“Have you never heard? Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:28-31

Isaiah, prophet of God, seems to shout this message to encourage God’s people who live in peril consistently when Judah’s kings “did not do what was right in the eyes of God” but instead influenced the people of their kingdoms to detestable sins that blocked their relationship with God.  There were a few kings, like Jotham who we will read about today, who did what was right but failed to influence the people they served to worship God. Jothan himself never went the Temple. The attitude seems to be a “live and let live” way of life that we often see in our world today.

But God who is faithful even when we are not, still fulfilled His promise.  The Promise of God was still on God’s agenda from David, through Jotham’s reign and in the succeeding kings to come. That promise was Messiah come; Jesus, God’s own Son.  Though under served and highly under influenced by kings born from in the line of David, the Promise of Messiah will be fulfilled from this line of descendants from David—as promised.  “Have you never heard?” Trust God, He knows!

Fun Fact: Isaiah tells what God has told him to Jotham’s son, King Ahaz in a divine moment of The Promise to be born from the line of David!

“Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but could not prevail against it. ² And it was told to the house of David, saying, “Syria’s forces are deployed in Ephraim.” So his heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.

Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz…” –Isaiah 7:1-3

Isaiah obeys God and meets with King Ahaz who seeks answers for his war problems but receives instead news of the Promise of God who is the victor over all wars with evil!  Go ahead, says Isaiah to King Ahaz, “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.”

But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”

Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings.” Isaiah 7:11-16

At just the right time, God sent Isaiah with a message of hope, a promise, to King Ahaz. These were perilous days for the nation of Judah as Assyria, the enemy, had plans to overtake the nation of Judah. If Ahaz had believed God’s promise, he would have broken his alliance with the enemy, Assyria, and called the nation to prayer and praise, but the king refused to listen and  continued in his unbelief. Realizing the weakness of the king’s faith, Isaiah offered to give a sign to encourage him, but Ahaz put on a pious front and still refused his offer.  The people of God remained under influenced for faith in God. But the Promise is still to come. God is faithful and never fails to keep His promises—even when we are unfaithful to Him.

Warren Wiersbe, Bible Scholar, comments;

“The ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy is in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is “God with us” (see Matthew 1:18–25; Luke 1:31–35). The virgin birth of Christ is a key doctrine; for if Jesus Christ is not God come in sinless human flesh, then we have no Savior. Jesus had to be born of a virgin, apart from human generation, because He existed before His mother. He was not just born in this world; He came down from heaven into the world (John 3:13; 6:33, 38, 41, 42, 50, 51, 58). Jesus was sent by the Father and therefore came into the world having a human mother but not a human father (John 4:34; 5:23, 24, 30; 9:4).”—Wiersbe Study Bible

A time of great humiliation and suffering could have been avoided had the leaders trusted in the Lord and influenced the people to trust and obey God.  Although King Jotham obeyed God, his subjects did not. It seems he never encouraged them to walk in God’s way.

God places people around us who can benefit from our influence. Hold that thought.

2 Chronicles 27

Jotham King of Judah

Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. ² He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done, but unlike him he did not enter the temple of the Lord. The people, however, continued their corrupt practices. ³ Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the temple of the Lord and did extensive work on the wall at the hill of Ophel. ⁴ He built towns in the hill country of Judah and forts and towers in the wooded areas.

⁵ Jotham waged war against the king of the Ammonites and conquered them. That year the Ammonites paid him a hundred talents of silver, ten thousand cors of wheat and ten thousand cors of barley. The Ammonites brought him the same amount also in the second and third years.

⁶ Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the Lord his God.

⁷ The other events in Jotham’s reign, including all his wars and the other things he did, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸ He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. ⁹ Jotham rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Ahaz his son succeeded him as king.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jesus was, is and always will be God’s Son sent to be the Savior of all who would believe in Him. “God with us” came down from heaven, to be born of a virgin and her espoused husband, experienced childhood, grew to be called the Son of Man, he who was without sin, and moved into the neighborhood of humanity.  He came to seek and to save the lost but Jesus also demonstrated God’s love and compassion for all people “created in the image of God” to teach them who God really is while showing a weary world the love of God for all who received Him.  Jesus, The Greatest Influencer of all times came down from heaven to a world in desperate need of a Savior and Lord!

“Have you never heard?  Have you never understood…” are still the words of the prophets of God, also known as pastors and committed to God leaders of God’s church, called the bride of Christ by God!  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17

“…God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Romans 5:8

But how will they know unless we who know Christ tell them?

“Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” Paul to the church, 2 Corinthians 5:14-21

“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy…” Psalm 107:2 Speak Jesus and His message of reconciliation so others will know God, believe in His Son’s sacrifice and resurrection and be saved for eternal life, too!

Max Lucado writes;

“And so reads the list of Jesus’ not-so-great grandparents. Seems like the only common bond between this lot was a promise. A promise from heaven that God would use them to send his Son.

Why did God use these people? Didn’t have to. Could have just laid the Savior on a doorstep. Would have been simpler that way. And why does God tell us their stories? Why does God give us an entire testament of blunders and stumbles of his people?

Simple. He knew what you and I watched on the news last night. He knew you would fret. He knew I would worry. And he wants us to know that when the world goes wild, he stays calm.

Want proof? Read the last name on the genealogical list in Matthew 1. In spite of all the crooked halos and tasteless gambols of his people, the last name on the list is the first one promised—Jesus.

Period. No more names are listed. No more are needed. As if God is announcing to a doubting world, “See, I did it. Just like I said I would. The plan succeeded.”

The famine couldn’t starve it.

Four hundred years of Egyptian slavery couldn’t oppress it.

Wilderness wanderings couldn’t lose it.

Babylonian captivity couldn’t stop it.

Clay-footed pilgrims couldn’t spoil it.

The promise of the Messiah threads its way through 42 generations of rough-cut stones, forming a necklace fit for the King who came. Just as promised.

And the promise remains.

Those people who keep their faith until the end will be saved (see Mt 24:13), Joseph’s Child assures.

“In this world you will have trouble, but be brave! I have defeated the world” (Jn 16:33 NCV).

The engineer has not abandoned the train. Nuclear war is no threat to God. Yo-yo economies don’t intimidate the heavens. Immoral leaders have never derailed the plan.

God keeps his promise.

See for yourself. In the manger. He’s there.

See for yourself. In the tomb. He’s gone.

You can encourage other believers today! You can help unbelievers find Christ! How? Look for the hurting. Look for the lost. Watch for needs. Opportunities are plentiful. Accept the challenge of an opportunity and pray that God will help you be successful.” —Lucado, Encouraging Word Bible

Lord,

May these words linger on our hearts all day until we see the opportunities lying before us by you at your appointed time to help other as we tell your story so others will know and believe.

In Jesus Name, Amen