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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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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 collecting daily manna), 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. Wednesday, December 6, 2017
Today's Passage : Today's Passage: Subject:The Young Woman is with Child Bible Verse:Isaiah 7:10-14 (ESV) "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.
Both of them made foreign alliances to fight each other, which backfired, as Israel was conquered and Judah subjugated by 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 Ahaz, and nobody is more outspoken about the connection than Isaiah.
Moloch
Moloch
But the primary importance of today's Scripture is not yet another warning to Ahaz from Isaiah, or yet another instance of Ahaz ignoring God’s Word. Rather, it is Isaiah’s prophecy of Christ. He looks past the coming destruction of Israel and Judah to a time when a child called “Immanuel”will be born to a woman.
This unusual name, like many Hebrew names, comes from a title. In Hebrew, Immanuel means “God with us.” (There is a term for this: Immanuel is a “theophoric” name, that is, a name that embodies the name of God or the name of a god. Christopher, which means “bearer of Christ,” is a well-known Christian theophoric name. Most names containing “el” (Elizabeth, Joel, Michael, etc.) are theophoric, because “el” was Hebrew for “god.”)
Thus, Isaiah here predicts Christmas itself. Some Bible scholars (especially anti-Christian scholars) quibble over the wording, because the Hebrew word for “virgin” can also refer to a young woman in a consummated marriage. So, such scholars argue that Matthew mistranslated Isaiah in Matthew 1:23. It is a stupid argument, though. Matthew was inspired. His translation of Isaiah is God’s translation of Isaiah.
Such nonsense from Bible-bashers should not distract us from 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 human woman, and will become the salvation of God's people. And where Moloch bore destruction in its belly, Mary will bear eternal life in hers.
Meditation : [Christian living is not so much about getting out of our mess in order to find God, but more about bringing God into our mess. ] Prayer : Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!..Amen |
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