Month: December 2019

Such affrontery.

I was leading a devotion on Isaiah 7. I had intended to emphasise the amazing promise of ‘Immanuel, God with us’ (Isaiah 7:14) but what niggled in my own heart that evening was the affrontery of audacious Ahaz. 

In Isaiah 7:10-12, we read, “Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.”

Who says, “I will not…” to God Almighty? Even if your words are padded with piety? 

 I finished the evening devotion with the challenge, “Is God offering you an invitation of any sort? What is your response?” 

Was it God? Was it me? Did I sense a divine whisper, “‘Ask me for a sign”? 

A sign of what?

A sign? A sign of what? My situation is quite different to Ahaz’ – he was in dire straits and had the prophet Isaiah standing in front of him. And I’m not about to take God’s words to Ahaz in a particular time and place and apply them willy-nilly to myself. Eisogesis, that is called, and I don’t approve of it.

But do I believe that God can and does communicate with us today? Yes indeed. It’s my interpretation of what is divine and what are just my own ideas that is in question. As a modern Western woman, I tend to see the two as quite distinct. People in some other cultures see the spiritual and the natural as integrated seamlessly. I am, however, a product of my culture.

It couldn’t hurt, could it? In God’s amazing kindness, he has already fulfilled the sign promised so many millennia ago to Ahaz of ‘Immanuel, God with us,” showing that deliverance was at hand. It was at hand for Ahaz (though in the context of judgement) and salvation is at hand for us too. That’s the ‘big’ sign. But perhaps he has a ‘little’ sign for me in this day and age as well?

What could be ‘the sign’?

This past year, ‘flight feathers’ have been a repeated theme, and one which I interpret as a sign from God. I have blogged about that before.

Over the past 4 1/2 years, since returning to Australia and dealing with health crises, shells have been a repeated theme. Yes, there are blog posts on that too.

And since first committing to long-term cross-cultural work as an impressionable young woman 30+ years ago, roses have been a repeated theme. How blessed am I to have God continually remind me of his presence and involvement in my life?! 

And so I asked for a sign. A sign of what, I’m not 100% sure, but it would be lovely to be reminded of God’s hand in and on my life, and he knows that my greatest wish is to be useful in his kingdom work. 

What would be the sign? Roses again? Shells? Flight feathers? Whatever God chooses to give, I would receive gratefully. It was the Monday morning of a two day ladies retreat. I asked, humbly, not in a demanding way … but I did ask for a sign … again.

A rose

Later that same day, I returned to my room for a half hour rest. I lay on the bed, eyes closed, thinking again about the request earlier that day for a sign. Opening my eyes, I looked at the single rose on the desk, silhouetted against the bright light outside. It was pretty. I picked up my iPad and snapped a photo. 

When I looked at the iPad screen, the photo was like none other. The sunlight seemed to have been refracted by the flyscreen on the windows, creating quite an amazing pattern of light around the beautiful bloom.

Was this my ‘sign’? 

A shell

After regrouping with the other ladies, a friend said, “Come and admire some beautiful blossoms on a gum tree outside.”  I picked up my iPad (for the camera) and followed her. The gum blossoms were pretty but what really astonished me in a place far from the ocean was a shell, mostly buried by my feet! 

The shell wasn’t perfect but it was pretty. It was very similar in shape and markings to that which God had first brought to my attention and which had encouraged me a lot 4 1/2 years ago. 

Was this my ‘sign’? 

A feather

On the Tuesday, our last day of retreat, I spotted a beautiful feather. It was another flight feather (obvious by its lopsided-ness). I pocketed it, wondering if this could be my sign.

The following day, back at home, sitting on the back porch pondering these things, a young magpie flew down and started strutting around in front of me.  I tried to shoo it away … I was worried about the cat pouncing on it. Its parents also swooped down and tried to move it along. It would not be dissuaded, however. It continued strutting for a good ten or fifteen minutes, the cat watching on with interest but inaction. 

It occurred to me that the feather in my hand probably came from a bird just like this. 

Was this my ‘sign’?

Flight feathers

Then yesterday, a couple of weeks after the retreat, as I started to draft this post, I spotted another young magpie in a tree practising its warbling. As I lifted my trusty iPad to take a photo, a noisy miner bird flew into the picture, its flight feathers beautifully displayed. Flight feathers again……

Was this my ‘sign’? 

If the prophet Isaiah were to sit on my porch and ‘have a cuppa’ with me, perhaps he could explain matters more succinctly. Nevertheless, I am pretty sure that our Heavenly Father has kindly given me sign upon sign over the past couple of weeks to remind me that he is intimately involved in my life. 

Participating in God’s work

I sense … I hope … that the ‘go slow’ season of the past few years is coming to an end and that I’m ready to fly again. I am a bit of a battered old shell these days. I think back to the idealistic young woman who was preparing to head to Asia 25 years ago (I left Australia indefinitely, so I thought, on April 1^st, 1995) and am grateful as I recognise the hand of God in my life throughout the years. My role in God’s work these days is different to what it was back then … but God still has a role for me to play, nonetheless.

So what is ahead? Only God knows. As I write this blog post, I am preparing for another short trip which I hope will be significant in a variety of ways, including with academic pursuits. I have just been invited to present a paper on a related topic at an academic conference next year – something which I find both surprising and an honour. I suspect that all this may be part of the work that God has in mind for me in this current season of life. Time will tell.

What I do know without a doubt is that God is with us. Yes, in a general sense he is with us always. And in a special sense, God is with those of us who are his through his indwelling Holy Spirit – something that ancient Ahaz could have hardly foreseen. 

