Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
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Emotion Tone
Anger
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Disgust
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Fear
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Joy
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Analytical
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Tentative
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Social Tone
Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Agreeableness
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Emotional Range
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Tone of specific sentences
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I had a really hard time making heads or tails
out of the scripture lesson for today,
and as I was thinking about the passage
I felt for our Sunday School teachers
who were preparing this lesson for today,
and are most likely to be teaching this lesson right now…
Incidentally, more than once when I looked at this text
I was tempted to lay it aside
in favor of another sermon for today.
But, after reading the text a number of times,
I realized that Isaiah is really trying to speak Hope
into the lives of God’s people,
and encourages Judah to trust in God.
Hope!
That is what we too need at a time like this.
Isaiah gives Israel the assurance that
/ /
/“The Lord himself will give you a sign: /
/The virgin will be with child /
/and will give birth to a son, /
/and will call him Immanuel” (v.
14)./
Ill.:
There is a Sign in an Atlanta police station: "In God We Trust -- Others We Polygraph."
And off course, we’ve all seen this fortune cookie after a good meal of Chinese food.
Did you know that
The official national motto of the United States and the State of Florida* *is *In God We Trust?*
The motto first appeared on a United States coin in 1864,
but */In God We Trust/* did not become the official U.S. national motto until after it was passed by an Act of Congress in 1956.
In the last few weeks many people will have looked at this *Faith claim *with new eyes,
as we have seen the US and world economy shaken to the core,
Leave alone also the numerous layoffs and the uncertain economic situation in our province and country.
But what is in a statement like this?
And what does this have to do with today’s message?
Well, today’s message is about Hope…
And trust…
And faith…
And judgment…
And I think it is very timely for us to think about where we place our trust.
With that, let’s turn to our text to introduce the characters.
/1 When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it.
/
The invasion of Rezin and Pekah is known as the Syro-Ephraimite War.
Aram and Israel were trying unsuccessfully to persuade Ahaz to join a coalition against Assyria to the North.
Isaiah, on the other hand, was trying to keep Ahaz from forming a counter-alliance with Assyria against Aram and Israel.
The northern kingdom of Israel, led by Pekah,
and Aram, led by Rezin, wanted to form an alliance against Assyria,
Ahaz refused to join them.
And so the two kings decided that the best thing to do was to conquer Jerusalem and get rid of Ahaz
putting their own king, the son of Tabeel, on Judah’s throne.
Then they thought they could resist the great superpower of Assyria.
In the end *Assyria* took Damascus and killed Rezin.
Ahaz met Tiglath–pileser there, and, seeing a pagan altar, he ordered the high priest to make a copy of it for the Temple at Jerusalem (2 Kings 16:9–11).
Pekah was killed shortly thereafter even as he had killed his predecessor.
Captives from Galilee and eastern tribes were taken by Assyria and resettled (2 Kings 15:29; 1 Chronicles 5:26; see Isaiah 9:1).
“So the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.”
Ahaz and all of Judah were scared,
And in their fear turned to Assyria to seek an alliance against Israel and Aram.
Ahaz gathered up the gold and silver of the temple and sent them to the king of Assyria
hiring him to deliver Judah from the threat of Israel and Aram.
\\ It was a foolish thing to do.
When we are threatened by seemingly overwhelming odds we tend to trust what we *can *see.
God is unseen and to human comprehension so very far away.
Our temptation then is to reach for what we can do ourselves.
Fear and doubt, if we let them, will rob us of the Lord’s plan to rescue us.
That’s what happened to Ahaz.
God knew of the fear that paralyzed Ahaz and sent Isaiah to tell him two things.
The *first* was this: \\ /“Then the LORD said to Isaiah, /
/‘Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, /
/to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, /
/on the road to the Washerman’s Field.
/
/Say to him, /
/‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid.
/
/Do not lose heart /
/because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood…” /
/(Vv.
3-4).
\\ \\ /God’s message through Isaiah to King Ahaz is,
/“Do not lose heart!”/
The threat is not nearly as great as it appears to you right now.
Aram and Israel are all used up,
they are nothing but smoke and ashes.
There is no fire in them.
And there is no need to ask Assyria for help as a result.
\\ /“Do not lose heart!”/
This is a message for us today as well.
/“Do not lose heart!”/
/ /
In the midst of the stresses and confusion that you experience in your life,
/Do not lose heart!”/
Whatever the circumstances may be…
/Do not lose heart!”/
You may be going through a personal crisis in your family, with your spouse or children,
at work, or at school,
You may be wrestling with health issues,
Or carrying with you the weight of a heavy decision,
Or the uncertainty of the future,
And you may be wondering,
“Whom can I trust?”
Let this word wash over your spirit and sink deep into your soul:
/Do not lose heart!”/
The Lord is in control!
The *second* thing the Lord says through Isaiah is this:
/“It will not take place, /
/it will not happen, /
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