What happened before “Immanuel”
Reading it
Read through Isaiah 7:1-14 or read the excerpts below:
“…the king of Syria and…
the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it (v.1)…
the heart of Ahaz [king of Judah] and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. (v.2)
And the Lord said to Isaiah,
“…say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands (v. 3-4)…
thus says the Lord God:
“‘It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass. (v. 7)…
If you are not firm in faith,
you will not be firm at all.’” (v. 9)…
And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (v. 13-14)
- excerpts from Isaiah 7
Studying it
Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint.
God knew exactly what to say to his people — because he knew them so well. Our Creator saw the two kings, of Syria and Israel, coming up against Jerusalem. And he saw them as two smoldering stumps of firebrands and let the people of Jerusalem know: it’s not going to happen. God told them what was true because he was God and more powerful than so-called kings of earth. Amazingly, only one thing has changed from the time of these people to our time now. God became one of us. And because of what he did here, even more so, the message remains: be careful and quiet, do not fear or let your heart be faint.
If you are not firm in your faith...
All we have to do is trust that he will do it. He does literally everything else for us. Imagine if those in Jerusalem didn’t trust God and decided to run into battle against these firebrands by themselves. It’s like a child not trusting a parent who knows and sees so much more than they do. Having faith is trusting God can do it. And being firm in it is deciding that no matter what illusions Satan throws our way, we won’t be fooled. We know God is greater, that he can take care of us, and that he does.
God with us.
This story makes the prophecy that God gives a few verses later so much more powerful. God wasn’t just telling them what to do from heaven. He would come down himself and be with us. He would be in the trenches with us, growing as a submissive child, understanding temptation, and needing sustenance as a human. And the way we would know him is the same way he was made known when teaching the gospel — through signs. Before any miracles Jesus did, the miracle of his birth from a virgin proved that God could do the impossible. If God could do that, how much more could he do the impossible of saving us from hell?
Living it
Those in Jerusalem didn’t know the whole story. They were alive when the prophecy was made about Immanuel, but they didn’t know the full hope that God was giving to mankind. We know. We know the whole story — theirs, Jesus’s, and ours as a Christian. We know that Jesus was Immanuel, the Christ, and the Son of God. And we know that he was our Passover Lamb, giving everything up so we could abide in him and him in us (John 15:4). Because he best part is that Immanuel wasn’t God with us for 33 years. That promise is still true 2000+ years later. The Spirit of God is with us 24/7, letting us know to be careful and quiet, to not fear, and to not let our hearts be faint.
Immanuel. God is with us.
“…And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:20
Day 1 in everseeking journal no 2 “Fulfilled” (released to subscribers for November 2023)
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