The Immanuel Prophecy: A Sign of Judgment for the Rebellious

The boys don’t particularly enjoy waiting for our name to be called.

I’m not fond of wrestling matches in restaurants. 

Giant corn maze, problem solved. 

With time to kill, I allowed each boy a chance to lead. 

Each got to feel the weight and rush of leading.

Each got to feel the tension of following. 

They ran.  They walked.  They doubled back.

The outlining corn caused the paths to bleed together.

Some despaired.  Some blamed others.  Others cared less.

But no one bothered to seek my help or perspective. 

Using my vantage point, the wandering could have easily ended.

No one asked and though I offered, no one stopped to listen.

“Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, ask a sign of the Lord...”

We’re left to assume Ahaz didn’t catch on the first time (7:1-9).  Instead of turning to God, finding grace, and seeking divine aide he chose his tightly constructed maze of rebellion, fear, and calamity.

Once again Isaiah is sent to the king of Judah. 

This time, the offer is truly extraordinary.  

Ask God for a sign, any sign.  The sign could be as high and lofty as the heavens or as low and darkest as the deepest region of earth.  Literally, anything your mind can conceive and God will show Himself faithful.     

Just. Ask.

I will not ask and I will not put the Lord to the test. 

Unbelievable!  To the best of my knowledge this is the only time in the Bible where God grants a blank check.  "You name it, I'll do it."  At first glance Ahaz’s response seems praiseworthy enough, as if his faith was so firm he needn't ask for a divine sign (7:12).  So what follows seems incredibly disjointed.      

You’ve wearied God

Odd.  Following Ahaz's refusal to test God, we'd expect Isaiah to offer some measure of affirmation but quite the contrary.  The prophet is abrasive, exasperated with the king (7:13).  But why?  With no immediate answer provided in Isaiah, the author of 2 Kings offers helpful insight.  

King Ahaz turned down God’s extraordinary offer precisely because he’d made other plans.  Frantic concerning the Syro-Ephriamite war, he'd already bypassed God and turned to Assyria for military aide (2 Kings 16).  Ahaz's refusal to test God is about two things: fear and deceit.  The king knew he'd sinned and he was too afraid to come clean.  He grew even more lost in his maze.   

Writing to the king of Assyria, Ahaz declares (2 Kings 16:7):

“I am your servant and your son.  Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.”

I am your servant and your son?  
This pledge of sonship as a vassal territory is inexplicable. 

The very thought of such an act, of Israel assuming servitude and offering sonship to another national deity, goes against every fundamental element within Judaism.  It cuts against the very grain of Israel’s national and spiritual identity, Israel was God’s son and He was their King.  They were His special possession intended to be a light of revelation to the nations (Exodus 19:3-6).  Now they're pledging themselves to a foreign deity?

But it got way worse.

• Ahaz stripped the temple for payment to the Assyrian king (2 Kings 16:8-9).  
• Ahaz took specs from the Assyrian deity's altar, constructed a similar one in Jerusalem, and integrated Judah's cultic practice with new pagan rituals (2 Kings 16:10-19).

Indeed, the king knew better.  
He knew the ancient stories. 
Of Moses, Joshua, David, and Elijah.
Of the Exodus, of Jericho, of Goliath, and the defeat of Baal.    
Yes, Ahaz knew well the accounts - 
but he didn't know the Power behind the ancient stories.  
And his careless rebellion would come at great cost.
David's house would be undone.

The sign of judgment: Immanuel

Though Ahaz wouldn’t ask for a sign, 

he was about to receive one from the True King (7:13-14): 

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign, “Behold a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

We correctly understand the title Immanuel to mean 'God with us' but we must ask the question, "With us for what?"  For Isaiah the Immanuel sign was first about judgment and his contemporaries would only experience the coming child in this narrowly defined sense.  Note 7:15-8:10.1  

While Isaiah eventually expands the Immanuel prophecy to include anticipation and hope, the church would do well to note the initial unfolding and sequence of the Immanuel prophecy.    

The stench of brimstone came well before the stench of stable beasts. 

God visited Jerusalem for judgement well before He came to Bethlehem for salvation.

I suppose the inherent danger of Isaiah 7 is that we rush too quickly to the gospels.  With a NT lens we naturally hear of Immanuel and imagine the manger. God in skin, God incarnate.  Jesus Christ our Savior coming as a babe to seek and to save what was lost.  ‘God with us’ for salvation not condemnation.  

But I’d encourage us to consider Isaiah’s initial audience, specifically Ahaz.  After this second encounter with Isaiah, we read nothing more about him in the book and the silence is deafening.

According to 2 Kings 16 and 2 Chronicles 28, Ahaz never made it out of his maze.  He never found relief from his self-imposed chaos and he died a faithless king.  In NT vernacular, Ahaz died a rebellious man without entering God's eternal rest.

Certainly, as the book of Isaiah unfolds the Immanuel prophecy is expanded but what can we learn from it's initial fulfillment?  What can we learn from Ahaz as it pertains to the Immanuel child?  

1. God cares about our sin, our mazes are an affront to a righteous, holy God.  
2. God graciously speaks to us in our rebellion, He speaks and He expects people to listen. 
3. God’s mercy, the manifested reality of his patience with humanity, is not limitless.
4. Judgment is real.  The teaching of eternal punishment is not a product of hyperactive, egomaniacs looking to oppress the masses.  God judges sin an we'd best heed His warnings.    

As we to head into the Holidays, may we listen well.  As Ahaz's story is an irreducible part of the Immanuel prophecy, lets's slow down and consider the error of his way.  Let's search our hearts and may God guide us in the path of righteousness for His namesake.  

Blessings.    

1.  Textual cues for Immanuel being a sign for immediate punishment:

Assyria’s assent.  Before the Immanuel child is old enough to know good from evil, Assyria will not only have defeated Syria and Northern Israel but will also be threatening Judah (7:15-17)

The fourfold use of “In the day of the Lord”.  Four times throughout the end of chapter 7 Isaiah draws upon this single most often used phrase when the prophets speak of divine judgment.  The imagery indicates the widespread loss of life and desolation in the land.  Events tied specifically to God's wrath via Assyria military aggression (7:18-25).       

The prophetess and her son.  Chapter 8 opens with Isaiah going to (possible into) the prophetess and she bearing a son.  Note the literary synergy between 7:14 and 8:3; Isaiah is clearly indicating that this coming child is part of the Immanuel prophecy.  The child’s name, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, literally means the ‘prey hastens’.  Again, as chapter 8 reads this is a direct illusion to the coming Assyrian threat (8:1-4).  I would even suggest that the text indicates Maher-shalal-hash-baz to be the immediate fulfillment of the Immanuel prophecy. 

Isaiah’s final prophecy.  The initial Immanuel section concludes with Isaiah delivering a word of destruction upon Judah.  They wouldn’t trust the quiet waters of His provision, so Judah would ultimately be crushed by the Assyrian torrent (8:5-10).     

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.