Isa 7 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Isa 7:3-9: 7:1–39:8 In this long section of the book, the nation of Israel was confronted with a vision of God, similar to how Isaiah was confronted in ch 6 . Summary for Isa 7:1-12:6: 7:1–12:6 The historical context of these prophecies involved Assyria’s rise to power and the alliance between Syria and Israel as enemies of Judah (7:1-2 ; see 2 Kgs 16:5 ). Assyria became God’s rod to punish Syria, Israel, and Judah (Isa 7–10 ). Summary for Isa 7:1-25: 7:1-25 At one point in his reign, Ahaz found himself in a crisis. The leaders of Syria and Israel attacked Judah. They planned to replace Ahaz and force Judah to join them in their resistance against Assyria. Ahaz responded by calling Assyria in to help him (2 Kgs 16:7-10 ), thus refusing Isaiah’s challenge to trust the Lord instead (Isa 7:12 ). Although the Assyrians squelched the alliance of Syria and Israel, leading to the eventual downfall of both those nations, they also soon set their sights on total domination of Judah. 7:1 Rezin was king of Syria . Damascus was Syria’s capital city. • Pekah was king of Israel 740–732 BC . He was a renowned warrior (2 Chr 28:5-8 ). • Pekah and Rezin began to attack Jerusalem while Jotham was king (750–732 BC ), and they intensified their efforts during the early years of young King Ahaz (2 Kgs 15:37 ; 16:5 ).

Summary for Isa 7:3-9: 7:1–39:8 ^a In this long section of the book, the nation of Israel was confronted with a vision of God, similar to how Isaiah was confronted in ch 6 ^b.
Summary for Isa 7:1-12:6: 7:1–12:6 ^c The historical context of these prophecies involved Assyria’s rise to power and the alliance between Syria and Israel as enemies of Judah (7:1-2 ^d; see 2 Kgs 16:5 ^e). Assyria became God’s rod to punish Syria, Israel, and Judah (Isa 7–10 ^f).
Summary for Isa 7:1-25: 7:1-25 ^g At one point in his reign, Ahaz found himself in a crisis. The leaders of Syria and Israel attacked Judah. They planned to replace Ahaz and force Judah to join them in their resistance against Assyria. Ahaz responded by calling Assyria in to help him (2 Kgs 16:7-10 ^h), thus refusing Isaiah’s challenge to trust the Lord instead (Isa 7:12 ⁱ). Although the Assyrians squelched the alliance of Syria and Israel, leading to the eventual downfall of both those nations, they also soon set their sights on total domination of Judah. 7:1 ^j Rezin was king of Syria. Damascus was Syria’s capital city.

• Pekah was king of Israel 740–732 BC. He was a renowned warrior (2 Chr 28:5-8 ^k).

• Pekah and Rezin began to attack Jerusalem while Jotham was king (750–732 BC), and they intensified their efforts during the early years of young King Ahaz (2 Kgs 15:37 ^l; 16:5 ^m).
7:2 ⁿ hearts ... trembled with fear: In contrast, Ahaz’s son King Hezekiah faced the Assyrians some thirty years later with great faith (701 BC; see 37:6-7 ^o, 14-20 ^p).
7:3 ^q The aqueduct was a place where political negotiations took place later during Hezekiah’s reign (see 36:2 ^r).
7:4 ^s he doesn’t need to fear: This was a “fear not” prophecy (common in Isaiah) in which the Lord assured his people of his presence and purpose.

• two burned-out embers: If Ahaz had God’s perspective, he would have seen that Rezin and Pekah were minor threats who were about to be extinguished.
7:6 ^t The son of Tabeel, otherwise unknown, was obviously sympathetic to Israel’s and Syria’s resistance against Assyria.
7:8 ^u The Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal had Israel resettled with people from other places within sixty-five years (by 670 BC; see 2 Kgs 17:24-34 ^v).

• Damascus was crushed and completely destroyed by 732 BC, and Samaria was crushed by 722 BC.
7:9 ^w The last sentence is a play on two Hebrew words: If you do not have faith (ta’aminu), you will not stand firm (te’amenu). Firm trust in the Lord is utterly essential, especially for a leader of God’s people (see also 2 Chr 20:20 ^x), and it must be firmly acted upon in order to demonstrate that it exists. Ahaz and his contemporaries trusted their enemy (Assyria) rather than God. By contrast, Hezekiah later demonstrated his faith in the Lord in a similar context (see Isa 36–38 ^y).
7:11 ^z A sign of confirmation would be performed before Ahaz’s eyes as a token of God’s truthfulness. His son Hezekiah would also receive such a sign (see 37:30 ^aa).
7:12 ^ab I will not test the Lord like that: Despite this seemingly pious response (based on Deut 6:16 ^ac), Ahaz was most likely already in negotiations with the Assyrians and had already decided whom he would trust for rescue in this war.
7:14 ^ad This prophecy received its ultimate fulfillment in the birth of Jesus Christ (Matt 1:18-24 ^ae). Yet it is likely that it also had a partial fulfillment in Isaiah’s day, either with the birth of godly king Hezekiah, Ahaz’s son, or with the birth of one of Isaiah’s children. The similar sequence of the verbs in Isa 7:14 ^af and 8:3 ^ag (conceive ... give birth ... call) and the link between Immanuel and Maher-shalal-hash-baz in 8:5-10 ^ah suggest that Immanuel and Maher-shalal-hash-baz were the same person.

• The name Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’) symbolized God’s presence and protection. God was with Judah during the attack by the alliance of Syria and Israel (734 BC), in the Assyrian crisis (701 BC), and throughout their prolonged existence until their fall in 586 BC. The kingdom of Israel fell during the time of Isaiah (722 BC). The assurance “I am with you” remained significant even in the exilic and postexilic periods (41:10 ^ai; 43:2 ^aj, 5 ^ak). The greatest assurance ultimately came in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God (Matt 1:23 ^al; see also Rev 12:5 ^am).
Summary for Isa 7:15-16: 7:15-16 ^an By the time this child is old enough: The crisis involving the alliance of Syria and Israel against Judah was in 734 BC; by 732 BC Damascus, capital of Syria, was destroyed, and the northern kingdom, Israel, was defeated.

• choose what is right and reject what is wrong: This was to happen by the age of 12, when a child was held responsible as an adult. In 722 BC, Israel went into exile.

• he will be eating yogurt and honey: The land would be so depopulated that these delicacies would be available to all.
7:17 ^ao Israel broke away from Judah in 931 BC (see 1 Kgs 12:19-20 ^ap).

• will bring the king of Assyria upon you: Ahaz called Assyria in to help (2 Kgs 16:8-9 ^aq), but Assyria turned against him and made Judah a vassal state.
Summary for Isa 7:18-25: 7:18-25 ^ar The repetition of in that day referred to the yet future day of the Lord. Judah would experience the judgment already announced by Isaiah as a foretaste of an even greater judgment to come: exile in Babylon (586–538 BC).
7:19 ^as Locations such as desolate valleys, caves, and thorny places were places of refuge for the desperate (see 2:10 ^at). However, Judah’s enemies would find them there.
7:20 ^au shave off everything: your land, your crops, and your people: In the ancient Near East, forced shaving was an act of disgrace (see 2 Sam 10:4-5 ^av). Here it was a metaphor for the despoiling of the country.
Summary for Isa 7:23-25: 7:23-25 ^aw Farmers faced near total disaster. Fertile agricultural fields (lush vineyards) would revert to wild grazing lands dominated by worthless plants (briers and thorns; see 5:6 ^ax).