It has been some time since I posted a message. That is due to faily concerns and a time of renewal granted by my church. I hope to get some of the messages preached in my absence and post them but that may be far into the future. The next few months will be looking at the idea of Immanuel. What does this mean for us in our daily lives? I hope it proves challenging and enlightening.
In Christ
Allan
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Immanuel -God with us
Things were not exactly going right for Ahaz. Many of you probably do not know who Ahaz is. That’s okay, he really wasn’t a guy worth knowing, really. In fact he was a pretty bad guy. Oh he wasn’t a mass murderer or a serial rapist or even a bioenvironmental terrorist. He was just a 20 something king who, and I quote, followed the detestable ways of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. But he was king of God’s chosen people, that should count for something, shouldn’t it? He was chosen, special, well at least he thought so, and he thought he was entitled, that he could coast along with no real commitment to God.
That’s where many of us are today. We look at ourselves and think we should be blessed by God, empowered by God and loved by God because we are part of a church, or part of a Christian family. That should count for something, shouldn’t it? But we still go about doing the things we know God has directed us not too, we live a life largely apart from God and follow the ways of others. I have often heard and asked, “How can you tell the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian? You can’t!”
So, here is Ahaz, a descendant of David the greatest king of Israel, one who God himself said was after God’s own heart. Ahaz, descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who had been given the promise of God to be a people as numerous as the stars. Ahaz, leader of a people God had lead out of Egypt, been given the law of Moses and led into the promised land. Ahaz who daily looked out of his palace and saw the temple, the very place God himself said he would be –the heart of the religious, political and social fabric of the nation. Ahaz who had the pedigree, the history and the knowledge to honor God, follow God and serve God, yet he took it all for granted -no he thwarted it –no, he put it all aside and wanted the rights and privileges without the commitment.
And now he faces a series of crisis. The King of Aram which is to the east, comes and takes a large number of people prisoner –slaves, and took them to Damascus. Then his own country-men the king of Israel (Note: about Israel and Judah and the whole split thing), Pekah comes in and wages war against Ahaz and in one day, one battle, kills 120,000 soldiers of Judah. And to add insult to injury Pekah takes 200,000 people prisoner and herds them up to the north. Start adding the numbers here! Things were not going well!
And what does Ahaz do? Why, what any right thinking leader of God’s chosen people would do –he went before God and asked for help! After all, he was one of the chosen people, and wasn’t the temple, the very place where God dwelled, right there in the middle of the city! IS this what Ahaz did, go to God? NO!
Instead he sends for help to Assyria –a kingdom further to the east. And what does Assyria do, well they come and attack instead. So what does Ahaz do? He raids the temple and gives some of the treasures of God to the King of Assyria! In the meantime Edom attacks, the Philistines attack, cities are lost, people are taken, and plunder is made. Things are pressing in from every side. Things go from bad to worse. And still Ahaz, and I again quote, promoted wickedness and was most unfaithful to the Lord. In fact we read in II Chronicles 28:22, “In this time of trouble King Ahaz became more unfaithful to the Lord.”
Can you even imagine the gall of this guy; this king of God’s chosen people who has the history of Moses, the heritage of Solomon and David, the promise and the presence of God Himself in the very temple Ahaz plunders! What does he do? Let me continue to read from II Chronicles 28 verse 23-25.
He ignores God, he rejects God, he denies God, he steals from God, he insults God, he blasphemes God and he replaces God. No wonder things were going wrong!
But did God reject Him or the people of Judah? No. Through the prophet Obed in the north Ahaz was given a chance. Obed comes and says to the king of Israel, Pekah, return the people you have taken. And he does –with clothes and healing and support! Does Ahaz get the message? No.
We read that God was seeking to humble Ahaz though some of these events, to bring him to the place of repentance. But did Ahaz turn to God, did he repent? (explain repent). NO
And then through the prophet Isaiah God even offers victory. Victory of over the enemies, victory over the circumstances. All God says is that Ahaz is to ask for a sign.
We read in Isaiah 7 these words (verses 4, 7, 10-11). Just ask for a sign of my care, ask for a sign of my power, ask for a sign of my presence. Ahaz, just ask for a sign.
In a world of chaos we cry out to God, If you are there, give us a sign, show us that you are there, that you care. I talked with a man, let us call him John, several years ago who was struggling with depression. He had lost his job, was in serious financial stress and was in danger of losing his home and family. He grew up in a Christian home, had gone to Sunday School, youth group and attended church regularly. But his life and ethics were not close too what one would call a follower of Jesus. He knew all the right things to say, but ignored them, He knew the things he should do but didn’t. And now that he was in trouble he sat and talked with me and asked, I just wish God would give me a sign, something to show he cared.
