God Appeals to Ahaz Asking Him To Trust Him (Isaiah 7:1-9).
Syria and Israel, in seeking to join an alliance against Assyria, called on Judah to join them, and when Ahaz was reluctant, determined to bring him to heel. (As far as we know up to this point Judah had not had to pay tribute to Assyria, probably because of the remoteness of its capital). But Yahweh tells Ahaz that he is right to reject any part in the alliance, but must rather trust in Him. Unfortunately, and very foolishly, however, Ahaz has rather decided to submit to Assyria, pay them tribute, and call on them for assistance, thus bringing Judah within the sphere of the Assyrian Empire.
Analysis of Isaiah 7:1-9.
a And it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin, the king of Syria and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, went up to Jerusalem to war against it (Isaiah 7:1 a).
b But they could not prevail against it (Isaiah 7:1 b).
c And it was told the house of David, saying, ‘Syria is confederate with (or ‘has settled on') Ephraim', and his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest are moved with the wind (Isaiah 7:2).
d Then Yahweh said to Isaiah, Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shearjashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the launderer's field (Isaiah 7:3).
d And say to him, “Take notice and be quiet. Do not be afraid, nor let your heart be faint, because of these two tails of smoking firebrands
c For the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah, who are saying, ‘Let us go up against Judah and vex it, and let us make a breach in it for us, and set up a king in its midst, even the son of Tabeel (Isaiah 7:4-6).
b Thus says the Lord Yahweh, “It will not stand, nor will it come about.” (Isaiah 7:7).
a For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin, and within sixty five years will Ephraim be broken in pieces that it be not a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you do not believe, surely you will not be established (Isaiah 7:8-9).
In ‘a' Rezin and the son of Remaliah come up against Judah, and in the parallel God promises that they will be broken in pieces. In ‘b' they could not prevail against Israel, and in the parallel this prevailing that Judah were afraid of will not come about. In ‘c' the house of David were afraid because of Syria and Ephraim, and in the parallel the reason for their fear is described, the attitude of the kings of Syrian and Israel. In ‘d' Isaiah goes to meet Ahaz, and in the parallel the meeting is in order to assure him that he need not be afraid.
‘And it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin, the king of Syria and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, went up to Jerusalem to war against it. But they could not prevail against it.'
The verse begins by stating Ahaz's credentials. He is a true son of the Davidic house, the grandson of the great King Uzziah. It then follows this up with a summary of what is about to happen.
So this verse is a summary verse, and Isaiah 7:2 takes us back in time before it. It is setting the context of the passage, the prospective new invasion by Syria and Israel, and stressing that it will not finally succeed. Jerusalem will not be taken. This was a regular method of presentation of history from Genesis onwards.
Alternately it may be summarising the previous invasion by the alliance. But the above seems more likely.
We are not here given the reason for the invasion, except that it was of Yahweh (2 Kings 15:37; 2 Kings 16:5) with the intention of making Ahaz think again about his idolatry (2 Chronicles 28:19), but humanly speaking it almost certainly because Ahaz had refused to join an alliance against a threatening Assyria. With Assyria threatening from the north Syria and Israel, along with other rebels, were wide open to attack, and they were seeking allies. It would seem that Edom and Philistia had been willing to join them (2 Chronicles 28:17-18). Presumably, however, representations to Ahaz had not been favourably received. Thus they determined that they would bring Ahaz to heel and enforce the support of Judah by replacing Ahaz with a puppet king.
This in fact helps to explain why Ahaz finally did later appeal to Assyria (2 Kings 16:8-9). Once he had refused to trust God for help, they were the obvious allies to help his cause. It is very probable that he was not really fully aware of the power of the forces to whom he was looking. He was probably looking for a temporary alliance, obtained by the giving of a present, not to be permanently swallowed up. Assyria had in the past appeared, and then disappeared again. But like Hezekiah after him he was just not fully aware of the strength and ambitions of the one to whom he appealed (although sufficiently aware to recognise the folly of combining against him).
