"The God of Christmas" December 2, 2018 AM

The Sign of Emmanuel in Isaiah 7

Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you for the hymns, the choruses today, even the reading from Proverbs that reminds us of God with us. Christ who is the wisdom of God, God of very God, man of very man, God with us and so God for us.

Thank you for this central critical mystery of Jesus Christ. I thank you that you do not leave us to our own ends, to our own means. You do not leave us to flail about, but in your compassion and in your grace you reveal to us who you are in your Son Jesus Christ.

We thank you for this season to remind us of this miracle of God with us, to remind us of, yes, the birth of Christ and all that comes with that, the life and the death and the resurrection and the ascension of rain and the return of Christ.

Lord, we we give you praise and ask that this season you would put our attention upon your Son whom you have given to us. We pray these things in his name, amen. I invite you to open your Bibles and turn with me to Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 7.

In the month of December, it is my intention to preach a series of passages from Isaiah. The first four are from a section which has been informally called the book of Emmanuel. It is chapter 7 through chapter 12, verse 6, and this is the book of Emmanuel because it talks about this promised one, gives his name as Emmanuel, and then continues in various ways, this passage continues to reveal who he is, what he's all about.

We have more than one Christmas passage in this section. I think it would be profitable for us to look at these passages in their Old Testament context and consider how vibrant and vital they are for us today.

Today we'll be talking about the God of Christmas from Isaiah 7, and in weeks to come we'll consider the grace of Christmas, the guarantee of Christmas, and the glory of Christmas. But for now we'll be in Isaiah chapter 7, verses 10 through 16.

I think that, of course, verse 14 will sound incredibly familiar to you, and the surrounding text may be something of a surprise. But I invite you to stand with me and let us do reverence to Christ who is revealed here in Isaiah 7, 10 through 16.

Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God, make it deep as Sheol or as high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord. Then he said, Listen now, O house of David, is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?

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 Immanuel. 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 evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.

This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. You may or may have not noticed a little news item from last week or maybe a couple of weeks ago. A United Church minister, this unprecedented ecclesiastical court hearing after her professed atheism.

Did you catch all that? A United Church minister who has professed atheism, she is no longer in danger of losing her pastorate. In an unexpected development this week, the Reverend Greta Vosper and the United Church settled ahead of what some had dubbed a heresy trial, leaving her free to minister in her East End, Toronto congregation.

She of course was elated, she said it's going to be wonderful, we'll be out from underneath this heavy cloud, now we'll be able to really fly. I'm not sure what that means. The right Reverend, you heard that right, right Reverend Richard Bott had been elected to lead the United Church in Canada and he was pleased with the settlement that avoided the trial.

Bott referenced the church's core values of faith in God and inclusiveness. He says, now get out your barf bags. The dance between these core values, how they interact with and inform each other, is one that we continue to explore as followers of Jesus and children of the Creator.

Go ahead and reach for your holy Dramamine. The Reverend Greta Vosper was very elated, called for a truncated service on the following Sunday. She says, there will be cake and dancing. Join West Hill United this Sunday to celebrate the outcome of my formal hearing and the joy we feel as the cloud that has been over us these past three years has been lifted.

We will have an abbreviated service followed by much celebration come at 1030 in the morning until the cake is gone and we're tired of dancing. Kind of an odd story isn't it? You might be surprised to hear that there is an atheist female reverend of the United Church in Canada who is an atheist and she is still in the pulpit.

Well not in the pulpit, she's dancing so well probably on the floor somewhere dancing after eating cake. But you know this sounds odd and yet we live in a world that believes that we can be good without God.

We live in a world where there is much spirituality without the Holy Spirit. We live in a world that celebrates Christmas without Christ so it's no surprise that we have pastors who do not believe in God.

But don't fret, we'll party till the cake is gone and we're tired of dancing. The only problem with that narrative is what's the next chapter? When the cake is gone and we're done dancing, what's the next chapter in that story?

