The text this morning is from the prophet Isaiah, the seventh chapter:
Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Ahaz was an evil king. He sought after false gods. He sought out foreign allies instead of relying on God’s promises to protect Israel. He is one of the few men in all of the Scriptures that we know their final end, that he is not welcome into the kingdom of God on the last day.
It should comfort us, in a way, that we have the tales of Ahaz in God’s Word, that God would use such an evil man to accomplish His purposes. If God can use one like Ahaz, what else might He do? What can He do through our politicians, our enemies, even us? And it should comfort us, also, that God has the same message for Ahaz that He has for us, to repent of our sins and to seek His face. When we do, when we heed His invitation, He will forgive our sins and bring us back to Himself.
Our text this morning brings us to when that moment when God sent Isaiah to confront Ahaz with his sins and specifically to trust in the power of God to rule over Israel. But Ahaz is wary of this call. God has said to him that if he is not firm in his faith in God, he will not be firm standing against his enemies. What’s fascinating is that it should be enough that God is speaking to Ahaz, but God Himself offers more proof. He tells Isaiah to let Ahaz pick any sign in the universe that God will fulfill His purposes and God will do it.
Imagine that. Ahaz could have asked for gold to appear in the room. He could have asked for himself to sprout wings. He could have asked for the mountain of Jerusalem to grow even taller. God was going to do this amazing thing. I mean, this was God’s invitation to Ahaz. Ahaz wasn’t making some kind of deal; this was God allowing a miraculous intervention in the world to prove His own fidelity.
But Ahaz will not take God up on His offer. Ahaz cloaks himself in a field of false piety. Piety gets a bad rap. You’ve heard me use the word many times over the last few weeks, begging you to start including Advent services in your own piety, something not many of you followed. Our piety is the way we show the quality of our reverence toward God. Not everyone’s piety is exactly the same, though there should be some things that we all do because it’s who we are. You may have noticed that I make the sign of the cross or bow at the name of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Some people I know make that sign when they prepare to read Scripture, not just in front of them, but over their lips and their minds, as well. Some people will spend scheduled time in the Scriptures. Some people will feed the homeless. Some people, like Anna the prophetess, who waited for Jesus’ appearance in the Temple, will devote their entire lives to prayer and service. Piety is a great thing.
Together, we are pious when we gather for worship. When we unflaggingly follow after the ways of the Lord in the face of persecution or criticism, that is pious. When we sing and pray together, that’s piety. When we gather in reverence, that’s piety. Piety can be a great thing. And you can see, then, some examples of what it is to have a personal piety and, together as the Church, a corporate piety.
Ahaz had a false piety. He put on a show for the sake of the show. He thought that by not taking God up on His offer, he would show God and Isaiah that he didn’t need the sign, that he was good without it. But, this is the kind of piety that’s just annoying. Like, when you say that something bad has happened to you, and you’re telling someone about it, and their first and only response is that they’ll pray for you. I mean, they might, but, honestly, how often is that followed up? There are just some people that you get the idea that they’re never going to pray, they just want to be done with you. That’s a piety that does no one any good, and I think it just makes God angry.
You’re lying to Him, you’re lying to yourself, and you’re lying to those around you. And what’s the point of that? If you’d only be cold to the person, at least they’d know where you stood. If you’d be on fire for the person, well, all the better, right? Ahaz’s piety made God angry. He thought he was being good and nice by not testing God, but he didn’t realize this wasn’t a test of God, but a test of Ahaz, and he failed. God told him to demand a sign. Ahaz wouldn’t. So, God came up with a sign all His own, a sign that wouldn’t come for 700 years after Ahaz was dead and gone. The virgin would conceive and bear a son.
This is indeed a miraculous sign, for a virgin could never do such a thing. And what’s fascinating for us is that this child born of a virgin would come from Ahaz’s own line. Ahaz’s own blood would be given over to the Son of David, Jesus. Ahaz, as evil as he was, would be a great-great grandfather, removed 700 years, from Jesus Himself. This was the sign. You want to know that God will face down your enemies? He sent the virgin a son, that you should mark that God keeps His promises.