Here in microcosm was what God had said would happen to Judah. A backsliding, a failure to respond in trust and obedience, followed by another backsliding that would lead to disaster.
‘And it was told the house of David, saying, ‘Syria is confederate with (or ‘has settled on') Ephraim.' And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest are moved with the wind.'
The news of the prospective invasion by Syria and Israel (the latter often called Ephraim, because Ephraim was the largest tribe) reached Ahaz. The fact that the Syrians had gathered in force and had stationed themselves in (‘settled on') Israel, joining forces with the Israelite army, was alarming. And both he and the people were afraid. Their hearts were stirred as trees are stirred by the force of the wind, shaking violently without cessation. Note the reference to the house of David. The inference is that as a member of the house of David he should have stood firm on the promises of God made to that house. He should have looked to the God of David. Compare Psalms 2. He should have been aware that none could stir themselves against God's anointed and prevail. But instead he cowered before the enemy. His faith was lacking and he clung to his idolatry.
‘Then Yahweh said to Isaiah, Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shearjashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the launderer's field, and say to him, “Take notice and be quiet. Do not be afraid, nor let your heart be faint, because of these two tails of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah, who are saying, ‘Let us go up against Judah and vex it, and let us make a breach in it for us, and set up a king in its midst, even the son of Tabeel.' Thus says the Lord Yahweh, It will not stand, nor will it come about.” '
God in His goodness sends Isaiah to speak to the faithless Ahaz. He is to seek to win Ahaz back to God's covenant, which was in fact His very purpose in the proposed invasion. So Yahweh tells Isaiah to go, along with Shearjashub his son, to meet Ahaz. The name Shearjashub means ‘a remnant will return', which is probably why he was to accompany his father. He would be a living reminder of the message of Isaiah. This confirms Isaiah's vivid awareness even at this stage of the central content of his own message, a message of departure from and return to Yahweh, possibly with exile and return in mind (compare Isaiah 6:12). It should also have acted as a warning to the king of the house of David, for we cannot doubt that Isaiah had proclaimed to him his message from God.
‘A remnant will return' stressed both coming judgment and subsequent mercy, but always with the recognition that repentance could delay judgment. So the name of Sheerjashub hung like a warning notice of what the future could hold.
‘At the end of the conduit (aqueduct) of the upper pool in the highway of the launderer's field.' This aqueduct was in process of being built to seek to ensure a water supply in case of siege. Although not fully adequate, for it went overground, it was better than nothing. It would serve until it was discovered and destroyed by the enemy. It was part of Ahaz's fearful preparation for what was coming. It would seem that he was supervising the work himself. The launderer's field would be where the washing of clothes was done in the river, presumably because the water was ample there, and fairly clear.
Yahweh's word to him was to trust Yahweh and thus gain confidence. ‘Take notice and be quiet. Do not be afraid, nor let your heart be faint.' If only Ahaz would listen to Yahweh and return to Him, then he could have full confidence that Yahweh would be with him. Returning to the covenant (‘taking note') would mean that he could have quiet confidence in Yahweh's willingness to deliver. Then his fear would evaporate and his heart would cease to be faint. This is confirmation that Yahweh approves of his stance against joining the alliance, and is yet ready to work through the house of David and be with him if only Ahaz will repent.
‘Because of these two tails of smoking firebrands (or ‘smouldering stubs'), for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah, who are saying, ‘Let us go up against Judah and vex it, and let us make a breach in it for us, and set up a king in its midst, even the son of Tabeel.' Thus says the Lord Yahweh, It will not stand, nor will it come about.'
God's contempt for the enemy is clear, especially for ‘the son of Remaliah' who is not even named. They are but like two tails of foxes or jackals to which firebrands have been tied. That is their combined arsenal! (Or alternately like two smouldering stubs, soon to be extinguished). He promises that their attempt to replace Ahaz will fail. The plot to install ‘the son of Tabeel' as puppet king will not succeed. Tabeel was probably a pretender to the throne of David, a connection with the royal house who was seeking his main chance.
