Scripture Reading : Isaiah 7
Theme : Virgin Birth of Jesus
Exhortation to Faith (1-9)
Judah is threatened with invasion by an alliance of Israel, the northern kingdom, and Syria. God exhorts Judah to rely on Him alone, instead of making an alliance with Assyria to deliver them (2 Kgs 16:5-14). God promises that Israel, the northern kingdom, will cease to be a people in 65 years. If Ahaz does not have faith in God, he cannot be faithful to God. Faith produces faithfulness.
Sign for Lack of Faith (10-17).
Because of Ahaz’s lack of faith, God wants to give him a sign so that he would believe, but Ahaz rejected God through false piety because he had already decided to trust in Assyria (2 Kgs. 16:7). So God gives a prophecy concerning the virgin birth of the Messiah who will deliver Israel in the end times from the King of Assyria, who is a type of the end times antichrist (vv. 18-25). This prophecy is connected to Is. 9:6. The Messiah’s deliverance of Israel from the antichrist is in the end times (Is. 9:4, 10:26). This same prophecy is succinctly captured in Micah 5:2-6. God wants Israel to concentrate on the end times when God will completely get rid of sin in Israel and give them everlasting peace (Dan. 9:24; 2 Sam. 7:10). All OT saints were supposed to long for this kingdom (Heb. 11:10). The beginning of fulfilling this prophecy of deliverance from Assyria by the Messiah is stated in Matt. 1:23. The boy in v. 16 is not referring to Immanuel (who is an infant not a boy), but referring to Isaiah’s son: Shear-jashub in v. 3. For two of Isaiah’s children, Shear-jashub and Maher-shalal-hash-baz, are signs, not just one child (8:18). God also prophesies through Shear-jashub in v. 16 and Maher-shalal-has-baz in 8:3-4 that in the near future, He will deliver Judah from Israel and Syria. Despite Ahaz’s unfaithfulness, God is gracious to protect Israel at this time.
Praying the Scripture
- Faith in God means faithfulness and commitment to God. Faith is not a magical phrase one says in order to avoid God’s punishment. Faith is trusting God for salvation and committing yourself to His lordship (Col. 2:6). The problem with seeker-sensitive and charismatic churches is that they have deceived people into thinking God is a cosmic therapist whose job is to cure all your problems: from bad marriages to bad jobs. All you need to do is show some respect to Him and do some nice things for Him so He will do some nice things for you. This is not faith, but bargaining with God and salvation by works. Faith is trusting God for your salvation, forsaking your self-worship, and committing yourselves to Him no matter how tough life is because you know He loves you and will give you grace to fight your daily battles against sin.
- It is very unnatural to think that God would take on human flesh. This is stunning and hard to believe. This is why we need faith because we cannot rely on our own wisdom to understand ultimate reality, we need God’s revelation. We can trust in His revelation because of amazing fulfilled prophecies and He also created the world. Praise God for His amazing mercy in sending Jesus to die for our sins and giving us a glorious new world. In Him, we are complete, full, and satisfied (Col. 2:10).
- It is also unnatural to think that one day Jesus will suddenly burst forth from the sky and forever change this world. It takes faith to accept it, not by our own understanding (Prov. 3:5-6). This faith is not blind, but is grounded in the proven fulfillment of God’s prophecies in the Bible (Zech. 12:10). Because this faith is unnatural, it needs to be cultivated by praying to God for help, by immersing yourself in the Bible, and by growing in your love for God through Jesus.
经文：以赛亚书7
主题：由童女而生的耶稣
信靠神的劝诫（1-9）。
北国以色列与亚兰联盟攻打犹大，使犹大受到威胁。神劝诫犹大要投靠神一个，而不是期望能与亚述同盟，就此得救（王下16:5-14）。神应许北国以色列将在65年内不复存在。倘若亚哈斯对神没信心，他就不会对神忠心。信心所结的果子是忠诚。
缺乏信心的兆头（10-17）。
由于亚哈斯缺乏信心，所以神要给他一个迹象，叫他能相信；然而，亚哈斯却借着虚假虔诚拒绝了神，因为他已定意要投靠亚述（王下16:7）。因此，神给予一个预言，应许弥赛亚必由童女而生，而祂将在末日从亚述王手中拯救以色列；这里的亚述王是末日敌基督的一个类型（18-25节）。这个预言与以赛亚书9:6是相连的。弥赛亚将在末日时拯救以色列脱离敌基督之手（9:4, 10:26）。这个预言也在弥迦书5:2-6有精简的记载。神要以色列专注于末日，即神将彻底除去以色列中的罪，并给予他们永恒平安的时候（但9:24；撒下7:10）。所有旧约信徒当向往这个国度（来11:10）。马太福音1:23便记载了这预言的初步应验，即弥赛亚将拯救以色列脱离亚述人手中的预言。第16节的孩子指的不是以马内利（以马内利是婴孩，不是孩子），而是以赛亚的儿子施亚雅述（3节）。以赛亚的儿子施亚雅述和玛黑珥沙拉勒哈施罢斯都是神给亚哈斯的迹象，不仅是其中一子（8：18）。神也借着16节的施亚雅述和8:3-4的玛黑珥沙拉勒哈施罢斯预言在不久的将来，祂会从以色列和叙利亚手中搭救犹大。即便亚哈斯对神不忠，但神在这时候仍恩待以色列，保护着她。
用经文祷告
- 信靠神就是忠心并委身于神。信心并不是一个避免神之审判的神奇工具。信心是相信神的拯救，并委身于祂的主权（西2:6）。与世人友好的灵恩教会的问题所在，就是欺骗人以为神仅是宇宙间的治疗师，其任务是解决你所有的问题，如婚姻、工作等。你只需要给予神一点尊敬，为祂行一些好事，叫祂也能为你成就美意。这不是信心，乃是与神讨价还价，想凭行为得救。真实的信心是信靠神的拯救，舍弃自我崇拜，不论处境何如都委身于神，因为你知道祂爱你，并会赐下恩典，叫你能每日与罪争战。
- 我们很难想象神是如何成了肉身的；这是令人惊叹又难以置信的事。这也就是我们为什么需要信心，因为我们不能依靠自己的智慧了解所有现实——我们需要神的启示。我们能相信神的启示，因为神已应验多处奇妙的预言；神即是创造宇宙万物的。赞美神，因为祂赐下了奇妙的怜悯，叫耶稣为我们的罪代死，并赐予我们荣耀的新世界。我们在祂里面是完全、全然并满足的（西2:10）。
- 我们也很难想象耶稣有一日会从空中迸出，并永远改变世界。这是需要信心相信的，不能依赖自己的理解悟出（箴3:5-6）。这个信心不是盲目的，而是扎根在神所应验的圣经预言中（撒12:10）。由于这种信心不是人造的，它需要藉着祷告，求神帮助，并将自己沉浸于圣经，借着耶稣加增神之爱才得培养的。
