Isaiah 7:1

And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it... And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be faint-hearted... Thus saith the Lord God, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.

When God says "trust Me and I will establish you," will you listen—or run to a king of Assyria?

How to Read the Prophets

It is important to remember when studying through Isaiah and the other Old Testament prophetic books that prophecy does not generally unfold in a linear timeline the way our minds expect. When we read most books, we think of progressing in order from point A to Z. But the prophetic books jump around from subject to subject, and sometimes chronologically into different areas of time.

In Isaiah 6 we had just seen the death of Uzziah—"in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord." But now in Isaiah 7 there is a new king, and it is not Uzziah's son. Verse 1 says, "in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah." So the grandson of Uzziah is now on the throne. At least sixteen years have passed, and probably more. Jotham reigned only sixteen years in Jerusalem (2 Kings 16), and now his son Ahaz takes over.

Who Was King Ahaz?

Second Kings 16 tells us exactly who this king was:

In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign... and did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord his God, like David his father. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. Yea, and made his son to pass through the fire according to the abominations of the heathen.

Ahaz was not a good king; he did wickedly before the Lord. His grandfather Uzziah had largely been a good king until the end, when he presumed to act as a priest in the temple and died a leper. Jotham was only marginal. But Ahaz bowed down to and worshipped Molech.

When verse 3 says he caused his son to pass through the fire, it means he offered his children to Molech, a god worshipped by the surrounding peoples. Just outside Jerusalem's gates lay the Valley of Hinnom—Gehenna—the refuse heap of Israel, where this false god was worshipped. The images of Molech were made of iron with outstretched arms and a basin in the belly. They would kindle a fire until the arms glowed incandescent red, and then offer their children upon those arms. This was the moral condition of Judah and Jerusalem when we come to Isaiah 7.

The Northern Threat and the Backstory

Now the northern ten tribes—called Israel—are confederate with Syria, and they come down to take over Judah and Jerusalem. To understand this we have to back up. David established the nation as its second king, and Solomon raised it to awesome power and abundance. But after Solomon, his foolish son Rehoboam heavily taxed the people and laid a heavy hand on them. The people revolted, Jeroboam led away the northern ten tribes, and from that point there was a northern kingdom (Israel) and a southern kingdom (Judah and Benjamin).

Jerusalem remained a great issue for all Israel. When the north separated, Judah and Benjamin would no longer let them come down to worship at the temple. So the north established a pagan mixture of worship up in Dan, even bowing again to the golden calf. But Jerusalem and its temple still held their attention, and they wanted to overtake it. So Rezin king of Syria and Pekah king of Israel went up to Jerusalem to war against it—but, verse 1 tells us, they could not prevail.

Read as a one-sentence headline, that sounds like good news. But that is not the whole story. Second Chronicles 28 gives it:

Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria... And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter. For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers.

So Isaiah 7's headline—"they could not take it"—conceals a devastating loss. In one day Judah lost 120,000 men, and these were not farmers but valiant men. Underline the reason at the end of verse 6: "because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers." The north even carried off their own brothers and sisters as captives, until a prophet named Oded warned the king to release them.

A Word of Assurance in Dark Times

This was the same cycle we have already seen in Isaiah: as the people depart from God, He removes His hand of protection, and the enemy comes in like a flood. Yet God still speaks in those dark times—and it is often in dark times that our ears are finally open to hear Him.

And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.

That their hearts "were moved" is the understatement of the chapter. These people were in despair—their cities sacked, their armies killed, their kin taken captive. The wording doesn't do it justice. It is akin to how the heart of America was moved after September 11th, 2001, or after Pearl Harbor on December 8th, 1941.

Then the Lord said to Isaiah, "Go forth now and meet Ahaz." Isaiah had access to the kings throughout his ministry—possibly part of the royal family, and certainly granted an open pass before them. God told him to take his son, and to meet Ahaz "at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field."

Those words could be easily glossed over, but they remind us this actually happened. There was a real place outside Jerusalem where Isaiah met Ahaz. It would be like saying, "Go meet the mayor down on the corner by City Hall." When you read the prophets, recognize that this is history, not merely a story.

Sher-jashub: A Remnant Shall Return

God told Isaiah to bring his son Sher-jashub, whose name means "a remnant shall return." That was the exact word of assurance God had given when He commissioned Isaiah. Look back at Isaiah 6:13: "But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return." A remnant would come back.

Names in Scripture are almost always meaningful. It is a great study, with a Strong's Concordance, to look at the names in the genealogy of Genesis 5 and see what God speaks through their definitions. Isaiah's son was himself a walking prophetic word: if anyone asked why he was named "a remnant shall return," Isaiah could explain that God would judge this nation, leaving only a tenth.

"Take Heed, and Be Quiet"

God told Isaiah to say, "Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be faint-hearted." Many times in my own life, when I am confronted with difficult circumstances, it is hard to be still and listen to the Lord. Yet Psalm 46 says, "Be still, and know that I am God"—that He is on the throne and in control. Jesus told His troubled disciples in John 14:1, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." Those words comfort us in trials, and they are read at many funerals.

God was saying a similar thing to Ahaz: be quiet and listen. Yet notice where Ahaz was when Isaiah met him—at the conduit of the upper pool, by the fuller's field. A conduit carries water. Jerusalem was about to be besieged, and in those days an invading army would often surround a city and wait until its food and water ran out. So Ahaz, likely with his advisors, was scrambling to secure his water supply. Right there, in the middle of his frantic planning, God sends His prophet to speak.

Two Smoking Firebrands

God told Ahaz not to fear "these two tails of these smoking firebrands"—or, in another translation, "those two burned-out embers, King Rezin of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah." God reminds Ahaz what these two kings really are. To Ahaz they looked like the worst threat of his reign: 120,000 mighty men dead, 200,000 people taken captive, an invading army marching on Jerusalem. They looked like a massive wildfire about to consume everything. But God says they are only burned-out embers.

The things that seem all-consuming to us look entirely different when we step back, are quiet, and see them from God's perspective. If it were only you facing your trial, it would be impossible—but not with God. In Numbers 13, ten of the twelve spies looked at the giants and said, "we were in our own sight as grasshoppers." Looking through the lens of who we are, we are grasshoppers before our giants. But Joshua and Caleb said the giants were "bread for us," because they saw them from God's perspective. What is a nine-foot giant to the God of the universe? What is the army of Israel and Syria to the One who parted the Red Sea and destroyed Pharaoh's army?

An Evil Counsel That Will Not Stand

Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal.

The plan to come into Judah, remove Ahaz, end the line of David, and install a puppet king was evil in God's eyes. This was not God's doing. God was allowing this to chastise His people—He had removed His protection because of their sin—but He would not allow it to overrun His prophetic plan. In 2 Samuel 7, God promised the Messiah would come through David's line; the throne would not fail until Shiloh comes. So this scheme was directly against God's will, and it would not stand.

For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin... And within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.

God says Syria's capital is Damascus under Rezin, and the northern tribes—called Ephraim after their chief tribe, just as the south is called Judah—are headed by Samaria under Pekah. And within sixty-five years Ephraim will cease to be a people. That is a heavy prophetic word.

"If You Will Not Believe, You Shall Not Be Established"

Then comes the pivotal word at the end of verse 9: "If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established." Put a star next to that verse. Like many Old Testament prophecies, it has both a historic and a personal, practical application. The implication is plain: if you will believe, you shall be established. The word "believe" could also be rendered confidence or trust. If you put your trust in the Lord and His word, you will be established—but if you won't, you will fail.

God gave this wicked king a great promise: trust Me and I will establish you. And God was going to deliver Jerusalem regardless, because His prophetic plan required the house of David to keep the throne until Messiah came. Yet He still offered Ahaz the opportunity to be personally established by trusting Him.

But look at Ahaz's actual plan in 2 Kings 16:

So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel... And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and... sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.

Note carefully that Syria and Assyria are two different nations—a constant source of confusion. Syria lay directly north of Israel with Damascus as its capital. Assyria lay to the northeast with Nineveh as its capital, and Assyria was the great empire of the world at this time. The Creator of all things was saying, "Trust Me and I will establish you and save this city." But Ahaz, standing at that conduit, had already decided to pay off the king of Assyria. Second Chronicles 28:16 confirms it: "at that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him."

In his fear, Ahaz cried out in the wrong place, seeking help from the wrong thing—and we often do the same. When confronted with catastrophe, we are tempted to turn to the wrong places. Ahaz was never established. Second Chronicles 28:19 says "the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz... for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord." If we do not trust in the Lord, we will not be established—not in this life, and not in the kingdom to come. Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many mansions... I go to prepare a place for you." If you want that place prepared, you must believe in God and in His Son.

"Ask a Sign"—and Ahaz Refuses

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.

This may be one of only two places in all of Scripture where God does this. He tells an ungodly king: give Me any test to prove My word is true, and I will do it—whether in the depths below or the heights above. Think of who is saying this: the God who created the heavens and earth with His word, who made the sun stand still in Joshua 10, who parted the Red Sea, who performed miracle after miracle. He says, "Ask anything, and I'll do it right now." What would you ask?

Deuteronomy says we shall not test the Lord, yet here God explicitly commands it. Notice the response of this wicked king:

But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.

He hides behind false piety—"I would never test the Lord." But if God explicitly tells you to test Him, then you obey His word; you are not honoring the law by refusing. Isaiah answers: "Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?" You may treat it as a little thing to try men's patience, but you are trying the patience of God.

