(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

And the Bible reads, It came to pass in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, and the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin, the king of Syria and Pekah, the son of Ramaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. And he was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim, and his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz thou, and share Jashub thy son at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field, and say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet, fear not, neither be faint-hearted, for the two talls of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria and of the son of Ramaliah. Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Ramaliah have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeel. Thus saith the Lord God, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin, and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Ramaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. Moreover the Lord spake unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee again a sign of the Lord thy God, ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David, it is a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign, behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall ye eat, that he may know to refuse evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, on the day that Ephraim departed from Judah, even the king of Assyria. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes. And the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet, and it shall also consume the beard. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep, and it shall come to pass for the abundance of milk, that they shall give, he shall eat butter, for butter and honey shall everyone eat, that is left in the land. And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, and shall be even for briars and thorns. With arrows and with bows shall men come thither, because all the land shall become briars and thorns. And on all hills that shall be digged with the matok, there shall not come thither the fear of briars or thorns, but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle. Let's pray, dear Lord God, thank you for this church you've given us, Lord, thank you for the King James Bible, Lord, and thank you for pastor, we pray that you bless him right now, and fill him with your Holy Spirit as he preaches your word unto us, Lord, and just pray that us and the congregation have ears to hear, Lord. And we pray this all in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Okay, we're continuing our Bible study tonight on the book of Isaiah, and we're in chapter seven. Let me just give you a little bit of review from chapter six just to get us caught up here on what's going on. If you remember in chapter six, Isaiah gets this vision from the Lord, and it's a vision of the Lord sitting on his throne. And of course, it's the famous passage where Isaiah is essentially volunteering to go and preach unto Judah to harden the hearts of the wicked people of the land. And one of the significant aspects of chapter six is that it tells us that in the year that King Uzziah died. And if you remember from chapter one, we saw that Isaiah's ministry essentially spans over four different kings. You have Uzziah, you have Jotham, then you have Ahaz, and then lastly, you have Hezekiah. Now, the reason that's important going into chapter seven is because of the fact that we literally just skipped Jotham, okay? So we went from Uzziah in the beginning, and we saw him being mentioned there in chapter six. But for whatever reason, Jotham isn't really mentioned. There's not nothing much talked about other than what we saw in chapter one. And it's, you know, Jotham was a good king. We saw that he was a man who loved the Lord. He did that which is right in the sight of God. The only thing is, is that Jotham didn't go to the temple of the Lord. In modern terms, we would say, you know, he was saved. He believed on the Lord. He just didn't go to church, right? And so this guy didn't go to the temple of the Lord, and he still loved God. He was a righteous man. However, he ended up giving, not himself, but he ended up having a son. He ended up giving birth to Ahaz, who ended up being a very wicked king, okay? And Ahaz was very bad. He was known for offering his children in the fire, essentially committing infanticide, and offering incense and sacrifices in the high places. He was not a righteous king, very much a bad reputation. And that's where we pick up here in chapter seven. And a lot of what happens in Ahaz's life and in his reign, isn't explicitly mentioned in chapter seven. It's actually found in second Kings, chapter 16, and second Chronicles 28. And we're gonna go to second Chronicles 28 later on in the passage, because it has to do what's taking place here. And so we have Ahaz being mentioned here. Look at verse number one. It says, and it came to pass in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Ramaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against them. Now, the first thing we're gonna look at is that there is a plot against Ahaz and Judah. Now, if you remember, previous when Uzziah was king, the northern kingdom known as Israel had gone into captivity. They were being punished by God. But now we're fast forward, we passed over Jotham, we're into the reign of Ahaz. And at this point, the northern kingdom is in confederacy with Syria, okay? So the northern kingdom is supposed to be a God-fearing nation. They have God as their Lord. They're actually in cahoots with the Syrians, and the Syrians do not like God's people. They're actually trying to overcome Judah. So they actually ended up banding together and essentially being in agreement to try to take captive that southern kingdom, Judah. So they're in agreement with this. They're confederate, one with another, and they're plotting against Ahaz. They're plotting against Judah. This is what it's telling us here in verse number one. And it kinda gives us a summary of what is the result of all this, because it ends up telling us that they go to war against it, but could not prevail against it, okay? Now, one thing that I wanna mention here is God is basically telling us the sum total of what takes place over the span of this war that's taking place here. But what's gonna be told thereafter, verse one, is essentially things that took place prior to them not being able to overcome it, okay? And so I'll explain what I mean in just a bit, but just keep that in mind there. So you have Ahaz, the king of Judah, versus Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the king of Israel. They're confederate with one another against Ahaz, okay? Now, look at verse number two, if you would. It says in verse number two, and it was told the house of David, saying Syria is confederate with Ephraim. Ephraim is just another way of saying Israel, okay? So just keep that in mind. And his heart was moved in the heart of his people as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou and shear Jashup thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the foolish field. Now, what is it saying here? It's basically saying that obviously