“Israel”
[Isaiah 8:1-8]
June 24, 2018, Second Reformed Church
King Ahaz got word that Syria and
Israel are going to attack Judah, and he shakes with fear. God offers him a sign to prove God’s word
that they will never conquer Israel, but Ahaz turns his nose up at God and
refuses the sign. But God gives the sign
in spite of Ahaz: the Savior will be
born of a virgin and be called Immanuel, God with us, and Syria and Israel will
be destroyed within two to three years.
God continues to speak in this
morning’s text.
We see, first, God’s Word is for
everyone.
“Then the LORD said to me, ‘Take a large
tablet and write on it in common characters, ‘Belonging to
Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’ And I will get reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest and
Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.”
The word of God’s promised Savior
and the destruction of Syria and Israel and God’s punishment of Ahaz are for
all the people to know. This is not a
private message for Ahaz. The prophesy
of the birth of Jesus – God Incarnate – to the Virgin Mary, is a word of hope
and good news for all the peoples. God’s
use of Assyria against Syria and Israel is a word of hope for Judah. And God’s punishment of Ahaz and Judah by the
Assyrians is a word of the seriousness of Ahaz’s sin in trusting the Assyrians
over God and how it effects the nation.
If the beginning of this text sounds
familiar, it may be because we recently looked at the book of Habakkuk, where
Habakkuk is told by God, “And the LORD answered me: ‘Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who
reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the
end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will
not delay’” (Habakkuk 2:2-3, ESV).
Here, God tells Isaiah to take a
large tablet and to write the prophecy in large and common characters so anyone
passing by would be able to read the prophecy and know what God has promised
and will do.
The tablet – and the words on it –
belong to Maher-shalal-hash-baz. His
name is a summary of the prophecy – as his name means, “the spoil speeds, the
prey hastens.” The name is made up of
two synonyms meaning that Israel and Syria would be soon destroyed, soon slaughtered.
And Isaiah gets Uriah and Zechariah
to swear that the words on the tablet are the Word of God given by the prophet.
All of Judah is terrified by the
threats of war with Syria and Israel, and all of Judah needs to hear God’s word
in response to their fear and the sin of the King.
I suspect we would all agree that
everyone needs to know the bad news of the wages of sin and the Good News of salvation
through Jesus Alone. One of the ways we
glorify God and increase our joy is to tell others that there is One Way to be
saved from the Wrath of God – there is One Way to be made right with God
through Jesus Alone.
And we hear Jean’s testimony that he
painted scriptures on his house and got in trouble with the town for it, but
his heart is in the right place, isn’t it?
Shouldn’t we all desire to find a way to put up a big tablet telling
people that they don’t have to suffer eternally, if they will receive the work
that Jesus did to save His people?
Last Sunday, did you mention to
anyone that the prophecy that the Savior would be born of a virgin is given in
response to the sin of the wicked King Ahaz?
God’s Word is for everyone, and He
chose to have us spread it – we are the great tablet of God to bear His Word to
the world.
Second, God confirms His Word with
signs.
“And I went to the prophetess, and she
conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me, ‘Call his name
Maher-shalal-hash-baz; for before the boy knows how to cry “My father” or “My
mother,” the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away
before the king of Assyria.’”
God told Ahaz that by the time Immanuel knows
good from evil and eats table food, Syria and Israel would be destroyed. And we understand that to be a prophecy about
the amount of time that would pass – about two to three years – before God
would send the Assyrians to wipe out Syria and Israel.
Here, God confirms the sign with a child
who would be born and grow up in the kingdom of Judah: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
Isaiah goes to see the prophetess and she
conceives and bears a son. It is thought
that the prophetess is Isaiah’s wife. It
is this son of Isaiah that God tells Isaiah to name, Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
And God again gives the sign, now with Maher-shalal-hash-baz,
by the time this boy is able to cry out ”my father” and “my mother” the wealth
of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away by the
Assyrians. By the time
Maher-shalal-hash-baz calls out “my father” and “my mother,” Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
By the time this little boy is between two
and three what this little boy’s name means will happen.
If God tells us something once, we ought
to believe and obey. And if God tells us
something more than once, we ought to believe and obey.
As we looked at the Gospel of John, we
hear Jesus say, “If you love Me, keep My commandments. If you love Me, keep My commandments. If you love Me, keep My commandments.” Do you have any idea what Jesus was getting
at?
Jesus said, “I will return with the
Kingdom. I will return with the
Kingdom. I will return with the
Kingdom.” Do You believe Him? Are you waiting for His return? Do you believe that sin and death and Hell
have been defeated and as soon as this much time passes and certain things occur,
Jesus will return and remove them from our experience forever?
Third, God will damn the people in the
Church who are not satisfied with Him.
“The LORD spoke to me again: ‘Because
this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice
over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up
against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and
all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its
banks, and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching
even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O
Immanuel.’”
God tells Isaiah that the people of
Judah are not satisfied with Him – with His provision – they distain the things
of God.
Shiloah is a small river that flows
through Jerusalem. It is small; it is
not much. It is a gentle and modest
river. And the people didn’t think much
of it. Even though it is the only source
of water if Jerusalem is attacked and water is cut off from the outside – it is
a bit of a joke. They should have been
thankful to God that He provides water for them in the city.
