Isaías 7

Isaías 7

ISAIAH Judgment & Character of God Comfort & Redemption of God Uzziah Jotham Ahaz 1-12 13-27 28-35 Hezekiah's Salvation & Blessing 36-39 True God 40-48 Suffering Messiah 49-57 Reigning Lord 58-66 Prophecies Regarding Judah & Jerusalem Is 1:1-12:6 Prophecies Against the Nations Warnings & Promises Historical Section Redemption Promised: Israel's Deliverance Redemption Provided: Israel's Deliverer Redemption Realized: Israel's Glorious Future Prophetic Historic Messianic Holiness, Righteousness & Justice of Jehovah Grace, Compassion & Glory of Jehovah God's Government "A throne" Is 6:6 God's Grace "A Lamb" Is 53:7 Time 740-680BC SEE ALSO: ESV chart - kings of Israel - more information ESV chart - kings of Judah - more information Another Chart with Variable Dates for Reigns of King Isaiah 7:1 Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it.: the days : 2Ki 16:1 2Ch 28:1-6 Rezin : Isa 8:6 2Ki 15:37 Ps 83:3-5 but could: Isa 7:4-9 8:9,10 Isaiah 7 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: 2 Kings 16:1+ In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, became king. 2 Kings 16:5-6+ Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to wage war; and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. 6 At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram, and cleared the Judeans out of Elath entirely; and the Arameans came to Elath and have lived there to this day. 2 Chronicles 28:5-8+ Wherefore, the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Aram; and they defeated him and carried away from him a great number of captives and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who inflicted him with heavy casualties. 6 For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah 120,000 in one day, 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 ruler of the house and Elkanah the second to the king. 8 The sons of Israel carried away captive of their brethren 200,000 women, sons and daughters; and they took also a great deal of spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. NATIONAL CRISIS PERSONAL UNBELIEF PROFOUND PROPHECY Now it came about Events do not just happen by chance. God is sovereign and is in control of history ("His" story) even while allowing men their free will. This is a mystery we cannot now explain. What we must continually remember is that since God is in total control, nothing just "comes about" but is ordained and orchestrated by an Omnipotent, Omniscient, Sovereign God. In the days of Ahaz ("he has grasped") the son of Jotham - Ahaz was an evil king from beginning to end for "he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, made molten images for the Baals..., burned incense in the valley of Ben-Hinnom and burned his sons in fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the sons of Israel. He sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills and under every green tree. (2Chr 28:1-4) The son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah - This sets the chronology of Isaiah's prophecy in Isaiah 7-8. That Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it (2Ki 16:5) - During Jotham's reign Pekah (Israel) formed an alliance Rezin (Aram-Syria) and launched a campaign against Judah with the goal of overthrowing Ahaz. This Syro-Ephraimite alliance advanced as far as Jerusalem but could not conquer it. The LORD preserved Jerusalem despite Ahaz’s unfaithfulness. Why did this alliance between the Syrians and the Northern Kingdom not conquer Jerusalem? Ultimately God did not allow them to conquer Jerusalem and replace King Ahaz as this would have ended the Davidic line from which Messiah would come. God is a covenant keeping God and here He kept His covenant with David! This is also called grace and mercy because Ahaz was an extremely evil king, and was preserved because of the Davidic Covenant. Second Kings gives additional background which helps interpret the events in Isaiah 7... Then (This "term of succession" [see expressions of time] follows a summation of the evil deeds of Ahaz [see that summary in the preceding section under "days of Ahaz"] and suggests that Ahaz was reaping the evil fruit of the evil seeds he had sown! cp Gal 6:7+, Gal 6:8+ - This is an immutable principle beloved - If you have some "secret" sins, you would be most wise to confess and forsake them immediately [Pr 28:13+], lest you reap the righteous response of God to your evil deeds!) Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to wage war; and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him (Isa 7:1, 2). 