But in his kindness, through roses, shells and flight feathers, he has reminded me afresh that he is intimately involved in the details of my life. He still has a role for me to play in his work. 

Immanuel – God with us – hallelujah. 

Sitting in the waiting room at the Monash Cancer Centre this morning, an older lady on my left wrung her hands and tapped her foot repeatedly. On my right sat a lady about my age but with olive skin and an aquiline nose. Her head was covered with a black scarf and she wore a loose black coat and trousers. She curled up in a big chair and closed her eyes, stirring only when her hacking cough kicked in.

I was there for my four-year post-cancer check. Upon being informed that I remain ‘boringly normal’, my heart did a happy dance. As I left, a grin on my face and a spring in my step, I spotted the coughing Muslim lady slouched outside the radiation clinic. My smile faded and my heart sank on her behalf.

Fear……

Shaking hearts

It was in the context of fear that the promise of ‘Immanuel’, which we sing about at Christmas, was first announced. The ancient King Ahaz of Judah (8th century BC) heard that his two biggest enemies had made an alliance. And so “… the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind” (Isaiah 7:2). 

The LORD told the prophet Isaiah to take his little boy, Shear-Jashub, whose name meant ‘A remnant will return’ (Isaiah 7:3), and pass on a message to the terrified king. (Take note of the name of the child … its significance will become clear later on.) 

“Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid,” was the first part of the message (Isaiah 7:4a).

“Do not lose heart because of these two smouldering stubs of firewood….” was the next line of the message (Isaiah 7:4b). From an earthly perspective, the enemy threat was ginormous, like a raging forest fire. But God’s perspective is far beyond ours, and they appeared as nothing but red embers to him.

As a sign that what God had promised would come to pass, King Ahaz was given a special sign, one which we sing about today.  “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel….” (Isaiah 7:14b). 

Immanuel … God with us. It’s a precious promise, and even more so in those times when our hearts shake like the leaves of the trees are shaken by wind. 

Prophecy 

Prophecy is like a mountain range. Just as one mountain comes after another in a mountain range, so there can be layers of fulfilment with prophecy. No doubt in King Ahaz’ day, there was a young woman who gave birth to a child who was named ‘Immanuel’. In the message brought by Isaiah and his son, the terrifying enemy would be obliterated by the time promised child was old enough to distinguish wrong from right. 

But as any biblically literate reader knows, there was another layer of fulfilment to this prophecy. Hundreds of years later, Matthew would write up the story of the miraculous conception of Jesus, adding, “All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” – which means “God with us” ” (Matthew 1:22-23). 

This child, Immanuel, is the one whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. One of my favourite carols, called ’Immanuel,’ by Michael Card (see the footnote for a link to listen online), contains the following lines: 

“Immanuel, our God is with us,
And if God is with us, who can stand against us?
Our God is with us, Immanuel.”

I would like to finish this devotion by pondering the wonderful truth of ‘Immanuel – God with us.’ But if I am to remain true to the text, I cannot. For that wasn’t the end of the story for King Ahaz and his people.

A Warning

“Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights,” commanded the Lord (Isaiah 7:10). 

“I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test,” responded the king (Isaiah 7:12). 

On the surface, it sounded like King Ahaz was being pious. Israel had been in trouble in the past for putting God to the test. (See Exodus 17:1-7.) And yet I would suggest that the king’s piety and refusal to comply with God’s directive thinly disguised a sense of pride.

If only King Ahaz had seen the same vision of our awesome God in his holy temple which Isaiah saw and which is recorded just one chapter earlier in Isaiah 6. Surely he could not then have said, “I will not” to Almighty God. 

Do we ever say, “I will not” to God’s gracious invitation for this or that? 

In response to the refusal of King Ahaz to ask for a sign, God gave the sign of Immanuel. (See Isaiah 7:13-14.) And it wasn’t good news. For before the promised child was old enough to know right from wrong, not only would Judah’s enemies be vanquished, but Judah itself would be devastated by a bigger, stronger threat – Assyria. (See Isaiah 8:1-10.)

But in judgement lay mercy. This was foretold even right then by the name of the child standing by Isaiah. The child was named Shear-Jashub, meaning ‘A remnant will return’. 

From that remnant, hundreds of years later, a virgin would conceive. Her son would be called Immanuel, meaning ‘God with us’. The book of Isaiah is rich in prophecy about this promised one. 

Appropriate Fear

King Ahaz feared his nation’s enemies, and fair enough. The ladies in the cancer clinic today appeared nervous about their physical conditions, and fair enough. I don’t want to belittle their fears.

I do, however, want to turn my thoughts and perhaps yours to the God of Isaiah 6 who is frightening in his holiness. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary….” (Isaiah 8:13-14a).

It’s easy to write these words right now when life is going well for me. Feel free to remind me of this ancient wisdom when life is challenging. I so wish that I could have shared the hope of ‘Immanuel – God with us’ with the ladies sitting either side of me at the clinic this morning and extend God’s gracious invitation to them. 

For now, though, I shall finish with another stanza from that magnificent Christmas carol, Immanuel, written by Michael Card. I hope and pray that the ladies I sat by this morning hear this good news too, perhaps by caring Christians in their communities this Christmas … perhaps by you or by me.

“So what will be Your answer? Will You hear the call?
Of Him who did not spare His son but gave Him for us all.
On earth there is no power, there is no depth or height,
That could ever separate us from the love of God in Christ.
Immanuel, our God is with us,
And if God is with us who could stand against us?
Our God is with us,
Immanuel.” 

You can hear the carol ‘Immanuel’ by Michael Card here: https://www.worshiptogether.com/songs/immanuel-card/