there are threats that are being made towards Ahaz and towards Judah that's actually causing the people of Judah and even Ahaz to become afraid, okay? They're disheartened, they become faint in the way. And the reason we know this, because it says in verse two that his heart was moved, and that they're moved as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. So they're obviously afraid of Syria. They're afraid of that northern kingdom of Israel, because it's double the force against them. So they're afraid, oh man, they're gonna take us captive. They're gonna destroy us as they've destroyed the northern kingdom in times past. So God tells Isaiah, hey, go talk to Ahaz, go prophesy to Ahaz, and I want you to bring your son Shear Jashup, okay? Now, why is he bringing his son Shear Jashup? Well, the reason he's bringing him is because Shear Jashup is gonna be used as an object lesson, so to speak, because the name Shear Jashup means a remnant shall return. Now, this is very interesting because if you paid attention when Brother Cody was reading the passage, you see that God is telling Ahaz, like, hey, they're not gonna prevail. You know, don't be afraid. I'm gonna be there. You know, you need to make sure that you believe or you'll not be established. He's like exhorting them. He's telling Ahaz, basically, trust in me because I'm gonna deliver you out of the hand of Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel. But of course, God in his foreknowledge knows that Ahaz is not gonna trust in the Lord. He's not gonna place his faith in him. He's not gonna trust in him, so that's why he brings Isaiah's son Shear Jashup, which means a remnant shall return. Why is he bringing him? Because he knows that he's gonna disobey. They're gonna end up going into captivity later on in the future, but it's okay, Shear Jashup, a remnant will return. He's giving him that promise. And what this teaches us is that, you know, God knows the mistakes that we're gonna make, right? He knows the bad decisions that we're gonna make in the future. But even in spite of that, he still wants us to make the right decision. You know, knowing full well what decision you're gonna make does not impede God from exhorting you to the preaching of God's word or from reading the Bible to make the right decision. You know, we're not Calvinists here. We don't believe in this false interpretation of what predestination is, as they do. But we do know that God has the foreknowledge of the decisions that we make, but even in spite of that, he wants us to make the right decision. And so he's not saying, well, this is a waste of time. Ahaz is not even gonna believe, therefore, forget preaching to him. Just let them fall by their own vices and you know, whatever. No, he's still gonna make an effort to go on and reach out to Ahaz, but because he has the foreknowledge that Ahaz is gonna disobey, he's having Isaiah bring his son, which means a remnant shall return, foreshadowing the fact that they will go into captivity, but it's okay, a remnant of Judah will return in the future. He's given that promise there. Look at verse four, and saying to him, take heed and be quiet. Fear not, neither be faint hearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of resin with Syria and of the son of Remaliah. So what is he saying? Hey, you know, Isaiah comes to Ahaz and he's saying, first of all, pay attention. That's what take heed means, right? Pay attention, be quiet. In other words, stop talking so much. So this is implying that Ahaz is probably mouthing off a lot, just saying vain things, not really paying attention to what's going on. You know, he's not studying to be quiet, okay? So he says, take heed, be quiet, and don't fear, don't be faint hearted. Just because these two firebrands of smoking, these smoking firebrands are threatening you, it's all smoke. That's what he's saying. Because the firebrands pictures Syria and Israel, and he's saying they're blowing off a lot of smoke, but at the end of the day, I'm for you, even though you have these two firebrands against you that are trying to sear you, they're trying to burn you. Don't fear them, okay? Verse five says, because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have taken evil counsel against these, saying, let us go up against Judah and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabiel. Thus saith the Lord God, it shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. Now, you know, if we often think, well, if I was in Ahaz's position, you know, I probably believe this because he's saying it there, but you know, sometimes the sinful condition of men makes men do contrary to the Bible. Even if God is saying, hey, it's not gonna happen, it shall not stand, it's not gonna come to pass, doesn't matter how valid their threats are, doesn't matter what their reputation is in the past of being able to conquer lands, and what the percentage of their success is in times past, what their success rate is, you know, if they're going against you, they're going against me, they're not gonna succeed. And this is essentially the word of the Lord, right? Now today, we don't have visions like this, we don't have a prophet coming to us with a vision from the Lord, we have the Bible itself. And the Bible is filled with promises of prophets of times past, and you know, people who are preaching, giving us the promises of God, telling us, fear not, don't be faint-hearted, trust in the Lord with all thine heart, lean not unto thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. I mean, we have a more sure word of prophecy, the Bible says, right? But sometimes even Christians today just kind of disregard what the Bible says, and they continue to fear, they make unscriptural decisions about life, because they fear, they're afraid, they think that they're gonna come out losing at the end. But you know, this is something that me as a pastor, I as a pastor struggle with, you know, I can't really instill faith in people. You know, and that's obviously not my job to do. I preach the word of God, I can tell you what the Bible says, but at the end of the day, I can't increase your faith. You know, you have to go out of your way to increase your own faith. I wish I can instill faith in people and say, look, just trust God, just believe the Lord, just serve him, just believe what the Bible says. You know, don't make decisions outside of the parameters of the guidelines of the Bible stick to serving God, stick to serving your family, you know, do that which is right inside of the Lord and God will work things out, he always does. And a lot of times people just kind of lean on their own understanding instead, just like Ahaz, even though God says it shall not come to pass. And what is he referring to? He's referring to the fear of Ahaz that he's gonna be conquered. And you know what? Fear hath torment, the Bible says, right? Sometimes our fears can get the best of us and can cause us to behave in an unreasonable way to make unreasonable decisions and just completely disregard what the Bible says, completely disregard what God's promises tell us. But he's telling them there, he's giving them that admonition to not be afraid. And this isn't something that is only unique to Ahaz, he's told many people this throughout the