Morning– Day 5: Christmas for the Fearful (1)

And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. - Isaiah 7:1,2

Most of us are familiar with the “Ful” family. We spend a good bit of our time with them. Some of them are very appealing. Joyful, Prayerful, Hopeful and Faithful are among the most attractive.

Other members of this family are unsavory characters to say the least. There are, to name just a few, Fearful, Sorrowful, Doubtful, and Sinful.

Sadly enough, many of us spend more time with the repulsive members of the family than we do with the attractive members! They always seem to be knocking at the door, and, all too often, we let them in. And they are guests that never want to go home! Well, I have good news for all those who have been hosting the unsavory “Fuls.” Among all the many benefits and blessings of Christmas, we can and must acknowledge this: Christmas deals in a marvelous way with the dreadful members of the “Ful” family. It has the capacity to drive them from us and to bring peace and tranquility in their stead.

The prophecy of Isaiah brings before us the sad spectacle of a man who was entertaining one of the “Ful” family. Here we have Ahaz, king of Judah, entertaining none other than that nasty and despicable character, Mr. Fearful. Verse two of the passage before us says of Ahaz: “And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.”

In other words, Ahaz and his people were frightened, terribly frightened. They were so afraid that their hearts were trembling within them.

The Fear of Ahaz and Judah

What was the source of their fear? One of their neighbors, Assyria, was rapidly gaining strength as the major world power of the day. Kings of smaller nations viewed her expansion with great alarm and began forming alliances with each other. Pekah, king of Israel, and Rezin, king of Syria, had formed an alliance with each other, and they were pressuring Ahaz to join them.

Ahaz thought he knew a better way to stave off the Assyrian threat and thus secure the future of his kingdom. He decided to make an alliance with Assyria herself. That decision angered the kings of Israel and Syria so much that they decided to go to war against Judah.

As this chapter opens, Ahaz receives the word of the advancing forces of Syria, and he is filled with a sense of dread and foreboding. What would happen to him and his people? How could they possibly hope to survive this threat?

Isaiah’s Cheering Message: A Gracious Promise

While these and other questions churned and pounded in Ahaz’s fevered brain, the Lord sent the prophet Isaiah to him with this cheering message of hope: “Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. . . . Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass” (vv.4,7).

In other words, the Lord was telling Ahaz not to fear the kings of Israel and Syria and their armies. No matter what these enemies were plotting to do against Judah, the Lord had determined that their plans would not stand. Man’s plans never stand when the Lord decides they should fall!