Two Sons of David

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church.

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Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim

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Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone. And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg.

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In the name of Jesus, Amen. All right, it's not quite Christmas.

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We're still in Advent. That means this is a penitential season. And in our Old Testament text today, we heard that famous, and I mean famous, prophecy regarding the birth of the

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Messiah from a virgin of all things. But when you consider the details in which that particular prophecy was given, let's just say that I would like to say that's kind of a backhanded prophecy.

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And the reason being is because King Ahaz was a wicked, and I cannot emphasize this enough, he was a wicked fellow.

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We learn about him from several places in the Old Testament, but most notably, we hear about him in the book of 2

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Chronicles chapter 28. And listen to these details. They're quite horrible.

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So here's what it says. Ahaz was 20 years old when he began to reign. No one should begin reigning when they're 20 years old.

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I'm just saying that that's a formula for disaster, right? And he reigned for 16 years in Jerusalem.

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He made it to be 36. God didn't put up with him for very long. He didn't do what was right in the eyes of Yahweh as his father

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David had done. So you're going to note, he's a descendant of David. He's the king of Judah. He's a son of David.

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Scripture always refers to the kings that follow in David's line as the sons of David. He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and the kings of Israel were idolaters.

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And he even made metal images for the Baals. He made offerings in the valley of the son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering according to the abominations of the nations whom the

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Lord drove out before the people of Israel. And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

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This guy basically was raised to be a believer in Yahweh and said, nope,

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I'm going to worship the false god. I'm going to worship Baal. I'm going to worship Molech and worship the gods of Damascus and things like this.

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Completely unstable. And idolatrous beyond all belief.

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But in the midst of all of this, something terrible happens, kind of a national crisis, if you would.

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And the national crisis is that the king of Syria and the king of Israel, that's the northern kingdom, they've conspired together and they've mustered an army together.

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They've brought the forces together and they're going to invade Judah all for the purpose of deposing

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King Ahaz and putting a puppet king in his place, the son of Tabeal.

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And as a result of this, let's just say that when we get to our prophecy, things are in complete turmoil, disarray, and everyone is fearing greatly.

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And rightly so. You'll note that when armies are on the move, that's generally not a good time in people's lives.

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Bad things usually happen when armies are on the move. And in this particular case, that's exactly what's going on.

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And the people and King Ahaz are terrified. They are outnumbered.

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They are outmanned. There is no hope. But here's the thing. In the recent history of Judah, God has graciously, powerfully delivered

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Judah from the hands of those who would invade them. And what did they do?

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They cried out to Yahweh for help. But Ahaz is not a fellow who believes in Yahweh. He's not going to cry out to Yahweh.

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He's not going to ask for help. But you're going to note something here. As wicked as he is, God still desires his repentance.

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Still desires that he turn to him in penitent faith. That's what he desires of all of us.

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And so we're going to note, Ahaz stands as a king of Israel who is faithless.

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And he is not faithful at all. He's the opposite of faithful. And he's a fellow who has drifted far, far, far from the true faith.

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And note, we are all prone to this. Don't think for a second this couldn't happen to you.

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And I don't think for a second it couldn't happen to me. It all begins with a little bit of compromise, just a little bit.

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What has God done for me lately? Maybe your mentality, your attitude. If I don't take care of myself, who's going to take care of me?

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And so you begin to put your trust in yourself or your trust in your money or your trust in the

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U .S. government or things like this. I don't know why anyone would put their trust in the U .S. government. That seems like a foolish, foolish thing to do.

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But alas, you put your trust in the stock market or things like this and you begin to slowly drift.

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It always starts that way. Or maybe you're breaking that third commandment. You're despising

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God's word. You're waking up on a Sunday morning going, you know, it would be really nice if I had a lot more free time and I'd really free up a lot more of my time to work on my hobbies and do the things

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I really want to do if I just cut church out and stopped listening to God.

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It always begins with things like this. And then where it ends up never ends well.

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What started off as a little bit of compromise turns into you ending up in hell.

