Isaiah chapter 7, found here in verse 1. And it
came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of
Uzziah, king of Judah. Ahaz is the king we're looking
at here, the king of Judah. And he and the people in Judah
got some news. A trial. A trial had come in
Judah. And here was the trial. Verse
1, that Reason, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah,
king of Israel, got the king of Syria and the king of Israel,
that they had went up toward Jerusalem to war against it.
That's where King Ahaz and the people are, in Jerusalem. And they went up toward Jerusalem
to war against it, but could not prevail against it. And it
was told the house of David, it was told in Jerusalem, in
Judah, where the king, King Ahaz was, saying, Syria is confederate
with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and
the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with
the wind. Now God sent the trial. God turns
the king's heart whichever way He will, and He was ruling the
hearts of these two kings, king of Syria, king of Israel. And
God sent this trial to declare, to show King Ahaz and the people
in Judah their need of God to save and how He's going to save. How are the Lord's people going
to be delivered from a trial? The same way that Isaiah that
God sent in this day to deliver His people from the trial. Same
way. The Lord's Word is going to be
delivered by preaching of the Gospel and it's going to be accomplished
by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. The trial itself
is not going to bring about repentance. The gospel being set forth is
not what brings about repentance. He uses all those things, but
it's going to be by the Spirit of God sanctifying that gospel
and that trial so that people are made to behold who it is
that's saving, who it is that's doing the work. Now we're going
to see in Ahaz that the same gospel that goes forth and accomplishes,
through which God accomplishes this in His people, without this
sanctifying work of God in the heart, it won't do anything. And that doesn't excuse Ahaz,
but we're going to see in Ahaz what happens if God leaves us
to ourselves. That's what we'll see here. Verse
3. Then said the Lord unto Isaiah. In the midst of all this, here's
where it begins. The Lord said unto Isaiah, go
forth now to meet Ahaz. The Lord's going to use the means
that pleases Him. Isaiah is the prophet of the
Lord, and Isaiah is sent to a king. To a king. But he doesn't send Isaiah alone.
Look at verse 3. Then said the Lord unto Isaiah,
Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shejazib thy son. Now here's
a father and a son come forth to meet a king. King Ahaz. This son's name means the remnant
shall return. When the Lord sends forth a vessel,
when He sends forth His messenger, God the Father and His Son are
present. God the Father and His Son, Sher
Jaseb, are present. God's elect, chosen Son. The Son of His love. The Son
by whom and in whom and through whom every chosen child of God
is going to be saved. The remnant is going to be saved. And they shall return. And this
place here is significant. Look at verse 3, at the end there. It was at the end of the conduit
of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field. This is
the pool of Shiloah. It's the pool of Siloam. Same word, same pool. This is
a picture of the Word in the Word. Christ in the Word preached. The Word in the Word. Christ
said to the blind man, go and wash in the pool of Siloam, which
by interpretation is sin. That's this same pool. This same
pool. It was a clay pool. An earthen
pool. And this was where the people
went to wash and came away clean. It was an earthen pool. Cleansing water was brought to
this pool. This is a picture of Christ,
the cleansing fountain, set forth in the gospel preached by earthen
vessels, who were just clay pools. that the power may be of God
and not of us. How shall they preach except
they be sent? How shall they believe lest they
be sent? Lest God cleanses by the washing,
by the washing. This pool was in the fuller's
field. Look over at Malachi chapter 3. Malachi chapter 3. He said, I'm going to send my
messenger, even the messenger of the covenant. Now look here
at verse 2. Who may abide in the day of His
coming? Who shall stand when He appeareth?
