Fuller's Field

 

3 Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field;

4 And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. . .

10 Moreover the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying,

11 "Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above."

12 But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, nor will I test the LORD!"

13 Then he said, "Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will 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.

     Isaiah 7:3-4, 10-14 (NKJV)

 We are now in the season of Advent and the Immanuel prophecy is a key verse cited in describing the coming of Christ.  The prophecy is amazing in it’s accuracy and detail, as well as the incredible truth that God would come in the flesh to be with us. But it’s also surprising to realize that this prophecy was revealed to Ahaz, a wicked king of Judah (see 2 Kings 16:3-4).

 Despite his idolatry and wickedness, the Lord was gracious to assure Ahaz that this enemy alliance would not prevail against Judah.  And despite knowing that Ahaz was a godless king, God encouraged him to ask a sign from the Lord, perhaps to stir up his faith. But Ahaz refused and said he would not test the Lord.  The Bible does prohibit the testing of God (Deut. 6:16), but that was not at issue here.  Instead, this seems to be a pious pretense by Ahaz, maybe to justify his resolve not to do God’s will but to persevere in his own plans.  In light of this refusal, the Lord then proclaimed the extraordinary sign of His choosing.  

 

This account highlights the inscrutability of God. We may not understand why God used a wicked king to pronounce such a wonderful prophecy, but we’re merely called to believe and have faith, unlike Ahaz.

 

Immanuel, God with us. Do you believe? Is He with you?

In the Beginning...of Mark

 Do you like long introductions? Me neither. Get to the point. Here's the introduction of Mark, the Gospel for those in a hurry:

​The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (Mark 1:1 NASB) 

That's it. But look what's packed into it:

1. "gospel" - this is good news. It's not the Eleven O'clock News, not the Times, not CNN. This is good news. When is the last time you heard really good news, news that was good for everyone? It's been a while for me.
2. "Jesus Christ" - this is good news about THE Messiah. Not "a messiah". They had lots of news about such people, and it was rarely good news. This Messiah was all the messianic anointed ones rolled into One:
   1. The Prophet Like Moses - who would speak for Yahweh
   2. The King Like David - who would lead Israel to victory over enemies
   3. The High Priest like... - who would reform the corrupt religious system. This one turns out to be like Melchizedek instead of Aaron, which caught everyone off guard.
3. "the Son of God" - this is a term we often miss in English and our culture because of the "idiom" of Hebrew where "son" was used to refer to a category. This title puts Jesus in the category of God, which is claiming equality with God. That was extremely offensive to most Jews. This good news was about the Messiah of all messiahs, and every reference to the appearance of God among His people.

All these titles were found in the human being, Jesus. In this season, we celebrate the impossibility of the Creator of all matter in the universe contained in a manger sharing space with straw. What a strange beginning to such an immense story.