Do not trust in what you hear or see

Isaiah 7:10-25

What defines men is often established early in their lives, if they choose to be a leader early in life, or if they choose to be all about self and running after foolish dreams they will be true to those goals through out life.   Ahaz reigned in Judah for sixteen years, and began his kingship at twenty years of age, but the sad news is he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord in fact he modeled the kings of Israel.

Often, I want to wash my hands of people like Ahaz, until the LORD reminds me that I was arrogant, self centered, prideful, a man full of the world’s wisdom, and God never gave up on me.  My wife of 48 years often reminds me, redemption is always available while one has breath in their earth suit.   And yet my flesh wants to say but look at Ahaz, he burns his own son on the altar to a false god, how could God love such a one?   And the answer is profound, He does!  That does not fit in a religious mind and that is why God has given you the mind of Christ.  Our religious flesh will always condemn, for the log in our eye is too great to see the speck in a brother’s eye.

So we have God speaking to Ahaz; “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” (Isaiah 7:10)  But shall we look at what the LORD is saying to Ahaz in verse 9; keep the faith, do not trust in what you hear or see, but believe what I am saying to you through my prophet Isaiah.  And how did Ahaz reply to the LORD, “I will not ask.  I will not test the LORD.”  Ahaz was given the same choice you and I have been given, look to God for your salvation, not to man or in Ahaz’ case it was Assyria.  Isaiah reminds the king it is not wise to try the patience of God, and the Church needs to listen to this message.

You can read all the commentators comments or you can just faith it with verse 14, why

 God chose to reveal this great truth to a king full of self, who refused to trust in God, 

and put his trust in man, I do not grasp.  But verse 14, states; “Therefore the Lord 

himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall 

call his name Immanuel.”  God coming to live with us, is the meaning of Immanuel, 

God putting on flesh, God identifying with fallen man, God who is pure, being placed 

inside of the womb of a virgin, His name is Jesus Christ.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice