Ahaz, Isaiah and Immanuel

By Justin Snider 

King Ahaz was a bad leader. He is presented in the Bible as corrupt and morally compromised, and brief accounts of his ignominious life are found in both 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. But it is to this bad leader that the prophet Isaiah is told to speak the LORD’s message. 

King Ahaz was looking for a way to avert national disaster. Two nations were breathing down the necks of the people of Judah. The Lord had a message for him, a message to trust, that two of the nations that were coming to invade would not actually succeed. Isaiah sought to give him a message of hope so that he could trust God. 

Isaiah told him:  

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel…for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.” (Isaiah 7:15-16)

This child to be born would be a sign that God is with us. King Ahaz was told to listen and to trust. This message should’ve brought him overwhelming joy. 

But he did not listen.

Instead, he tries to secure protection by making a political deal with the Assyrian Empire. King Ahaz saw the world in brutal, cold facts, and he thought the only way to survive would come from making crooked deals, deploying violence, and sacrificing his integrity. But right in front of him was a promise, that God was near, that Immanuel was coming.

It was in the midst of this social-policial situation around the year 732 BCE in which the name of Immanuel was first introduced. The message of Immanuel would remain in the hearts of the people who were longing for deliverance. And this name would be used to introduce the coming of Jesus.  

When Mary and Joseph were told that they were going to have a child, they could have easily rejected this idea. They could have looked at the situation of the world, they could have seen how life under Roman occupation had been and made the conclusion that God is not with us. But unlike Ahaz, Mary and Joseph trusted. And they were to bring into the world the one who would be Immanuel in the flesh. 

This week we arrive at Christmas. As we gather to celebrate, reflect, and worship, may the good news of Immanuel’s coming bring us great joy. 

-Pastor Justin