Tried and Tested
Did you know according to reasonstobelieve.org “approximately 2,500 prophecies appear in the pages of the Bible, about 2,000 of which already have been fulfilled to the letter—no errors”. They actually list some of these and show how they were mathematically improbable. Now I do not know who counted all these prophecies but I can testify that of those I have gone through they have been surprisingly accurate. Now if those are accurate and the same God who gave shared these prophecies, shares some more as he did with Ahaz surely Ahaz would have listened. If 99 out of 100 people who turn left are rewarded with ten tonnes of gold tell me are you going to turn left or right? So then why is it that in the light of such great evidence there is such manifest reluctance to take heed to what the Lord says.
When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.
Isaiah 8:19 – 22
Many like Ahaz readily reject the Lord despite the marvellous light that has shown in their lives. The history of Ahaz father Jotham, grandfather Uzziah and many others good days when they were obedient to the Lord lay before him. As the head of the Israeli royal family he had advantages far beyond those of the ordinary men on the street. His great, great, great grandson Josiah with this knowledge found in the books of the law led a revival in Judah 2 Kings 22. How much more clearer was this knowledge then, but Ahaz still preferred the path of Idolatry. The end of all who go down this path is established just as the surety of Gods word. One need only look at Christ who is risen today if they question that end.
Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.
2 Kings 16:2-4
Let us therefore not be like Ahaz. With this “sure word of prophecy, where we do well that we take heed” let us take heed. Do not take my word for the surety of the promises of God. You have seen it even in the book of Isaiah. Pick up the book for yourself, note the prophecies and note whether they have been fulfilled and if fulfilled how many have been fulfilled. Keep a count and then testify with your own mouth, will you turn left or right?