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That's how this works out. You've drifted so far, you've careened off the edge of the earth into the lake of fire.

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This is what happens to Ahaz. And so we read in the fuller context of our prophecy from our

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Old Testament text today, in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, the king of Judah, Jotham was faithful.

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He did what was right in the eyes of God. I'm sure he didn't raise his son to be an idolater. So here's what we read.

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Rezin, the king of Syria, Pekah, the son of Ramaliah, the king of Israel. They came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but they could not yet mount an attack against it.

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So they've brought the forces in, but they haven't quite got all the gear necessary to mount an attack and lay siege.

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So when the house of David was told Syria is in league with Ephraim, the heart of Ahaz, the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

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Okay, that's understandable. I mean, when your country is invaded, I mean, it is normal to feel fear and anxiety, but alas, we have one that we can call out to,

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God. God has made it clear. He desires to be our help in our time of trouble. Call upon him in the day of trouble.

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He will answer, the scripture says, and not only that, in the recent history of Israel and Judah, there's good reason to believe that God would intervene in the middle of such a military action.

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So he does. Although Ahaz doesn't humble himself and cry out to Yahweh, God decides, you know what,

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I'll see if I can start communication myself. See if we can turn this boy and get him heading in the right direction.

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So he sends none other than the prophet Isaiah himself, who is one of the greatest authors of scripture, man.

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The prophet Isaiah, he stands as one of the pinnacle prophets of the Old Testament. And God lets

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Isaiah know exactly where Ahaz is going to be so that he can meet him. And we're going to find out that Ahaz is going to be inspecting the water supply, which is something you need to do before your city is laid siege.

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You got to check your food supply, you got to check your water supply, you got to check your armaments and stuff like this. So Ahaz is out doing the kingly thing and checking his water supply.

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And God sends him to meet him there while he's doing that. So Yahweh said to Isaiah, you go out and you meet

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Ahaz, and you and Shir Jashub, your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the washer's field.

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And you say to him, be careful, be quiet.

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Do not fear. Do not let your heart be faint because of those two smoldering stumps of firebrands at the fierce anger of Rezan and Syria and the son of Ramaliah.

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You'll note here that God's kind of trash talking these two kings, talking about them like they're nothing, don't fear them, no big deal.

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Now to God, that would truly be the case. To Ahaz, that doesn't seem even possible to think this way, but you're going to note by God trash talking these two kings, he's trying to kindle within Ahaz faith, confidence that the

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God of Israel will come through, right? God's making it sound like this is no big deal.

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Don't be afraid. And then he goes on, because Syria with Ephraim and the son of Ramaliah, they've devised evil against you.

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That's true. So saying, let us go up against Judah and terrify it, let us conquer it for ourselves and set up the son of Tabeal as king in the midst of it.

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But thus says the Lord God, it shall not stand, it shall not come to pass.

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Now here's the bit, what's not going to come to pass? The deposing of King Ahaz and the setting up of Tabeal, right?

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For the head of Syria is Damascus, the head of Damascus is Rezin, and within 65 years

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Ephraim will be shattered from being a people. God's about to scrape them off the planet and disperse them into the nations for their idolatry, right?

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And the head of Ephraim is Syria, the head of Samaria is the son of Ramaliah. And then we get these amazing words, if you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.

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If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all. And that's the point.

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A lot of people think the secret to the Christian life is do gooder, try harder, be more intentional, really pull up the bootstraps and this time

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I'm going to get it right. That's all law. And believe me when

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I tell you, if you're going to think that the law is the thing you need to really apply yourself to for the purpose of really supercharging your

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Christian walk, you're going to burn out. In fact, here's the thing.

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The law, you got to be careful with that thing because it is always accusing us.

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And when you amp up the law, and we need it amped up, but you don't follow it with the gospel, you know what your sinful flesh is going to do?

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Going to run away, say that's it, I'm done, I'm out of here, goodbye, hasta la vista.

