The Christ Announced in Isaiah

Hello everyone and welcome back to our series the Christ foretold This is our Christmas series and it is looking at the book of Isaiah, which was written 700 years

Before the events of Christmas morning looking at how the Bible Actually foretells the coming of the

Messiah and we saw that last week We're gonna see that again this week, but I want to begin today by just asking you a simple question

If you were to describe What the events of Christmas morning must have looked like Mary Joseph the manger

Jesus the angels all of that If I were to ask you to describe that How would you put that in your own words?

Would you describe it in the sort of sleepy peaceful tranquil words of William Chatterson Dix who said

What child is this? Who laid to rest on? Mary's lap is sleeping.

Would you say it like the famous hymn writer? Who wrote these words silent night?

Holy night All is calm and all is bright round young virgin mother and child

Holy infant so tender and mild sleep in Heavenly peace.

Do you pick up the the notes there? The descriptions Sleeping silent calm bright

Tender and mild sleeping in heavenly peace and that sounds nice, doesn't it?

Baby Jesus God in the flesh sleeping Peacefully away in his little wooden makeshift bassinet like the like the hymn away in a manger says no crying he makes

It doesn't say this but one can reasonably assume that he's he's not crying no fussing he makes no dirty diaper he makes

Just this perfect tranquil heavenly calm that can only come about from giving birth to the

Son of God. I Mean, let's be honest mothers. Can you imagine that?

Having heavenly sleep, which I can only assume means the sort of best sleep of your life on The very night that you delivered your child.

I mean Let's let's be honest. Can you imagine that? No, absolutely not. Dad's maybe you're sleeping heavenly peace on the night that your child was born, but I'm sure the mothers are not right and You know while the hymns tend to describe

Jesus this way. I think Jesus cried I Think that he had dirty diapers, whatever they used back then for diapers cloth or whatever

He was fully human, right? He was a very normal little baby boy But interestingly

Again, like I said many of the hymn writers described Jesus in that sort of way using calm words peaceful words

And even peaceful musical arrangements artists who paint these pictures with great brushstrokes and skill

Depict the calmness amid the scene with with these, you know, very calm smoothing tones

If you were to just look at it from the artistic in the musical community all throughout church history this looks to be the most peaceful night in all of human history a

Night when the stars gently hang and cast their light a night when angelic messengers heralded the victory a night when shepherds joyfully

Found their King although quietly tiptoeing into the stall so as not to wake the sleeping baby a night when all striving ceased apparently when battle seemed to be over where triumph echoed ever so delicately across the galaxies and Whether or not

That's how Christmas morning Happened which I don't believe it was. I believe it was more normal than that more real than that more

Mary being exhausted from a hard labor Jesus probably fussing and crying because you know, he's a newborn baby

Joseph being a little confused on what in the world he needs to do to To care for and serve his bride the shepherds bursting in waking up Jesus when he finally falls asleep and then him crying again

Yeah, I don't know. We weren't there. The Bible doesn't give us the details But well, however, it was 700 years before Jesus was born

We do know how it was and it was that prophecy was not given in the context of heavenly peace

But in the context of earthly war War was upon the horizon in Jerusalem by the time you get to Isaiah chapter 7

You see gone are the days of the Solomonic peace and the prosperity that was going on in Israel when the kingdom was united under the great

King David When it was built strong and thriving under Solomon and economic prosperity military prosperity global prosperity there wasn't even a hint of war upon the horizon during those glory years, but by 734

BC everything seemed to be falling apart For instance a new superpower was rising up in the world called

Assyria and they were a particularly ruthless and vicious group of people

Who conquered the smaller nations in the in the Middle Eastern regions by sheer military power force and ruthlessness?

According to most historians They were the most efficient and most powerful military force and all of the ancient world with the exception of Greece and Rome But they were by far

The most violent They had a professionally trained army when that sort of thing didn't exist

They had weapons and chariots made out of well -crafted iron early in the in the Iron Age before other nations really had those technologies they had them and Because of that they obtained a level of military might

That made them superior to every other nation in the Middle East and likely in the entire ancient world again

With exception to Greece and Rome the mere name

Assyria struck fear and hatred into the hearts of the local peoples

If you remember the book of Jonah Here you have a prophet who's told by God to go to Nineveh, which is the capital city of Assyria That's the

Empire we're talking about here and to go preach the gospel and he decides in in Anger and fear to run away from God and of course, he gets swallowed by a whale

He gets vomited up on the on the shore. He goes to the city He preaches and they repents and he's angry

That they repent because he didn't want to go there and preach the gospel of grace to such wicked and merciless people

You see they had such a reputation of hate and They were so violent and so wicked and so egregious to all of these nations

Jonah didn't even have a category in his mind For the Ninevites for the

Assyrians to repent there's a phrase actually that comes down to us

Through the halls of history through their writings It's on many of their statues and on their buildings and if you will this is kind of a statement from the

Kings it was a statement that basically tells us what their military strategy was and Here's what it says.

I destroyed I Devastated and I burned with fire

Now apparently There's no need to waste words here. Just three short sentences.

I Destroyed I devastated and I burned with fire and that was what they wanted you to know They didn't ride into town to become friends with you.

They didn't come to strike a diplomacy deal They were bent upon destruction and frankly they enjoyed it

There's reports actually that they took massive rusty fish hooks used for whaling and They pierced men and women

Shoving those dull rusty hooks into the muscly portions of their shoulder blades and Then dragging them behind one of their iron chariots violently through the city so that their heads smacked against the stone

Cobblestone road until it killed them if it did not kill them They would skin them alive and they would put them up as a public billboard to the might and the power of Assyria Essentially saying don't mess with us one

Assyrian inscription on a temple in the city of Nimrod says this I King Ashurbanipal Built a pillar at the city gate.

Well, that's nice building project. This is what he did He says and I flayed

Meaning I skinned alive all of the chief men who had revolted and I covered the pillow with their skins

Some this is I guess the remaining the remaining bodies that he had left over Some I walled up inside the pillar

Some I impaled upon stakes Beside the pillar needless to say these were vicious bloodthirsty men who?

enjoyed Watching other people suffer and This my friends was the empire that was bearing down and breathing out the threats that we're gonna read about and then in Isaiah They were the that was the nation that was threatening the three immediate nations that we're gonna be looking at today

Syria Israel and Judah and this is during the life of Isaiah and These threats were throwing the entire region into a panic and all sorts of makeshift

Alliance were being hastily thrown together in order for people to try to save their own lives as this is

Coming as a Syria is coming upon them for instance

Israel which is the ten northern tribes of Israel Remember we talked about last week the kingdom split in half the northern kingdom in Syria, which is just to the northeast of Israel.

They had united together to form a sort of political alliance Against a Syria so that when a Syria came they were gonna join forces together in order to fight them

But they weren't powerful enough So they reached out to the all all of the surrounding countries like places like Moab and Midian and Judah.

Well Judah apparently decided not to join their Federation Which made them furious?

now We can speculate why the motivation was that they didn't want to join this allegiance

But we know for one thing that it wasn't righteousness that motivated Judas King a has Who we're gonna be talking about today.

It was not righteousness that motivated him to refuse this coalition Remember in the Bible it tells the

Kings specifically not to join in an alliance or Allegiance with some of these foreign nations in these foreign powers

Because these foreign nations were wicked and they would lead the people of God into Idolatry so the Bible tells the

Kings the righteous Kings to avoid Those sort of political alliances so that they wouldn't be brought into and led astray from God into idolatry

So that seems like a good thing that a has is doing here denying This sort of allegiance with this nation, but it we know that a has was not a righteous

King in fact in all of the lists of the Kings that we found in the book of Kings and Chronicles and here in Isaiah a has is an awful

King From the book of Kings itself. We learned that he is a man who put his own infant son

Into the flames of a fire on a pagan altar and he watched his son writhe in pain as his flesh

Literally was burned off of his poor little body He watched this happen because he he believed that this would gain some sort of favor with these disgusting despicable gods

He was a man who not only bowed down and worshiped every single one of these pagan gods

But he also reinstituted all of the foreign high places which were hilltop worship centers Dedicated to these despicable gods in the past.

They had been torn down by some of the righteous Kings He went back and rebuilt them so that he could lead all of the nation of Israel astray into these disgusting

Practices he is a man Who offended the holiness of God more so than almost any man who's ever lived and he's a man

Politically who offended Israel and Syria refusing to join in their Federation. It was not for righteousness sake that he refused it

It was for political sake. He didn't want to join with Israel and Syria And because he snubbed them they became obviously enraged

Now I want you to imagine the scene for a moment here Israel and Syria's King or panic -stricken because the world's greatest

Empire is bearing down on top of them and they need help and word gets back to them that Judah is not going to join their their league and They're incensed about it.

Obviously and and they're Sort of backup plan here is they're gonna try to go to war with Judah kill a has and then install their own puppet

King on the throne so that he will start sending Judah's resources Judah's troops and everything else to try to Fight in this war against a

Syria. It would be like this in the modern day now the metaphor doesn't work perfectly because we don't have 50 different nations that that are

Part of America we have 50 different states. So pardon me with the metaphor, but I Think it will at least help us get an idea

Imagine that China has decided that they want to become a global empire and their first target is

America So they're gonna try to take out the United States of America so that they could become a global Dominating force and they're gonna send a hundred million people

To fight this battle, which I think is an accurate number of how big their army actually is now

You can imagine that all 50 states are gonna be United together in order to fight this war, but imagine that Texas decides.

