A Prelude to Immanuel: The Call to Faith

I recently heard Christmas music while pumping gas.

Obnoxious. 

Mr. 3-levels-of-bright-blue-icicle-lights-12-doors-down-on-the-right

Seriously?      

Maybe I'm just a purist when it come to Holiday sequencing.  

With all the Christmas decor, music, and signage displayed before Turkey Day I’m almost reluctant to speak of the Immanuel prophesy mid-November.  Even so, over the next 2 weeks I'll be looking at Isaiah 7-12 paying specific attention to the Immanuel child and where it fits within both Isaiah and the overall story of salvation.  Your graciousness is appreciated.    

Isaiah 7:1-9 

King Ahaz was lost in a maze of his own doing.
A maze outlined by his carnal exploits, pagan deities, and godless leadership.

Surprisingly, the True King was still pursuing Ahaz.
In the maze, God was still speaking.

Notice two things with me.

First, note where God sent Isaiah to meet Ahaz.

The prophet received detailed instruction to meet the king at a very specific point - an aqueduct (7:3). Though an odd place to rendezvous with royalty, the water supply held great significance given the king’s socio-political circumstance.1

With the coming siege the aqueducts represented Ahaz’s very survival.  Jerusalem's water supply was his greatest point of strategic vulnerability.   The conduits signified the king's most intense fear.

Under the threat of a raging army, we might even feel sympathetic.
But as Scripture often does, we’re invited further into the story.
We’re invited beyond the obvious and encouraged to observe the narrative.

Looking further, the aqueducts represent the apex of Ahaz’s rebellion and the futility of sin’s natural progression (James 1:14-15).  The sum total of Ahaz’s vain pursuits, idolatrous wanderings, and sinful cravings had finally caught up to him.  Life was crumbling and it was too big to manage.

Facing such dread, Ahaz grew manic.
Ahaz knew his empire was crumbling, he had no resources.
The king imploded.
Rather than exercising faith Ahaz was shaking in fear (7:2).

I asked you to note the where, because the where is important.
It shouldn’t be surprising that the aqueduct is where God spoke.
At the very place that represented Ahaz’s lifelong, futile rebellion Isaiah shows up.

God does this.  He’ll show up and speak opportunity into the very place of our self-imposed calamity.  At the very place where our sinful choices and crumbling life intersect God's gracious voice is often heard.  Out of the chaos we create, His clarity is offered.

Second, note what God told Isaiah to say (7:4-9).

Beginning with four imperatives Isaiah instructs Ahaz to exercise faith in the True King of Judah (7:4).

Be careful. Rebellion makes us careless.
Do not presume upon divine mercy.

Be quiet. Rebellion creates inward, anxious churning.
Choose silence.

Do not fear. Rebellion makes the circumstantial problem seem great.
God is greater.

Do not be faint. Rebellion conceals the only viable option.
Choose to obey and live.

Following the last imperative came an incredible prophecy. Isaiah tells Ahaz that in 65 years Northern Israel will be utterly destroyed (7:6-9a), the very nation threatening Judah would crumble.  God gives the king every opportunity to stand firm in faith (7:9b).

Firm in faith, turn from iniquity and standing in righteousness.
Firm in faith, live in the freedom afforded through faithful obedience.

God speaks at our aqueducts.  Too many times I've found myself fretting over self-imposed chaos.  The natural progression of my idolatry led me, and at times my family, to places God never intended.  Places of confusion, heartache, and loneliness.  Even so, my story is that God is faithful to show up.  In these places, He mercifully offers clarity to repent and the freedom of forgiveness.    

Only be careful.  Be quiet.  Do not fear.  Do not be faint.
The Enemy has been defeated.
Sin has no power over you.  Turn to Him and live.
Let us be found firm in faith.  

Blessings.  

1.  The socio-political landscape of Ahaz's consisted of Assyria and everyone else.  Undoubtedly this was a tough time to rule.  From Nineveh, her capital city, Assyria threatened the ancient near east to a degree that few superpowers had. 

Scripture states that Syria and Northern Israel formed a coalition among the smaller countries, presumably in order to keep the Assyrians at bay (2 Kings 16; 2 Chronicles 28).  King Ahaz refused to enter their partnership, a move that led the neighboring countries to rise against Southern Israel.  Their intent was to dethrone Ahaz and install a king that would seemingly partner against Assyria (Isaiah 7:1-2, 4-6). 

Ahaz knew his enemies were near; it was only a matter of time before the Syro-Ephraimite coalition would arrive.

In the ancient world if you commanded a large enough army, common procedure was to simply lay siege upon desired territories.  With no sizeable militia to engage invaders, the smaller city would eventually surrender.  It was often gruesome.  With no water and no food, the surrounded city would regularly resort to unthinkable measures merely to survive (Deuteronomy 28:52-59).

With no reliable water source flowing naturally into Jerusalem, the system of aqueducts was crucial for the city’s survival.  The chances of enduring a siege are drastically lowered if your chief water supplies are beyond the city’s protective wall and your aqueducts are above ground, susceptible to enemy tampering.  Defeat was imminent.