Isaiah 7 (Introduction): Love and Hate OR I am Israel; Am I Isaiah-like or Ahazish

This is a lump of what is now called earthenware clay – to differentiate it from more modern oil and plastic based clays.  If you are into pottery or sculpturing you can expect to pay anywhere from .03 cents to almost a cent per ounce.  Expensive stuff, right? 

Yet here is another piece of clay, weighing in at less than an ounce.  Once upon a time it was discarded as used up trash, not even worth a few cents- yet now it is considered a near priceless treasure.  It was used by a man named Ahaz, who just happened to be King of Judah from about 732-716 B.C., to seal up some important document.  A bulla, like this one, was used to make sure important documents were not tampered with.  First the letter or scroll was tied with a string, then the bulla was put over top the knot, and then a signet ring would be used to press the bulla into the string and leave an imprint identifying where the important document came from.  Tampering with a bulla with a king’s seal generally meant certain death.  After the recipient received the important document with bulla/string combo intact, the bulla would have no further use. The ones that have survived are generally found in the burnt out ruins of sacked cities. The “burnt out” part is important because the burning of the city worked like a kiln for the bulla changing it from a piece of hardened clay trash to a well preserved historical treasure.  
 Amazing what fire can do! And amazing how two lumps of seemingly ordinary clay, so to speak, can be valued so very differently.  Even if I took that lump of clay and modeled it to look exactly like the original bulla, it would still be virtually worthless. Why is one a treasure and the other not?  In a word- authenticity.  No matter how careful I am, no matter how faithfully I mimic the original, from my finite position I cannot create a bulla that was actually there at the time of Ahaz.  In to which he pressed his signet ring.  That has a thumb print permanently fixed by fire that if it does not belong to Ahaz, certainly belongs to someone who worked closely with him.  No, those are all things that I, in my present limited sphere, cannot remake – no one can. And those irreplaceable intangible things that make it authentic are also what make it such a treasure. 

Which brings me to a promise I read some years back that stirred deep within me a sense of hope and awe, something I now recognize as the authentic whisperings of the Holy Ghost, but then only knew that it riveted my attention soul deep.  It was some months after the experience I described in “What’s IN the Question.” (9-30-2010).  I had been thinking about the Savior’s admonition that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,” and thinking about what I truly treasured and, as I’ve said before, how hard bad habits of thought and desire are to break. (Matthew 6:21)  This led me to do a topical search on the word “treasure.”  When I read this one, it seemed that it was addressed to me personally.  To me it read:

“Behold, thou art (Annette), and I have spoken to thee because of thy desires; therefore treasure up these words in thy heart.  Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love.”  (D&C 6:20)

First, I thought of my desires.  They were a mixed bag, but wanting to know the truth and live faithful to it was certainly there, and most of the time it mattered most.  I seemed to hear that still, soft instructor teach me not to be discouraged by my imperfections – He wasn’t – but to just concentrate on the Lord’s instruction and promise.  It occurred to me that I had resented so much the constant reminders of my duty to study the scriptures, and approached the scriptures so doggedly, that I hadn’t even considered they might bring a treasure hunt even more exciting that the searching for and finding lost historical treasures.  What a difference that approach made!  It wasn’t long before I decided my encounters with scripture treasure should not occur at bedtime- it was all too exciting and I needed sleep.  

And some months later when my 3 year old daughter and I had a rare, baby-brother free moment, I was startled to realize just how fully the promise that I would be “encircled in the arms of (his) Love”  was being fulfilled in my life.  She was sitting on my lap, with my arms wrapped around her and holding up the book we were reading together.  She snuggled into me as we explored Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom together, and I wished so much there was some way she could know how precious she is to me.  After she was asleep I felt the need to open the scriptures and spend a little more time with the Lord – even if it cost me precious sleep.  I can’t tell you what I read, but I can tell you how it felt.  I saw in my mind’s eye that there were moments in my searching and treasuring those words that I was the little child nestled in the arms of a loving parent as I learned the ABC’s of spiritual growth.  I knew that He wanted me to know how infinitely precious I was to Him.  It was an irreplaceable, intangible priceless treasure.