6 At that time Rezin king of Aram (Syria) recovered Elath for Aram, and cleared the Judeans out of Elath entirely; and the Arameans (Syrians) came to Elath, and have lived there to this day. 7 So (term of conclusion) Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria (Asshur), saying, "I am your servant and your son; come up and deliver me from the hand of the king of Aram, and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me." (Comment: Contrast Ahaz's reliance on the "arm of flesh" with his rejection of the strong arm of the LORD - see especially Isa 7:8, 9, 10, 11, 12 - note God's clear warning against unbelief in Isa 7:9) 8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king's house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria. 9 So the king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and captured it, and carried the people of it away into exile to Kir, and put Rezin to death (Comment: Ahaz undoubtedly thought his human plan had worked and had even trumped God's promise of protection, but God had clearly stated that he would not last and God's Word always comes to pass! We are all a bit like Ahaz - we devise a plan without praying about it, instead consulting other "wise" men, and at first our plan seems to work but in time it proves to be unsuccessful. May God's Spirit make us all quick to remember the foolish unbelief of Ahaz [cp 1Co 10:6, 11] and continually seek to put into practice the wisdom of Pr 3:5, 6, 7, 8. The world says "Look before you leap!" The Bible says "Pray before you leap!"). (2Ki 16:5-9, cp fate of Pekah = 2Ki 15:27, 28, 29) QUESTION - Who was King Ahaz in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org ANSWER - Ahaz was an evil king of Judah who became king at the age of 20 and reigned for 4 years with his father, Jotham, from 735 to 731 BC, and 16 years on his own, from 731 to 715 BC (ED: OR 732-716 BC). 2 Kings 16 and 2 Chronicles 28 record King Ahaz’s destructive practices, such as idol worship and sacrilege against the temple of the Lord. The actions of Ahaz contributed to the downfall of the kingdom of Judah, which the Lord brought about in 586 BC. Isaiah 7–10 speaks of the results and consequences of King Ahaz’s wicked ways. it is unclear why King Ahaz departed so completely from the teachings of the Lord Ahaz’s father, King Jotham, was one of the good kings of Judah (2 Chronicles 27:2), so it is unclear why King Ahaz departed so completely from the teachings of the Lord. His repugnant deeds included sacrificing his own children, which was a great evil the kingdom of Israel had already been practicing (2Ki 16:3; 2Ch 28:3). King Ahaz also desecrated the temple as a result of his alliance with the king of Assyria, which came about in response to punishment God sent on Ahaz in the form of attacks on Ahaz’s land. King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah of Israel had besieged King Ahaz’s lands, and, although they were not strong enough to defeat Ahaz, they did “inflict heavy casualties on him” (2 Chronicles 28:5+). Not only were Ahaz’s son Maaseiah and his second-in-command, Elkanah, killed, but over 100,000 soldiers were killed, and Judah’s cities were plundered. Many Israelites who were living in Judah were taken captive (verses 6–8). Because of all this, Ahaz appealed to the king of Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser, for help in defeating Aram and Israel. Tiglath-Pileser complied and attacked Damascus, capturing the city and killing King Rezin. When King Ahaz met the victorious king of Assyria in Damascus, he saw a pagan altar there he wanted to copy for his own use in Jerusalem. So he sent plans to his priest Uriah, who finished the altar before Ahaz came back from Damascus (2 Kings 16:11). Upon his return, King Ahaz made sacrifices on the altar to the gods of Damascus. He moved the altar of the Lord, and, although he still planned to use it for “guidance” (verse 15), Ahaz offered all the sacrifices on the new altar. Ahaz’s sacrilege did not end there. To impress the king of Assyria, he removed the royal entryway of the temple as well as the Sabbath canopy, and cut the temple furnishings into pieces (2 Kings 16:17–18; 2 Chronicles 28:24). After shutting the doors to the temple, he placed altars at all the street corners in Jerusalem and high places for worshiping false gods in every city in Judah (2 Chronicles 28:24–25). The Bible is not clear on how Ahaz died, but it does say that, although he was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem, he did not earn a place in the tombs of the kings of Israel (2 Kings 16:20; 2 Chronicles 28:27). His son Hezekiah reigned after him, and, fortunately, King Hezekiah “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD” (2 Chronicles 29:2). He reversed what his father had done to the temple, purifying it and again consecrating it for worship of the Lord (verses 3–36). QUESTION - Who was King Pekah in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org ANSWER - During the time of the divided kingdom in Israel, there was a string of wicked kings who ruled in the northern and southern kingdoms. This should not be surprising; when the people of Israel first became dissatisfied with God as their king and clamored for an earthly king, God warned them that human kings would make them unhappy (1 Samuel 8:6–18). But the people insisted, and so God gave them over to their desire. While there were several righteous kings who ruled over God’s people in Judah, the number of poor rulers who led the people into idolatry would eventually bring the nation to ruin and captivity in a foreign land. Pekah was one such evil king. He began his rule in the kingdom of Israel by assassinating the former king, Pekahiah, for whom