This is Christ we're talking about. He's like a refiner's
fire and like fuller's soap. He cleanses. Look over at Ephesians
chapter 5 verse 25. Your husbands love your wives,
even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it,
that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the Word, that He might present it to Himself, a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish. This is what, not by works of
righteousness which we have done, Paul said to Titus, not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy
He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of
the Holy Ghost. The means that the Lord uses
here are both foolish and they're distasteful to the natural mind. They have no virtue or healing
power in themselves. Without the power of the Holy
Spirit, they'll do no good to Ahaz or to us. But in the hands
of the Lord, in the hands of God our King, God our Savior,
This Word never returns to Him, Lord. It always accomplishes
what He sent it to accomplish. Always. Verse 4, Isaiah 7, verse
4, He says, And say unto him, Now Isaiah is speaking, but this
is the word of the Lord to Ahaz. Isaiah is speaking, but this
is the word of the Lord to Ahaz. Verse 4, Say unto him, Take heed, Listen to this Word. Don't think
you're going to get it. Ahab is right off the bat. Now
listen to the Word. Take heed to the Word. Hear what
the Lord is saying. Hear it. Hear it again. Hear
it again. Listen. Listen. Listen. Take
heed. Can you imagine? Get this picture
in your head now. This is Isaiah talking to the
king. And he's telling the king, take
heed. We can't hardly enter into this
in our day. Take heed. And be quiet. Hear the voice
of the Lord. Be quiet. Be settled. Be still. Wait on the Lord. Wait. Fear
not. Neither be fainthearted. The
cure for fear, the strength of the faint hearted is turning
from ourselves and trusting everything into the hands of the Lord. Now, the Lord declares here through
Isaiah, He's already determined the end from the beginning. That's
what he's declaring here through Isaiah. I've already determined
the end from the beginning. And he tells Ahaz this. The Lord
tells him exactly what shall be. Look at verse 4. Say unto
him, Take heed, be quiet, fear not, neither be fainthearted
for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger
of reason with Syria and of the son of Ramaliah, because Syria,
Ephraim, the son of Remaliah, hath taken evil counsel against
thee, saying, Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us
make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of
it, even the son of Tabeal. Thus saith the Lord God, It shall
not stand, neither shall it come to pass. Now he asked, Who are
you going to believe? You're going to believe those
men are the Lord God of heaven and earth. These men say they're
on fire. We're on fire. We're going to
take it. God says they're smoking. Their fire's already been extinguished. They appear like they're fierce
men ready to do battle. God says, I am. I am. They've taken evil counsel against
them. The triune God of everlasting
covenant says, my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. They purpose to make a breach
in Judah and set their king in the midst of it. God says, I
will set my king, Christ Jesus, my king in my holy hill of Zion. And nobody is going to stop it.
Let the heathen rage. Let them rage. The Lord even
tells him how long it's going to be. Look at verse 8. For the
head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is reason.
Now there's the first thing. Their head is men. He's saying, I'm your head. Christ
is our head. Our king is our head. And he tells him how long. Within
three score and five years shall Ephraim be broken. Let it be
not a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is Remeliah's son." Now that probably sounded like
a long time, didn't it? King Ahaz is king now. He's king
now. And that's a long time that he
talked about that they're going to come to an end. Now listen
to what he says here in verse 9. At the end there, if you will
not believe, surely you shall not be established. The marginal
reading says, do you not believe? It's because you're not established. And if you will not believe,
surely you shall not be established. God said it. It's coming to pass
exactly how God said it's coming to pass. Whether Ahaz believes
it or he doesn't believe it, it's coming to pass exactly how
God says it's coming to pass. But the only peace Ahaz is going
to have, the only peace in his heart he's going to have to be
a good king and lead the people in the way they should go is
to trust what God says is coming to pass. Now, if he doesn't trust
God, he's not going to have any peace in his own heart, and he's
not going to be one that God uses to give any peace in anybody
else's heart. His kingdom is fixing to be divided
and result in division and chaos and disarray because He's got
no foundation. He's got no heart. He's got no
bone. He's got no blood. He's got no
life. He's got no stability to stand
up and say, this is where we're standing. This is where we're
standing. Verse 7. Moreover, the Lord spake
again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God,
ask it either in the depth or in the height above. Now, the
Spirit of God is telling us how it is. How it is. The Lord God is speaking to Ahaz. the Lord of hosts, God, the existing
One, is speaking to Ahaz. And the Lord says, ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God. Ask Him. Ask Him. You remember the woman at the
well? We looked at this Tuesday night. The Lord stood there talking
to her, and He said, Give me some water. And He said this to her, If thou
knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee,
Give me to drink, They're one. They're one. The gift of God
and who it is that's saying, give me to drink. They're one.
