29. Immanuel (2)

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Hymns: RHC 284 Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus 273 Jesus, I Come 304 I Am Trust Thee, Lord Jesus 

Isaiah 7:10-17

10 Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying,11 Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. 12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. 13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. 16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. 17 The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria. 

Immanuel (2)

OUTLINE

(1) Not Mine (v10-13)

(2) It Is God Who Gives (v14-16)

     (i) His Birth (v14a)

     (ii) His Food (v15-16)

     (iii) His Name (v14b)

(3) Rejection and Calamity (v17)

To be continued…

(2) It is God Who Gives (v14-16)

14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. 16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

CH Spurgeon said well on the context leading to our text, “The kingdom of Judah was in a condition of imminent peril. Two monarchs had leagued themselves against her, two nations had risen up for her destruction. Syria and Israel had come up against the walls of Jerusalem, with full intent to raze them to the ground, and utterly to destroy the monarchy of Judah. 

Ahaz the king, in great trouble, exerted all his ingenuity to defend the city; and amongst the other contrivances which his wisdom taught him, he thought it fit to cut off the waters of the upper pool, so that the besiegers might be in distress for want of water. 

He goes out in the morning, no doubt attended by his courtiers, makes his way to the conduit of the upper pool, intending to see after the stopping of the stream of water; but lo! he meets with something which sets aside his plans, and renders them needless. Isaiah steps forward, and tells him not to be afraid for the smoke of those two firebrands, for God should utterly destroy both the nations that had risen up against Judah. Ahaz need not fear the present invasion, for both himself and his kingdom should be saved. The king looked at Isaiah with an eye of incredulity, as much as to say, “If the Lord were to send chariots from heaven, could such a thing as this be? Should he animate the dust, and quicken every stone in Jerusalem to resist my foes, could this be done?””

He further said, “The Lord, seeing the littleness of the king’s faith, tells him to ask a sign. “Ask it,” says he, “either in the depth, or in the height above. Let the sun go backward ten degrees, or let the moon stop in her midnight marches; let the stars move athwart the sky in grand procession; ask any sign you please in the heaven above, or, if you wish, choose the earth beneath, let the depths give forth the sign, let some mighty waterspout lose its way across the pathless ocean, and travel through the air to Jerusalem’s very gates; let the heavens shower a golden rain, instead of the watery fluid which usually they distil; ask that the fleece may be wet upon the dry floor, or dry in the midst of dew; whatsoever you please to request, the Lord will grant it you for the confirmation of your faith.” Instead of accepting this offer with all gratitude, as Ahaz should have done, he, with a pretended humility, declares that he will not ask,’ neither will he tempt the Lord his God; whereupon Isaiah, waxing indignant, tells him that, since he will not in obedience to God’s command ask a sign, behold, the Lord himself will give him one,— not simply a sign, but the sign, the sign and wonder of the world, the mark of God’s mightiest mystery and of His most consummate wisdom, for, “a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.””

This is the clear prophecy of the coming of the Son of God our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, here in Isaiah 7:14-15, which recorded as fulfilled in Matthew’s Gospel in Matthew 1:23.

Matthew 1:18-23 (KJV) Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

This is the greatest of all sign, the final revelation of God to mankind! And Isaiah recorded it for us in the audience of a faithless Judean king.

Spurgeon outlined it well, when he said we have three things about Christ; firstly, the birth, secondly, the food, and thirdly, the name of Christ.

(i) His Birth

14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Matthew 1:24-25 (KJV) Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

The confirmation that Joseph had no martial union with Mary before the birth of Christ, attesting indeed of the virgin birth.

The prophecy of the virgin birth of Christ was revealed to Isaiah the prophet who gave it as “the sign” from God before king Ahaz. It was given to Mary by the revelation of the angel Gabriel.

Luke 1:26-35 (KJV) And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name wasMary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed artthou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

The Greek word and the Hebrew are both very expressive of the true and real virginity of the mother, to show that Jesus Christ was born of a woman and not of a man fulfilling Genesis 3:15 in these words to the Serpent or Satan.

