It was Immanuel's land, but over that land were the wide outspread wings of a cruel bird of prey, the Assyrian army. A usurper sat upon the throne of Assyria, Tiglath-pileser by name, and he had immediately begun to show that he was master. To Babylon in the south he first turned his attention, and then to countries elsewhere. Wherever he went he subdued nations and uprooted peoples, transplanting them to lands far from their homes. Cruelty accompanied him, and he seemed to glory in deeds of atrocity. As the sickle cuts down the standing grain, so this king left the bodies of the dead behind him. "The gorges and precipices of the mountains," he boasts, "I filled with their bodies.”
Like many a dictator, Tiglath-pileser seems to have thought that he was acting in his own strength. He was quite lavish with his use of the first person pronoun in his annals. Like the dead bodies which he left scattered behind, he throws about the word "I." But despite his lavish use of the first person pronoun, he was not acting in his own strength, nor was the control of all things in his hands.
The Kingdom of Man
A strange time had come upon the world, a time of the revival of Babel’s spirit. Man was exalting himself in a way without parallel since Babel. From the time of Babel there had existed individual nations and individual religions. Each country had its god or gods, and in such a world the kingdom of God might well survive and grow. Now, however, mankind was seeking to unite and to concentrate itself under the leadership of one head, the power of Assyria. There would be no need of God, for men were being forced into a mighty and strong human kingdom, sufficient unto itself. Men who lived in one country would be transplanted to another, and over them all a human figure would rule. The elements of the first empire of Daniel's later great vision were beginning to come into existence.
Behind the movements of man upon the stage of history was an evil spirit, that power which would do whatever it could to destroy the tiny kingdom of Judah, wherein the descendants of David sat upon the throne and from whom in time a Redeemer was to come. This spirit had a plan. If men could unite, Judah would also be included, and there would then be no need for a Davidic ruler. The Davidic dynasty could then be swallowed up in the great ecumenical empire of man, and, as a result, the ancient promises would not be fulfilled and Christ would not come. Utterly ignorant of the true significance of his role in history the Assyrian king fell to his task, for those who become Satan's tools often may not know what they are doing. Thus the confident Tiglath-pileser appeared upon the scene of history.
A Fearful King on David's Throne
To the west lay little Judah and on her throne sat a son of David named Ahaz. All was not well in Judah, for the king was afraid. His heart, like the heart of his court, was trembling like the shaking of the trees before the wind. He was a fearful king, indeed, but his fear was misplaced. He did not fear the rise of the great eastern power, but he trembled before two smaller countries just to his north. They were confederates, and they had purposed to come to Jerusalem and to remove him from his throne. Their purpose, however, could not be carried out, for they did not have the strength to carry it out. Yet Ahaz was afraid.
To this fearful king the prophet Isaiah was sent. He went with his son, who bore the symbolical name, “A remnant will return." The very presence of the prophet with his son should then have quieted the king. It should have reminded him that the promises of God were not going to fail. Ahaz's nation could not be completely wiped out, for there would be a remnant. But Isaiah was to do more than to appear before the king. He was to deliver a message, a message full of comfort to those who looked for the consolation of Israel.
He went right to the point. In words of direct succinctness he told the king that there was nothing to fear. The two enemies to the north were simply the smoking tails of fire brands. They did not have the strength to carry out their designs. Damascus would continue as she was, and the king of Israel, that son of Remaliah — Isaiah does not even deign to mention his name — will also continue as he is. There is nothing to fear, and Ahaz may ask for a sign if he will, a sign which will be a confirmation of the prophet's message.
An Unbelieving King on David's Throne
What would a son of David do at a time like this? Would a son of David recognize where the true danger lay? Would he hearken to God speaking through his prophet, or would he turn to man for aid? Ahaz had no thought of obeying the prophet; he had other plans. He, in fact, was ready to do the worst possible thing, to seek help from the very power which eventually, in the form of the Babylonian empire, would be employed by the Lord to bring about the destruction of Jerusalem. But Ahaz was a “practical” man. He had no time for Isaiah and his revelation from God. The situation, he thought, was crucial and something down to earth had to be done. If he could call in the help of Tiglath-pileser, then he would truly have nothing to fear from the two northern kings. This was practical; this was realistic.
Isaiah stood his ground. He was a prophet of the Lord, one whom God had accredited, and he had a message to deliver. Whether the king would heed that message or not, he, as faithful to the God who had called him, would deliver that message. And what a message it was! Plunging to the very depths of the issue the prophet calls Ahaz and all the house of David to hear the Word of the Lord.
The Lord's Sign of Deliverance
Speaking with a grand boldness, he rebukes the king for his lack of faith and his hypocrisy. "You," he says in effect, "have rejected the sign which the Lord commanded you to choose. Well and good, you have wearied God and therefore the Lord who is in control of all history will himself give a sign, not merely to you Ahaz, but to all who hear. Behold! the virgin is with child and about to bring forth a son and she shall call his name Immanuel.”
“Behold!" Whenever the prophet uttered that word he was directing attention to something of tremendous importance. It is a word loaded with the imperative. "You, trembling Ahaz, and all who hear the sound of my words, behold!" Yet, what could those about Isaiah behold? At what was Isaiah pointing? With the physical eyes they could have seen nothing. As once before Balaam had said, “I see him but not now, I behold him, but not nigh" (Numbers 25:17a), so in dim and mysterious vision the prophet sees the virgin. It is as though the outward physical world has receded from the sight, and with the eye of vision the prophet is enabled to look into the future to behold the virgin with Child.
Strange sight! to be seen and understood only with the eyes of faith. A virgin with Child. Would it not be far wiser to look to the mighty Assyrian king than to such mystic fantasy? But Isaiah's voice is commanding. Behold! he cries, as he focuses attention upon the virgin with Child. It is a supernatural birth of which he speaks. He designates the mother by a word that is never applied to a married woman. He declares that birth to be a sign, and he avers that the name of the Child is "God with us."
This is the sign that the Lord, whom Isaiah designates the sovereign One, will give to his own. For this Child is no ordinary child; He is a Son, the One of whom God had said, "Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee." He is the One concerning whose birth Isaiah later declared, "For a child is born to us, a Son is given to us." And, lest we should be in doubt as to his identity, the prophet names him "The Mighty God." In the birth of this Child God will come to his people.
The True King
Look! Ahaz! Look, all ye rulers of Judah! Behold your king! Turn your eyes away from the Assyrian ruler. He is Satan's pawn. He can bring to you naught but harm. Turn your eyes to the true king, the Son of David, whose throne is established for ever. In his wondrous birth behold the faithfulness of God in the fulfillment of his mighty promises of redemption.
Behold your God! As in Ahaz’s day, so in ours the forces of man are tumultuous about us. Still the nations rage and the peoples imagine a vain thing. But Satan has been defeated. His grand plan to frustrate the purposes of God has failed. "In the days of these kings," said Daniel, “shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom” (Daniel 2:44a). Those mighty kings, whose appearance was prepared by Tiglath-pileser's conquests, did indeed come upon the scene of history. They established their kingdoms, seeking to make them universal and eternal. But God intervened; the plans of Satan were foiled, and in the fullness of time the Son of God was born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, and God is with us. He is the mighty Conqueror, who defeated Satan and shed his blood to deliver his own. Trusting in him, the true King, we may face the dark uncertainties of life and rejoice.