Nah, I'm not gonna fight this war We're gonna secede from the Union which I also think is an interesting thing because Texas in their own words this week was talking about The possibility of secession now, of course, they probably would never do that, but they they mentioned that so this is a relevant example imagine how angry

The rest of the nation would be at Texas if Texas just said we're not gonna fight in this battle with you We're not gonna send

Fort Hood and the soldiers that are there. We're not gonna send the Air Force Base Loughlin Air Force Base.

We're not gonna send any of our soldiers any of our resources. You guys are on your own imagine how angry the nation would be imagine maybe the military would get involved in would go in to Texas and try to invade

Texas and try to make them do What the country thinks is appropriate?

I mean, we don't know how it would happen but we do know that would cause a Tremendous break in the country and a tremendous amount of anger and hostility from everybody else who felt betrayed by such an action

Well, that's what's happening in the region Judah has just snubbed Israel and Syria and because he snubbed them they're enraged and they think that the very best option is for them to go to war with Judah, which actually as It turns out was the very worst idea that they could do because they're

Not only gonna lose soldiers. They're gonna lose resources they're gonna leave themselves totally exposed if and when a

Syria does show up, which is maybe three years away at this point and They can't build back fast enough

So while we can understand their motivations we can understand their anger. We can understand the bitterness that they probably felt

They were totally Vulnerable at this point and unless the hand of God intervened all three of these nations are gonna be absolutely destroyed

Even if they all joined together, they weren't strong enough to stop the mighty war machine of a Syria they

Were all going to die unless God showed up and that's what gets us to Isaiah chapter 7.

So if you will Turn with me on your phone turn with me Physical Bible, which is the best way to do it, of course because it's right there in front of you

There's nothing like a great physical Bible So if you have that turn with me, if not, just hit the pause button go grab your

Bible and let's do this together Let's look at Isaiah 7 and we're gonna be in verses 1 through 9 And we're gonna see how all of this chaos and how all of this instability and all of this political

Stuff that's going on is going to get us to the point to where the Messiah Jesus Christ is gonna be announced

Right in the middle of this Context so if you will join with me Or pause me go get your

Bible and let's read Isaiah 7 1 through 9 together. So this is how it begins

Now came about in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah That reason the king of Aram and Pekah the king of or the son of Rimeleia King of Israel went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it

Now just for recapping purposes here a Syria is gonna strike them down in the meantime

Syria and Israel are attacking Judah and In this passage, you need to know that Syria is known as Aram So when you see

Aram, that's the nation of Syria when you see Ephraim, that's the covenantal name of Israel So it's

Syrian Israel or Aram and Ephraim. Those two words can work interchangeably and it's two

Kings reason and Pekah now I Understand if your head might be spinning and you're probably never gonna remember those names.

That's okay What you need to know from this passage what you need to understand is that Judah is the one who's involved the tribe of Judah which means the nation of Judah and The nation of Judah is the two southern tribes that divided whenever Solomon's son

Rehoboam broke away from Jeroboam and That nation of Judah is the nation of King David That's the one that comes in the line of King David and also

Judah is the tribe of King David and Judah is the tribe that the Messiah is going to come from So here's what you have you have

Judah which is from the tribe of David and and it's gonna be the tribe that the Messiah comes from and that's prophesied and other prophecies in the

Old Testament they are facing extermination here David's tribe the

Messiah's tribe is being threatened on every single side and if God doesn't come through and save them

Then there will be no more Judah, which means that there will not be a Messiah Because Messiah is gonna be born in Bethlehem, which is the city of David The Messiah is gonna be born into the tribe of Judah, which is what the prophecy from in numbers tells us

If there's no Judah, there's no Messiah. So therefore Salvation itself is hanging on the balance in this little local regional war

Israel Syria coming against Judah with a king who hates

God and the stakes could not be higher Now let us continue reading.

I Might jump in here and there for him like some little pop shots of commentary There's just a lot of history going on in this passage, but we will work our way down through the text

So let's let's go now to verse 2 when it was reported to the house of David That's the covenantal name for the king of Israel.

So when it was reported to Ahaz Saying that the Arameans that's the Syrians have camped in Ephraim.

That's a town on the border of Judah in Israel So these two nations have camped there when a has the king of Judah heard this his heart and the hearts of the people

Shook as trees the forest shake with the wind. He was shaking like a leaf Then the

Lord said to Isaiah Go out now and meet a has you and your son shear

Jahub at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller's field Now what is fascinating about this meeting is that God is calling his prophet

Isaiah Who was mostly hated by the kings of Judah? Because he spoke the truth to them like a faithful prophet always should now there were good kings in Judah Let's not be overly dramatic.