And more than that, not just any son, but the Son of God, for His name would be called Immanuel. Literally three words in Hebew, im meaning with, nu meaning us, el meaning God. Immanuel, the boy should be called God with Us. And so He would be. So He is. He is God in human flesh. He is the eternal Son of God, begotten from eternity, given over to Mary that He might assume human flesh and dwell with His people forever. He is the victor, He is the conqueror, He is the mighty God who shall bring peace and destruction. He shall live in peace with those who believe in Him, and He shall destroy those who stand against Him.
The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel. This is, perhaps, the clearest and best prophecy of Christ in all the Old Testament. And it is found in the face of a false king, a religious pretender. Yet, the Lord would use such a one to bring about His eternal reign. Think about it, even before Ahaz was born, God had decided that the Messiah, Jesus, would come through the line of David, and through Ahaz himself. That Ahaz should have been included should make him fall on his face in repentance. Yet, Ahaz brought about a terrible fate for Israel, his actions ultimately leading to the Babylonian exile just a hundred years later, the conquering by the Romans at their return, and the destruction of Jerusalem and the spreading about of the people of God.
That’s the way it goes: our actions can dictate the course of history, and we would never know it. Ahaz had no idea what would come, but God had invited him to be faithful. He refused. What is God inviting you to do? He’s not telling you to ask Him for a sign, but He gave it anyway through the virgin birth of Christ. He gives it to you through the Word and the Sacraments even today. He gives you a sign of His faithfulness to you every time we gather together. He gives it to you freely.
What will you do with this invitation? Will you be like Ahaz and reject the promised of God? Or will you look to the one who saves His people, you, from their sins? Will you repent and be forgiven? Or will you turn away, seeking strength from the world? It’s easy for us to say that we’ll turn to God, and show Him with faithless lips that we are devoted to Him. It’s so much easier to be like Ahaz. Our piety usually comes through ourselves making a show for our own sake. That’s our way.
But the sign of God given to Ahaz was lifted for all the world to see, that lips should be stopped and the nations should be drawn to His cross, that they might kneel in faithfulness before Immanuel. The product of that virgin birth, Jesus, the Son of Mary, was lifted up before the whole world. The Jews thought they got rid of a blasphemer, the Romans thought they appeased the Jews, but Jesus knew that to lift up the sign of Ahaz before all people would only serve as a beacon to all.
What will you do? Will you fall on your knees at the foot of the cross, at the rail of this altar, and receive the forgiveness of sins won for you by Christ? Or will you go on giving half-hearted attempts at appeasing God? I’m not saying that your piety, if it’s right will save you; Jesus saves you, and He has saved you. How will that come out in your life? How will the forgiveness won for you by Jesus on the cross, how will your devotion to Him come out in your words, in your actions? Again, not everyone will have the same piety, but, if you rely on your Jesus to save you from your sins, you will have a piety, you will have a faithful response to God’s invitation to repentance and the forgiveness of sins. It’s worth considering today.
This week, we head into Christmas, where the sign of Ahaz was given to the whole world, where the angels sang their praises, where kings and shepherds came to give their gifts. God is using you today to sing His praises to the world, to share the good news found in that manger in Bethlehem with all who would hear it. Ahaz closed his ears and refused God’s invitation. But you, you who are loved by God, you who have set aside the evil ways of sin and the flesh, will not. You have been kept in the one true faith, looking to God and His righteousness where it may be found. You, dear friends, have been brought to the foot of the cross, and you have received life and salvation forever. You have received the gift of Immanuel, and God is with you now and always, wherever you go, whatever you face, whenever you doubt, however you may need Him. Immanuel, Jesus Christ crucified and risen for you, is with you, and we look to the day when He returns to be with us face-to-face. We look forward to a day that Ahaz will never see, but one which you have been promised. The day is swiftly coming. Come, Lord Jesus. In His name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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