Isaiah 7

1 During the days of Achaz the son of Yotam, the son of 'Uziyahu, king of Y'hudah, Retzin the king of Aram and Pekach the son of Remalyah, king of Isra'el, advanced on Yerushalayim to attack it but were unable to conquer it.

2 It was told to the house of David that Aram and Efrayim had become allies. Achaz's heart began to tremble, as did the hearts of his people, like forest trees shaken by the wind.

3 Then ADONAI said to Yesha'yahu, "Go out now to meet Achaz, you and your son Sh'ar Yashuv, at the end of the aqueduct from the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderers' Field;

4 and say to him, 'Take care to stay calm and unafraid; don't be demoralized by these two smoldering stumps of firewood, by the blazing anger of Retzin and Aram or the son of Remalyah;

5 or because Aram, Efrayim and the son of Remalyah have been plotting against you, thinking,

6 "We will invade Y'hudah, tear it apart, divide it among ourselves and appoint the son of Tav'el as king there."

7 "'This is what Adonai ELOHIM says: "It won't occur, it won't happen.

8 For the head of Aram is Dammesek, and the head of Dammesek Retzin. In sixty-five years Efrayim will be broken and will cease to be a people.

9 The head of Efrayim is Shomron, and the head of Shomron is the son of Remalyah. Without firm faith, you will not be firmly established."'"

10 ADONAI spoke again to Achaz; he said,

11 "Ask ADONAI your God to give you a sign. Ask it anywhere, from the depths of Sh'ol to the heights above."

12 But Achaz answered, "I won't ask, I won't test ADONAI."

13 Then [the prophet] said, "Listen here, house of David! Is trying people's patience such a small thing for you that you must try the patience of my God as well?

14 Therefore Adonai himself will give you people a sign: the young woman will become pregnant, bear a son and name him 'Immanu El [God is with us].

15 By the time he knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, he will [have to] eat curdled milk and [wild] honey.

16 Yes, before the child knows enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be left abandoned.

17 ADONAI will bring the king of Ashur on you, your people and your father's house. These will be days worse than any you've known since Efrayim broke loose from Y'hudah." Or: "the virgin." See Introduction, Section XIV, footnote 69.

18 Yes, when that day comes, ADONAI will whistle for the fly in the farthest streams of the Nile in Egypt and for the bee in the land of Ashur.

19 They will come and settle, all of them, in steep vadis and holes in the rocks and on all thorn bushes and brambles.

20 When that day comes, Adonai will shave - with a razor hired beyond the [Euphrates] River, that is, with the king of Ashur - the head and the hair between the legs, and get rid of the beard as well.

21 When that day comes, a man will raise a young cow and two sheep.

22 Will they produce in abundance? No, he will [have to] eat curdled milk. Indeed, everyone left in the land will eat curdled milk and [wild] honey.

23 When that day comes, wherever there once were a thousand grapevines, worth a thousand pieces of silver, there will be only briars and thorns.

24 One will go there [to hunt] with bow and arrow, because all the land will be briars and thorns.

25 You won't visit hills once worked with a hoe, for fear of the briars and thorns; it will be good only for pasturing cattle and being trampled down by sheep.

Isaiah 7 Commentary

Chapter 7

Ahaz threatened by Israel and Syria; and is assured their attack would be in vain. (1-9) God gives a sure sign by the promise of the long-expected Messiah. (10-16) The folly and sin of seeking relief from Assyria are reproved. (17-25)

Verses 1-9 Ungodly men are often punished by others as bad as themselves. Being in great distress and confusion, the Jews gave up all for lost. They had made God their enemy, and knew not how to make him their friend. The prophet must teach them to despise their enemies, in faith and dependence on God. Ahaz, in fear, called them two powerful princes. No, says the prophet, they are but tails of smoking firebrands, burnt out already. The two kingdoms of Syria and Israel were nearly expiring. While God has work for the firebrands of the earth, they consume all before them; but when their work is fulfilled, they will be extinguished in smoke. That which Ahaz thought most formidable, is made the ground of their defeat; because they have taken evil counsel against thee; which is an offence to God. God scorns the scorners, and gives his word that the attempt should not succeed. Man purposes, but God disposes. It was folly for those to be trying to ruin their neighbours, who were themselves near to ruin. Isaiah must urge the Jews to rely on the assurances given them. Faith is absolutely necessary to quiet and compose the mind in trials.