However, the description of the two ‘sons', the son of Remaliah and the son of Tabeel (whom the alliance hoped would potentially in the future represent the people of God) in terms of the name of the house that they came from rather than by their own names is significant for another reason. There is a clear implied contrast with ‘the son of David'. These men are not the true heirs of David. They are the sons of Remaliah and Tabeel. Therefore they should not be relied on. Furthermore Ahaz should ask himself what chance the house of Remaliah and the house of Tabeel could possibly have against the house of David, the anointed of Yahweh, if only Ahaz would trust Yahweh.
Notice the grace of God. ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh, It will not stand, nor will it come about.' He gives this guarantee before Ahaz has repented, with the hope that he will be grateful and repent, recognising that Yahweh of hosts is the only One to be relied on for defence, and thus resubmitting to the covenant.
‘The son of Tabeel.' Tabeel was possibly a son of Uzziah or Jotham by an Aramaean princess connected to Beth Tab'el, a place known from contemporary Aramaean inscriptions as an Aramaean land in northern Transjordan.
‘For the head of Syria is Damascus,
And the head of Damascus is Rezin,
And within sixty five years will Ephraim be broken in pieces that it be not a people.
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
And the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son.
If you do not believe, surely you will not be established.'
Set out in this way the balance of the statement is clear. What is in mind is the future of Israel and Judah, the two sections of God's covenant people. In the first case doom awaits, for, because of their trust in Rezin rather than in Yahweh. As a result Israel (Ephraim) will cease to be a people, because they have finally rejected the covenant by their alliance with Syria. They have rejected dependence on Yahweh and placed it in Rezin. In the second case possible doom is threatened for Judah and Jerusalem depending on Ahaz's response. Judah's future too is in the balance. The question is, will Ahaz depend on the Lord Yahweh, or on the son of Remaliah, whose dependence is on Rezin?
Ephraim (Israel) have chosen to rely on Syria rather than Yahweh. Well, let him consider. What is Syria? They are summed up in Damascus and finally in their king, Rezin. Thus Ephraim are stayed on Rezin. But king Rezin is not a reliable stay. That is why Ephraim's fate is sealed. They have chosen King Rezin and his gods and rejected the Lord Yahweh and the Davidic house. Thus their future is hopeless. Defeat awaits them and within sixty five years they will even cease to be a people at all.
And once a large number of Israelites were deported as a result of the Assyrian invasion, and once foreign settlers and leaders were incorporated into the land of Israel by Esarhaddon in 671 BC about sixty five years later, that was what happened. Israel was no more (although many would have fled to Judah maintaining God's people as ‘Israel').
Now what about Ahaz? Ahaz was facing both. He of the house of David now had to choose. He could elect to have the son of Remaliah to depend on, but before doing so he should consider what weak support the son of Remaliah was depending on. He was depending, not on God, but on Rezin. Is he, therefore, the son of David, going to yield to, and depend on, these two weak supports? Or is he, as Yahweh's Anointed (1 Samuel 12:3; 1Sa 24:6 ff; 1 Samuel 26:9 ff; 2 Samuel 1:14; Psalms 2:2; Lamentations 4:20), going to trust the Lord Yahweh, the One Who provides unfailing support? That is the question. (The question of Assyrian alliance has possibly not yet been determined). Unless he chooses to believe on Yahweh he will indeed not be established. He too, and his people, will be removed from the scene.
Perhaps also Ahaz was supposed to read further into this the unspoken inference and consider Judah's own idealistic position. Had the parallel been stated this would have read, ‘the head of Judah is Jerusalem the city of David, and the head of Jerusalem is the son of David.' This should then have awoken him to the true situation. How can David's son possibly depend on anyone but Yahweh, who had chosen David as His kingly representative on earth, and Jerusalem as His dwelling place?
The overall message that comes to us from this passage is, ‘if God be for us who can be against us?' But in the event we must trust and not be afraid, otherwise we will not be established.