Year A. 4th Sunday of Advent –December 30th, 2001
Title: “Listing to human advice even when it conflicts with the Divine Word.”
Isaiah 7: 10-14
Ahaz was the Davidic king of Judah, the southern kingdom, from 735 until 715BC. Israel’s king, the northern kingdom, also called Ephraim, Pekah, and Syria’s king, Syria is also known as Aram, Rezin, wanted Ahaz to team up with them to fight Assyria, the really large and powerful kingdom threatening the entire region. Ahaz was in a dilemma. He knew from Isaiah that God did not want him to side with either Israel and Syria or with Assyria, but his human advisers were telling him he had to do one or the other. Israel and Syria were plotting against Ahaz at this point in order to dethrone him and place a non-Davidic successor, “the son of Tabeel,” on his throne, thereby interrupting the Davidic line, the line of the promised Messiah. Since Ahaz believed in and worshiped idols, specifically Baal, sacrificed his own son in the valley of Hinnom, Gehenna, and desecrated the Temple, he was little inclined to listen to the prophet Isaiah who would tell him to trust in the Lord and not in human advisers. Human wisdom dictated that Ahaz would never be able to withstand the combined power of Israel and Syria. In fact, at this point, they had already defeated Ahaz in battle. Divine wisdom, on the other hand, was saying through the prophet that they will not be successful in dethroning him or in defeating Assyria. He does not need to ally with Assyria and should not. He is to leave his and his country’s fate in the hands of God.
Historically, Ahaz represents the dilemmas kings find themselves in regarding national security, personal security and foreign policy. Metaphorically, Ahaz stands for all people who listen to human advice even when it conflicts with the divine Word, who panic and take matters into their own hands, consciously ignoring the Word of God, who want the quick fix rather that the long term solution.
In verse ten, the Lord spoke to Ahaz: This means that the Lord was speaking through Isaiah to Ahaz, not directly. In this second encounter with Isaiah Ahaz has clearly made up his mind. He is no longer confused and vacillating; he is angry at the prophet for not just keeping quiet and going away. The prophet is bothering, “wearying,” his conscience.
In verse eleven, ask for a sign: “Sign,” Hebrew ‘ot, was not necessarily an event or object that was miraculous in itself, although it often could be and was. However, a “sign,” could be a natural happening or ordinary thing that was vested with extraordinary meaning, a meaning open only to one of faith. Even extraordinary events were not seen as signs by the unbelieving, the hard hearted, whom Isaiah calls “blind, deaf, dumb, lame.” The “sign,” in question here is a birth and naming of a child. Although not miraculous or extraordinary in itself, it will turn out to be just that.
Deep as the nether world or high as the sky: This is obvious hyperbole for “anything at all.” Isaiah is prepared to give Ahaz any “sign,” he asks for in order to convince him of the truth of God’s word to him. It is not unusual for a sign to be offered without being requested (cf 1Sam 10:7, 9; 1Sam 2:34; 2Kgs 19:29; Is 37:30).
In verse twelve, “I will not tempt the Lord”: All of a sudden Ahaz gets religion. Here this idolater now remembers his catechism about not “testing,” God. He pretends that he has no need of a “sign,” to confirm his decision because he is such a firm believer in God. Ironically, it is God who is “testing,” him. It is God who is offering a sign and Ahaz who is refusing it. He does not really want to know what God thinks and is afraid to find out. His mind is made up.
In verse thirteen, “Listen, O house of David”: Isaiah now addresses Ahaz as representative of the entire Davidic lineage. Isaiah knows the stakes. It is the future of the Davidic dynasty, the future of the promised Messiah at issue here, not just Ahaz’s arrogance.
Weary men…weary my God: Isaiah does not say “our God,” for Ahaz long ago abandoned God. He excludes Ahaz from the covenantal relationship. The word “weary,” Hebrew l’h, was commonly used in the law courts, in legal argument, to mean someone has had enough of his opponents arguments. He will accept no more, “enough already!.” Greek agona parechein. “Agony,” in Greek means all the athlete goes through in preparing for a contest, a “testing,” and in actually competing. It connotes struggle, pain, strife, “agita.” The Greek translation hits on the meaning. We might say Ahaz was being a “pain in the neck,” or elsewhere, to God. He certainly wearied his subjects with his procrastinating and vacillating. Now he is wearying God with his arrogant decisiveness.
In verse fourteen, Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: God can be decisive too. Ahaz will get a sign anyway, whether he wants it or not. After all, God is the one really in charge.