And that is conveniently not included in the news story. We need to learn the sign of Emmanuel this morning. We go back to the passage where we first hear the name, the title given to Christ, Emmanuel, God with us, God with us, and we are I think then instructed and we are led to celebrate the God of Christmas.

We really can't celebrate Christmas unless you celebrate the God of Christmas and that person is none other than Emmanuel. And in Isaiah chapter 7 verses 10 through 16 a sign is given and it is not a sign given to someone that you may expect, it is a sign given to a witch pirate king.

His name was Ahaz. You might be surprised to learn that there was a witch pirate king of Judah but there was one and his name was Ahaz. And God comes to him in verses 10 and 11 of Isaiah 7 and he says, pick a sign, any sign.

The Lord spoke again to Ahaz saying, ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God, make it deep as Sheol or as high as heaven. Pick a sign Ahaz, any sign. The question is, why does Ahaz need a sign?

Why would a witch pirate king need a sign? It's because Ahaz was in a bit of trouble. He was in the middle of great political unrest. The king of Syria and the king of Israel, the northern kingdom, Rezan and Pekah, did not like Ahaz, king of Judah, very much.

You see, Rezan and Pekah were forward-thinking people. They looked around the world and they saw that Assyria, don't confuse Assyria with Syria, but Assyria was the big world dominating power and their forces were pressing against the other nations.

And how do you bring down a world power? You have to build a coalition of smaller powers. And so Pekah and Rezan were trying to get all of the smaller nations in the area to come together in a coalition to oppose Assyria, to push them back, to keep them out so they could maintain their sovereignty, maintain their reign.

But Ahaz wasn't interested. He did not want to join with Pekah and Rezan, which did not make them very happy with him, and so they came after him. And we pick some of these clues up in the text in verses 1 through 9 of Isaiah chapter 7.

And we're in the year of 735 BC and Ahaz being uncooperative with Pekah and Rezan, Judah not willing to join the coalition with Israel and Syria. Now Judah is the target of Syria and Israel and Pekah and Rezan planned to come and conquer Jerusalem and replace Ahaz with a puppet king.

And we hear this in Isaiah 7, 1 and 2, and verses 5 and 6. Particularly in verses 1 and 2, Rezan and Pekah attempt to take Jerusalem but they can't conquer it. But Ahaz is afraid. Verse 2, when it was reported to the house of David saying the Arameans have camped in Ephraim, his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.

You can just close your eyes and see that and hear that. We have a lot of wind around here. Any grove of trees will do. You can just close your eyes, look at the trees being blasted by the wind and you can hear the leaves and you can just watch all those leaves peel off the tree.

This is the heart of Ahaz. He is frightened. He is being threatened. He's not just about to lose his kingdom and his capital city and his job and his family. He's going to lose his own life if his enemies break through.

God acknowledges the plans of Ahaz's enemies. Verse 5, because Aram with Ephraim and the son of Amalia has planned evil against you saying, let us go up to against Judah and terrorize it and make for ourselves a breach in its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it.

God knows the plans of the enemy. He knows what scares Ahaz and so he sends Isaiah with some divine assurance that the plans of the enemies of Judah will not prevail. God instructs Isaiah to go and speak with Ahaz and bring along Isaiah's son whose name is Shiar Jashuv, which is a sentence in the Hebrew, a remnant will return.

Now this is somewhat of a comforting name, a remnant will return, but it's also a foreboding name. Why are we only a remnant? But that's the message that God gave again and again to Judah. We've been hearing that a lot in Jeremiah, that there's going to be punishment, there's going to be exile, but that a remnant will return.

And so Isaiah comes with his son who's been named the theme of God's word, the theme of God's message to Judah, and he comes and begins to talk with Ahaz. Now notice in verse 4, notice in verse 4 what Isaiah says to Ahaz.