Genesis 3:15 (KJV) And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Spurgeon observed well, “Just as the woman, by her venturous spirit, stepped first into transgression, lest she should be despised and trampled on, God in His wisdom devised that the woman, and the woman alone, should be the author of the body of the Godman who should redeem mankind. Albeit that she herself first tasted the accursed fruit, and tempted her husband (it may be that Adam out of love to her tasted that fruit), lest she should be degraded, lest she should not stand on an equality with him, God hath ordained that so it should be, that his Son should be sent forth “born of a woman,” and the first promise was that the seed of the woman, not the seed of the man, should bruise the serpent’s head.

Moreover, there was a peculiar wisdom ordaining that Jesus Christ should be the son of the woman, and not of the man, because, had He been born of the flesh, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh,” and merely flesh, and He would naturally, by carnal generation, have inherited all the frailties and the sins and the infirmities which man hath from His birth; He would have been conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity, even as the rest of us. Therefore He was not born of man; but the Holy Ghost overshadowed the Virgin Mary, and Christ stands as the one man, save one other, who came forth pure from his Maker’s hands, who could ever say, “I am pure.” Ay, and he could say far more than that other Adam could say concerning His purity, for He maintained His integrity, and never let it go, and from His birth down to His death He knew no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth. Oh, marvellous sight! Let us stand and look at it. A child of a virgin, what a mixture! There is the finite and the infinite, there is the mortal and the immortal, corruption and incorruption, the manhood and the Godhead, time married to eternity, God linked with a creature, the infinity of the august Maker come to tabernacle on this speck of earth, the vast unbounded One, whom earth could not hold, and the heavens cannot contain, lying in his mother’s arms, he who fastened the pillars of the universe, and riveted the nails of creation, hanging on a mortal breast, depending on a creature for nourishment.

Oh, marvellous birth! Oh, miraculous conception! We stand and gaze and admire. Verily, angels may wish to look into a subject too dark for us to speak of; there we leave it, a virgin hath conceived, and borne a son.”

We behold also the Saviour’s birth with the shepherds in the field in Bethlehem fulfilling this prophecy.

Luke 2:8-18 (KJV) And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

(ii) His Food (v15)

15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
Spurgeon said well, “They shall teach us, first of all, Christ’s proper humanity. When He would convince His disciples that He was flesh, and not spirit, He took a piece of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb, and ate as others did. “Handle Me,” He said, “and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have.” 

Some heretics taught, even a little after the death of Christ, that his body was a mere shadow, that he was not an actual, real man; but here we are told he ate butter and honey just as other men did. While other men were nourished with food, so was Jesus; He was very man as certainly as He was verily and eternally God.

“In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews 2:17).

Therefore we are told that He ate butter and honey, to teach us that it was actually a real man, who afterwards on Calvary died.

The butter and honey teach us, again, that Christ was to be born in times of peace. Such products are not to be found in Judaea in times of strife; the ravages of war sweep away all the fair fruits of industry, the unwatered pastures yield no grass, and therefore there could be no butter. The bees may make their hive in the lion’s carcase, and there may be honey there; but when the land is disturbed, who shall go to gather the sweetness? How shall the babe eat butter when its mother flees away, even in the winter time, with the child clinging to her breast? In times of war, we have no choice of food; then men eat whatever they can procure, and the supply is often very scanty. 

Let us thank God that we live in the land of peace, and let us see a mystery in this text, that Christ was born in times of peace. Augustus Caesar was emperor of the world, none other ruled it, and therefore wars had ceased, the earth was still, the leaves quivered not upon the trees of the field, the ocean of strife was undisturbed by a ripple, the hot winds of war blew not upon man to trouble him, all was peaceful and quiet, and then came the Prince of peace, who in after days shall break the bow and cut the spear in sunder, and burn the chariot in the fire.

