Testing God’s Patience – Part 1
Isaiah 7:1-8:8 (7:1-9)
April 23, 2023
Tonight we start a new segment in Isaiah’s prophet ministry.
The segment is Isaiah 7-12.
Now what I’m about to tell you is very important for you to grasp
• So that we can make sense of the passage
• So that we can also gain the message which we are intended to gain.
I’ve told you many times that when prophets saw the future
Sometimes they had difficulty distinguishing the exact timeline
Of how everything was going to shake out.
We’ve likened it to a mountain range.
• You can see all the peaks from a distance,
• But have difficulty interpreting how far apart they all are from one another.
Indeed Peter spoke of this struggle which the prophets faced.
1 Peter 1:10-12 “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.”
In other words, these men knew they were seeing something
More than just that which pertained to their own day,
But they had difficulty nailing down exactly when it was coming.
They searched and inquired, but all they really ever gleaned was that
What they were seeing was for another generation in the future.
Peter said that we benefit from them
Having seen the fulfillment of much of what they predicted
Because we have had the gospel preached to us.
I point that out because Peter reveals that even Isaiah knew that
Not everything that he saw pertained to him and his current people.
In fact, look down to CHAPTER 8:16-18
“Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait for the LORD who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.”
Isaiah is actually told to “bind up the testimony”.
• That is to say, he was told to put it in a rubbermaid container
• And lock it away for a future generation who would listen to what he had to say.
So you see that Isaiah understood that he was preaching
Both to his contemporaries and to those in the future.
And that is helpful to grasp in a segment of Scripture like this
Because it almost blends the present and the future throughout.
For example, look at chapter 7:10-16
“Then the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying, “Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the LORD!” Then he said, “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? “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. “He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. “For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.”
Clearly this sign is for Ahaz.
• God has told him that this child will be born
• And before that child can distinguish between good and evil
• The land that is threatening Ahaz (Israel) will be forsaken.
So clearly that was a message meant for Ahaz.
But at the same time we recognize that passage “Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”
Well Matthew says that that verse has its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus.
So that sign isn’t just for Ahaz, it is also for us.
You see it again in chapter 9 when Isaiah speaks of the coming day of deliverance for God’s remnant.
(9:6-7) “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”
We recognize that part of that verse has been fulfilled.
• The child was born,
• But part of that prophecy is still yet to come.
Not only was Isaiah speaking to his contemporaries,
But also to us, and to those who may come after us.
Consider even chapter 11 that speaks of God’s Righteous Branch who will rule the world, and under His rule the world will know peace.
(11:6) “And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them.”
We haven’t seen that yet either, but we wait for it.
I just want you to understand that in the perfection of the word of God,
Isaiah is able to speak to his people, and us,
And even those who may come after us.
AND IT ALL FITS.
And understanding that will help you understand
What Isaiah is seeing and what you are supposed to do with it.
Now, as we begin to dive into these six chapters, WHAT IS THE POINT?
The overarching point is this:
THE REMNANT WILL RETURN AND REJOICE.
I would draw your attention one more time
Back to Isaiah’s commissioning in chapter 6.
We learned last Sunday night that
• Isaiah had been given a very difficult and borderline discouraging commission.
• He was to render men has hard hearted, deaf, and blind.
• And he was to do this until everyone was dead.
But there was a promise given to Isaiah.
Isaiah 6:13 “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”
You remember that even though most of the people
Would reject Isaiah’s words and be hardened by them,
He was promised that 10% would get it.
There would be a remnant.
Now that remnant would NOT NECESSARILY HAVE IT EASY.
• God told Isaiah that even they would “be subject to burning”
• But they were going to survive, they were going to return.
In many ways Isaiah 7-12 is their story.
It is certainly a segment of Scripture
That would call you to forsake the masses
That you might become part of God’s redeemed remnant.
That is a message that was true in Isaiah’s day.
That is a message that is true in our day.
That is a message that will be true in the future day.
It will do you no good to follow the crowd and be part of the masses
If the masses are headed to destruction.
Jesus said it:
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
It does no good to be part of the crowd if the crowd is headed to hell.
The calling of God has always been to forsake the world and trust in Him
Even if you are in the minority for doing so.