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There are many people who have lived as legalistic Christians early in life who've now turned, their faith is shipwrecked and their lives do not reflect anything of the values of the

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Christian faith at all. I hate to bring this up, but I'll give you an example. Amy Grant, when

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I was growing up, she was the queen of contemporary Christian music.

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You remember the song El Shaddai, El Shaddai, El Shaddai, it was a beautiful song and everybody, every teenage boy in the

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Christian church who was listening to Christian music had a little crush on Amy Grant. Well, Amy Grant long ago, she was pretty much a very legalistic

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Christian, long ago started drifting into faithlessness. And she recently announced to the

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Washington Post of all places, she wanted the world to know this, that on her farm there in Tennessee, she's going to be hosting her niece's same -sex wedding.

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And she basically said, well, the scripture is clear, love God and love neighbor. I can't imagine somebody going through life without being loved.

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And so she has, by her actions, demonstrated that she is now faithless.

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She's drifted into rank idolatry and apostasy. There's no other way to look at it.

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Each of us are capable of this. If you're not firm in faith, that's faith in what?

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The promises of God for the forgiveness of your sins, the promises of God that he will care for you, meet your needs, give you your daily bread, forgive you your trespasses, deliver you from the evil one.

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This all calls for faith. And yes, the law always convicts us and only then through the gospel and the comforting assurance that Christ has bled and died for all of our sins.

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Only through faith in the mercy and kindness and grace of God are we then able to look at the law and say, this is what

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I need to be doing. This is freedom. But without the gospel, the law just seems like, well, a mountain that's too steep and too high to climb because it is.

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That's the point. So he says to Ahaz, if you're not firm in faith, you're not going to be firm at all.

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And Ahaz doesn't have faith. So then the next part of Isaiah is where we get our

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Old Testament text today. So again, Yahweh spoke to Ahaz, listen, ask a sign of Yahweh your

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God, let it be as deep as Sheol, as high as heaven. And you're going to note here,

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God is basically saying, listen, you don't believe me? I'll give you a sign.

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God doesn't hand out signs like candy. He rarely gives these things out. And he says, you pick it.

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I'm going to give you a blank check. The sign that you ask for to show you that my intention is to save you and to deliver you from, you know,

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Ramaliah and, you know, and, and resin and Syria and Israel, you just ask me anything.

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Had Ahaz said, all right, I would like to see the sun do a figure eight and a loop -de -loop in the sky.

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You know what would have happened? It would have done a figure eight and done a loop -de -loop, all right? But he didn't ask and he feigns humble piety here, but he doesn't believe in Yahweh.

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Ask a sign, but Ahaz said, I'm not going to ask. I will not put

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Yahweh to the test. You know why? Because had he asked for a sign,

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Yahweh would have been delivered. Then what would he have done with his faith in his false gods, right?

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You're going to note, we sinful human beings, oftentimes the reason why we set things up the way we set them up is to ensure that God never gets in the way of our favorite sin.

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Because we know if we are confronted with the truth, we're going to have to repent.

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Things are going to have to change. And so is this not the reason why so many people attack the

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Bible today? And I'm not talking about atheists. I'm talking about people who call themselves Christians. They attack and impugn the scriptures and undermine it.

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They'll say things like, you know, the Apostle Paul, you know, he was the original member of the

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He -Man -Woman -Haters club. That's the reason why he wrote that women can't be pastors.

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Uh -huh, right. So we're going to slander the Apostle Paul so that you can now bring in women pastors.

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I see how this works. You won't be confronted with the truth because if you believe that that was actually from God, you'd have to change.

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And that's what's going on with the Hazir. I won't put Yahweh to the test, but God sees through this, this false piety and this false humility.

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And here's what he says. Hear then, O house of David, is it too little for you to weary men that you now weary my

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God also? Therefore, the Lord himself, he's going to give you a sign and here it comes, all right?

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So note, the sign of Emmanuel is a backhanded sign. God says, ask me for a sign,

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Ahaz says, no, I won't put Yahweh to the test. Fine. I'll give you a sign. You didn't, you're not going to ask.

