Isaiah
Chapter 7
God's Sign, a child named Immanuel
We must set the scene for this event. Uzziah died the year that Isaiah was called to the ministry, as seen in chapter six. Uzziah's son Jotham reigned, after his father's death, for sixteen years. Then his son, Ahaz, ascended the throne and showed himself to be one of the most wicked kings that Judah had known. Idolatry had been practiced by the people through the reigns of Uzziah and Jotham though neither of those kings supported or encouraged it. The scriptures also make the point that they did little to suppress it. The scriptures themselves aptly describe the wickedness of Ahaz.
II Ki 15:38-16:438 And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.
CHAPTER 16
1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.
2 Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father.
3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.
4 And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. (KJV)
He not only worshiped Baal, as the Canaanites had done, he even sacrificed one of his own sons to that false god. He made a public display of his false worship, making his way to every place where Baal was worshiped to take part in the abominations that went on there. It is well documented that the worship of Baal was not only done with human sacrifices but with every form of immoral behavior condemned by the God of heaven. He had apparently not been on the throne long when bad news was brought to him which disturbed him greatly.
Isa 7:22 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. (KJV)
Syria, a powerful kingdom to the north and Israel (here called Ephraim because it was the leading tribe) had formed a confederacy to invade Judah. Their intent is described here in Isa.7.
Isa 7:5-65 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: (KJV)
Their plan was to take Judah, set up a vassal king (the son of Tabeal) and rob it of its wealth, dividing the spoil between them.
It is into this scene that Isaiah is sent by God to speak to Ahaz as the representative of the house of David (from whom he was descended). Isaiah was instructed to take his young son, Shear-jashub, and go to Ahaz, telling him that God was not going to allow the conspiracy to succeed, vs. 7-9. He was also warned concerning his own unbelief.
Ahaz was offered the opportunity to pick any sign he wanted from God to assure him that Isaiah's words were true, but he refused, pretending to have too much respect for God to ask such a thing. In all reality, he did not want to be beholden to God in any way and simply used a pretended respect for Him as his excuse.
It is here that the Lord spoke through Isaiah and gave Ahaz a sign anyway, the sign of the Son of God (Immanuel) being born to a virgin, Who would refuse evil and choose good from the very beginning of His life on earth. We will deal later with why this was the sign given to him.
Verse 16 becomes a problem because of the way that it is phrased. It is not totally clear whether Isaiah continues to speak of Immanuel or changes his attention to his own young son. Matthew Henry is of the opinion that the attention shifts to Shear-jashub. It is said that before the child is old enough to discern good from evil (3 years old in the mind of a Jew) both of the kings who were attacking him would be gone. I agree with Bro. Henry because within three years both kings were defeated and removed from power. In addition, we are never told that Jesus Himself ever was at a place where He did not know good from evil. This is an experience of human children but cannot be put upon the Lord of Heaven even as an infant.
Then Isaiah proceeded to declare in the presence of Ahaz that the Lord Himself was bringing a devastation upon the land of Judah like she had never seen. The cultivated fields were going to be destroyed by a war between Egypt and Assyria fought on Judean soil. The people were going to revert to herding sheep and cattle as they had done while wandering in the wilderness and be forced to live on milk from the cattle and wild honey, which was abundant., vs. 17-25. The vineyards were going to be turned into thorn fields and grazing places for cattle.
Also we find that, during this three years, Judah was going to suffer mightily from every side.
2 Chr 28:4-84 He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
5 Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.
6 For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers.
7 And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king's son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king.
8 And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. (KJV)
2 Chr 28:17-1917 For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives.
18 The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Beth-she'mesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there.
19 For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD. (KJV)
The response of Ahaz is typical of that we might expect from a reprobate such as himself. He had knowingly and willfully sinned against the God of Heaven and had brought upon himself and the nation God's discipline and judgment. Rather than wait for the gracious promise of God (seeing he himself was an idolator and unbelieving) and rather than heeding the warnings contained in the tragedies which befell them, the king did an amazing and foolish thing.
II Ki 16:8-98 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.
9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin. (KJV)
He robbed the temple of its treasure and gave it to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria (Babylon), so that he would attack Syria for him. This is an affront to God on both counts, first that he refused to trust the word of the Lord through Isaiah and, secondly, that he profaned the temple of God, taking that which did not belong to the king but had been given to God by the people.
But his wickedness did not stop there.
II Ki 16:10-1610 And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.
11 And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus.
12 And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.
13 And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar.
14 And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the north side of the altar.
15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to inquire by.