I thought of that experience recently as I, once again, found my study of Isaiah 7-9 (they just go together) leading me on a tremendously rich expedition through the scriptures.  One of the first things that struck me, one that I had not explored before, is oddity of the little meeting between King Ahaz and Isaiah at the beginning of chapter 7.  Now it is not the content of meeting, so much as where it is recorded that struck me anew.  By the time King Ahaz came to full power Isaiah had been prophesying for years.  And yet the retelling of this meeting comes directly after Isaiah recounts his meeting with the Lord which happened years before, in the year Ahaz’s grandfather died.  In that meeting Isaiah received a much deeper, but not unrelated reassurance to the one I received – that his deepest desire to serve and learn from the God of truth and light, coupled with actions inspired by that desire, were enough- the Lord wasn’t overly concerned with Isaiah’s imperfections because the atonement had already made it possible for what he lacked to be bridged and for Isaiah to know what it meant to be “encircled about in His arms” and to learn personally from Him.  Increasingly, everything about this mortal opportunity became a means for Isaiah to grow, learn, and prepare for the greatest of all treasures.   And as Isaiah is not the only child of God to enter mortality, God has made the same offer available to all his children.

“Seek not for riches but for wisdom; and behold the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich.  Behold he that hath eternal life is rich.” (D&C 11:7)

and

“And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.”  ( D&C 14:7)

In short, Isaiah was one example we can study and learn from, who did accept the Lord’s love and love him in return.  His writings abound with wonder and surety that, though he lived in horribly tumultuous times, he also lived with an assurance that he was encircled, cared for, and instructed by the Lord every step of the way.  (See Deuteronomy 32:10 including footnotes.)

Enter Ahaz.  If ever there was a compelling counter-example to the choices Isaiah made and the eternal consequences of those choices, not only for him, but for countless of his brothers and sisters, it is Ahaz.  I think it jumped out at me so forcefully because since the last time I read through Isaiah I relearned about Ahaz’s life- and this time it seems to have stuck and added context to this interview.

First note that Isaiah was told by the Lord where he could meet up with Ahaz in a public venue.  In other words, the message Isaiah was to deliver to Ahaz wouldn’t make it if Isaiah simply tried, as was the norm, to get an audience with Ahaz.  Ahaz had no desire to hear from Jehovah’s messenger.  This is particularly noteworthy when you read the historical context because Ahaz was grappling with international problems that threatened his reign and his kingdom.  

At this time Assyria had become the dominate power.  In fact it had been increasing in power and dominance for nearly 200 years and was, at that point, the most extensive empire the world had yet seen. The Assyrian kingdom had been around a lot longer than Judah, but it had started as an even smaller city state.  Most of the nations around Judah, including Israel, were reluctant vassals who were brutally forced to pay tribute, on and off, to Assyria.  I say on and off because there had been years of civil unrest in Assyria - like say when there was a fight for the throne – when the vassals tended to go their own way.  Israel had fairly recently been brutally recalled to its onerous duty by the current Assyrian King, Tiglath-pileser.  Its neighbor, Syria, had suffered the same fate.  Judah, up to this point had remained independent. The king of Israel, Pekah, and the king of Syria, Rezin, had come to Ahaz and argued that it was only a matter of time until Tiglath-pileser made his way to Judah, and that Judah should unite with them to overthrow their Assyrian overlords.  Ahaz thought it very unwise to risk catching Assyria’s attention by siding with rebellious vassals.  Reasonable: if the Assyrian king wasn’t focused on his little kingdom, why risk declaring himself an enemy?   Rezin and Pekah did not like Ahaz’s refusal to unite with them, so they decided to overthrow Ahaz and place a king on the throne of Judah who would be more amenable to an alliance with them.   Their first attempt failed in that goal, but it was a costly win for Ahaz.  He lost a province as well as suffered heavy losses to his army.  Now word had come that Pekah and Rezin would try again. 