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I'm giving you one anyway, all right? Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and call his name

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Emmanuel, which means God with us.

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And you know what? That's exactly what Ahaz needed in that moment. He needed

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God to be with him because things are not going to go well for him. So, and he,

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Emmanuel shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.

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And Yahweh will bring upon you and upon your people, upon your father's house, such days has have not come since the day the

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Ephraim departed from Judah, the king of Assyria. So basically God's saying, all right,

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I'm going to give you a sign. And here's the interesting bit. You have the sign of Emmanuel, which will not be fulfilled until our gospel text today.

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Our gospel text shows the fulfillment of that in Matthew, which is six, 700 years later.

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But that part of it is the part that's for the future. In Ahaz's time, he will see that in that span of time from the time of some, you know, basically roughly the time it would take for a child to be conceived, to be born, to grow, to be weaned, and then begin to learn how to distinguish between right and wrong.

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That from that, during that time period, these two kings who have invaded

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Judah, they will be long gone and their lands completely deserted.

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That will be a sign for Ahaz, that God was telling the truth.

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But here's the thing. The emergency is still on.

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Things are really bad in Judah. That doesn't get rid of these two kings and their armies who have invaded

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Judah. But because Ahaz won't call out to God in faith, God's going to make good his promise.

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His promise was that he would not be overthrown as king. But that doesn't mean that God's going to let him off the hook.

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In fact, Ahaz's faithlessness and refusal to speak with, to bargain with, to pray to, to communicate and trust in Yahweh leads to a disaster whose numbers are like mind -boggling.

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Let me explain what happened. So it says this in 2 Chronicles 28, So this military operation resulted in a win for Syria.

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Now Ahaz wasn't deposed. The son of Tabiel was not put in place, but a huge number of people, inhabitants of Judah, were taken captive and drug off to Damascus.

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He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel who struck him with a great force.

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For Pekah, the son of Ramaliah, killed 120 ,000 from Judah in one day.

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In one day, the casualties, not wounded, but killed, was 120 ,000.

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I don't even think there's 120 ,000 people in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

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With numbers like that, that would wipe out the city that I live in. Every single one of them, right?

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And so 120 ,000 fell in one day, all of them men of valor because they had forsaken

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Yahweh, the God of their fathers. You see, the reason why they were defeated is because they had forsaken

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Yahweh. Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maasaiah, the king's son, and Azracham, the commander of the palace, and Elkanah, the next in authority to the king.

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Ahaz lost his son in this military endeavor.

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And the men of Israel took captive, listen to this, 200 ,000 of their relatives.

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Women, sons, daughters. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria.

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But a prophet, so here's what's happened here. This military campaign was a big success for Israel, the northern kingdom, and Syria.

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Big win. Major casualties, huge numbers of people were taken into captivity.

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Some went off into Damascus. 200 ,000 of the tribe of Judah were being marched all the way up to Samaria.

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And here's what happened. God intervenes at this point, but a prophet of Yahweh was there whose name was

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Oded. And he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and he said to them, behold, because Yahweh, the

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God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand. But you have killed them in a rage that has reached up to heaven.

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So now we have a definitive theological word from God. You want to know why you lost this battle?

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It's because Yahweh was angry with you because of your faithlessness, because of you departing from him and worshiping these false gods.

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So not only is Ahaz defeated, and we're talking a huge number of people have their lives completely destroyed, either by death or by being taken captive.

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But then a prophet stands up and says the reason why this has happened is because God is angry at you for being faithless and departing from God.

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So now they know the reason for it. So behold, because Yahweh, the

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God of your fathers, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you've killed them in a rage. And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves.

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Have you not sins of your own against Yahweh, your God? Now hear me, send back the captives from your relatives, whom you have taken for the fierce wrath of Yahweh is upon you.

