The Holy Spirit Wants To Teach, Am I Willing to Receive the Lesson?

     I hope you will allow my testimony to encourage your faith.  This morning I was directed to three different passages in Scripture by my daily Bible reading plan.  On the agenda were a few chapters in Isaiah, two chapters in 2 Chronicles, and Philemon.  This seemed to be a strange combination until I began to read and discover that Isaiah and Chronicles had overlapping stories.  I found my eyes resting on several verses that I highlighted, but I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what the Holy Spirit was trying to teach me.  Rather than explain outside of the experience, let me show you what happened.

     The Biblical account I was reading told a story of King Ahaz, king of Judah.  Assyria was a powerful nation and a threat to Judah, Israel, and Aram.  King Rezin (Aram), and King Pekah (Israel) were so concerned that they formed an alliance to strengthen their military power.  They requested that King Ahaz join them.  He refused.  That is when God sent Isaiah the prophet to King Ahaz.  The first passage that I highlighted was Isaiah 7:9, “if you are not firm in your faith, you will not be firm at all.”  It felt like this was an inspiring quote, but within the context of the story, I didn't understand it.  

     The prophet Isaiah told King Ahaz that God would protect him from King Rezin and King Pekah, who had become angry with him.  At this point, it is a fairly straight forward story.  Then God says, “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” (v. 11)  In other words, God was inviting King Ahaz to increase his faith with signs and wonders, as Jesus often did with the Jews while He walked on earth.  King Ahaz refused to ask for a sign and responded, “I will not put the LORD to the test.”  My heart swelled just a bit for King Ahaz, recognizing that he was quoting Scriptures (Deuteronomy 6:16) back to God.  I assumed that King Ahaz words were noble, when, in fact, they were not.    

     As the story goes on, God decided to give King Ahaz a sign whether he asked for it or not.  The prophet Isaiah prefaced the sign with the following words, “Hear then, O house of David!  Is it too little for you to weary man, that you weary God also?  Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.” (v.13-14).  I never considered the statement that Isaiah posed to King Ahaz as relevent.  It went unnoticed.  That is what happens when we assume we understand the story without guidance from the Holy Spirit.  How often we read the Scriptures in a shallow mindset!

     What comes next is a prophecy which reads, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”  I accepted my interpretation hook, line, and sinker.  Here is a prophecy of Jesus birth.  I assumed that God was giving the faithful King Ahaz the good news of Jesus, who would save all people.  Then I read, “He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.  For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.” (v. 15-16)  I did not understand that Isaiah was not talking about the birth of Christ nearly 730 years later, but about another event that would occur 2 or so years later.  The translation I read called it a 'virgin' birth; where many other translations refer to this as a 'young woman' who gave birth, not a 'virgin' birth.  I assumed they were talking about Mary the mother of Jesus, when in reality, this was not her story.  This prophecy was using an illustration of the length of time a child moves from breast milk to eating a soft diet (curds and honey) - about two years.  This was to reveal that Aram and Israel (two kings) would be overthrown and not pose a threat to King Ahaz.  The reference to "Immanuel" which I assumed was Jesus, was really a common phrase used to express "God with us" indicating that God would be with King Ahaz and could be trusted.

     Now my mind was trying to unscramble what “curds and honey” had to do with Jesus, and was this passage attempting to reveal that there is an age of accountability.  I began to pull straws out of the hat when considering maybe that is why we didn’t hear much about the boyhood life of Jesus.  He was only considered spotless once he could comprehend how to refuse the evil and choose the good.  When we don’t fully understand Scriptures, how do we fill in the gaps?  Do we make up information to convince ourselves that we understand, or do we dig deeper, trying to make sense of it?  Is it possible that we allow our heads to get in the way of the Holy Spirits guidance?  Do we rely upon our own power of comprehension and believe the lesson is far more shallow than it actually is?  I’m off in never-never land believing that I’ve just uncovered a profound statement regarding the “age of accountability” and the Holy Spirit is saying, “no-no, you aren’t getting it yet!”