On the other hand, to hear that
Rezin and the son of Remaliah are going to be slaughtered. Oh, if they could only know where it was
going to happen so they could see them fall – so they could see them be cut in
two – that would be amazing. Kill Syria
and Israel! Yeah!
They may have even lusted over the
wealth that they could pillage from Israel once they were no longer a power and
a threat to them.
I remember an article that came out
after Saddam Hussein was executed. And
the article asked if Christians should rejoice at his execution. The conclusion was that we should never
rejoice at someone being put to death – we should mourn that this man seems to
have gone to death not having received Jesus as the Savior. Yet, we should be thankful to God that his
evil had come to an end.
Judah should have rejoiced that God
was going to fight for her and deliver her from the threats of Israel and
Syria, but they should not have been rejoicing to see Rezin and the son of
Remaliah die.
Since Judah rejoiced in evil and
weren’t satisfied with God’s provision, God said He would send the River – that
is, the Euphrates River – that is, Assyria – with mighty soldiers, many
soldiers, led by the King of Assyria.
And the River will rise over the channels and over the banks and flood
Judah up to her neck, the waters will flood all of Immanuel’s land, like the
outstretched wings of a giant bird.
God would allow Assyria to oppress
and kill all the way up – but God would not allow them to slaughter everyone –
remember Isaiah’s first son, “a remnant shall return.” God’s Wrath would come against Judah by the
Assyrians, but a remnant would be saved.
We may remember how unsatisfied
Israel was as God led her through the wilderness. One time, we read: “And say to the people, ‘Consecrate
yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the
hearing of the LORD, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better
for us in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat. You
shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty
days, but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes
loathsome to you, because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have
wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’” (Number 11:18-20, ESV).
Are you satisfied with God’s
provision each day?
On more than one occasion, I have
been asked how many people we have, and I say, “About thirty.” And the person who asks me always looks so
sad. “Oh, I’m sorry. Have you tried Bingo? Have you thought about asking the elementary
school kids to run the service once in awhile – get their parents in? Have you thought about preaching on the five
biblical methods to look like Cher?”
My call is to preach the Word of
God, and if I am striving to do that with the help of God the Holy Spirit, and
you are receiving the Word of God and responding to it with the help of God the
Holy Spirit, I am satisfied – you ought to be satisfied.
Paul writes, “Not that I am speaking of
being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I
know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every
circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance
and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians
4:11-13, ESV).
Paul says he has been all along the
spectrum as far as what he has, and he can live content in each of those
circumstances, because the secret of satisfaction in this life is being
satisfied with Christ.
“Stupid, little Shiloah river. Aw, I wanted to see Rezin and the son of
Remaliah get slaughtered. Do you think
anyone videotaped it so I can watch it on repeat? I hope they leave a lot of money and stuff
that we can go pillage after the Assyrians leave.”
“Fine, if you want the River Euphrates
rather than Shiloah, I will sent it and it will flood you and drown you up to
the neck, so only a few are left.”
Israel and Judah were the people of
God. God chose the whole nation to be
His people. But not everyone in the
nation believed. Not everyone in the
nation trusted in God or were satisfied with Him.
The Church is the Israel of God, and Jesus
says these words that should terrify us:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord,
Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my
Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we
not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty
works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart
from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:21-23, ESV).
There are people in the Church who believe
they are Christians, but they are not.
There are kind, wonderful, caring, giving people in the Church who do
great things and are held in high esteem, but they are not Christians. If you are a Christian, you believe that God
came to earth in the person of Jesus, lived a holy live that He credits to
everyone who believes, died, paying the debt to God for all of the sins every
believer will ever commit, and He physically rose from the dead and ascended
back to His throne at the right hand of the Father. And because you believe that, and you are
indwelled by God the Holy Spirit, you keep Jesus’ commands.
Only Jesus can see our hearts and know if
we truly believe in Him, or is we are like King Ahaz, or the people of Judah
who mocked the River Shiloah and wanted to see slaughter and steal the wealth
of Israel. But when I talk to other
ministers and hear them speak – when I go to our Classis meetings – I hear some
of these people and I am afraid, I am
afraid they don’t believe in Jesus savingly.
I am afraid that if nothing changes, they will stand before Jesus in
their clerical robes, and He will say He never knew them.
Are you sure of what you believe about
Jesus? Are you a Christian?
Don’t let yourself be surprised as the
waters rise and Jesus takes the throne.
But there is good news, isn’t there? Always tucked in Isaiah’s words, there is
good news: “O Immanuel.” The wings of the giant bird will fill your
land, O Immanuel.
Syria will be slaughtered. Israel will be slaughtered. Judah will be slaughtered.
But, the land belongs to Immanuel. A remnant shall return. The Savior will be born to a virgin. He will be God with us. And He will save His people from their sins.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for being the
God Who keeps His promises. We thank You
that we can trust You and come to You and find our satisfaction – our
contentment – in our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. We thank You for the history of Israel and
Judah and all that You teach us through it.
We ask that You would send the Holy Spirit in all His fullness to us
that we would be large tablets proclaiming Your Word – and especially that
salvation that is in Your Son. Help us
to speak and to tell others Who Jesus is that the Holy Spirit might convict thm
and cause them to believe. Cause us to
be sure of what we believe about Jesus, so we will not be caught up short on
the last day. And help us to look
forward in hope and contentment. For it
is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
