Isaiah Chapter 7 DISASTROUS MISCALCULATIONS

King Tiglath-Peliser III King of Assyria ( 745 BC ) Only the second empire to cover the known world, the first being Egypt. Conquered Aram (Syria) in 732 BC

King Shalmanassar V Meets the current Babylonian King and uses the ancient gesture of hand-shaking to show he is unarmed and is coming in peace!

King Sargon II – ( 722 – 705 BC ) “I will finish what was started by others” Conquered all lands by 722 BC

Sennacherib – ( BC ) Invaded Judah 701, Hezekiah prays, Angel of the Lord slays 185,000 in one night! Killed by sons while worshiping his idol god asking as to why he was soundly defeated by Hezekiah.

Pekah - King of Israel (780 – 732 BC Called “son of Remaliah” after the murder of his father the king. Allied himself with Rezin, King of Syria to invade Judah and depose King Ahaz by force.

King Pekah was known for his elaborate styles of court dress. Here a model displays one of his cosmetic make-overs, the design discovered in palace ruins.

Kings of Syria and Israel (10 northern tribes) tried to get Ahaz to join them against Assyria. He refused because he knew Assyria. They attacked, but were held off hoping to replace Ahaz with weak puppet king, ben Tabe’el, son of Tabe’al. His name is not recorded.

The Bible recorded puppet king as “son of Tabe’el” to denote he was a murderer like Pekah, son of Remaliah. They both killed their fathers. Tabe’el = “the good God” Tabe’al = “The good for nothing!”

Artist’s rendering of Isaiah receiving a burning coal from angel to cleanse his lips prior to speaking with the LORD and receiving his commission as a prophet to his people.

King Ahaz – ( BC ) Idol worshipper of Molech & Baal Burned his children as sacrifice trusting in alliance with Assyria to fight Ephraim (10 northern tribes of Israel) and Aram (Syria). Refused God’s offer of a sign to guarantee deliverance of nation.

The father of Ahaz, King Uzziah, fortified the city walls. Enemies were blocked and had to resort to a siege. Ahaz was inspecting Jerusalem’s water and grain stores. They were good for 2 years.

This type of torture was typical for prisoners. Assyrian national color was blood red! Lips and nose would be pierced and chained, then eyes speared to blind captives before killing. Kings often kept alive to taunt.

Isaiah 7:3 – “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son, Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field.”

Principle of First Occurrence: The significance of the first use of a word. Example: The first question - Gen. 3:9 “Adam, where are you?”

In Isaiah 7:3 the words “upper” and “pool” are significant. The first occurrence of “upper” (elyon) is in Genesis 14:18 – “And Melchizedek, King of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.”

The word “pool” (berekah) is also the word for “blessing.” The fuller’s field (laundry) was where clothing was washed and bleached pure; no stains/dirt. Isaiah approached God through “clean clothes” to receive a “most high blessing!”

What is the meaning of Isaiah’s son’s name and why did God tell him to bring him along to a war zone? Sheal-jashub: “she’al” = the remnant “jashub” = shall return

Isaiah prophesied to Ahaz about a child to be born. We should understand the immediate fulfillment was Isaiah’s second child. The principle of double fulfillment holds for an immediate type and an actual long term future fulfillment.

Isaiah’s second child has the longest name in the Bible: “Maher-shalal-hash-baz” “swift booty/speedy prey” Or paraphrased, “Come quick, grab the loot.” Assyria’s future invasion!

Isaiah 7:4-9 – “Because Syria…” The last sentence: “If you will not believe, you surely shall not be established.” is a play on the Hebrew words “Im lo taaminu, ki lo teamenu.”

My loose paraphrase of the Hebrew is:. “If Judah doesn’t hold fast to God, Judah will lose its fast hold on the land” Or, “If you will not be sure, you cannot be secure.” Or, as a negative: “If you are unsure, you will be insecure.”

Isaiah 8:18 – “Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.”

Isaiah basically told King Ahaz that in 65 years from that point in time, the kings of Samaria (Ephraim – the 10 northern tribes) and Aram (Syria) will not exist! Those nations will be like burnt up tails! If you don’t believe, your line (descendants) will not be established!

In 65 years? That’s like offering a person with a migraine a pill and telling them “you’ll feel much better in a year!”

Isaiah 7:10-11 “Then the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying, ‘Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” A God sized miracle! King Ahaz, “I will not ask, nor will I test Jehovah.”

Ahaz was not becoming righteous here. He rejected a direct offer from God and trusted in his earth power gods. If proof was to be God sized, it would not happen by human power or coincidence.

Isaiah 7:14 – “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a ( THE ) virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

Jeremiah 31:22 – “How long will you go here and there, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth—A woman will encompass a man.”

Commentary on Isaiah 7:14 by Medieval Rabbi Rashi Mikraoth Gedoloth: “Behold the almah shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. This means that our Creator shall be with us.

“And this is the sign: the one who will conceive is a girl (naarah), who never in her life had intercourse with any man. Upon this one shall the Holy Spirit have power.”

It is true that the word used, “almah” for “virgin,” also means a young girl. Some translators use “young woman” because of a bias against Jesus’ deity using today’s moral tolerance.

However, whenever the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek took place, the translator used the Greek word “parthenos” used exclusively for virgins!

Definition of root word “ahlam” from which almah” comes is: “to be hidden or sequestered by her family in delicate modesty.” Of the six other times “almah” is used in the Bible, it always refers to a young virgin! Isaiah’s message to Ahaz was delivered 733 years before Jesus’ birth around 1 BC (see “The Christmas Story”).

Hebrews 11:32-12:13 For Isaiah, the story ends badly. Heb. 11:35b “…and others” the Greek word is “allos” meaning others of the same kind.

But in verse 36, the Greek word for “others” is “heteros” others of a different kind, will suffer! Jewish tradition tells us that Isaiah is believed to have been placed in a hollow log and sawn in half with a wooden saw!

If we are to expect God to work in the tough times, we need to have a far greater faith than that of Ahaz! Give the LORD your thanks for little things, but let’s have faith to thank Him for the “impossible ones” that are sure to come later!