Ahaz is the king of Judah, the southern kingdom with its capital city of Jerusalem. Pekah is king of Israel, the northern kingdom. Isaiah is a very famous prophet in the southern kingdom. Pekah and Israel makes an alliance with the country of Aram to attack, destroy and divide Judah. Remember that Judah and Israel were once the same country, they had a shared history and a shared heritage, they were of the same faith, they counted Abraham, Isaac, Jacob in their lineage. Moses led them both from the bondage of Egypt. To attack each other; to align themselves in an unholy alliance with a pagan country would be anathema to God. Isaiah tells Ahaz to "stand firm in your faith". God will intervene. Israel will be destroyed because of their moral failure within 65 years. Ahaz is not a good king, but God is better and he is true to his word. Isaiah's prophecy is true and Israel will be conquered and carried into exile. But I thought Isaiah 7: 9b was worthy of pointing our particularly to you.
"If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all."
One of the things that I like about Bible reading and study is how we find things that sound very familiar to us. This is one of them. If you are a country western music lover you might remember Aaron Tippin's song that was a tribute to his Daddy, "You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything." It has its roots right here in the book of Isaiah.
What is it that you believe in unquestionably? What is it that you would stake your life on? Who is it that you ultimately trust? Isaiah says to Ahaz, "trust in God" and so do I. To trust anything other than God is to make an idol of something or someone that should not be idolized. Well, I guess that I should coach my words, certainly I trust my lovely bride, my Daddy, my children, my church; but only so far as they operate in the principles and mandates of scripture. Those biblical mandates and promises are eternal. They are trustworthy because they are of God and God never lies. When we trust in God, we are trusting in the real thing.....the only thing that really matters.
How is your Faith? Is it firmly planted in the principles of God? Do you know enough to be able to make decisions that are biblically based? Do you know those things that are absolute? When you are deciding the really important things of life, it is best to know that one who wrote the rule book. It is best to play the game on the side of the one who invented the game.
"stand firm in your faith." If you don't know what you should believe....continue to read through the scriptures with us. Post your questions, pray for guidance and for answers, develop a discerning heart. God is good......all the time.....in that I have faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment