Remember where we are in history as we study this weeks lesson. Ahaz is king of Judah but remember that the kingdom is split. Israel has broken away as a separate kingdom. In fact, they are threatening to form an alliance with Syria and attack Judah. Ahaz is not confident and the people are afraid. These verses will cover approximately 734 to 732 BC. The alliance of Israel and Syria was trying to manipulate Judah into joining them against Assyria (2 Kings 16:5-18; 2 Chronicles 28:16-21). God was willing to protect Judah but Ahaz was not someone who would seek God with all his heart. He had lots of pride but his lack of calm was creating panic.
In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.
And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” thus says the Lord God:
“ ‘It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass.
For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
(Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces so that it will no longer be a people.)
“ ‘And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.’ ”
Isaiah 7:1-9
The word from God here should have been an encouragement to Ahaz. God was still protecting Jerusalem. God refers to Ahaz as the “house of David” and points to the covenant God made with David. The son of Tabeel is not going to replace the son David … not as long as God is God. God is always showing His faithfulness and ability to keep His people. He told Isaiah to take his son Shear-jashub. His name means “a remnant will return” so Ahaz had God's word standing there in the flesh as well as coming from Isaiah. The name is both a promise of the remnant but also a grim reminder that there would only be a remnant.
Ahaz was at a place of fear. This upper pool was a preparation for siege. So God's word comes to Ahaz while he is worried and not in a place that would inspire others. The word to Ahaz “Be careful, be quiet” may be better translated “Be careful to do nothing”. Ahaz was considering a partnership with Assyria rather than trusting God or even seeking God's direction and word.
God even gives the time frame for these things and the time frame places the fulfillment after the death of Ahaz. However, the bottom line is as it says, “if you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all”. This is a play on words in Hebrew but the meaning is that if you only have an intellectual knowledge of God then you'll be unable to stand firm on His promises because you will not have a living faith. This is both an individual decision and a national decision. We must move into a living faith and a life of prayer built on that faith to be a good citizen in God's eyes.
Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.”
Isaiah 7:10-17
God commanded Ahaz to ask for a sign. Ahaz refused but it was not because of his faith that he refused. Instead he refused because of his lack of faith and consequently God was angry with him and specifies the sign that will be given. The Hebrew word means a young woman of marriageable age and normally a virgin. The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament, 150 B.C.) uses a word that is more specifically “virgin”. Clearly the New Testament understands this to be the Virgin Mary (Matthew 1:23).
Immanuel means “God with us” and is another case of God encouraging a people without courage. This prophecy probably has multiple fulfillments. I think the most reasonable view (although there are others) is that Isaiah's first wife had passed away and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (Speed the Spoil, Hasten the Booty) had 2 names. That would be rare but not unheard of. Then the fulfillment waited for Christ for the eventual complete fulfillment. It would work in multiple ways since the child of Isaiah would represent God's faithfulness to the remnant as well as the coming judgment. The conception may have been natural in Isaiah's time and of course miraculous in the case of Christ. Or … maybe it only refers to Christ. We know that it applies to Christ and the rest is speculation. It does seem to be a prophecy that will, at least in part, be fulfilled rapidly.
The reference to “curds and honey” means that people will live from fallowed land. It will not be cultivated crops. You get honey from wild bees and curds or cheese from your herds. The possible understanding then is that before the child is 12 years old (the age of accountability) both Pekah and Remaliah will both be defeated with the prophecy first applying to Isaiah's son and then to Christ.
In that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.
In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.
In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat curds and honey.
In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns. With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.
Isaiah 7:18-25
God uses the analogy of flies and bees as invaders A razor is a sing of mourning and/or humiliating enemies. So the king of Assyria will be used to eliminate the enemies that are threatening Jerusalem but remember that one of those is the Northern Kingdom (Israel)
Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters, ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hashbaz.’ And I will get reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.”
And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hashbaz; for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”
The Lord spoke to me again: “Because this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”
Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered; give ear, all you far countries;
strap on your armor and be shattered; strap on your armor and be shattered.
Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; speak a word, but it will not stand,
for God is with us.
Isaiah 8:1-10
I think these Scriptures flesh out why we might think that we have a double fulfillment in both Maher-shalal-hashbaz and in Jesus. So we might think the prophetess was a second wife of Isaiah. And the child was a blessed clock protected by God that would foretell the destruction of Damascus and Samaria.
The prophecies also include the judgment that will come on Judah (the southern kingdom). The lack of satisfaction with the water source provided by God is a sign of their trust in men rather than God. Remember that Ahaz received his first prophecy while near a water source designed for a siege. Ahaz wanted to trust in an alliance with Assyria rather than trust in God. He trusted in politics and a strong military rather than in God.
We will often be challenged to trust God in our lives and we must always seek to trust in God alone even when He leads us to be prudent with the blessings he gives us.
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