The first seal impression of a Hebrew king ever found. It is the seal of King Ahaz of Judah. But an even better find than the seal is the story we've been left of this king.
Isaiah comes to King Ahaz and tells him the Lord will grant him a sign but Ahaz refuses it. And so now, he's really going to get a sign. So why does Ahaz refuse it? Is it pride? Does he think Judah powerful enough that he's not going to need God's help and he doesn't want to be beholden to the prophets and this God?
If God would grant you a sign, what would you ask for? Hmmmmm. I'm thinking you need to be careful what you ask for because it's as much a test of you as it is of God. You might want to resist any greedy impulses. So what's the wish...I mean sign? Not the fleece thing. What about feeding the 5,000 again? How about feeding a country? How would you pick which one would receive the blessing? How about the whole world? How about the whole world forever? Then would man sink to laziness because he didn't need worry about where our next meal was coming from? Would we begin to take it for granted after a generation? Would we believe we'd earned the right to have the food, that we deserved it? Would we worship the blessing of the food instead of the God who gave it?
Hmmmm, this sign thing left to man's discretion isn't as easy as it seems. Lord knows.
Ahaz refuses to be granted a sign. But, along with punishing Judah and Israel, God in His infinite love provides another sign for all mankind:
"Therefore 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 [which means God with us]" Isaiah 7:14
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