The Rule Of God With Us

God's people are longing for an eternal kingdom with a righteous ruler.

Isaiah 9:6-7 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven's Armies will make this happen!

God with us should be a glorious thought that is too wonderful to describe, in the past couple of post we saw The Hope of God With Us and The Peace of God With Us, It is amazing that God would come to be with us and give us hope and peace. But God's story doesn't end there, he is going to bless his people even more when he returns to reign on earth.

We all long for a better country that is ruled by a better king, but for most of us that is just a crazy dream, it may be crazy for the rest of the world but it is reality for God's people. The day is coming when God will setup his kingdom and tear down the kingdoms of this world that stand in opposition to him.

God's people are always waiting for God's timing.

God's people have a long history of waiting, a lot of God's promises seem like they will never happen, don't forget that there are more prophecies of Jesus second coming than there were of the first so we can be sure that The King Is Coming (music video). 

When Jesus finally arrived to be God with us the first time, there was nothing to fear, as a baby he was defenseless, as an adult he was gentle and kind. Jesus had power over everyone he met but he only used his power to reveal his deity in a gracious and merciful way for our benefit so that we would believe. (Philippians 2:5-9) 

Jesus second advent will not be the same, anyone that wasn't prepared for the first advent could either carry on business as usual or they could have their life radically changed, either way there wasn't any devastating consequences. When he comes again it will be totally different.

The Eternal King And His Kingdom: 

 

The characteristics of the king:

• Wonderful Counselor - Every other counselor will be gone as the supernatural wisdom of this counselor will be far superior. We exaggerate and overuse "wonderful" so we need to pause and consider it's true meaning. Jesus is wonderful in a way that is truly boggling to the mind. (Jeremiah 23:5, Romans 11:33, Colossians 2:3)
• Mighty God - Powerful enough to return after 3 days in the grave and powerful enough to defeat every evil and restore his kingdom to the state it was in before it became marred by sin. (Deuteronomy 10:17, Nehemiah 9:32, Psalm 50:1-6)
• Everlasting Father - The only source of compassion and care that God's people will ever need. They have a peace treaty with the mighty God so they can enjoy being in his presence for eternity without fear. (Isaiah 63:16, John 10:28-30)
• Prince of Peace - God's people should strive to live at peace with each other but as Jesus told his disciples his first advent wasn't about bringing peace. The conflict that we see in the New Testament continues, Jesus is a polarizing figure, the spiritual battle is not over yet. (Matthew 10:24 and 2 Corinthians 6:14-16) Some day the peace that God's people have with him will finally be enjoyed with each other and with all of God's creation. (Romans 12:18, Ephesians 4:1-3, Philippians 4:6-7, Hebrews 12:14)

The characteristics of the kingdom:

Isaiah 11:3-5 He will delight in obeying the LORD. He will not judge by appearance nor make a decision based on hearsay. 4 He will give justice to the poor and make fair decisions for the exploited. The earth will shake at the force of his word, and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked. 5 He will wear righteousness like a belt and truth like an undergarment.

Isaiah 11:10 In that day the heir to David's throne will be a banner of salvation to all the world. The nations will rally to him, and the land where he lives will be a glorious place.

The kingdom of God will be the true creation of the "holy land" where love, justice, peace and joy are the norm. The prayer of Jesus for "thy kingdom come, thy will be done" is a summary of God's kingdom. When the kingdom comes it will be God's will done on Earth as perfectly as it is in Heaven.

The new Heaven and new Earth will not have the destructive influence of sin, man's rebellion will be overthrown and Satan will be bound. The whole story of the Bible is about our rebellion against the king and his work to bring us back under his reign.

When Jesus returns as king: 

• The new kingdom will be known for God, his presence will be all that we will ever need for eternity.
• The new king will obviously be the promised heir of King David's throne. Nobody will question who he is or why he is reigning.
• The old king of this world will be dethroned and the devastating consequences of his evil empire will be reversed and the earth will be restored.
• The promises made to Israel and all of God's people through the prophets will finally be realized and the people of every nation will be blessed. Every covenant God has made with man will be 100% fulfilled.
• The Promised Land will finally belong to Israel, all of it, the boundaries of the nation in Bible times and today do not include all of the land God promised.
• The scattered people will return to Jerusalem to live completely submitted to the rule of their amazing king. 
• The world peace that everyone says they long for, but does little to achieve, will finally be real and eternal. More than peace it will be shalom, Greater than just the absence of conflict, everything will work together in perfect harmony as creation is made whole.

Our king has gone on a long journey, before he left he gave us resources to be used to help others find their way in, when he returns we need to be prepared to give an account for how we used our blessings, our skills and our time for his pleasure. (Matthew 25:14-30)

God has made it clear that we must submit to his son, we must see our need for Jesus before we die or before his return, don't discount the opportunity to transfer your citizenship to the kingdom of God. 

