Isaías 7

Isaías 7

Guzik adds that "To shave off the beard of an Oriental was an unbearable shame to him and was a sign of great sadness and mourning as well as despicable slavery. (Bultema) We see this principle illustrated by the actions of David in 2Sa 10:4, 5+. Isaiah 7:21 Now in that day a man may keep alive a heifer and a pair of sheep a man : Isa 7:25 5:17 17:2 37:30 Jer 39:10 Isaiah 7 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries SURVIVAL IN GOD'S DAY OF DISCIPLINE In that day - The devastation wrought by God's hand of judgment will be so severe that the normal produce of the land is no longer available to the populace. In mercy, God does leave a few cattle and sheep for His people. A man may keep alive a heifer and a pair of sheep - Now in that day conditions will be so reduced and altered that a man will consider himself fortunate simply to keep alive a single heifer and a pair of sheep. What had once been a land of flourishing vineyards, abundant fields, and large herds will be diminished to the barest means of survival. Instead of prosperous estates with many cattle, the average household will possess only a few animals, just enough to sustain life. The picture reflects a dramatic reversal of fortune, with wealth and plenty giving way to scarcity and subsistence. Yet even in this small remnant of livestock there is a hint of mercy. Though the nation will be stripped of its former prosperity, God will not allow His people to perish completely. A heifer and two sheep represent the fragile thread by which life continues, suggesting that the LORD’s discipline, severe as it is, stops short of total destruction. Families will return to a simple, pastoral existence, living from the milk of a few animals rather than from the rich produce of cultivated land. The verse captures the humbling effect of judgment. Pride built on abundance will be replaced by dependence on the most modest provisions. What once would have been considered poverty will become the new normal, teaching Judah that life does not consist in the multitude of possessions but in the sustaining hand of God. Even a heifer and a pair of sheep, preserved in troubled times, will testify that the LORD still remembers His people and leaves them a means to begin again. Indeed, in the midst of wrath, God remembers mercy! (Hab 3:2b+) Oswalt points out that "the main theme of this utterance along with the following is of the depopulation of the land so that it reverts from a crop-growing to a herding region in which there will be so few people that a minimum of animals will produce more than enough food. (BORROW The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1–39) Isaiah 7:22 and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone that is left within the land will eat curds and honey.: curds and honey : Isa 7:15 2Sa 17:29 Mt 3:4 Isaiah 7 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Ezekiel 6:8+ “However, I will leave a remnant (yathar), for you will have those who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries. GOD PROVIDES CURDS AND HONEY And because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone that is left (yathar; LXX - kataleipo = left behind) within the land will eat curds and honey - The scene here is both hopeful and sorrowful at the same time. The land, once filled with vineyards, grain fields, and bustling commerce, will lie largely uncultivated after the Assyrian devastation. With few people remaining to work the soil, open pastures will spread across former farmlands. The small remnant who survive will keep only a heifer and a pair of sheep (Isa 7:21), yet those few animals will roam freely on the overgrown countryside and produce more milk than their owners can consume. Out of this unexpected “abundance of milk,” the people will eat curds—simple, pastoral food rather than the varied diet of a prosperous nation. What once symbolized the richness of the Promised Land will now mark a stripped-down existence of Curds and honey. The phrase echoes earlier descriptions of blessing, yet here it carries a somber tone: the land flows with honey not because it is thriving, but because it has returned to wilderness conditions. Judgment has reduced Judah from a cultivated garden to a grazing field. Everyone that is left (yathar; LXX - kataleipo = left behind) - Once again we see God's mercy woven into his judgment. Everyone left within the land will have enough to live on. God’s discipline does not aim at annihilation but at purification. The remnant will learn again to depend on the LORD rather than on political alliances or economic strength. Their simple meal will preach a daily sermon: God has humbled us, yet He has not forsaken us. Everyone that is left implies that some percentage of the population of Judah has been "removed" (? killed) by the invading armies, which again helps explain the abundance of the milk in a wartime context. One wonders if the name of Isaiah's son has any relation to this description of what is in essence a "remnant" of Judah (Shear-jashub means "a remnant shall return.") Left (remnant) (03498) yathar is a Hebrew verb meaning to remain, to be left over, to survive, describing what endures after separation, loss, or judgment. It can refer to ordinary leftovers, such as food that must not remain until the next day (Lev 22:30) or the devastation in Egypt when nothing green was left after the locusts (Ex 10:15). The word also depicts people who remain after crisis—Jacob left alone at the Jabbok before meeting God (Gen 32:24), survivors after battle (Judg 8:10), the remaining members of Saul’s house (2 Sam 9:1), or children left after a father’s death (Deut 28:54). In the prophets it gains theological weight, describing those spared in divine judgment: Isaiah warned Hezekiah that nothing would remain after Babylon’s conquest (2 Kgs 20:17), yet God promised to leave a remnant of Judah (Ezek 6:8; Isa 4:3; Zech 14:2). While the concept of the remnant is more often expressed by shāʾar, yāthar likewise conveys both the severity of judgment and the mercy of God who preserves a people for future restoration, culminating in the day when all who remain will worship the Lord in Jerusalem (Zech 14:16). Isaiah 7:23 And it will come about in that day, that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become briars and thorns.: a thousand vines : Song 8:11,12 Mt 21:33 be for briers : Isa 5:6 32:12-14 Jer 4:26 Heb 6:8 Isaiah 7 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Isaiah 7:17+ (PROPHECY AGAINST KING AHAZ) “The LORD will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah, the king of Assyria.” Isaiah 5:4+ “What more was there to do for My vineyard (REFERRING TO ISRAEL) that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones? Isaiah 5:6+ (SPEAKING OF ISRAEL) “I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.” Micah 4:4+ (A PICTURE OF PEACE AND DIVINE BLESSING) Each of them will sit under his vine And under his fig tree, With no one to make them afraid, For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken. Proverbs 10:22 "It is the blessing of the LORD that makes rich, And He adds no sorrow to it." FROM VINEYARDS TO THORNS In that day - The Holy Spirit repeatedly uses this term to emphasize the specific judgments associated with the day which was described in general terms in Isaiah 7:17 as a day unlike any other since the nation of Israel had divided into two kingdoms. That every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become briars and thorns -Previously cultivated areas where overgrown by uncultivated vegetation was a sign of desolation (cp Isa 5:6+). The devastation of the source of produce is part of the "fruit" of God's judgment of Judah. This verse paints a vivid picture of economic collapse and covenant curse. Isaiah describes vineyards that were once priceless as “a thousand vines…for a thousand shekels of silver” now reduced to wasteland. The figure emphasizes the magnitude of loss, becase it was a land so productive and valuable that each vine was worth a shekel, a symbol of prosperity and generational blessing. Yet the coming Assyrian invasion would turn fruitufl abundance into fruitless barrenness. In ancient Judah, vineyards were not merely crops but reflected the family inheritance and wealth. Symbolically, a flourishing vineyard meant peace, security, and God’s favor (Micah 4:4) To lose the vineyards was to lose the future. Isaiah’s prophecy reverses that ideal scene of Micah 4:4. Instead of men resting beneath fruitful vines, the land would sprout “briars and thorns,” recalling the curse in Eden (Ge 3:17–18). Judah’s spiritual rebellion would in effect bring the promised land into a land of mourning. The land that once testified to blessing would now testify to judgment. This devastation was not random agriculture failure; it was the consequence of trusting Assyria instead of the Lord. Earlier the prophet warned Ahaz "The LORD will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah, the king of Assyria.” (Isaiah 7:17+) The tragic irony is that the very power Ahaz courted for protection would become the instrument that stripped his nation bare. Invading armies, deportations, and neglected fields would leave vineyards untended. What had required decades of patient cultivation would be undone in a single season of war. Judah had enjoyed centuries of divine care, yet produced the fruit of idolatry and injustice and would forfeit the fruit of the vine! Earlier Isaiah had already compared the nation to a failed vineyard Isaiah 5:4 W E Vine applies Judah's physical desolation to our spiritual life noting that... Where a company of God’s people departs from the right ways of the Lord, fruitless and noxious products are sure to develop, and there will be spiritual barrenness instead of fertility that glorifies God. Bows and arrows suggest strife, instead of “the whole armor of God” that wards off and defeats the spiritual foe. (BORROW isaiah prophecies promises warning) Isaiah 7:24 People will come there with bows and arrows because all the land will be briars and thorns.: Isaiah 7 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries FROM VINEYARDS TO WILDERNESS People will come there with bows and arrows - Since the previously cultivated land has been so devastated, now all one can use it for is hunting. Bows and arrows would also be necessary to defend one's self from the wild animals that had re-populated the land which had become a wilderness as a result of the Assyrian devastation! The verse pictures a total reversal of life in Judah. Fields once entered with pruning knives would be approached with bows and arrows, not for harvest, but for survival. Cultivated vineyards would become dangerous wilderness, overrun by wild animals and untended growth. The tools of farming would give way to the weapons of hunting. What is not faithfully cultivated is eventually lost, in the ground, in a nation, and in the human heart. Because (term of explanation) all the land will be briars and thorns - This describes neglected soil which symbolizes a society abandoned to disorder. Thorns grow naturally where care disappears. What generations had patiently built would unravel in a short season of war caused by unbelief. The irony is that Ahaz sought security through human power, yet his foolish choice would leave the land stripped and barren and insecure. The image in this verse is one of complete reversal. Land that once welcomed farmers with pruning knives and baskets would now be entered only with bows and arrows. The tools of cultivation would be replaced by these weapons of survival. Isaiah is portraying the collapse of an entire way of life. The mention of bows and arrows suggests that the land would no longer be safe for ordinary travel. Wild animals would roam where families once worked. People would enter the hills not to gather grapes but to hunt for food or to defend themselves. Prosperity would give way to uncertainty; cultivation would yield to mere subsistence. Isaiah 7:25 As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the hoe, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample: but : Isa 7:21,22 13:20-22 17:2 Zeph 2:6 Isaiah 7 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries FROM CULTIVATED HILLS TO TRAMPLED PASTURES As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the hoe, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; Isaiah concludes the prophecy with a final picture of reversal. The hills once carefully worked with the hoe, would no