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So certain chiefs of the men of Ephraim, Azariah, the son of Johanan, Barachiah, the son of Meshulamoth, Jehezekiah, the son of Shalom, Amasa, the son of Hadley, stood up against those who were coming from the war and said to them, you shall not bring the captives in here, for you propose to bring upon us guilt against Yahweh, in addition to our present sins and guilt, for our guilt is already great, and there's a fierce wrath against Israel.

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So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the assembly, and the men who had mentioned by name rose and took the captives with the spoil, clothed all who were naked among them.

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They clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, anointed them, carrying all the feeble among them on the donkeys, and they brought them to the kinsfolk of Jericho, the city of palm trees, and then they returned to Samaria.

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So 200 ,000 people taken captive, told that the reason why they lost is because they had upset

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God by their faithlessness and idolatry. They then were allowed to return home, knowing full well why that disaster had fallen them, and who does it all fall on?

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Ahaz, the son of David. If you're not strong in faith, if you're not firm in faith, you're not going to be strong at all.

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But our story can't end there, because, you see, that prophecy had a part to it that, well, goes on into the future, unfulfilled.

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It sits dormant for centuries. But all of a sudden, in the first century, that prophecy comes to life and is fulfilled, suddenly, out of nowhere.

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And this is where our gospel text comes into play. And note here, Joseph, the legal but not biological father of Jesus Christ, is the rightful heir of the throne of David.

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He is next in line for the king to be king. And where is he?

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He's not in Bethlehem. He's not in Jerusalem. He's in Nazareth, a town with maybe 50 families at this time.

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And he's not wearing a crown or holding a scepter. He's slinging a hammer and, well, working with his hands with a saw.

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He's pretty much a day labor carpenter. Think of him as a construction guy.

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Oh, how the throne of David, the house of David, has come to its complete opposite of its pinnacle.

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If David was its high watermark, Joseph is about as low as they get.

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There is no glory. There's nothing. The man is, he doesn't even make a lot of money. How do

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I know this? Because when it comes time for, after the birth of Jesus, for certain sacrifices to be offered according to the commands of the

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Mosaic covenant, they couldn't even afford the proper sacrifice. They had to go with the poverty sacrifice.

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This guy is poor. This guy's hardworking. This guy has gotten not a lot going for him, at least by the world standards.

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But somewhere along the way, he fell in love with a girl named Mariam, Mary. And they have exchanged vows and they're betrothed to each other.

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They haven't come together yet. He's doing the work necessary in order to build a home for them.

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And all of a sudden, off she heads off to the hill country of Judea to be with her cousin

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Elizabeth, who is getting ready to bear a child in her old age. And Mary heads out there when

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Elizabeth is six months pregnant, spends three months with cousin Elizabeth, and Elizabeth gives birth to a son.

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And all of this was miraculous. Miraculous. And the son's name is now

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John, the name that the angel Gabriel had given him, and his father Zechariah.

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His voice came back upon the naming of the child. And everybody's buzzing about this. But now that Elizabeth is settled, the baby has been born, it's time for Mary to head back to Nazareth.

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And guess what? Mary's showing.

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She's pregnant. But Joseph hasn't been with her. And so now we're going to see whether or not this son of David is going to be faithless like Ahaz, or if he's going to trust the word of God.

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Because you'll note in this particular scenario, for somebody who is engaged to a young lady, this is about as bad as it gets.

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This is devastating. Will he trust God? Well, he doesn't trust

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Mary at first. So the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother

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Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found to be a child from the Holy Spirit. That means she said how this came about.

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Yeah, I know I'm pregnant. An angel appeared to me. He was awesome and mighty.

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And the angel appeared to me and told me that I was going to conceive, even though I was still a virgin, and that the

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Holy Spirit would overshadow me, and she was telling the truth. Her husband, and you're going to note,

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Israeli weddings back at the time, you would be betrothed, so you would be legally the wife and husband, but the marriage wasn't consummated yet.

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That takes place later. So her husband Joseph, being a just man, which means he knows the law. He knows what's just.

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Being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, he resolved to divorce her quietly.

