Isaiah 7-9 (Part 1- Unto us A Child is Born)

I’m thinking of something.  Can you guess what it is?  Think really hard.  Now make a guess.  Nope! That’s not it.  No not that either.  One more guess.  Nope!  Wouldn’t it be great if you could just peer into my mind?  But that is not an option here in mortality, so we have to use other ways to communicate.  Like this picture- it’s a hint.

Now do you have a better idea of what I’m thinking about?  Did you guess something to do with birds?  Why?  I mean it’s not like you actually saw a bird.  There are no feathers, claws, beaks, or flesh and bone.  No, what you see is a collections of pixels arranged so that they visually represent birds.   Unlike real birds, this collection of pixels could be rearranged to represent something else just as effectively.  And yet, though what we have here are only representations of birds, they do effectively allow me, sitting at my computer in New Mexico, to convey to my friends who can’t be here to see or talk to me, what I am thinking. 

In fact, this representation could very successfully be used to teach someone who has never seen a bird, say a child, what the essential characteristics of a bird are so that when they saw their first real bird they would recognize it immediately as a bird.  It could still be used effectively, even if you were teaching a group whose members spoke different languages.  It doesn’t matter, either, that you are looking at a pixelated representation of what was an ink and paper textbook drawing made several years ago.  Even though times have changed and I can now scan this representation into my computer it doesn’t change how effectively it can be used to convey the idea of birds.  That’s because this representation “conveys the essential or salient characteristics” or “typifies” birds.   (Webster’s Dictionary)

The Lord, of course, is a master teacher and so he makes extensive use of types to teach eternal truths.  By using types and symbols he is able to teach eternal patterns and laws and the “essential and salient” characteristics of Christ and His infinite atoning sacrifice. Nowhere in the scriptures does he make more extensive use of this than in the words of Isaiah. Jacob, Nephi’s brother, said it this way:  And, now, behold, I would speak unto you concerning things which are, and which are to come; wherefore, I will read unto you the words of Isaiah. In other scriptures this very wording is used to describe eternal truth.  (2 Nephi 6:4 also see Jacob 4:13, D&C 93:24)  And before quoting the large section of Isaiah which included these chapters, Nephi further explained that he:

“Liken(ed)  (Isaiah’s) words unto my people and I will send them forth unto all my children for he verily saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him… and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are typifying of (Christ).

My soul delighteth in the covenants of the Lord…; yea, my soul delighteth in his grace, and in his justice, and power, and mercy in the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death… And now I write some of the words of Isaiah that whoso… shall see these words may life up their hearts and rejoice for all men.” (2 Nephi 11:2-4 also see Moses 6:63) 

Notice there are two ways in which Nephi hopes we gain from these chapters.  One, that we will let Isaiah’s illustrative types teach us the “essential and salient characteristics” of the Christ- his birth, mission, and above all, begin to explore the redeeming, healing depths of His infinite atonement. (2 Nephi 11:5)  Second, we are to liken these words to us.  Isaiah spills just as much ink, so to speak, using illustrative examples that show the “essential and salient characteristics” of those who refuse to be redeemed, so that we can recognize which “steps” lead us away from the Lord.  This is because Isaiah is illustrating, as Nephi noted, “the great and eternal plan” or as we most commonly refer to it today “the plan of salvation.” 

That is exactly why we have to approach Isaiah with the attitude of a student who has much to learn.  It is essential.  One thing Isaiah repeatedly stresses is how complete the Lord’s perspective and knowledge are, while ours is very limited (Isaiah 55:8-9, Isaiah 49 are really great examples.)   As Paul taught, even as we try to follow the Lord, we only “know in part, and we prophesy in part.”  But the Lord promises that as we do not “harden our hearts” we receive more “parts” or “a greater portion of the word until it is given unto (us) to know the mysteries of God until (we) know them in full. (1 Corithians 13:9, Alma 12:10)  The Savior didn’t just suggest that it might be helpful in this quest to look at Isaiah’s words, He commanded that “ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.”  (3 Nephi 23:1)