He says, take care and be calm. Take care and be calm. Have no fear and do not be fainthearted. So four times, four times Isaiah says it's going to be okay. Calm down. In some ways it sounds a little bit like the World War II promotional morale poster that has become so famous now from Britain, keep calm and carry on.

A message that the War Department in Great Britain essentially codified the stiff upper lip of the Britons and which Douglas Adams satirized with his, don't panic, on the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

But there is actually something behind what Isaiah says. It's not Douglas Adams, well don't panic, everything is meaningless anyway, satire, and it's not just the best to keep a stiff upper lip no matter what happens mentality of Great Britain.

There's actually something behind these assurances of don't panic, be calm, it's going to be okay. And there is a promise in verse 4. It says, these two stubs of smoldering firebrands, don't be don't be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands.

Why? Because they're going to be done away with. The image really is two cigar butts that are soon going to be room temperature. They're smoldering now but they'll soon be out. They're no big deal, Ahaz.

And so God says their plans are going to fail. He says, I know their plans. Verse 7 he tells them that the plans are going to fail, don't worry about it, it's not going to work out. At the end of verse 9 we have a bumper sticker.

See the bumper sticker? If you will not believe, you surely shall not last. Now I don't know, I didn't check every English translation, maybe some of yours does a better job than the New American Standard, but it is a bumper sticker in the Hebrew.

It's a little jingle that was supposed to stick in Ahaz's mind. I think the best English attempt at it is the following, hold God in doubt, you'll not hold out. Hold God in doubt, you'll not hold out.

And that's Isaiah's summary to Ahaz. Ahaz is in a world of trouble. He's in political unrest. Everything's at stake. His heart is like trees shaking in the wind. That's how scared he is. Isaiah comes and tries to comfort him, tries to put things in perspective, assures him that God has everything under control, gives him this pithy saying, and then notice the generosity of God.

God just keeps on talking to Ahaz, keeps on giving him more comfort, and now after assuring Ahaz that all will be fine, God says, now Ahaz, I know it's gonna be hard for you to believe. I know it's gonna be hard for you to grab hold of what I'm saying, so pick a sign, any sign.

How very few people have ever been given that opportunity with God. God's saying to Ahaz, I've given you some things to believe, and they're very hard to believe, and you're very afraid, so I want to assure you of the truth of what I am saying, so pick a sign, any sign.

You can make it as deep as the grave, as deep as Sheol, as deep as the bottom of the sea, and as high as the heavens. Pick a sign, any sign. Wow. Just prove me, test me. I'll give you a sign, whatever you ask.

That's amazing to me. Anything's possible. You wonder how big Ahaz's imagination is. What could have he asked for? He could have asked for a blue whale to come out of the ocean and fly above the temple and drop a scroll with all the promises God had just said written down on it, and he would have had it.

Ask any sign, as deep as Sheol, as high as heaven. I'll give you a sign, Ahaz. Ask for one. I'll give you one. Ahaz didn't want one. Isn't that remarkable? Ahaz did not want one, and in fact, if he had asked for a sign, whatever sign he would have asked for pales in comparison to the one God gave, and I have no doubt that God would have given Ahaz's sign to him and then would have said, and I'll do you one better.

So Ahaz has been given this special blessing, but he doesn't want it. He practices sleight of hand. Ahaz refuses the sign. He sounds very pious. I will not test the Lord. Ahaz is no pious man. If you read the story of Ahaz, you go to 2 Kings 16, you discover that Ahaz covered his reign with cloak and dagger.

He was a very deceitful man. You see, while Pekka and Rezin were coming after him, trying to get him to ally with them against Assyria, Ahaz's solution was to go to Assyria and say, I'll do whatever you want to protect me from my enemies.

How would he get this big nation to pay attention to him? Well, he pillaged the temple. He went into the temple and he grabbed the special artifacts. He grabbed the gold. He grabbed the silver. He grabbed whatever he could carry.

He took it up to Damascus to meet with the king of Assyria, paid him off, a pirate, stole the treasure of God, gave it to the enemy, Assyria. And while he was there in Damascus and paying attention to the way the king of Assyria worshipped, he really liked his style.

There was this newfangled kind of altar there. It was bigger, more impressive, and taller than the altars that they had down in Judah. And boy, their worship services looked a whole lot better than his.

And so he took notes and he got the diagrams and he went back down to Jerusalem and he said, okay, folks, we're going to worship in the Damascus style. And he started moving the furniture around in the temple.

And he put a new altar there and he put God's furniture off to the side. And so he remodeled the temple for better worship. And so he covered his piracy with new furniture. Don't mind the artifacts that are missing.

We have new furniture now. His ultimate sleight of hand is that he covered his witchery with old-time religion. It was old-time religion for him to quote Deuteronomy 6 .16 and say, I will not put the Lord God to the test.

That was exactly what you're supposed to say. But he covered his witchery with the old-time religion. He was a witch through and through. He sacrificed his sons to demons, we read in 2 Kings 16. He spread idolatry far and wide, high and low, 2 Kings 16 .4.

He practiced witchcraft. He used the new furniture to gain understanding. He would ascend the altar and he would use the worship in the temple grounds so that he could gain insight into world events. He was practicing divination.

He was practicing witchcraft. And so his pious refusal, I'll not put the Lord God to the test, was all sleight of hand. Yet God reveals his sign anyway in verses 14 through 16. And God does not reveal a place.

He does not reveal some object. He does not reveal some great event. He reveals a person. 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 Immanuel.

Here's a person. A person who will be born of supernatural means. Here is a person further revealed in the book of Immanuel and Isaiah as the son of David, as the heir of David. One who is God with us.

This is a remarkable person. John Grisofton says it is a person who is conspicuous and distinct. Could only be one person. And when God says, I will give you a sign, I'll give you a sign, ahaz, make it as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven, we recognize that time was exactly that glorious.

And in the height. It was in the depth for he is very man. In the height for he is very God. In the depth for he condescended the dereliction of God in the abyss of death. In the height for he took this our human nature with him into the glory which he had before the world was.

Deep as Sheol, make it as high as heaven, this indeed in his resurrection and his ascension. Immanuel bearing the Shekinah glory of God. What a mystery that God would be with us. When you read in the Old Testament, this is especially striking.

When you begin to think about the passages where God was with man in a direct way, there are many to think of, but I think of one would be in Genesis 28 where Jacob had his brother and his brother tricked his father and his brother is murderous towards him and he comes to a place and he sleeps there with a rock as his only pillow and the heavens parted and there's this stairway, this ladder, this corridor between earth and heaven and the angels of God are ascending and descending upon this and from heaven God affirms all of his descendants and when Jacob awakes he says, surely God was in this place and I didn't know it and he calls the place Bethel or Beth-el, the house of God.

And when Jesus spoke to Nathanael in John 1, he said, because I said I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe Nathanael? Surely you will see greater things than these. Indeed, you will see the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

And Jesus says, I am Jacob's ladder. He is Emmanuel, God with us. He is the Beth-el, the house of God, the true temple, the only connection between a holy God and sinful man, the only place where God and man may commune is in Christ, Emmanuel.

We think of Exodus 33 where Moses begged God saying, only if your presence goes with us will we continue on and God assured him, yes, my presence will be with you and it was centered on the Ark of the Covenant upon the mercy seat in between the two cherubim and Christ comes as the fulfillment.

We see the Shekinah glory of God, the presence of God, especially in this transfiguration. Well, when you think about the sign that God gave to Ahaz, it is remarkable and he sure as Ahaz in verses 15 and 16, this child, this real child, he's gonna grow up, he's gonna have a normal childhood and when he grows up, all your problems won't even mean a thing.

By the time he's fully grown, it won't even be an issue. I think this is a very strange thing to tell Ahaz. Ahaz asks for a sign, any sign to convince you that everything's going to be okay based on what I've already said.

