Happy Day 2! I hope you enjoyed Day 1!
Today’s reading is kind of a heavy one in which you’ll need to understand the context. So let’s dive right in.
DAY 2 READING
If you go and read the entire chapter 7 of the book of Isaiah, your head will probably spin from all the names, genealogy of kings, and countries that are listed. I think this is why people find the Bible intimidating, but when you break it down, it’s really not that difficult to understand. Let me see if I can break the first part of the chapter down for you.
First know that the book of Isaiah is in the Old Testament (the Old Testament was written before Jesus was born for my newbies). Isaiah was a prophet for God, so he was just doing what he was told spreading God’s words and prophecies.
Now back to Chapter 7.
The king of Jerusalem (Judah) is Ahaz. Two other kings, Rezin (king of Syria) and Pekah (king of Israel) decided they were going to join forces and wage a war against Jerusalem, against King Ahaz. When Ahaz and his people heard this, they were scared. Obviously. Because who likes war?
But there is something very important that is said in the first line of this chapter. “Rezin and Pekah joined forces to wage war against Jerusalem, but COULD NOT yet mount an attack against it.” There’s a reason for that.
You see, God had a plan for that land, and no one, not even two worldly kings, were going to ruin what God had already planned to do. So He had Isaiah go and tell Ahaz this.
Ahaz was of course skeptical, because don’t we all question God’s plans sometimes? Silly us.
God told Isaiah to warn Ahaz to be careful, to be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint. Basically, don’t be scared of these fools because I have a better plan. God said this about this supposed attack, and I’m paraphrasing, “It shall not stand. It’s not going to happen. If you don’t believe me and stand firm in your faith, you’re going to fall.”
Whoa, Nelly. Those are some big words: If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.
Have you ever heard that saying, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for everything?” Same concept. If you are not strong in your faith, you’re going to feel like you cannot stand.
God shared all of this with Ahaz through the prophet Isaiah. Ahaz was clearly dumbstruck, but then God said this. He said, “Okay, still need more proof? Test me!” Ahaz (still not very strong in the faith department) was not about to test God, so God, annoyed by his lack of faith, said, fine, let me tell you something. Let me share with you a little prophecy. “The Lord himself is going to give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call him IMMANUEL.”
You guys. Where was Jesus born? Six miles south of Jerusalem in a little town called Bethlehem. The same land Ahaz ruled all those years ago. Boom.
God always has a vision and a plan. We might not know it. We might question it, but God is always making things happen FOR US, never against us. Things happen FOR US. We just have to believe.
DAY 2 CHALLENGE
Today, take 3o minutes of your day and listen to worship music, whether it’s contemporary or Christmas themed. Whenever you do it, really soak it in though. Spend time soaking up His word, making you stand a little stronger in your faith. It’s something we have to practice. It doesn’t just happen on its own.
If you’re new to worship music, I just made this playlist of my favorite Christmas songs to really point our eyes to Jesus. It’s a little over 30 minutes long, so perfect for today’s challenge. Play it during your lunch break or on your drive home from work.
So much love to you today, friends.