Verses 10-16 Secret disaffection to God is often disguised with the colour of respect to him; and those who are resolved that they will not trust God, yet pretend they will not tempt him. The prophet reproved Ahaz and his court, for the little value they had for Divine revelation. Nothing is more grievous to God than distrust, but the unbelief of man shall not make the promise of God of no effect; the Lord himself shall give a sign. How great soever your distress and danger, of you the Messiah is to be born, and you cannot be destroyed while that blessing is in you. It shall be brought to pass in a glorious manner; and the strongest consolations in time of trouble are derived from Christ, our relation to him, our interest in him, our expectations of him and from him. He would grow up like other children, by the use of the diet of those countries; but he would, unlike other children, uniformly refuse the evil and choose the good. And although his birth would be by the power of the Holy Ghost, yet he should not be fed with angels' food. Then follows a sign of the speedy destruction of the princes, now a terror to Judah. "Before this child," so it may be read; "this child which I have now in my arms," (Shear-jashub, the prophet's own son, ver. ( Isaiah 7:3 ) ,) shall be three or four years older, these enemies' forces shall be forsaken of both their kings. The prophecy is so solemn, the sign is so marked, as given by God himself after Ahaz rejected the offer, that it must have raised hopes far beyond what the present occasion suggested. And, if the prospect of the coming of the Divine Saviour was a never-failing support to the hopes of ancient believers, what cause have we to be thankful that the Word was made flesh! May we trust in and love Him, and copy his example.

Verses 17-25 Let those who will not believe the promises of God, expect to hear the alarms of his threatenings; for who can resist or escape his judgments? The Lord shall sweep all away; and whomsoever he employs in any service for him, he will pay. All speaks a sad change of the face of that pleasant land. But what melancholy change is there, which sin will not make with a people? Agriculture would cease. Sorrows of every kind will come upon all who neglect the great salvation. If we remain unfruitful under the means of grace, the Lord will say, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth for ever.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 7

This chapter contains a prophecy of the preservation of the kingdom of Judah, from its enemies; a confirmation of it by a sign; and a prediction of various calamities that should come upon it, antecedent to the accomplishment of that sign. The enemies of Judea are named, and the besieging of Jerusalem by them, and the date of it, which was without effect, are mentioned, Isa 7:1 the fear and dread which seized the house of David upon the news of this confederacy, Isa 7:2 the orders given by the Lord to the Prophet Isaiah, to take with him his son, and meet Ahaz, at a certain place pointed at, Isa 7:3 whose errand was to comfort him, and exhort him to be quiet and easy; since the conspiracy formed against him should be fruitless, and the kingdom of Israel should be broken to pieces, Isa 7:4-9 after which the king is put upon asking a sign of the Lord, for the confirmation of it; which he refusing to do, under a pretence of tempting the Lord, is reproved; and a sign nevertheless is given; which is that of the birth of the Messiah of a virgin, who would be truly God, as his name Immanuel shows, and truly man, as his birth, his food, and gradual knowledge of good and evil, prove, Isa 7:10-15 yea, it is suggested that the deliverance of Judea from the two kings of Syria and Israel should be very speedy; even before the young child Isaiah had with him was capable of knowing to refuse evil, and chose good, Isa 7:16 but as a chastisement of the house of David for their incredulity in this matter, and slight of the divine goodness, various things are threatened to befall them, before the birth of the Messiah; even such as had not been since the revolt of the ten tribes; as that their enemies, the Assyrians and others, should come upon them in great numbers, and fill all places, so that they would be in the utmost distress, and not be able to escape, Isa 7:17-19 there would be a great consumption of men of all sorts, high and low, signified by shaving off the hair of the head, beard, and feet; so that the few that remained would enjoy plenty, Isa 7:20-22 and for want of men to till the land, it would be covered with thorns and briers; and because of wild beasts, the few men in it would be obliged to defend themselves with bows and arrows, Isa 7:23,24 and yet, after this, the land should become fruitful again, before the Messiah's coming, Isa 7:25, as some interpret it.