They're one. That's one and the same. He said,
if you knew, thou wouldest have asked of Him. Of Him. And He would have given thee
living water. Living water. The gift of God is Christ Jesus,
the Son of God. The gift of God is eternal life,
and this life is in His Son. But all Ahaz sees here is just
a man speaking to Him. He's got reason and remoliah,
these two kings on one hand, who are conspiring together.
The Word has gone throughout all the people and they've heard
all this rumor of these kings coming up and they're moved as
the trees in the wind. Their hearts are faint. They
have no strength. He sees all that and then he
just sees some man come along and say, now take heed and declare
this gospel to them of how things are going to be. What the Lord
God says is going to be. That's all the woman at the well
saw at first. That's all she saw at first.
A man. Just a man. Remember how that
woman at the well got religious all of a sudden? When she found
out, when she perceived that Christ was a prophet, all of
a sudden her whole demeanor changed. Well, watch Ahab's. Verse 12,
but Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. Ahaz gives a pretension here
that he believes, all he's got to have is the Word and he believes.
He believes it. But this is the Word of the Lord.
And the Lord is saying, ask of me. Ask of me. This is what the Lord's saying. Ask of me. Ask of me. Ask of me. Ahaz knows the word of the Lord
that came before this. He knows it in the letter. Because
before this, the Lord said, you shall not tempt the Lord your
God, as you did in Massah. In Massah, you remember when
they were thirsty? Remember what they said? Can
the Lord provide for us? Is He with us or is He not with
us? Can He prepare a table in the
wilderness? Can He do that? Is He with us
or is He not with us? That was a tempting of the Lord.
He knows that. He's got an understanding of
that. He heard that. He knows that. That was attempting of the Lord. And you know what the Lord did?
He gave them water out of the rock, the smitten rock. That
rock is Christ. That rock followed Him. Can He
prepare a table in the wilderness? Yes, and that rock is Christ,
that table is Christ, that bread is Christ, that water is Christ,
that life is Christ, that peace is Christ. Yes, He can. And the
Lord God is speaking to Ahaz right now and He's saying, ask
to behold Christ. Ask to see Him. Ask to see My
covenant. Ask to see this one I'm giving
for a covenant. Ask to behold Him. Ask for this
peace that He gives. Ask Him. Isaiah is still speaking
here. But Ahaz says, I won't ask Him. I won't tempt the Lord. Now that's tempting the Lord. Remember the children came up
to the land of Canaan, and they heard a report of men that came
back, and they heard two different reports. They heard one report
that said, we can go. It's just exactly like God said
it'll be. And they heard another report
that said, oh, the enemy's great. It's going to be trouble to go
in there. And it caused darkness over the whole congregation,
and the whole congregation began to murmur, and they said, we
can't go! And the Lord God told Moses, tell them they can't go.
And you know what they said immediately? Oh, we'll go. And both was the
same thing. Both was unbelief. Both was saying,
we can't go because we don't think we can. And the other,
when the word came and said, well, you can't now. They said,
well, we've sinned. We'll fix that. We'll go. The
Lord said, no, no. The Lord here said, ask of me,
ask of me. And he said, the Lord said, don't
tempt me, don't tempt me by not asking of me, don't tempt me
by questioning whether or not I can do what I've said I'm going
to do. And then he said, now ask of me and I'll show you how
I'm going to do what I'm going to do. And in the one case in
the wilderness, the men said, can He furnish a table for us?
