Moreover, the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee
a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. And
he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary
men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a
sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name
Immanuel (Isa. 7:10-14).
COMMON GRACE ARGUMENT:
“Ahaz was unregenerate, and yet we see such piety on his
part in that he refused to ask God for a sign, lest he ‘tempt the Lord’ … In the
light of total depravity and the fact that every man, by nature, is unholy, impious,
without fear of God, and a hater of God, how can you explain this seemingly
godly response apart from a ‘common grace’ operating in him?”
(I)
Homer C. Hoeksema (1923-1989)
[Source:
Sermon: “The
Virgin’s Son: The Sign of Salvation” (29th Nov. 1987)]
The Lord, through Isaiah, gives to Ahaz the opportunity to
ask for a sign. And Ahaz refuses. That refusal might sound, on the surface of
it, to be rather pious. Isaiah says to him, “Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy
God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.” “Ask whatever sign
you want,” in other words. But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, neither will I tempt
the Lord.” I say that sounds, at first blush to be very pious on Ahaz’s
part, that he won’t tempt the Lord, but that wasn’t it, you see. Ahaz was unbelieving;
and he was wicked; and he understood very well that if he asked for a
sign of the Lord, it would be incumbent upon him also to repent and to
believe the Lord and to walk in his ways. So, in hypocritical piety he says “Oh
no, no, no, no … I won’t tempt the Lord.”
(II)
More to come! (DV)
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