Immanuel revisited

David Witthoff says trust doesn’t mean doing nothing

Isaiah took a bit of a beating this past Christmas season in my view. I recall an old saying from one of my classes: “Context is king.” So think on this: How many times did you hear the story of Immanuel mentioned this Christmas? How many times was it related directly to Jesus? How often did the idea of Immanuel just seem like a reiteration that God is omni-present? How many times was the prophecy of Immanuel related to the Assyrians? My guess on that last one is not very much.

The idea of Immanuel is one example of an idea that is too great and important an issue in the theology of Isaiah to remove it completely from the book of Isaiah. It loses its potency and power. Sure, Christ is Immanuel, God in flesh come down to us. But Immanuel is the reason to trust God over everything else. Trust is difficult for most people, however.

I wonder in what ways we fail to trust God. What is it that calls us away from His goodness and plan for our lives? Why do we meddle and fight against God, trying to find and figure out our own ways through difficult circumstances? Sometimes we do so without even realizing it. Trust is such a basic idea. We all fail at it in some way, I think.

The people of Israel had lost trust because an army was marching against them, an army that nothing but a miracle could stop. Though they did turn back to the Lord for a time, and though He saved them because of this, in the end they lost their trust for the sake of their own plan. God’s judgment came then, just like he said.

“God with us,” Immanuel, is a call to abandon idolatry and faithlessness. The prophecy is for the sake of God’s people, that they would ask of God and trust in Him for their redemption and salvation from their enemies, and also from their sin. You want a sign that God is big enough and strong enough and powerful enough to trust for whatever went wrong or is going wrong in your life? Immanuel is that sign that God is sovereign over the world! And his plan for his people is to save us all from spiritual death!

The sign has double purpose: It vindicates God and shows that He is the one we should trust and should have trusted, and Immanuel is the sacrifice that makes atonement for the times when we do fail. It does not nullify the need to be obedient and to trust; rather, it calls us back even stronger from the foolishness of not trusting God.

Trust doesn’t mean sit on your hands. It means get up and change what you need to in your life so you can follow the Lord again through all the wrong in your life, that which you cause, and that which you endure. So when you need a sign that God is there, remember that he sent it.

Writer: David Witthoff is a Salvationist from the Oakbrook Terrace Corps. He recently graduated from the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago with a BA in Pastoral Ministry. Currently he lives in Hamilton, Massachusetts, USA where he is working towards a Master of Arts in Old Testament and a Master of Arts in Biblical Languages at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. David enjoys writing music, exegeting, sci-fi tv shows, running, soccer, languages and talking about the Army with his friends. His hope is to be the best soldier, officer, student and teacher of the scripture that he can be.

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