Make Him Known Message Series
Discussion for Week 1: November 17, 2024
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 7:13–25
13 Then Isaiah said: “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. 15 He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted. 17 The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on your ancestral house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.”
18 On that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is at the sources of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.
20 On that day the Lord will shave with a razor hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will take off the beard as well.
21 On that day one will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, 22 and will eat curds because of the abundance of milk that they give; for everyone that is left in the land shall eat curds and honey.
23 On that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns. 24 With bow and arrows one will go there, for all the land will be briers and thorns; 25 and as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not go there for fear of briers and thorns; but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.
Synopsis: Isaiah is prophesying to King Ahaz of Judah against the backdrop of the Syro-Ephramite war which was between Israel (and their allies Aram-Damascus) and Judah (and their ally the Assyrians). His words are of both warning and promise. Isaiah warns that tough times are ahead, but ultimately, he calls on Judah to be faithful to God and that ultimately, the Lord would bring restoration. God may call us to be prophets to those we influence. Speaking loving words of warning and hope can help people draw closer to God, who is with us. One of the ways we can make God known in our world is by being willing to speak up with a hopeful word, even when it is hard to say.
Bottom Line: No matter what we face, hope remains because of Immanuel, God with us.
Questions:
When has someone challenged you with a hard truth that helped you grow? What was your initial reaction to hearing it?
When God gives you the opportunity to lovingly speak a hard truth into someone’s life, how do you usually handle it?