Isaiah

Notes on Isaiah 7

• 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 the 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.
• 2 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.

The tribe of Ephraim was taking sides against Judah and joined with Syria against them. This troubled the heart of Ahaz and this causes Isaiah to come to comfort them. God sends Isaiah to Ahaz to encourage him not to fear those kings but to take heed to the real enemy, Assyria.

• Isaiah 7:3 Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field;
• 4 And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

No matter how big and powerful these two enemies considered themselves, they are nothing compared to the power of God. They are compared to smoking firebrands. They were harmless and gave only an appearance of being dangerous. All smoke and no fire.

• Isaiah 7:5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,
• 6 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:

Syria and Ephraim was going to take over the country of Judah and even appoint a king to rule it. They determined to vex the land of Judah and take over.

• Isaiah 7:7 Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.

The Word of the Lord prevails against all. God said that it would not come to pass and it did not. All their plans to take over Judah was not allowed to come to pass.

Imagine how low Ephraim had gotten that they made a confederacy with Syria against their own brethren in the south, the people of Judah. This would have never been heard of in the days of Moses and Joshua.

• Isaiah 7:8 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.
• 9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.

Here is prophecy of the downfall of Syria and Ephraim. They did not succeed in putting a king of Syria on the throne of Judah. Later we will read where Assyria comes to defeat both Syria and Ephraim. Unfortunately they also turn against Judah too. This is a good lesson to be careful who we make alliances with.

• Isaiah 7:10 Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
• 11 Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
• 12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.

God is offers to send a sign.

• Isaiah 7:13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
• 14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

This is a prophecy of the coming Christ child. The fulfillment is mentioned in Matthew chapter one. In Isaiah chapter 8 we see that Isaiah had a son by his wife so this prophecy had a partial fulfillment in the son of Isaiah but she wouldn't have been a virgin.

It wouldn't have been unusual for Isaiah to have a son as a sign from the Lord. Women had children all the time so it wouldn't have been a sign from God if this meant a young woman shall have a son but it would be unusual for a virgin to have a son. This is why only the wise that seek after God and seek after the wisdom of God are the only ones that can come close to understanding bible prophecy. It is a spiritual book inspired by men as they were moved on by the Holy Spirit so naturally only those that seek after God and have His Holy Spirit are going to be the ones that understand it.

The book of James says, "If any one seek wisdom let him ask of God." He must ask in faith of course believing that God means what He says. Those that seek for the cause of righteousness are the ones that will receive and understand. The name of Immanuel means "God with Us". We know Isaiah's son or anyone born in that day was not God but Jesus Christ was. When Jesus was born, God became a man. God was with us. When we receive Jesus into our lives, we become born again by God's spirit. God again is with us in the new birth. When Jesus came God made a way for anyone who believes to have God with them. Beautiful.

Many times prophecy in the bible forms a pattern. It has sometimes multiple fulfillment usually an immediate fulfillment, perhaps a fulfillment a couple of generations later and then it will have a latter day fulfillment. Many times we are confused when we try to pin down a prophecy to one way of thinking. We argue about pre-trib, post-trib for instance.

We argue about whether the book of Revelations is future or fulfilled in 70 AD. If prophecy is a pattern, the answer could be both. It is yet future we know because Jesus has not yet come and set up His Kingdom. We saw it partially fulfilled in 70 AD.

About the resurrection and the rapture, Jesus actually started the beginning of the first resurrection when He rose from the dead. There is more than one resurrection to come in the future. We know for sure that there is a 1st and 2nd resurrection at least a 1000 years apart. Why should we limit God though to that? Many appeared out of their graves after Jesus' resurrection so where did they go, did they die again or go to heaven with Jesus? So we can't just limit our thinking to one time and place.

There is yet a future fulfillment of many prophecies except the one where the Messiah is to come and make an offering for sin and the one where a virgin shall bear a son. That was done one time and for always. He has already come as a babe born of a virgin and He already came to make an offering for sin.

He will come again to set up His kingdom. If He comes first to catch away His faithful followers in what we call the rapture of the church, how would that be hard or impossible? There are scriptures that hint of a way of escape to those who look for Him and love His appearing. Jesus even tells His disciples to pray that they might escape all these things and stand before the Son of Man. There would be two ways to escape, by way of rapture or they die before the great tribulation starts. Of course that is a controversial subject and God never promises anyone that they will escape persecution or tribulation for their faith in Christ but faithful believers will never suffer the wrath of God. That we will escape for sure.

For the most part, we remain faithful and just be ready no matter which way it comes about. In the days of Noah, God used an ark to save the faithful...so we just trust God and stay faithful to Him by believing His word and living what we believe.

We do know that for believers in Jesus our Messiah or Christ, God also has not appointed them to wrath so believers will never suffer the judgment and wrath of God, yet never once has God promised that they would escape the wrath of man. So whether we are taken to be with Christ before the seven year tribulation, in the middle of the tribulation, just before the wrath of God is poured out or at the end of the tribulation is not as important as being ready should He come when we are not looking for Him. We are not to be caught sleeping and begin to beat our fellow servants like they did in the middle ages when the false so called church of that day had religion/state power. That should never have taken place.

• Isaiah 7:15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
• 16 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.

This child shall know right from wrong but, he would not be old enough to choose good from evil until the two kings of Syria and Ephraim would be destroyed. Their evil plot against Judah did not prevail according to the word of God. This part of that prophecy may be speaking of the child mentioned in chapter 8 that was born to Isaiah but we know that Isaiah's son would not have been from a virgin birth. Yet, it was a prophecy that had a greater fulfillment at the birth of Christ. Still again the wise shall understand as the book of Daniel tells us.

• Isaiah 7:17 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.
• 18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
• 19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.
• 20 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.
• 21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
• 22 And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.
• 23 And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.
• 24 With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
• 25 And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.

Ahaz trusted in Assyria to help him and Assyria ended up being a worse enemy than Syria and Ephraim. They later conquered all the 10 tribes of Israel and all the country except Judah. It reminds me of WW 2 when the Soviet Union was considered allied with the United States and England. After the war they took control over much of the land they were fighting to free from Nazi control. A friend and deliverer became an enemy until the fall of the Soviet Union.

Assyria was considered a friend and ally once but became a deadly enemy. That is why our only real trust is in the Lord.

Destruction came so badly that only a remnant remains. Animals dwelled where men once dwelt. The places become desolate and empty. Invading armies of Assyria and Egypt destroy both the kings of Syria and Ephraim bringing Isaiah's prophecy to pass. Judah also was invaded and it brought wide destruction to the land with only a remnant remaining. Before 1948, this is how the land of Israel was. It was a wasteland. It has changed since the Jews returned to their land. It is now prosperous.

As we continue to study the book of Isaiah we need to keep in mind why God allowed one nation to conquer another. God sends His prophets over and over again to warn Israel of their sin and rebellion against God. When they take heed to the Word sent by the Lord and repent, God allows them to be delivered from their enemies. In most cases, however they went on with their own ways and and committed idolatry refusing to receive correction. He then allows other nations to destroy and consume their land. He always allows a remnant to remain that the word of God and His plan of salvation can come to pass. He also remembers the remnant who continue to believe in Him in spite of popular opinion.

Notice also that the nations God uses to punish Israel also suffer judgment. They were not to boast and think that is was by their own power that Judah and Israel suffered loss.

Isaiah 8

Isaiah Index