Monday Reading: Isaiah 7:10-16
Key Verse: Isaiah 7:14
14 So, the Lord Himself shall give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel.
Devotion:
Ahaz was a king who was not intent in keeping Israel walking with God; instead he commanded that idols be made to be worshipped. Isaiah had word from God and confronted him on more than one occasion, this being one of them. The simple words from Isaiah would be that Ahaz would have nothing to fear from the nations surrounding him if he would trust God again, but even though Ahaz openly said that he would not tempt God, he instead was doing exactly that behind the scenes. Nothing can be hid from God.
This was happening almost 750 years before Christ was born and yet the word was quite explicit from God. Jesus (Immanuel) would be born of a virgin and would be King of the Jews (...before both kings). God was telling Ahaz that another king (as well as the king of the land) would be born but both kings would not like the land. Herod certainly did not like Israel because of how he treated it. Jesus would flee from the land because He would be sought after even before He could understand what was happening. In other words, Jesus was born as a human child and that child would have to be brought up just like any other child – but that child would be like no other child!
Ahaz was a pretender. He was pretending to support God in front of Isaiah and yet behind the scenes was readying himself to worship idols. He did not have faith in God. He did not fear God. Isaiah must have thought that he was alone in standing up and giving Ahaz certain warnings of what was to come (certain as in they certainly would come to pass). That is how we may feel sometimes when we stand up and proclaim Christ as our Saviour when all around us people are instead using His name in vain. But just like Isaiah, we have to remain true and faithful to God and He will then support and protect us just as He was willing to support and protect the king Ahaz who was rebelling against Him. Christ wants to support us. He has proven that to us. We just need to have faith in Him...
Points to Ponder:
How are you rewarded when you trust others?
Are you wholly trusting God?