“And when the house of David was informed…the king’s mind and minds of his people were shaken, as trees in a forest are shaken by the gale.  (Isaiah 7:2 as translated by Avraham Gileadi)

Pretty powerful picture.  Can you imagine what it would feel like to be leaf blown about by gale force winds?  What an apt word-picture to describe the inability of King Ahaz to save himself and his kingdom.  There was simply no earthly way for Judah to be able to stand against it would be allies, and even less chance it could withstand the unstoppable Assyrian army.  It would take a miracle along the lines of, say, the parting of the Red Sea- which is exactly what Isaiah is authorized to offer Ahaz as proof that Jehovah’s “hand” is not “shortened at all that it cannot redeem, or … deliver.”  (Isaiah 50:2)  Ahaz is told not to fear, and that as he can ask for “a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or the heights above.”  (Isaiah 7:11)

Ahaz’s response is an absolute refusal to test or prove Jehovah.   Now, again, mark the contrast.  Isaiah lives in Judah; he has a family.  This is a scary proposition for him, too.  But he doesn’t get offered a miraculous sign- he doesn’t need it because he is in that lovely, encircled position, and the Lord is able to speak directly to him and tells him, just as he had Isaiah tell Ahaz, not to fear this conspiracy.  What is recorded next resonated with me long before I came to appreciate the beauty and depth, and brilliance of how the words fit together.

“Sanctify (set apart, separate and make more important than anything else) the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your fear (the thing that moves you – think of the picture of the leaves in the wind) and your dread (what you consider so powerful it causes you awe or dread) and he shall be for (you) a sanctuary (a place set apart where one finds purpose, rest, peace, sustenance, hope, salvation.)” (Isaiah 8:13-14 also see Jeremiah 17:7-8 for  a tree  word- picture comparison.)

Just as in English, “sanctify” and “sanctuary” are variations on the same word that indicates, at its root, something set apart for a special purpose.  Jacob, another prophet trying to teach his people the same marvelous principle used these words:

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent (return), and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you.  And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of day, harden not your hearts.”  (Jacob 6:5)

The word cleave means to join with, and is a synonym with a word used a few times when describing the Lord’s love for his children.  The word most commonly used for love means much like our love, to have affection for and place a priority on, and that is the word the used in the commands given to us to love the Lord.  But this word means to join with or be bound to because of affection, it is also translated as delight in.  In other words, those who sanctify the Lord or cleave to the Lord come to see… well:

While we may look at the vast expanse of the universe and say, “What is man in comparison to the glory of creation?” God Himself said we are the reason He created the universe! His work and glory—the purpose for this magnificent universe—is to save and exalt mankind.⁸ In other words, the vast expanse of eternity, the glories and mysteries of infinite space and time are all built for the benefit of ordinary mortals like you and me. Our Heavenly Father created the universe that we might reach our potential as His sons and daughters.

This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God. (President Dieter F. Uctdorf,“You Matter to Him,” Ensign, November 2011)

But, if you look at the rest of Isaiah 8:14, you see that even though God doesn’t change, the way his children perceive all that he has prepared for them does.  What was created to “save and exalt mankind” becomes a “stone of stumbling” and “rock of offense.”  Instead of a sanctuary they feel they are in a place they fall, stumble, are broken, snared and taken captive.  Note, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and many others lived through the same outward circumstances, but that didn’t stop them from knowing the Lord was their sanctuary and this mortal experience served its purpose in their eternal lives.  The difference is not in the outward circumstance, but, once again the heart of the matter lies within- do we love, sanctify, and cleave to the Lord or do we hate.

I realize hate is a very strong word in English.  But the Hebrew is much deeper and encompasses many attitudes, frames of mind and heart, so to speak, that all have one thing in common:

“Behold, (mankind) do(es) not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught (place little to no value) his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide.:”  (Helaman 12:6) 

The Hebrew word for “hate” adds to this wonderful description a powerful word- picture.  It is made from the word that also means “thorn” (as in a prickly thing that keeps the unwanted at a distance) and another root that means “strength, power, or authority.”    Mormon nailed it, didn’t he. And, Ahaz provides a particularly compelling example.