centuries, throughout biblical history. Let me read to you from Deuteronomy 20, verse one. He tells the children of Israel here, when thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and people more than thou, be not afraid of them. So obviously he knows that when they go to war, the people that they're fighting against, they have more resources. They've got more horses, they got more chariots, they got more soldiers, right? And he says, when you see the great opposition that's gonna come against you, the first thing you need to do is this, don't be afraid. For the Lord thy God is with thee, what? What does that mean? It means that us and God make the majority. He says, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, what is he recalling there? He's saying, remember how I brought you out of the land of Egypt? All the miracles that I did and how I plagued Egypt, I can do the same for you even today. Now obviously, we take this in a spiritual sense, but you know what? The same God who delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt by a mighty hand, by plaguing Egypt with all the plagues and all the death we serve the same God today, okay? So be not afraid, right? He says in verse two, and it shall be, when you are come nigh into the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people and shall say unto them, hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies, let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be terrified because of them. Sounds like he's saying like, don't be scared. You know, as the famous words of brother Jose, who would fear, right? Well, apparently a lot of people do fear here, you know, which is why like God tells them and then the priest come in and is like, hey, don't be terrified. Don't shake, don't tremble. Why? Because our eyes, the things that our eyes see can often affect, mine eye affected mine heart. Can you know, the way we perceive things can often affect the way we behave and God knows that our hearts can melt and become afraid and he's saying, don't do it, have faith in God. He says in verse four, for the Lord your God is he that go with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you. So he's not just saying, hey, don't be afraid. You'll figure it out. Don't be afraid, pull up your bootstraps and just make, just come up with something. No, he's saying, don't be afraid because I'm going to save you. Don't be afraid because I'm going to fight for you. I'm on your side. You're on my side and whoever God fights for, you know, they're going to win. They're going to come out the victor in the end. Now, how do we apply this today? Well, obviously we're now out here conquering lands. You know, we can't apply this in a literal sense, but you know, there's a lot of spiritual battles that we face on a day, weekly and monthly, yearly basis. And there are instances where you have these spiritual battles of, I don't know, financial woes. You know, God can save you from those financial woes and fight your battle for you, right? Maybe it's a health issue that you're suffering with. You know, God can help you overcome those things. Whatever battle that you face this side of eternity, just keep in mind, don't be afraid. Don't allow things to just strike fear in your hearts. God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind, the Bible says, and perfect love casteth out fear. And so as long as you're giving heed to God, you're serving the Lord, you're doing that which is right on the side of God, you have nothing to fear. You know, the people who have something to fear are those who are in disobedience to God. When you find yourself in a trial or a tribulation, the first thing you got to ask yourself is, am I right with God? Because if you're not right with God, you should be afraid. Now luckily, what God will often do is that when you go through a trial, that's kind of like his indication, his motivation for you to get right with God. Because when we go through something, it's like, okay, I'm going to cleanse myself, I'm going to confess all my sins, and the sins of my spouse, and the sins of my kids, and the sins of my church, I'm going to look for sins to confess. You just want to clear yourselves of all wrongdoing, and then you end up positioning yourself to be right with God through that tribulation. But you know, there's people out there who are backslidden, there's people out there who are just far from God, they're living in disobedience to God, they're going through a trial, they're going through a storm, and yeah, that's scary. Because at that point, you don't have God's hand on you. You have God's hand working against you. If I go through a trial, I want to make sure that I'm in right standings with the Lord to guarantee that he's going to fight my battles, he's going to fight for me, and regardless of what the circumstance looks like, I know that I'm going to come out winning at the end. Hashtag winning, right? Why, because the Lord favors me, I love the Lord, I'm reading my Bible, I'm going to church, I'm preaching the gospel, I'm essentially trying to make Christ a preeminent one in my family, with my spouse, with my children. I'm trying to serve God the best that I can, right? So when you do that, then at that point, when you've taken inventory of your personal life and you realize, well, I'm not perfect, but I'm doing the best that I can to live in obedience to God, then I have nothing to fear. You say, well, you know, I'm serving God, it just doesn't seem to be turning in my favor. Well, you know, joy cometh in the morning, okay? And if thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. And so it's important for us to not just throw into town when the going gets tough. You know, when the going gets tough, you need to make sure that you read the Bible, you're praying, you don't get out of church, you don't get out of serving God, you need to do those things even more consistently when you're going through a trial in order for you to come out on the other end as gold. And so the main interpretation here is that he's saying, don't be afraid of their horses and their chariots. You know, horses are prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord. There's other nations that will prepare engines and horses and chariots against you, but at the end of the day, God will keep you safe, He will protect you. The Bible says in Psalm 20 verse seven, some trust in chariots and some in horses, and let me say this, may it not be you. Some trust in chariots and some in horses may it not be said of God's people that they're trusting in chariots and horses. Oh, we got some persecution pizza here apparently. Is that what that is? Brother Hernandez, we're not paying for that. Hello. We didn't order it, but we'll take it for free. Anytime we near June, they start sending us pizza as if that's, now it's persecution for me because I can't have pizza right now, so dang you. They can't show their faces here, so they send a pizza instead. Some trust in chariots, others in some in horses, but it says here, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God, it says. So he's basically, you know, what the Bible's telling us here is that, you know, there's certain individuals that place their faith in the movable things of this earth, things that are