longer be visited by their owners. Fear of briars and thorns would keep farmers away. What had demanded skill and daily attention would be abandoned as unsafe (cf need for bows and arrows, v. 24) and unprofitable. As an aside there may be a touch of poetic justice here for evil King Ahaz had turned the hills into places of sacrifice and burning of incense (2Ch 28:4+), the very next verse beginning with "wherefore" (conclusion of perverting use of the hills, etc) describes Yahweh delivering Ahaz into the hand of Aram. Here God turns them into a place of briars and thorns, to be trampled by oxen and sheep! But they will become a place for pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample - These hills represented generations of investment, because cultivating high ground required clearing stones, building retaining walls, and constant weeding. Such land did not become fruitful by accident, but by sweat and tears and God's blessing. Instead of vineyards and grain, the hills would become rough pasture for oxen and sheep. Animals would trample what human hands once tended. The orderly rows of crops would disappear beneath hooves and weeds. The land would not be completely empty, but it would be reduced to its lowest use, mere grazing rather than fruitful harvest. Isaiah foresees a society that has moved from cultivation to mere survival. The verse carries a sober lesson that blessing requires stewardship and obedience. When a nation turns from God, even the soil reflects the backslidden spiritual condition. What was no longer guarded by obedience would be surrendered to ruin. In effect the ruined hills of Judah would preach a silent sermon that human effort without obedience ends in briars instead of vineyards! NET Bible Notes - At this point one is able to summarize the content of the “sign” (Isa 7:14, 15) as follows: A young woman known to be present when Isaiah delivered this message to Ahaz (perhaps a member of the royal family or the prophetess mentioned in Isa 8:3) would soon give birth to a boy whom the mother would name Immanuel, “God is with us.” Eventually Immanuel would be forced to eat sour milk and honey, which would enable him to make correct moral decisions. How would this situation come about and how would it constitute a sign? Before this situation developed, the Israelites and Syrians would be defeated. But then the Lord would usher in a period of time unlike any since the division of the kingdom almost 200 years before. The Assyrians would overrun the land, destroy the crops, and force the people to subsist on goats’ milk and honey. At that time, as the people saw Immanuel eating his sour milk and honey, the Davidic family would be forced to acknowledge that God was indeed with them. He was present with them in the Syrian-Israelite crisis, fully capable of rescuing them; but he was also present with them in judgment, disciplining them for their lack of trust. The moral of the story is quite clear: Failure to appropriate God’s promises by faith can turn potential blessing into disciplinary judgment. 🙏 THOUGHT - Will you humble yourself like Isaiah or resist and harden your heart like Ahaz? Will you be greatly used by the LORD or greatly disciplined by Him? Will you be useful in the Lord’s hand or corrected by His hand? Will your life become a vessel of honor God uses or a lesson God must teach? The choice is yours! Ron Teed contrasts the encounters of Isaiah and Ahaz with the Holy One of Israel "We’ve now looked at two encounters with God, the Holy One: Isaiah (Isaiah 6) and Ahaz (Isaiah 7). But what happens when you encounter the Holy One? Oh, you don’t think you do, simply because you haven’t had a heavenly vision or a direct word from God? I have to say you are wrong. You are right now having an encounter with God the Holy One. He is giving you His direct Word through the Scripture and through this morning’s message. What questions is He asking you: “Do I have your attention? Do I have your whole heart? Am I number one in your life? Can I count on you to serve Me in whatever way I ask? Will you seek My guidance every day by spending time in the Bible and praying?” Or perhaps His question to you is more personal and He is speaking it deep in your heart. And what is your response to the holiness of God and to His question to you? Will you be like Isaiah and obey humbly? Or will you be like Ahaz and give a response of false humility and disobedience? Remember this, no matter how bad your sin, if you turn to God, give Him your heart and your love, and follow Him obediently, then He will bless you. There are only two possible responses to an encounter with the Holy God of heaven: falling on your knees and receiving Him or rejecting Him and walking away. Which one do you choose? (Isaiah 7 Teed Commentaries) Play this beautiful song from - Michael Card Immanuel, God is with us! A sign shall be given, A virgin will conceive A human baby bearing undiminished Deity The Glory of the nations, a Light for all to see And Hope for all who will embrace His warm reality. Refrain IMMANUEL, OUR GOD IS WITH US And if GOD IS WITH US, who could stand against us? Our GOD IS WITH US, IMMANUEL. For all those who live in the shadow of death A Glorious Light has dawned For all those who stumble in the darkness Behold, your Light has come. Refrain So what will be your answer? Will you hear the call Of Him Who did not spare His Son but gave Him for us all On earth there is no power, there is no depth nor height That could ever separate us from the love of God in Christ. Refrain DEVOTIONALS Progressive Revelation of the Redeemer “Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son,and she will call His name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14 I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. “He shall build a house for My name,and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 2 Samuel 7:12-13 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples Genesis 49:10 But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac ;I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. Genesis 17:19 And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Genesis 12:3 (Proto-Evangelium) And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” Genesis 3:15-commentary