Compiled by WD Kemner January 2024
CHAPTER 7
Prophetic signs: Destruction of Judah and Birth of Jesus
Chapters 7-10 will now deal with an ongoing current event at the time that Isaiah is writing. The Jews are a divided nation: Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah. They are about to enter military conflict with one another (brother vs brother) making use of the Assyrian nation as allies.
Interwoven in these chapters are prophetic announcements of the birth of Jesus that tells the Jews everything they needed to know to prepare for His arrival.
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Isaiah Chapter 7 verse 1 |
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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.
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Rezin king of Syria and Pekah king of Israel united to attack Judah ruled by king Ahaz who is now its king.
Israel attempts to invade Judah! With the help of their Syrian neighbor.
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Isaiah Chapter 7 verse 2-7 |
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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.
Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field; 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. 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:
Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.
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Isaiah is sent by God to tell King Ahaz of Judah that this alliance between Syria and Israel (Ephraim) will not succeed in their plans.
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Isaiah Chapter 7 verse 8-9 |
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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.
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.
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However, Ahaz is told that if he (Ahaz) chooses not to believe, then his reign shall cease to exist.
In the midst of this, is a prophecy of the coming end to the nation of Israel.
“…threescore and five years…” (65 years) from that point it would no longer exist
The Promised Messiah
This next passage contains an often quoted Christmas program verse. It is never discussed in the context of WHY was the promise made at the point of time it was.
Ahaz is given an opportunity to ask God for a “sign”. It seems to be much like Gideon who laid out a fleece. In Gideon’s case that was designed all by Gideon. In this case, God is giving Ahaz the opportunity to ask for one.
Ahaz does not believe and gives a bad excuse not to. He ends up getting a HUGE sign anyway!
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Isaiah Chapter 7 verse 10-13 |
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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. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. 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?
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God is going to give Him the greatest sign any man could have been given.
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Isaiah Chapter 7 verse 14-16 |
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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.
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Immanuel will be born of a virgin.
Verse 16 is yet another time predictor for the birth of the Messiah.
Neither Israel nor Judah will have a “king” when this birth occurs.
When Jesus was born in Bethleham, Herod was king.
Herod was not of Jewish kingly blood, but instead “appointed” by Rome.
This prophecy was fulfilled.
The Destruction of Judah Foretold
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Isaiah Chapter 7 verse 17 |
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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.
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King Ahaz is told what will happen. He looks to other nations instead of God for support. He will go to the king of Assyria for help. Even to closing and dismantling the temple to give to the Assyrian. He will build altars to the Assyrian god. This is all written in 2 Chronicles 28 and 2 Kings 16.
This will be worse than anything they had seen since the nation of Israel was divided into two. About 1009 B.C. (1 Kings 12)
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Isaiah Chapter 7 verse 18-19 |
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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.
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.
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Honey Bees make a hissing sound as a “signal” of some type. Bee Keepers have been known to make that sound to draw the bees out of the hives. The bees and flies here tell of the incredible number of foreign individuals that would soon be taking conquest of the land.
The land would turn to desolation.
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Isaiah Chapter 7 verse 20 |
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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.
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The land shall be left picked clean. So much so, that he is comparing it to how clean a man’s beard is after a fresh shave from a barber’s razor.
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Isaiah Chapter 7 verse 21-25 |
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And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep; 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.
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. With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
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.
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There shall be plenty of food for the beasts because there will be no one left to need it.