Part Two Choosing Whom to Trust (7 37)€¦ · Whom Will You Trust? – 7 – 39 •Contains...

Isaiah Part Two

Choosing Whom to Trust (7 – 37)

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Whom Will You Trust? – 7 – 39

• Contains several chapters on why they cannot rely on the nations around them rather than God – chapters 13-35

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• Begins with a king who has to make a decision whom to trust – chapters 7-12

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• Begins with a king who has to make a decision whom to trust – chapters 7-12

• Ends with a king who has to make a decision whom to trust – chapters 36-39

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Four Sons as Signs – 7:1 – 9:7

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Shear-ja-shub A-Remnant-Shall-Return


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Immanu-el God-With-Us


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Maher-shalal-hash-baz Speeding-to-the-Spoil-Hurrying-to-the-Plunder


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Maher-shalal-hash-baz Speeding-to-the-Spoil-Hurrying-to-the-Plunder

Pele-yoets, el-gibbor, abi-ad, sar-shalom

Wonderful-Counselor-Mighty-God-Everlasting-Father-Prince-of-Peace

The Plot Against Ahaz – 7:1

• Ahaz was the son and grandson of two good kings – Uzziah and Jotham – 2 Kg 15:34

• He should have had the kind of faith that Timothy got from godly parents and grandparents – 2 Tim 1:5

• As he is faced with a decision, we’ll see the outcome.

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• Tiglath-Pileser III ruled cruel and powerful Assyria – Two kings pay tribute

• Rezin, king of Aram (Damascus)

• Menahem, king of Israel (Ephraim, Samaria)

– The kings in Israel change • Menahem dies and Pekahiah becomes king

• Anti-Assyrian forces assassinate him and Pekah becomes king -- ca 735

– Rezin forms a coalition against Assyria

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The Plot Against Ahaz – 7:1-2

• Rezin and Pekah’s plan

– Force Judah to join the coalition

– Judah suffered a huge defeat (2 Chron 28:6)

• The reason? Ahaz’s evil (2 Chron 28:19)

• The prophet Oded had Israel release the captives

• Apparently Rezin decided to try again, but this time set up their own king over Judah

– Called the Syro-Ephramite War

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• Three important things to understand

– If Judah allied with Assyria, they must both pay tribute and worship the Assyrian gods

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– Assyria was going to come against Damascus and Samaria anyway regardless of what Ahaz did

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– Assyria was going to come against Damascus and Samaria anyway regardless of what Ahaz did

– God was a trustworthy help; Assyria was the most untrustworthy ally

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The Response of the House of David – 7:2

• Ahaz had reason for confidence since he was of the house of David (2 Sam 7:16)

• Yet he was terrified

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God’s Message to Ahaz – 7:3-7

• Isaiah takes God’s message to Ahaz

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• God had him take along his son A-REMNANT-SHALL-RETURN (Shear-jashub)

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• The name is a warning; Assyria will not help without expecting something in return

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• Because of his fear, Ahaz ignored the warning

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• Because of his fear, Ahaz ignored the warning

• Isaiah – Rezin and Pekah are only smoking firebrands

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A Six-Line Poem – 7:8-9

The head of Aram is Damascus. The head of Damascus is only Rezin.

Within 65 years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.

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A Six-Line Poem – 7:8-9

The head of Aram is Damascus. The head of Damascus is only Rezin.

Within 65 years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.

The head of Ephraim is Samaria. The head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.

If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.

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The Message of 7:9c

Hebrew word play

If you do not believe (tha’aminu), You will not be established (the’amenu)

Attempts at English translations

If you do not stand firm, you will not stand at all. If you do not stand firm, you will lose your firm

stand. If there is no belief, you’ll find no relief. Trust or bust.

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The Outcome

• Tiglath-Pileser III invaded Aram and Ephraim. – Destroyed Damascus and killed Rezin

– Hoshea killed Pekah, became king of Samaria, and sought peace with Assyria

• The rest of the story – Hoshea was a traitor who asked Egypt for help

– Egypt destroyed Samaria

– The people were deported and colonies of foreigners were planted.

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The Outcome

• Tiglath-Pileser III invaded Aram and Ephraim. – Destroyed Damascus and killed Rezin

– Hoshea killed Pekah, became king of Samaria, and sought peace with Assyria

• The rest of the story – Hoshea was a traitor who asked Egypt for help

– Egypt destroyed Samaria

– The people were deported and colonies of foreigners were planted.

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God’s Message to Ahaz

• The name A-REMANT-SHALL-RETURN (Shear-jashub) is a warning to Ahaz

• Be calm and have no fear (7:4)

• What these two kings plan will not happen (7:7)

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Son #2: God-with-Us (Immanu-el)

• God offers to let Ahaz choose a sign – 7:10-11

• Ahaz’s (seemingly) pious reply – I will not put God to the test – 7:12

• Isaiah exposes Ahaz’s reply as hypocrisy – 7:13

– Ahaz is not acting like the house of David

– Isaiah’s statement to him “Your God” (v 10) has now become “My God” (v 13)

– Isaiah is acknowledging that Ahaz has rejected God

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The Sign of God-with-Us – 7:14-16

• God will give you a sign anyway

• A young woman of marriageable age (virgin) and her son Immanu-el

• By the time he knows good from bad, the land of Rezin and Pekah will be laid waste

• That will tell you that you can depend on God, and that you should have depended on him all along

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Isaiah’s Use of the Prophecy

• Commentators in the past have argued that Isaiah used a more general word than the one that specifically meant virgin

• Some commentators today make a good case that the words are not that different in meaning

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Matthew’s Use of the Prophecy

• Prophecies often have double fulfillments – Hosea 11:1 in its original context referred to Israel

– Matt 2:15 said it was fulfilled in Jesus

• We do not know who the young woman was in Isaiah’s day, though some say it is Isaiah’s son

• What matters is that the events that happened at specific times in his life sent a message that Ahaz should trust God

• The GOD-WITH-US (Jesus) of Matthew’s day sends us that same message – we can and should trust God

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A Close Shave – 7:17-25

• Whatever you trust in place of God will one day devour you

• Ahaz refused to trust God – 2 Chron 28:22-23

• A clean shave with a razor named Assyria

– Heads shaved were a mark of shame

– More than their heads would be shaved

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How All This Turned Out

• Assyria takes care of the threat

– Assyria killed Rezin and destroyed Babylon – An Israelite named Hoshea assassinated Pekah and made

peace with Babylon

• Ahaz had to worship Assyrian gods and he imported more idol worship from Damascus

• Ephraim was finally destroyed

– Hoshea rebelled and Assyria conquered him – The northern kingdom no longer existed – People were taken away and foreign colonists settled in

the land

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peace with Babylon




the land

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peace with Babylon




the land

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peace with Babylon




the land

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peace with Babylon




the land

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Assignments for This Week

Read Isaiah 7:1 – 10:4

Read 2 Chronicles 28

Read 2 Kings 15:17 – 17:41

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Part Two Choosing Whom to Trust (7 37)€¦ · Whom Will You Trust? – 7 – 39 •Contains...

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