Talk Together
Family conversations with God’s Word.
Can you believe Christmas is just a few weeks away? Soon we will enjoy the scent of pine trees, familiar songs and the colors red and green. We may even receive a few Christmas cards from family and friends!
Special messages appear everywhere during Christmastime. Cards share about close friends, schools send emails about exciting events, and churches invite us to candlelight services. Many years ago before Jesus came to Earth as a baby, God sent the prophet Isaiah to deliver a special message to a king.
This king, named Ahaz, reigned over God’s people in a land called Judah. King Ahaz feared the enemies of his kingdom. But instead of trusting God for protection, he asked other kings with massive armies to protect Judah. He thought they could help him better than God could. Ahaz was very wrong! So God sent Isaiah to speak to king Ahaz. Let’s discover what God told the king by reading Isaiah 7:10-14.
ESV
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.”
Can you believe it? The Lord told king Ahaz to ask Him for a miraculous sign, but the king said no.
Thankfully, God does not rely on men to do His will. He is all-powerful, and He does what He wants. He told Isaiah to tell the king a prophecy about the future of Israel. The message was a young woman would give birth to a son called Immanuel.
Ahaz was looking for someone to come and conquer his enemies. But God had an even bigger plan — He sent Someone to conquer sin! In the book of Matthew, the Bible tells us Immanuel means God with us. God the Father planned to send His Son, Jesus, to be with us in a way we’d never experienced before. King Ahaz probably did not understand how important Isaiah’s message was at the time; but hundreds of years later, Immanuel would change the fate of the whole world!
During Christmas, we celebrate Jesus. Because He fulfilled prophecy, followers of God have hope. But our hope isn’t in kings, armies or other people. Our hope is in Jesus, Immanuel — God with us.