The Lord Will Choose a Sign October 1

Isaiah 7:14

Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Let me give a bit of the historical background. It starts about 250 years before this event when the twelve tribes of Israel split into two different nations, Israel, which was composed of ten tribes. The other two tribes were Judah and Benjamin, the two most minor tribes, which made up the kingdom of Judah. The king of Judah was extremely wicked, and his name was Ahaz.

The kings of Israel allied with their neighboring king of Syria. The two kings decided to attack Judah, kill Ahaz, and replace him with another king, then conscript Ahaz's soldiers into theirs. Ahaz withstands the initial attacks but loses a lot of men.

Ahaz learns of the attacks; he and all of his household go into panic mode, and rightly so. Ahaz formulates a plan, he takes all the gold and holy articles out of the temple and the gold from the treasury and gives it to the king of Assyria. However, Assyria was still an enemy to Israel and Syria as well.

Ahaz has nothing to do with God, so God sends Isaiah along with his son, whose name translated means: "A Remnant Shall Return." God tells Isaiah that he will find king Ahaz standing by the Fuller's pool or the Bleaching pool. I find this very symbolic that a wicked man is standing by a pool that makes things white.

This verse demonstrates God's absolute mercy towards humankind. Ahaz had offered his son in the fire to the idol Moloch, locked the temple doors, forbidding people to make their sacrifices, built idols under all the big trees.

God told Isaiah to give this message to King Ahaz: I'm for you, I'm with you, be quiet, stop worrying, I know their plans, it shall not come to pass. I know these two Kings, and within 65 years, their kingdoms won't even be there.

God tells Ahaz to ask whatever you want, and I will give it to you. Because Ahaz was a descendant of King David and God promised David that there would always be a descendent of his on the throne. And just like you & me, no matter how wicked Ahaz was, God was reaching out trying to save his soul. Isaiah tells Ahaz to ask for a sign, and Ahaz replies with this perplexing statement:

Isaiah 7:12

But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.

What? Suddenly he gets all holy? Because his heart is hardened just like Pharaoh's centuries before, he has no intention of asking God for anything.

Then Isaiah famously states: Behold a Virgin. The word virgin comes from the Hebrew word: al-maw', which means: a lass, damsel, maid, virgin.

Isaiah 7:15-16

Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.

For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

These scriptures are called a double fulfillment. Ahaz died around 716 years Before Christ. God is telling King Ahaz a young maid in his household will have a child, name him Immanuel (God is with Us), and before he is weaned, both the kings he is battling will be dead.

Children back then were weaned around 2 to 4 years of age. After this child was born, Ahaz had a sign from God that God was real. God's mercy toward this man was non-stopping. Ahaz had to know that God was real, that he was chasing after all the wrong things, looking for fulfillment. But, unfortunately for king Ahaz, he died at the young age of 36 to 40 years old. His day of reckoning came. He was considered so evil by the Jews that they would not bury him with the other kings.

Over 700 years later, this prophecy was fulfilled a second time (by a virgin).

Mathew 1:23

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Just Like king Ahaz standing by the bleaching field, Jesus is saying:

'Ask me for a sign, and I will prove that I AM real.'

He is: El Yeshuati

The God of My Salvation

Blessing's