I am so grateful for that command because of what searching these words has done for my life.  I've written somewhat of years I carried anger and felt filled with frustrating unanswered questions.  During that time I felt that this quest to understand God and His plan is like being handed a 1000 piece puzzle to solve, and being told that your eternal life depends on it.  It is one of those puzzles with similar colors all over the place and as you get to work solving it, it seems impossible and you strongly suspect there are not 1000 pieces in the box you were given.  Now when I think of that visual I see the scriptures as a priceless resource, freely given, that identifies pieces and how they fit together, as well as helping me see the eternal benefits of this often difficult mortal project.  I love Isaiah because the more I study these words the more often I don’t just get direction on a piece or two and how they fit, but it’s like Isaiah had one of the new digital cameras that doesn’t have to take a panoramic view in several shots, but allows you in one shot to see how a whole panorama fits together.  These particular chapters are a perfect example.

The perfect spot to get this panoramic view is to step into Ahaz’s shoes, for this particular section began as the Lord, through his servant Isaiah, stretched out his hand and beckoned to Ahaz.  Now, as I wrote about last time, you will gain far more if you stand there with an attitude a bit different from Ahaz’s.  So, for a moment, stand where he stood, but with an open heart ready to be taught, and let him be an eternal type for the choices of mortality before you.    

He was born into a time and place where, according to Nephi, he was taught not only about the Law of Moses, but that “we keep the law of Moses, and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law shall be fulfilled…wherefore, we look forward unto life which is in Christ, and know for what end the law was given.”  (2 Nephi 25:25-27) Remember, Nephi quoted Isaiah to his people to “more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer.”  (1 Nephi 19:23)  Isaiah had been teaching these things as the Lord’s prophet in Judah from at least the final year of Ahaz’s grandfather’s rule, so for most of Ahaz’s mortal life.  And like all prophets before and after him, he taught that Israel had not reached their full potential as individuals and a nation because of their “iniquities” (obeying a bit, but then twisting or changing other commands).  The problem was not with the Lord keeping his promises, but with Israel fully keeping hers.  (Isaiah 50:1, Jeremiah 6:16, Ezekiel 18:30)

However, there were many other influences in Ahaz’s life besides Isaiah.  The princes of Judah saw themselves, as people born into prosperous circumstances throughout the ages often have, as entitled to enjoy that wealth and privilege, rather than as servants to their people. Moreover, as I wrote of in the last entry, Assyria, once a smaller city state than Judah, was now the greatest empire the world had yet known.  Israel in its united glory days, under Solomon’s rule, had never come close in lands or wealth to what Assyria boasted.  Just as they would in Christ’s time, many of the ruling class and some religious leaders felt that if Judah were to survive and even thrive, they needed to let go of the restrictive, old fashioned ideas that were holding Judah back. This view is just as often repeated in the history of the Lord’s dealing with mankind as the Lord’s admonitions.  Korihor, from the Book of Mormon, might have had a spiritual twin among those who influenced Ahaz when he taught:

“O ye that are bound down under a foolish and vain hope, why do ye yoke yourselves with such foolish things? Why do ye look for a Christ? For no man can know of anything to come.  Behold these things ye call prophecies, which ye say are handed down by holy prophets, behold they are foolish traditions of your fathers…Every man prosper(s) according to his genius, and every man conquer(s) according to his strength, and…I do not teach this people to bind themselves down under the foolish ordinances and performances which are laid down by ancient priest, to usurp power and authority over them, to keep them in ignorance, that they may not lift up their heads…”( Alma13-23)

Now, Ahaz is facing some serious problems, and deciding which voices to listen to for council and guidance.  He has watched for years as the temple priests made sacrifice after sacrifice to the Lord.  He participated in the worship the way he was supposed to, first as co-regent, and then king.  Yet his kingdom and army have shrunk.  Economic ruin and foreign conquest both seem real possibilities.  From his perspective the argument that, “It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?  And now we call the proud happy, yea they that work wickedness (step off the Lord’s path) are set up; they yea that tempt God are even delivered,” was very persuasive indeed. (Malachi 3:14-15, 3 Nephi 24:14-15)  And so he is taking matters fully into his own hands and becoming one of those who are “set up” and “delivered.” 

