Isaiah 7

The sign, then, was this: a virgin would give birth to a son, and the son would be named Immanuel; when that happened, Ahaz would know that disaster was not far away.

As with much Old Testament prophecy, this sign must be understood on two levels. First, the sign relates directly to the situation in Isaiah’s time. When Isaiah spoke these words, there was a “virgin”—that is, an unmarried woman⁵⁰—who would at some time in the near future give birth to a son; she would name him Immanuel, which means “God with us.” The name Immanuel was meant to convince Ahaz that God would be with him as long as he trusted in God and not in Assyria.

But this son Immanuel who was to be born was not merely an individual who lived in Isaiah’s day; he was also a foreshadowing, a type, of One who was yet to come, One who would be conceived by an actual virgin (Matthew 1:20), One who would truly fulfill the meaning of His name—“God with us.” And we know this because the Holy Spirit inspired the New Testament writer Matthew to tell us so (see Matthew 1:22–23). Isaiah himself may not have known he was prophesying about a Messiah whose birth was still seven hundred years away. But the Holy Spirit knew, the same Spirit who inspired both Isaiah and Matthew to write as they did. It is noteworthy that Isaiah gave this sign not just to Ahaz but to the house of David (verse 13), the very house from which that future Son would come. That Son would save His people from their sins, not from physical enemies like Rezin and Pekah (Matthew 1:21).

15–17 The son must have been born soon after Isaiah gave his sign, because within a few years Rezin and Pekah and their kingdoms were laid waste, in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy (verse 16). And not many years after that, the king of Assyria began to attack Judah itself (verse 17). Then things were as bad for Judah as they were when Ephraim (Israel, the northern kingdom) broke away from Judah after the death of Solomon two centuries earlier⁵¹ (see 1 Kings 12:1–24).

18–20 Here Isaiah concludes with a final picture of God’s coming judgment on Judah. In that day, the day when Assyria attacks, the invaders will cover Judah like flies⁵² and bees (verse 18); they will occupy every part of the countryside. The razor hired from beyond the (Euphrates) River is the king of Assyria himself; he will forcibly shave the hair and beards of the men of Judah—an insulting and humiliating act. Ahaz imagined that it was he who had “hired” this “razor,” but soon the razor was going to be used against him!

21–25 When the invaders attack, the surviving people of Judah will lose their farmland but they will have enough curds and honey to keep them alive (verse 22); in this way, God will preserve a remnant among His people. The former agricultural economy will be replaced by a simpler economy based on livestock, symbolized by cattle and sheep (verse 25). The destruction of farmlands and vineyards will fulfill one of Isaiah’s earlier prophecies (Isaiah 5:5–6).