Isaiah 7:1-25 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Isaiah 7:1-25. Let’s go!
Isaiah 7:1-3 (NIV)
1 When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it.
2 Now the house of David was told, “Aram has allied itself with Ephraim”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.
3 Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman’s Field.
On verses 1-3: By now years have passed since the events described in Isaiah 6. Many scholars estimate the date to be 734 B.C. To help protect themselves against the threat of Assyria, the nation of Aram led by King Rezin and the nation of Israel led by King Pekah form an alliance. Aram and Israel want the nation of Judah to join their alliance, but when Judah’s King Ahaz refuses, Aram and Israel threaten to attack Judah and replace King Ahaz with a new king of their choosing, a man called Tabeel (v6). King Ahaz and the people of Judah are terrified, like “trees of the forest…shaken by the wind” (v2).
To encourage Ahaz, God tells Isaiah and his son Shear-Jashub (whose name means “a remnant will remain”) to meet Ahaz at the end of an aqueduct. Perhaps King Ahaz was at the aqueduct because he was worried about Jerusalem’s water supply, which Aram-Israel would likely interfere with if they attacked Jerusalem.
What can we learn from this? God is an encourager. When we are afraid because of people and circumstances around us, God’s heart is to encourage us by focusing on Him and finding strength in Him. Still, the choice is ours whether we will trust in God or in something/someone else.
Isaiah 7:4-9 (NIV)
4 Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood–because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.
5 Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have plotted your ruin, saying,
6 “Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.”
7 Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “‘It will not take place, it will not happen,
8 for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is only Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.
9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.'”
On verses 4-9: Through Isaiah, God tells King Ahaz of Judah to stay calm and not be afraid of this alliance between King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah of Israel (“the son of Remaliah”) (v4). God knows all about their plan to invade and take over Judah, but God tells Ahaz that it will not happen (v7). God declares that within 65 years, Israel (also known as Ephraim) would be too shattered to be a nation anymore (v8). Now God just asks Ahaz to stand in faith on God’s promise.
God was right. Within 65 years, both Aram and Israel would be conquered by Assyria. In 732 B.C. Damascus, the capital of Aram, would fall to Assyria. In 722 B.C., Israel would be captured by Assyria and becoming increasingly inhabited by foreigners and becoming known as Samaria.
What can we learn from this?
1. Don’t fear people. Instead fear God who is all powerful and always in control.
2. God is faithful. He keeps His promises. You can trust every word God says.
3. If we want to benefit from God’s words and promises, we need to stand in faith on His Word. For “[i]f you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all” (v9). The way we stand firm in the midst of scary circumstances is through faith in God and His promises. What promises from God do you need to stand on today?
Isaiah 7:10-13 (NIV)
10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz,
11 “Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.”
13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also?
On verses 10-13: To show that King Ahaz should trust in God, God even invites Ahaz to ask for a sign (v10-11), but Ahaz refuses, saying “I will not put the LORD to the test” (v12). Ahaz’s response might sound pious and spiritual, but, as verse 13 shows that the reason Ahaz gave this answer is not because he had great faith in the LORD; rather, it was because Ahaz was placing his hope not in something other than God. He was relying on Assyria for help.
So while his answer on the surface sounds pious – “I will not put the LORD to the test” – Ahaz was trying to look more spiritual than he really was. Ahaz’ real reason for not asking for a sign was his lack of faith in God. Instead of trusting in the Lord, Ahaz was enamoured with other nations and their gods. He even sacrificed his own sons in the fire in worship of these idols (2 Chronicles 28:3). As Isaiah notes, Ahaz was testing God’s patience by not asking for a sign (v13).
What can we learn from this? The quantity and quality of our faith is reflected in what we expect from God or ask of Him.
Isaiah 7:14 (NIV)
14 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.
On verses 14: Despite Ahaz’s lack of faith, God says that He will give Ahaz a sign anyway. What is the sign? “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (v14) What does this mean? Part of the difficulty with this verse is that, according to some scholars, “virgin” (in Hebrew “alma”) can mean literally a girl who has never been with a man, or a young woman who is of marriageable age, or even a married woman who looks young. Another odd thing about this sign is that usually it is the father who would name the child, but in this case the virgin, whoever she is, would name her own son and give him the name Immanuel.