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It doesn't talk about what he went through, but man, I can tell you this. When you are in love with somebody and you find out that they have completely, they've cheated on you, and that's the only conclusion that he can come to, that Mary has a lover and it's not him, and that they've come together, and as a result of their union, they've produced a child, and he is not willing to put her to shame.

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So he's seeking a divorce, and let it be done on the DL so that she can be with the fellow who got her pregnant.

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That's what he resolved to do. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the

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Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David. Those are charged words, man.

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Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife for that which is conceived in her is from the

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Holy Spirit. Mary was telling you the truth. She will bear a son.

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You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

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Now, the Hebrew, he would have heard the name in Hebrew because Jesus' legal name is going to be in Hebrew.

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It's Yeshua. It's where we get the name Joshua from, Yeshua. It means Yahweh saves.

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Because that's Jesus' name, for he will save his people from their sins.

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And that's what Jesus does. He has come to save you, to save me, to humble himself and become obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross, in order to reconcile us to God.

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Because disaster is looming for each and every one of us. The disaster that we all face is the disaster of facing

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God's wrath because of our own sin and rebellion, our own apostasies and participation in the sins of Satan and the devil and the demons themselves.

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Disaster has been decreed for all of humanity. God himself will come and invade earth.

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Christ himself will come and swing a sword. And God himself will act in wrath for anyone who does not believe, who has persisted in sin and unbelief, has been faithless.

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We all need a savior. He will call his name

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Yeshua for he will save his people from their sins. And you are his people, you who trust in Christ, you who are baptized into his death, into his resurrection, who've had your sins washed away, who've been united with him in his death, in his resurrection.

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You are his people. You are adopted into the family of God. He has saved you.

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And all of this took place to fulfill what the prophet had spoken. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and call his name

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Immanuel. But that prophet was originally spoken to a son of David who was faithless, who was the opposite of faithful, who was an idolater.

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But this humble son of David, Joseph, now the question before him, like the question that was before Ahaz, are you going to believe this sign?

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The sign originally given to Ahaz, the son of David, now comes to fulfillment with Joseph, the son of David.

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Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Immanuel. Will you believe it or not?

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God is with you, Joseph. Do you trust him? When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of Yahweh commanded him.

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He took his wife but knew her not until she had given birth. And the proof that he believed this word is that he is the one who chose the name for Jesus and he called him

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Yeshua, Jesus, just as he was told to do. So brothers and sisters, this last

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Sunday of Advent, as we consider the circumstances under which our

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Savior was conceived and born, note then that the prophecy of Immanuel comes to a faithless son of David and is fulfilled with one who is faithful.

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They stand in juxtaposition to each other. So we've looked at two different sons of David but no, neither of them are really what the story is about.

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The story is about that third son of David, Jesus. The one who will reign on the throne of David forever.

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He comes to us today in his word, promising us the forgiveness of all of our sins, promising us deliverance from our enemies.

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And he has given us a sure and certain sign that he means our salvation and deliverance and the sign is this, that Christ rose bodily from the grave on the third day after he was crucified.

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In that particular sign, Christ was as deep as Sheol.

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And you'll note he's now ascended as high as heaven. We have a sign as deep as Sheol and a sign as high as heaven.

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The burial, the death, the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus Christ. That is the sign to you that God is now with you.

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Repent of your wickedness. Repent of your lackadaisical way of handling

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God's word and your inattentiveness to God in your prayers. Turn and trust in him.

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Call upon him in your day of trouble so that times of refreshing may come because God is merciful and kind, rich in mercy and forgiveness.

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And he doesn't want you to experience disaster. He has promised you eternal life in him.

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We have a sign as deep as Sheol and as high as heaven. And that's the sign of Christ, the one who was sent to save us.

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So let us repent and let us trust and let us not be faithless.

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Let us repent of our faithlessness and faithfully trust in the one who is delivering us.

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In the name of Jesus, amen. If you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, you can do so by sending a tax -free donation to And again that address is

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We thank you for your support. All of our teaching messages may be freely distributed as long as you do not edit or change the content of the message.