For those who forsake the world and trust in Him
Are the ones who end up rejoicing in the end.
That is a simple message, but that is the overarching theme of Isaiah 7-12.
LET ME SHOW THAT REAL QUICK
With some unique points in this segment.
IT STARTS WITH Judah and Jerusalem in disarray because they are facing an attack from Aram and Israel.
So God sends Isaiah to meet Ahaz
And God specifically tells Isaiah to take his son with him.
(7:3) “Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field,”
That’s interesting, why take your son?
• You don’t see that happen all that often in the Bible.
• The reason is because the son is the message.
• The son is the sermon.
The son’s name is “Shear-jashub”
Does anyone want to take a stab at what his name means?
“a remnant shall return”
God does this doesn’t He?
Remember when Abraham messed up and went in to Hagar instead of trusting God to give him a son through Sarah?
• Do you remember what God told him to name that boy?
• Ishmael, which means “God hears”
• And then when Sarah sends Hagar away God appears to her and provides a well, and she names it “Beer-lahai-roi” (literally: God sees)
• And then God sends her back to Abraham with the boy.
Abraham is forced to hear the testimony of Hagar about how God saw her affliction and he is forced to live with the boy named “God hears”
And all this as a reproach to Abraham and Sarah
Who had assumed that God neither heard or saw them.
GOD DOES THIS.
Isaiah here takes a son who is named “A remnant shall return”.
It is a prophetic message to Ahaz to not think like the world,
But to be part of God’s righteous remnant.
Isaiah will say later:
Isaiah 10:21-22 “A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return; A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.”
This is a major part of the message of this segment.
BUT THAT’S NOT ALL.
• When God calls Ahaz to trust him
• Ahaz refuses
• God gives him another sign.
(7:14) “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”
Now, I know you know what that name means.
“God with us”
It is yet another prophetic message through a child.
• Who is God with?
• He is with the remnant.
Isaiah 8:9-10 “Be broken, O peoples, and be shattered; And give ear, all remote places of the earth. Gird yourselves, yet be shattered; Gird yourselves, yet be shattered. “Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; State a proposal, but it will not stand, For God is with us.”
So there you have two children, both with prophetic names
Meant to teach Judah and Jerusalem to trust God
And be a part of the believing remnant.
BUT STILL ISAIAH IS NOT DONE.
(8:1-4) “Then the LORD said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and write on it in ordinary letters: Swift is the booty, speedy is the prey. “And I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.” So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz; for before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”
There we get another prophetically named child.
• This is Isaiah’s son whom he names “Maher-shalal-hash-baz”
What does that mean? “swift is booty, speedy is prey”
The exact same thing Isaiah was told to write on that tablet.
It was a reminder that all those who failed to trust in the Lord
Would swiftly be carried away as booty
And would speedily become prey at the hands of the enemy.
In short, those who are not part of the remnant will not last.
AND STILL ONE MORE
We come to chapter 9 we get yet another prophetically named child.
Isaiah 9:6 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”
• This is the One who will bring light and life to the remnant who have trusted
Him.
• He will lead them to rejoicing and satisfaction.
And the entire SEGMENT ENDS in chapters 11 & 12
With the remnant rejoicing in this righteous King who has delivered them.
Isaiah 12:5-6 “Praise the LORD in song, for He has done excellent things; Let this be known throughout the earth. Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
That is what this segment is about.
The Holy One of Israel will redeem His righteous remnant
And they will return to dwell with Him in the land.
So don’t ignore Him, don’t reject Him, don’t turn away from Him.
Trust Him and see what He can do for you.
This is the point of chapters 7-12.
It was a message for them and it is a message for you.
So with that being said, let’s start our way through it.
Tonight we’ll look at Isaiah 7:1 – 8:8
Which is a story about how Ahaz tested God’s patience
And the ultimate futility and stupidity in doing that.
We’re going to break this segment up into 5 points.
#1 THE DILEMMA
Isaiah 7:1-2
You’ll notice now that we have fast-forwarded to “the days of Ahaz”
• Uzziah died in 739BC,
• Ahaz took the throne in 735BC
Where Uzziah and Jotham had been kings who did what was right in the sight of the LORD (barring their overlooking of the high places),
Ahaz DID NOT do what was pleasing to God.