The virgin shall be with child and bear a son: The Hebrew `almah can mean either “virgin,” or “young woman,” The Greek neanis instead of parthenos . The definite article “the” or “that” is important. It means not just anyone, but a specific “virgin,” or “young woman.” There is no one word in Greek or in English covering the same range in meaning as the Hebrew `almah, hence the confusion in translations. Since this was to be a “sign,” for Ahaz, it will not do to understand this “virgin,” as primarily referring to some virgin in the distant future, like Mary. The sign requires that it be fulfilled in the immediate future “before the boy knows, that is, around twenty years of age…the land will be laid waste,” v.16. Those who see this as a prediction of the virginal conception of Jesus a good seven centuries later are hard pressed to show how that would be a “sign,” for Ahaz in the eighth century BC! Thus she would be a princess known to the king, one of his wives who either was or shortly will be pregnant, the Hebrew verb admits of either meaning, preferably “has become pregnant”. She may well have been present, “the” or “that” virgin, when Isaiah was speaking. Probably, she was Abia, the daughter of Zechariah, who was to become the mother of Hezekiah, successor to Ahaz.
Shall name him Immanuel: Actually, Hezekiah was not named “Immanuel.” There are two words involved here- `immanu meaning “with us” and ‘el meaning “God.” It is really a sentence with no expressed verb. It is common in Hebrew to have to supply the verb form in both its time and its mood. Therefore, the context is crucial for interpretation. In 8:8 the words mean “May God be with us,” but in 8:10 the same words mean, “God is with us.” It was a common expression; though Isaiah usually uses “Yahweh” instead of “El” or “Elohim” for “God”. It would be used in the cult as an acclamation and possibly in entering battle as a rallying cry. Especially, it was part of the covenant promise of God to always be with his people and, even more particularly, to be with the king and his descendants. In 2Sam 7:9, 1Kgs 1:37, Ps 89:22, 25; and 1Kgs 11:38 God promised to be “with,” the sons of David in a special way. Thus, the prophecy here means that Immanuel will be the king’s son and the “virgin,” is Ahaz’s wife. Of course, the child born was not, in fact, named “Immanuel” nor is anyone else in the Bible, including Jesus. It was more of an “entitlement,” granted to the people than a “title,” given to the king. Hezekiah was, in fact, born shortly thereafter and the Davidic dynasty survived the great threat, just as Isaiah prophesied. In this sense the passage is “messianic.” It relates to the fulfillment of God’s promises to David for an everlasting house or dynasty. If Ahaz follows God’s advice he will pass on to his son an independent, if poor and ravished, kingdom, but more importantly, the presence of God among them. The survival of the royal house of Judah during these times of Assyrian ascendancy is nothing short of miraculous. That Ahaz would outlive both of his archenemies- the kings of Israel and Syria- is nothing short of miraculous. That he would place his son on the throne of the still independent little kingdom is nothing short of miraculous. What humans would have considered impossible was well within the power of God who delights in exalting the lowly and bringing low the proud. The “sign,” implied all this for the Davidic dynasty.
Frequently and understandably we ask God for a “sign,” that we are on the right path or a sign to reveal to us what path to take. This passage teaches us that we must be careful not to ignore or refuse to accept the signs God gives us unbidden. In truth, the world is full of signs. Just about everything is a “sign” of the hidden presence of God and or the activity of God revealing the direction he wants us to take. Like Ahaz we may not want to know what God thinks because we have already decided on a course of action. We exercise our royal powers arrogantly, arbitrarily, all the while making a pretense of piety. Like Ahaz we give high-sounding moral excuses like “I will not tempt God.” For immoral actions, “I will do it my way regardless.”. “Signs,” are physical, visible, tangible happenings that have two aspects to them. On the one hand, they are simply material events, events that fit into this world. They may be extraordinary and inexplicable or the may be quite ordinary, otherwise unremarkable. On the other hand, they reveal to those who “see, hear, etc.” eternal reality. To the believer they are strange but understandable acts of the living, involved, engaged God invading the human consciousness by acting in human events. Because they are eternal, even though are experienced in time, they may take years or even centuries to unfold fully. For instance, God gave Moses a sign in promise form. He gave him his word: “You shall serve God upon this mountain according to Exodus 3:12.” Years later, Israel, escaping Pharaoh, did just that. And God’s “sign,” then was accompanied by the words,” I will be with you. Exodus 3:12” These words have expressed Israel’s awareness of the reality behind reality ever since. In fact, even his name, Yahweh, means “I will be with you.”