     I started writing up my observations about the story and tried to determine what personal application I could take away from it.  My thoughts are still swirling around the clever little quote I discovered, “if you are not firm in your faith, you will not be firm at all” (v. 9) and I believe my lesson was ‘God, willingly reveals mysteries, to increase our faith.”

          On the agenda this morning was my Life Group.  This is where we meet as a group, independently surveying the same Bible passage and then discussing them together.  We call it the 20/20/20 plan.  We read for twenty minutes, journal for twenty minutes, and then discuss our findings for twenty minutes.  I listened first and then revealed my findings last.  We all had different lessons from the same passage.  That is how the Holy Spirit works.  However, in the course of sharing, I found myself expounding on a very old story in my life.  The point I was attempting to make is that we can teach from failures when we recognize our disobedience, confess, and turn in a new direction.  I believe what precipitated this discussion was my last article entitled “Instructions for Old Women.”  Several hours later, I am still pondering what I learned from the story found in Isaiah and 2 Chronicles.  I would encourage you that even when you feel your daily lesson is complete, keep listening; the Holy Spirit may not be done teaching you.

     I was willing to give it a little more time and it was good I felt unsettled in my conclusion.  Here is the lesson that was intended for me.  King Ahaz (Judah), King Rezin (Aram), and King Pekah (Israel) felt weak in the presence of Assyria.  In their discomfort, two kings aligned with one another to create a stronger military force.  The third king of Judah, decided that he would align with the enemy nation feeling that his odds of survival were better aligning with the greater power.  God sent Isaiah to encourage the king of Judah to trust in Him rather than align himself with the Assyrian king.  King Ahaz, although he was quoting Scriptures back to God, used Scriptures as a decoy.  He wanted to give the appearance of humble obedience to God; however, he had already decided to align with Assyria rather than put his trust in God.  He didn't want to be held accountable by signs.  We cannot pull the wool over God’s eyes.  He reads the heart, not our words.

     When we assume we understand a story, it is easy to get off track.  Even in my haste to understand, the Holy Spirit continued to nudge.  The unsettled nature of my heart caused my curiosity to peak; I accepted the idea that there was more to learn.  Think of it as a juicy steak that you take off the grill a few minutes early to allow it to continue to cook a few more minutes.  Sometimes I feel that the Holy Spirit works with me in the same way.   Not fully cooked, the Holy Spirit was giving me a rest to allow the lesson to come to fruition. 

     I believe the Holy Spirit was trying to help me understand using an example from my own life, where I put my trust in man rather than God and it weakened my faith.  My faith became flimsy and useless.  Like Ahaz who had made up his own mind, the story from my past resembled the same disobedience.  I had already made up my own mind to proceed in the direction I was headed,  God gave me a gentle nudge to change my direction, but I ignored His voice.  As a result, I received immediate and devasting consequences.  These consequences affected far more than myself, just like King Ahaz' decision affected not only himself, by all Judah, as predicted.    

     In the early 1990s, I become disillusion about the direction that God was leading me.  I decided to marry a man outside of God's divine instructions.  I grew impatient with the Lord's timing and took matters into my own hands.  A month before my wedding, I had second thoughts.  I still had time to change plans.  Pride led my heart toward sin, and I followed through.  After the ceremony on my wedding day, my first disappointment came.  Then two days later trust was shattered.  It was a short path into sin and a long journey out.  Like King Ahaz, who tried to appear spiritual by quoting Scripture back to God, we like to impress others by outward appearances while our hearts reveal the truth.  God is not mocked.  He wants to give us second chances, but our own stubborn will cause us to fall. 

     If it hadn’t been for the Holy Spirit placing in my heart a story that was almost three decades old, I may not have understood todays lesson.  Be patient to acquire the lesson God intends.  The Holy Spirit wants to guide and prepare our hearts for the glory of God.

     I would encourage you today to find your own story on how God has given you signs which you’ve once ignored, but now can reap the benefit in the valuable life lesson you’ve received.  This lesson can be used to help another person avoid the same costly error.  Be willing to teach from failure.