LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, December 7, 2023

Isaiah 7:14 “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.”

In 738 B.C., Ahaz became the king of Israel. His enemies were numerous, and fear of being overthrown captivated him. He was a king imprisoned in his own kingdom because he would not listen to God’s voice and trust God’s promises. God sent the prophet Isaiah to him to assure him that the enemies who were plotting his demise would not be successful. We learn from later historical records that these enemies twice tried to overthrow Jerusalem and were unsuccessful both times. But for now Ahaz would not believe God’s words. So, God offered to give him a sign that would prove His words were true. Ahaz, in a moment of apparent humility, refused the sign, saying, “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.” Yet Ahaz was already negotiating with Assyria to be Jerusalem’s ally and defender in the event of an invasion, and he was already stripping the temple of gold to pay for the alliance. Ahaz was refusing to trust God until his own resources were exhausted.

There’s a quick and powerful lesson for us already, and we haven’t even gotten to the best part yet. Like Ahaz, we tend to trust our own abilities and resources before we trust in God. I wonder how many roads we have travelled thinking we were on the right path when they were only detours from the main road of God’s will. We chose those roads because they seemed correct and convenient within the context of our own conscience, but they did not conform to God’s communication with us. We ignored His signs and proceeded down the path of our own experience. We looked only at the immediate, at the expense of God’s future. In our pride, we depended on our own knowledge, abilities, and resources when we could have had God’s. What a mess we have made of life by not listening to God!

When he refused the sign God offered, God said He would choose one for him. Now think about this for a minute. What sign would you want to see? You could ask for anything in the “deepest depths or the highest heights.” (verse 11) Would you ask for a mountain to rise out of the middle of the ocean with a mansion already built on top? Maybe you would ask for the stars in the sky to be permanently arranged to spell your name for everyone to see every night. What sign would you seek that would prove to you that God is both real and trustworthy?

God chose this sign – a virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a baby boy who will be God himself. God could have chosen to reveal His power over creation, but instead He chose to reveal Himself to His creation. Instead of showing us what He can do, He showed us who He is. Instead of enhancing the mystery of who He is, He solved the mystery by coming as one of us so we could know Him. Rather than risk the rise of fear by demonstrating some miraculous power over nature and further separating Himself from us, He eliminated fear by revealing to us His nature of love and drawing us to Himself. God’s sign for all the world to see is Jesus, God in the flesh, saving man from his sin.

Ahaz would never get to see that sign because He refused to trust God’s Word. Millions have not seen the sign today either because they are looking for the wrong kinds of signs. Or maybe they aren’t looking for a sign at all because they believe they are still capable of managing their own outcomes. They are not listening for God’s voice, and even if they hear it they refuse to trust what He says.

Immanuel – “God is with us” – is God’s sign to the world. We who have heard His word and have seen His sign, become the sign to others who do not yet believe. God is with us. Let His sign be seen clearly.

Pastor John