God says to Ahaz, I will give you a sign, just ask. And what is Ahaz’s response? Verse 12. “I will not ask. I will not put the Lord to the test.” In other words, “I don’t want your help! Even if you showed me, I won’t accept it.” Ahaz was so apathetic to the things of God that he even refused to accept the gracious offer –a sign that God would protect the people of Judah –His people! I will give you victory, I will not allow the enemy to come and take the land. It will not happen, it will not take place, just stand firm in your faith in me. And to prove this I will give you a sign.
And what does Ahaz respond? “Here let me think about this, let me pray about this, let me consider this.” No, he says I will not ask.
What is that sign? Verse 13-14. “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel.”
Immanuel means God with us. Israel as a people had been blessed with this singular blessing the presence of God. God showed his presence thought the cloud and fire as he led Israel through the dessert. He showed his presence in the tabernacle. When the temple was built God came down and settled in the holy of holies –we looked at this last week.
Israel was blessed with the presence but still Ahaz and the nation ignored, even rejected. And so God gives this warning and promise tied together. First the promise –If you stand firm in your faith you will stand. In that the warning, if you do not, you will fall.
Set aside the idols –burn them. Turn from foreign gods, look to me. Stop the detestable ways and do the things that honor me. Stand firm in your faith in me or you will not stand!
How often are we warned as God’s people today? For those of us who grew up in the church but never took it seriously. We learned the verses, we may even have gone through something like baptism, but we still set God aside and play around with things that do not honor Him, actions in our lives that do not show we are His.
For those of us who have been calling ourselves Christians for years but other than maybe going to church a few times a month, live no different from our neighbor who has rarely if ever set foot in a church and knows the name of Jesus as a swear word rather than the sweet Name of a savior? Set aside the detestable ways and stand firm in your faith! And I will give you a sign of blessing!
And what is that sign? The same sign God told Ahaz about –a virgin will be with child and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel.
This promise was fulfilled 500 years later. Let me read from Matthew 1:18-23. This time the sign was given not to a king in the magnificent city of Jerusalem, but to a carpenter in the lowly small village of Nazareth. This time the sign is given not to the nation of Israel but to all people (Luke 2:10-12).
My friend John, who I talked about earlier, asked for a sign. If God cared, He would give a sign. John, I said, He did!
God did, His name was Jesus, the Christ, Immanuel, God with us. Today we live not in a time of Lord give me a sign, but in a time of God saying I have given the sign. Elmer Towns in his book, “The Names of Jesus,” says, this name Immanuel captures the highest ideals of life and is an affirmation of the highest blessing. Immanuel, God with us! It is not a sign to be looked for, it is a sign right in front of us.
And so we face the same decision as Ahaz, do we accept the sign or not? Do we accept the virgin with child who gives birth to a son and his name is Immanuel, or do we reject him?
We cannot take heritage for granted. Just because our father or grandmother or some other relative was a Christian and we were born into a Christian home we cannot think we are saved. Just because we go to church and do some religious things once and a while does not mean we are saved. Ahaz was born into a great religious heritage and tradition, but that was not enough. God said, stand firm in your faith! That means continue, keep it ongoing, always, daily, hourly, minutely, secondly, moment by moment stand firm. There is another word that I like for this, it is the word abide. Abide means to remain, to be in constant connection, to draw strength from, to always be. Stand firm, remain in me.
Jesus in the last hours before he went to the cross, comforted and challenged his followers with these words –“Abide in me, and I will abide in you.” (John 15:4). The word abide means remain, stay in. We will look at this next week and see it’s power in connection to the idea of Immanuel.
God has given us a sign, that the virgin will be with church and she will give birth to a son and his name will be Immanuel. It is a sign given, a call to trust in God, to stand firm in our faith. Like Ahaz, we can refuse to see, even refuse to commit our faith and trust in God. Or we can accept the sign, accept His presence –God with us! And live in the hope and life He gives.
In the midst of stress, in the middle of trouble, in the turbulence of life, where do you turn? When the enemy closes in, where do you put your faith? God offers us His help, His hope, His power through His presence –Immanuel. God with us.
