Tuesday: Another Chance
Isa: 7:10-13
Ahaz did not respond to Isaiah’s call for faith. So, God mercifully gave the king another chance, telling him to ask for a sign that was “deep as Sheol or high as heaven” (Isa: 7:11, NRSV). Here is one of the greatest invitations to faith ever given to a human being. Unlike lotteries or sweepstakes, God placed no restrictions in fine print. God did not even limit His offer to the half of His kingdom, as human rulers did when they reached the upper limit of their generosity (see Esther 5:6, Esther 7:2, Mark 6:23). He was ready and willing to empty all of heaven and earth for a wicked king if he would only believe! As a sign, Ahaz could have asked for a mountain of gold or soldiers as numerous as grains of sand by the Mediterranean.
Why did Ahaz respond in the way he did (Isa: 7:12)?
Image © Erik Stenbakken at Goodsalt.com
At first glance, Ahaz’s answer seems pious and respectful. He would not put God to the test, as the Israelites had centuries before, during their wilderness wanderings (Exod: 17:2, Deut: 6:16). But the difference was that God invited the king to put Him to the test (compare Mal: 3:10). To take Him up on His overwhelmingly generous gift would please Him, not test His patience. But Ahaz was not even willing to allow God to help him to believe. He barred and bolted the door of his heart to shut out faith.
Read Isaiah 7:13. What is Isaiah saying here?
Isaiah pointed out that by refusing to put God to the test, outwardly to avoid wearying God, Ahaz, in fact, wearied God. But the most troubling aspect of this verse is the fact that here Isaiah refers to “my God,” by clear contrast to Isaiah 7:11, where the prophet asked the king to ask a sign of the Lord “your God.” When Ahaz refused the divine offer, he rejected the Lord from being his God. The Lord was the God of Isaiah, but not of Ahaz.
| What does this day’s study teach us about God’s forbearance and willingness to bring all of us to salvation? What also does it tell us about the blindness and hardness of the human heart when not surrendered completely to the Lord? In the end, even if God had given Ahaz any sign that he had wanted, do you think Ahaz would then have believed? Explain your answer. |
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Signs of the Times:
How often does the LORD give signs? Should we ask for a sign before we believe or should we rather pay attention to the signs He has already given us.
Think about Gideon asking for the sign of the fleece before believing the message in Judges 6:36-40.
When the Pharisee asked Jesus to prove who He was by a sign in Matt 12:38-39 and Matt 16:1-4 - He told them the only sign He would give them was that of Jonah - but didn't explain what it meant.
However when the disciples asked for a sign in Matthew 24 He did give them Signs of the Times to warn them His coming was near - are these still relevant to us?.
Of course as we know in Rev 13:17-18 there is the famous sign or mark of the beast of 666 as opposed to the seal or mark of the LORD in Rev 7:1-4 and Rev 14:1
How important are these signs to us today - do we like Ahaz refuse to consider them in case it means we have to change or are we obsessed about avoiding the signs of certain groups.
What sign did Jesus say shows we are His disciples? John 13:35
How do we balance our lives between looking forward to Jesus' Second Coming and living as ambassadors for Him in the current tumultuous world?
Todays lesson is kind of complex for me. The question I ask myself is, Was Ahaz wrong or right with his response (Isaiah 7:12) to Gods invitation/request? Why?
Help a sister out.
If God invites us to do something, I would think that doing what He invites us to do is the right thing.
What do you think?
My conscience is telling me, that the answer is: that sin is anytime we are disobeying God's immediate commands to us. I sin whenever I say "no" to God's word to me . This is why it's so important to have a close walk with Him and to remain constant in prayer. What He tells someone else to do, He might not want me to do. What He tells us to do one time, He might not want us to do another time. I think of Moses, where God told him to strike the rock to bring forth water, and then later when Moses struck the rock to bring water it was a sin because God had told him to do something different that time. This is important because I think it shows that we can make even God's commandments an idol. It's God's character that is set in stone. Jesus made it clear that God's commands go far beyond a literal interpretation (Matt 5:21-22, 27-28). God interprets His commands for us through His Holy Spirit and that is what we need to listen to with humble, divinely pliable hearts, His Spirit, not our stubborn interpretations, our habitual interpretations that support our self-made plans.
To me, this invitation was more than just asking for a sign. It feels more like God inviting Ahaz into a conversation. Ahaz wanted nothing to do with God, and his polite reason for declining that invitation was a clear rejection of God. God is all about giving us a choice. Isaiah even reminded Ahaz that he was of the lineage of David. Any Jew of that day knew that David’s family line, was the avenue through which the Messiah would come. The sign God has Isaiah give him, further reminded him of that promise. It seems on the surface like a simple invitation to ask for a sign, but for me, I see God giving Ahaz one more chance to come into a relationship with Him.