During his reign, God would bring about the trial of Isaiah’s life,
And the struggle that would either make or break them as a nation.
God would bring about Assyria.
But it DOESN’T START with Assyria.
We read that “in the days of Ahaz…Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it.”
You remember that the nation of Israel was split after Solomon’s death.
• Ten tribes defected to the north and became known as Israel or the northern kingdom,
• Two tribes remained in the south and became known as Judah or the southern kingdom.
Ahaz rules in Judah, Pekah rules in Israel.
Just north of Israel is the nation of Aram (Syria) which is ruled by Rezin.
On separate occasions both those kings had attacked Judah.
Though they were unable to overthrow Jerusalem,
They did inflict great loss and defeat upon them.
2 Chronicles 28:5-8 “Wherefore, the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Aram; and they defeated him and carried away from him a great number of captives and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who inflicted him with heavy casualties. For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah 120,000 in one day, all valiant men, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king’s son and Azrikam the ruler of the house and Elkanah the second to the king. The sons of Israel carried away captive of their brethren 200,000 women, sons and daughters; and they took also a great deal of spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.”
• Rezin had invaded and carried away a great number of captives
• Then Pekah invaded and slew 120,000 and then carried away 200,000 women
as captives.
They had failed to totally conquer Judah
But they had gained massive victories in the land.
But on this day Judah received some frightening news.
(2) “When it was reported to the house of David, saying, “The Arameans have camped in Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.”
Arameans camping in Israel is not a good thing.
• The two have made an alliance and certainly Judah felt helpless to stand against them.
Their PURPOSE and their INTENT is stated later in verses 5-6
“Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,”
In that region there was a new bully on the block.
• His name was Assyria and he was a threatening force to the region.
• Aram and Israel formed an alliance to oppose him and had tried to force Ahaz to join, but he had refused.
• Now the plan was to invade Judah, overthrow Ahaz, and put their own puppet on the throne.
They had so greatly afflicted Judah separately
That together the fear was total annihilation.
And Ahaz “and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.”
The people were terrified and so was the king.
That is the Dilemma.
#2 THE DECREE
Isaiah 7:3-9
God has a message for Ahaz.
• And bear in mind that Ahaz has been no friend of God.
• Ahaz is idolatrous and as pagan as they come.
2 Kings 16:1-4 “In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, became king. Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD his God, as his father David had done. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out from before the sons of Israel. He sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.”
Ahaz does not deserve any favor from the LORD,
But God is loyal to Judah because of David.
God has promised that David’s line will endure
And God is faithful to His promises.
So God sends Isaiah to Ahaz with a message.
(3-4) “Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field, and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah.”
Ahaz is out checking the city water supply as he prepares for an invasion
And Isaiah goes to see him.
There you see the prophetically named son of Isaiah, “Shear-jashub”
Which again means “the remnant will return”
Isaiah’s son would be an object sermon for Ahaz
To remind him of the importance of trusting God.
And the message falls right in line.
“Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted”
The opposite of faith is fear
God tells Ahaz that he should have none of it.
Despite your past…
Despite your decisions…
Despite your paganism…
Despite your idolatry…
I’m coming to you today with a calling on your life.
It is time for you to stop running to idols and trusting in your own wisdom
And it is time for you place your faith in Me.
It is a simple call to salvation,
No different than God has extended to so many in life.
Would you leave your futile ways behind and start trusting Me?
Not just for salvation, but would you trust Me with your life?
You do realize that this is the call.
If you think you are only called to trust Christ to save you from hell,
But that you will handle the rest of it on your own
Then you do not realize what Christ has called you to.
Christ has called you to trust Him in all things, and that for His glory.
That is the call coming to Ahaz.
Don’t be afraid and give it all to Me.
“I know those two men (5-6) are planning to invade and assassinate you and replace you, but I’m telling you that IT WON’T HAPPEN.”
(7) “thus says the Lord GOD: “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass.”
God will not let it happen.
• He has already decided and decreed it,
• And that is regardless of what Ahaz decides.
(8-9) “For the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people), and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.”’”
You have to love the difference between
How Judah looks at the situation VS how God looks at the situation.