Will you remain in the kingdom of darkness that leads to destruction or will you renounce your citizenship there and move to the kingdom of God that will last for eternity? (Luke 13:22-30, Colossians 1:13-14)

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The Peace Of God With Us

God's people will have peace when sin is defeated.

Isaiah 9:1-5 Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.

2 The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. 3 You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. 

4 For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor's rod, just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian. 5 The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire.

God redeemed his people from Egypt and ended their slavery to that kingdom of darkness but it didn't last forever. Another dark kingdom would come along and oppress God's people again and again but most of the time it was their own fault. 

God was using the nations to reprimand his people, they are living in the same darkness as the rest of the world because they are living just like the rest of the world. Despite the warnings from God through Moses that they were given before they even got to the Promised Land they have failed to live by God's standards over and over again. (Deuteronomy 31:14-30, 32:1-47)

Since Israel refused to be a light to the nations God eventually chose to punish his people, the one nation became two and later they both were defeated. First the Northern Kingdom was taken away by the Assyrians 800 years before Jesus comes, and then the Southern Kingdom of Judah was taken into captivity by the Babylonians 200 years later.

The people of Isaiah's day needed the message of hope that peace was coming to their nation. The message of peace was received by King Ahaz that he would have victory over his enemy but there is more to the prophecy than that, there was a distant prophecy and also another application of the prophecy that we are still waiting for thousands of years later.

God's message through Isaiah told about a new ruler, that would be victorious over their enemies, a ruler that will bring true peace that will end all wars. It sounds like God must be sending a mighty warrior to save the day but suddenly we get a prediction that a baby boy is on the way.

Isaiah 9:6-7 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven's Armies will make this happen!

They wanted a great military victory that would get rid of their enemy forever but that's not the way God works. The people living in darkness that heard Isaiah speak these words probably didn't find much comfort in the announcement of a baby. They wanted to immediately see a great light of hope that would give them the peace that was promised in the previous verses.

One of the most difficult things to understand is why God loves to send a baby to do a man's job. Why can't a full grown man arrive on the scene and take care of things right away? We want someone with strength, know how and determination but God prefers to send a special baby to do the job.

Jesus first advent was prophesied for hundreds of years and then there was another 400 years of silence after Malachi. When baby Jesus finally arrives it is very similar to the situation when God's people were in bondage to Egypt. 

Back when they were in Egypt for 400 years without a word from God, there was a baby that would eventually be their savior, he would have to be protected from Pharaoh, and then the baby reached 80 years old before his ministry began. 

The light of the world came in peace to be with us.

Luke 1:78-79 Because of God's tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace."

If you look at world history in Europe and the Middle East for hundreds of years before Jesus arrival you will begin to understand how miserable the conditions are when Jesus is born. The Promised Land has been invaded by many different countries, various world powers will rise and fall, many of them will invade Israel, including Jerusalem, and the temple.

Finally God is with us, up close and personal, but without the fear that was always present back in the Old Testament. When God came to us as a baby there wasn't any restrictions on who could see or touch him. But, as accessible as he was and as exciting as the news was, his arrival was unnoticed by almost everyone.

Eventually the baby grew up and although he did nothing wrong, he became a disappointment for his people, they were just like King Ahaz, they wanted a military victory. They wanted a savior from today's problems but Jesus came to solve their eternal problem.

The final war that will bring us permanent peace is on the way.

Daniel 7:13-14 As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal-it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.

There will be a final war to set-up the eternal kingdom of our savior, God's people will rejoice at his arrival and his final victory over evil. (Isaiah 9:3-5) The everlasting kingdom of the Messiah will give permanent rest for his people but the sad truth is this peace is not for everyone. 

God's peace will be rejected by the enemy and the children of the enemy, they will not survive the harvest that Jesus told us about at the end of the age. You must accept God's offer of peace before it is too late, those that are not a part of the kingdom now cannot become citizens of his kingdom later. (Matthew 13:36-43)

Peace in this world can only happen if you have peace with God. 

My ultimate enemy has been defeated and I have accepted God terms to make peace with him. Even in the worse chaos I know that I am secure for eternity in God's eternal kingdom of peace. 

When this world has no peace to offer I need to remember that: "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep, The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men."

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The Hope Of God With Us

God's people don't need to look for hope in anything or anybody other than him.

Isaiah 7:10-14 Later, the LORD sent this message to King Ahaz: 11 “Ask the LORD your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.” 12 But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the LORD like that.”