unstable, money, possessions, people, the arm of the flesh, but David is saying, but we are gonna remember the name of our Lord, the Lord our God, okay? And this is something that we should also take to heart and recognize, it doesn't matter how crazy it gets out there, we need to make sure that we place our faith in God and not trust in our own might, our strength, our possessions, our knowledge, our wisdom, our, you know, financial stability, we need to remember the Lord our God in times of trial and recognize that he's still gonna fight our battles for us. And so that's what he's telling them here, look at verse number eight in Isaiah chapter seven, it says, for the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin, and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people, and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Ramaliah's son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established. Now why is he saying, hey the head of Syria is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin, why is he saying that? Well he's trying to get a point across here that who they're trusting in is their actual leader. Because the head of Syria is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin, but hold on a second, the head of Judah is God though. That's the difference, right? And it's just like, you know, it's basically showing us here that Syria and Israel are trusting in the arm of the flesh, whereas Judah should be trusting in their head, which is God. Let me read to you from Joshua 23, verse eight, it says, but cleave unto the Lord your God as ye have done unto this day, for the Lord hath driven out from before you great nations and strong. But as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. One man of you shall chase a thousand for the Lord your God, he it is that fighteth for you as he hath promised you, take good heed therefore unto yourselves that ye love the Lord your God. So he's basically saying, you know, if you wanna keep winning in the Christian life, keep loving God. Like, oh man, I just, I don't know how to become successful in this area, I'm afraid that this is gonna fall apart, just keep loving the Lord. If you just keep loving God, you keep loving the Bible, you keep loving Jesus, you can't go wrong. Now obviously, when I say love Jesus, that's in close relationship to loving the Bible. We don't wanna just make this statement as just like, love Jesus the way you think you could love Jesus. Love Jesus the way, you know, the way you love Jesus is different than the way I love. No, we're all supposed to love him by keeping his commandments. In fact, Jesus says, if you love me, keep my commandments. So obviously, when we talk about loving the Lord our God, it's in close relationship to loving the Bible, upholding his statutes, his commandments, his precepts, recognizing this is the most important thing. You know, having a relationship with Jesus, if that's what you wanna call it, okay, as long as you are actually reading the Bible and that's what you mean by that. Because most people don't, right? Well, I have a relationship with God, then why don't you go to church? You know, well, you know, I have a relationship with Jesus, that's funny, you don't come to his church that he purchased with his own blood. Well, I just, I don't know about you, you know, I'm not the one to judge, but I love Jesus, then why don't you read the Bible? Because he is the word of God. It's funny how you claim to love the Lord, but you don't read the Bible when the word of God is literally Jesus. And so, you know, to make these very vain and empty statements, to try to lift yourself up as being someone who loves the Lord means nothing to God if you don't have the Bible as your proof, amen? You know, when we say we love the Lord, we can prove it by saying this is what the Bible says. You know, and obviously none of us love God, none of us can love God perfectly, but you know, we strive to love God on a daily basis by walking with God on a daily basis, man, should not live by bread alone, but by every word of the procedure out of the mouth of God, setting aside time to spend with the Lord as we walk with him in his word, as we pray unto him, making him part of our life, making him our life through the Bible. And so he says there, look, you'll survive this, you'll succeed, you'll prosper, you just gotta make sure that you love the Lord, your God, not through a devotional book, not through some, your daily philosophical quote of your favorite podcaster, not through some, you know, I don't know, some store, you know, sign that you buy that says God or Jesus, I love Jesus, coffee, and whatever, you know, that's not an expression of your love for God, my friends. The way we express our love for the Lord is by keeping his commandments, by loving him, and by the way, we're not talking about salvation either. You know, people try to mix those in a lot and say, well, you know, if you love me, keep my commandments, and that's their argument against believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's like, well, that's funny, it says if you love me, it doesn't say if you love me, you'll be saved. It says if you love me, you'll keep my commandments, which is a separate issue from salvation, because, you know, I don't know if you know this, but the Bible does not require for you to love God to be saved, because in order for you to even cultivate a love for God, you have to read the Bible. How can someone just love God right off the bat without even knowing anything about God, right? And as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we grow in our love for him as well, understand? And it's just like, no, you have to love God and give your life to him, he gave his life for you, for salvation. So this is a very good sermon that he's given to Ahaz, and he finishes off with verse nine at the letter end of verse nine, he says, if you will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. And he's basically saying like, if you don't have faith in what I'm telling you right now, then, you know, bad things are coming ahead of you, you're not gonna be an established person, God's not gonna be able to save you, you're gonna fold, you're gonna fall apart. Now, hold your place here and go to 2 Chronicles chapter 28, if you will, 2 Chronicles chapter 28. Now, verse one of Isaiah seven clearly tells us that Israel and Syria are not gonna prevail against Judah. But that's not to say they won't do considerable damage though. So yeah, they won't prevail 100%, but they will still do some considerable amount of damage to Judah because of Ahaz. Now, first, or excuse me, 2 Kings chapter 16 and this chapter right here, 2 Chronicles 28, essentially highlights a lot of what took place during the reign of Ahaz. Look at verse number five, if you would, it says, wherefore the Lord his God, referring to Ahaz, delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria and they smote him and carried away a great multitude of them captives and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel who smote him with the great slaughter. For Pekah, the son of Ramaliah, slew in Judah 120,000 in one day. That sounds like a pretty considerable amount of damage that they did, right? Which were all valiant men