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Is there a future?

In a time of national crisis, Isaiah the prophet, promises his people that God is on their side and will secure their future, if they trust him. As a sign of this he points to the birth of a child called Immanuel. 700 plus years later, the gospel writer Matthew sees that the real outworking of that prophecy happened in the virgin birth of Jesus. God has come to be with his people. Now they need to trust him.

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Isaiah 7:1–17 (Listen)

Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

7:1 In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. 2 When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with1 Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz2 and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

3 And the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub3 your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. 4 And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it4 for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 7 thus says the Lord GOD:

  “‘It shall not stand,
    and it shall not come to pass.
8   For the head of Syria is Damascus,
    and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
  And within sixty-five years
    Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
9   And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
    and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
  If you5 are not firm in faith,
    you will not be firm at all.’”

The Sign of Immanuel

10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz: 11 “Ask a sign of the LORD your6 God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” 13 And he7 said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.8 15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. 17 The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”

Footnotes

[1] 7:2 Hebrew Syria has rested upon
[2] 7:2 Hebrew his heart
[3] 7:3 Shear-jashub means A remnant shall return
[4] 7:6 Hebrew let us split it open
[5] 7:9 The Hebrew for you is plural in verses 9, 13, 14
[6] 7:11 The Hebrew for you and your is singular in verses 11, 16, 17
[7] 7:13 That is, Isaiah
[8] 7:14 Immanuel means God is with us

(ESV)

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service.

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