Isaiah 7
7
God’s Message for Ahaz
1During the reign of Ahaz, # 7:1 Ahaz was the king of Judah, whose capital was Jerusalem. He took the throne at the age of twenty and reigned sixteen years. He was a young leader facing his first major test as king. See 2 Kings 16. This section of Isaiah (chs. 7–11) is known as the “Book of Immanuel.” the son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, two kings launched an attack against Jerusalem: Rezin, the king of Syria, # 7:1 Or “Aram,” which is modern-day Syria. Rezin means “wicked pleasure,” a picture of the life of the flesh. and Pekah, # 7:1 Pekah means “open-eyed” or “seeing,” a picture of human reasoning. This unholy alliance of the two kings threatened to invade if King Ahaz did not agree to surrender. The northern kingdom of Israel (Pekah) and Syria (Rezin) joined each other to overthrow Ahaz and put “the son of Tabeel” on the throne in his place (see v. 6). The pressure was on King Ahaz to join this united front against the Assyrian expansion. the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel. But they failed to conquer it. # 7:1 This verse is a summary statement of what is unfolded in the following verses.
2When the royal court # 7:2 Or “the house of David.” was told that Syria had formed an alliance with the northern kingdom of Israel, # 7:2 Or “Ephraim,” a metonym for the ten tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel. They were collectively called “Ephraim,” for their first king (Jeroboam) was from that tribe (see 1 Kings 11:26). the heart of King Ahaz and all his people trembled with fear, like trees swaying in the wind.
3Then Yahweh spoke to Isaiah and said, “Go and meet with King Ahaz. You’ll find him on the road to the Washerman’s Field # 7:3 Or “Fuller’s Field,” where cloth was washed and bleached. In Mark 9:3, the Greek text uses the phrase “whiter than any fuller can make them.” See also Mal. 3:1–3. at the end of the aqueduct where it empties into the upper pool. # 7:3 Ahaz was likely inspecting the city’s vulnerable water supply. It is good to be vulnerable and on the road to being purified and made ready for God to use “on the road to the Washerman’s Field.” The heavenly Washerman wants to cleanse our hearts from unbelief, which hides in false belief systems that close our hearts from a true work of the Spirit. God wants to make you an aqueduct or “channel” of the upper (heavenly) pool. Take with you your son, whom you named a Remnant Will Return. # 7:3 Or “Shear-Jashub,” which in Hebrew means “a remnant will return.” Isaiah was married and had at least two sons (see Isa. 8:1–4). Shear-Jashub was a walking oracle of hope, with a promise in his name: God will preserve a “holy seed” as a remnant (Isa. 6:13). 4Give him this message: ‘Stay calm! Be quiet and guard your heart! Don’t panic or be discouraged over these two smoldering stubs of firewood, because of the rage of Rezin and Aram, the son of Remaliah. # 7:4 Both Pekah and Rezin were dead within two years of their hostilities against Ahaz. 5Syria has plotted with the northern kingdom of Israel # 7:5 Or “Ephraim.” and the son of Remaliah to come against you. 6They are saying, “We will attack Judah and cut off Jerusalem—we will terrorize and conquer it for ourselves and install the son of Tabeel as king!” ’ ”
7Now hear what the Lord Yahweh says:
“They will not succeed—it will never happen!
8For the head of Syria is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
Sixty-five years from now the northern kingdom of Israel
will be shattered, with nothing left of it. # 7:8 Or “shattered and no longer a people.” Some scholars see this sentence as a scribal commentary that got merged into the text. M. Scott, “Isaiah 7:8,” ExpTim 38 (1926/1927), 525–26.
9The head of the northern kingdom of Israel is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. # 7:9 By implication, the head of Judah would be Jerusalem and the head of Jerusalem would be David’s son, Ahaz. Notice that God sees a city as the head of a nation and the head of a city to be a human leader. This is the principle of the stronghold/strongman. If the chief city of a nation is taken, the nation will fall. If the chief leader/spirit in a city is taken, the city will fall. See Mark 3:27.
If you do not stand firm in your faith,
you will not be able to stand at all!” # 7:9 Or “If your faith does not hold, you will not be able to hold it together.” We must be willing to take God at his word and lay our fears to rest, or we will be insecure, unstable, and unable to stand against our foes. Sadly, Ahaz did not heed the words of God and instead sought help from the king of Assyria, even using the gold of the temple to buy his favor (see 2 Kings 16:7–8). Ahaz was one of the worst of Judah’s kings, yet he had the living God standing ready to help him if he would turn back to the Lord.
God with Us
10Again Lord Yahweh spoke to Ahaz:
11“Go ahead—ask for a sign from Yahweh, your God. # 7:11 This would be a sign to Ahaz proving that God is trustworthy and keeps his word. God is willing to prove himself to Ahaz and to us. Ask for something big, so miraculous # 7:11 Or “as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven”; that is, something so outside human experience that only God can do it. that you will know only God did it!”
12Ahaz answered, “I will not ask. I won’t attempt to test the Lord Yahweh.”
