Isaiah 7:10-17 – Yield wholeheartedly to God

King Ahaz was the grandson of King Uzziah. Unlike the Prophet Isaiah, who served both his grandfather Uzziah and his father Jotham before him, he would not trust God. We saw how he would rather lean on his own resourcefulness than God when threatened. He refused God’s invitation through Isaiah to trust Him when the coalition of Pekah and Rezin threatened to remove him. Sending Isaiah’s son Shear-jashub  along with the prophet, God was giving an added assurance to Ahaz. He was indicating to him that even in the worst-case scenario, a remnant would return. Here is an indication that God would take a step downward to meet men at the point of his needs. But even with taking a step toward him, Ahaz still stoutly refused to trust God. Bear in mind that God would allow a crisis to come upon His people when they would not trust Him as they should. There is always a price to pay for refusal to trust. But let’s be assured that grace is still God’s preferred way of working.

Despite being turned down, God was still gracious. He did not just walk away from the king. In fact, He invited Ahaz to ask for a serious sign to be assured that God would remain his faithful partner. His offer to the king was, “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” This was God’s sincere invitation to Ahaz. Even with the extremely generous offer, Ahaz chose to turn down God’s overture saying, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!” The last part of his response sounded spiritual and pious, right? Alas, it was nothing but a wilful rejection of God’s kind offer. It was the hypocrisy of the highest order. It is not uncommon to see seemingly religious people refusing to commit to God with pious sounding words. This was the case for Ahaz.

Notice how Isaiah put it to the king in verse 11. How more explicitly could he get? He was in effect saying, “Hey Ahaz, this is your God who wants to rescue you. Why won’t you yield to Him?”  Still, the king turned a deaf ear to the prophet’s plea. Here is proof that there is none so deaf who refuses to hear. So instead of addressing Ahaz alone, the Lord now turns to Judah with a message saying, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?” The change from “your God” in verse 11 to “my God” in verse 13 was telling. It was Isaiah’s way of saying, “Ahaz your opportunity is over, and my God is no longer on your side.”  

However God, Himself would still send a sign for Judah. Verse 14 says, “Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” The emphasis is not so much on the status of the mother as the message of the sign that would accompany it. There is a principle in prophetic literature that we need to take note of. There is both a future fulfillment as well as an immediate context in the prophet’s own time. In the Gospel of Matthew, this verse is taken as a prophecy on the coming of Jesus the Messiah. Remember the Angel Gabriel telling virgin Mary that the son she was to bear would be called “Immanuel”, meaning “God with us”. However, the other context of this verse is linked to the birth of Isaiah’s own son Maher-shalal-hashbaz, described in Isaiah 8:1-4. The birth of the son was a sign of the promise of God’s presence with Judah to see to her survival and the destruction of the allied forces of Syria and Israel. In verse 17, Isaiah told the house of David that God would be using the Assyrians to bring about His discipline on Ahaz and of the people of Judah.

What can we learn from this passage? Not trusting God exacts a costly price. There is no disadvantage when we trust God to take us through our battles in life. Everything and everyone is at His disposal to bring about the fulfilment of His plan in His people. When we take Him at His Word and yield to His ways, we will find Him with us in our battles. It makes perfect sense to surrender our all to Him, to His timing, His purpose in our lives, and His glory. God’s miracle awaits us when we yield to His Kingdom agenda!