Trust In Immanuel Series

When you’re camping in autumn, you might get a few pieces of wood that have been rained on—they’re pretty hard to light. Just a whole lot of smoke, no flames. That’s what Pekah and Rezin are like, ‘firebrands,’ smoking logs that look far worse than they are. Whatever these kings were plotting, God says, “It shall not stand, nor come to pass” (7:7).

So Judah didn’t need to fear Israel, or Syria, or anybody. God can deliver, for He is almighty and He is good. As God says so often to his people in times of crisis, “Do not fear!” He says the same to us, “Do not fear!” When trouble comes, when we feel like trembling trees—pounded by the wind, quaking in our uncertainty—He reassures us that He is dependable and near.

God had the power to save, but Judah has to believe it. Isaiah says, “If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established” (7:9). I like the NIV translation of this verse, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” And the good news, of course, is that the opposite is true: If you do believe, then you will stand. Be still, and humbly trust in God, for then the LORD will save.

This is meant to be the story of our life, that we walk by faith. It’s what God wanted from the king of Judah, what He wanted from Isaiah, and it’s what God wants from us. That we deliberately and resolutely and constantly put our trust in him. Whatever is going on around us, whatever is going on within us—whatever the unrest, illness, or trouble—we can rest in God.

And what if we don’t trust in God? What’s the alternative? Maybe we’d never actually admit that we don’t trust in him, but we’d show it. For we depend on ourselves, our intelligence and character and experience. We’ve figured out a way to manage before, and we’ll figure it out again. Another thing that we do (instead of trusting God) is putting confidence in created things; we build alliances to strengthen our position, we shore up our money reserves, or protect our reputation. And another alternative to trusting in God is simply to despair. We go to a dark place of fearing that we are alone and nobody’s going to do anything to help. But believe in him, and trust that God’s people are never forsaken!

God knows that faith can be hard. So He wants to give the king every reason to believe. Isaiah says to Ahaz, “Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD your God” (7:11). He commands the king to request a proof of God’s nearness, basically whatever sign Ahaz can think of.

But the king acts like he’s above needing a sign: he refuses to ask. We don’t understand this. Doesn’t he want his faith strengthened? Wouldn’t a confirmation be nice? But he doesn’t want a sign, because then he’d have to let go of his earthly security. For Ahaz has already committed himself to Assyria!

We read that in 2 Kings 16:7, “Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, ‘I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me.’” He’d rather run right into the arms of the enemy than live with any more uncertainty.