The Flipside of a God With Us

Immanuel.  God with us.  Of all the names given to Jesus throughout Scripture, this one has always given me most pause, striking chords deep within me of utter amazement and humility.

It makes perfect sense to me that the Son of God would bear names such as "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace" (Is. 9:6).  I readily see him as the Lion of Judah, Alpha and Omega, Bright and Morning Star.  But God with us?  

The thought of this all-powerful, all-knowing God leaving His heavenly throne to come and dwell in flesh here on earth with lowly, sinful man is, well, mind blowing at the very least.  To this day, I simply can't wrap my mind around it.

Interestingly enough, though, Scripture only uses the name Immanuel three times.

The prophet Isaiah first gives the name as a sign sent from the Lord to King Ahaz, all in a futile attempt to show the evil king his only hope of saving his throne and his nation was to trust in the Lord, not Egypt, for protection from his enemies.

Isaiah says, "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel" (Is. 7:14).  This dual prophecy had its fulfillment in Isaiah's day with the birth of his second son and then over 700 years later with the birth of Jesus.

Matthew makes clear this prophecy's connection to Jesus, saying, "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, 'God with us'" (Matthew 1:22-23).

This name of Jesus is a name of hope of salvation for mankind.

However, Isaiah's second use of the name Immanuel shows the other side of the coin--the reverential fear one should feel at the thought of this God residing with sinful man.

The prophet warns, "Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them [Israel] the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates, Even the king of Assyria and all his glory; And it will rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks. Then it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, It will reach even to the neck; And the spread of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel" (Is. 8:7-8).

Here, Isaiah is saying something akin to "Fear, O Israel! For the Lord your God is here with you this very moment!  He has seen your sin firsthand, and His wrath is about to sweep over you like an inescapable flood."  The warning is clear--God is with us first in judgment before He can be God with us in salvation.  Yet, even in the judgment of God's presence rests the seed of salvation.  Isaiah reminds that the judgment will only reach "to the neck," implying that the head of Israel will remain--a remnant will survive God's wrath.

With this very remnant in mind, Isaiah reminds those who come against Israel, "Be broken, O peoples, and be shattered; And give ear, all remote places of the earth....Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; State a proposal, but it will not stand, for God is with us" (Is. 8:9-10).

In essence, God is with the remnant of Israel no matter how many nations devise plans for its utter extermination.  The plans of our very present God cannot be thwarted.

God with us.

It is still a name that brings hope and comfort.  And yet, it should also strike us with reverential fear as well.  This God who is with us in times of trouble, who offers His presence to comfort, guide, and bring us to salvation in Him...He is also a God who is with us in our times of greatest sin, those moments when we are our very worst selves.

It is this knowledge that makes His offer of salvation and His choosing to reside with mankind that much more amazing.  It is this knowledge that makes Him that much more worth of our praise and devotion.

The Names We Call Ourselves

It was just another day with another child thinking he could lawyer me into changing my mind about some minor decision I don't even remember.  As usual, I had tried the appeal to reason, and just as equally typical, my words were all to no avail. 

In the end, I resorted to that oft used and always hated phrase by both kids and parents: "Because I'm your mother, and God gave you to me to raise.  That's why.  End of discussion."

And there it was--mother, a title I only use for myself when communicating firmness and authority.  It is a title that means no argument, so move along. 

When my children are hurt, I am "mommy."  When I've done something really amazing like transform a closet into a cave for indoor camping, I'm "mom."  But when it's serious time, I'm always "mother."

These self-presented names and titles also differ in my interactions with others beyond my own family.  To someone in a professional setting, I sell myself as "Jennifer Dorhauer" with a handshake.  To my friends, I am just Jennifer.  To the hay customers, I am "Mary and Doug's daughter-in law."  To anyone at my parents' church, I am "John and Karen's daughter."  To my online students, I am "Mrs. Dorhauer."  To my four year olds in Sunday School, I'm "Ms. Jennifer."

In other words, my name changes depending on how I'm trying to present myself to a particular audience.  Interestingly enough, in Scripture, God does the same thing, presenting Himself in different ways throughout different books of the Bible. 

In the book of Isaiah, God presents Himself by one name twenty-seven times--"the Holy One of Israel."  While He most certainly uses this phrase elsewhere in Scripture, He doesn't do so with such great regularity as He does here.

And just like me when I'm referring to myself by different titles, God, too, intends to communicate something through His name choice.  To understand this choice, we first need to understand His audience.  The book of Isaiah is written to His people, Israel, a message to His children who have not heeded His word.  In verse two, He says of the children of Israel that they are "Sons I have reared and brought up, But they have revolted against Me" (Is. 1:2).

Last week's article explored how the Israelites denied both God's authority over them and His providing for them. God further describes how sinful His people have become, saying they are "People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly!  They have abandoned the LORD, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him" (Is. 1:4).

Here, God refers to Himself  as "the Holy One of Israel," the first of twenty-seven times in this book.

The first half of the title--"the Holy One"--is seeking to highlight just how unholy and detestable Israel is in God's sight.  God is choosing this name to hold up their sin next to His holy light, an action that makes their sin appear as dark as it truly is.

In the above passage, God uses the inflammatory words like iniquity, evildoers, corruptly, and despised to describe Israel's sin; notice He doesn't use words like mistake or indiscretion or even life choice.  Instead, His word choice highlights the true nature of sin.

Consider how different this is compared to how we treat sin.  When it is our sin, we try to excuse it away as "not that bad."  Before we know it, our sin is no longer black but merely dark grey.  And if we hold up our sin beside someone else's sin, we might even decide ours is really only off-white or beige.  But in truth, our attempts to rationalize the blackness of our sin away into fifty shades of grey is a lie we tell ourselves. 

All we have to do is hold up the paint chip with our sin on it next to the one depicting God's Holiness, and the black becomes its blackest.

In this way, God continuously gets in the reader's face with just how holy, Holy, HOLY He is until our sin appears as dark as it actually is to God, until we perceive just how abhorrent our sin is to this Holy, pure, spotless God we serve.

A few verses later, God expounds upon the details of Israel's sin: "How the faithful city has become a harlot, She who was full of justice...But now murderers....Your rulers are rebels And companions of thieves; Everyone loves a bribe And chases after rewards. They do not defend the orphan, Nor does the widow's plea come before them" (Is. 1:21-23).

Consider these details in relation to the second half of God's title "of Israel."  Using this reference, God is reminding the children of Israel that they still belong to Him.  Although those in the "faithful city" of Jerusalem mentioned above have now become a "harlot" serving all nature of false gods, God is still the God of Israel.

Even though they have "revolted" against God and refused to acknowledge Him as their provider in verse 2, He is still their God.  Even though He must turn His back on them as He doles out judgment as only a Holy God must do, He is still their God.

It is as if He is begging them to return, reminding them that no matter how dark their sin is before Him, He is still their God who will forgive any who repent and return to Him.

Such is a good lesson for us all to remember. 

Our sin is dark as the darkest night to God.  It is detestable and abhorrent in His sight.  BUT, for those who are His children, He will always be their God, waiting with open arms for them to turn away from the darkness of their sin in repentance and claim the inheritance waiting for them as Sons of the Holy One of Israel.