13 Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? 14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

God's people are in the Promised Land, but they are not living the lifestyle that they promised. God's chosen people have turned their backs on God's way to live which they enthusiastically promised just a few hundred years earlier. (Exodus 24:1-18)

If they made the right choices their obedience would continue the special favor that they had already received from God. They would continue to receive so many blessings including security and abundance so that all the nations around them would glorify God. (Deuteronomy 33:26-29)

Pleasing God is the most important thing in the world and the only way to please him is to become like him and that means being holy. Not only are they not holy but God's people are just as bad as the nations around them.

Isaiah 1:4 Oh, what a sinful nation they are- loaded down with a burden of guilt. They are evil people, corrupt children who have rejected the LORD. They have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.

Their lack of holiness will bring about their ruin, the nation has already split into two and God has promised that he will discipline his people. They will be "cut down" until there isn't any visible signs of life. But God would keep his promise to bring Messiah through the lineage of King David. God will cut his people down but out of the tree stump a holy branch will appear. (Isaiah 6:9-13, 11:1)

King Ahaz had a great opportunity to do the right thing when the alliance of Syria and Israel threatened to come after Judah to force them into their coalition. The alliance of Rezin, of Syria, and Pekah, of Israel, will fail to force Judah to join them and they will also fail against the Assyrians. (2 King 16:5-20, 17:5-18 and also in 2 Chronicles 28:5-27)

God gives his people hope in spite of their disobedience.

(Isaiah 7:1-9)

King Ahaz was afraid of the future like trees shaking in a storm (Isaiah 7:2) and fear of the wicked schemes of man. (Isaiah 7:4-6) His fears sent him to Assyria for help instead of trusting God. Ahaz still gets another chance, even though he went to Assyria to get help, God still tells Ahaz through Isaiah that the threats coming against Judah will never be successful despite the fact that he didn't trust God for his future.

The nations can plot to come against God's people but it is God who decides the victory. Isaiah tells us what God thinks of their plans very clearly in Isaiah 7:7-8, 16. Don't be like Ahaz, he relied on his own wisdom instead of listening to the message from Isaiah that the feared invasion isn't going to happen. He should have accepted God's word as his source of hope and joy but if you don't have faith in God then you will have nothing but fear of the future. (Isaiah 7:9) 

God gives his people a sure sign of the hope of Messiah.

(Isaiah 7:10-16)

But God didn't just tell Ahaz that the plot against Judah would not succeed he also gave him a rare opportunity to ask God for any sign whatsoever that would prove what God said was true. Ahaz said that he wouldn't test God but he wasn't being strong in his faith, he had already tested God's patience by putting his faith in the strength of Assyria. 

Jon Courson's Application Commentary - “The Lord will indeed give you a sign,” Isaiah said. The word “you” is plural. Therefore, it speaks not only to Ahaz, but to all humanity through all of history. You who feel threatened, intimidated, pressed upon, worried, anxious—the Lord will give you a sign: A virgin shall conceive and bear a Son whose name means “God with us.”

At least 700 years before Jesus birth God gave a sign for his people to know that he is with them back then and will be in the future when the Messiah finally arrives. 

The folly and sin of seeking hope in man's wisdom.

(Isaiah 7:17-25)

Israel and Syria are described as smoldering sticks that are not going to exist much longer. Both of these countries would lose their military strength and become useless for protection. In Ahaz' lifetime he would see the end of the Northern Kingdom of Israel but Judah would still survive.

Isaiah 2:22 Don't put your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. What good are they?

Isaiah 8:13 Make the LORD of Heaven's Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble.

Assyria would prove to be the enemy of Judah and would destroy her but the promised survival of Judah would eventually lead to Hezekiah, a future Godly king that would lead the nation back to God.

God with us restores our hope.

The loss of "God with us" back in the Garden of Eden was restored for brief moments in the history of God's people. 

God was with his people when he:

• Moved them to Egypt to save them from famine. 
• Took them out of Egypt and made a nation of them.
• Gave them unexplainable military might.

God has always been with a chosen people that have known his presence in their lives but now we can celebrate the most wonderful news of "God with us" in a more personal way.

Matthew 1:22-23  All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”

The son of God came as it was promised long ago to give us victory over our enemy! King Ahaz received the promise of victory over his enemy and now with the arrival of Jesus we can celebrate our own victory.

The New Testament writers quoted Isaiah more than any other prophet, Matthew makes the connection with the prophecies of Isaiah at least a dozen times to prove that Jesus is our God and also our savior.

God with us gives us eternal hope

The "God with us" doesn't have to end! God is with us through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we put our hope in Jesus, our Messiah, we will receive God with us through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 5:5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

God's chosen people have never deserved the privilege that God has offered to us. We don't deserve it any more than the people we read about in the Old Testament. Our friendship with God has been restored by God's mercy and grace through our savior so that we can have victory over our enemy because God is with us. (Romans 5:1-11)

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