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| 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. |
| —Isaiah 7:14 |
Have you ever found yourself in the midst of some adventure when suddenly you did not know what to do next? Then, as if your brain went into overdrive, you suddenly knew exactly what you should do. It was as if you received some sign that led you in the right direction.
That is the kind of experience that the Prophet Isaiah narrates in the verse found at the beginning of this blog post. God has sent the Prophet to speak to King Ahaz. Ahaz is the grandson of King Uzziah. One of the interesting aspects of the life of the Prophet Isaiah derives from the fact that he lived a much longer life than people of his day tended to live. So, Isaiah had the privilege of representing the word of God to several generations of the Kings of Judah.
(Just a reminder that in this part of the history of the Jewish people, the twelve tribes have become divided. Ten tribes occupy the land to the north and two tribes—Judah and Benjamin, along with most of the tribe of Levi—occupy the land to the south. Thus, we refer to these two political divisions as the Northern Tribes, or the Nothern Kingdom of Israel, and the Southern Tribes, or the Southern Kingdom of Judah.)
God sends Isaiah to speak to King Ahaz. The prophecy that Isaiah shares with the king contains the verse at the beginning of this blog post. From our place in history, we know that these words of God, spoken by the lips of Isaiah, refer to the coming of God’s precious and only Son, Jesus. But, to Ahaz’ ears, they sound like an encouraging event that might very well take place shortly.
The Kings of Judah were always looking for some help from God. The Northern Kingdom of Israel was a constant threat to the security of Judah. Those ten northern tribes, along with the hostile nations that surrounded this portion of the world, always gave the King of Judah reason to fear that his nation would become overrun and conquered. In fact, what would happen, as time moved on, was that the Northern Kingdom of Israel would be carried off into captivity in 722 BC and the Southern Kingdom of Judah would be carried off into captivity in 586 BC.
Hearing that God would provide a sign must have made King Ahaz breathe at least a partial sigh of relief. And, for us today, knowing that God had provided good news about the birth of His Son, more than six centuries before Christ was actually born, should give us comfort, as well. God loves us with His unfailing love. He sent His Son, Jesus, to die in our place to save us from the penalty brought on us by our sins.
During this Season of Advent, let us rejoice, as we celebrate God’s great gift to us through His Son. And, let’s be willing, even eager, to share with others what God has done for us because of His great love for us.