Anything we experience as “wonderful” is a “sign.” “Wonderful” attempts to tag, label, describe something or someone belonging to eternity. Scripture itself is “eternal reality,” expressed in human, time-bound words. It is both wonderful, an earth-shattering experience, breaking open the limits of earthly existence, and historical rooted in time with earthbound meaning. Anything we read in Scripture has both a “literal” sense, the meaning the author intended to convey to his time-bound audience, and a “fuller” sense the meaning hidden even in that literal sense that God intends to reveal more fully to a subsequent audience. Prophecy, such as we have in this text, has both an historical fulfillment and a future one. Historically, the virgin or young woman, it matters not which meaning, did, in fact, conceive Hezekiah, Ahaz’s successor. The Davidic dynasty did, in fact, miraculously survive a crisis that humans were certain it could not. God can and does, in fact, achieve his goals by miraculous means. We saw that in Isaiah 2: 2-4, the reading for the First Sunday of Advent, 11: 1-16 the Second Sunday, 35: 1-10 the Third. He can and does, in fact, achieve his goals by the rather subtle manipulation of historical forces (7: 17; 10: 5-11; 13: 1-5; 24: 1-3; 45: 1-7; 63: 1-6). Whether Ahaz believed the Word of God that Isaiah spoke or not, whether he interpreted his son’s birth as a “sign,” or not, it still happened. It still came true. Ahaz, by his stubborn clinging to his own made-up mind, deprived himself of the “wonder,” of that birth, the “wonder,” of God’s continuing to protect him and the dynasty, the “wonder,” of his victory over Israel and Syria and being spared humiliation by Assyria. He might have enjoyed the human benefits of God’s love for him, but it ended there. The divine, heavenly, eternal aspects of all that escaped him. And it escapes us when we are blind and deaf to the “signs,” of God’s presence, love and direction in our lives. God’s will will be done in spite of us, if not because of us, but we will condemn ourselves to live on a restricted diet of merely functional earthly nourishment and deprive ourselves of all the rich delights of the eternal dimension.
Matthew 1: 22-23 will see in this text a meaning the inspired author did not see or intend at the time. The meaning does not contradict the original intent, but expands it and applies it to a different situation, namely, the virginal conception of Jesus. The Vision of Isaiah calls to a faith that serves rather than conquers, is humble rather than triumphal, accepts suffering rather than seeks vengeance. All this Jesus fulfills. Matthew saw the announcement of God’s sign to Ahaz in his hour of despair a fitting way to illuminate the birth of the savior of the world, a savior who would serve and suffer humbly.
Individuals may ignore or reject the word of God, but it will eventually be fulfilled in any event.
To experience the world as “signs,” the otherwise hidden presence of God made manifest, requires humble faith.
Experiencing reality as “sign” opens one up to the experience of wonder, the atmosphere of God, where the seemingly impossible can occur.
Wonder: Why is it that on my daily, routine walk the rose I passed on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday all of a sudden explodes in my awareness on Thursday with the “miracle” of its redness? The rose hasn’t changed; I have. Why? We really cannot answer the question. The experience comes as a surprise and, therefore, as a gift, as a given. It cannot be arrived at through a series of steps. It is unearned, undeserved, pure gift. However, the surprise element leads to questioning why. While we do not get an answer, we do have feelings of ambivalence. On the one hand, we fear the unknown, are threatened or, at least, put off, by it. On the other hand, we welcome the unknown, for it offers a promise of novelty, newness, freshness, in an otherwise old, routine, repetitious existence. In other words, surprise fascinates us, draws us in and evokes awe. Rudolph Otto, in his book The Idea of the Holy, defines the experience of the holy, of the divine, as tremendum, that is, fearsome, and simultaneously fascinans, that is, fascinating. Every time we experience surprise, like the “miracle” of the ordinary being of anything, such as a rose, we experience the divine. Yes, the experience of wonder is the experience of God. God can clothe himself in religious garb and express himself in religious language or he can do the same using secular garb and language. Thus, the profane, the secular,, can become sacred, holy, when it is experienced as a “sign.” Our mouths open; we gasp. Our eyes widen; we gape. Our minds turn; we grope for balance and understanding. We are awestruck by the presence of God, who mercifully does not come to us in all his glory. That would be too overpowering. It would kill us on the spot. So, even though he is always present to himself in all his glory, he comes to us showing, revealing, just some of it. In the case of the rose, he reveals only so much of his glory as the rose and the rose voyeur will bear. It is a glimpse of glory, not its fullness. Thus, we need many signs before we begin to see the pattern, the fidelity, of glory.
Response to Wonder: We are not merely voyeurs in the face of, the presence of, wonder. We are drawn in. Our response can go in one of two directions, even in both. First, we try to reduce the fear by knowing more about an object or a person, illuminated by wonder. We analyze it parts, break it down into manageable bits and bites, so that we can put the power revealed by it into service. All of science and its practical daughter, technology, begins with wonder, with “Why is it so?” and proceeds to answer that question by learning how it works, what are its parts, how to they relate to the whole? All human labor is rooted in this endeavor to understand in order to control the power, harness its energy, and master its forces. Thus, mastery of the universe it the goal of the first direction humans take in response to wonder. But, there is another direction. After we have learned that apples are green and roses are red and human reproduction works according to certain laws, we are left with more questions, like “Why does the apple tree exist at all?” “ How is it that love results in new life precisely as it does?” We realize there are some questions for which there are no answers, so we just enjoy the experience, appreciate it. It is a “pleasant surprise.” We admire, that is, experience it as worthwhile, valuable, good in and of itself. Admiration leads to contemplation, a long loving, non-purposeful look at the reality. Contemplation leads to celebration, the incarnation of an interior experience. We bring our bodies into harmony with our minds and spirits and we sing, dance, revel and enjoy life in its presence. Celebrating life is incarnating the experience of wonder, which is, no, who is, God himself. This second direction is the realm of art and religion and completes the first. Its goal is mystery, not mastery. Amen.
