12.24.23 Isaiah 7:10–14
10 The LORD spoke to Ahaz again. He said, 11 “Ask for a sign from the LORD your God. Ask for it either in the depths below or in the heights above.” 12 But Ahaz responded, “I will not ask. I will not test the LORD.” 13 So Isaiah said: Listen now, you house of David. Is it not enough for you to test the patience of men? Will you test the patience of my God as well? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give a sign for all of you. Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and name him Immanuel.
Immanuel: The Greatest Christmas Gift We Never Asked For
Have you ever been through a near death experience? Such an experience can bring you to your knees and humble you very quickly. Think about what Ahaz and the kingdom of Judah had gone through prior to tonight’s text. 2 Chronicles 28 says,
1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king . . . He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and also made cast idols for worshiping the Baals. 3 He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his sons in the fire, . . . . . . Therefore the LORD his God handed him over to the king of Aram. The Arameans defeated him and took many of his people as prisoners and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hands of the king of Israel, who inflicted heavy casualties on him. 6 In one day Pekah son of Remaliah killed a hundred and twenty thousand soldiers in Judah—because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. . . . 8 The Israelites took captive from their kinsmen two hundred thousand wives, sons and daughters. They also took a great deal of plunder, which they carried back to Samaria.
As a result, earlier in chapter 7 Isaiah said that Ahaz and the people of Judah were shaking like trees in the wind. They had good reason to be. They weren’t seeking the Lord and deserved even worse. They deserved to be damned. They needed hope.
It’s hard to appreciate this whole thing called Christmas if we don’t see what kind of a predicament we are in, born in sin, born to die, under the wrath of God. Sickness, disease, wars and rumors of wars. We’ve earned it all. If you’re not scared, you should be, just like the people of Judah were.
But here’s the good news. After allowing many of the people of Judah to be conquered and put to death, God decided to do something unexpected, something gracious. He finally decided to spare Judah from Israel and Aram. Listen to these words He spoke to Ahaz just prior to this text. “Get control of yourself, and remain calm. Do not be afraid. Do not lose your courage because of these two stubs of smoldering torches. (That was northern Israel and Aram.) 7 This is what the LORD God says. Their plan shall not succeed. It shall not take place. . . . If you do not stand firm in faith, you will not stand at all.” There was only one problem with this. What faith? Ahaz had absolutely NO faith. But when God speaks, He does it in order to actually generate faith in Ahaz’ heart.
Maybe you’ve gotten yourself into a predicament by willingly ignoring God’s will and doing something you KNOW is wrong. Maybe you’ve lived an Ahaz-like life. Know this. God hasn’t given up on you yet, any more than He did with Ahaz. God still wants you here, just as much as Ahaz. He still has something to say to you, in hopes that His words of promise will generate peace and faith in your hearts this Christmas Eve.
“Do not fear.” The same words spoken to the shepherds on Christmas night. This isn’t some weakling talking. This is the Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe, who has shown power over sickness and death. Even though we hear the words, and we know who is talking to us, all sorts of things can rattle us, a big bill that is coming due, a late assignment, a failing grade, a war in the Middle East, an unwanted lump found on your body, an angry spouse . . . And then we worry about our worry, because of our lack of faith, fearing that God is angry at us for worrying so much. But that doesn’t keep God from trying! He keeps speaking to us in His Word. He keeps singing to us in our hymns. If He didn’t give up on Ahaz, even in spite of His awful sins, then He doesn’t give up on us either. He wants us to take heart and believe. He’s glad you are here tonight.
Not only did God speak to Ahaz. In an extraordinary amount of grace, He even offered Ahaz a blank check basically. Ask me ANYTHING you want, in the highest heavens or the deepest depths, and I’ll do it. Usually we are told to be careful in what we ask for. Here God told Ahaz basically to be CARELESS in what he asked for. When we tell our kids to make a list of what they want for Christmas, we give them a monetary limit every year. There’s only so much we can afford. God was offering Ahaz ANYTHING - any type of sign to PROVE that God would deliver them.
When you look back on Old Testament history, you might think of how God had the earth open up and swallow Korah and his family in a rebellion against Moses. Or you might think of how Ahaz’ son Hezekiah was later given a sign from God that he would live an additional 15 years of life, and as proof he had the sun move backwards. So the LORD could have done ANYTHING for Ahaz and He wanted to do anything for him. He could have turned the sky green and the grass blue for all that matter. The bottom line is that He WANTED Ahaz to BELIEVE in Him and He was offering to do ANYTHING to give Ahaz proof. Think about the change that could have happened in Israel if this evil KING had a change of heart.
There are people who are actually seeking signs today from God, begging Him to heal a loved one or get them through surgery. Praying for a job or a relationship to work out. Usually they aren’t that earth shattering of signs. Just give me a good night’s rest. Just give me a job. Give me a baby. Get me through this surgery. Just give me some relief from my thoughts. Sometimes He answers these prayers. But even with these seemingly small things, how often do you hear nothing? So you might wonder if God really does exist. He isn’t giving you the sign you are seeking. But then you have to remember that God didn’t promise you a blank check, any sign you want. He promised that to Ahaz.
That doesn’t mean that He hasn’t given any signs. Jesus predicted that as the end grows nearer there would be plenty of signs. He said the love of most would grow cold. He said there would be wars and rumors of wars. He said there would be persecution of Christians and that many would fall from the faith. Many false prophets would appear. (Matthew 24) All of these have come true. They aren’t pleasant signs, they aren’t specific signs just for us, and we may not like them, but they are there. And when you look at Creation, you could look at the complexity of DNA that was found in the tiniest of creatures. You could look at the design of the world and see that there MUST be a God. The problem isn’t with God not giving signs. The problem is that people don’t WANT to believe in any type of god.