Now the Lord’s prophet stands before Ahaz promising that the Lord will prove His presence and power to him with any sign “either in the depth, or in the heights above.”  (Isaiah 7:11)  When Ahaz refuses this offer, the prophet says that the Lord will give him a sign anyway to prove that God is still with Israel (Immanuel) and this great sign will be - a young woman will conceive and a baby will be born.  That’s right, for Moses there was the parting of the Red Sea.  Joshua had the Lord cast down stones on Amorites when they threatened Israel. (Joshua 10:11)   Elijah had fire come down from heaven.  These things don’t happen every day and they are very effective in turning away would be conquerors.  But at the most difficult and frightening time of Ahaz’s life he is supposed to believe that the conception and birth of a baby in the near future is a sign from God?!  Babies are born every day!  And as far as those who threaten him, he has planned to stop Assyria from conquering him by offering himself as an ally.  In the process he will report that Syria (Damascus) and the Kingdom of Israel, who are supposed to already be conquered vassals of Assyria,  have tried to get him to join them against Assyria.  Reporting their defiance to the Assyrian king and having him take care of Israel and Syria is kind of the game plan. 

No, standing here in Ahaz’s shoes, it becomes pretty clear that the sign given by Isaiah was not calculated to wow and amaze Ahaz into reconsidering his course, so why was Isaiah, as the Lord’s servant, told to go and meet Ahaz and make this prophesy?  One important thing to remember, especially as Isaiah also calls himself and his children signs, is what the word “sign,” as used here, really means.  It is the same word in noun form as the word used for a mark or signature one would make in signing a contract, or in this case, a covenant.  In the noun form it meant a token or sign that assured one party in a covenant of the other party’s fidelity. 

For a visual, imagine a written contract for the Lord’s covenant with Israel.  The Lord has signed the covenant promising eternal life for all his children who enter into the covenant with Him.   Israel was chosen to have that opportunity from birth so that they could be an instrument through which that opportunity is offered to the world.  In order to do that, Israel must first sign and keep their part of the covenant.  Although the Lord continually keeps his part of the covenant, each individual, in a sense, gets the opportunity to sign for themselves.  For Israel, the equivalent of a signature is obedient discipleship – essentially faith in action.  Only when they sign, so to speak, by personal acts of obedience and discipleship, is the Lord authorized to fulfill His part of the covenant, which was that his guidance, strength, wisdom, redeeming power and governance, peace and love – in short- His “presence (would) go” with Israel as they serve the world or Immanuel (God is with us.) (Exodus 24:3, Exodus 33:14)  Above all, Isaiah’s prophecy was a reminder from the Lord, as he so eloquently put it in our day, “I give unto you directions how you may act before me, that it may turn to you for your salvation.  I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.”  (D&C 82:9-10)

Remember, Isaiah was commanded to take his son to that meeting as another sign from the Lord.  That son’s name translates to “a remnant returns.”  I want to explore that in-depth in a later post, but for now it is sufficient to note that the word “return” is the word used for what we define as repentance.  This is living admonition and invitation to be among those who do return to the Lord, and make and keep their own personal covenant.  He stands as a visual reminder next to Isaiah, whose name and life testified “Salvation is of God.” 

