BROADCASTS.com

Again, the Lord spoke to Ahaz, “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.” Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste” (Isaiah 7:10-16).

Ahaz, king of Judah, has a problem. Two kings, Pekah and Rezin, have formed a military alliance designed to rase his kingdom to the ground, leaving Ahaz and his people shivering like leaves in the wind.

As a solution, Ahaz made alliances with Assyria and Egypt, bribing them with silver and gold looted from God’s temple. Shoving the Lord and his altar aside, he set up an Assyrian altar in the temple courtyard. He even burned his own son on it. He did everything he could to help himself against this treat.

The prophet Isaiah caught up with Ahaz as he was inspecting his war instruments. The word of the Lord was for the king to do nothing; to be still and let God be God. "Be careful, keep calm and don't be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood. They have made their plots against you, but they will not succeed" (7:4).

Rezin and Pekah’s schemes would fail. All that King Ahaz had to do was, nothing, to stand firm in faith, to trust the promise of God, to wait for the Lord who helps those who cannot help themselves. But "if you do not stand firm, you will not stand at all," warned Isaiah.

God even offered Ahaz a sign, to strengthen his faith. Ahaz may name his sign, and the Lord would grant it. But he refused; he would not put the Lord to the test. Though the king sounded pious, it was his pride speaking. If he received a sign, he would need to trust in the Lord and not in his political schemes.

Isaiah gives a sign anyway. The virgin (young woman) will conceive and bear a son and will call him Immanuel, which means "God is with us." Within nine months, Ahaz would know for certain that God was with them. And before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right (about 13 years), the land of the two kings he dreaded would be laid waste. And that is precisely what happened.

God uses Ahaz's faithlessness as an opportunity to give a sign of a yet greater event. The true deliverance of Jerusalem, the City of God, will come when a virgin conceives and bears a son, naming him "Immanuel."

“A virgin will conceive?”, you ask. “That’s impossible!” That is the point. The great sign that redemption is at hand would be something only God could do. Genesis 1 tells us that the "Spirit of God" hovered over the waters. Now the Holy Spirit hovers over the womb of the virgin Mary to launch the work of re-creation (Matthew 1:20).

The angel tells Joseph, Mary’s betrothed, to name her son Jesus, because He will save his people from their sins. In Jesus, God has come to His people personally and permanently not just to save us from a human oppressor, but from the cruel oppression of sin and Satan.

What must we do to get this salvation? Isaiah gives the answer to Ahaz. Nothing. Just wait and receive. Watch what God is up to. The next month will include a great deal of preparation. Enjoy it all. But remember that God has done all the preparation for Christmas. As we trace this preparation through the Old Testament, remember that in the end, all we need to do is receive Jesus. Christmas is first and foremost, God’s gift of redemption to us.