This chapter's imagery encompasses an incredible amount of events. King Ahaz is fearful of being overtaken and Isaiah is instructed by the Lord to go to him and assure him that He alone controls the peoples destiny. God expects nothing less than faith in His love and guidance to assist in the direction of the people.
God goes as far as to give Ahaz the opportunity to ask for a sign that He will conquer all who stand against him but the king stops short of testing God. This isn't good enough and the Lord chooses the sign himself, the birth of His Son, the Savior of the world! This sign is hundreds of years prior to coming to fruition in human time but a blink for God. But even with this glorious
news there will be much tribulation and despair by the people and inevitably they will suffer greatly for many years.
Nothing of value comes without effort. There is a need for delayed gratification with respect to
all things. God's people during Isaiah's time as with much of the human race today, myself included, don't like the way life transpires. It's either not what we wanted or expected or doesn't fit what we deem as an appropiate time schedule. God's not concerned with our time schedule,
He's not wearing a Timex keeping track on when things will fit our liking. We must have faith
and do what we can with our days to better serve what He would have for us to do. At Faith there are incredible opportunities for this and I am grateful I count myself among those involved
there.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I have to agree Mark, God's timetable and ours are not always similar and we have to open ourselves up to His possibilities and new ways to serve Him. One of the great things about worshipping at Faith is that possibilities to serve abound :).
ReplyDeleteThe time frames stood out to me. "As for Ephraim, in sixty-five years it will be rubble, nothing left of it."
ReplyDeleteIsaiah was written between 740-690 BC. Here's the coming sign: "Watch for this: A girl who is presently a virgin will get pregnant. She'll bear a son and name him Immanuel (God-With-Us). By the time the child is twelve years old (702-752 years from now?!?), able to make moral decisions, the threat of war will be over. Relax, those two kings that have you so worried will be out of the picture. But also be warned: God will bring on you and your people and your government a judgment worse than anything since the time the kingdom split, when Ephraim left Judah. The king of Assyria is coming!"
Is that why we see Jesus in the temple at age 12?
The judgment comes first, followed by comfort and hope.
As our church continues to grow, unfortunately the pain comes first.
Love the post, Mark. The line that stood out to me was vs 9 "If you do not stand firm in your faith, you do not stand at all."
ReplyDeleteGood post! but 5:11 a.m.? Sleep well tonite!
ReplyDelete