Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14 KJV
First, it has to be established in what context today's extract is presented. Judah was being attacked by its own brothers, Israel, aided by Aram, a nation initially connected to Noah, but had now become a chief enemy of both Israel and Judah. At different times, there will be some sort of cooperation between Israel and Aram, and then other times, both of them will be at war with each other. The passage for today is one of the strange ones, with Israel ganging up with Aram against its own brother Judah. You can say that it was the context of war that makes us appreciate the message before us today.
Aram and Israel tried, but they could not overpower Judah. Think again: 10 tribes, aided by a foreign power, against 2 tribes, yet the 10 tribes could not overpower the 2 tribes. That is why God remains God: He does as He pleases in all the earth. For him, power, strength, connections and influence are of no use to him. He gives victory to whoever He chooses, in line with his purpose. That is why a David could kill a Goliath. That is why a choir could lead ab army and without a single arrow shot, the choir saw a great victory. This is a God who is not conventional in any way. Is there any authority or power that is speaking over my life, contrary to what God has said?
I need to be reminded about the ultimate power, God, who can do the most mighty with the most weak. A word of assurance was sent by God to the king of Judah: have no fear. The men you see today, in about a few years, will be too shattered to be a nation. As we know, these words came to pass, even though Israel was restored later. God then asked the king to ask for a sign that what had been promised would be done by God. Either it was by ignorance, foolishness or false humility, the king did not want to test God and so refused to ask for a sign. Maybe the reality in front of him made it difficult for him to believe it could be done, but the lesson for me is this: I must be certain of whose words I am holding on to.
It cannot be about the false tokens of men like me, but the assurance, confidence and certainty of the Word of God. God gave a sign by himself. Sometimes, you wonder how this sign relates to what was going on with Judah, but the sign teaches a few lessons. First, God is eternal. He is not distracted by the drama going on with me now, but He is able to sort out both my present and the eternal, if I can just trust him. Secondly, the eternal plan of God is tied to his Son. Kingdoms will rise and fall, as it happened to Aram, Israel and Judah, but the kingdom of his Son will know no end. Thirdly, the nature of the birth and the name of the son all show God's perfect will and purpose, and that he can do absolutely anything.
How would a virgin conceive without human help? How would a boy born in this way, birth and sustain God's presence with man, which is the meaning of his name? Guess the most important question then is: do I know the Son as presented here? Is He with me, as His name implies, or do I need to sort out my ownership and allegiance? I must remember that I am not promised forever on this version of earth, but the only way I can get the eternal plan of God for me is to trust the Son. He is key to all that God has promised. Do you have him? Do I? God's time of favour is here.
No comments:
Post a Comment