Pekah served as a chief officer, and taking over his throne (2 Kings 15:25). Pekah reigned for 20 years before he himself was assassinated by Hoshea son of Elah. Before Pekah was killed, however, some events took place that had a big impact on the nation of Israel and also on the whole world. Late in his reign, Pekah entered an alliance with the king of Syria and attacked the southern kingdom of Judah, besieging Jerusalem. In response, King Ahaz of Judah sought help from the Assyrians, and Assyria invaded and “took Ijon, Abel Beth Maakah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali and deported the people to Assyria” (2 Kings 15:29). This was the beginning of the destruction of the kingdom of Israel, which was God’s judgment for the sin and idolatry of the kings and their people (2 Kings 17:7–23). Pekah’s assassin, Hoshea, would reign for nine years after Pekah’s death, but King Shalmaneser of Assyria would discover Hoshea’s treachery in refusing to pay tribute and attempting to ally with Egypt against Assyria (2 Kings 17:4) and imprison Hoshea. Shalmaneser would then conquer the rest of the kingdom of Israel and deport its people, completing God’s judgment on the northern kingdom of Israel. Another major event happened during Pekah’s rule that brought hope to God’s people. When King Pekah and King Rezin of Aram marched against Ahaz, king of Judah, the Lord sent the prophet Isaiah to comfort Ahaz and the people. He said, “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” (Isaiah 7:7–9). In this prophecy, Pekah is referred to as “Remaliah’s son.” Isaiah 7:7-9+ thus says the Lord GOD: “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. 8 “For the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people), 9 and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.”’” The Lord also offered Ahaz a sign, and, even though Ahaz refused on the grounds that he did not want to test the Lord, God moved Isaiah to give this famous prophecy Isaiah 7:14+ “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.” Not only did God promise that King Pekah and King Rezin would not prevail, but He also spoke about how His Son, Jesus, the Messiah Israel had long awaited, would come. Ahaz saw the sign of a child’s birth, but the ultimate fulfillment of the prophecy awaited the birth of Jesus Christ, who was born to a virgin, grew up, died on a cross, and rose again, all to save His people from the reign of sin and death. REZIN (ISBE) - re'-zin (retsin; Rhaasson): The last of the kings of Syria who reigned in Damascus (2 Ki 15:37; 16:5-10; Isa 7:1; 8:4-7). Along with Pekah, the son of Remaliah, who reigned 20 years over Israel in Samaria, he joined in the Syro-Ephraimitic war aaainst Ahaz, the king of Judah. Together they laid siege to Jerusalem, but were unsuccessful in the effort to take it (2 Ki 16:5; Isa 7:1). It was to calm the fears, and to restore the fainting spirits of the men of Judah, that Isaiah was commissioned by the Lord to assure them that the schemes of "these two tails of smoking firebrands" (Isa 7:4) were destined to miscarry. It was then, too, that the sign was aiven of the vigin who should conceive, and bear a son, and should call his name Immanuel. Rezin had to content himself on this campaign to the South with the capture of Elath from the men of Judah and its restoration to the men of Edom, from whom it had been taken and made a seaport by Solomon (2 Ki 16:6, where it is agareed that "Syria" and "Syrians" should be read "Edom" and "Edomites," which in the Hebrew script are easy to be mistaken for one another, and are in fact often mistaken). Rezin, however, had a more formidable enemy to encounter on his return to Damascus. Ahaz, like kings of Judah before and after him, placed his reliance more on the arm of flesh than on the true King of his people, and appealed to Tiglath-pileser III, of Assyria, for help. Ahaz deliberately sacrificed the independence of his country in the terms of his offer of submission to the Assyrian: "I am thy servant and thy son" (2 Ki 16:7). Tiglath-pileser had already carried his arms to the West and ravaged the northern border of Israel; and now he crossed the Euphrates and hastened to Damascus, slaying Rezin and carrying his people captive to Kir (2 Ki 16:9). In the copious Annals of Tialath-pileser, Rezin figures with the designation Racunu(ni), but the tablet recording his death, found and read by Sir Henry Rawlinson, has been irrecoverably lost, and only the fact of its existence and loss remains (Schrader, COT, I, 252, 257). With the death of Rezin the kingdom of Damascus and Syria came to an end. Joseph A Alexander sets the context and summarizes Isaiah 7 writing that... Here begins a series of connected prophecies (Isaiah 7-12), belonging to the reign of Ahaz, and relating in general to the same great subjects, the deliverance of Judah (southern 2 tribes) from Syria and Israel (northern 10 tribes), its subsequent subjection to Assyria and other foreign powers, the final destruction of its enemies, the advent of the Messiah, and the nature of His kingdom. The series admits of different divisions, but it is commonly agreed that one distinct