13So Isaiah said, “Pay attention, family of David. It’s bad enough to try the patience of a prophet # 7:13 Or “men.” The Targum reads “prophet.” but even worse when you try the patience of my God as well! 14The Lord himself will give you a sign. # 7:14 This is a double sign. There is the sign of the Virgin Mary and the sign of the virgin bride of Christ of the last days. See 2 Cor. 11:2. Behold—the virgin # 7:14 Although the ambiguous Hebrew word for “virgin” (‘almah) is more often translated “a girl of marriageable age,” the context is God performing a miracle-sign (v. 11). This sign was not merely for Ahaz but also for the family (or “house,” including descendants) of David. There is nothing miraculous about a young woman having a baby; it happens every day. However, the Septuagint translates this word as “virgin” here, as well as in Matthew’s quotation for the virgin birth of the Messiah (see Matt. 1:23). No child with a human father could be the fulfillment of Immanuel, “God Among Us.” However, some scholars view Isaiah’s other son, “Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz” (see footnote on Isa. 8:3), as the Immanuel referred to here. will conceive and give birth to a son and will name him God Among Us. # 7:14 Or “Immanuel” (“God became one of us,” Matt. 1:23). A new nature was about to be planted in the soil of humanity. Immanuel is a term used for this new creation life coming down out of heaven. It will begin as a man but will soon become a company of men and women. Immanuel is the partnership of heaven and earth, God and humanity. 15He will eat curdled milk and honey, # 7:15 This coming “son” would be one who had the kingdom promises as his diet (see John 4:32). Milk and honey represent the promised land, where God fulfills all his promises. Jesus is the only one who has fulfilled the Father’s desires. Feeding on the promises enabled him to choose the right. He resisted temptation by means of the Word of God dwelling in him. Strength to reject evil comes from feeding on truth. See Matt. 4:1–11. and he will know enough to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16Yet even before that time comes for him to know good and evil, the lands of those two kings you dread will be deserted.” # 7:16 This prophecy was fulfilled when Assyria defeated first Syria (732 BC) and then the northern tribes of Israel (722 BC).
The Whistler
17“The Lord Yahweh is going to bring days of catastrophic trouble—on you, on your people, and on the whole royal court—not seen since the northern kingdom of Israel broke off from Judah. He is going to bring the king of Assyria with his great army!”
18In that day, the Lord Yahweh will whistle and call for flies from Egypt’s lower streams. # 7:18 Or “Niles,” a reference to the flooding of the Nile that brought swarms of dog flies, which are known to buzz like bees and whose bite is extremely painful. He will whistle for bees from the land of Assyria, 19and they will swarm down upon you and settle into the steep ravines, the crevices of the rocks, on every thorn bush and at every stagnant pool. # 7:19 Or “every bush” (possibly the stinkwood). In this case, the flies and bees are the foreign warriors coming to invade. God’s whistle brought them into the land. Experts tell us that beekeepers can persuade bees to come out of their hives or return from the fields by whistling. Like bees gathering to sting (the hill country of Assyria was known for its bees), these warriors would land upon every compromise. The steep ravines are a picture of the slippery slopes of darkness that bring defeat into our hearts. These flies and bees are found where there is corruption and decay within the soul. “Crevices of the rocks” are where we hide our compromises. The thorn bushes are symbols of our flesh life, with its briars and offenses that do not yield to God (see Matt. 13:7, 22). “Every stagnant pool” points us to the stagnant places in our lives that we have not allowed to be renewed and revived.
The Lord’s Razor
20In that day, the Lord will take his “razor,” the hired king of Assyria from beyond the Euphrates, # 7:20 Or “the river.” Ahaz had paid tribute and, in a sense, hired the king of Assyria to shave Syria and the northern kingdom. Instead, the king now served God’s purposes in bringing judgment and devastation to Judah. and he will shave your head, your legs, # 7:20 Or “the hair of the feet.” In ancient times, the feet were used euphemistically for genitalia. The hair of the head points to the king (Ahaz); the legs, his soldiers; the beard, the officials of the land. Thus, “shaving” was a metaphor for the Lord stripping from them all that they had: their livelihoods, crops, and private ownership of their land. This supernatural “razor” will be Assyria coming to cut off their pride, their glory, and their boasts. Often the victors would shave the heads of the vanquished. Mourners had their heads shaved (see Isa. 15:2). So Judah would mourn over their ways as judgment fell. Shaving off the beard was an embarrassment to Hebrew men (see 2 Sam. 10:4–5). and also your beard, leaving you ashamed and exposed!
21In that day, if a farmer keeps alive only one heifer and two goats, 22they will give so much milk that he will have more than he needs. And everyone left in the land will have all the milk and honey they desire.
23In that day, the fine vineyards, each with a thousand vines and worth a thousand pieces of silver, # 7:23 See Song. 8:11–12. will be a wilderness overgrown with weeds, briars, and thorn bushes. # 7:23 See Isa. 5:1–7. 24People will hunt there with bow and arrow but will find nothing except thorn bushes and briars! 25The once-cultivated hillsides where vineyards used to grow will be completely overgrown with thorns so that people will be afraid to go there. It will become a place where cattle graze and sheep trample.
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Isaiah 7: TPT
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