Friday, December 9, 2016

by Scott Overcarsh

Isaiah 7:10-25
Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, 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. Then Isaiah said: “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.
The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on your ancestral house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.” On that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is at the sources of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures. On that day the Lord will shave with a razor hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will take off the beard as well. On that day one will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, and will eat curds because of the abundance of milk that they give; for everyone that is left in the land shall eat curds and honey. On that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns. With bow and arrows one will go there, for all the land will be briers and thorns; and as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not go there for fear of briers and thorns; but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

What in the world are we waiting for?

During Isaiah’s lifetime the world in which he lived was in turmoil. There was political unrest, military conflict, poverty, social inequality, thousands displaced from their homes. It was as if God had abandoned His creation.

Jehovah sent the prophet Isaiah to encourage their leader, Ahaz to “take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither let thy heart be faint” over the conditions in the land. Then Jehovah encouraged Ahaz, “Ask for a sign of thy God.” God gave the sign: One day, when the vineyard has been replaced with briars and thorns, when the whole world seems abandoned, “behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” How those words must have given hope and encouragement to a people who found themselves in a place with little of either.

Ahaz and the people waited. They waited until the day when Jehovah made good on this promise. Christ, the Son born to a virgin, became ‘God with us’. And angels sang, “Hallelujah!”

As we look around our community there are many thorns growing among the vineyard: poverty, hunger, violence, prejudice, political turmoil, countless refugees. Just as in Isaiah’s day, too many find themselves among the briars, in need of hope and encouragement. Many live in fear with weary hearts.

Those of us who know the Child believe He has come, and will come again. While we wait for that second ‘coming’, perhaps we should take into the briar patch the hopeful and encouraging words: “Fear not, let not your heart be faint, God is with us!” And by loving our neighbors we take Christ into the garden. And perhaps, once again, a heavenly host of angels will sing “Hallelujah!”

What in the world are we waiting for?