Emmanuel - God With Us
- Isaiah
7:1-14
- Matthew 1:18-23
It was to the wicked King Ahaz, who had built his hope of
deliverance upon the covenant with the King of Assyria, that the
prophet spoke this word of the Lord. Ahaz was the thirteenth king of
Judah of the line of David (742-725 B.C.). In 741 B.C. this
wicked king was alarmed that Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah,
the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, had joined forces to invade
Judah and place their own king on the throne in Jerusalem. Ahaz
refused to trust God to provide protection; instead, he took some
gold out of Solomon's temple and sent it to the king of Assyria,
hoping for his protection. It was at this time that God told the
prophet Isaiah ("The Lord Saves") to go with his son Shear-jashub
("A Remnant Shall Remain") and meet Ahaz in an attempt to ask him to
trust God rather than Assyria, for all three nations had already
been scheduled to be destroyed by God within the next sixty-five
years (676 B.C.). (Assyria invaded Syria and Israel, taking them
into captivity in 721 B.C. [Isaiah 7:1-9].)
"Ask a
sign for yourself from the LORD your God; make it deep as Sheol or
high as heaven" (Isaiah 7:11). Isaiah said to King Ahaz, "You are
surrounded by the kings of Syria and Israel, and you are placing
your hope in Assyria to save Judah. I have good news: God wants you
to ask for a sign which he will accomplish based on your faith in
him on behalf of his people. Ahaz, you have a history of God's
actions in the past, from the redemption of the Jews from the land
of Egypt and the destruction of their army, to the crossing of the
Red Sea and the conquest of Canaan, to the establishment of the
kingdom of David and Solomon. So, Ahaz, think deeply, so that God's
people will have their faith in him restored and the surrounding
nations will be drawn to him for salvation, as they see how he
delivered you from your enemies." But Ahaz said, "I will not ask,
nor will I test the LORD!"
The king
told Isaiah in so many words, and with a proud heart, "I don't need
God's help. I have already hired the Assyrian army to save us." But
thank God for verse 14 because here God makes a promise to the
people Judah; " Therefore the Lord Himself shall Give you a sign;
Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His
name Immanuel. We find the fulfillment of this prophecy in Matthew
1:21. We find the Lord Jesus in the 28 chapter of Matthew verse 20
telling His Disciples " lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end
of this world. Then we hear the great apostle assuring the Hebrews
of this promise in Heb 13:5 " for he hath said, I will never leave
thee, nor forsake thee ". I want to assure you that He is Emmanuel,
" God with us ".
Some may
ask when is He with me. I realize that there are times in your life
when you feel that God is nowhere to be found. You feel as though
you searched high and low to find God, but to no avail. You heart
has been broken and fear has gripped your life. You come to your
wits end and you are down to the last straw, and the only question
on your mind is where is God, is He with me in all that I am going
through. Yes God is with you in all that you are going through, He
is with you in all that you face. All we need to do is trust God. In
verse 9 of Isaiah 7 the prophet tells Ahaz, " if ye will not
believe, surely ye shall not be established ".
I want us to look at
the times that God is with us:
I. God is
with us in the times we are tempted to quit:
-
Isaiah 7:1, "And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of
Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of
Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward
Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.
- Isaiah 7:2 "And it was told the house of David, 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."
- Exodus 14:10, "And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel
lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them;
and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto
the LORD."
- Exodus 14:11, "And they said unto Moses, Because there were no
graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?
wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of
Egypt?"
- Exodus 14:12, "Is not this the word that we did tell thee in
Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it
had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should
die in the wilderness.
- Exodus 14:13, " And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand
still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will show to you
to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see
them again no more for ever.
- Exodus 14:14, "The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold
your peace.
II. God is
with us when there is a need in our lives.
The writer to the Hebrews had something to say about God's presence.
Some of the folks to whom he was writing had lost their jobs because
of their faith in Jesus Christ, and they were facing desperate
needs. They were probably worrying about how their needs would be
met and, worse still, they were envying people who had everything
they needed. They would benefit from this pertinent exhortation:
"Let your character be free from the love of money, being content
with what you have; for He Himself has said, I will never desert
you, nor will I ever forsake you'" (Hebrews 13:5).
We may not have everything in life we want, but we do have the Lord.
He is right there with us all the time. He sees all our needs and He
will meet every one of them in His own time and in His own way.
III. God
is with us when we are lonely.
I want you to meet a lonely woman. Hagar was a slave, uprooted from
her home in Egypt and taken to be the handmaid of Abraham's wife,
Sarah. She had gotten pregnant by Abraham at Sarah's suggestion, and
the resultant situation had brought such tension and turmoil to
their household that she finally ran away to the
wilderness--unloved, unwanted, pregnant, and absolutely alone in a
strange land, the victim of someone else's sin.
That was when the Lord appeared to her with tender words of
encouragement and advice, and she called His name El Roi, the God
who sees (Genesis 16:13). She had come to the comforting realization
that God was right there with her, that He saw her in her
loneliness, and that He cared. Ezekiel called Him Jehovah -Shammah,
the Lord who is there (Ezekiel 48:35).
He is the same God today. He sees us in our loneliness and offers us
words of encouragement and advice. He is the God who is there, and
He still cares. Most of us prefer a warm body near us when we are
lonely, a hand we can touch, and a voice we can hear. God may
provide that for us in His perfect time. But meanwhile, He is with
us, and the very fact that we are physically alone can make His
presence more precious than it would be if there were people around
us. To believe that He is with us can help to dispel the aching
loneliness.
IV. God is
with us in difficult times.
- Exodus 3:11, "And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go
unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel
out of Egypt?
- Exodus 3:12, " And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and
this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou
hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon
this mountain.
Have you ever felt that your call in life was to bear all the
difficult things in life?
V. God is
with us in times of danger
- Isaiah 43:1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O
Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have
redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
- Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with
thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when
thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither
shall the flame kindle upon thee.
- Isaiah 43:3 For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy
Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
- Isaiah 43:4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been
honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for
thee, and people for thy life, and in Matt. 28:20 He tells us that
He will never leave us or forsake us.
God bless you and yours!
On behalf of this generation,
Your friends in the service of Christ,
Tony
and Marge Abram
Abundant Life Crusades
If we could be
of more help or if you want more information please visit:
www.tonyabram.com or
www.abundantlifecrusades.com
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