Sermon Illustrations for Advent 4 (2022)
Isaiah 7:10-16
This passage preceded the conversation between God and King Ahaz from the second Sunday in Advent (Isaiah 11:1-10), with Isaiah as the Lord’s emissary. Ahaz intended to enter an unwise alliance with the king of Assyria in the face of a threatened alliance between the kings of Israel and Syria. When Ahaz refuses to listen to God’s prophet, the Lord speaks once more: “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” Instead, he wrapped himself around a single verse which he takes out of context.