There were good kings who loved the words of the prophets There were good kings there in Isaiah's lifetime has a

Kai as one of them any and he loved the words of Isaiah but the unfaithful prophets hated the words of Isaiah and they

Hated the words of any other faithful prophet because the prophets said what God wanted to be said instead of what the

Kings wanted to hear God tells this man Isaiah to come to a has in order to encourage him and to provide direction for him to take which of course is ironic it in and of itself

Because only the faithful Kings would want to take advice from Yahweh Only the faithful Kings actually cared at all what the

Lord had to say and a has was not one of them in Fact, it's likely that he was the most wicked of all of David's ancestors and it's likely they didn't care at all

In fact, he probably had no idea what the promises of God were. He probably had not read the

Torah he probably had not read the promises that God had given to his ancestor David and And it's likely that he had his own

Cadre of advisors who would tell him exactly what he wanted to hear or at least offer opinions that he agreed with So while we can only speculate what his advisors were telling him to do here and it's likely that they were telling him

Which is what actually happened to sell all of the items of the temple and then send them to Assyria and double -cross

Israel and Syria, which again is what happened But while we can only speculate as to what his advisors were telling him

We know what God was telling him to do and it shared right here with us in verses 4 through 9

This is what God tells a has the wicked King to do in order to save his nation

Because remember God is going to spare Judah This is what

God says verse 4 and say to him. That's Isaiah. Say to a has

Take care and be calm Have no fear and do not be faint -hearted Because of these two stub stubs of smoldering firebrands on account of the fierce anger of reason and arm and the son of Ramallah Because Aram Syria and Ephraim Israel and the son of Ramallah They've planned evil against you saying let us go up against Judah and terrorize it and make for herself a breach in its wall and Set up tabby eel the king in its midst

They've said all that but thus says the Lord God it shall not stand nor shall it come to pass for the head of Aram is

Damascus the head of Damascus is reason and Within 65 years Ephraim will be shattered so that it is no longer a people

The head of Ephraim is Samaria the head of Samaria is the son of Ramallah if you will not believe you will surely not

Last do you see what God is saying here to Isaiah at the moment?

That Isaiah shows up in order to give this message. You can imagine that a has is is

Beyond upset. He's perplexed. He's likely scratching his head. He's trying to figure out what political course it is or action that he's gonna take

And Along comes Isaiah sent by God telling him. I know you're upset. I know you're fear

I I know that you want to do all of these things, but I'm gonna tell you what God wants you to do and it's absolutely nothing

Isaiah says essentially a has the Lord wants me to tell you to just take care to just be calm

Don't fear and don't faint just relax a has

Everything's gonna be okay, and I'm sure That a has

With all of the energy that he's feeling in his anxiety over this situation Probably all of the fears that he's feeling for making the wrong decision

He probably thinks his entire house his kingdom. Everything is gonna fall apart If a

Syria doesn't kill him then Israel and Syria will and I'm sure that Although that energy that he was feeling in fear and anxiety and all that.

I'm sure that that now was unleashed upon Isaiah With at best an incredulous look saying what are you talking about?

You're telling me not to fear and not to faint Isaiah. This is why you don't get invited to any parties, bro You're telling me that your

God Just wants me to act like nothing is happening right now Just chill out not to be afraid my whole world's falling apart

Isaiah and you think that's what I'm supposed to listen to your God telling me that but what

I want us to notice I Bet that's how I about how a has responded

But I want us to notice that Isaiah doesn't give him platitudes here. He doesn't just say buck up soldier Everything's gonna be okay

This may be the worst day of your life, but put a smile on your face, buddy. It's all gonna be okay That's not what he's saying.

Isaiah gives real Concrete evidence that a has need not fear because he says

The next several things he says Syria and Israel are like smoldering firebrands, which just means that They're like the final glowing ember on a burned -out torch.

They're not gonna last They're like the They're like the wick at the bottom of a candle

With just a drop or two of wax left. They're not gonna stand They may be glowing right now, but in a moment the only thing that you're gonna see from them is smoke

Their attacks against You a has are futile They may have waged war with you, but they can't win because you've got

God fighting on your side they're trying to kill you and replace you but they will not prevail because God is on your side and You may be even wondering why would

God give such an encouraging message to such a wicked King? Why would God ever be on the side of a has a man who?

Roasted his own son and the flames of the fire as awful as he is as wicked as he is Why would

God be on the side of a has and it's for you and for me and for every other Christian that ever existed

God was covenantally faithful to the line of a has because he was being faithful to the line of David Because in that line one of his great great great great grandkids was gonna be the

Messiah Jesus Christ the Lord So while this man is wicked and while God Ferociously could have poured out his wrath upon this beast of a creature

Named a has and while he had every right to do that and his justice Demanded it because of grace

Because of his covenantal patience He preserves

Judah and he preserves a has so that his son Jesus would be born into that compromised

Bloodline and while a has more than likely didn't know the promises of God.