portion is contained in the seventh chapter.... The common division (of Isaiah 7) is more natural, which supposes Isa 7:1-16 to contain a promise of deliverance from Syria (Aram) and Israel (Ephraim), and Isa 7:17-25 a threatening of worse evils to be brought upon Judah by the Assyrians whom they trusted. The chapter begins with a brief historical statement of the invasion of Judah by Rezin and Pekah and of the fear which it excited, to relieve which Isaiah is commissioned to meet Ahaz in a public place, and to assure him that there is nothing more to fear from the invading powers, that they evil design cannot be accomplished, that one of them is soon to perish, and that in the meantime both are to remain with out enlargement (Isaiah 7:1-9). Seeing the king to be incredulous, the prophet invites him to assure himself by choosing any sign or pledge of the event, which he refuses to do, under the pretext of confidence in God, but is charged with unbelief by the prophet, who nevertheless renews the promise of deliverance in a symbolical form, and in connection with a prophecy of the miraculous conception and nativity of Christ, both as a pledge of the event, and as a measure of the time in which it is to take place (Isaiah 7:10-16) To this assurance of immediate deliverance, he adds a threatening of ulterior evils, to arise from the Assyrian protection which the king preferred to that of God, to wit, the loss of independence, the successive domination of foreign powers, the harassing and predatory occupation of the land by strangers, the removal of its people, the neglect of tillage, and the transformation of its choicest vineyards, fields, and gardens, into wastes or pastures (Isaiah 7:17-25). (The Prophecies of Isaiah - one of the best older commentaries on Isaiah) W E Vine introduces this chapter noting that...After the death of Uzziah (Isa 6:1-note) and during the reign of Jotham, Isaiah was given no written prophecy to record. Jotham, probably exercised by his father’s death, sought to be conformed to God’s Law. Evil went on in the nation (2Chr. 27:2), and Ahaz broke out into open defiance of God. And now a new series of prophecies is committed to His messenger. (BORROW isaiah prophecies promises warning) To help keep this chapter in context observe the preceding table and the following outline adapted from Talk Thru the Bible which summarizes the first section of Isaiah dealing primarily with prophecies concerning the Kingdom of Judah... Prophecies against Judah Isaiah 1:1-12:6 A The Judgment of Judah Isa 1:1–31 B The Day of the Lord Isa 2:1–4:6 C The Parable of the Vineyard Isa 5:1–30 D The Commission of Isaiah Isa 6:1–13 E The Destruction of Israel by Assyria Isa 7:1–10:4 1 Sign of Immanuel Isa 7:1–25 2 Sign of Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz Isa 8:1–22 3 Prophecy of the Messiah’s Birth Isa 9:1–7 4 Judgment on Ephraim Isa 9:8–10:4 F The Destruction of Assyria by God Isa 10:5–12:6 1 Destruction of Assyria Isa 10:5–19 2 Remnant of Israel Isa 10:20–34 3 Restoration of the Messiah’s Kingdom Isa 11:1–16 4 Thanksgiving in the Messiah’s Kingdom Isa 12:1–6 HISTORICAL CONTEXT: A Timeline of Isaiah 790 - Uzziah (790-739BC) becomes king of Judah, reigns 52 years 759 - Jotham becomes king of Judah assuming reign when Uzziah becomes leprous 742 - Micah begins his prophetic ministry (cp ministry to Hezekiah Jer 26:18, 19, Mic 3:12) 739 - Isaiah begins prophetic ministry in year King Uzziah died (Isa 6:1f) 731 - Ahaz becomes king of Judah (2Ki 15:38, 16:1, 2Chr 28:1) 726 - Hezekiah becomes 12th king of Judah (2Ki 16:20, 18:1,2) and one of 3 best (2Ki 18:5) 722 - Shalmaneser (2Ki 17:3, 18:9) dies while besieging Samaria, Sargon seizes crown 722 - Sargon of Assyria (Sargon) (Is 20:1) conquers Samaria (2Ki 17:6, 18:9, 10, 11, 12) 701 - Sennacherib (son of Sargon) of Assyria lays siege to Jerusalem 695 - Manasseh becomes king of Judah (2Ki 21:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12) 627 - Jeremiah begins prophetic ministry 586 - Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquers Judah (Source: The Ryrie Study Bible) Note that most of these dates are approximations and not indisputable facts. They are listed to help give the reader have a general idea of the relationship of historical events in Isaiah's time. Irving Jensen reminds us that "Of all the writing prophets, Isaiah is justly accounted the greatest. His prophecy is one of the longest, is quoted more frequently than any other in the New Testament, and he more often than any other prophet tells of the coming Messiah. Isaiah prophesied for about fifty years during very critical times of both kingdoms, Israel and Judah. He was greatly responsible for the sweeping reforms introduced by Hezekiah, who was one of Judah’s righteous kings. Merrill Unger says this of Isaiah: “Isaiah … is the great messianic prophet and prince of OT seers. For splendor of diction, brilliance of imagery, versatility and beauty of style, profundity and breadth of prophetic vision, he is without peer.”...Isaiah, like most of the prophets, preached a twofold message: warning of judgment for sin, and comfort of salvation for righteousness. John