Ahaz responded, “I will not ask. I will not test the LORD.” It sounds polite enough. “I don’t want to put Him out, make Him work too hard. He’s got better things to do.” But all Ahaz was trying to do was to be a nice heathen. I don’t know what it was, if he didn’t like God’s laws or His way of life. Maybe he held a grudge because Isaiah called him out on a sin of some sort. He wouldn’t say. He just tried to act polite. Kind of like the person, every time you try to talk about Jesus or invite them to church. . . . “Thanks for the invite. I’ll try! We’ll see!”
Isaiah said: Listen now, you house of David. Is it not enough for you to test the patience of men? Will you test the patience of my God as well? Ironically, by saying, “I won’t test the Lord,” Ahaz was actually doing just that! Even the eternal GOD has a limit to His patience. Even He reaches a point where He says, “That’s enough. I’m done with you.” You would expect that at this point God would take back His promise. “Fine! I’ll just let the northern kingdom and Aram take you captive and destroy you.” But that’s NOT what God does! He still delivers them from the physical danger. But He does even more! He gave Ahaz the sign he didn’t want. And that was a judgment in itself. Ahaz wanted to reject God with nice words, so God rejected Ahaz with nice words, beautiful words. He speaks to Ahaz another promise that would mean basically nothing to him, that would sound like gibberish. Yet these words mean everything to us.
Therefore the Lord himself will give a sign for all of you. Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and name him Immanuel. For all of you who have been seeking a sign from God, this is it! Earlier God had promised to give Ahaz a sign in the highest heights or the deepest depths. And what did He do? God’s answer was to have the highest become the deepest. The sign was fulfilled when the highest and most powerful God who created the world became the LOWEST as a baby. God’s Son, yes God Himself would come into this world through a virgin, and they would call him Immanuel, which means “God with us.”
Two miracles would take place. First of all, a virgin would conceive and give birth apart from any sexual relations with a man or any medical interventions, through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit! Secondly, through that birth God would come splashing into our world in a physical way! It’s one thing to be with someone in “spirit,” or to say, “I’ll be thinking of you.” This, however, was saying that God would actually come in the FLESH. He had appeared at various times throughout the Old Testament, in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, outside of the camp with Abraham, also speaking with Samson’s parents. But this would be a PERMANENT thing, through a virgin.
Here’s the important thing - what He would DO with that flesh. Later on Isaiah would lay it out in Isaiah 53,
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He would become one of us, in order to die for us on the cross and save us from death and hell. Yes, God would die for the world. God’s Son would be blamed for the sins of the world. Is that enough of a sign for you?
If I saw a fire coming in a field towards a mouse nest, I doubt that I would risk my life to save the mice. Nor would I ever imagine becoming a mouse to try and lead the mice out of danger, especially if I would die in the fire and then be eternally bound to mice, as a mouse myself. Even if I thought mice were cute, which I don’t, I still wouldn’t go to such lengths to save mice. Yet God chose to come down even lower in order to save us. He decided to enter into His own creation and subject Himself to His own laws. To walk and to talk, to eat and to drink, to live and to die, but to rise again.
Out of all the planets and all of the solar systems in our universe, God chose to come here. The Almighty God who created and runs the Universe, He came in the flesh to be held and cuddled and fed as a baby. Think of that - a baby! Babies are harmless. They pose no harm. When God comes in the flesh, He wants to be held. He wants to be adored. On top of this, it would take a whole lifetime of work for Jesus to then earn our salvation. It wasn’t going to be a quick job. Come down here, die, go back up. He would have to also obey the Law for us in the process, be the perfect child as well. This was a lifetime of work for Jesus in the flesh. And He’s not done coming down here either! When I take the Lord’s Supper, this same God who walked on those steps walks into my mouth and my soul, giving me His own body and blood for my salvation. Why does God allow Himself to be held in such a way? In order to give me and you forgiveness. Who am I, that God would come to me? I am no one. But God still loves me, and God still wants me to be His own. He wanted Ahaz to believe, and He wants YOU to believe as well.
A few years ago I bought someone a therapy lamp for seasonal affective disorder, which means that they get depressed because of the darkness of the winter season. It wasn’t exactly a cheery gift, and they weren’t exactly happy about it. They thought, “Are you saying I’m too grumpy all the time?!?” Lo and behold, they are now thankful for the lamp and they use the lamp during the darkest days of winter. It wasn’t something they asked for, but it’s something they use and enjoy, and it helps.
Ahaz and the people of Judah weren’t asking God for help, but God promised to deliver them anyway. He then gave them another gift that they didn’t even want, and that was the promise to come into their world through a virgin. Ahaz never wanted the gift and never understood it, sad for him and the people of Judah. He didn’t have to sacrifice his children in the fire. They didn’t have to be deported, if only they had listened.
The same rings true with Christmas. Many are looking for different gifts this Christmas, such as games and money and such. Years ago when I was back in Kansas, a lady came into church prior to the children’s service with a whole list of Christmas gifts that she wanted to buy her kids, but she couldn’t afford them. She was in a panic because her kids “couldn’t have Christmas.” We didn’t give her any money for her gifts, so she left. The sad fact was that all she had to do was bring them into the worship service, and they would have received and heard the most important gift of all, Immanuel.
God has come into this world through the virgin Mary to die for us, to pay for our salvation, to give us light and salvation. Thank God for this gift from heaven above, our Lord Immanuel. He is the greatest gift that we never asked for. His forgiveness is ours, through faith. Our hope is alive, because of Him. It is because of Him that we can truly have a Merry Christmas. Amen.