• TO JUDAH, Rezin and Pekah are terrifying kings with unstoppable power.
• TO GOD, Rezin and Pekah are “two stubs of smoldering fire brands” or two burnt out cigarette butts.
They are both doomed to defeat and it won’t even be difficult for God.
He is going to overthrow them.
He has decreed it.
Yet there is a word of warning to Ahaz.
God will stop Pekah and Rezin regardless,
But to Ahaz God says, “If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.”
The outcome of the battle does not rest on Ahaz’s faith,
But the outcome of his life does.
We can’t get through this entire first section in one sermon,
So here is a good place to stop and reflect.
THIS IS SO TRUE.
God is sovereign and His will…will be done.
He DOESN’T ask for your faith to allow for His plan to succeed.
His plan will succeed.
He asks for your faith so you can survive in the midst of it.
And no man can last without trusting God.
Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
And consider that entire chapter of faith in Hebrews 11.
• If Noah doesn’t build the boat is God’s plan thwarted?
• If Abram doesn’t leave Ur?
• If Moses doesn’t reject Pharaoh’s house?
• If Joshua doesn’t march around Jericho?
Is God’s plan just thwarted if those people don’t walk by faith?
OF COURSE NOT!
God will accomplish His purposes.
But those men would not have saved their own lives
If they had not believed and trusted God.
There is only one way to live this life and it is by faith.
If you won’t trust God, you’re simply not going to make it.
God is going to stop Pekah and Rezin regardless of what Ahaz does.
But if Ahaz wants to save his own life he’ll have to trust God.
The simple point is clear.
“If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.”
Ray Ortlund said:
“We need to think this through again and again, because living by faith in God rather than by faith in ourselves takes time to catch on to, and we lose focus quickly. Conversion to Christ is only the beginning. And how do we learn but in our crisis? That’s when God takes the training wheels off our bikes and teaches us to ride like the big kids. God is saying, ‘In your crisis, when it counts for you, trust me. I will keep my every promise. But if you treat me as unreal, you will not connect with reality at all.’”
(ibid pg. 89-90)
And again he asks:
“Am I trusting God right now, where it counts for me? If we welcome God as our ally and yield to his way, his timing, his control, his glory, he will fight for us. And we will have no regrets. He never lets faith go unmet. But if we set our own terms, we will fight alone. Jesus said, “According to your faith be it unto you” (Matthew 9:29, KJV). Moment by moment, that is the key to life.”
(ibid pg. 91)
This is the point to be made here.
• God requires faith.
• Not just faith to escape hell, but faith to live life.
And if you won’t trust Him with the little things of life
Can it really be said that you are trusting Him for your soul?
John 3:16-19 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.”
FAITH IS THE CALLING.
Certainly that is faith for your forgiveness and salvation.
• But faith is also required regarding your finances.
• Faith is required regarding your relationships.
• Faith is required regarding your parenting.
• Faith is required regarding your trials.
• Faith is required regarding your ministry.
You have to trust God in those things.
AND WHAT DOES TRUSTING GOD LOOK LIKE IN THOSE SITUATIONS?
Well for Ahaz faith requires him to do nothing.
• Don’t hatch a plan.
• Don’t come up with something to do.
• Don’t ask someone else.
• Just do nothing and let God deliver.
Sometimes faith is simply waiting on the Lord.
Other times it is OBEDIENCE.
• Noah, build the boat.
• Abram, leave Ur
• Abraham, sacrifice your son
• Do not worry…
• Wives submit to your husbands
• Husbands love your wives
Faith in some cases is simply obeying.
Certainly at times faith is ENDURING
• Isaiah, keep preaching even when they don’t listen
But in all things faith is required or you will not make it.
“If you will not believe, you surely shall not last”.
Isaiah’s name means “The LORD is Salvation”
And the entire theme of his ministry is to call his contemporaries
To stop trusting themselves and to start trusting God.
Unfortunately his message so often falls on deaf ears
You’ll see that it will with Ahaz.
HOW ABOUT YOU?
• Will you trust God?
• Do you trust God?
• Trust Him for salvation?
• Trust Him in your present trial?
If we won’t, we will not last.
And that is the message to Ahaz
As God promises to take care of his enemies.
