GOD IS … TRUSTWORTHY
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Opening Prayer
Father, I look to you to teach me through your Word today. Show me how to live for you in ways that bring you glory and make my life lived with you a testimony to those around me.
Read ISAIAH 7:1–9
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
The Sign of Immanuel
7 When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it.
2 Now the house of David was told, “Aram has allied itself with Ephraim”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.
3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field. 4 Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood—because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah. 5 Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have plotted your ruin, saying, 6 “Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.” 7 Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘It will not take place,
it will not happen,
8 for the head of Aram is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is only Rezin.
Within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.
9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.
If you do not stand firm in your faith,
you will not stand at all.’”
Reflect
What is the situation of greatest danger that you have faced? It might be as an individual, a group—or perhaps even a nation. How did you feel? How did you handle it?I didn’t know it at the time, but as a Westerner, I was potentially in great danger. The previous week, another tourist had been mugged and killed on the street we were on. My hosts told me afterward, and the anxiety I didn’t feel at the time came flooding over me, even though by then we were perfectly safe!
Ahaz—Uzziah’s grandson—was king. A number of years had passed since Isaiah’s vision in chapter 6. Unlike me, he knew well the danger he was facing, and it was grave indeed. War was about to break out between the mighty Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel, whose borders were only 12 miles from Jerusalem. No wonder he was inspecting the water supply to the city (v. 3), one of the most vulnerable points in a siege.
Isaiah knew that the attitude of the leader affects the people, to encourage or dishearten them. That is why he told Ahaz to keep calm (v. 4), trust God, and ‘stand firm’ in his faith (v. 9).
Apply
Sometimes we can forget God is worthy of our trust when faced with the immediacy of danger. Think of a situation of danger or trouble you or a group you are part of is facing. How can you be a person of calm, faith, and encouragement?
Closing prayer
Lord God, wherever I find or sense danger, you are there, with me, ready and able to help. Help me to remember that you are always faithful and altogether worthy of my trust.
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