Over this past few months and especially this past month, we have been facing what seems like the enemies pressing in from all sides. In our family, and in our church family. Not to brag or offer myself as the perfect example, but I can give testimony to the truth of what I speak about here today. My God is a faithful God, He is a present and caring God. In the middle of the storm He is my rock. When the enemy closes in He is my fortress. When the enemy strikes, He is my deliverer. Yes the pressures are still there, the winds still blow, the waves crash, But my God is a mighty God, able to hold me and keep me. Why –Immanuel! God with us, God with me! I accept the gift, the promise and Lord may I live to honor You as I hold on!
That’s where many of us are today. We look at ourselves and think we should be blessed by God, empowered by God and loved by God because we are part of a church, or part of a Christian family. That should count for something, shouldn’t it? But we still go about doing the things we know God has directed us not too, we live a life largely apart from God and follow the ways of others. I have often heard and asked, “How can you tell the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian? You can’t!”
So, here is Ahaz, a descendant of David the greatest king of Israel, one who God himself said was after God’s own heart. Ahaz, descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who had been given the promise of God to be a people as numerous as the stars. Ahaz, leader of a people God had lead out of Egypt, been given the law of Moses and led into the promised land. Ahaz who daily looked out of his palace and saw the temple, the very place God himself said he would be –the heart of the religious, political and social fabric of the nation. Ahaz who had the pedigree, the history and the knowledge to honor God, follow God and serve God, yet he took it all for granted -no he thwarted it –no, he put it all aside and wanted the rights and privileges without the commitment.
And now he faces a series of crisis. The King of Aram which is to the east, comes and takes a large number of people prisoner –slaves, and took them to Damascus. Then his own country-men the king of Israel (Note: about Israel and Judah and the whole split thing), Pekah comes in and wages war against Ahaz and in one day, one battle, kills 120,000 soldiers of Judah. And to add insult to injury Pekah takes 200,000 people prisoner and herds them up to the north. Start adding the numbers here! Things were not going well!
And what does Ahaz do? Why, what any right thinking leader of God’s chosen people would do –he went before God and asked for help! After all, he was one of the chosen people, and wasn’t the temple, the very place where God dwelled, right there in the middle of the city! IS this what Ahaz did, go to God? NO!
Instead he sends for help to Assyria –a kingdom further to the east. And what does Assyria do, well they come and attack instead. So what does Ahaz do? He raids the temple and gives some of the treasures of God to the King of Assyria! In the meantime Edom attacks, the Philistines attack, cities are lost, people are taken, and plunder is made. Things are pressing in from every side. Things go from bad to worse. And still Ahaz, and I again quote, promoted wickedness and was most unfaithful to the Lord. In fact we read in II Chronicles 28:22, “In this time of trouble King Ahaz became more unfaithful to the Lord.”
Can you even imagine the gall of this guy; this king of God’s chosen people who has the history of Moses, the heritage of Solomon and David, the promise and the presence of God Himself in the very temple Ahaz plunders! What does he do? Let me continue to read from II Chronicles 28 verse 23-25.
He ignores God, he rejects God, he denies God, he steals from God, he insults God, he blasphemes God and he replaces God. No wonder things were going wrong!
But did God reject Him or the people of Judah? No. Through the prophet Obed in the north Ahaz was given a chance. Obed comes and says to the king of Israel, Pekah, return the people you have taken. And he does –with clothes and healing and support! Does Ahaz get the message? No.
We read that God was seeking to humble Ahaz though some of these events, to bring him to the place of repentance. But did Ahaz turn to God, did he repent? (explain repent). NO
And then through the prophet Isaiah God even offers victory. Victory of over the enemies, victory over the circumstances. All God says is that Ahaz is to ask for a sign.
We read in Isaiah 7 these words (verses 4, 7, 10-11). Just ask for a sign of my care, ask for a sign of my power, ask for a sign of my presence. Ahaz, just ask for a sign.
In a world of chaos we cry out to God, If you are there, give us a sign, show us that you are there, that you care. I talked with a man, let us call him John, several years ago who was struggling with depression. He had lost his job, was in serious financial stress and was in danger of losing his home and family. He grew up in a Christian home, had gone to Sunday School, youth group and attended church regularly. But his life and ethics were not close too what one would call a follower of Jesus. He knew all the right things to say, but ignored them, He knew the things he should do but didn’t. And now that he was in trouble he sat and talked with me and asked, I just wish God would give me a sign, something to show he cared.
