Let's talk about today's readings 12/20/08

[cheeto1]

Isaiah 7:10-14
Psalm 24
Luke 1:26-38

In Isaiah, the sign the Lord gives to Ahaz is “the maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son”. I don’t see how this can
be a sign to Ahaz since it didn’t happen until he already died.

The psalm tells us that the one who can stand in the holy place
of the Lord, among other things, is the one who desires not
worthless things(missal trans), or desires not what is vain(bible trans).
I wonder how many worthless things I desire? How many vain
things?

Today’s gospel is one of the all time greatest in the world.
What strikes me today is Mary’s words, “behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord”. These words are so extremely confident.
A handmaid would be something like a butler. A wealthy person’s personal assitant. They would have to apply for this
job of course. A person couldn’t just start being someone’s
butler without permission. But Mary has just been appointed.
Her words sound so humble, yet they are very very confident
compared with the man who told Jesus, “I am not worthy to
have you in my home”, or the woman who said, “even the dogs
eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table”. Mary knows
who she is and she proudly and confidently accepts the
position, despite the humble sound of her words.

So what struck you about today’s readings?:bible1:

 

[LMP]

You’ve got to understand this Ahaz guy. He was a fence sitter, a guy who wanted his cake and to eat it too. He was a true politician…make everyone happy by talking vague and non-committal.

God was offering Ahaz no restriction on a display of almighty power. Ahaz could have seen crazy big stuff, but NO. Ahaz didn’t believe in God’s supremacy, so Ahaz --not wanting to offend God just in case God might be what He says he was–decided to take the safe answer…I don’t think that I want to tempt God. God wasn’t amused. So God said, Okay, if you aren’t going to pick then I will pick for you.
Well, God …the almighty God wasn’t going to pick a weak sign like another baby to Isaiah.
The word here is BEHOLD! In Hebrew, behold when put like it was written here means future event and not just for the immediate parties…for the whole House of David! How cool is that? Ahaz of course didn’t get it. Actually, Ahaz wasn’t worthy of getting it. But, so this lowly guy wasn’t too put off, God gives a lesser sign in later verses that happened three years later, well in time for Ahaz to “get it.” Can you image what Ahaz face looked like when the second sign came true!!!

 

[cheeto1]

Tell me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Ahaz not want a sign from God
because it would be a sign that God would make him successful
in battle and he didn’t want to go to that battle?

O.K., I read ahead to see this sign you speak of, It was Chapter 20, and gosh, I don’t even know how Isaiah could stand to do this?! What would we think if God asked this of us? Everyone,
just read Isaiah 20 and see how easy God has been on us!

LMP, I sure appreciate all your Bible knowledge, thanks!:tiphat: