THE SHAKY KING AHAZ
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. The Shaky King Ahaz
a) Isaiah’s second son Maher-shalal-hash-baz was born as a sign to Ahaz king of Jerusalem, as we shall now see...
i) Ahaz was not your best sort of king. Faith and courage were not his strong points. He was shaking with fear because Israel and Aram were getting together to attack Jerusalem (Isaiah 7:1-2).
ii) The names in these verses may not be familiar to you, so this little table will help you get things straight...
b) Through Isaiah, God spoke with scorn about this plan of Syria and Israel, and promised Ahaz that "it shall not stand nor shall it come to pass". God told Ahaz that only a lack of faith could cause his downfall (Isaiah 7:3-9). But Ahaz was a man of shaky faith.
c) To help strengthen his faith, God told Ahaz to choose any sign he pleased, and to make it as high as heaven or as deep as Sheol. This seems to mean that God would have made the sun stand still for Ahaz, or raised the dead for him, to help him have faith. (Isaiah 7:11)
d) Foolishly, Ahaz refused to ask for a sign. Stupidly he saw obeying God’s instruction as testing the Lord! (Isaiah 7:12-13). This is a lesson to us, incidentally, that when God commands us to "keep on asking" (Matthew 7:7-8) we should do so and not to refuse or neglect to ask of God for all our needs. When Ahaz refused, God was angered; God really wanted him to ask (Isaiah 7:12-13).
e) So because Ahaz missed the opportunity, God did not make the sun stand still for Ahaz, or raise the dead for him. He did, however, give him a sign of a different sort.
2. The Sign For Ahaz
a) The sign God gave Ahaz was not a sign that would strengthen his faith, nevertheless it would be a warning and a reminder to him that a very hard time was coming his way because of his lack of faith. Not only would the two kings whom Ahaz feared so much be conquered by the king of Assyria, but the Lord would use Assyria to "shave with a razor" Jerusalem and its people (Isaiah 7:14-20).
b) Ahaz would know that before Isaiah's little boy was old enough to choose good and refuse evil, this disaster would happen. Watching Isaiah's boy grow, the king of Jerusalem would know that the king of Assyria was at hand, a foe far more to fear than the two paltry kings he had trembled at. The little boy’s very name would remind Ahaz that the king of Assyria was coming swift to the booty and speedy to the prey (Isaiah 10:5-7, 2 Chronicles 28:19-22).
c) Can we learn anything from this? There is a fact of nature that warns us constantly that Christ is coming “swift to the booty and speedy to the prey”. We don't have to look very far for a natural reminder of this. For Ahaz the sign of coming doom was a birth. For the world today, the sign is death. James reminds us of the obvious — that our life is a vapor that lasts for a little while and then vanishes away (James 4:14). Death is a natural sign, but a very powerful one. Don't ignore its implications!
The End ...
1. The Shaky King Ahaza) Isaiah’s second son Maher-shalal-hash-baz was born as a sign to Ahaz king of Jerusalem, as we shall now see...
i) Ahaz was not your best sort of king. Faith and courage were not his strong points. He was shaking with fear because Israel and Aram were getting together to attack Jerusalem (Isaiah 7:1-2).
ii) The names in these verses may not be familiar to you, so this little table will help you get things straight...
| Nation | Capital | King |
| Assyria (Asshur) | Ninevah | Sennacherib |
| Syria (Aram) | Damascus | Rezin |
| Israel (Ephraim) | Samaria | Pekah |
| Judah (Zion) | Jerusalem | Ahaz |
b) Through Isaiah, God spoke with scorn about this plan of Syria and Israel, and promised Ahaz that "it shall not stand nor shall it come to pass". God told Ahaz that only a lack of faith could cause his downfall (Isaiah 7:3-9). But Ahaz was a man of shaky faith.
c) To help strengthen his faith, God told Ahaz to choose any sign he pleased, and to make it as high as heaven or as deep as Sheol. This seems to mean that God would have made the sun stand still for Ahaz, or raised the dead for him, to help him have faith. (Isaiah 7:11)
d) Foolishly, Ahaz refused to ask for a sign. Stupidly he saw obeying God’s instruction as testing the Lord! (Isaiah 7:12-13). This is a lesson to us, incidentally, that when God commands us to "keep on asking" (Matthew 7:7-8) we should do so and not to refuse or neglect to ask of God for all our needs. When Ahaz refused, God was angered; God really wanted him to ask (Isaiah 7:12-13).
e) So because Ahaz missed the opportunity, God did not make the sun stand still for Ahaz, or raise the dead for him. He did, however, give him a sign of a different sort.
2. The Sign For Ahaz
a) The sign God gave Ahaz was not a sign that would strengthen his faith, nevertheless it would be a warning and a reminder to him that a very hard time was coming his way because of his lack of faith. Not only would the two kings whom Ahaz feared so much be conquered by the king of Assyria, but the Lord would use Assyria to "shave with a razor" Jerusalem and its people (Isaiah 7:14-20).
b) Ahaz would know that before Isaiah's little boy was old enough to choose good and refuse evil, this disaster would happen. Watching Isaiah's boy grow, the king of Jerusalem would know that the king of Assyria was at hand, a foe far more to fear than the two paltry kings he had trembled at. The little boy’s very name would remind Ahaz that the king of Assyria was coming swift to the booty and speedy to the prey (Isaiah 10:5-7, 2 Chronicles 28:19-22).
c) Can we learn anything from this? There is a fact of nature that warns us constantly that Christ is coming “swift to the booty and speedy to the prey”. We don't have to look very far for a natural reminder of this. For Ahaz the sign of coming doom was a birth. For the world today, the sign is death. James reminds us of the obvious — that our life is a vapor that lasts for a little while and then vanishes away (James 4:14). Death is a natural sign, but a very powerful one. Don't ignore its implications!
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