Emmanuel - God With Us
- Isaiah 7:1-14
- Matthew 1:18-23
It was to the wicked King Ahaz, who had built his hope of deliverance upon the covenant with the King of Assyria, that the prophet spoke this word of the Lord. Ahaz was the thirteenth king of Judah of the line of David (742-725 B.C.). In 741 B.C. this wicked king was alarmed that Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, had joined forces to invade Judah and place their own king on the throne in Jerusalem. Ahaz refused to trust God to provide protection; instead, he took some gold out of Solomon’s temple and sent it to the king of Assyria, hoping for his protection. It was at this time that God told the prophet Isaiah ("The Lord Saves") to go with his son Shear-jashub ("A Remnant Shall Remain") and meet Ahaz in an attempt to ask him to trust God rather than Assyria, for all three nations had already been scheduled to be destroyed by God within the next sixty-five years (676 B.C.). (Assyria invaded Syria and Israel, taking them into captivity in 721 B.C. [Isaiah 7:1-9].)
"Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven" (Isaiah 7:11). Isaiah said to King Ahaz, "You are surrounded by the kings of Syria and Israel, and you are placing your hope in Assyria to save Judah. I have good news: God wants you to ask for a sign which he will accomplish based on your faith in him on behalf of his people. Ahaz, you have a history of God’s actions in the past, from the redemption of the Jews from the land of Egypt and the destruction of their army, to the crossing of the Red Sea and the conquest of Canaan, to the establishment of the kingdom of David and Solomon. So, Ahaz, think deeply, so that God’s people will have their faith in him restored and the surrounding nations will be drawn to him for salvation, as they see how he delivered you from your enemies." But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, nor will I test the LORD!"
The king told Isaiah in so many words, and with a proud heart, "I don’t need God’s help. I have already hired the Assyrian army to save us." But thank God for verse 14 because here God makes a promise to the people Judah; " Therefore the Lord Himself shall Give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel. We find the fulfillment of this prophecy in Matthew 1:21. We find the Lord Jesus in the 28 chapter of Matthew verse 20 telling His Disciples " lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of this world. Then we hear the great apostle assuring the Hebrews of this promise in Heb 13:5 " for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee ". I want to assure you that He is Emmanuel, " God with us ".
Some may ask when is He with me. I realize that there are times in your life when you feel that God is nowhere to be found. You feel as though you searched high and low to find God, but to no avail. You heart has been broken and fear has gripped your life. You come to your wits end and you are down to the last straw, and the only question on your mind is where is God, is He with me in all that I am going through. Yes God is with you in all that you are going through, He is with you in all that you face. All we need to do is trust God. In verse 9 of Isaiah 7 the prophet tells Ahaz, " if ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established ".
Look at the times that God is with us:
I. God is with us in the times we are tempted to quit:
- Isaiah 7:1, "And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.
- Isaiah 7:2 "And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind."
- Exodus 14:10, "And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD."
- Exodus 14:11, "And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?"
- Exodus 14:12, "Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.
- Exodus 14:13, " And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will show to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
- Exodus 14:14, "The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
II. God is with us when there is a need in our lives.
The writer to the Hebrews had something to say about God’s presence. Some of the folks to whom he was writing had lost their jobs because of their faith in Jesus Christ, and they were facing desperate needs. They were probably worrying about how their needs would be met and, worse still, they were envying people who had everything they needed. They would benefit from this pertinent exhortation: "Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you’" (Hebrews 13:5).
We may not have everything in life we want, but we do have the Lord. He is right there with us all the time. He sees all our needs and He will meet every one of them in His own time and in His own way.
III. God is with us when we are lonely.
I want you to meet a lonely woman. Hagar was a slave, uprooted from her home in Egypt and taken to be the handmaid of Abraham’s wife, Sarah. She had gotten pregnant by Abraham at Sarah’s suggestion, and the resultant situation had brought such tension and turmoil to their household that she finally ran away to the wilderness--unloved, unwanted, pregnant, and absolutely alone in a strange land, the victim of someone else’s sin.
That was when the Lord appeared to her with tender words of encouragement and advice, and she called His name El Roi, the God who sees (Genesis 16:13). She had come to the comforting realization that God was right there with her, that He saw her in her loneliness, and that He cared. Ezekiel called Him Jehovah -Shammah, the Lord who is there (Ezekiel 48:35).
He is the same God today. He sees us in our loneliness and offers us words of encouragement and advice. He is the God who is there, and He still cares. Most of us prefer a warm body near us when we are lonely, a hand we can touch, and a voice we can hear. God may provide that for us in His perfect time. But meanwhile, He is with us, and the very fact that we are physically alone can make His presence more precious than it would be if there were people around us. To believe that He is with us can help to dispel the aching loneliness.
IV. God is with us in difficult times.
- Exodus 3:11, "And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
- Exodus 3:12, " And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
Have you ever felt that your call in life was to bear all the difficult things in life?
V. God is with us in times of danger
- Isaiah 43:1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
- Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
- Isaiah 43:3 For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
- Isaiah 43:4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life, and in Matt. 28:20 He tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us.
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