Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 7

Verses 1-14

XII

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH PART 4

Isaiah 7:1-10:14

In the outline the section, Isaiah 7-13, is called the book of Immanuel, because the name, "Immanuel," occurs in it twice and it is largely messianic. There are four main divisions of this section preceded by a historical introduction, as follows: Historical introduction (Isaiah 7:1-2)

I. Two interviews with Ahaz and their messages (Isaiah 7:3-25)

II. Desolating judgments followed by salvation (Isaiah 8:1-9:7)

III. Jehovah’s hand of judgments (Isaiah 9:8-10:4)

IV. The debasement of the Assyrians and the salvation of true Israel (Isaiah 10:5-12:6)

There are certain items of information in the historical introduction, as follows:

1. That the date of this section is the "days of Ahaz," king of Judah.

2. That, during this reign, Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, attempted to take Jerusalem but failed.

3. That the confederacy between Syria and Ephraim caused great fear in Judah on the part of both the king and the people. By the command of Jehovah Isaiah, with his son, Shearjashub, went forth to meet Ahaz, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway of the fuller’s field to quiet his fear respecting the confederacy of Rezin and Pekah, assuring him that their proposed capture of Jerusalem and enthronement of Tabeel, an Assyrian, should not come to pass because Damascus and Samaria had only human heads, while Jerusalem had a divine head who was able to and would destroy their confederacy within sixty-five years, which included the work of Tiglath-pileser III, Shalmaneser IV, Sargon, Sennacherib, and Esarhaddon. The last named completed the destruction of the power of the ten tribes by placing heathen colonists in the cities of Samaria (2 Kings 17:24; Ezekiel 4:2). Then the prophet rested Ahaz’s case on his faith in Jehovah’s word and promise. This challenge of faith to Ahaz is beautifully expressed by the poet, thus: Happiest they of human race To whom our God has granted grace To read, to fear, to hope, to pray; To lift the latch and force the way.

It seems that Ahaz silently rejected Jehovah’s proposition of faith. So Jehovah, to give him another chance and to leave him without excuse, offers, through his prophet, to strengthen Ahaz’s faith by means of a sign, allowing him to name the sign to be given. But Ahaz made "a pious dodge" because of his contemplated alliance with Assyria, saying that he would not tempt Jehovah. Then the prophet upbraids the house of David for trying the patience of Jehovah and announces that Jehovah will give a sign anyway, which was the child to be born of a virgin, after which he goes on to show that the whole land shall be made desolate. Jehovah will summons the nations to devastate the land. Then he gives four pictures of its desolation as follows: (1) Flies and bees; (2) the hired razor; (3) one cow and two sheep; (4) briers and thorns.

Signs were of various kinds. They might be actual miracles performed to attest a divine commission (Exodus 4:3-9), or judgments of God, significant of his power of justice (Exodus 10:2), or memorials of something in the past (Exodus 13:9; Exodus 13:16), or pledges of something still future, such as are found in Judges 6:36-40; 2 Kings 20:8-11 et al. The sign here was a pledge of God’s promise to Ahaz of the destruction of Damascus, and Samaria and comes under the last named class. But as to its fulfilment there is much discussion, the most of which we may brush aside as altogether unprofitable. The radical critics contend that Isaiah expected a remarkable deliverer to arise in connection with the Assyrian war and deny that this refers at all to our Lord Jesus Christ. There seems to be no certain or common ground for mediating and conservative critics themselves. There are two main views held: (1) That a child was to be born in the days of Isaiah who was to be a type of the great Immanuel. They say that verses 15-16 favor this view. Now if the birth was to be natural, it seems to have a double sense, or else a very poor type. If there were a miraculous conception of a type of Christ in those days all records have been lost. At least, it is impossible to locate definitely the wonderful person who was to prefigure the real Immanuel. (2) That the reference is solely to the birth of Jesus Christ. But how could this be a sign unto Ahaz? Here we note the fact that this language respecting the sign is addressed to the "house of David" and therefore becomes a sign to the nation rather than to Ahaz alone. The time element of the prophecy hinges on the word, "before." It is literally true that before this child grew to discern good and evil, the land of Damascus and the land of Israel had been laid waste. The text does not say how long before but the word, "before," is used to express the order of events, rather than time immediately before. A good paraphrase of the prophecy would be, “O house of David, I will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel, but before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, Syria and Israel shall be forsaken and Jehovah will bring upon thee, and upon thy people, days unlike any that have come since Ephraim rebelled in the days of Jeroboam." All this took place before the child was born who was to be the sign unto all people, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the idea of Genesis 3:15: "The seed of the woman [not of the man] shall bruise the serpent’s head," and forecasts the doctrine of the incarnation, a doctrine essential to the redemption of the world. Of one thing we may be assured, viz: Never was this prophecy fulfilled until Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary. Of him old Simeon said, "He shall be set for a sign which is spoken against." So we can plant ourselves squarely on Matthew 1:23 and say, "Here is the fulfilment of Isaiah 7:14."

