Isaiah 7, The Sign of Immanuel

In the previous chapter we heard a series of "woes" for the people of Israel, in the year of the death of Uzziah. Hear we have an event that occurs during the reign of Ahaz.

Isaiah 7:1-2, Aram and Ephraim are coming!

When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it. Now the house of David was told, “Aram has allied itself with Ephraim”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.

The nations of Damascus (Aram) and Israel (Ephraim) have joined forces to attack Judah and Jerusalem. Both kingdoms are to the north of Judah. This alliance is frightening to Ahaz and his leaders.

Isaiah 7:3-6, Plots of Aram and Ephraim

Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field. Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood—because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah. Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have plotted your ruin, saying, “Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.” 

Isaiah is instructed to take his son and go out and meet the king "at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool...."  It is likely that the king is examining water sources for the city, in preparation for a siege. Isaiah's message to the king is that he should not be concerned about the alliance against him. The two enemy kings are mere "smoldering stubs", smoke without real substance.

The conflict of Judah with Damascus and Israel is described in greater detail in 2 Kings 16.

The name Shear-Jashub means "A remnant will return" (Motyer.) The name Tabeel is Aramean and (says Grogan) probably reflects the choice of the king of Damascus. The name is possibly misspelled by Isaiah so that it is close to a Hebrew phrase meaning "Good for nothing." Thus, suggests Grogan, Isaiah is deliberately insulting the Aramean king.

Isaiah 7:7-9, Message to Ahaz

Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘It will not take place,

    it will not happen,

for the head of Aram is Damascus,

    and the head of Damascus is only Rezin.

Within sixty-five years

    Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.

The head of Ephraim is Samaria,

    and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.

If you do not stand firm in your faith,

    you will not stand at all.’”

The prophecy from Isaiah is that Ephraim (the northern kingdom, Israel) will be shattered within 65 years and that Ahaz is to simply stand fast against Israel and he will then be successful.

Isaiah 7:10-12, A sign is offered

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”

But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.”

To prove that the prophecy is true, God offers Ahaz a sign. In a bizarre response, Ahaz refuses God's offer claiming that this is putting God to the test (and so God wouldn't want this!)

Isaiah 7:13-17, Message again to Ahaz

Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.”

Isaiah appears to respond with anger and goes ahead and give the sign anyway. Ahaz's stubborness will not prevent Isaiah from communicating his message. The sign will be that a young woman will have a son Immanuel and that the enemy kings will be destroyed before that boy is old enough to distinguish right from wrong. Yet disaster will approach Judah, not from Damascus or the northern kingdom, but from far off Assyria.

The Hebrew word translated "virgin" by the NIV is almah. That word is usually translated "maiden" or "young woman." It is likely that the young woman in question (possibly an unmarried virgin at the time of the prophecy) is a member of the king's court or family, a woman who will shortly marry, become pregnant and name her son Immanuel, unaware of Isaiah's prophecy. (It is also possible, looking ahead to another birth in chapter 8, that the young woman is Isaiah's wife.) 

The name Immanuel is reassuring, as it means "God is with us." Like many prophecies, one might suspect a dual purpose, that the prophecy addressed to the house of David foreshadows a later event for that house. The Greek Septuagint translated this passage using the word parthenos, which does apparently mean "virgin." In the New Testament, writing in Greek, Matthew quotes this passage in Matthew 1:22-23, describing Mary when she was pregnant with Jesus.

Isaiah 7:18-25, Devastation

In that day the Lord will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria. They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices in the rocks, on all the thornbushes and at all the water holes. 

In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria—to shave your head and private parts, and to cut off your beard also. 

In that day, a person will keep alive a young cow and two goats. And because of the abundance of the milk they give, there will be curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds and honey. 

In that day, in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be only briers and thorns. Hunters will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns. As for all the hills once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns; they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run.

Isaiah's prophecy continues with statements about "in that day." Invaders will apparently come from both Egypt and Assyria. A land once rich in vineyards will be mere briers and thorns. Still, there is some hope -- it appears that those who remain in the land will be protected.

History records that shortly after this the king of Assyria brought devastation to the northern kingdom and besieged the southern kingdom. Eventually (more than a century later) the Assyrians and Babylonians overwhelmed Jerusalem. The history of Judah and Israel during that time appears in 2 Kings 17-25 and 2 Chronicles 28-36.

Some random thoughts

Isaiah insults the enemies of Judah as mere "smoldering stubs" who plan to appoint "Good for nothing" as king of Judah, overthrowing the line of David. Meanwhile, a young mother of Immanuel will stand for an eventual Messiah in that Davidic line.