because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. So what does this tell us? It tells us that even though God, you know, think of someone who's backslidden, for example, right? They're not gonna go to hell, but that doesn't mean they can't do a considerable amount of damage because of their disobedience this side of eternity. If they live in rebellion towards God, they'll never be delivered and taken captive to hell, but hold on a second, 120,000 can be slain. They can lose a lot. Is that more persecution pizza? Wow, did we accept the other one or no? Okay, and he's not accepting this one, all right. Sorry folks, you're gonna have to wait till I'm done with my cut and then we can have pizza, okay? We gotta have temperance, amen? You can do still a good amount of damage. You know, you'll never stop being a child of God if you're saved. You'll never stop being a son of God. You'll never go to hell. Oh, but man, Pekah, Satan can wreak havoc in your life because of your disobedience. So you'll never be, you know, they'll never prevail against you per se, right? Satan will never prevail against you 100% where he takes your soul and you lose your salvation, but a lot of damage can still be done. Look at verse eight. It says, and the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren 200,000 women, sons and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria. So obviously we see 120,000 die. There's 200,000 women and children who are taken captive and they take their spoil. Look at verse nine. But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded, and he went out before the host that came to Samaria and said unto them, behold, because the Lord God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, wroth means wrathful, angry. He had delivered them into your hand and you have slain them in a rage that reaches up unto heaven. And now you purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bond women unto you, but are there not with you even with you sins against the Lord your God? Now hear me therefore and deliver the captives again, which you have taken captive of your brethren for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you. So what's going on here? Well, this prophet comes and he tells the Syrians in Israel, he says, hey, you guys are guilty of a lot of stuff too, so unless you want God to just kind of whoop you as well, return those people immediately, the captives, the women and the children, bring them back. Now, why does it say that? Well, because of sheer jashub, that's why. A remnant shall return. So even though they're taken captive, he's basically the prophet of the Lord came by the word of the Lord and said, hey, make sure these people return back because that's God's will. He doesn't want them to stay there. Look at verse 16, at that time did King Ahaz send them to the king of Assyria to help him. So now, he's going through these conflicts with Syria and Israel and you would think, facing this is like, I think I should start praying now. Maybe I am gonna go into the temple of the Lord and do some sacrifices and bring reformation in the land because we're getting whooped really bad. 120,000 of my valiant men just died. Maybe I should start seeking the Lord. No, he goes to the king of Assyria instead. He goes to Tilgath Pilneser, we'll call him Tilly for the sermon. He goes to Tilly for help. He doesn't go to God. He doesn't go to the prophet. He doesn't go to the Bible. He goes to the arm of the flesh. He goes to another nation to protect him against Syria and against Israel. This is Ahaz. He says in verse 17, for again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah and carried away captives, look at verse 20 if you would, and Tilgath Pilneser, king of Assyria, came unto him and distressed him, but strengthened him not. For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the Lord and out of the house of the king and of the princes and gave it unto the king of Assyria, but he helped him not. So what is this talking about? So you have Ahaz. He's like, I'll pay you anything. So he's like taxing his household. He's taxing the house of the Lord. He's taxing the princes. He's accumulating all this resources to give to the king of Assyria to protect them from the boogeyman, and it does nothing for him because it says that he distressed him and he strengthened him not. So he paid this large price to be protected and it just didn't do anything for him. Why, because when you're backslidden, it doesn't matter who you have on your side. If God is not on that side, you're not gonna prosper. He said he helped him not. Look at verse 22. And in the time of his distress that he trespassed yet more against the Lord, this is that king Ahaz, for he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him, and he said, because the gods of the kings of Syria helped them, therefore will I sacrifice to them that they may help me, but they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. I mean, this guy's an idiot. Why? Because first of all, by the way, the events in Isaiah 7 took place prior to this, okay? So the promise had already gotten to him that God was gonna deliver him, and he's like, nah, just go to the king of Assyria instead. So he gives them all this wealth, all these resources, and it's just like, will you protect me? It's like the bully or whatever, right? In school, I don't know, the proverbial bully in school where you pay someone to protect you from the bully or whatever, backfired on him because the guy doesn't even, he doesn't have his best interest in mind. He ended up not strengthening him. He distresses him. And it gets to a point where Ahaz is like, well, I got an idea. I should sacrifice to the gods of the Syrians because that god helped them. That means their god can help me. I mean, ah. It's like, you're stupid. It's like, what an idiot. I mean, this is stupid. As you're reading this, you're like, how did you get in charge? How did you become the king? Like, what in the, and I'm sure Jotham is just like in heaven, like, his dad is just like, oh man, I did not raise that boy right. He's like king of the hill, like, that boy ain't right, you know? So he's just like, I got a bright idea. Let me just worship some false gods because maybe they can help me. So you know, you got this, he's basically acting like a Hindu. He's just like, well, let me just accumulate more gods because the more gods I have on my side, the more likely it is that I'll succeed. Wrong, because it says at the latter end of verse 23, but they were the ruin of him and of all Israel. And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, listen to this, and shut up the doors of the house of the Lord. And he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem and in every several city of Judah. He made high places to burn incense unto other gods and provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers. So obviously this guy has it coming. I mean, he's not listening. He disregards the word of the Lord. He's paying someone on the outside to protect them. Doesn't work out. So plan C is, well, let me just go ahead and try to invoke the gods of the heathen to protect me. That doesn't work. And to add insult to injury, okay? It doesn't state this in second Chronicles 28, but second King 16 actually says