He very likely did not understand what Isaiah was saying here God knew his promises and God would protect the line of the

Messiah There's other reasons maybe that that God would preserve a has but I think this one is is

So Significant that all of the other reasons pale in comparison. This is a covenantal faithfulness from a

God who had been inflamed against this nation of sinning rebellious creatures

Just the fact that God said he's going to destroy their enemies within 65 years is such grace

Assyria is gonna come in provoked by God himself and they're going to violently uproots

Syria They're gonna burn down the capital of city of Damascus kill their Kings to port their people and the people of Ahram that we know

Them as is hit in history will never again exist in that same battle Israel. The northern kingdom will be decimated and enslaved

They will be allowed to keep their land temporarily under a very sophisticated agreement Where a serious says to them you pay us all your money all the time every time you get it and we won't kill you

But Israel never did well under such agreements after six years and desperate poverty and a broken spirit they popped up the mouth at Assyria and then they came in and destroyed them set fire to their cities and Forced them to intermarry with other nations

The bodies of those who'd been killed were were just left lying in the streets of Samaria so that the vultures

Would finish the job the city itself was torched and the remaining people were forced to intermarry with other nations

Causing the small amount of women and children that were left over to be ethnically cleansed

So that there is no more ten tribes of Israel if you remember in the Old Testament There were twelve tribes of Israel.

Those ten are now gone That's how fiercely they would be judged by God for their sins for their rebellion and For them going against Judah, but while God gave this timeline and this prophecy and said that it would be 65 years before all of these things happened

We also see that in this passage the timeline speeds up and We see that this actually comes to pass within three years of this prophecy given

So either Isaiah Is a very inaccurate Prophet he prophesied 65 years and it happened in three either that or either

God was Was was not so precise in his calculations or something happened and that's something that happened starts in verse 9

I believe that the prophecy was sped up so quickly Because of one reason one reason alone and that's not because of God's Unclarity on the issue.

It's not because of Isaiah's general Generality approach.

It's because of a has his wickedness The last verse in verse 9 says if you will not believe then you will surely not last and That you in that passage is a has

Syria is gonna be gone. They're done. Israel is gonna be dumped gone. They're done So the only nation that's gonna be standing is

Judah So what God is saying to a has is if you do not believe you will not last That verb there to believe in English actually means to stand firm

So what the actual picture is is God is saying a has if you don't stand firm in my truth

If you don't stand firm and what I've said Then I will chop you down and you will be just as much of a hollowed -out

Smoldering smoking stump is those two God is saying if you remain calm if you rest if you don't fear if you trust in me, you won't fall

But if you persist in your wicked ways, I will cut you down and that's exactly what happened

What happened was is that instead of God giving a 65 year prophecy based on a has his faithfulness the covenantal clock?

sped up Because of his wickedness Look at what

God says to a has in verse 10 This is where we see the clock

Speed violently forward then the Lord spoke to a has saying

Ask for a son from the Lord your God That right there is an act of grace a has never a moment in his life had worshipped

God God even here is revealing his covenantal faithfulness you ask for a sign

From the Lord your God the God you were supposed to be worshiping the God your father David worshipped the

God your father Solomon for most of his life worshipped you ask for a sign and I'll give it

I'll make it you make it as deep as she or as high as heaven you ask a has and I will give it

God Is giving a has a blank check here He's saying I'm I know you don't yet believe in me

And I know you don't trust my words and I know that you've been Egregiously wicked for your entire life, but in this moment,

I'm gonna show you grace If doubt still grips your heart a has asked me for a sign and I'll prove myself true to you

You can ask me for something as high as the heavens are as deep as the realm of the dead You asked me for a sign a has and I will give it what an act of grace

But a has refused Isaiah tells us what a has responds with he says

I will not ask nor will I test the Lord Now on the surface this sounds sort of pious

I guess You may be remembering verses in your mind where the Bible says that thou shalt not put the

Lord thy God to the test or when? Jesus says it's an adulterous and an evil and adulterous generation that asked for a sign

So maybe a has in this moment is touched. Maybe he's moved Maybe this is his first act of repentance saying

Lord. No, why would I ever put you to the test? Thank you so much for your grace. Thank you so much for for this promises.

I'm just gonna believe you simple belief I don't need you to show me any signs. I don't need any and I don't need to do any of that.

I'm a changed man Maybe that's what's happening here But it's not the

Lord says that we Must not put him to the test meaning that we have no right under heaven

To look at God and say you know what? I don't believe what you're saying to me You're gonna have to prove it to me first. We have no right to ask him for a sign, but this is not what's happening here

God is telling ahaz that I will give you a sign that's different Ahaz doesn't say you know what?

