Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Isaiah 7:9


Copyright Ó 2012 J. Neely
Isaiah 7:9

9 And the head [ro'sh] of Ephraim ['Ephrayim] is Samaria, [Shomarown] and the head [ro'sh] of Samaria [Shomarown] is Remaliah's [Ramalyahuw] son. [ben] If ye will not believe, ['aman] surely ye shall not be established. ['aman] KJV-Interlinear

9 and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you surely shall not last. "'"  NASB

And here is the premiere principle that all people should live by.

‘If you will not believe, then you will not last.’

Samaria is the capital city of Ephraim.  By implication, Jerusalem will never be the capital of Israel, the northern country, as that country has departed from God.  Jerusalem, or better stated, the symbolism of Jerusalem, the city of peace, the city of Gods plan, will never depart from Gods plan.

Gods plan will never originate from humanity or Satan or anything having to do with this world.

Likewise, anything dealing with this world, with humanity, with Satan, will never overcome or take over Gods plan and control over history or anything else.

Ephraim is just another country that opposes God.  Samaria is just another city that promotes itself as a capital, but really is the capital of nothing.

The king of Ephriam, Pekah, is not even worth having his name mentioned.  The king of nothing, is nothing.

Therefore, since anything of this world is equivalent to nothing, and since Gods promises are equivalent to everything, then which is the better to rely on?

And so our principle for today’s study.  If you do not rely on God, on Gods promises, then you will not stand, but fall in life.

When you were young, your calamities in life were probably related to social relationships.

When you were older, then your problems were probably related to mid-life crises of sorts.

And as you get older, then your health, your concerns for family, your accumulated disappointments of life or whatever, become the center of your worries in life.

In any of these things, where are the promises of God?  Where is the ‘stand fast,’ attitude?

The words, not believe, mean quite literally, to hold this faith fast, or to stand fast.  So, if you will not stand fast in your faith, then your life will not be established in truth.

In the spiritual life, your growth is accomplished by means of several mechanisms, and pressure and suffering and adversity in life, are provided by God in order to prove or test your spiritual worth.

  

You will either look to God, when you are under pressure, or you will not.

Most people do not. 

The typical tendency is to complain, to gripe, to blame, to give up, to withdraw from your responsibilities to yourself or to others. Those are easier paths, but they never solve anything.  They only produce more and greater problems.  Lives fail, marriages fail, families fail, nations fail, and on and on goes the negative process.

And so Ahaz was probably looking at Isaiah with skepticism and doubt, and Isaiah slammed him with this very obvious but tough principle.  Doubt God and you yourself will fail.

Gods plan will continue regardless of your attitude or beliefs.  Your negative attitude and bitterness will serve only to ruin yourself.  God gives us all opportunities to experience suffering and problems in life.  We will all experience different problems.  We will experience different types of problems at different points in our life.

None of us are here to be served with silver and gold lives.  We are all here to be prepared for the next life.

And that preparation is for your growth not only in knowledge, but in understanding and the development of faith, such that you will be able to withstand anything this world throws at you.

I saw a bumper sticker once that said, ‘Discover truth, read the Bible.’

Anyone can read the Bible, and never figure anything out.

But to find truth, you need to pursue Gods defined spiritual process, in full, namely fellowship through confession, study through instruction, listening through concentration, learning through repetition, and growth though application.

This whole exercise is the circle of wisdom, by which we develop faith, or the muscle of our soul.

No exercise, no muscle.  No muscle, no strength.  No strength, no stamina.  No stamina no success.

So, stand fast, means to get up when you are down, and keep moving in your spiritual life and in everything else.

Never allow depression, anxiety, or failures of any sort, defeat you, because God has made you many promises, and even the smallest of a single one Gods promises, is infinitely greater than all of the problems of the world combined. 

And, you have many, many promises from God.

  

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