Many tend to over look the importance and accuracy of the prophets, and in particular Isaiah. After the intense preparation of this prophet in chapter 6, God reveals some of the clearest prophetic statements about the Messiah, Jesus Christ. In chapter 7, the Lord told king Ahaz that He will “give you a sign. Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel [God with us]” (Isaiah 7:14).
While Judah was facing attacks by Ephraim, king Ahaz needed a sign that God would intervene. In response to the situation, the Lord told Ahaz, “Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint…if you are not firm in your faith, you will not be firm at all” (7:4, 9). Men and machines can never do what God will do through faith that is centered in God and His Son. In a day when evil is rising and the future humanly seems uncertain, God is giving only one sign, HIS SON! “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak [virgin to bear a son] in the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:27). We must remember this principle that God has and always will use. Jesus became a mockery to king Herod and every other person in human history who has lifted up against the wisdom and knowledge of God. The challenge we have is whether we will place obedient faith in God’s promises and join Him in His work that will transform lives from being dead to being alive in Christ.
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The New Testament has two book ends I call “Do Not Fear.” The first one began when “an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20). Under the circumstances, Joseph had much to fear, so the divine message was very important to him. Since Joseph was a righteous man and lived according to what God required of him, he received the message and did not question any further direction from God.
For Joseph and Mary (Luke 1:30), this meant years of walking through the unknown, believing they were well known by God who planned their lives for an eternal purpose. They and the child Jesus were hunted just as if they lived in our cyber world. Right through to the death of Jesus, they had the absolute assurance of God’s guidance and care (John 19:25-27). In fact, Mary was in “the upper room” with the 120 who gathered and waited for the Holy Spirit to come (Acts 1:14). The Holy Spirit communicated to Joseph and Mary in a similar way that He is still communicating today. Jesus wrote a letter through the quill of John the Apostle to a church that was suffering for being faithful; “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). If God calls you to a divine mission of faithfully proclaiming the message of Jesus, will you obey and not fear? Will you be faithful unto death? Every day I come across empty people. They chase one dream after another, but they have nothing in them that answers the longing of the heart – the God-shaped void that only He can fill. After the angel spoke to Mary announcing that “the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God,” Mary composed and sang a song that flowed out of her heart. Along with expressing that her “soul magnifies the Lord, and [her] spirit rejoices in God my Savior,” she says some very profound things that we need to meditate on. “He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty” (Luke 1:52–53). Notice that Mary declares two sides of the coming of Jesus into the world. First, those who think they are something in the eyes of this world, are going to be “brought down” and the rich are going to feel what it means to be truly empty. Anything that anyone possesses outside of Christ is nothing and meaningless without Christ giving meaning and purpose to all we are and have. On the other side of Mary’s worship is the beauty of being humble and hungry. The combination of these two qualities is that Jesus – and Him alone – will fill the life with His riches (Romans 9:23). “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him” (Romans 10:12). From this day forward, let us tell empty hearts about the Person who can fill them! During this season of the year, Christians around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus,the only event in human history that was able to change the final and eternal chapter of mankind. One of the most important aspects of Christ’s coming was bringing “light” to dispel darkness. What would you see if we had a large world map with little lights in every place where there is a witness to Jesus the Savior, where the Bible is printed and read, and where there is a local church – the Body of Christ? Imagine with me, looking across this world and seeing these little lights shining in so many places where we didn’t think there was any witness! AMAZING! Now, imagine looking at this world map and seeing borders; not borders of countries, but borders of people groups – over 17,000 little areas of the world. Now, look again. Some of these areas have no light; NOT ONE! They are totally dark. At the birth of Jesus, Zechariah prophesied about his son John the Baptist, that he “will be called prophet of the Most High…to give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins…to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Luke 1:76-79). To confirm the words of Zechariah, Simeon says after Jesus’ birth, “for my eyes have seen Your salvation that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel” (2:30–32). Those dark places on our world map are going to have the light of Jesus! Will you be a ‘light carrier’ in some way? When it comes to God’s work, we have the tendency to gage the outcome by ‘what we can do’ based on our resources, education, money or connections rather than seeing what God can, will and promised to do. The Church began with a promise the Lord gave the disciple; “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8).
I want to draw on the example of Israel to make my point. We have seen that it was God’s plan and purpose that they stand out among all the nations of the world because of their clear and powerful representation of their God. Sadly, Israel became a disobedient and rebellious people, yet, God keeps speaking to them through prophets and other nations He used to discipline them. Isaiah was a prophet God used, but needed to rekindle a fire in his heart for the calling of the Lord. At one point, God says, “And now the Lord says, He who formed me from the womb to be his servant (Isaiah), to bring Jacob back to Him…Is it too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob…I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (Isaiah 49:5-6). Isaiah, the man who said, “Woe is me” (6:5). We must never think it is a “light thing” that God has called us to spread the gospel. It is the greatest privilege in the whole world. I have been guilty of looking at myself and my abilities and limiting what God can and wants to do through me. His call in the first place was that I (we) yield ourselves to Him and His power to accomplish in and through us what is impossible for us. That is the point when our thoughts become His thoughts with no limits to what He can do for His glory! Can you imagine sitting in the wilderness near the banks of the Jordon River listening to a man who is 120 years old preaching his last and longest sermon recorded in Scripture. Along with reviewing God’s faithfulness over forty years, Moses wants to make sure the people of Israel obey all the commands God had given them along the way. There was a clear reason for this reminder.