And right here, King Ahaz says, I'm not going to ask Him. Both are the same thing. And
Isaiah is still speaking here, but the Lord Himself is speaking.
The Lord Himself is speaking. Verse 13, He said, Hear ye now,
O house of David, is it a small thing for you to weary men? But
will you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord," look at
that spelling of that word, the Lord Himself should give you
a sign. This is Isaiah speaking and telling the truth and saying,
the Lord. The very One, I'm about to declare
to you, He's the One that's going to do this, and this is that
very One Christ is declaring this. How can He say, will you
weary My God also? Remember when He came? Remember
when He was sending back? He said, you go tell them, I
go to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God. He is
God. And as the righteous servant
of God, the mediator into whose hand God has entrusted the salvation
of all His people, He's speaking here and He says, just as real
as He spoke to Isaiah here, just as real as He spoke through Elijah
to the widow at Sarepta, just as real as He spoke to the woman
at the well, just as real as He speaks where He's gathered
His people together and says, you can weary men, but will you
weary my God also? and He Himself gave Himself,
and He Himself is the covenant given, and He Himself declares
right here. Therefore the Lord Himself shall
give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and
honey shall he eat, that he may not refuse the evil and choose
the good. The sign, the covenant of God
is the Lord Jesus Christ. It's Emmanuel. How am I going
to know? How am I going to be persuaded?
How am I going to know this Word of God is determined beforehand
before the end from the beginning. How am I going to be persuaded
and know absolutely that everything God is doing, He's doing to show
me He's doing it. He'll save me. He'll save His
people so that I can have the peace to stand with God and lead
His people and know without a doubt He's doing the work. How am I
going to know that? The covenant in the heart. And that covenant's
Christ entering in through the Spirit of God and making me to
know without a doubt. Making me to know without a doubt. He is the covenant. He's the sign wherein I know. Wherein I know what He's doing. It's the same, He said, ask it
in heaven or ask it beneath. The sign, the covenant never
changed when He was in glory as He was right now when He was
speaking through Isaiah to King Ahaz. And it was the same when
He walked this earth and He spoke to men face to face. And in that
day when He spoke with them face to face, they said, we'd believe
you if you'd give us a sign. And he said, there will not any
other sign be given you than the sign of the prophet Jonas.
As he was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish,
so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the
earth. This is the covenant. This is the sign. Lord, show
me. Show me your covenant. Show me.
Emmanuel, show me Christ, make Your Word sure in my heart, put
peace in my heart so I know that the end is already determined
from the beginning, so that as the trial is coming about that
You've put into the earth, that You've put right before my eyes,
that You've put Your people in the midst of, so I will know
and can say and be a comfort to Your people, this is the Lord. He's doing everything right on
track. He's one. He's the one. You see here, what we're seeing
is if God leaves us to ourselves, men want to talk about their
free will. Ahaz is being left to his free
will. And here's what his free will
is. Choosing the evil and not choosing
the good. This is what entered the garden. This was the temptation in the
garden. You won't die. You will be as
God knowing good and evil. And you will choose the good,
not the evil. Ahaz thought he was the king
over Judah. That's what his problem was.
He thought he was the king over Judah. Well, I'd say so he is. He's in an office that glorifies
Christ the King of Righteousness. He's in an office that was made
to glorify the King who came before everybody. And if he's
going to be a true king, a true king, a king that God says is
a good king instead of what God said about him in His Word that
he's evil. Know why God said that? He did
exactly what was in His heart to do. He chose exactly what
looked to Him like the right thing to do. He chose exactly
what He... God saved me from my choosing. Saved me from it. Saved me from
my choosing. Ahaz had already looked to the
earth, he had already looked to the king of Assyria, he already
had the plans and the works, and he already had bigger fish
to fry than what Isaiah came to tell him. He already had it
all mapped out and all planned out how he was going to save
himself. Christ Jesus, Satan, the king of Assyria, came to
Him and promised Him all the kingdoms of all the earth over
all periods of time. And you know what the faithful
one did? He never wavered. He never turned from God the
Father. He never turned from trusting
God. Not wavering. He didn't waver. He said, and you know what he
said? Satan said, if you're God, cast yourself off this mountain.