There is another thought here. “Butter and honey shall he eat when he shall know how to refuse the evil, and choose the good.” This is to teach us the precocity[1] of Christ, by which I mean that, even when He was a child, even when He lived upon butter and honey, which is the food of children, He knew the evil from the good. 

It is, usually, not until children leave off the food of their infancy that they can discern good from evil in the fullest sense. It requires years to ripen the faculties, to develop the judgment, to give full play to the man, in fact, to make him a man; but Christ, even while he was a babe, even while he lived upon butter and honey, knew the evil from the good, refused the one, and chose the other. 

Oh! What a mighty intellect there was in that brain! While He was an infant, surely there must have been sparklings of genius from His eyes; the fire of intellect must have often lit up that brow. He was not an ordinary child; how would His mother talk about the wonderful things the little prattler said! He played not as others did; He cared not to spend His time in idle amusements; His thoughts were lofty and wondrous; He understood mysteries; and when He went up to the temple, in early days, He was not found, like the other children, playing about the courts or the markets, but sitting among the doctors, both hearing and asking them questions. His was a master-mind: “Never man spake like this man.” So, never child thought like this child; He was an astonishing one, the wonder and the marvel of all children, the prince of children; the God-man, even when He was a child. I think this is taught us in the words, “Butter and honey shall he eat when lie shall know how to refuse the evil, and choose the good.”

“Christ lived upon butter and honey, surely butter and honey drop from his lips. Sweet are His words unto our souls, more to be desired than honey or the honeycomb. Well might He eat butter whose words are smooth to the tried, whose utterances are like oil upon the waters of our sorrows. Well might He eat butter, who came to bind up the broken-hearted; and well did He live upon the fat of the land, who came to restore the earth to its old fertility, and make all flesh soft with milk and honey, ah, honey in the heart.

Thy words, O Christ, are like honey! I, like a bee, have flown from flower to flower to gather sweets, and concoct some precious essence that shall be fragrant to me; but I have found honey drop from thy lips, I have touched thy mouth with my finger, and put the honey to my lips, and mine eyes have been enlightened sweet Jesus; every word of thine is precious to my soul; no honey can with thee compare, well didst thou eat butter and honey!” 

He would not in his lifetime differ from other men in his outward guise. Other prophets, when they came, were dressed in rough garments, and were austere and solemn in manner. Christ came not so; he came to be a man amongst men, a feaster with those that feast, an eater of honey with eaters of honey. He differed from none, and hence he was called a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber. Why did Christ do so? Why did he so commit himself, as men said, though it was verily a slander? It was because he would have his disciples not regard meats and drinks, but despise these things, and live as others do; because he would teach them that it is not that which goeth into a man, but that which cometh out, that defileth him. It is not what a man eats, with temperance, that does him injury, it is what a man says and thinks; it is not abstaining from meat, it is not the carnal ordinance of “Touch not, taste not, handle not,” that makes the fundamentals of our religion, albeit it may be good addenda thereunto. Butter and honey Christ ate, and butter and honey may his people eat; nay, whatsoever God in his providence gives unto them, that is to be the food of the child Christ. [CH Spurgeon]

(iii) His Name (v14b)

… and shall call his name Immanuel.

This is His Name, the Name of Christ, and His Name means “God with us”. God with us, by His incarnation, God did come in human flesh. Spurgeon said, “He, who is from everlasting to everlasting, came to this world of time, and stood upon the narrow neck of land betwixt the two unbounded seas.”

When Jesus was on earth, the tempestuous sea was no disturbance to His peace.

Mark 4:35-41 (KJV) And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

Coming to Jesus and being with Him and He with us is the blessing of blessing. Let us take time to come to Him.

Matthew 11:28-30 (KJV) Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Spurgeon asked well, “Has God been with you in your tribulation, by the Holy Ghost’s comforting influences?”

The comfort of God with us by His Holy Spirit is most assuring and consoling through life. God is with us, we are secured from beginning to end and forever. Amen.

To be continued…

[1] The noun precocity describes a smartness or skill that’s achieved much earlier than usual.