THE BOOK OF ISAIAH // CHAPTER 7: A firm base

Chapter 7

-       Verses 1-2: Somewhere between 736-734 B.C, Israel and Syria have set out to make war against Judah, and the king of Judah, Ahaz, is freaking out.

-       Verse 3-9: God sends Isaiah out to meet Ahaz and deliver a message to him, telling him to stop worrying, and that he doesn’t need to fear, for regardless of what mere men say, the Lord says that he is safe, the invasion will not happen.

o   Verse 9: The last part of Isaiah’s message is the most important: “Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.”

§  God can’t/won’t physically make us do things. He can assure us that something is happen, and then depending on our level of faith in him we will react.

-       Verse 10: A second message goes out to Ahaz from God, this one challenging Ahaz to ask God to prove what He said is true so that Ahaz will believe. But he responds that he can’t test God like that. Ahaz puts his trust in his own armies and neglects God.

-       Verse 13: Isaiah gets frustrated with Ahaz’s disbelief.

-       Verse 14: Isaiah says there will be a sign anyways, and here is a prophecy about the coming Messiah:

o   Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and we will call him Immanuel.

-       Verse 17: Because of Ahaz’s choice, God is going to destroy Judah.

God is all powerful, ever present, ever in control, He's sovereign, He's running the show, He is the First and the Last, and Creator of all things, God does a lot.  But one thing God does not do, is He does not physically force us to do something. He says it right here in Isaiah, "Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm." We have to choose, we have that decision to make for ourselves. Are you going to stand firm and say "Yes" to Jesus, or are you going to waiver, as Ahaz does in this passage? I want to stand firm.

Later in this passage is a Messianic Prophecy concerning the coming birth of Jesus. In this prophecy Isaiah makes the claim that He will be called Immanuel, which means "God with us." That is one of my favorite names for Jesus, because that is literally what He was. He was God with us here on Earth.  One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite Christian bands talks about Immanuel and the meaning of that name, so I thought it would be a cool time to share it here. It's not their official video but its the best one I could find of the song.