For whatever reason, I seem to be focused these days on passages from Isaiah. Some may look at this book of prophecy and wonder why and how it could hold relevance today. It is a bit hard to understand if you don't know the history behind the passages in them. But, a deeper look at the history and background will reveal that we have a lot in common with the times, both political and historic to Isaiah. Even more important than that, it is easy to see that some of their struggles then were some of the same things we struggle with today. In Isaiah 7, the primary issue seems to be one of trust and misplaced trust.
Isaiah was told to go out to the water system that King Ahaz was overseeing. Ahaz was worried about the threat from the north from the kingdoms of Syria and Ephraim. We are told in this chapter that Ahaz's heart was shaking like trees shaking in the wind (Isaiah 7:2). If I can put it in modern language, Ahaz was having a full fledged panic attack over the idea of these rulers destroying what he had. As a result, instead of trusting in God, he had made an alliance with the King of Assyria.
Isaiah went out to tell Ahaz that he should not worry about these two kings for in 65 years they would not exist. That was around 734 B.C. when Isaiah stated this to Ahaz. We know looking back on history that these kings were attacked both before that Assyria defeated Syria in 732 B.C. and invaded Judah in 722 B.C. But, Ahaz was not a man of very much faith in God, even though he was encouraged to trust God. Isaiah said to Ahaz,
"If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all."
But, God knew that he was not asking Ahaz something that came easy for him, so he offered to give Ahaz a sign. Ahaz's comments "I will not put the Lord to the test." is a statement of false humility. He had already showed who he trusted in by making an alliance with Assyria. How many of us make the same mistake, in times when we may feel like God is silent or times when we have slowly walked away from God, we trust in what we can see rather than God. Ironically, it is the very one who he trusted in, that is Assyria, who would ultimately lead him to the most trouble. As is the case many times today, God will allow you to fall by the very thing you trust in instead of him. His words to Ahaz are words to us also. This is how you stand as a believer.
It is easy to criticize Ahaz for his pathetic lack of faith looking back on the situation. We don't have a sense of the vulnerability of Ahaz or how weak he felt. We can't see how vacant the storerooms of food looked or the sense in which he was militarily weak. But, the issue is the same for us sometimes. God tells us to look at him and to trust him and all we can do is look at our circumstances and cry out, "It is too much." The thing is, that often times when we trust in other things those things we thought would hold true for us end up being the very thorns in our flesh. Turns out, we are leaning on a fence that has already fallen over.
The interesting thing about it is, that if we could truly grasp how great and vast and powerful God truly is there would be no wavering in doubt. We would be firmly convinced of the power of God to do more than we can ask or imagine. But, we get our eyes off of God so easily and on to our circumstances. It is like Peter who looked at the waves in the ocean rather than at Jesus when he walked on the water and began to sink. Our circumstances, much like Ahaz's, seem so big, but God described Ahaz's problem as "two smoldering stubs of firewood." (7:4) Doesn't sound like they impressed God very much. It was not that they were so small, but that God is so very big. Our very imagination doesn't allow us to comprehend how much God can do.
Just like God tells Ahaz all those centuries ago to trust Him, so he tells us to trust Him. In fact, it is impossible to please God with faith. There are also many promises we can claim when we lay a hold of trusting in God. Some that come to mind to meditate on:
"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petituion, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