that when Ahaz goes to see King Tilgath-pen-esser, King Tilly from Assyria, he sees all of his shrines and his places of worship, and he's like, hey, I like this. I like how you, let me get the blueprint. So he takes the blueprints of how they construct their temples for their false god, and he seeks to apply it to the house of God back home. I mean, crazy. Basically like what the Catholics did, right? It's just like, hey man, these statues are really nice of Mars and, you know, Aphrodite or whatever, and it's just like, let's just keep the statues and we'll just give them Christian names. You know, it'll be Mary and Joseph and whatever. That's basically what Ahaz is doing. He was so impressed with the basilicas of the heathen that he's just like, I wanna kinda emulate that with the house of God. It did not make God happy, and God ended up punishing him for that, and you know, he had it coming, okay? Now go back to Isaiah chapter seven. So just to show you, okay, you know, God's saying you're not gonna be established. We went to second Chronicles 28, and obviously see, we jump forward in the future that he didn't make the right decision. He didn't trust in the Lord. He trusted in the king of Assyria. He trusted in the false gods of Assyrians. It just didn't work out. Not only that, but he even tries to construct and adopt pagan worship and architecture and apply it to God's house. I mean, he's treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath is what he's doing. Look at verse 10. Moreover, the Lord spake again unto Ahaz. This is obviously prior to all of that. Ask the assignment of the Lord that God ask it either in the depth or in the height above, but Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I attempt the Lord. Okay, so what's going on here? So God makes this promise through Isaiah. He's like, hey, I'm gonna deliver you. If you believe, you will not be established, and then he tells them, hey, just to kind of increase your faith a little bit, ask for a sign, anything, height above, depth beneath, doesn't matter what it is, ask for a sign to kind of increase your faith that you'll believe, and this is what Ahaz says. Well, I don't want to do that because I don't want to tempt the Lord thy God. Now, this is what's called being hyper-spiritual. When he's even just more godlier than God. You know, he's like, I know what you're doing there, but thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God. Stupid, it's not tempting the Lord if God commands you to do it. If God is telling you, prove me now herewith saith the Lord, you know, and that I will not open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there should not be room enough to receive it, then if he's commanding you to prove him, then do it. Okay? But let me explain to you why he says this. Aside from the fact that he's just being hyper-spiritual, and it's just a dumb response, he's doing it because he doesn't want to confirm the fact that God will deliver him. Because he doesn't, you know, God, you know, he's already promising he's going to deliver, and he's like, oh man, but if he pulls out a sign, then it's for sure confirmation that he is going to deliver me, so he doesn't want that, because he wants to trust in the king of Assyria instead, that's why. But you know, neither will I tempt the Lord. And this phrase kind of reminds me of people who, you know, if you ever discuss salvation with someone either online or in person, and you talk about the fact that you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're saved, this is what they say, that's so prideful. I would never say that I know that I'm, that's such an arrogant, prideful statement to make, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the son of God. Sounds like God wants us to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we're saved. But these holier than thou's, that's so prideful and arrogant to say that you know that you're saved. No, it's actually having faith in God's word and believing God's word. It's actually prideful to think that you can be saved without Jesus Christ, or by adding something to Jesus Christ. That's the pride, you know, because you want to boast when you get to heaven, and of course, they will never get to heaven. But they, in their minds, they think, well, you know, by my effort and by my righteousness, I'm gonna get myself there, and you know, we need to make sure that we participate. They won't say this, but this is what they mean. They want to participate in their salvation. They think they have to do the works and be righteous and be godly, but the Bible actually refers to those things as works of iniquity. It isn't regarding any of that. You know, they're over here thinking that they're as clean as a whistle, whereas God actually looks at them as a dirty rag. Even the best that people do out there for salvation is never good enough for God. It's never good enough. So it's filthy rags in the eyes of God. I mean, it literally says that our righteousness are as filthy rags, meaning the best that you can do, the best that you can accomplish, the best that you can achieve is still not good enough for God. Why? Because the only thing that God accepts that's good enough is the blood of Jesus Christ. And to say that, oh no, it's something aside from that or added to that, then you're the prideful one. You're the arrogant one because you're rejecting what God says. You go, I would never say that I'm just, you know, that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're saved. Yeah, I know you'll never say it because you're not saved. Thank you for divulging that information, but I know. Yeah, I'm so prideful that I know that you're not saved. How are you gonna say that person's not saved? Oh, because they're basically saying that they're not saved? Because they're claiming that you don't have to believe only in Jesus Christ? You know, how could you say that Jordan Peterson's not saved? Because he's not. Because he doesn't place his faith in Jesus. I don't care how smart he sounds. And I don't even think he sounds smart. Whoever says he sounds smart, you're not much intelligent yourself. It's just like, but he's really intelligent. No, he just knows, he just has an extensive vocabulary and he just throws up all these words to confuse you and give this illusion that he is smart. But folks, he's not, he has the wisdom of this world. And if he's so smart, then why can't he get saved? If he's so smart, why can't he understand the fundamentals of the Christian faith that all we have to do is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? I'll tell you why, because he's actually dumb. That's why. You know, it takes the humility of a child, well, you don't sound very humble. Well, hold on a second. It takes the humility of a child to believe on Jesus Christ, though. And you know what? There is a time in my life, 17 years ago, where I recognized, oh crap, I can't save myself. I'm 100% vulnerable to the flames of hell because I cannot save myself. I need someone to save me. That's called humility. Recognizing I can't do it on my own, no matter how many works I do, no matter how hard I try, I will never save myself. Save me! That's humility. And that's what everyone needs this side of eternity in order to be saved. They need the humility to actually call upon the name of the Lord in faith and not trying to bring their baggage of false works with them, of their false righteousness and works to try to get them saved as well. No, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us, the Bible says. And so, no, it has. And it's astounding that He would say something like this. I can't tempt the Lord God by asking something like that. It's a hyper-spiritual attitude. Look at verse 13. He says, and He said, Hear ye now, O house of David. Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? I like that response. Isaiah is just like, man, you know, people are sick and tired of you, but God is tired of you too. That statement alone. Neither will I tempt the Lord. It's just like, God is so tired of you. You're wearying God. Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign. So it's like, are you not gonna ask for one? Okay, I'll give you one. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. Now, this verse is very, very popular, right? We know this passage is near and dear to our hearts because it's quoted in Matthew chapter one, and we often relate it to the nativity, right? The birth of Jesus Christ. Because Immanuel means God with us, okay? And this is how deep and powerful the Bible is. Because there's an immediate interpretation of why he's stating this, but obviously it has prophetic meaning for the future, for the future Christ, right? So let me give you what the immediate application of this passage is in relation to Ahaz and Judah, and then we're gonna talk about what the interpretation is for the future. Now, the first thing is, is this. The reason God is giving him that sign that a virgin shall conceive and that his name shall be Immanuel is because he's trying to reinforce the fact that God is with them. That God is with them. He's gonna protect them. He's going to be with them. And if God before us, who can be against us? So he's like, a virgin's gonna conceive a child. His name's gonna be Immanuel, meaning God with us. Judah will have God on their side. But look what it goes on to say in verse 15. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. Very important, verse 16. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. Now, what is that talking about? It's rhetorical question that I'm asking here. This is referring to the fact that God is expressing that the deliverance of God for Judah from these two kings of Israel and Syria, God's gonna get rid of them before this child, this literal child, because we often think about Immanuel being Jesus Christ in the future, but there's literally a child named Immanuel. And he was born of a virgin, it just wasn't a miraculous birth like Jesus Christ, just to put that out there. The birth of Jesus Christ was miraculous, because he was born of the Holy Ghost, but this particular child had a father. You understand? Because he's a human being. But obviously it's prophetic of Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God with us. Now, why is he talking about the child eating and all this, what does it mean? Because he's saying before this child even learns to eat, the king of Syria and the king of Israel are gonna be gone. He's basically showing how fast God's gonna get rid of the northern king of Israel, or their king and the king of Syria for their crimes against Judah. He's like, I'm gonna get rid of them before this child is even able to eat solid foods, they're gonna be gone, they're gonna be gone out of the land. Why, because God is with you guys, okay? So the immediate interpretation of this is the fact that when the child comes, Immanuel, before he even learns to eat, king of Syria and the king of Israel will be taken out of the land. This is why he says the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. What is the land that he abhors? Israel and Syria, okay? Now, what is this in relation to the first coming of Christ? Because obviously Immanuel is a prophetic statement made about the birth of Jesus Christ, right? Well, if you think about it, when Jesus Christ came, that's God with us, okay? When he was born in the first century AD, his coming, the first coming essentially brought a defeat to the principalities, powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world. And more specifically, his death on the cross solidified the defeat of the powers of darkness of Satan. So if we were to picture Satan as being, or if we were to picture the king of Syria and the king of Israel being likened to Satan, you know, before the child shall eat, they're gonna be getting, God's gonna get rid of the powers of darkness. Not to say that they're gonna be completely gone, because obviously we know that the god of this world is blind of the mind, but his crucifixion on the cross essentially brings permanent victory in the spiritual sense. And in fact, let me read to you from John chapter 12 verse 31. It says, now is the judgment of this world, now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. Now what does it mean when it says that the prince of this world shall be cast out in relation to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ? This is simply just another way of stating that Satan will be permanently defeated. You say, well, how do you know that? Well, there's other statements in the Bible that kind of relate to that way of saying things about Satan being defeated. Let me give you one example. Hebrew chapter two verse 14 says this, for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same that through death, listen to this, he might destroy him to have power of death, that is the devil. Now was Satan literally destroyed? No, it's obviously speaking to his defeat. It's what it's saying, right? So when it says that he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, he's referring to the fact that he is victorious over Satan. That's just another way, the way John 12 would say that the prince of this world is cast out. And in fact, this is why Colossians chapter two tells us that he spoiled principalities and powers, right? It says that he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. He was triumphant over the principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of this world through his death on the cross. So when he came, Emmanuel came, it is essentially the defeat of those kings, right? The princes, the principalities, the powers, the rules of the darkness of this world. But not only that, but think about this, the second coming of Christ is also God with us. And in fact, when Jesus Christ returns, he's literally gonna remove the king out of the land. Who's that king? The Antichrist and his new world order will be evicted and the Bible says that the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. So God with us in the first century brought that permanent defeat of Satan, removing the people from the power of darkness, bringing them to the light, but also the second coming of Christ will physically remove the Antichrist from the land. And if you think about it, when the new heaven and the new earth are established, prior to the new heaven and the new earth, you have the great white throne judgment where Satan is permanently removed and he's cast into the lake of fire and then you have literally God the father showing himself