In this sermon, Pastor Chuck Smith discusses the story of Ahaz in the book of Isaiah. Ahaz was a wicked king who refused to seek a sign from God, showing his lack of interest in God's help. Pastor Chuck emphasizes the importance of relying on God and trusting in His presence, as symbolized by the word "Emmanuel," which means "God is with us." He encourages listeners to walk in fellowship with God and experience His love, finding peace and assurance in His presence. The sermon concludes with a reminder to seek spiritual growth and development, knowing that God will never leave or forsake His people.

Welcome to The Word for Today. The Word for Today is a continuous study of the Bible taught by Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California. Pastor Chuck is currently teaching from the Old Testament. And for those of you following along in your Bibles, we'll be continuing today in Isaiah chapter 7, beginning with verse 10. As we continue with an in-depth message entitled, The Sign of Emmanuel, part 2. And now with today's study, here's Pastor Chuck. However, Ahaz was so wicked that he refused even to seek a sign from God. He really wasn't interested in the help of God. He was fearful that if he relied upon God for help and God delivered him, then he would be obligated to serve God. And his heart was so against the Lord that he would rather be destroyed than serve the Lord. And thus he refused to ask for a sign. He said, I won't ask for a sign. Neither will I tempt the Lord. And so he said, all right, Isaiah responded to him. You won't ask for a sign, but tell you what, God's going to give you one anyhow, like it or not. Here now, O house of David, that is, he was, he was a descendant of David sitting on the throne of David. Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? Here the king had, had a reputation of just being a bore to man. He troubled men. He brought problems on the people. But will you also weary God? You've defied the people. Are you going to defy God too? Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted means God with us, Emmanuel. And so the sign that God was going to give a remarkable sign, a virgin will conceive and bear a son, call his name Emmanuel. So here's the prophecy of the virgin birth of Jesus, which of course carries on from the prophecy of Genesis three, where God said that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent. Now, a woman doesn't have a seed. She possesses the ovum that is fertilized by the male seed in order for a child to be produced. But yet the promise of the seed of the woman is promise of a virgin born son. Now through history, it is interesting that there are many who laid claims to being born of a virgin, knowing that there was this promise from the beginning. It is interesting that according to the claim of Semiramis, her son Tammuz, who was worshiped as Nimrod and one of the gods of Babel, that he supposedly was virgin born. Satan's counterfeit plan. Satan was there. He heard God's announcement in the garden. And so he decided to set up counterfeits. And throughout history, there were many who laid claim to be being virgin born. Actually, Alexander the Great passed himself off as born. Really, he said his mother was a virgin and that actually she was in this snake cult and supposedly was produced him as the result of this cohabitation with the snake. And Philip, his father, supposedly looked in when she was going through the rites and then in the next battle his right eye was put out and supposedly in judgment for spying on her. I mean, history is replete with these kind of stories. Now that doesn't take away from the reality of Jesus. Satan always seeks to counterfeit the work of God. And God's plan was not secret. Satan was there in the garden when God said, the seed of the woman is going to bruise your head, though you will bruise his heel. And Satan knew all about that. And thus he set up his counterfeits throughout history. But a counterfeit does not disprove the genuine, but in opposite actually proves there is a genuine because you can't have a counterfeit unless you do have a genuine. There's nothing to be counterfeited. And so God's genuine plan was revealed. Satan sought to counterfeit that plan of God many times in history. And so, knowing here the plan of God, the sign that God would get, the virgin would conceive and bear a son, call his name Emmanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat. They say that this refers to the simplicity of the lifestyle of Jesus. Not going to be a great potentate sitting on a glorious throne, living in an ivory tower, completely isolated by people and all, but he was going to be a common person. Simple life, simple lifestyle, that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. Now, for before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you abhor shall be forsaken of both of her kings. This prophecy and the difficulty of it is that there is a twofold fulfillment. This prophecy was set to be fulfilled in that time. And yet, in the dual fulfillment of it, it went on out to speak of Jesus. Now, in that time, it is possible that had Ahaz sought the Lord and sought the sign of the Lord, it is possible that Christ could have been born at that time of history. But his refusal delayed the promise of God. One possibility. We do know from Matthew that this prophecy does refer to Jesus Christ. There is difficulty here because there seemed to be a prophecy that was to have an immediate fulfillment within the next few years. This woman will conceive and bear a son and before he is old enough to know good from evil or to refuse good from evil, which would be about 15 years, the age of accountability, 13 years or so, the time of Bar Mitzvah. The land that you abhor shall be forsaken of both of her kings. Now, that is a possible interpretation of it, but let's just leave it as it is. Both of the lands of Syria and Israel, their kings were removed by the time Jesus was old enough to refuse the evil and choose the good. So, leaving it with a far-off fulfillment, it still fits perfectly for Jesus Christ. Now, because he had refused the help of God, he then announces the judgment of God that's going to come. The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people, upon your father's house, some tough days that have not come from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah, even the king of Assyria. God's going to bring against you the king of Assyria. You're looking to him for help and it is true that Ahaz took money out of the temple of God and sent it to the king of Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser, to come and to help him. Tiglath-Pileser did come, he destroyed Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel, but he didn't stop, he moved right on down and also took much from Judah. So, the prophecy that the Lord is going to bring upon you some evil days, they haven't been this bad since the civil war that divided the two nations. It shall come to pass in that day the Lord shall hiss, the word hiss is whistle, for the fly that is in the uttermost parts of the rivers of Egypt. Now, Egypt is known for its flies. And Assyria was known for the number of bees. And so, God is going to call for the Egyptians and the Syrians who will come swarming into the land like flies and bees. And the whistling for them is sort of like you would whistle for a dog or something, you know, and the dog knows how to respond to the whistle. And so, God will whistle for them to come against you. And they shall come and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, in the holes, in the rocks, upon the thorns and upon all the bushes. I mean, they're going to cover the land. They're just going to move in like hordes of flies and bees covering the land. And in the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that which is hired. Now, He had hired Assyria to help Him. By them that are beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet, and it shall also consume the beard. And it shall come to pass in that day that a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep. In other words, the Assyrians and all are going to come and they're going to rape the land. All of your beautiful vineyards are going to be destroyed. A vineyard that had a thousand choice bushes will become just a field of thorns and briars. About all that will be left in the land, a man will have a cow and a couple of sheep. And thus, his diet will be extremely simple. Just curds and honey will be all that he has to eat. He won't have any vegetables. He won't have any fruit and all because the fruit and all of the land will be destroyed by these hordes. And so it shall come to pass for the abundance of milk that they shall eat butter, and butter and honey shall everyone eat that is left in the land. It shall come to pass in that day that every place where there was a thousand vines worth a shekel a piece, it shall even be a place of briars and thorns. And a man won't even dare venture out in the field except he has a bow and an arrow because of the all of the wild beasts that have just taken over the land. And so the land becoming utterly desolate. And on the hills that shall be digged with a mattock, they'll not come thither for fear of the briars and thorns. The terraces where they used to plant and all, they'll be afraid to go out there. But just the cattle will graze and the sheep. Moreover, the Lord said unto me, Take thee a great rule and write in it with a man's pen concerning Maher Shalahazbaz. Maher Shalahazbaz means haste ye, haste ye to the spoil. Now he was to write this on a huge scroll, probably a big piece of leather in large letters. Maher Shalahazbaz. And he was to take this out in front of the people. He was to post this out where all the people could see it. Haste ye, haste ye to the spoil. And so I took with me two faithful witnesses. Uriah who was the priest and Zechariah who was the father-in-law actually of King Ahaz. He was the son of Jeroboam, whatever that name is. And I went unto the prophetess, that is his wife. I went in unto her and she conceived and she bore a son and the Lord said unto me, Call his name Maher Shalahazbaz. Now that's quite a name to put on a kid. I'm sure that they must have had some nickname for him, a shortened version of this. But later on he is to say that his children are for signs to Israel. You remember the first son, his name meant a remnant shall return. And this son means that the enemies are going to haste to the spoil, that it won't be long before the enemies will be trotting down their land. For before the child shall have knowledge to cry my father and my mother. That is before the child's even a year old can say mama, dada. The riches of Damascus, the northern Syria capital and the spoil of Samaria, the northern kingdom of Israel shall be taken away before the king of Assyria. Before your child is old enough to say mama and daddy. Syria and Samaria will be captured by the king of Assyria. And so the Lord spake also unto me saying, For as much as this people refuse the waters of Shaloh that go softly, and they rejoice in Rezan and Remaliah's son, now therefore behold the Lord bringeth upon them the waters of the river Euphrates, strong and powerful, even the king of Assyria and all of his glory. And he shall come up over all of his channels and go over all of his banks and he will pass through Judah and he shall overflow and go over and he shall reach even to the neck and the stretching out of the wings. He shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Emmanuel. The name again, Emmanuel. Now, it was the land of Emmanuel, the land of God and God's people, but Shaloh was just a small little rivulet, a stream near Jerusalem. And it was just a small little rivulet of a stream. But it did provide for them. Water was life. The cities were always built near a supply of water. And the city's size always depended upon the amount of water. And here was this little rivulet that supplied Jerusalem with water, but because you have despised this little rivulet, Shaloh, God will bring upon you the overflowing waters of the Euphrates. Now, the Euphrates, of course, was a mighty river, the Assyrians. And you really don't respect the help that God is offering to you, the help that God would give to you, but instead you're relying upon that help which will turn against you and overflow you. So associate yourselves, O ye people, that is, call on Assyria for help, but you're going to be broken in pieces. Give ear, all of ye of far countries, gird yourself, but you'll be broken in pieces. Gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces. Twice he repeats that. The girding of yourself was taking the belt and tying your skirt up so that you could fight. It gives you mobility. It's hard to run with a long skirt, so they would take the rope and tie it up and make it a short skirt so they could run. Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing. Speak the word, and it will not stand. Your alliances, your vows, the promises, they're not going to stand. You're trusting in a broken reed. For God is with us. Now there is the word in Hebrew, Emmanuel, once more. This time it's translated. But in the Hebrew text, that word there is Emmanuel, this time translated. It will not stand for Emmanuel. God is with us. Face to face, Lord, let me know. Face to face, Lord, let me see you. Pastor Chuck Smith will return with a few closing comments. But first I'd like to remind you that today's message is available in its unedited form on cassette or CD. Simply write or call and ask for ordering details on tape or CD number C-3245. Again, that's tape or CD number C-3245. Well, it's that time of year again. It may seem innocent, but the symbols of Halloween, like black cats, jack-o'-lanterns, and trick-or-treat, all have roots in sorcery and Satanism. We would never knowingly get involved with anything related to Satan. But many Christians don't understand what's really behind the pagan holiday. The word for today would like to offer you a presentation hosted by Pastor Chuck Smith called Halloween Trick-or-Treat that traces the pagan origins and history of Halloween. This powerful movie uncovers the mystic rites and ceremonies of Satan and will forever change your opinion of Halloween. Every year as the end of October approaches, we are faced with the dilemma of family and friends pressuring us to participate in the celebration of this pagan holiday. This documentary will definitely challenge you to decide whether or not you'll continue to participate in this tradition. If you'd like more information on Halloween Trick-or-Treat, then simply write or call and ask one of our operators for the ordering details. Again, it's called Halloween Trick-or-Treat. And right now, if you place an order, the word for today would like to bless you with Pastor Chuck Smith's pamphlet, How Can a Man Be Born Again? Absolutely free. Instead of just giving candy this year, the pamphlet is the perfect tool for Christians to share the gospel with loved ones and friends. Available in both English and Spanish. Again, it's free when you call right now. To order Halloween Trick-or-Treat for yourself or for a friend, you can call the word for today at 1-800-272-WORD or write to us at P.O. Box 8000, Costa Mesa, California, 92628. Once again, that number to call is 1-800-272-9673. And for those of you that would like to visit our website, you can do so at www.twft.com. Or if you would like to email us, you can do so at info at twft.com. Well, coming up next time on The Word for Today, Pastor Chuck will be continuing his fascinating study through the book of Isaiah. That's coming up next time on The Word for Today. And now with a few closing comments, here is Pastor Chuck. Father, we thank you for that peace that we have in Christ Jesus that passes all understanding, that peace that keeps our minds and our souls. Lord, we pray for those who have been at war with you, those that have been fighting against your Spirit, those, Lord, who have been going their own path away from you. May they hear the call of your Spirit tonight. And may they respond to the call of your Spirit. And may they come that they might be healed and that they might receive, Lord, your peace. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Shall we stand? And now may the love of Jesus Christ and the peace and communion of the Holy Spirit rest and abide with you this week. May you walk in fellowship with Him. May you be conscious of His presence. And may this be a week of spiritual growth and development as your heart is open to God and the things of the Spirit. May the Lord take you by the hand and lead you in His way. And may you have that beautiful comfort and assurance that comes from knowing that God is by your side and will never leave you or forsake you. Walk with Him in fellowship. Experience His love. Return your heart and your life to Him that you might have peace. Amen. Peace to you.