“God Fills the Word!”
Isaiah 7:11-16; 9:2, 6-7 December 14, 2003
(Following the hymn, change slide and track 8 will play automatically)
This verse declares the good news that God has come in the flesh. The doctrine of the Virgin Birth has been a central tenant in the Christian Church from the beginning. The truth that Mary, through the action of the Holy Spirit, conceived Jesus as a virgin reminds us that nothing is impossible with God, and that in Jesus, God came to live with us.
This verse, however, comes not from the gospels originally, but from the prophet Isaiah approximately 740 years before Jesus was born. Who was Isaiah speaking to? What was the original message, and what is the message of Isaiah for us today?
The text we will be reading, comes from a very difficult time in the history of the people of God. (Change slide to first time-line) If we look at the time line we have been using, we can get some idea of the history.
550 years transpired from the time of David to the time of Malachi. To put that in perspective, it has been less that 550 years since Columbus sailed from Spain to the West Indies. The texts from Haggai and Malachi are from the end of this period, however, the text from Isaiah 7 and 9 that we will be looking at today is from a time shortly before the fall of the Northern Kingdom. The king of the Southern Kingdom, Ahaz is a wicked king. He instituted the worship of false gods in Judah, temple prostitutes were brought into Jerusalem, he made alliances with pagan empires and he even passed his son through the fire, probably as a sacrifice.
Now, hear the word of the Lord: (change slide)
[11] "Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights."
[12] But Ahaz said, "I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test."
[13] Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? [14] Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. [15] He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. [16] But 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.
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.
[6] For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
[7] Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.
CCI: God fills the scriptures with inspiration as he moves through the words to touch our hearts.
Karen Bechtel tells of reading this passage one Christmas Eve. As she finished she declared, “This is the word of the Lord!” And the people responded, “thanks be to God!”
Ann was one of many voices to speak those words, with enthusiasm she remembered reading these verses in her senior High Sunday School class just last week. It was incredible to her that these words were written 700 years before the birth of Christ! How had Isaiah known? It was a miracle, and it made even more certain that this is indeed the Word of the Lord!
Jim joined in the affirmation. But his mind raced back to all he had learned about Israel’s history in his Old Testament class. It was odd hearing this passage read on Christmas Eve, he had come to understand that this verse was spoken to King Ahaz and it may have referred to Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz. Could it refer to both?
Marie could hardly voice the affirmation because tears of joy will filling her eyes. That night they had been late as they tried to get everything packed up to bring their newborn to Christmas eve service. They had longed and waited for this baby for years and they were not going to miss worshiping on Christmas Eve. Because they were late, they ended up sitting in the front and as the scripture was read, she could see the light of the Christ candle in the Advent wreath reflecting in her baby boy’s eyes. When she heard the words, “for to us a child is born,. . .” She started to cry with gratitude, “Thanks be to God!” she declared and never had she meant is so sincerely.
Three people, three reactions to the scripture. Which one is right? When the words were first spoken, Isaiah was speaking to Ahaz, the king in Jerusalem. The nation was in a very difficult situation. (Change slide to map). The Northern Kingdom, also known as Ephraim, or Samaria, had allied itself with the nation of Aram, also known as Damascus. These two kings wanted Judah to join them in an alliance with the new world power Assyria. Ahaz had refused and so Samaria and Damascus were now besieging Jerusalem. The people were starving, their resources were gone, their water supply was being cut off. In verse 2 of chapter 7 we read, “the hearts of Ahaz and the people were shaken, as trees of the forest are shaken before the wind.” They were terrified! That is when Isaiah came to Ahaz and said, “Ask God to give you a sign that he will save you.” Ahaz, in his arrogant false humility refused, so Isaiah said, “God will give you a sign himself, a woman who is a virgin now will conceive and have a child who will be a sign that God is with us. By the time this child is old enough to tell right from wrong, the kings you are so worried about will be no more.”
God inspired the word of the prophet, and in less than 12 years, both Damascus and Samaria had been destroyed. Centuries late, as Matthew, the disciple was reflecting on his life with Jesus and the stories of Jesus’ birth, he remembered this prophecy of Isaiah and suddenly saw a new connection! Though Isaiah did not see it, Matthew saw that God gave a sign in the virgin who conceived and bore a son who was in the truest sense, God With Us. Once again, God moved through the words of the prophet and inspired that word.
And today, that inspiration continues. As Marie looked at her son, she heard the word of the Lord and in her son, she was reminded of the One, Jesus Christ, who is God with Us. Her hopes had been filled, her Lord had satisfied her longings. “To us a child is born, to us a son is given.” God inspires and fills his word and God uses it to draw us to himself.
Listen again to Is. 9:2. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”
Walking in darkness. Have you ever spent an extended time in the dark? Charles Colson tells of a visit he had with President Borja of Ecuador to discuss Prison Fellowship International's ministry in Ecuadorian penitentiaries. The president opened the conversation by sharing his own story. He had been involved in the struggle for democracy in Ecuador. The military cracked down, and he was arrested. Without trial, they threw him into a cold dungeon with no light and no window. For three days he endured the solitary fear and darkness that can drive a person mad.
Just when the situation seemed unbearable, the huge steel door opened, and someone crept into the darkness. Borja heard the person working on something in the opposite corner. Then the figure crept out, closed the door, and disappeared.
Minutes later the room suddenly blazed with light. Someone, perhaps taking his life into his hands, had connected electricity to the broken light fixture. "From that moment," explained President Borja, "my imprisonment had meaning because at least I could see."
The people who wandered in darkness have seen a great light. The light offers hope, the light offers courage and the light offers meaning. Without Christ, our lives are spent in darkness. The people of Isaiah’s day were wandering in darkness. Their king was wicked, their leaders were confused , their priests had been coopted and their enemies had them surrounded. And the message of Isaiah was, light is coming! Hope is coming, meaning is coming, courage is coming. There is a new king rising.
700 years later, the people once again were wandering in darkness. Rome ruled with a tight hand, the priesthood was corrupted, the religious leaders had the people in a straight jacket of laws. And when Jesus came, the skies around Bethlehem blazed with the light of glory and the angels announced Jesus’ birth. The light had come! Hope had arrived! Meaning is given and courage is restored. Jesus has been born!
Today, when we find ourselves in dark places, Jesus offers light! The light is the truth that all has changed with Jesus. The light is the hope we have in His life and salvation. The light is the meaning and purpose Jesus gives our lives. The Light is the strength he gives when we are weary. That is why we can know Jesus as the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace.
Gordon MacDonald tells of a day that a Nigerian woman who is a physician at a great teaching hospital in the United States came out of the crowd today to say something kind about the lecture I had just given. She introduced herself using an American name. "What's your African name?" I asked. She immediately gave it to me, several syllables long with a musical sound to it. "What does the name mean?" I wondered.
She answered, "It means 'Child who takes the anger away.'" When I inquired as to why she would have been given this name, she said, "My parents had been forbidden by their parents to marry. But they loved each other so much that they defied the family opinions and married anyway. For several years they were ostracized from both their families. Then my mother became pregnant with me. And when the grandparents held me in their arms for the first time, the walls of hostility came down. I became the one who swept the anger away. And that's the name my mother and father gave me."
That is what the birth of Jesus has done as well. He is the child who brings light and the child who makes anger go away. In Jesus we can know the peace of God what passes all understanding, and we can have the light of God fill our hearts. As we close, prayerfully listen to the words of hope in Handel’s chorus, “For Unto Us a Child is Born.” Have you found in this child the Wonderful counselor? Have you experienced the power of the Mighty God? Is He your everlasting Father? Has the Prince of Peace brought peace to your heart?