God says to Ahaz, I will give you a sign, just ask. And what is Ahaz’s response? Verse 12. “I will not ask. I will not put the Lord to the test.” In other words, “I don’t want your help! Even if you showed me, I won’t accept it.” Ahaz was so apathetic to the things of God that he even refused to accept the gracious offer –a sign that God would protect the people of Judah –His people! I will give you victory, I will not allow the enemy to come and take the land. It will not happen, it will not take place, just stand firm in your faith in me. And to prove this I will give you a sign.
And what does Ahaz respond? “Here let me think about this, let me pray about this, let me consider this.” No, he says I will not ask.
What is that sign? Verse 13-14. “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel.”
Immanuel means God with us. Israel as a people had been blessed with this singular blessing the presence of God. God showed his presence thought the cloud and fire as he led Israel through the dessert. He showed his presence in the tabernacle. When the temple was built God came down and settled in the holy of holies –we looked at this last week.
Israel was blessed with the presence but still Ahaz and the nation ignored, even rejected. And so God gives this warning and promise tied together. First the promise –If you stand firm in your faith you will stand. In that the warning, if you do not, you will fall.
Set aside the idols –burn them. Turn from foreign gods, look to me. Stop the detestable ways and do the things that honor me. Stand firm in your faith in me or you will not stand!
How often are we warned as God’s people today? For those of us who grew up in the church but never took it seriously. We learned the verses, we may even have gone through something like baptism, but we still set God aside and play around with things that do not honor Him, actions in our lives that do not show we are His.
For those of us who have been calling ourselves Christians for years but other than maybe going to church a few times a month, live no different from our neighbor who has rarely if ever set foot in a church and knows the name of Jesus as a swear word rather than the sweet Name of a savior? Set aside the detestable ways and stand firm in your faith! And I will give you a sign of blessing!
And what is that sign? The same sign God told Ahaz about –a virgin will be with child and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel.
This promise was fulfilled 500 years later. Let me read from Matthew 1:18-23. This time the sign was given not to a king in the magnificent city of Jerusalem, but to a carpenter in the lowly small village of Nazareth. This time the sign is given not to the nation of Israel but to all people (Luke 2:10-12).
My friend John, who I talked about earlier, asked for a sign. If God cared, He would give a sign. John, I said, He did!
God did, His name was Jesus, the Christ, Immanuel, God with us. Today we live not in a time of Lord give me a sign, but in a time of God saying I have given the sign. Elmer Towns in his book, “The Names of Jesus,” says, this name Immanuel captures the highest ideals of life and is an affirmation of the highest blessing. Immanuel, God with us! It is not a sign to be looked for, it is a sign right in front of us.
And so we face the same decision as Ahaz, do we accept the sign or not? Do we accept the virgin with child who gives birth to a son and his name is Immanuel, or do we reject him?
We cannot take heritage for granted. Just because our father or grandmother or some other relative was a Christian and we were born into a Christian home we cannot think we are saved. Just because we go to church and do some religious things once and a while does not mean we are saved. Ahaz was born into a great religious heritage and tradition, but that was not enough. God said, stand firm in your faith! That means continue, keep it ongoing, always, daily, hourly, minutely, secondly, moment by moment stand firm. There is another word that I like for this, it is the word abide. Abide means to remain, to be in constant connection, to draw strength from, to always be. Stand firm, remain in me.
Jesus in the last hours before he went to the cross, comforted and challenged his followers with these words –“Abide in me, and I will abide in you.” (John 15:4). The word abide means remain, stay in. We will look at this next week and see it’s power in connection to the idea of Immanuel.
God has given us a sign, that the virgin will be with church and she will give birth to a son and his name will be Immanuel. It is a sign given, a call to trust in God, to stand firm in our faith. Like Ahaz, we can refuse to see, even refuse to commit our faith and trust in God. Or we can accept the sign, accept His presence –God with us! And live in the hope and life He gives.
In the midst of stress, in the middle of trouble, in the turbulence of life, where do you turn? When the enemy closes in, where do you put your faith? God offers us His help, His hope, His power through His presence –Immanuel. God with us.
Over this past few months and especially this past month, we have been facing what seems like the enemies pressing in from all sides. In our family, and in our church family. Not to brag or offer myself as the perfect example, but I can give testimony to the truth of what I speak about here today. My God is a faithful God, He is a present and caring God. In the middle of the storm He is my rock. When the enemy closes in He is my fortress. When the enemy strikes, He is my deliverer. Yes the pressures are still there, the winds still blow, the waves crash, But my God is a mighty God, able to hold me and keep me. Why –Immanuel! God with us, God with me! I accept the gift, the promise and Lord may I live to honor You as I hold on!
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