16 Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded. (KJV)
He polluted the house of God by bringing a pagan altar into it and re-arranging the furnishings which had been ordered by God and given to Moses. But Ahaz was not done.
2 Chr 28:24-2524 And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem.
25 And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers. (KJV)
It is interesting to note that the Lord is never called Ahaz' God. Ahaz calls him 'the Lord' and the historian calls Him 'the Lord God of his fathers.' Ahaz' rejection of God was profound and complete. This leads me to the question, why is this revelation of Jesus Christ given to him? The answer, I believe, is two-fold: 1. God is gracious, 2. The revelation of Jesus to those who reject Him deepens their condemnation, and 3. There will be a judgment.
I. God is gracious.
These words ring with grace and hope to every sinner who has ever despaired of his own sins and wondered what would become of him because of them. It is a constant source of comfort and yet surprise for every believing sinner that God Himself condescended to be born of a human mother and take upon Himself the form of man, to live as a man and die at the hands of men. No one who is forgiven by His Great Work ever really gets over a sense of wonder that God would do this.
And to think that God is so merciful that He would give this little gem of prophecy to a man so profoundly wicked as Ahaz really stretches the imagination. Of course, Ahaz had no interest whatsoever in this statement concerning a virgin giving birth to 'God with us.' He never asked what it meant or even sought to understand it. He let it pass right by him without meaning.
Sometimes it seems that the wickedness of man is as deep as the grace of God is high. Think of how few men who have ever lived have actually had the Living God send a messenger by with words directly from Him!
Yet we know that unless the Word of God is accompanied by His gift of saving faith, the words yet fall on deaf ears. Remember the Rich Man who let Lazarus fight with the dogs for scraps from his table? From Hell he made a request of Abraham concerning his brothers.
Luke 16:22-3122 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. (KJV)
How desperate is the blindness of those who do not believe! Even if one rose from the dead, even if a prophet of God came and spoke to them, even if God's Own Son descended from heaven to preach good news to them, they will not, cannot believe.
Even further, they will not do what they can do. Men care about their souls. Not one of them wants to perish under the judgment of God. They can cry out to God for Him to grant them saving faith. But they refuse. Like Ahaz, they choose another way of seeking to save their souls. They choose and follow false ways rather than the way of life which the Gracious God has placed before them. They do not have the ability in themselves to be saved, but they refuse to seek after the One Who can give them all they need.
II. God's revelation of His Son to those who reject Him deepens their darkness.
When Ahaz refused to even be interested in the revelation given to him, we notice that his dark heart grew even darker. Whereas before he had worshiped false gods publicly, now he shuts down the temple. Before he sought out places of false worship but now he sets out to build new ones in every major town and village in the kingdom.
God's grace is a two-edged sword, because those who refuse it find themselves the victims of a profound blindness sent by God Himself.
II Th 2:7-127 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.
8 And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;
9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,
10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
11 And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false,
12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. (NAS)
Please allow me to say something in love to those of you who have heard the truth and have not believed. Your life has been changed by hearing the gospel whether you repent of your sins or not. You cannot simply live an ordinary life now. Rejecting the gospel, refusing to bow yourself to the Living God will bring upon you a powerful darkness from which you may never recover. This experience of being a part of the work of God, even if only as a spectator, with either save you from your sins or plunge you into them in a mighty way. Will you not at least care for your soul enough to cry out to God for whatever it is that you need to believe on Him?
III. There will be a judgment.
In connection with the revelation of the Lord Jesus and the declaration that God was going to frustrate the purposes of Israel (the northern kingdom) and Syria, there was another message for Ahaz.
Isa 7:9...If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. (KJV)
And, knowing that Ahaz would not believe, the Lord declared the judgment which should come.
Isa 7:1717 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. (KJV)
Jesus warned Nicodemus of the same thing. It was to him that Jesus said the words that so many know by memory.
John 3:1616 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (KJV)
But He also severely warned him in words that almost no one knows by heart.
John 3:18-2118 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. (KJV)
God is gracious and makes Himself known to all who desire to know Him. But He is also just. It would not be right to allow those who choose darkness rather than light to live in the light. Those who love evil more than good should not inherit good. Therefore He condemns all those who reject the Light that has come into the world, those who look upon His words as did Ahaz and then walk away.
Isa 7:1414 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (KJV)
Oh, my friend, if you are without Christ, do not let this Christmas pass you by in unbelief. Cry out to God for the faith and repentance whereby you may be saved. Trust in Immanuel and escape the judgment and condemnation of God.