Isa 7:7-16 | TNotes

7:8 ^a 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 ^b).

• Damascus was crushed and completely destroyed by 732 BC, and Samaria was crushed by 722 BC.
7:9 ^c 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 ^d), 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 ^e).
7:11 ^f 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 ^g).
7:12 ^h I will not test the Lord like that: Despite this seemingly pious response (based on Deut 6:16 ⁱ), 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 ^j This prophecy received its ultimate fulfillment in the birth of Jesus Christ (Matt 1:18-24 ^k). 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 ^l and 8:3 ^m (conceive ... give birth ... call) and the link between Immanuel and Maher-shalal-hash-baz in 8:5-10 ⁿ 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 ^o; 43:2 ^p, 5 ^q). The greatest assurance ultimately came in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God (Matt 1:23 ^r; see also Rev 12:5 ^s).
Summary for Isa 7:15-16: 7:15-16 ^t 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.