Today’s scripture: Isaiah 7:10-25 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Jeff Miner):
Today’s reading contains a famous prophecy often printed on Christmas cards: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Immanuel” — i.e., “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14). So, whenever we read this passage, our tendency is to automatically jump to its prophetic meaning and focus exclusively on that.
Don’t get me wrong; the prophetic meaning of this passage is profoundly important. But remember, every prophetic passage also had a meaning for the specific time in which it was spoken, sometimes called the “historical meaning.” For today’s meditation, I feel called to explore what God wants us to learn from the historical meaning of our passage.
Here’s the historical context. Civil war had divided Israel into two nations (the northern half was still called Israel, and the southern half became known as Judah). Pekah reigned as king in Israel, and Ahaz as king in Judah. There came a time when Pekah of Israel formed an alliance with Rezin, King of Aram, to try to conquer Judah. When that happened, “The heart of Ahaz [king of Judah] and the heart of his people shook as trees of the forest shake before the wind” (Isaiah 7:2). So God sent the prophet Isaiah to tell King Ahaz to calm down (Isaiah 7:4-9), then offered Ahaz a sign to confirm Isaiah’s words. That’s where our reading picked up today. The sign given was that a young woman — probably someone in Ahaz’s palace at the time — would bear a son whom she would name Immanuel — and, before that child was weaned, Israel and Aram would themselves be conquered. So there was no need for Ahaz to do anything other than wait upon the Lord.
But Ahaz didn’t listen. Instead, in fear, Ahaz cut a deal with another powerful nation, Assyria, paying massive ransom to Assyria to attack Israel and Aram (II Kings 16:1-20). As a result, Judah was weakened, Assyria became more powerful, and eventually Assyria itself turned on Judah and attacked it, as Isaiah predicts in verses 17-25 in today’s reading.
The lesson is obvious: When we fail to listen to God’s voice, but instead insist on doing things our own way, everything gets all messed up!
We make the same mistake in our own lives all the time. Something bad happens, and our hearts begin to “shake like trees of the forest shake in the wind.” We panic, fail to listen to God’s quiet voice, do things our own way, and end up making everything worse.
I know someone right now who is facing a horrible work situation. Her boss has turned on her and is doing everything he can to provoke her, so she’ll overreact, and he will have a reason to fire her. But, in her spirit, she hears God saying, “It’s going to be okay. Be patient. Don’t respond. I’ve got this one.” So that’s what she’s doing. Instead of freaking out, she’s doing her best to be pleasant and faithful at work, even as she patiently seeks another better job, trusting that God has a plan.
Thought for the day: Sometimes God calls us to simply do nothing — to stand down and let God fight for us: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). When that happens, will I have enough faith to listen?
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.