The significance of "the fly," "the bee," "the razor," "the cow and two sheep," and "briers and thorns" is important. The fly is here used to designate the Egyptian army which was loosely organized, something like the looseness with which flies swarm. The bee refers to Assyria whose armies were much better and more compactly organized than the Egyptian army, something like the order with which bees work. The hired razor refers to the king of Assyria, who had been hired, as it were, by Samaria to help them, meaning that this was to be the power by which Jehovah was going to accomplish his work of destruction upon Samaria and Damascus. The "cow and two sheep" signifies the scanty supply of animals left in the land after this desolation which was so clearly foretold. The "briers and thorns" represent the deserted condition of the country, in which the lands that were once tilled and valuable, would then become overgrown with briers and thorns.

There are three subdivisions of the section, Isaiah 8:1-9:7, as follows:

1. The twofold sign of the punishment about to fall upon Damascus and Samaria.

2. The invasion of Judah.

3. Jehovah’s light dispels the darkness.

The twofold sign was the sign of the great tablet and the child’s name, which was intended especially for the doubters and unbelievers in the nation, as the sign, in the preceding chapter, of Immanuel, "God with us," was sufficient for the reassurance of the faithful. This was a sign that would be verified in two or three years and at once placed the king and people on probation, forcing them to raise the question, "Shall we continue to look to Assyria for help, or shall we trust the prophet’s word about Assyria, Rezin, and Pekah?" The writing on the tablet and the child’s name were identical, meaning "Plunder speedeth, spoil hasteth," from which sign and the obligations involved in its verification there was no escape. It was fulfilled in three or four years when Pekah was assassinated and Rezin slain by the king of Assyria.

The prophet describes this invasion as the waters of the Euphrates coming first against Damascus and Samaria because they looked to Rezin and Pekah rather than to Jehovah’s resources for relief, and bursting through them, who had been the breakwater for Judah against this flood, it would sweep on into Judah and overflow it.

Then the prophet (Isaiah 8:9-10) invites the people of the East to make an uproar and to devise all means possible for the destruction of Judah, but it would all come to nought, for God was with his people. Immanuel was their hope and is our hope. As Paul says in Romans 8:31, "If God is for us, who is against us?"

As shown in Isaiah 8:11-15, their real danger was not in invading armies, but in unbelief. Jehovah was to be their dread. He would be their sanctuary, their refuge, if they only believed on him. If not, he became a stone of stumbling or a snare unto them. This thought is amplified in the New Testament in many places (see Luke 2:34; Romans 9:33; 1 Peter 2:8, et al). The meaning of Isaiah 8:16-18, "Bind thou up the testimony, etc.," is Jehovah’s order to Israel to write the prophecy and to tie it up in the roll for the generations of his people to follow. Isaiah then expresses his abiding confidence in his and his children’s mission in being signs in Israel, looking to him for his favor.

The warning and exhortation (Isaiah 8:19-22) were given them in view of their coming troublous times when they would be tempted to turn to other sources of information rather than God’s revelations, which would lead them into greater darkness and confusion. A case of its violation is that of King Saul. When God refused to hear him because of his sin, he sought the witch of Endor, which in the light of this passage illustrates the operations of modern spiritualists.

Across the horrible background of Isaiah 8 the prophet sketches, in startling strokes of light, the image of a coming Redeemer, who brought light, liberty, peace, and joy to his subjects. The New Testament in Matthew 4:15-16, tells us that the light, liberty, peace, and joy of the prophecy were fulfilled in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali when Jesus and his disciples came among the people dwelling around the Sea of Galilee and preached his gospel and healed their sick and delivered their demoniacs. That his gospel was light, a great light. All knowledge is light. Whatsoever maketh manifest is light. And this gospel brought the knowledge of salvation in the remission of their sins. It revealed their relations toward God. It revealed God himself in the face of Jesus Christ. It discovered their sins and brought contrition and repentance. It revealed a sin-cleansing and sin-pardoning Saviour. Its reception brought peace by justification and brought liberty by dispossession of Satan. And with light, liberty, and peace came joy unspeakable.

The central text of this passage is, "For unto us a child is born and unto us a son is given." The "for" refers to the preceding context, which tells us that she who was under gloom shall have no more anguish. That the people who walk in darkness behold a great light. That the land of Zebulun and Naphtali on which divine contempt had been poured is now overflowed with blessings. That with light has come liberty, and with liberty peace, and with peace joy – and the joy of harvest and of victory, for this child is born. The coming of this child is assigned as the reason or cause for all this light, this liberty, this peace, this joy. Marvelous child to be the author of such blessings. Humanity is unquestionably here. It is a child, born of an earthly mother. But mere humanity cannot account for such glorious and eternal results. A mere child could not bear up under the government of the world and establish a kingdom of whose increase there should be no end.

The names ascribed to our Lord in Isaiah 9:6 cannot be Alexander, Caesar, or Bonaparte. Their kingdoms were not of peace, light, joy, and liberty. Their kingdoms perished with themselves. But what is this child’s name? It staggers us to call it: His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace! If this be not divinity, words cannot express it. And if it be divinity as certainly as a "child born" expresses humanity, then well may his name be "Wonderful," for he is God-man. Earth, indeed, furnished his mother, but heaven furnished the sire. And if doubt inquire, how can these things be, it must be literally true as revealed and fulfilled later: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore, also the Holy One who shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."

In particular these names give us the following ideas of him:

1. "Wonderful, Counsellor" indicates the matchless wisdom with which he taught and lived among men. In all that concerns the glory of Jehovah and the welfare of his people, we may rely implicitly on the purposes and plans of this Deliverer.

2. "Mighty God" means the living and true God and refers to his omnipotence in carrying out his plans and purposes. He is not only God, but he is Almighty God, at whose command were the powers of the universe, "head over all things unto the church," making "all things work together for good to them that love God."

3. "Everlasting Father" means "Father of eternity" and refers to his divinity, whose "goings forth are from of old, from everlasting."

4. "Prince of Peace" refers to his mission in the nature of his kingdom. He is not only a mighty hero but his kingdom is a kingdom of peace.

The promise here concerning his kingdom is that it is to be an everlasting kingdom, administered in peace and righteousness (Isaiah 9:6).

The title of section Isaiah 9:8-10:4 is "Jehovah’s hand of judgment," and is suggested from the fact that this section is divided into four paragraphs, or strophes, each one ending with the sad refrain, "For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still," i.e., for further chastisement. The special themes of these four paragraphs, respectively, are as follows:

1. Isaiah 9:8-12, The loss of wealth, followed by repeated invasion.

2. Isaiah 9:13-17, The loss of rulers.

3. Isaiah 9:18-21, The devouring fire of their own sinfulness.

4. Isaiah 10:1-4, A woe unto perverters and their utter helplessness.

The loss of wealth is described in Isaiah 9:8-12. The prophet introduces this section by saying that the Lord had sent word to Jacob and it had lighted up Israel, i.e., this message of destruction was mainly for Israel, who were standing stoutly in the face of God’s chastisements, by substituting one thing for another destroyed by Jehovah. The prophet assures them that God has not exhausted all his means and that he will use Syria and Philistia to complete the work of desolation.

Then the loss of their rulers is described in Isaiah 9:13-17. The prophet introduces this strophe with a complaint that Jehovah’s chastisements had been ineffective in turning Samaria to himself. Then he goes on to show that Jehovah would cut off from Israel the head, i.e., the elder, and the tail, i.e., the lying prophet; that he would destroy all without mercy because they were all profane.

The devouring fire of their own sinfulness follows in Isaiah 9:18-21. The prophet here likens wickedness unto a devouring fire, which devours briers and thorns, then breaks out in the forests and rolls up its column of smoke. A very impressive picture of the course and penalty of wickedness, as it goes on to full fruitage in its destruction of those who practice it, until without discrimination it devours alike the neighbor and the kinsman.

In Isaiah 10:1-4 the prophet brings a heavy charge against this class, that they rob the poor and needy, and devour widows’ houses, making them their prey. What a picture of perverted justice! Because of this awful corruption there will be no hope for them before the enemy in the day of Jehovah’s visitation and desolation. They shall bow down under the prisoners and fall under the slain. A graphic description of their humiliation is this, yet, "For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." A sad wail and a gloomy picture from which we joyfully turn to another section of the book, in which we have the enemies of Jehovah’s people brought low and the true Israel of God exalted. But this will follow in the next chapter.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the title of Isaiah 7-12 in the outline and why is it so called?

2. What is the outline of this division?

3. What is the items of information in the historical introduction?

4. Give an account of the first meeting with Ahaz and the message of the prophet in connection with it.

5. Give an account of the second meeting with Ahaz and the message of the prophet in connection with it.

6. What is the meaning of Jehovah’s sign to Ahaz and when was the prophecy of this sign fulfilled?

7. What is the significance of "the fly," "the bee," "the razor," "the cow and two sheep," and "briers and thorns"?

8. What are the three subdivisions of Isaiah 8:1-9:7?

9. What is the twofold sign of the punishment about to fall upon Damascus and Samaria and what the significance of it?

10. Describe the picture of the Assyrian invasion as given here by the prophet in Isaiah 8:5-8.

11. What hope of defense against this invading power does the prophet hold out to Judah in Isaiah 8:9-10?

12. In what was their real danger as shown in Isaiah 8:11-15?

13. What was the meaning of Isaiah 8:16-18, "Bind thou up the testimony, etc."?

14. What is the special pertinency of the exhortation of’ Isaiah respecting familiar spirits in Isaiah 8:19-22 and what Old Testament example of the violation of its teaching?

15. What is the fulfilment and interpretation of the great messianic prophecy in Isaiah 9:1-7?

16. What are the names ascribed to our Lord in Isaiah 9:6 and what the significance of them in general and in particular?

17. What promise here concerning his kingdom?

18. What is the title of section Isaiah 9:8-10:4 and what suggests it?

19. What are the special themes of each of these four paragraphs?

20. How is the loss of wealth in Isaiah 9:8-12 described?

21. How is the loss of their rulers in Isaiah 9:13-17 described?

22. How is the devouring fire of their own sinfulness in Isaiah 9:18-21 described?

23. How is the woe against perverters of righteousness in Isaiah 10:1-4 here described?