The Sign of Immanuel

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

We know this speaks of Jesus because Matthew 1 tells us so. The angel told Joseph that Mary's child was of the Holy Spirit, "and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." The Holy Spirit reveals that Isaiah 7:14 speaks of the miraculous conception of Jesus.

But consider this carefully. Isaiah was promising Ahaz that God would protect Jerusalem from an imminent destruction. How would the birth of Jesus—700 years later—serve as a sign to Ahaz that he would be saved in his own day? Clearly this passage has a dual fulfillment, as do many prophetic passages.

For an example, look at Isaiah 61:1–2, which Jesus read in the synagogue in Luke 4. He read down to "the acceptable year of the Lord," then closed the scroll and said, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." But the prophecy continues past a comma: "and the day of vengeance of our God." The first half describes His first coming 2,000 years ago; the rest awaits His second coming. Between that comma there have so far been 2,000 years—an early and a latter fulfillment.

Maher-shalal-hash-baz: The Early Fulfillment

Charles Spurgeon called Isaiah 7:14 "one of the most difficult words in all the word of God"—saying he did not think it difficult until he read the commentators and rose up "perfectly confused." Many commentators note that the word here for "virgin" is the Hebrew almah, which can mean young maiden, while another Hebrew word more definitively means virgin. Some use this to deny that Mary was truly a virgin. But that is not true at all; the Scripture is clear, and Matthew 1 confirms a true virgin birth. I believe God used almah purposefully, because the passage also points to a young woman in Isaiah's own day.

Look at Isaiah 8:

Moreover the Lord said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz... And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the Lord to me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

"A man's pen" means write clearly and legibly. God told Isaiah to write down this name with two faithful witnesses before his wife conceived. They had no sonograms—they would not know the baby was a boy until birth—yet the name was given in advance. Then:

For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

There is the early fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14–16: the birth of Isaiah's second son, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, as a sign to Judah that they would be saved. How long does it take a child to say "mama" or "dada," or to recognize "no" and begin to choose good over evil? Not very long. He spoke of the child eating "butter and honey"—and we know a newborn cannot be fed honey safely. So God's word was that before this child reached such a brief stage of life, Judah's enemies would be broken. The 700-year prophecy of Christ's birth would not have comforted Ahaz in his crisis—but it remains a true prophecy of the coming Messiah, because the Holy Spirit says so in Matthew 1. Early fulfillment and latter fulfillment.

The Razor From Beyond the River

The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

Now God gives a second, less comforting prophetic word. The first was, "Trust Me and I will save your city, and you'll be established." But because Ahaz would not trust the Lord, God says He will bring upon Judah days unseen since the civil war—and He will bring the very Assyrians Ahaz was trusting in. The thing you trust in will become the thing that destroys you.

In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.

To shave a man's beard in the Middle East is a sign of shame. God says the Assyrians will come, take the people captive, and lead them away in disgrace. A man will be left with only a young cow and two sheep; the leftovers of the land will be all anyone eats. The fertile valleys and the costly vineyards—worth "a thousand silverlings"—will become briars and thorns, because Judah would not trust in the Lord.

We will see this come to pass as we continue through Isaiah. He will watch the Assyrians destroy the northern ten tribes and nearly consume the south—save Jerusalem, which God preserved for the sake of David's line. But the word stands as a blaring reminder: "If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established."

The Application for Us

Ahaz sadly would not trust the Lord. He would not place his confidence in God but in his own wealth, even robbing the house of the Lord to pay off Tiglath-pileser—who would come and destroy him anyway. Winston Churchill said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. May we learn even the spiritual lesson here.

God has given us His word. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus, in fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14, came 2,000 years ago and gave us the gospel, the word of reconciliation. He proclaimed the acceptable year of the Lord, came to open blind eyes, and to set the captive free. If you trust in Him, you will be established. If you will not, you will not be established, and you will not have the salvation He brings.

You may, like Ahaz, live secure in this life within the walls of your own city, because God is good. You may even experience abundance and riches in this life. But you will not be established in the age to come if you do not put your trust and confidence in Him. May we be bold to share this truth with everyone we meet—and may we be steadfastly warned by it ourselves.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank You for Your caution, for Your warning here in the word: that if we will not trust in You, we will not be established. Lord, give us the steadfastness of faith to stand upon Your sure word of prophecy. And Lord, if in this room tonight, or listening over the internet or on TV, there is someone who has not been trusting in You—someone putting their faith and confidence in their treasures, their bank account, their wisdom, their strength, or whatever it may be—God, would You speak to that heart? Remind them that You alone are trustworthy. Thank You for this reminder in Your word, and for the prophetic utterance we have. Teach us, Lord, by Your Spirit as we read through these things. Help us not to quickly turn the page past a seemingly inconsequential verse, but to dig deep, to study, to show ourselves approved unto You. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.