God selected Israel to represent Him among all the other nations of the earth, not because they were better than the other nations, but God was keeping His promise to Abraham to bless all nations through Abraham’s seed which became the nation of Israel; eventually leading to Jesus. “See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples” (Deuteronomy 4:5–6). There is a similar outlook on how the nations of the world are affected by following God’s plan. It is through the Church. Paul was made a minister to “preach the gospel to the Gentile the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God…so that through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 3:8-10). I added the emphasis to make my point. God planned to make known who He is by the way Israel, and now the Church, proclaims and lives out the “plan of the mystery” and the “manifold wisdom of God” through the gospel. We must see our part in this! As we do, our passion for telling the message will grow and become more effective. Have you ever taken time to reflect on events and opportunities in your life, or have memories crossed your mind of moments God gave you to share the gospel with someone, and you rejected the idea? I have! Even as I write this blog, I remember recent opportunities that slipped through my fingers when I was being prompted by the Spirit to speak to someone, write a note or call someone He put on my heart. What is worse than the memory is the sense of disobedience that hits my conscience. There are some examples that are even worse; persons who knowingly disobeyed God’s clear command. Many in Scripture and in our present day are persons who had very tender hearts and consciences toward the Lord and knew His voice, yet obeyed under very difficult circumstances. We all probably remember Abraham and God’s clear command to “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Genesis 22:2). There was no list of consequences or threat from God if Abraham failed to obey. In his relationship with God, Abraham had learned to trust God implicitly even though the request seemed beyond what was reasonable. We know that the “angel of the Lord called to him from heaven” and stopped Abraham from killing his son, and provided an offering in place of Isaac, a type of Christ. But, let us not forget the “angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven” (22:11, 15). In this second call, Abraham received a very different message; “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And…in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” (Genesis 22:16–18). Read that phrase again; “all the nations of the earth be blessed.” Who will God reach with the gospel if you and I obey without questioning His wisdom? There are times when God gives His people a special assignment, but does not explain why or what the end result will be. In raising our children, we would ask them to do something without first explaining the reason for the request. The key point with God and with parents who have the right motive is that understanding increases as we obey. As Israel became hemmed in between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea, God spoke through Moses to the people; “I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord…fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which I will work for you today” (Exodus 14:4, 13, 17). There was no other nation on earth that God chose and loved as He loved Israel. This was no credit to them in the same way that our salvation is no credit to us. Yet, God chose them as He chose us, to reveal His glory through people who would obey His Word. God’s assignment was that they obey His every word. Through this obedience, God would reveal His glory, not just to themselves, as we see below, but also to the nations around them. “Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses” (14:31). The greatest witness to the world will be when they see love for the Lord in our obedience. Then our message will be heard. Even a church like Ephesus had to repent and return to obedience to the Lord (Revelation 2:1-7). I am afraid that the Church today does not realize how weak it is through disobedience. Israel eventually failed through disobedience and their witness for God became a mockery to the nations. Are we doing the same thing today? Bigger buildings and wider programs that eat up more money become an empty shell that looks good to man, but is void of God’s glory. The answer? REPENT! There is no question that God has demonstrated His power all through the history of mankind. Stories were passed down from one generation to another of the flood in Noah’s day. What was the purpose in these “acts of God”? Forty plus years after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and that generation had died, the story of the Red Sea was still being told, and for a reason. “For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever” (Joshua 4:23–24). While the immediate purpose of drying up the Red Sea and the Jordan was to make a way for the people of Israel to get them into the Promised Land and deliver them from their enemies, the larger purpose was to speak to “all the peoples of the earth” in a way that would communicate the power of God and cause them to understand that the “Lord is mighty.” This purpose is universal. Taking this truth a step further, “all the peoples of the earth” will come to realize the power of God in the cross of Christ (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:18). The death of Jesus on the cross, His burial and resurrection, provided a powerful message we call the gospel. It accomplishes what no physical power can do. It provides forgiveness of sins (Luke 1:77), saves the soul from eternal death and gives eternal life (John 3:16), even though we may physically die (11:25-26). Are you sharing with others this power with “all the peoples of the earth”? It is often difficult for us who love God and have placed our faith in His Son, to grasp why He leaves certain wicked rulers in place. This is even more difficult to understand when we see our brothers and sisters in Christ suffering because of their faith. Yet, there are examples in Scripture that give us insight into God’s purpose behind allowing evil rulers to vent their schemes against God’s people. Let’s look at one particular example. Over a period of four hundred years, Israelites suffered one setback after another. Put into forced labor by Pharaoh, they made bricks to build his empire. During this time, God said to Pharaoh, “Let my son go that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son” (Exodus 4:23). God considered Israel His son and desired him free from bondage so they could worship freely. The punishment for mistreating His people was severe – killing Egypt’s firstborn. At the same time, it was God who said eight times, “I will harden his (Pharaoh’s) heart” (4:21; 7:3; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 17). Why would God do this when He wanted His people set free. It would have been a simple thing for God to place His hand in judgment on Pharaoh much earlier, but God waited and allowed this ruler to remain in power. “For this purpose I have raised you up, to show you My power, so that My name may be proclaimed in all the earth” (Exodus 9:16). It is very important for us to grasp the larger picture of what God is doing. We see evil rulers inflicting suffering on Christians, and naturally we want God or some other government to step in and stop the injustice. As God said to Pharaoh, His purpose behind leaving the evil ruler in place was so the name of God be “proclaimed in all the earth!” Let us ask the Spirit to give us His expanded understanding of God’s ways that will increase His glory. In places of rising persecution, the gospel is spreading faster than anywhere else in the world. This is God’s purpose. |
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