Daily Devotional • December 13
A Reading from Isaiah 7:10-25
10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” 13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals that you weary my God also? 14 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. 15 He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 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. 17 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.”
18 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. 19 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 watering holes.
20 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.
21 On that day one will keep alive a young cow and two sheep 22 and will eat curds because of the abundance of milk that they give, for everyone left in the land shall eat curds and honey.
23 On that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns. 24 With bow and arrows one will go there, for all the land will be briers and thorns, 25 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.
Meditation
It seems a little odd for someone whom I haven’t spoken to since college to message me out of the blue. When I receive messages like these, I explain my concern and ask for the person to tell me something that only they would know. If it is indeed my friend, they offer me some memory or inside joke, and we catch up. I have faith in this process, and in the signs they give, but, most of all, I have faith in the person. This friend of mine is a safe person to be in relationship with.
In our passage in Isaiah, King Ahaz is at a moment of suspicion. Previously in verses 8 and 9, Isaiah foretold the destruction of Judah. If Ahaz does not “stand firm in faith, [he] shall not stand at all.” Then Isaiah presents Ahaz with an opportunity to test out his faith. “Ask a sign of the Lord your God,” Isaiah challenges. Ahaz gives a cop-out answer masking his disbelief with religiosity. “I will not put the Lord to the test,” he says, but in reality, he just does not believe God’s promises to David. He does not trust God. That, however, does not stop God from giving a sign: a young woman with a child called Immanuel, “God with Us.” This sign will occur after Ahaz’s destruction, and it will bring forth the true Davidic king.
Matthew’s gospel proclaims that, although many years later, Jesus’s birth is the fulfillment of this prophecy. Jesus is the true Davidic king who will reign forever. He is the sign of God’s faithfulness and trustworthiness still to this day. He is safe to be in relationship with. He keeps his promises. We can stake our lives on Him. Come, Lord Jesus, come!
Melissa Amber Patton is a Pittsburgh native, a writer, and an M.Div. student at Trinity Anglican Seminary. She is currently the music leader at Mosaic Anglican Church in Imperial, Pennsylvania and is pursuing ordination with the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Kondoa – The Anglican Church of Tanzania
The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia
