“The news had come to the royal court of Judah: “Syria is allied with Israel against us!” So the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, like trees shaking in a storm. Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Take your son Shear-jashub and go out to meet King Ahaz. You will find him at the end of the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed. Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn’t need to fear the fierce anger of those two burned-out embers, King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah. Yes, the kings of Syria and Israel are plotting against him, saying, ‘We will attack Judah and capture it for ourselves. Then we will install the son of Tabeel as Judah’s king.’”
Isaiah 7:2-6 NLT
The news that Syria and Israel had formed an alliance and were heading to Jerusalem filled the hearts of king Ahaz and the people there with fear. We read the extent of the fear, because we are told that the people “trembled … like trees shaking in a storm”. We get more of a background from 2 Chronicles 28, where we find a good reason for the Judeans’ fear. We read, “Because of all this, the Lord his God allowed the king of Aram to defeat Ahaz and to exile large numbers of his people to Damascus. The armies of the king of Israel also defeated Ahaz and inflicted many casualties on his army. In a single day Pekah son of Remaliah, Israel’s king, killed 120,000 of Judah’s troops, all of them experienced warriors, because they had abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors. … The armies of Israel captured 200,000 women and children from Judah and seized tremendous amounts of plunder, which they took back to Samaria” (2 Chronicles 28:5-6, 8).
But all was not lost, because the Lord gave Isaiah a message of hope to take to Ahaz. He was to take his son, Shear-jashub, to meet the king and deliver a message that he must stop worrying. A strange name for a son, I think we agree, but in those days it was the customary to name a child after some event or message from God. Shear-jashub means, “A remnant will return”, a reminder that God would ensure that a small number of people will return from exile to rebuild the nation of Israel. We find some strange names as well in Hosea, with the children of Gober named Jezreel (God will scatter), Lo-ruhamah (Not loved) and Lo-ammi (Not my people), all names to send a prophetic message to the people of Israel because they had rejected God. But at least “A remnant will return” conveys a message of hope.
The account in Isaiah continues with the Lord providing specific instructions to Ahaz regarding the invading armies of Israel and Syria. Ahaz was outside Jerusalem, presumably inspecting Jerusalem’s water supply, when Isaiah caught up with him. There, Isaiah received a message from the Lord telling him not to fear and he delivered it to Ahaz. Although the intent of the invading armies was to capture the whole of Judah and replace the king with their own, we read more detail in Isaiah 7:7-9, “But this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “This invasion will never happen; it will never take place; for Syria is no stronger than its capital, Damascus, and Damascus is no stronger than its king, Rezin. As for Israel, within sixty-five years it will be crushed and completely destroyed. Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria, and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah. Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm””.
The Lord referred to the invading kings as being “burned-out embers”. In other words, they may look scary, but they are like dying fires that will soon burn out. The Lord promised that their plan to conquer Jerusalem “will never take place”. God points out that the enemies are just human kings, but the Lord is in total control of history. But there was a warning in Isaiah’s message, “… Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm” (Isaiah 7:9b). This was a stark warning to Ahaz that unless he trusted God to protect his kingdom, then he would fall, taking Judah with him. Ahaz received a message of hope, but there was a condition – unless He had faith in God and changed his evil ways, there would be consequences.
Have any of us pilgrims ever had a panic attack? At a time, perhaps, when something in our lives was so big and so threatening that we lapsed into fear, shaking “like trees in a storm”? At a time when there seemed to be no way out from a financial crisis or bad news from the doctor? At such a time, it is important to stay calm, trusting that God will take care of us. Peter wrote, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7). Paul wrote, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
In God, there is always a way out of a crisis. He brings hope to the hopeless and succour to the needy. Our cares and worries are as nothing to a child of God, because He has all the resources that we will ever need. And one day He will bring us home, to live in His house forever. We pilgrims are children of God, a people of faith, and we know that “… the Spirit who lives in [us] is greater than the spirit who lives in the world” (1 John 4:4b).
Dear Father God. Thank You for Your care and concern for us, your children. Whatever we are facing today, we give it to You, in faith that You will bring about the solution we need. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 