(February 1, 2015)
I was
always a bit befuddled about Ahaz when he was speaking with Isaiah. On the one hand, it would appear that he was
doing the right thing in refusing to demand a sign of the Lord – after all, we
are told to not be sign-seekers. On the
other hand, it is pretty clear that Isaiah at least is frustrated by Ahaz
refusing to ask for a sign. Considering
that the Lord inspires Isaiah to then give a Messianic prophecy, we can assume
that the Lord’s opinion is consistent with Isaiah’s.
But as
I think about it, I realized what was really going on here. It had nothing to do about sign-seeking or
anything else. The Lord told Ahaz to do
something. That should have resolved the
matter. Whatever the Lord tells us to
do, we must be ready to do immediately and without question. Ahaz put his understanding before the word of
the Lord as communicated through His prophet – even if he did so with the best
of intentions (and I don’t think it is clear that we can give Ahaz that benefit
of the doubt), he was still not being strictly obedient to what the Lord had
asked Him to do just then.
When
the Lord calls on us, do we respond with obedience or do we try to compare the
Lord’s instructions to us with our own limited understanding of the law and
what is morally right. We have been
given reason for a purpose, but it is not to outthink the Lord.
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