S7 Episode #7 - Immanuel, God with Us
THE ONE WITH JES + Immanuel
Merry Christmas! This week on The Collected Podcast, Jes is sharing the next message in our Names of God Series. Throughout this series, we have been highlighting different names of The Lord. Understanding who God is and who we are in Him are vital parts of walking in freedom and remaining rooting in who we are created to be!
Today we are circling back to IMMANUEL, God With Us. This name of Jesus reminds us that He is with us always and in everything – in our suffering, in our pain and sorrow, in our joy, in our conflict, in our sin, in our uncertainty– in all the things that we experience in a broken world. Jesus did not shy away from these things and He with us through everything. Tune in for a message of hope and peace as we enter into the Advent Season.
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SHOW NOTES
Merry Chirtmas! As we enter into this hectic (but hopefully magical) time of year, I want to pause and marvel at the wonder of our Savior. Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God With Us, our Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. As we continue our Names of God series we are going to circle back to Part 4 today and spend more time learning about Immanuel. We looked briefly at this name in Season 4, Episode 13, but we just barely scratched the surface, so I thought it would be the perfect name to lean into today as we enter into the season of Advent.
Immanuel means “God with us” and reminds us that Jesus is with us always and in everything – in our suffering, in our pain and sorrow, in our joy, in our conflict, in our sin, in our facing death and uncertainty– in all the things that we experience in a broken world. Jesus did not shy away from these things. Jesus is with us through everything. His presence will never leave us. Herbert Lockyer shares, “It is this character, as the ever present companion, that the living bond and most intimate fellowship between God and man was summed up in one word: Immanuel.” Whenever you feel stressed, anxious, lonely or afraid, The Lord is with you always. You are not alone. You are not forgotten.
OLD TESTAMENT CONNECTION
As I began researching this name of Jesus, the overarching themes felt very familiar and I realized that this name felt like a continuation into our study on JEHOVAH SHAMMAH– The Lord is There. As a quick refresher, the first time we see this name in the Bible is in the book of Ezekiel, when the prophet receives a vision of God– Jehovah Shammah– in the New Jerusalem. At this point, the Isrealites have been in captivity in Babylon for 25 years. The temple and city were in ruins, and yet this vision from God was a reminder that God is still there in the city and with His people– even when they are in captivity because of their sin. This name is a powerful reminder to the ancient Israelites that God had NOT forsaken them, He was there with them, and He will be faithful to fulfill His promises. This name is also a powerful reminder to us that wherever we are, whatever our circumstance, God is there. You are not forsaken or forgotten, no matter what you have done!
I also find it significant that Jehovah Shammah is the final name of God as Jehovah to be revealed in the Old Testament. It is a beautiful summation of all of the other names and encompasses every other character trait. It highlights the hope that we have as believers– that God will never leave you nor forsake you. Then, in the opening chapter of the New Testament, we are introduced to Jesus as Immanuel! God was there in the Old Testament and God is with us in the New!
INTRoDUCING: IMMANUEL
Immanuel only appears 3 times in the Bible– Isaiah 7:14, 8:8, 10 and Matthew 1:23.
Let’s start with the Christmas story and read Matthew 1:18-25…
“This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the holy Spirit. Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.
As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God with us’.”
When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.”
So when we are told in the New Testament that Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, we are seeing the fulfilment of God’s promises and the full revelation of all of God’s Old Testament designations (names) in the person of Jesus.
Jesus is “God with us”, as He is God in human form and he is “God with us”, as we can experience His presence and He draws near to us.
He is the long-awaited, promised Messiah. He is the very Immanuel that was prophesied in Isaiah 7:14…
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
This message is being delivered by the prophet Isaiah to King Ahaz– the king of Judah. We’re picking up at a time in Israel's history when they have been split into two kingdoms– Israel in the north and Judah in the south– and Israel has joined forces with Syria to try and attack Judah. In Isaiah 7:2, we read that “the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.”
The Enduring Word Commentary explains, “King Ahaz and his people react with fear instead of with trust in God. They are shaken and unstable in their hearts. In this, the people of Judah really are the people of Ahaz, not the people of the LORD. God was not shaken or unsettled by this threat. If the king of Judah and the people of Judah had put their trust in the LORD, they would have had the peace of God in this conflict.”