I'll believe if you prove it to me. God doesn't even ask ahaz He says you ask me for a sign and I will prove it to you and ahaz says no

God is being so ridiculously gracious that he's offering ahaz a sign

He's saying i'm willing to give you anything And ahaz refuses

He refuses the grace of God. He refuses to trust God This God that he spent his entire life hating rejecting and refusing to worship is offering him forgiveness and grace

He's offering ahaz protection from his deepest fears and from his political foes He's offering him security from the impending threat of israel syria and assyria and the only thing

That he's requiring of him is to ask him for a sign as high as heaven or as as low as shiel

He's offering ahaz a pathway back to relationship Which is the only thing that was going to heal judah is the only thing that was going to restore the kings

It was the only thing that was going to bring back the legacy of blessings and prominence of david

And in a moment of pride and pretension ahaz refuses the offer of god

Which prompted isaiah who hadn't said a single word of his own volition this entire time He's only been speaking the words of god

It caused him to burst forth in a sort of righteous fury to rebuke this wretched worm of a man when he says

Then isaiah said verse 13 Listen now old house of david Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men?

Basically, you've got yourself into this situation by trying the patience of israel by trying the patience of assyria or syria

Is it too much for you to provoke the patience of men now? You're going to try to provoke the patience of my god.

Do you see the difference here earlier? God said I will give you a sign your god will give you a sign now isaiah is saying

No, you've provoked my god, he's not your god I mean you can tell by the language that isaiah uses that he is furious no better offer

To such an undeserving worm of a man could ever have been given and this fool this spiritually dead tyrant and his egregious ignorance is unwittingly

Not only gonna sabotage his own life, but he's about to bring down the entire house of david with him He's like a kamikaze pilot slamming into the

Slamming into the side of a boat. It's not just him that's going to die. Others are going to die with him What a fool

And because of his refusal to trust the lord three things are going to happen in this verse The prophetic timeline is obviously going to going to speed up to unthinkable proportions

But three things are going to happen and that's the way we're going to finish our time out today Isaiah 14 through 17 is god's response

To the wickedness of ahaz who refused to trust him and this is what god says

Ahaz because you refuse to ask the lord your god for a sign verse 14 says therefore

The lord himself will give you a sign behold a virgin will be with child and bear a son and she will call his name emmanuel

Emmanuel And he will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good

For before the boy will know enough to refuse the evil and choose the good the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken

The lord will bring on you though And on your people and on your father's house such days have never

Come since the day that ephraim separated from judah the king of assyria Undoubtedly, this is one of the most difficult prophecies in all the old testament the jews

Today cite this passage as evidence why they do not believe in jesus, which is

Ironic because it's one of the greatest prophecies about jesus that's ever existed So I just ask for your grace for a moment as we conclude our message today that you would

Pay very close attention to what i'm going to say There's a threefold meaning to this passage two of them are going to happen during the life in the time of king ahaz

One of them is going to happen later This is what we call in the old testament times a dual a dual fulfillment of a prophecy

It's kind of like this I was in colorado Stationed in the army and there was this hill that was on base

That the sergeants always used to love to run us up and down so that we would

So that we would Frankly so that we would throw up They would take brand new soldiers who just got to colorado who had not

Gotten acclimated to the weather yet or to the the lack of oxygen in the air and the goal was during one

Pt session to take that soldier to the limit until they Yacked on the sidewalk that that was the goal

But what I remember about that hill is that hill wasn't Incredibly big but when you were standing in front of it, it looked as big

As the rocky mountains behind it When you would stand at the foot of the hill you couldn't see the rocky mountains or if you could you could just barely see them

Poking up above the top of the hill Now in my mind I knew

That the rocky mountains were bigger Than this hill in front of me, but as I was standing at the foot of the hill they looked the same size

This is kind of what happens in a dual fulfillment of prophecy There's a smaller

Fulfillment that happens right beside of you right in the same lifetime that the events are happening

That's like isaiah standing at the base of the hill with ahaz and saying this is getting ready to happen to you.

That's the hill But between the hill and between the mountain range, which might be 100 miles distance maybe 50 miles distance, whatever it is.

