God's Redemptive Judgment

Date: 08-05-2001 (a.m. service)

Place: The Good Samaritan, Jacksonville, FL

By: Rev. Jerry L. Edwards

Title: God’s Redemptive Judgment (Divine judgment condemns the un-believing king Ahaz (Isa. 7), but gives assurance to Isaiah’s believing disciples—Isa. 8).

God’s Judgment of unbelievers is punitive—to perfect their condemnation.

God’s Judgment of believers is redemptive—to assure them of salvation.

Text: Isaiah 7:

Intro: Previous weeks messages on:

·God’s Judgment in relation to the prophet (Isaiah 6).

·God’s Judgment in relation to the people (Isaiah 5).

Chapter 7: God’s Judgment in relation to the king Ahaz (Isa. 7).

·A test of his faith.

·A turning point from "redemption" to "damning".

·(vv. 1-9) A call for faith on the part of Ahaz.

oIsaiah shows how God’s judgment reaches even to the king.

I. An Existing Problem (vv. 1-4)

A. Foe (vs. 1)—Rezin and Pekah

1. Ahaz’s foe was Rezin and Pekah

2. Satan is our foe.

B. Fear (vs. 2)—

1. Ahaz shook with fear because of his enemies, whereas Isaiah shook with fear because of Yahweh (cf. 6: 5).

2. Satan tries to instill fear to “incapacitate” you.

3. 2 Tim. 1:7—“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear…”

C. Faith (vv. 3-4)—A call from “fear” to “faith”.

1. Faith is the opposite of fear.

2. Fear is incapacitating; faith is “enabling”.

3. (vs. 3) Take your son "Shear-Jashub" which means "A remnant will return."

· He was a walking testimony to Isaiah’s preaching.

· Ahaz must have known Shear-Jashub’s name.

4. (vs. 4) "Take care and be calm" = faith

· Rezin and Pekah are nothing but "Two stubs of smoldering firebrands" = a fire that has almost burned out; it’s just barely burning, smoldering, etc.

II. An Evil Perpetrator (vv. 5-6)

A. Plans (vs. 5)—“…have taken up evil counsel against thee”

· John 10:10—“[Satan] cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy…”

B. Problems (vs. 6a)—“Let us go up against Judah, and vex (trouble) it”

· Do you have any troubles in your life today?

C. Penetration (vs. 6b)—“…and let us make a breach therein for us”

· Satan is trying to make a “breach” in the wall of your: walk with God; family; purity; etc.

D. Puppet (vs. 6c)—“…and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal”

1. Tabeal = means “son of a nobody”

2. They wanted to set a “puppet king” on the throne that they could lead around as they desired—one whom was powerless, weak, and meaningless.

3. This is what Satan desires to do to you.

III. An Eminent Promise (vv. 7-16)

A. God’s Sovereignty—God is in control of it all.

· (vs. 9) "Not believe" & "will not be established" = the idea of being "established" (faith is essential to being established).

B. God’s Sign—God shows that there is hope for the future despite the coming judgment on Ahaz and the people of Judah.

1. (vv. 10-12) Yahweh offered and Ahaz hypocritically rejected a glorious sign.

·(vs. 11) "Ask for a sign from Yahweh" = The sign was coming from Yahweh God.

·"Deep as Sheol or high as heaven" = a miraculous sign (no boundaries / limits).

·(vs. 12) Ahaz’s Response = hypocrisy (God commanded him to ask for a sign and he refused).

·Why did Ahaz refuse? Because Ahaz thought that he had an ace-in-the-hole. He had already made a treaty / alliance with the king of Assyria, Tiglath Pileser.

2. (vv. 13-17) Yahweh decides to give a sign anyway.

o 1st Line of Evidence:

§(vs. 13) "House of David" (now in the plural) = all of the living representatives of the house of David).

§"My God" = Isaiah had earlier referred to Yahweh as Ahaz’s God, now he refers to Yahweh as his God.

o 2nd Line of Evidence:

§(vs. 14) "Lord" = the Sovereign One. Indicates that not even Tiglath Pileser is "the Sovereign", but the Lord alone.

§"Virgin" = (almah) it occurs 9 times in the scriptures, normally referring to a young unmarried woman, but here specifically referring to a virgin (evidence of "the virgin" is from the context.

§"Virgin" has a double meaning—in the present time & for a time in the future.

§Referred to a specific woman = evidenced by the use of the definite article "ha= (the)" before the word virgin in the Hebrew text.

o 3rd Line of Evidence: "Will bear" is not limited to time.

o 4th Line of Evidence: A virgin-born child fulfils the promise of a miraculous sign.

o 5th Line of Evidence: A child born of a virgin cuts off man’s (Solomon’s) line.

o 6th Line of Evidence: The name of the child, Immanuel = means "God with us."

IV. An Ending Predicament (vv. 18-19)

A. Results of rejecting God (vv. 18-19)—Whether immediately evident or not, God always punishes sin.