Before we go any further in the story, I feel very convicted about all of the times when I have reacted out of fear and tried to manipulate or control my own circumstances instead of trusting The Lord to provide in his perfect timing. The LORD of the universe is not shaken or unsettled by the difficult circumstances that you are facing right now. He is still with us now, just as he was in the books of Isaiah, Ezekiel and Matthew. He is the same God and He will never leave you nor forsake you!
The chapter goes on to say (v. 3-9):
The Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field.
I love how specific this description is! This seemingly random and oddly specific detail reminds me that these are real places and real people. These people lived and breathed and walked this earth just as we do now. It’s important to remember that anytime we study history– especially Biblical history.
The passage continues…
Say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Don’t be afraid or cowardly because of these two smoldering sticks, the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram, and the son of Remaliah. For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted harm against you. They say, ‘Let’s go up against Judah, terrorize it, and conquer it for ourselves. Then we can install Tabeel’s son as king in it.’”
The Lord’s message is: calm down and be quiet! How much do we also need that gentle reminder from the Lord in this hectic season? As we believe that Immanuel is God with us, in every circumstance, and that He is the Sovereign Lord of all, then we will be able to have a calm spirit and be still and quiet before the Lord, no matter what real or perceived troubles surround us.
The Lord then reminds Ahaz to not be afraid and then he compares his enemies to two smoldering sticks. It’s as if God is saying that the enemies are all smoke and no fire. From Ahaz’s limited, earthly perspective, the men plotting against him seemed mighty and powerful… but God already knew the true outcome. If we could only trust the Heavenly view of The Lord, then there would be nothing to ever fear. He sees how everything works out in the end and He promises to be with us every step of the way.
Isaiah goes on to say:
This is what the Lord God says: It will not happen; it will not occur. The chief city of Aram is Damascus, the chief of Damascus is Rezin (within sixty-five years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people), the chief city of Ephraim is Samaria, and the chief of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all.
God speaks very clearly when he says that Jerusalem will not be defeated– “It will not happen, it will not occur.” He goes on to point out the ungodly leaders of Damascus and Samaria, and then he presents a challenge to Ahaz, warning Ahaz that he must stand firm in his faith if he wants to see the victory for himself. God already declared that the victory would take place, but Ahaz needed to calm his spirit, quiet his voice, and trust in God if he wanted to be a part of the victory.
I think the same is also true for us today. God will be victorious in the end– He has already conquered death and sin and when he comes back, the final victory will be His. He has already declared it. So even when the evil forces and oppression of this world feel like they are too much to bear– God sees them as nothing but smoke without fire. And if we want to stand in victory, we must place our trust in Him. He will have victory with or without us, but how precious that we can be a part of it when we put our trust in Him.
Finally in our passage, we’ve come to the first mention of Immanuel in the Bible:
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
God saw Ahaz’s fear and distress and he promised to send a miracle– His very presence to be with us on this earth! In much the same way, God also sees every bit of the fear and distress that you are facing and he is with you through it all. Through the moments of loneliness, longing, confusion and waiting, God is with you through it all. When you walk through pain, grief, chaos or trials, God has never left your side.
My prayer for you this Christmas and in the new year ahead is that you experience the intimate presence of Immanuel in new and life changing ways. That you genuinely believe that Jesus is with you always and in everything – in your suffering, in your pain and sorrow, in your joy, in your conflict, in your sin, in your uncertainty– in all the things that you experience in a broken world. Jesus did not shy away from these things. Jesus is with you through everything. His presence will never leave you. Whenever you feel stressed, anxious, lonely or afraid, The Lord is with you always. You are not alone. You are not forgotten. God is with you.
NEXT STEPS
Here are a few action steps to help you dip deeper this week!
For the next 5 days, commit to spending the first 5 minutes of your day in stillness with The Lord. Put on a worship song, or enjoy the silence, and ask Immanuel to calm your spirit and prepare you for the day ahead.
Spend a few minutes right now in prayer asking to see God’s presence in your life more clearly.
Reflect on your current season of life. In what ways do you need to trust God more? How have you seen God show up for you? How have you experienced His presence?
Thank you, as always, for listening! Please remember that everything we do is funded by those who benefit from our ministry. Our ministry a 501(c)3, so your contribution is tax-deductible.
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The Collected Podcast is a production of Collected Ministries, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping disciples of Jesus discover and live from their true identity in Christ, recognize and walk in their divine purpose within the Kingdom of God, and experience growth in their capacity for mature, healthy relationships.
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The Collected Podcast is produced by Jes French and edited by Jacob Early. Cover art designed by Ben Biondo.