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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Friday, June 19, 2020
Today's Passage : Today's Passage:The Young Woman is with Child Bible Verse:Isaiah 7:10-14 "Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” And Isaiah said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” " Message:
Ahaz, a descendant of David, was the King of Judah. He reigned from roughly 735 BC to 715 BC. I would say he was king “during a difficult period”, but pretty much the entire history of Israel is a difficult period, in one way or another.
When Isaiah was active, Judah and Israel were separate kingdoms and, during Ahaz's reign, at odds with each other. Ahaz was a wicked and even idolatrous king, and the King of Israel (Pekah) was not much better. For example, Ahaz made his son walk through the fire of Moloch, a god who was generally a large statue with an oven in his belly; often, infants were sacrificed in Moloch by being roasted alive.
Moloch
Moloch
Both of them made foreign alliances to fight each other, resulting in the occupation of Israel and the subjection of Judah to Assyria. Ahaz repeatedly ignored the counsel of major prophets: Hosea and Micah, as well as Isaiah. The Bible teaches a causal connection between the idolatry of Judah and its decline and subjugation under Azaz, and nobody is more outspoken about the connection than Isaiah.
But the importance of today's Scripture lies not so much in Ahaz ignoring yet another warning from Isaiah — indeed, he does not follow direct instructions from God Himself, who spoke directly to him.
Rather, Isaiah looks past the coming destruction of Israel and Judah to a time when a child will be born to a woman, a child called Immanuel. Immanuel is not so much a name as a title, because in Hebrew it means “God with us”. (Technically, Immanuel would be called a “theophoric” name, that is, a name that embodies the name of God or name of a god. Christopher, which means “bearer of Christ”, is a well-known Christian theophoric name; Apollonia would theophoric from the Greek god Apollo.)
Thus, Isaiah here predicts Christmas itself. The word for “woman”, translated here as “young woman”, causes constant conflict among Bible scholars, for it can easily be translated “maiden” or “virgin”, but might also be applied to a young wife. So the King James Bible reads, “ Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, . . .”
But we should never lose sight of the irreducible, profound, and mystical truth of Isaiah's prophecy. He foretells, 700 years before the fact, that a child will embody God, a child born to a woman, and will become the salvation of God's people.
Meditation : Prayer : Now all glory to you, mighty God, who is able to keep me from falling away and will bring me with great joy into your glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to you who alone are God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are yours before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time,....Amen |
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