There's some distance between the mountain and the hill There's an event that's going to happen in the future

That's far away That's going to be bigger and grander than you could ever imagine in isaiah's mind the two events look like They're the same size, maybe they look like they're even the same event, but there's a space of distance in between them and God is going to accomplish them not simultaneously

But he's going to put a gap of distance between them so that two of these events are going to be the hill

And one of these events is going to be the mountain and there's going to be a gap of distance in between them 700 years in fact

It's going to separate These two events from one another now The first event that we might call the hill the near -term event

Is when a child is going to be born to isaiah Chapter 8 we learned that isaiah is going to have a son

And before that son has finished breastfeeding before he's eating oatmeal Israel and syria are going to be destroyed by the assyrian armies

And that is exactly what happened instead of 65 years three years later israel and syria are no more

They are finished So the prophecy is true, that's the first part

Verse 17 tells us however that ahaz is not off the hook because of his wickedness and because of his disobedience

He's going to join israel and syria in suffering God is going to promise untold suffering is going to happen to the people of judah now

He's not going to destroy them completely because remember god cares Not so much about ahaz, but he cares about the bloodline of the messiah

So he's not going to utterly destroy them But they will go through misery that they did not have to go through if their wicked king would have just believed

Because he refused to believe 120 Thousand of their soldiers are going to die in battle when syria and israel march in 120 ,000

Of those that survived 200 ,000 women and children were going to be taken hostage and carried away

By israel and syria who also came in and plundered The land of israel.

That is what's going to happen 320 ,000 people are going to basically be uprooted 120 ,000 of them killed 200 ,000 of them deported by israel and syria

Ahaz does not learn his lesson here. He does not repent He does not turn in that moment and and say isaiah pray for me, please

I've i've sinned before god. He doesn't do any of that He walks away in his own delusions and when this happens three years later

What we know that ahaz does is one of the greatest acts of rebellion against god ever perpetrated

He takes The treasures the gold the silver the furniture from the temple of israel

And in an act of sheer desperation, he sends them off to a syria as payment

And he begs them he spits in the face of god while he begs these these gentile people to come in and destroy a syria

And israel which or syria and israel, which they do they come in They destroy those two nations

Tiglath policer is is the art is the the king at that time he comes in and destroys those nations. Yes, he does but he brings untold devastation on judah as well

Almost every one of their cities are utterly destroyed their wealth is is taken from them.

They set up a payment plan That judah cannot pay and it bleeds them utterly dry

This is what ahaz the son of david did because he refused to trust god Israel and syria are wiped out as a nation and his nation is on the brink of ruin

But that's not all that happens in this passage Those are the near -term events that are going to happen, but there's also one that happens out in the future

That's the mountain that i'm talking about And there's a 700 year gap between the events of the downfall of israel and syria and judah and the event that i'm talking about and that is

Described beautifully in verse 14 It says therefore the lord himself his name is repeated twice the lord and himself for emphasis

The lord himself will give you a sign And trust me, it's going to be as high as heaven

Behold a virgin will be with child and she will bear a son and she will call his name emmanuel

Meaning that the child that isaiah has who after he before he even finished breastfeeding

These nations are going to be destroyed. That's not the ultimate fulfillment of this passage. It's a near -term fulfillment

Isaiah really did have a son and that son really did breastfeed and he really when he finished breastfeeding

The nations were destroyed and it was a fulfillment of prophecy, but there's a bigger fulfillment There's a mountain in the distance and that mountain in the distance is that that god himself is going to bring about a sign

And that virgin is going to bear a child and she's going to call his name Emmanuel, which means that god is with us heaven has come down.

This miracle is going to be as high as heaven the new testament opens up With the fulfillment of this passage 700 years later matthew chapter 1 verse 1

Says this is the record of the genealogy of jesus the messiah the son of david the son of david

Why does matthew begin that way because he's the true son of david Unlike ahaz who was this wicked and sinful monster of a man who refused to obey god

Jesus is the one who's going to come and he's the true son of david He's the one who's going to always and forever sit upon the throne of his father

He's the one who's going to perfectly obey god He's the one who's going to be the true king of his people and he's the one who's going to set up the true kingdom of god

That's why matthew begins that way We learn that in the wisdom of god this ancestor of david jesus was a special child

Not born of flesh and blood but born of the holy spirit And it was announced to his earthly father joseph just 19 verses later in verse 20 in matthew 1 where it says but when?

joseph had considered These things meaning he was going to divorce mary because he thought she was unfaithful to him

When he had considered these things behold an angel the lord appeared to him in a dream saying joseph

Son of david do not be afraid to take mary as your wife for the child that has

Been conceived in her is of the holy spirit We learn in luke 1 26 through 28 that jesus's earthly father

Is not only a descendant of david which gave jesus that davidic bloodline that davidic heritage that heritage from the line of judah

He was an ancestor of king ahaz this wicked monster of a man Not only that But we learn that his mom is a virgin just like isaiah 7 14 says

Luke tells us that in the sixth month the angel gabriel was sent from god To a city in galilee which called nazareth to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was joseph of the descendant of david

And the virgin's name was mary And the angel coming in he said to her greetings favored one the lord is with you

The lord is with you God Is with you just a few verses down gabriel makes this astounding promise to the virgin woman where he says verse 30

The angel said to her do not be afraid mary For you have found favor with god.

