HOPE TO THE WORLD 

ISAIAH 7:14; ISAIAH 9:6-7

          Oftentimes we find the reading and understanding of the Old Testament to be quite difficult.  This is especially true after we get past the great stories in Genesis, Exodus, Joshua and Judges.  Because of this difficulty many fail to read the Old Testament prophetic books and are certainly unwilling to invest the great amount of time needed to understand and decipher them.  However, as believers we must do better.  Though we may not like reading and studying the prophets we must do so because Old Testament prophecy is crucial to the Gospel message.  Why in the Book of Isaiah alone there are 22 messianic prophecies.  As we can see from the verses we read these prophecies cover the scope of pre-birth to millennia reign as king of the Earth.  There are prophecies that speak of the character and obedience of Christ, the suffering and death of Jesus, his victory over death, and even his opening the door for relationship with God to the Gentiles.  All of these actions on his part are directly responsible for us having the opportunity to join the family of God.

          As we enter the Christmas season I want to focus today on just two of the prophecies concerning Jesus.  I want to use as a title for today’s message "Hope To The World". 

ISAIAH 7:14

          To read this scripture alone would not bring up any red flags in your studying the Word.  If you have been around church for any time you have already heard that it is a prophecy about the birth of Jesus.  In fact it is probably used in every play about Christmas, be it children or adult plays.  However if you read it in its context you would think now what is that doing there. 

ISAIAH 7:1-3

          The king of Israel, who by the way is a distant relative of the king of Judah, joined leagues with the king of Syria to go up and fight against the king of Judah.  When the king and people of Judah heard that they were about to be attacked they were terrified.  Verse 2 says “And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.”  They became unstable and fearful. So God sends the prophet Isaiah to the king of Judah and he tells Isaiah to take with him his young son She’ar-ja-shub, whose name itself mean “a remnant shall return or survive”.  Now when reading this passage many of us would just skip over the name and not even take time to acknowledge that God purposefully told Isaiah to take the boy with him.  The boys name by itself should have caused hope to spring up in the king.  Syria and Israel were threatening to wipe Judah out, but God sends a message of hope in a simple thing like a name.  This should teach us that when we are feeling down trodden, cast out, and fearful don’t overlook the simple things that God places around us to bring hope; a bird singing, friends, even day and night in its proper course.            But let’s complete the story because that is not the only reason the boy is to be present.

          God told Isaiah to tell the king of Judah in Isaiah 7:4, “Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands.  He says though they have threatened to come and wipe you out they are but smoke, having lost the power and energy of fire they will soon dissipate.  In verse 7 he says, “Thus saith the Lord God, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.”  In other words, what they have said that they will do will never come to past. Sometimes you have to realize that when the enemy raises up against you he that he is nothing but smoke.  The fuel that once caused the fire to burn is now gone out.  All that remains is the smoke.  (Example:  When you first got saved you had very strong desires and urges, built up from having given in to your flesh for so long.  But as you continue to walk with God, the desire is still there but it is not a raging fire, it is more like smoke an irritant, there to remind you that you are still living in this earthly tabernacle that has its own set of desires separate from the desires and longings of your spirit man.  Now if you feed the first it will only grow larger and become a blazing rage attempting to wipe out anything good in you.  But if you cut the energy and stop feeding the fire it will die and just become smoke.) 

ISAIAH 7:10-12

          Here because of Ahaz’s lack of faith, God tells him to ask for any sign that he would like to have.  To the naked eye Ahaz’s reply appears to be rather pious; Oh God I don’t need a sign from you. In fact Ahaz was refusing to accept a prophesy coming from Isaiah because he had in the past been prophesying about the eventual destruction of Judah if the people did not return to the Lord.  Ahaz had not been following after the ways of God and Isaiah was a thorn in his flesh.  So even when Isaiah prophesied deliverance Ahaz would not hear.  Rebellion is a terrible thing because it can cause you to cut your own head off to spite your foot.  I Samuel 15:23 says that “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”

          Ahaz would not receive a sign for his current situation so God gave him a sign for a future time in Judah.  There would come a time in Judah where they would again need deliverance and at that time a miracle would happen.  A virgin would conceive and bring forth God into the world.  Ahaz could not believe that God would bring him victory in the midst of his mess.  God’s reply is not only will I bring victory while you are in a mess, but there will come a time in the future of Judah where God will not only bring victory but he will step into the mess.  Imbedded in the promise of God being born into this world is the hope that God will bring deliverance to his people.  No matter what the situation we who are children of God can have hope in this word because God is with us.