Ahaz doesn't want a sign, God gives him a sign that won't be fulfilled in Ahaz's lifetime. The virgin was not with child and gave birth in Ahaz's lifetime. Ahaz didn't see it. What's the point? What's the good of that?

I think the point of it is that Ahaz needed to realize that his problems, his fears, his concerns needed to be put into the perspective of what God was all about. That Ahaz was not thinking about his fears and his problems in light of what God was busy doing in the world, what he was accomplishing in the world.

And I think it teaches us something, that we must locate all of our troubled days on Emmanuel's calendar. Some of us have our Advent calendars up, 24 more days till Christmas. Some of us have Christmas already printed on our calendar.

Some of us have circled it. Our calendars are getting filled up with things pertaining to Christmas. But the truth is, we must locate all of our troubled days on Emmanuel's calendar. As Bavinck, Herman Bavinck says, Christ the incarnate Word is the central fact of the entire history of the world.

Everything that happens in every one of your days has to do with Christ. He's the central fact of the history of the whole world. There's nothing that happens in all of history that doesn't have to do with a person of Jesus Christ.

And it is our task of faith to locate all of our troubled days on Emmanuel's calendar. So go to the calendar in faith. When you tell it your wife, when you cut down your husband, when you cuss instead of bless, when you complain rather than give thanks, when you need forgiveness, you go to the calendar and there's Good Friday and Christ died upon the cross for my sins.

I find forgiveness because on the calendar, in this time in history, the God-man died upon the cross for my sins. You go to the calendar and you look and you see Resurrection Sunday, you see Easter, and you see every single Sunday, the first day of the week, every surgery date, every regimen of pills that you swallow, every sleepless night full of pain.

But Christ rose from the dead and soon this body will be done with. The firstfruits of the resurrection have already come about. I too will be raised. This body will be done away with. I will be given a glorified body where there's no more curse.

Every time we feel our need for more holiness, more growth, more truth, more love, we go to the resurrection and say Christ is alive because he lives, I live in Christ. Every time politics go nuts over and over, when nations posture and then go to war, Ascension Day is on the calendar.

Christ is seated on the throne. He reigns. He is King of Kings and he is Lord of Lords and he from the throne, he has sent the Holy Spirit. Pentecost, every time, every time we pray, every time we need spiritual power and wisdom, we remember on the calendar the day that Christ sent us the Holy Spirit.

Take all of your troubled days to Emmanuel's calendar. When the righteous suffer, when the villains succeed, when disasters make your blood run cold and atrocities make your blood boil, when sorrows mount and sin darkens your days from dawn to dusk, you go to the calendar and you say we're one day closer for when Christ returns and sets all things right.

One day closer. God gives a sign to a witch pirate King Ahaz and says all your troubles and the fear and the doubt that you have that I'll be able to do what I do, I give you a sign that will be on the calendar one way ahead of your time.

It is the sign of Emmanuel, the child born of a virgin. And in some ways, in many ways, we're just like Ahaz. He was given a sign, a date on the calendar that he would not see in his lifetime and so he had to look at that calendar by faith and you and I are given a sign.

It's a sign not just for witch pirate Kings but for sinners in exile. We're given a sign and as a date on the calendar that happened 2 ,000 plus years ago and we didn't get to see it for ourselves, we didn't live in that day.

It's a faraway day and it's a faraway place and yet that day on that calendar means we don't have to doubt and we can place every unbelief to rest because the sign was fulfilled. He was, Christ was born of a virgin.

Matthew chapter 1 in verse 23. I'll begin in verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows when his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit and Joseph her husband being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her planned to send her away secretly but when he had considered this behold an angel of 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 who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit she will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.

Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet behold the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which translated means God with us sign was fulfilled.

He was born of a virgin the new Adam not not from the old Adam but a new Adam one who would stand as the image of God righteous in our place and for our sake the sign was fulfilled. The miracle happened and everybody knew what had happened.

