A Shot Over the Bow of Self-Centeredness and Death

High as Heaven—Deep as Sheol

(Isaiah 7:10-16, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, December 22, 2013)

[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.”

Ahaz lived and reigned over 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. He was not a very good king. In fact he was one of the worst kings in the history of Judah. He dismantled some of the worship that God had required of His people, and he filled Jerusalem with idolatry and false worship. He even sacrificed his sons to a false deity.

Yet the Lord spoke to this king through the prophet Isaiah. God made a promise to Ahaz. The king was in fear because the Syrians to the northeast and the rebellious tribes of Israel to the north had joined forces together against Ahaz and the city of Jerusalem. God's instruction and promise to Ahaz was this: “Be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your hearts be faint because of these two...” About the plan of these enemies, the Lord said through Isaiah, “It shall not stand.”

The Lord then invited the king to ask for some miraculous sign that would confirm that the Word of the prophet was a true Word of God. He told Ahaz that it did not have to be a small sign. It could be as high as heaven or as deep as the grave and hell—the word Sheol has that double meaning. Ahaz could ask for a sign that was really big. Ahaz refused the offer for a dramatic sign that could have bolstered up his courage. Then he claimed that it would be unfaithful for him to ask the Lord for a sign, even though God was the one to bring it up.

Ahaz said, “I will not ask. I will not put the Lord to the test.” The king's unfaithful life was putting the Lord to the test. If he really wanted to do right by God, he would have removed all of the false worship from Jerusalem and led the nation in seeking the Lord. He would have repented of his obvious sin, and he would have asked the Lord for a sign in order to strengthen his weak or nonexistent faith. Ahaz's supposed humility before the Lord was a sham.

[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. [15] He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. [16] For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.

God knew all the king's games. He spoke through Isaiah to this descendant of good king David. God, who is slow to anger, said that he might soon be getting very weary of this wicked king.

The king needed help as high as heaven and as deep as Sheol. He thought that his most troubling problems were the enemy forces to the north and the northeast. As always, the biggest danger for mankind is not from other people, but from God. We need help as high as heaven, since someone needs to win for us eternal life in the blessing of God's perfect house. We need a solution for sin as deep as Sheol, since our disobedience to the Lord's commandments would land us forever in the silence of the grave and in the place of eternal destruction.

If Ahaz did not have the sense to ask for a big sign from the Lord then God would take matters into His own hands for our sake. God would choose the sign. The sign would be extraordinarily simple: a young woman would conceive a baby boy. The word translated virgin here can either mean “young woman” or a woman who has never known had sexual relations with a man. The virgin would conceive and bear a son. But notice the name of the son—Immanuel, which means “God with us.” Suddenly what sounded like a humble sign had a very dramatic possible fulfillment. God would come to be with us by becoming a baby conceived within the womb of a woman who had never known a man.

The immediate fulfillment of the sign had to do with the birth of a child in the time of this prophesy. Before that child knew how to choose between evil and good, Syria and Israel would pose no significant threat to Judah. But then the Assyrians would be a very significant problem, and after that the Babylonians. Beyond any earthly power, God was the most significant threat against His people. God in all His righteousness and might would judge mankind.

The ultimate fulfillment of this passage, God assures us through the citation of Isaiah's words in Matthew 1, came through the virginal conception and birth of the Messiah, Jesus, in the womb of a humble woman in the line of David, Mary. This little baby would literally be God with us—God with us to meet the demands of His heavenly holiness—God with us to die the hellish death that our sin deserved—God with us to be a merciful and sympathetic Savior who would defeat His and our enemies and secure for us all the blessings of eternal life.

This prophecy was fulfilled in the short term by the help that the Lord gave to Judah in the days of Ahaz and his amazingly good son, Hezekiah, king of Judah. While that fulfillment was of great importance to the worrying, evil, and infuriating king Ahaz, it is of little concern to you and I as we prepare to celebrate Christmas this year.

We care about the greater fulfillment that came through Jesus, Immanuel, God with us. His virgin birth was a shot over the bow of every evil power who would stand against God and His people. His coming was more than a powerful sign. It was a declaration of war against Satan and his allies among men and angels. God was doing something new through a most unusual birth.

Ahaz was concerned about Syria and Israel. We are still thinking about nations by those names today, but only if we are paying attention to international relations. Our bigger concerns are about those enemies that stand against our families, our jobs, our own nation, and the Lord's churches throughout the world. The enemies are both outside us and within us. We are looking for answers in addressing relational problems within our circle of loved ones. We have fears concerning the direction that our nation has taken over the last several decades knowing that no nation can long be safe that ignores the commandments of God.

Our biggest enemy comes from a popular philosophy of life that is anti-God. This philosophy of life starts with my individual desires and choices, expecting that no one should stand in the way of any person's definition of self-fulfillment. This philosophy can never be at peace with Christianity, because Christianity insists that God is the only one whose desires and choices will be ultimately fulfilled. Every other desire and choice must follow Him.

The birth of God with us is a sign of victory and the beginning of a world war. You must take a side in this war. The way that you do that is through worship. You bow before God in His covenant assembly, and take on a holy desire above all. You say to God, “I want what you want.” Then the birth of Jesus becomes a sign to you that you have peace with God.

As high as heav'n above,

As deep as hell below,

The virgin's Child is God with us.

O Come, Let us adore!