          After making this great announce of hope for Judah’s future, Isaiah looks at Ahaz and says, by the way, before this young boy is old enough to know right and wrong both of the kings that have raised up against you will be dead.   Ahaz refused the hope that God offered him of deliverance and likewise so many refuse the hope that we have found in Christ. 

I TIMOTHY 1:1

          Paul describes Jesus here as our hope.  In fact he describes those who are without Christ as being hopeless. 

EPHESIANS 2:11-13

          Though many do not and will not believe it, without Christ they really have no hope of surviving this world.  Many are just like we were before we got saved.  You could not have told us that we were hopeless, pitiful, and only a minute part of what we were created to be.  Most of us thought that we had it going on.  We thought that we had life by the horns and was about to tackle it as a matador might tackle a bull in a bull fight.  We had no idea of the real condition we were in.  But then the Son of God broke into our pitiful lives and now the light of hope burns brightly in us and we believe that we can face anything that life throws at us as long we have Immanuel, God who is with us.  Jesus is our hope in this world.

          Isaiah not only prophesies of his miraculous birth that would bring hope into this world, but he prophesies also of the great power, character and purpose of the child who would later be born into this world and he does this through the list of names used to describe the child. 

ISAIAH 9:6-7

          The word wonderful used here is the Hebrew word peleh which means “a marvelous thing.”  When we look at all Jesus accomplished in the short time he was on this earth we too know that he is marvelous.  In just a little over 3 years, he had such an impact on 11 men that they went out after his death and change the face of the world.  We can attest to the wonderful marvelous person that he is because of the wonderful and marvelous things he has done in our lives.

          Counselor comes from the Hebrew Ya’ ats which means to consider carefully, consult, guide or advise.  Jesus is a counselor who understands us.  He cares about us and is capable of showing compassion.  The name expresses the idea that he is the supreme counselor, the one who is qualified to give counsel and advice to all created beings. 

          Now some because of what I just said believe that Christians should not go to get counseling.  They will say to you that Psalm 1:1 says “Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.”  Or they will say Psalm 73:24 says “Thou (God) shall guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.” The question I ask those who think in this way is, “What happens when God’s counsel to me is to seek counseling from a trained counselor.”  You see God recognizes all that we have gone through in life and all the effects that our experiences have on us.  And God knows that for some of us there are deep seeded memories and hurts that we need to recognize and deal with.  Most humans are not massicust seeking or enjoying pain, so we resist, even sometimes unknowingly, bringing up and pondering over painful memories.  That is what a counselor helps you to do. 

PROVERBS 11:14

Solomon restates this same principle in Prov. 15:22 where he says “Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counselors they are established.  He says in consulting many people we can achieve our goals.  The key, I believe in Christians seeking counseling is to always put God first and keep in heart and mind what God says about the situation.  Yes it is good to find a Christian counselor if you can, but if not you pledge to keep God in the heart of the matter by taking whatever you hear, see or discover back to him and listening  as he gives you instructions on what to do.  This is how we keep the wonderful counselor, Jesus, involved in all of our situations, past or present.

          Another name ascribed to Jesus is mighty God.  The Hebrew word used here is Gibbor which means powerful, strong, champion and chief.  It literally means the mighty almighty, or the conquering God.  We know this name to be true of Jesus for he has already conquered our greatest fear which is death.  When Jesus got up after being crucified, he conquered death hell and the grave and brought hope to the world that we too can one day get up and be received into glory like as he was.  Not only has he conquered death, hell and the grave but in some of our lives he has already conquered many of our fears, beat back many of our sinful cravings and tore down many of the walls that held imprisoned and kept us from experience true freedom in Christ and the abundant life that God desires for us to live.  Yes because Jesus is the mighty conquering God we who know him have the hope of a better life in this world and in the world to come. 

          The final name that I want to mention for Jesus is The Prince of Peace.  Jesus told his disciples in John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  Having Jesus in our lives offers us peace in a world that is always struggling with war, peace in our lives that are always confronted with struggles and peace in our hearts as we endeavor to do God’s will. 

          In the fulfillment of Isaiah” first two prophecies about the coming Messiah we who know Jesus as Lord and Savior find hope in this world where so many others see hopelessness.  This Christmas season let’s make it our goal to share hope with world by sharing Jesus Christ, The Hope For the World.