Bible Commentaries

AN UNBELIEVING KING

‘Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above,’ etc.

Isaiah 7:10-14

I. Isaiah is desired to offer Ahaz a sign either in the depth or the height.—That the Jewish economy was in some sense an economy of signs we all admit. The Jewish prophet was to call the attention of his countrymen to these signs, to discover the signification of them. Our Lord laid down the whole doctrine upon this subject when the Pharisees sought a sign from Him. He had given them signs of healing, life-giving power proofs, that a present God was with them. But they wanted a sign from heaven, the token of some distant God in the sky. That, He said, was the craving of an adulterous or sense-bound generation; and He asked them whether there were not signs in the sky at morning and evening by which they determined whether there would be a fine or cloudy day on the morrow, and whether there were not signs of the times which were warning them of evils to come. The new world has been just as rich in these signs as the old. If we do not use these, we may have others; but it will be because we are an adulterous and sinful generation, and need the portents and presages of an approaching downfall.

II. Ahaz said, ‘I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord my God.’—It was a hypocritical phrase; he did not fear to tempt the Lord his God; he did not believe Him. He feared lest the God of his fathers should do him some injury. ‘O house of David!’ said Isaiah, ‘is it not enough for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?’ Do you think you can change His purposes because you are incredulous and heartless? No; the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: ‘A Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.’

III. From this time we may observe a continual recurrence of these two ideas—frequently in direct conjunction, always following close upon each other—the Assyrian invader, and the Immanuel, God with us.—Isaiah speaks of himself and the children whom God has given him; all these were to be living signs, continual testimonies of an impending ruin and of a great Deliverer, of One to Whom every Israelite might turn with his heart, and in Whom he might find rest and salvation; but Whose presence would stir up all the dark and evil and rebellious thoughts of those who would not yield themselves to Him.

Rev. F. D. Maurice.

Illustration

‘What is the implication of this passage? It is just this, that if we wish to have an exquisite spirit of discernment, a fine judgment, it is all-essential that we concentrate our wills in full surrender to the will of our God. Our judgments will become just when our wills have been laid down in lowly quest of the mind of God. It is of the consecrated folk that this word is written, “I will guide thee with Mine eye.” Let the life be consecrated in unconditional surrender, and we shall feel the hand of the Lord upon us for good. When the ways are many we shall know the right one.’