Jesus - The Sign Series

INTRODUCTION

Before we start, I would like to ask, what could be the greatest sign of all “The sign”?

Well, some say the first flight by the Wright brothers was one of the greatest inventions, while others say the invention of the computer and the internet revolutionized the world.

But what I would say the greatest wonder in human history is the virgin birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus – The Sign is the Greatest Sign of all!

And certainly, this is much beyond human comprehension. The virgin birth is so true that the sign and its message are written all through the Bible. So, today we are going to study some signs of Jesus’ birth from Isaiah 7.

BACKGROUND

Presently, Prophet Isaiah and his boy are out for a walk together. Daddies love to take their boys for a walk, we do not know the son’s age but with what the Bible says I feel he was a small little infant in the time of his innocence. So probably he is a toddler whom Isaiah is carrying in his arms.

Isaiah basically was a man who was well-known in his hometown and some scholars even believe that Isaiah’s father might have been King Uzziah’s brother. So, Isaiah knew about the palace and the leaders of that day. As Isaiah was a well-known man in the city of Jerusalem and so, as he was walking, he is greeted by people on the way.

However, it is not a typical father-son walk here.

Isaiah is on a mission, so there is tension in the air on this day. There is great fear in this city and furthermore, the king and the people are very concerned. Also, the events were like this: The land of Judah, the Southern Kingdom of Judah has been invaded and the enemy is within the land.

Isaiah 7:2

Now the house of David was told, “Aram has allied itself with Ephraim”; so, the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.

This enemy is their brethren to the north and the people of Israel have been divided into two nations now and also there are the tribes to the north called Israel and 2 tribes to the south called Judah.

So, Judah had been invaded by their brethren from the north. But the worst thing is that the brethren to the north had made an alliance with the King of Syria, so two nations have come into the land of Judah. Then they intend to take this city.

And furthermore, they wanted to split this kingdom into 2 divisions and appoint one king to be the ruler of the 2 divisions. One part will belong to Syria, and one will belong to Israel. So, the enemy is marching in and the king and the people are greatly disturbed.

It seems like the spiritual condition of Judah at the moment wasn’t really fine and also the people of Judah had gone into sin and idolatry. And even more, Ahaz is not a good king, he has gone into idolatry, sacrificing his children to idols and now the whole land is in fear.

1. SIN BRINGS FEAR

When the people of the land depart from God, when they leave God, the peace of that land will be replaced with fear and there is going to be fear in the hearts and sin brings a person low.

That is exactly what happened here, and this happens with people today also. When things are not right with man and God there tends to be fear in the hearts and there is always that dark cloud, fear of God in one’s life.

Today I do not know how many of you are sitting with fear in your heart because of your sins. For instance, everything may be going out of control and the enemy is all around you. You do not know what to do but if you carefully listen, God loves you and he has a word for you today.

GOD IS EVER READY TO COMMUNICATE

Now Isaiah is walking with his son because God commanded him to do so. His son’s name is Shear-Jashub. The name means ‘a remnant shall return’.

God is using Isaiah and his son as a sign here, God is trying to communicate to his people who are far from God, so He is using this father and son as a sign to reveal that God still has a word for them. Evidently, God cares for them and Shear-Jashub means God will make a remnant remain out of this nation.

Even to this day, God is looking for faithful people so that he can use our lives and our words as a message and sign to the people around us.