Isaiah-7
Isaiah 7:1-9 (ESV)
1 In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it.
2 When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.
3 And the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field.
4 And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah.
5 Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying,
6 “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,”
7 thus says the Lord GOD: “‘It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass.
8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. And within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.’”
Isaiah 7:1-9 – 740BC – Isaiah starts him ministry – Chapter 7 would be around 735BC.
- 1-2 – 734-732 BC – reporting the participants in the Syro-Ephraimite War…
At 20 years old Ahaz became King and this policies of non-cooperation with Syria and Israel. Thus a military conflict was initiated in order to replace Ahaz. – Israel joins forces with Syria (K. Rezin), a northerly neighbor, in a pact of mutual defense against Assyria. They want the collaboration of Judah as well, for further reinforcement. In fact, they demand it.
V.7-9 provides details of what happened in the first few months before the initial attack. There is no need to panic. God is with his people.
True Faith is the capacity to act fully enthusiastically as our eyes have been opened to the glory of Christ.
V.1-4 – God calls Ahaz to confidence… God was trying to show Ahaz that even if the worst happens there would be a remnant that will return in victory. God notices our weakness and need and honesty.
1) – 4 imperatives to admonish Ahaz: “be careful, keep calm, don’t be afraid, do not lose heart.”
V.3-6 – Solution to Judah’s fear was provided in the oracle of salvation that God gave to the Isaiah. TWO related messages Isaiah spoke to Ahaz were clear promises of salvation.
2 kings named “smoldering sticks” – The Issue: Ahaz had to decide: Is God sovereign enough to protect his people and his plans for the Davidic dynasty. OR will two smalls states involved to enact their plans to usurp the Davidic ruler on the throne by installing the imposter “Tabeel”?
Isaiah 7:10-25 (ESV)
10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz,
11 “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.”
13 And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also?
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.
16 For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.
17 The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.”
18 In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19 And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.
20 In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.
21 In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep,
22 and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat curds and honey.
23 In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns.
24 With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns.
25 And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.
V.10-13 – Ahaz rejects God’s offer of a sign… (The obvious answer is to walk by faith without a sign. “Immanuel” – God is with us. (8:8,10, the name is applied)
V.14 –Isaiah’s son predicted – Name: “Maher-shalal-hashbza” Meaning: “The spoil speeds, the prey hastens”.
-The prefigure of the birth of Jesus Christ. The Immanuel sign-child a picture of our ultimate salvation.
Quote NAC: “The name of the promised new son is Immanuel (ʿimmānû ʾēl) “God is with us.”
V.16-17 – somewhat confusing and full of difficulties. – However God progressively reveals truth…
V.18-20 – “whistle for the fly” – V.20 ‘a hired barber’
V.21-25- speaks of the devastation of the land and how those remaining survive. To live on nomadic foods would indicate that grain farming and cities will not exist as people turn to hunters and gathers instead of farmers.
Chapter 7 message teaches us:
1) This message of God teaches that people need not fear their enemies if God has promised salvation. What are God’s promises for us today in reference to our enemies?
2) It shows that failure to trust God will lead on into their own demise.
3) They were given hope as they were to look to the Davidic dynasty. To Emmanuel who would choose good and reject evil.
NAC Commentary Quote:
THEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS. God’s message to Ahaz teaches that people need not fear their enemies if God has promised salvation. They need to be careful and calm, standing firm in their faith in God because failure to trust God will lead to their own demise (7:3). This incident in the life of Ahaz also warns the reader not to test the patience of God by repeatedly refusing his assistance or ruling out the possibility that he can do miraculous things (7:10–12). God’s punishment for acting without faith is personal devastation, national disgrace, the interruption of the Davidic promise, and suffering under God’s curse on the land (7:18–25). In spite of all the negative theological implications of Ahaz’s action, God did not totally give up on his plans for the Davidic dynasty. Out of the midst of suffering, another ruler unlike Ahaz will arise. Immanuel will choose the good and reject the evil. This unknown son, the child of a young woman, is a future Davidic figure of hope. Isaiah may have had messianic concepts in the back of his mind at the time, but these are not extensively identified or developed in these verses. Nevertheless, the understanding of the implications of Immanuel’s role is expanded when this son is viewed in the light of God’s progressive revelation about a Davidic son in 9:1–7. Certainly when Isaiah reflected back on these words from a later perspective, he could more clearly identify Immanuel with the righteous son who would rule over the house of David (9:1–7). What is amazing is how faithful Isaiah was to the original limited amount of information he knew in Isaiah 7. Rather than loading up the revelation of chap. 7 with new information learned in Isaiah 9, Isaiah faithfully recorded the general prophecy of Immanuel with all its ambiguities and unanswered questions. Each reader must follow the same pattern and avoid reading into Isaiah 7 things that were later revealed in chap. 9. The goal of interpreting Isaiah 7 is to understand what God’s message meant to people at that time in that setting.
In light of an expanded understanding of Isaiah 7 (aided by 9:1–7), it is not surprising that the New Testament writers saw Jesus as the Messiah (Matt 1:23). In light of the expanded explanation of this son as the Messiah in 9:1–7, there is no need to suggest that 7:14–15 should be understood as double fulfillment or typology. Isaiah 7:14–15 is a general prophecy about a future just ruler with whom God would dwell. This ruler was not Ahaz’s son or Isaiah’s son, but an unknown future king specifically identified in 9:1–7 in clear messianic terms. Isaiah 7:16–25 and 8:8–10 connect themes from the Immanuel prophecy to demonstrate that the unbelieving Ahaz and his dynasty will suffer, so the overall prophecy in chap. 7 had both present (chaps. 7–8) and future significance (9:1–7).[2]
Following is a “Timeline” of things happening at this time in history:
[2] Smith, G. V. (2007). Isaiah 1–39. (E. R. Clendenen, Ed.) (pp. 218–219). Nashville: B & H Publishing Group.