Different schools will differ on how to approach Isaiah 7:14. Some say that Isaiah 7:14 is only talking about the distant future when Jesus would be born to the virgin Mary. Others say that Isaiah 7:14 is only talking about the short-term future when Ahaz was still king. I believe the best interpretation, one which many scholars espouse, is that the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 has a double fulfilment, once in the short-term during Ahaz’s time and once in the long-term when Jesus was born.
In the short-term, Isaiah seems to be saying that a woman of marriageable age known to Ahaz would give birth to a son and name him Immanuel. By the time that child is old enough to discern right from wrong, Israel and Aram will be gone. In this short-term case, we don’t know who that woman is or who that child is. Pastor David Pawson suggests that, given the context, this woman was probably someone in King Ahaz’s palace, and possibly even a concubine in King Ahaz’ harem since the word for “young maiden” is the same word used of women working as concubines in a king’s harem. If this woman was working in the harem, her unmarried status would explain why she would name the child herself. That is only speculation. But in any event we can be confident that Ahaz would one day realize who this woman was, hear that she had named her son Immanuel, and remember the prophecy that Isaiah spoke to him. That is the short-term fulfillment of the prophecy.
In the long-term, this sign is referring to the virgin birth of Jesus the Son of God (see Matthew 1:23). As Pastor David Pawson explains:
“long after the days of Ahaz the Jews noticed [the word “alma”] could have a double meaning: ‘virgin’ as well as ‘young maiden’. They began to realise that God had hidden within this verse a double prediction. Five hundred years after Isaiah, two hundred and fifty years before Jesus Christ was born, seventy Jewish scholars in Egypt set out to take the whole Old Testament and translate it from the Hebrew into the Greek language. When they came to this verse they chose from Greek a word that can only mean virgin, for the original fulfilment had come and gone and the second fulfilment was still ahead, so for the second fulfilment they took the other meaning of the word, virgin, and they translated it into Greek: a virgin shall conceive. There would be a supernatural birth, the second fulfilment. They saw in the name now not a literal name but the nature of the child. The child was to be God with us, the child was to be God…It was that second prediction which was fulfilled in Bethlehem.” (page 62-63 of David Pawson’s Come With Me Through Isaiah, True Potential Publishing, 2010).
Isaiah 7:15-16 (NIV)
15 He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right.
16 But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.
On verses 15-16: Isaiah says something else about this boy to be born. He says that by the time the boy knows enough to reject wrong and choose right, Israel and Aram will be laid to waste (v16), and that this boy himself will “eat curds and honey” (v15). Curds and honey, according to some scholars, is food that you would eat when you are poor and have limited food supply. Assuming this boy is in Judah, it’s as if God is using this boy child’s coming of age as the marker for two things: the disappearance of Israel and Aram as nations, as well as the destitution and desperate state of Judah.
Why would Judah be destitute and living in great need? Keep reading.
Isaiah 7:17-25 (NIV)
17 The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah–he will bring the king of Assyria.”
18 In that day the LORD will whistle for flies from the distant streams of Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria.
19 They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices in the rocks, on all the thornbushes and at all the water holes.
20 In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the River–the king of Assyria–to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to take off your beards also.
21 In that day, a man will keep alive a young cow and two goats.
22 And because of the abundance of the milk they give, he will have curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds and honey.
23 In that day, in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be only briers and thorns.
24 Men will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns.
25 As for all the hills once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns; they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run.
On verses 17-25: The reason Judah would be destitute and poor even after Aram and Israel were defeated is because Assyria, the very nation that Judah would rely on for help, would eventually turn on Judah and cause Judah much difficulty (see 2 Chronicles 28:19-21). Verses 17-25 describe the kind of humiliation and destitution that Judah would experience at the hands of the Assyrians.
What can we learn from all this? When we push God away and place our trust in something other than God, we might gain short-term temporary benefits, but we will only suffer in the end. For the long term we are always better off trusting in God than trusting in ourselves.
Father thank You for being the One who comes to us with an encouraging word when we are afraid and feeling insecure. I acknowledge today that I am always better off in the end trusting in You than trusting in myself. Please help me to stand firm in faith, faith in who You are and what You say. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