You won't die. And he said, it's written, not
to tempt the Lord thy God. This is the one who really didn't
tempt God. Christ Jesus, the righteous one.
This is the one who chose the good. This is the one. Butter
and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil
and choose the good. The butter and the honey through
the Spirit of God was poured out into him without measure.
This one lived upon the butter and the honey of God's Word.
He lived upon, he said, my meat is to do the will of Him that
sent me. Lord, make that my meat. Make
that my will. Make me one with Him. he chose rather than what Satan
could have given him, what he could have, that temporary deliverance
from that worry of his heart, or that, like Ahaz here, he just
took a temporary deliverance from what was worrying in his
heart and thought he had delivered himself by that temporary choice,
that temporary covenant he made with man, And we're not going
to be saved by a covenant with man. We're going to be saved
by the everlasting covenant of the triune God, which is yes
and amen in Christ Jesus. And if you want to behold that
it's yes and amen, look and see that everything God has ever
said that was coming to pass has come to pass. And we see
it in the face of Christ Jesus who came forth and accomplished
the will of the Father. will of God in all things and
is now set down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
And He's finishing the work. He's finished it and He's finishing
it. Of the increase of His government, there won't be any end. To order
it, establish it with righteous and judgment forever. The zeal
of the Lord of hosts will do this, that His people might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. This is why He did this. Now,
Ahaz did what every unregenerate sinner will do. He chose the
evil and he refused the good. Look at Isaiah 8, verse 5. The
Lord spake also unto me again, to Isaiah, saying, Forasmuch
as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah, they go softly. That
pool of Shiloah, right there where Isaiah declared this gospel
to him. He said, this pool is sure, this
water is sure. Talking about Christ, this is
sure. It's sure. And it goes softly. It's not going to be by your
might and your power. It's going to be by the Spirit of God. He's
going to accomplish this. And he has rejoiced rather in
reason and reminiscence. He said, this is what he said,
I don't think God can do what he said he can do. You see, what
I see is a big trial. And all I hear is a man speaking.
And hearing he heard, and because he thought he heard by his hearing,
and thought he saw by his seeing, he did not see, he did not hear,
he did not understand what was being told him. Now, Ahaz's rejection doesn't
excuse Ahaz at all. It doesn't in any way excuse
him. But, here's what we say. I want you to get these things. The covenant, the word, the gospel,
Christ, The means of God's grace will be totally rejected until
Christ gives Himself in heart. In heart. Why is that? Because the glory that is His
in making satisfaction with the Father in the holiest of holies,
is the glory that belongs to Him by His blood, through His
Spirit, by which He purges the conscience of every one of His
redeemed from the dead works that Ahaz was looking to, to
rest in Christ alone. That glory is His as well. It's
His as well. And until this divine revelation
enters in, We'll take to ourselves the wisdom and the power that
belongs to Christ alone and we will choose the evil and refuse
the good. We need Christ. We need Emmanuel. To enter in by the Spirit of
God and reveal in us salvation is of the Lord. Completely of
the Lord. And then shall Christ establish
our hearts and through faith in Him, We'll
choose Christ and we'll trust Him and He'll deliver us and
He'll receive all the glory. All the glory. This is what Isaiah
was sent to tell Ahaz. This is what Ahaz wouldn't do.
Ask of Him. Ask of Him. Reckon he has thought. You don't
think I pray? You don't think I pray? God said
he didn't. Just ask of him. Ask of him. Let's stand together