Our lives are filled with decisions.

At almost every point in the time of our existence, we are faced with some sort of decision. It could be something as (seemingly) simple as picking where to go eat dinner that night. Or, it could be more complex, like choosing a job to pursue.

Either way, decisions are a constant in our lives.

We look back on past choices and how they affect the future. Some of the best-selling sci-fi novels and television programs are based on this idea. As a sports junkie, I love chatting about the outcome of specific transactions between teams and how it contributed to the team’s current state. It’s a fun, yet sometimes painful practice depending on the leadership of your favorite organization.

The same is true of history. We often use phrases like “had this not happened” or “if only this occurred” to describe what is and what could have been. There are many examples to study, but one has recently weighed heavily on my mind.

Back in the 700s B.C., a king named Ahaz ruled as king over the land of Judah. This land contained the city of Jerusalem.

At the time, the nation of Israel was split into a southern kingdom (Judah) and northern kingdom (Israel). While young Ahaz ruled in Judah, a man named Pekah ruled over Israel.

Pekah struck an alliance with neighboring Syria as they watched Assyria orchestrate an impressive conquest in their backyard. As the invasion continued, they sought other nearby lands to get in on the coalition.

Judah refused their offer, however, igniting Syria and Israel to wage a miniature conquest of their own. Advancing from north to south, the nations conquered city after city in the southern kingdom with their eyes on Jerusalem, likely the prize of the ancient world.

With Judah’s territory maps shrinking and enemy soldiers making camp in the outskirts of Jerusalem, the heart of Ahaz and all his people “shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.” Haunted by the prospect of a catastrophic assault on Jerusalem, Ahaz would soon have a huge decision to make.

As spears were thrust and swords were swung in the ancient East, a much deeper battle was taking place. Judah and Israel, who were once united under the direction and affection of God, had now both placed themselves under His wrath by forsaking Him in exchange for false gods.

Ahaz worshiped many things, but not YHWH (God’s name, likely pronounced Yah-Weh). He even went so far as to sacrifice his own son as an offering to the physical idols he worshiped. Yet, Ahaz had some important lineage. He was a descendant of king David, through whom God promised to establish His reign. The line of David was promised to be preserved by God, throughout all generations, culminating in the birth of a messiah (or savior) who would suffer and then reign at the right hand of God. We know Him as Jesus Christ.

God had also made some pretty specific promises regarding the city of Jerusalem. This is where He made His dwelling and fulfilled the promise to His (united) Israelite people when they left the Egyptian oppression they suffered for 400 years. God had declared this His people’s land – and His land.

Should the northern kingdom and Syria come in and defeat Ahaz and conquer Jerusalem, the promises God had made earlier would have been proved null. Not only was a battle being waged for land control, God’s reputation was on the line.

Decision time came for Ahaz. With Jerusalem surrounded, action seemingly needed to be taken. God sent his prophet Isaiah to Ahaz with a simple, yet poignant message.

Through Isaiah, God told Ahaz exactly what was going to happen. He called the northern kingdom and Syria “two smoldering stumps of firebrands.” He made these comments about their plan to conquer Judah: “It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass.”

God assured Ahaz that Jerusalem was not in harm’s way despite what he saw. He assured Ahaz that the capital city of the northern kingdom would remain Samaria and the capital of Syria would remain Damascus. Then he left Ahaz with a very strong challenge.

“If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all”

To encourage him to stand firm, God even asked Ahaz to ask Him for a sign. “Let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” Yet Ahaz refused, citing that he would not put God to the test in an odd attempt at piety. Instead, Ahaz opted for an audience with the king of Assyria and sold his soul for military assistance. Rejecting God, Ahaz turned to Assyria to fight Judah’s battles.

He told king Tiglath-pileser III “I am your servant and your son…” and pillaged the house of God for gold and silver to send to Assyria. Ahaz’s series of decisions to reject God’s lordship in his life led to this most glaring example. One that dramatically shaped the history of a nation but could not change the providence of God.

Jerusalem survived. The line of David survived. But the very one Ahaz turned to for redemption was the one God used to judge the northern and southern kingdoms. The whole nation of Israel suffered great losses at the hand of Assyria. So much so, that if Israel were a tree, only a stump remained. Still, God used that stump to bring about the “root of Jesse” or Jesus Christ. He is the one that would allow for sinners like us to one day proclaim –

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”

Ahaz chose wrong. He chose to believe that what he saw ahead of him was greater than the promises of God. He rejected the very salvation he sought when nervously entering into terms with Assyria.

That choice proved to nearly wipe Israel off the face of the planet. Thankfully, God’s sovereignty shines bright. He kept His promise to David, to Israel and ultimately all nations. He used Ahaz’s choice to further His purposes.

Everyday, we’re in a position more similar to Ahaz than you’d realize. We have a choice to trust just what we see, or to trust in the God of the Bible. We can choose to throw away His words as some religious fanaticism, or we can accept them by faith. We can scoff at the idea that we need His saving or embrace our desperate estate and use it as fuel to run to the same faithful God who preserved Jerusalem all those years ago.

It is here where we learn that Jesus isn’t just another thing people are into. He is everyone’s deepest need as sinners who must stand before a perfectly holy God. He isn’t simply the means to salvation. As the verse above states, He IS our salvation. He lived the perfect life that God demands, yet of which we’re incapable.

As Ahaz could have escaped judgement by choosing to take God at His word and trusting Him to fight his battles, so can we escape God’s ultimate judgement through the blood of Jesus Christ.

We can’t trust in Jesus apart from God calling us to Him. Unless God the Father draws us to the conclusion that we need Jesus, we won’t ever know we do. And if we don’t know we need saving, we won’t ever seek the Savior.

My thought is that if you’ve read this far – or at all – it’s pretty obvious God is calling you. Why else would you have chosen to continue reading?

Consider what is said in Romans 10:13 –

“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”