Let's just stop for a moment 700 years before Isaiah the prophet comes to ahaz and says don't be afraid

God's with you And what does ahaz do ahaz rejects the grace of god ahaz turns away from god but not mary

Says behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall name him jesus

Which in hebrew it means he will save his people from their sins And he will be great

And he will be called the son of the most high And the lord god will give him will give him the throne of his father david ahaz you're off the throne

Your descendants are off the throne that the house of david has fallen Because of your lack of obedience because of their lack of obedience and because none of them whatever

Would ever do anything worthy of a true king. You're off the throne. He's going to inhabit the throne of his father david

And he will reign over the house of jacob forever And his kingdom will have no end

And then mary said to the angel how can this be since i'm a virgin the angel said to her The holy spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you and for that reason

The holy child shall be called the son of god Look at how all this ties together ahaz

Refused to trust the lord, but joseph and mary trust him ahab refuses the sign mary actually asked

How are these things going to be tell me she asked for a sign and the whole and the angel says The holy spirit is going to overshadow you

Ahaz was ruling over a kingdom that was fallen apart Mary is going to give birth to the king of kings and the lord of lords whose kingdom will never end

Who will reign over the house of jacob forever? And while mary is certainly perplexed about all of this

Gabriel tells her plainly the holy spirit is going to come upon you The power of the most high is going to overshadow you and you are going to give birth to a holy child

Who's called the son of god? in verse 23

Gabriel tells joseph the exact same thing that we see in our passage. This is the quotation

In the new testament of isaiah 7 14, which we just read behold joseph the virgin

Shall be with child and shall bear a son and they shall call his name emmanuel which translated means god with us

You see All of these prophecies were given 700 years before jesus came in the book of isaiah

And like the hymns and the art would would lead us to believe that this moment Was the picture of peace they were given in the context of war

The prophecies were given during a time of great physical war Where the armies of israel and judah and assyria were surrounding the gates of jerusalem on every side threatening to utterly destroy

This wicked rebellious nation, but we see the hand of god's providence over every square inch of the story

And we see that That Jesus did not just come in a time of physical peace.

He came to end a spiritual war that long outlasted Ahaz, it went long before ahaz all the way back to the garden of eden

When the first sin and first act of rebellion was given against god. Jesus came to a spiritually war -torn people

A people who had been in war against their god for millennia He came to rebels

He came to men and women who kept on rejecting god who kept rejecting the grace of god

And in the midst of the greatest war that had ever been fought far greater than the war of israel and syria and Assyria far greater than the wars of greece far greater than the wars of rome far greater than the wars of Of any other nation the war against god had been raging ever since the very beginning and jesus was born right in the midst of it

He was born right in the midst of it as the prince of peace he was born right in the midst of the suffering as As the healing that would come to the nations on this day

In the city of david was born the true and perfect king of david heaven's hero and zero And and the sinner's friend a baby lying vulnerably in a manger

But born to set his people free born to deliver them from their enemies and born to release them from their self -imposed

Slavery born to give them hearts of flesh instead of hearts of stone and let us not miss the point that isaiah is making

He will be born to bring rebels just like you and I into the kingdom of god not as slaves, but as citizens

While the birth of jesus christ With the birth of jesus christ the house of david fell

Not long after jesus rises from the dead and ascends to heaven jerusalem is destroyed by the romans Because jesus didn't bring a political kingdom.

Jesus didn't end physical wars. We still have wars today Jesus ended the century millennia old conflict between human beings and god

And amid the ash and the rubble of jerusalem god was building a kingdom. He was building a holy kingdom

He was building a kingdom that the gates of hell would not prevail against and he was building a kingdom that all people jew

Greek male female slave free all of us can enter through the precious blood of jesus christ a kingdom with an everlasting

King that will reign on his father's throne forever a king Who is temporarily going to build a place for you and I and a king who will one day return home to bring us back

With him to live forever with our god. We are the people if you are in jesus christ

If you've been saved from your sins, we are the people of this great god and we have a king and his name is jesus christ

And this great king came and was born in a manger 2 000 years ago in bethlehem stall

That is what isaiah is anticipating That is what the promise is looking forward to and that is what

I hope that fills our hearts this season We don't need to look at all the things that are going on in america and all the instability and everything else

We need to focus our eyes on jesus christ the true and perfect king. Let us pray father god

Thank you so much for this message That you gave to isaiah the prophet 2 700 years ago

In the midst of king after king after king refusing to obey you In the midst of a nation refusing to worship you

In the midst of a world that refused to know you You sent your son

You sent your son to be the better king who would never disobey you You sent your son to build a better kingdom that would always love you

And lord 2 000 years later we live in that kingdom that has advanced Not yet to every tribe tongue and nation, but god it has advanced and the gates of hell have not stood against it

Lord as your citizens would we be filled with hope this christmas? And lord would we

Make our lives about the advancement of your great kingdom as loyal subjects of you our king