West Park Baptist Church

Immanuel

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Advent 2020 – Isaiah 7:10-14 (Dec. 22)

[10] Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz: [11] “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” [12] But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” [13] And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? [14] Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:10–14, ESV).

Recently my son showed me the book on the 9/11 tragedy that he borrowed from the library. That watershed day stands out in vivid detail in my memory, but he wasn’t alive then, and the culture after that day in America is all he’s known. We talked about surprise attacks from enemies; why people planned to cause so many deaths, and whether that could happen again. It was a day of great fear, and it still tempts us to fear.

Has anything caused you fear this year? Fear is a crucial tool God uses to reveal in us where we place our confidence: in God or in our own resources.

King Ahaz faced the threat of two kingdoms uniting against Judah and camping outside the city of Jerusalem waiting to attack. Ahaz’s solution was to send a bunch of gold to the king of Assyria in a cry for help. Ahaz trusted in his own resources during a time of great fear. 

God’s mercy is so vast. Even after Ahaz had betrayed the Lord that way, God still gave him a chance to repent and believe! That’s why God offered Ahaz a sign. But, since Ahaz had already declared his god to be gold, he refused to ask God for a sign. That’s when God introduced the biggest sign of all: Immanuel. 

It’s a name, and it means “God with us.” But it’s so much more than a name: it’s a Person. Specifically it’s a prophecy that was ultimately and fully accomplished in and by Jesus Christ. The foundation of our hope is the God Man Jesus Christ. Our hope is not that something bad won’t happen. It’s not that something good will come. Our hope is God with us, Jesus Christ. 

My son spoke such an encouraging truth about 9/11 and the threat of war. After we talked he concluded with this: “Buildings will fall down, but heaven is forever.” Amen. That’s true. Fear reveals where we place our confidence. It can’t be in things of this world, but in the One who entered this world.

The Lord gave Immanuel, God with us, as the sure and final word of promise. Lean into Jesus, fully trusting Him to keep you through whatever comes. As the prophet Isaiah said about the Lord, 

[3] You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3, ESV)

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Advent 2020 – Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22-23 (Dec. 5)

What does Immanuel mean? The name literally means “God with us.”

This name was first mentioned in Isaiah 7:14 when God gave a promise to a very wicked King of Judah, Ahaz. Foreign powers were aligned against Judah, and God promised Ahaz the sign of Immanuel, a child born of a virgin, as the sure victory that Judah would need. In every situation of life, we need Immanuel. In Isaiah’s day we read how no foreign powers were able to conquer Judah because of the truth of “Immanuel.” Isaiah 8:9–10 says

Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered;

                        give ear, all you far countries;

            strap on your armor and be shattered;

                        strap on your armor and be shattered.

            Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;

                        speak a word, but it will not stand,

                        for God is with us. (ESV)

That last line is the meaning of Immanuel: no power shall be able to withstand God’s people, for God is with us.

Yet the future fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14 is even more rich and full. In Matthew 1 a messenger approaches another man from the tribe of Judah. This time the angel Gabriel comes to Joseph in a time of his trouble and testing. His betrothed wife has been found pregnant, and Joseph, an honorable man, knows he is not the father. He has determined to end his engagement to Mary in private. Yet the messenger brings Joseph the good counsel of God and the sign to confirm it. “Joseph, you may have heard that the prophet Isaiah said the virgin would give birth!”

Joseph was likewise encouraged not to be afraid and not to go through with his plan to end his engagement. God was at work in a miraculous way. And the baby in Mary’s womb was the One baby long-promised to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to David, and even to wicked Ahaz: Immanuel was coming.

And the best news of all that Joseph received was that this child would come to “save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Political and Military threats come and go. When they come we tend to think that wars and threats of wars are the height of danger and distress. But the reality is our sins are even more deadly. We cannot hope to defeat our sin and approach God. That is why Jesus came into the world as the full expression of Immanuel. God with us in our frail humanity, but not in our sin.

Yet even on the cross Jesus came to bear our sin in His own body, and that’s what He did. He became sin for all those who will call on His name in utter helplessness, forsaking their sin and believing in Jesus Christ as God with them. Friend, have you turned from your sin, repenting before Jesus and trusting in Him alone to save you?