 

So, looking at the scene so far we have a call to be among those who return to their covenant with God, a testimony that only the Lord God of Israel (Yahweh) is truly salvation, and a prophecy that the circumstances surrounding a child born would testify that God remained with all those who covenanted to be Israel.  Next Isaiah adds the horrible circumstances of economic failure and conquest to emphasize that for those who do return, despite the adverse circumstances still surrounding them- Immanuel (God is with them) (Isaiah 8:8,10)  That to those who do return He will be a sanctuary (Isaiah 8:14). That his salvation cannot be prevented even by death. (Isaiah 9:3) That even slavery and oppression would only be temporary and compensated for. (Isaiah 9:4-5)  Nothing, absolutely nothing, that man, or death, or Satan himself can do, can prevent Immanuel because unto us a child is born. (Isaiah 9:6, also see Romans 8:37-39)

Perhaps it is important, given our current cultural use of the word name, to discuss why the messiah promised in Isaiah 9:6-7 is given several names.  Especially as the Immanuel prophecy is a dual prophecy, fulfilled in Ahaz’s lifetime and also repeated by Matthew as a type prophesying Christ’s birth (Matthew 1:23). So by the time we reach Isaiah 9:7 we have been told several names for this promised child.  I read a scathing critique of the foolishness of Christian belief that ended by saying that if Isaiah 7:14 and Isaiah 9:6-7 were prophecies of Jesus Christ, then why was Joseph commanded to name him Jesus?  That shows our 20^th century, American understanding of what it means to name something.  The word correctly used in Hebrew as name, in several cases is also translated as “reputation,”  “character,” or “renown.”  It comes from a root that means “to breathe” and is closely related to the word for “aroma” as well as “fame.”  We still have a remnant of this kind of relation when we say what a person said or did “stinks.”  But we don’t usually relate character and name.

In the Hebrew culture a name was considered an insight into essential characteristics of an individual.  This is part of the gospel culture, too.  Thus when we “take upon us the name of Christ” it does not mean we change our names for legal purposes, but that we are disciples of Christ and are striving to change our character to become like His.  In the Old Testament names are often used this way.  In this section “Immanuel” and all the names in Isaiah 9:6-7 name the characteristics of Christ and what his atonement means to us. Isaiah’s two sons are types for the choices before Israel: either to be among those that return to Christ or those who sell themselves for their iniquities.  (I’ll cover all this in more detail in separate posts.)        

Now, putting it all together and considering the view before me as I stand in Ahaz’s shoes, looking at what Isaiah has taught me, I am struck with how familiar its feels.  This is not an isolated incident.  Like Ahaz, I am one of the children of Israel.  I have been raised to see, and participate in the ordinances of the gospel.  Like Ahaz I have faced circumstances that seemed shattering and left me fearfully questioning what good my obedience had done.  I know what it means to feel like what I wanted was good, and have felt angry despite my obedience I had not been “blessed” with those things.  Like Ahaz I have felt that the logical answers were at odds with what I had been taught was the Lord’s command.  I’ve felt tempted by voices telling me it was those very commands that prevented my happiness.  But, like Ahaz I have been taught that I do have and need a Redeemer and Savior.  I have been taught that a child born, in a place and time that seems to have nothing to do with my current dilemma is the greatest sign and manifestation of God’s love and commitment to me. (John 3:16)   

Standing here I realize that in this way of telling of his experience with Ahaz, Isaiah has created a type which shows the essential test of mortality.  For everyone, the heart of the matter, the salient questions are the same as those before Ahaz:  Do I want to know truth, even if it isn’t easy?  Do I really believe that God created this earth with a plan for mankind?  Do I really believe that he knew even the most difficult and shattering things that could happen here?  Do I really believe that a baby born so far in time, culture, and place from me could truly be the greatest gift of God’s love and greatest proof that God is with mankind?  Could that one life really be the source of help and peace for me?  And as I search these words, I find my conviction growing that the answer to each of those question is a resounding, absolute yes. 

But I am finding another question repeatedly arising - one that feels like it arises because my eyes are seeing a panoramic vista, instead of a narrow, earthbound flash.  This question, for all I feel the need to explore it, brings feelings of stability, enduring power, and deep sustaining peace.  It is a question filled with gratitude, wonder and hope.  No matter how much I learn, how much more I come to understand, the question remains :  Could it be that every negative feeling, every moment of discouragement, every moment that feels dark and dreary is still so because I know so little about the depth of the infinite atonement?

Thank you, Isaiah and my Savior, for this view.

 

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.