in the new heaven and the new earth as well. So you can see how this name, Immanuel, has some pretty deep significance to it. Not just to the days of Ahaz that essentially pictures when this child comes, it's essentially recalling the fact that the king of Syria and the king of Israel will be removed, but also in the first century AD with Jesus being born, second coming of Christ with the Antichrist being removed, and ultimately Revelation chapter 20 where the devil will be cast into the lake of fire, permanently removed from the land of this world and of course, so shall we ever be with the Lord. And so very powerful imagery there. Look at verse 17, we're almost done. The Lord shall bring upon thee and upon thy people and upon thy father's house days that have not come from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah, even the king of Assyria. And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost parts of the rivers of Egypt and for the bead that is in the land of Assyria, and they shall come and shall rest, all of them in the desolate valleys and in the holes of the rocks and upon all thorns and upon all bushes. What is he saying? So he's basically saying, this is the judgment against you Ahaz, okay? And he's basically telling him, you know how you trust it in Assyria as we saw in 2 Chronicles 28? Well, Assyria is gonna operate as a reed and that reed's gonna go right through your hand because God's gonna use the Assyrians to punish Ahaz. And he says in verse 18, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bead that is in the land of Assyria. What does that mean? Basically, he's gonna bring the Assyrians and that's not enough. He's like, he's gonna bring the Egyptians and he's gonna hiss for them to come and destroy them as well. I mean, his punishment is doubly as bad because obviously Ahaz is a wicked individual. So he hasn't forgotten the sins of Ahaz. He's saying, you know, you're gonna get yours. Yeah, you know, I'm gonna protect Judah, but Ahaz, you're gonna suffer a considerable amount of damage because you disobeyed the Lord. Look at verse 20 and we'll stop here. From verses 20 to 25, he basically describes the humility that's gonna come upon the inhabitants of Judah. He says, in the same day, shall the Lord shave with the razor that is hired, namely by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet, and it shall also consume the beard. He's saying, you know, the day that I come and punish you guys by these four nations, they're gonna come and shave you. And obviously in the Bible, when someone shaved themselves, it was essentially an expression of humility, of shame. And I think of the guys who, you know, had their beards half-shaven. You guys remember that? And the soldiers of David that had their beards half-shaven, and then David told them like, hey, go into Jericho until your beards are regrown, because they were ashamed greatly. It was a way to kind of humiliate them. And so he's saying here that these foreign armies are gonna come, they're gonna shave all of you guys, they're gonna remove your hair from your body, the hair of the feet, which is crazy. It's like, dang, how much, man, kind of gives you an indication that it's a pretty hairy people. Hair of the feet and it shall also consume the beard. A lot of testosterone going on back in those days. It shall come to pass in that day that a man shall nourish an uncalmed. I'm not gonna finish this. Basically towards the end of the chapter, he's essentially saying that the land will become completely desolate, is what he's telling them. So what is the summary of chapter seven? Well, it's a summary of an idiot by the name of Ahaz, because he is dumb. I mean, when you read a story, it's just like, what are you doing? You're costing the lives of so many people. And God came to you and told you that he was gonna deliver you. He even asked you to give a sign. I mean, God was willing to do all that he could to save Judah, even though they had a wicked king, and he just refused. Let me say this, don't be that person. Don't be the person that comes to church, you hear the admonishments of the Lord from the Bible, from the preaching of God's word, and you're just refusing the wisdom of God. You're refusing the biblical principles of the Lord. You wanna lean on your own understanding. And let me just say this, the more you know, the more you're accountable for. And that's why it's important that when we come to church, we don't come to be entertained, although sometimes we'll see some entertaining things, as we saw tonight, right? You don't come just to kind of kill time, you're coming to hear from the Lord. And it's often in these services, in the sermon, you're gonna hear something that directly relates to you. And God has given you knowledge, he's given you wisdom, and you know what? The story goes true, many times, people hear the Bible being preached to them, and they pick and choose what they wanna obey and what they don't wanna obey. They'll hear something that's like, nah, I'm still gonna do it this way. Nah, not right now, I'm gonna do it this way. But you know what, how did that turn out for Ahaz? Where he's just rebelling against the word of God, he's just completely disregarding it, while he's getting doubly the punishment because of it as well. And no one's perfect enough here that we can just obey everything that's being preached or everything that we read. But folks, we need to make sure we take preaching serious, we need to make sure that we take reading the Bible serious, and recognize the voice of the shepherd when he's trying to warn us and admonish us that we give heed to it, right? We give heed that we're quiet, and that we obey the word of the Lord so we don't suffer the ramifications of our decisions. Don't be an Ahaz. Don't be a person that just completely ignores it, and you'd rather go to the king of Assyria and pay the price. You know, he paid all that money for that bodyguard who did nothing for him. It just made his punishment even worse. And then he's just like, well maybe I'll worship some false gods, maybe that'll help me or something. It's just like, man, you're way off. And so may this be a lesson to us tonight, don't be like an Ahaz. Don't be an Ahaz. Something else I want to say, but I can't. You guys catch my drift, all right? But it's true though, don't be an Ahaz. You know, be an individual who, when the Lord brings the prophet to you, you obey the word of the Lord, and you trust in God, and you love the Lord your God, you step out in faith and believe what he's saying in his word, and become blessed because of it. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word, and thank you for these by-words and proverbs that we read in the Bible such as Ahaz. Lord, help us to avoid his ways, Lord, the decisions that he made. Lord, may you give us wisdom and humility of heart to receive with meekness the engrafted word and recognize when we're wrong, and to accept the biblical truths of the Bible and your admonishments, Lord. May he bless us as we go on our way. Bless the soul winning trip that we're taking on Saturday. May we see a lot of people saved, Lord, and bring us back safely so we can have a great service on Sunday. We love you, we thank you, pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.