 It is probable that Isaiah met up with Ahaz after he had already come to a critical decision, in which he had decided it was not the Lord God of Israel he would cleave to.  Hence, he wasn’t interested in any show of power or authority from Him.  Instead, he had decided he would go to the King of Assyria and offer to align his country voluntarily.  The strategy was that if Assyria had a goose that voluntarily laid the golden egg, so to speak, it would take care of that golden goose instead of eating it for dinner, right?   So, if Ahaz shared Judah’s wealth and resources voluntarily he would stay on the throne and Assyria would take care of its rebel vassals, who were currently his greatest threat. (Which it immediately did.)   And there was one place he could get his he hands on the needed treasure without either using his own wealth, or taking it from his princes – the temple. That’s right, Ahaz planned to use the tithes and offerings, under the Mosaic Law considered God’s property and not the property of the King, to pay tribute to the King of Assyria.

Please understand that the small city state of Ashur, which was the beginning of the Assyrian Empire, was built in honor of and dedicated to Ashur, the ward god in the Mesopotamian pantheon of gods.  The king of Assyria, being the leader of the nation’s armies, was also considered the highest ecclesiastical authority.  No pesky priests or prophets to question his authority!  Moreover, while it started as a much smaller kingdom than Judah, it had successfully become the greatest empire the world had yet known.  Ahaz’s choice was not only to align with the King of Assyria, but to pay homage to the god that had apparently worked so well for Tiglath-pileser.  Tiglath-pileser was a king who had complete command, and whose god, according to his beliefs, worked as a powerful ally. 

 In fact, from a certain perspective, you could even say that Ashur worked as a powerful servant.  Tiglath-pileser wanted more land, more power, and more wealth.  He made the appropriate sacrifices (often other humans) to his powerful servant/ally and then Ashur put his power behind Tiglath-pileser’s efforts and, according to Assyrian lore, so completely vanquished the gods of the countries they conquered that those gods left for good. What Ashur never did was try to tell Tiglath-pileser what to do.  He never sent messengers to chastise and correct, to give direction that, based on our current human perspective, seemed very impractical. 

Ashur was a god Ahaz could love, so much so, that when he returned from Assyria he ordered the temple remodeled after what he saw in Assyria!  In didn’t work out as well as he wished, even though he did go so far as to make his son a human sacrifice.  In fact at some point he became quit miserable and disillusioned, and the temple doors were barred and nailed shut. He died a man so hated by his own people that it was agreed, without protest, that he would not be buried on the consecrated ground set apart for the Davidic kings.  He paid such a huge price for his choice! (2 Kings 16, 2 Chronicles 28)

Isaiah and Ahaz were two men, so similar in that they were both born into the ruling class in the same society, both educated on the Mosaic Law, and they faced many of the same obstacles and questions about life and faith.  They both faced, at its most basic, the same spiritual choice. One chose the authentic God, and came to declare with wonder and awe his amazement at all his Lord had done for Israel.  He repeatedly bears his witness of what God has done for him personally.  He knows he is not more loved than any other of God’s children, and bear witness he became a type, a sign and wonder, of what the Lord can do with any piece of willing human clay. 

Isaiah is, of course, just one example given in the scriptures.  One other example I think illustrates so well the choice placed before both Ahaz and Isaiah is about a King that had everything Ahaz went shopping for a "better" servant/god to obtain.  Known to us as King Lamoni's father, He was high King over a large kingdom- even his own sons bowed to him.  He had been taught all his life that whatever he chose was right- no pesky prophets bothering or arguing with him!  He had wealth and power and no major threats to his throne or his kingdom.  Yet, when he saw something he couldn’t explain, namely, evidence of God’s great love in the form of an enemy willing to risk his life for another, he made a choice.  Note how small the evidence was, say in comparison to the parting of the Red Sea!  His beautiful prayer captures for all to see and treasure the pivotal choice of mortality:

And it came to pass that when Aaron had said these words, the kind did bow down before the Lord upon his knew; yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth and cried mightily, saying:  Oh God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make myself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee…” (Alma 22:17-18)

A truly pivotal choice.  One it seems, if you are anything like me, you have to repeatedly renew.  Yet it is the choice that makes the difference ind what we obtain through mortality.  It also is the choice that opens up the  treasure of "great worth" found in the messianic prophecies given through Isaiah. (2 Nephi 25:8,3 Nephi 22:1)  But that is a discussion for next time.