Even Herod knew what had happened because the the wise men the Magi from the Orient came because the stars themselves said what happened and the angels from heaven came and declared to the shepherds and to priests and to Mary and to Joseph and to all these people what was going to happen and what had happened.

So for all of our days of doubt that are on the calendar when we are when we doubt when we struggle with unbelief we go to the calendar and we look at Advent we look at Christmas and we say we don't have to doubt.

There is the sign given to those who in their hearts sometimes we fear and the fear feels like the wind shaking the trees. But we can go and there's a sign that God has it all in hand. He's running all of history through the bottleneck of the of the person and work of Jesus Christ and the Savior promised us is Jesus.

Yeshua. Yeshua the Lord saves. The Lord saves Lord himself saves man. Man cannot save man. God saves man. The Immanuel God with us Jesus Christ. This is the very one who ruled between the cherubim and he died between the thieves.

The God-man still enthroned upon the mercy seat. The sign is fulfilled. And the Savior promised is none other than Christ. And he ends the exile. You remember. Remember the the name of Isaiah's son Shira Joshua remnant will return.

There will be an end to the exile. Well Christ is the one who ends that exile. You see when Matthew gives his genealogy this man of numbers puts everything just so three sets of 14 14 is the numerical value of the name of David.

So he's emphasizing David. But it's also six sets of seven. And Jews reading it. So where's the seventh seven. Come on finish it out make it complete make it whole. And he doesn't go to the seventh seven.

He just says this in verse 17 Matthew 1. So all the generations from Abraham to David are 14 generations. From David to the deportation to Babylon 14 generations and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah 14 generations.

In Matthew's mind you go from exile in Babylon to the Messiah. He's the resolution of the exile. Why would he say that. Well God with us. For one thing the exile wasn't just that Israel being displaced from their holy land it was the exile began in Genesis 3.

Adam and Eve were cut out of God's fellowship cast out of the garden sent away no longer with God. And the whole question of the ages has been how do we get back to God. And Babel didn't solve it. And and the Jews couldn't solve it through all their efforts.

And we come to this. And it's Immanuel God with us exile over. Which is why in Mac Micah 5 3 explaining the exile. And and when the exile ends the prophet of Micah 5 3 says. Therefore God will give them up until the time when she is.

She who is in the labor has born a child. The exile continues until she who is in labor has born a child. Then the remainder of his brethren will return. He ends. The exile brings us back to God. Let's see.

It's a sign for sinners in exile. Immanuel. So you know it's been said that nobody nobody's at a loss. When when they're asked for their troubles we all have troubles. None of us would have to say could you give me a few more minutes to figure out a trouble that I have in my.

We all have troubles. We all do with us troubles comes doubt. With those troubles come fear. Concern in this fear in this concern in this doubt often leads us to make deals like a has. Let's figure out a way to fix this.

We would. We would raise an army if we could. We would. We would plunder the vaults of the temple if we could. If it could solve all our problems we would be tempted to drink the witch's brew. But when we would make deals God gave himself to us in his son Immanuel.

And when we would raise armies God gave himself to us in his son Immanuel. When we in our desperation would plunder the vaults of the temple and drink the witch's brew. God gave himself to us in his son Immanuel.

We don't have to just eat cake and dance till we're tired. God has given us his son Jesus Christ. God with us. Let's pray father. We thank you for the truth of your word. We thank you for this sign. The sign of Immanuel your son conceived of the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary given to us as our Savior and our King.

We thank you that we don't have to doubt. And we don't have to live in fear. We don't have to live in unbelief. You have given us the sign. It was a sign fit and powerful. A sign not just for the evil King Ahaz but for us as well to save those sinners.

To save us sinners who are in exile from you. We pray that you would help us to truly celebrate Christmas in a way that focuses upon this sign. Immanuel focuses upon you pray these things for Christ's sake.