Advent: The Prophecy Candle Series

(Based on and edited from a message preached at FBC Chamois, MO on 12-04-2022. This is not an exact transcription)

Introduction: Last week we lit the Hope candle and this week, we have two. In addition to the hope candle, this week is the prophecy candle, following one of the patterns I found on the Internet. There are several of these patterns, by the way!

Now, not long ago, I saw a message on a certain church’s outdoor sign. The text, so to speak, was the sermon series and the theme or topic, I guess, for that particular week was “Are There Prophets Still Today?” or something along those lines.(A discussion about prophets in the message omitted here to save space) There was any number of true prophets but also a lot more false prophets. Isaiah was one of God’s true prophets and the text covers one of his best known prophecies. We’ll look at this one plus a few more. Now here’s the text:

1 The prophecy: Who is the Messiah?

Text: Isaiah 7:1-16, NASB:1 Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it. 2 When it was reported to the house of David, saying, “The Arameans have camped in Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind. 3 Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field, 4 and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aramand the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying, 6 ‘Let us go up against Judah and terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in its walls, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 7 thus says the Lord GOD,: “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. 8 For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people), 9 and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.”’”

10 Then the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the LORDt!” 13 Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well? 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. 15 He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. 16 For before the boy knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken”.

Some of us may remember an old ditty about “the five w’s and the h”, and it goes something like this: “I have six helping friends who taught me all I know; their names are What and Where and When and How and Why and Who!” Now, that isn’t the best rhyme, and honest, I don’t remember when I first heard this jingle, but it’s a good one! It’s good for figuring out just about anything you read or hear. Well, sometimes, anyway.

As mentioned, this is the week for looking at the prophecies about Jesus and His first coming. We can only look at a few because there are so many, we’d be here till Tuesday if we wanted to cover them in any kind of depth! So then, let’s look at the Who in these prophecies of the Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord.

It’s worth noting that nowhere in the Old Testament is Jesus called “Jesus” or “Joshua (the Hebrew form of Jesus). Mary and Joseph may have had any number of names for the Baby until an angel told Joseph to name this Baby “Jesus (Matthew 1:21-25)” but there was one Name that He never applied to Himself. That name was Immanuel, and we read about it in the text.