Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
This week’s lesson from “The Adult Sabbath School Guide” is titled “When Your World is Falling Apart”. A treatise on Isaiah 7. I like the way we are looking at Isaiah as a whole, not with blinders on. It is important to read all scripture that way. And the part of Isaiah 7 that refers to “Immanuel” is a case in point. Let’s look at it.
Ahaz, king of Judah, is concerned about the upcoming assault that is surely coming from the king of Syria and the king of northern Israel. So God gives Ahaz a “sign”. Remember, a “sign” is something that points to something else. And so it is with this “sign” from God regarding a son. The “sign” of a son to be born who will be called “Immanuel” meaning “God is with us”. And “before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings” (King Rezin and King Pekah) (Isaiah 7: 16). Obviously, a child born at that time for the sake of King Ahaz. That a child shall be born at that time who will be a “sign”… and that child shall even have a symbolic name of “Immanuel”.
Was there a literal child born at that time with the name “Immanuel”? It appears not in Scripture. But then in the first century AD, Jesus was not named “Immanuel”, either. Remember, the name “Immanuel” is a “sign” or symbol, not necessarily a literal name of the child. So at the time of King Ahaz, the child that was the symbol was likely Isaiah’s own son, Maher-shalal-hash-baz (see Isaiah 8: 1-4). That son at that time, born of a “young woman”, is the Immanuel symbol for King Ahaz and Judea.
And so Matthew sees a parallel in the child Jesus (Hebrew = Joshua). A parallel established years before at the time of King Ahaz. A symbol or sign given years before. Jesus is not just the Immanuel of the Jews at the time of Augustus Caesar. He is the Immanuel of all time. Jesus-Immanuel… the symbol of God-with-us to assure our bondage to the slavery of sin can be overcome, if we will. Jesus is the spiritual “Immanuel”, just as Maher-shalal-hash-baz was the literal “Immanuel” during the time of King Ahaz.
We sinful humans, who are so self-focused, do not see clearly at all. We so often take the symbol as the reality, instead of seeing the symbol given as an indication of something deeper. For example:
· Sinful man seeks to be justified by a mere verbal confession of faith. Not a faith that interpenetrates every fiber of his being like Abraham.
· Sinful man wants an eternal life of endless retirement, not an eternal life of loving service to others… an eternity of giving love and receiving love.
And so with this child “Immanuel” in Isaiah 7. We adamantly insist that this refers only to the Christ. But this is reading Isaiah 7 from our point of view. As if God only speaks to ME. But He speaks to all… at every moment in history. And He has assured people in every moment, too. Just as He assured the Jews in King Ahaz’s day with this child. The account of “Immanuel” in the Old Testament and “Immanuel” in the New Testament is but a tangible demonstration to us all of what our God has been doing since the inception of sin itself. He has been with us… always and ever. Spiritually with each, convicting us, leading us, loving us truly. It is long overdue that we see the God of the Bible as He is and not interpret His actions from our own self-centered, point of view.
In attempting to explain God, we Christians have often resorted to using the symbolism of the Bible as the answer, without explanation and without delving into the real meaning of the symbolism. Or worse, have attempted to explain God with a false understanding of the symbolism that falsely represents our God and His loving ways. We Adventists must be known as those who not only know our God, but follow Him. Our lives being living witnesses of the God we know and hold dear. Do we not long to have God say of us what He said about Job to his so-called friends, “Job has spoken of Me what is right” (Job 42: 7, 8)? “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
With brotherly love,
Jim