A cold (and sometimes hot) civil war engulfed the former great nation. Hopelessly divided, they were once among the most respected and revered in the community of nations. But now, it was different.
One side, more liberal and secular, had grown that way by leaders who had led them from God and Bible truths. There was worldly wealth and power to be gained by pursuing this course and their leaders were entrenched in these worldly quests.
Though history might have been helpful to them, they ignored it and erected counter-gods to serve in His place. They sought autonomy, their feelings and emotions began to rule over them and they allied themselves with actors of evil intent. They attacked their brothers and sisters on the other side and relished the success they were apparently having. While power, largess and opulence seemed to guide their day-to-day routine, they continued to plot the demise of the other side.
Meanwhile, the more conservative side held on to some semblance of God and Biblical truth. While waiting for Him to show up, they often took matters into their own hands with respect to their defense and well-being. Good leaders and bad seemed to cycle through their offices and many times those leaders lived in timidity and fear with respect to their pending battles with the other side. They were granted incremental victories that would not last but they shared those with the people who clung to their religion and God.
And into all of this, the Christmas story was first told. Into the history of the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, we find the first startling announcement of the coming Savior of the World.
In Isaiah, Chapter Seven, we see King Ahaz (not the greatest of the Kings of Judah) who was facing the overwhelming forces from neighbor Syria (and Syria was in alliance with Judah’s brother people on the other side, Israel). Syria was an especially ruthless force and Israel allied itself with evil in order to defeat Judah and gain its greatest prize, the city of Jerusalem.
The overarching theme in this passage is one of fear. In order to defeat the Syria/Israel alliance, King Ahaz takes matters into his own hands and seeks to form an alliance with Assyria, another evil kingdom.
But God is intervening on Ahaz’s behalf. To comfort the King, the nearby prophet Isaiah conveyed that the Lord would protect them. To prove it, God told Isaiah to instruct Ahaz to ask for a sign. This was certainly unusual as the Torah had commanded that one should not put God to the test. For God to offer up a “freebie” sign was highly improbable.
Perhaps for that reason, or just to sound pious, King Ahaz told Isaiah that he wouldn’t ask God for a sign. Ahaz could only envision fighting his enemy alone (or with another allied kingdom). But God wanted to assure Ahaz, that He was going to vanquish his foes. Then we read from Isaiah 7 in verses 13 and 14:
“Then Isaiah said, ‘Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.’”
If Ahaz had been pacing back and forth about the palace in fear of what was to happen to Judah, you can almost see him stop dead in his tracks, look around at the prophet Isaiah, and say, “Wait—what?” What was the sign Isaiah had conveyed from God? Really?
This Isaiah chapter continues that by the time the child grows up, Ahaz’s opponents would be vanquished.
Of course, God did all that He said He was going to do. And yet, both Israel and Judah came to shameful ends. As it turned out the Assyrians had their way with the kingdom of Israel, whose people were captured, scattered, and relegated to the scraps of history books yet to be written. Judah was also conquered by the Babylonians and taken into exile. But, they would eventually return and the nation of Judah would be reestablished.
Isaiah had prophesied this as well in Chapter 40:1 – 2a, with these words:
“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, and her iniquity is pardoned:”
It is all too easy to picture ourselves today as the hopelessly divided nation with two sides pitted against each other. Many leaders on one side pursue standard-less autonomy and liberal secularism, while many on the other side hold on to some semblance of faith in God. Many conservatives advocate for distinctive moral values and standards, even if some of those same leaders prove themselves to be inescapably human, and incapable of consistently behaving morally and in line with those same standards.
We are still in a cold civil war with evil. Hopelessly divided, we were once among the most respected and revered in the community of nations. But now, it is different.
We have ignored our own history. Our feelings and emotions now rule over truth and we have allied ourselves with actors of evil intent. We attack our brothers and sisters on the other side and relish the incremental successes we are apparently having. While the media, academia, and entrenched bureaucratic largess seem to guide our day-to-day routine (on both sides), these powerful entities continue to plot the demise of the other side. The predominant national sensitivity is one of fear. Fear grips us all. And Satan has a field day.
And yet, into all of this, our God still pursues us. He tells us He will never leave us or forsake us. We should not fear. Sure, bad days may lie immediately ahead as we rush lethargically into national demise. But still God’s message of hope comes to us, and we are reminded of it at this time of year. We have but to hear Him.
“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, and her iniquity is pardoned:”
I believe everyone is looking for hope. Many on both sides just don’t know where to find it—or they are looking in the wrong places. This Christmas, do not fear. Be comforted. Your warfare is accomplished, and your iniquity—your sin—is pardoned.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Too much evidence exists that convinces even atheists that Jesus lived and died. But the question we must all answer, regardless of what side we find ourselves, is this: “Did Jesus die and live?” If the answer is “yes,” that changes everything. He is the only one who can unite us and bring us His comfort and His peace.
May you find the answer to that question at Christmastime and throughout the year. That is the reason for the hope that I have for you and for our great nation.