“…If you will not believe, you surely shall not last,” (7:9).
God sent Isaiah to the king of Judah with a message of encouragement and a reminder of Who had absolute control. And through Isaiah, God exhorted the king that he need not fear defeat, for his enemy was headed by mere men who were powerless against the Lord God.
thus says the Lord God: “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass.8 For the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people), 9 and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah…” (7:7-9).
But God sent His Stipulation: their future would depend upon them standing firm in their faith. And since faith mut be tested, God sent the first test.
Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!” (7:10-12).
God told Ahaz to ask, not for something rational or conceivable, but ask for the most outrageous, the most seemingly impossible and unattainable sign he could think of. The answer Ahaz gives appears to have some essence of humility, as if to say, “Oh, I would never do such a thing as to ask God to do that.” But God is the One Who had told him to ask!
Isaiah’s reply to King Ahaz sheds light on what may have been the king’s true motive behind his seemingly humble attitude.
Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well? (7:13).
Rather than commending the king for such piety, Isaiah who now was exasperated with the king, reprimanded Ahaz for trying God’s patience. And as God knows the hearts of all men, perhaps when God instructed the king to ask for a sign it was meant to unveil what was truly in his heart. Perhaps the king’s refusal to ask for a sign was his way of refusing to be put in the place of having to choose obedience.
But God needs no help from man to accomplish His will. So God Himself would send the sign; and it would be the sign of His choosing.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. (7:14).
And He had also sent His Stipulation:
“…If you will not believe, you surely shall not last,” (7:9).
Some versions translate this word, believe, as to stand firm.
If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all, (7:9 HCSB).
But the Hebrew word indicates that standing firm is a result of dependence upon the support of another.
Believe: 539. אָמַן ʾāman: A verb meaning to be firm, to build up, to support, to nurture, or to establish. The primary meaning is that of providing stability and confidence, like a baby would find in the arms of a parent…” Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.
God’s Stipulation for Our Security is to place all our faith in Him alone, as outrageous or impossible or unattainable as it all may seem, and to find our rest, our stability and our confidence in our Father’s faithful arms.
Stipulation: the act of stipulating
1. To acknowledge the truth of; not to challenge.
2. To require (something) as a condition of a contract or agreement
3. To specify, promise or guarantee something in and agreement
His Stipulation is that we find Our Security in acknowledging and submitting to His Word of Truth, accepting His requirements, and believing His promises that are revealed, fulfilled, and guaranteed in His Son.
…If you will not believe, you surely shall not last, (7:9).
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” 24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus, (Matthew 1:23-25).
Consider His Stipulation for Our Security
- His Stipulation for Our Security: Acknowledge and Submit to His Word of Truth as Revealed in His Son.
- Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God,” (John 3:3).
- Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me,” (John 14:6).
- His Stipulation for Our Security: Accept His Requirements as Fulfilled in His Son.
- For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him,” (John 3:16-17).
- For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, (Romans 8:3-4).
- His Stipulation for Our Security: Stand firm in His Promises as Guaranteed in His Son.
- “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life,” (John 5:24).
- In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory, (Ephesians 1:13-14).
How do we respond to His Stipulation for Our Security?
God gave us His Sign, Jesus, His Son. We don’t need to ask for anything else, for He has already done the most inconceivable, the most outrageous, the most impossible and unattainable thing we could ever think of. Because of His great love for us, He sent His Son, Who would live a sinless life, sacrifice Himself and die for our sins, so that we could know His forgiveness, righteousness and love, and live with Him forever.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, (Romans 5:8).
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him, (2 Corinthians 5:21).
and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed, (1 Peter 2:24).
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life, (1 John 5:13).
What is left for us to do? Believe. Believe His Stipulation for Our Security. Believing Him will result in obeying Him, not out of some kind of duty, but out of our love and gratitude for His outrageous and inconceivably impossible, unattainable gift.
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments,” (John 14:15).
It is His gift, as inconceivable as that is. How can we not love and obey Him? But if we don’t stand firm, we won’t stand at all.
If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all, (7:9 HCSB).
Oh, let us stand firm as we find our rest in Him.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light,” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Oh, that we would stand firm in Him Who loved us and gave Himself for us, that we would live by faith, stability and confidence in Him Who revealed, fulfilled, and guaranteed His Stipulation for Our Security.
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me, (Galatians 2:20).