To me, when Ahaz decided to not ask, he was rejecting the Lord's help, and by saying I will put the Lord to test, he was snubbing his nose to the Lord. The Lord does not force Himself on us. Even Saul-Paul when stricken by the bright light of Christ could have rejected His advice, thank God he did not. From Christ words we could conclude that if Ahaz were abiding in the Lord, he would have asked for help. John 15:7.
This story obviously confirms it pays to abide in the Lord.
He was not wrong. In his mind he was right. But looking at what was in front of him and what he saw he had all the reason to believe that he was allowed by God himself to put him to test. Isaiah the prophet was number one sign for him to do it. The only problem is he trusted his own understanding
And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquities and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. Ex 34:6-7.
Another Chance
My bible told me about my loving heavenly father that gives chance upon chance upon chances, if not I would have been dead by now. Despite he was a wicked and evil king, the Lord was calling him to trust him and turn from his wicked ways.
Ahaz, like many of us SDA, are putting our trust in man, be it the leaders of our church/congregation/government etc.
We are told the arm of flesh will fail us. Do we believe that? We need to pray for leaders that the Lord will lead them and they will listen to the Lord and be lead in the right direction.
Most of our mistakes, as humans, are related to pride. Sometimes we are too proud to recognize that God is always right! Because He is! Our most successful decision is to accept God's opportunity freely given to us, Jesus! Anything else will be naturally added.
Ahaz didn’t know, or care, that God was willing to give the ultimate treasure - Jesus. And that He did give that Gift to us.
Oh how challenging to find ways to reach the hearts of unbelievers! I could be greatly discouraged by this lesson but I will instead keep praying that the Lord keeps the enemy from strengthening the enemy’s hold on those I care for and that their hearts will soften.
We can claim God to be our God. It’s only when we trust Him in a personal, practical way each day that we show Him to be our God.
The offer given to Ahaz again shows God’s willingness to work with us. He wants us to believe in Him and come boldly before Him in the name of Jesus with our needs and requests (Hebrews 11:6, 4:16).
In times of trouble He tells us to come and approach Him, ask Him for what we need (Psalms 50:15).
We may not get exactly what we ask for but we will have exactly what we need and more.
He wants us to know He cares about the big and little things that would make us happy and the things that plague us. He wants nothing to interfere with our trust in Him.
Luke 12:6-7 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.
A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still". The Lord did everything possible to convince this stubborn king but he did everything possible to resist God's loving providence. "If you will not believe you shall not be established", days the Lord of heaven and earth. In my humble opinion, if we refuse to exercise trust in God, take Him at His word, our faith cannot be set on a firm footing, a rock-like foundation.
This lesson surely is an example of what happens when man is preferring his own wisdom over God’s wisdom. Our God considers the future in all things regarding man, but man can only see as far as his arm reaches. He does not know anything about the working together of powers in heaven and earth, he can only know what he thinks that he knows.
God knew all about Ahaz and the people of Juda being afraid of the enemy’s powers to depose the king and to conquer their land. In the midst of their anxieties, the God of all the people of Israel offered help – Isa.7:2-4KJV. Isaiah spoke the words of God clearly, proving to Ahaz that God knew all about the forces gathering themselves against him and Juda; but Ahaz declined God’s help.
There must have been something else at play here. Ahaz was offered a sign, reassurance to convince him that God was on his side, that God has the power to conquer any enemy; but Ahaz still refused!
Isaiah 7:1-9KJV and Isaiah 8:6-8KJV show that God in His wisdom and foresight offered Ahaz the better way out. Dread was still assembled on his doorstep, but God said: (v.9)“…If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. God knew the greater, more destructive enemy of the land would be Assyria, but Ahaz chose to turn down the help from the God of his people; he did not want to have anything to do with him. Instead, Ahaz demonstrated allegiance to his gods, whoever they might have been, when he refused to know the power of the God of his fathers.
Our God knows all about us, knows the perils and pitfalls waiting for us should we forsake Him. The only way forward is to trust God’s Word explicitly, that He is faithful to respond justly and kindly toward us who have faith in Him and His power to know what is needed to be established and what needs to be removed from our lives.
The lesson for those who will apply themselves to the study of God's Word is to see what happens when we allow the world to possess our thoughts and guide our actions. Ahaz had departed from the Lord and when offered the opportunity to ask for a sign, he demonstrated the depths of unbelief that one can easily fall into. This story is for our admonition.
I'm not sure there is any purpose in discussing "what if?", but must read and understand only that which is written for us to gain wisdom from. All the suppositions we could offer would not supply one truth to hold fast to.