Page 20 - Isaiah Student Worktext

That’s where we are in the beginning of Chapter 7. The king of Israel allied with Rezin, the king of Syria,
a perennial enemy, to go against Jerusalem, which is Judah.

It’s bad enough to have your country split, but for one side ally itself against the other side with one of
your greatest enemies was truly a bad deal.

In all this, there is no indication that either side ever thought to seek the counsel of the Lord, rather they
trusted in their military might.

V. 3-4 Ahaz was the king of Judah, and he is described in other scripture as an evil king. He was near the
aqueduct in these verses, which was a technological marvel of the time, used to transport water from
the hills to the city. He was probably seeking to secure it because cutting the flow of water off would
have been a deadly blow to Jerusalem.

God sent Isaiah to him, along with Isaiah’s son, Shear-Jashub, which means ‘a remnant will return’.

Names carried greater significance then, so imagine Isaiah introducing his son to Ahaz: ‘this is a remnant
will return’. A promise from God contained in the name of Isaiah’s son.

A Fuller’s Field was a source of clay used for pottery.

The message Isaiah carried told Ahaz not to fear these two ‘smoking firebrands’, Israel and Syria.

We say that where there is smoke there is fire, but we also talk about smoke screens. Smoke drifts
away, and God’s promise through His prophet is that there is no substance to this attack.

In V. 5-6, Isaiah verifies that there will indeed be an attempt and that they are coming up ‘against
Judah’. There’s an important lesson here: Ahaz was evil, and yet God protected, not necessarily him,
but the people of Judah.

V. 7-9 Here’s the simple message: This invasion, this attack from Israel and Syria shall not stand. Nor
shall it come to pass.

I think back over 50 years ago when Egypt led most of the nations of the Middle East against Israel in
what we know as the Six Day War. Israel’s forces were outnumbered at least 5 to 1, but in a matter of 6
days, Israel prevailed. They were told, very dramatically, that this attack shall not stand, nor shall it
come to pass.

Many of us have a testimony no doubt of times when the odds were stacked against us and yet God
gave peace in the way that only He can.

V. 10-11 First of all, remember that Ahaz was an evil king, and yet God communicated with him and
offered him encouragement.

We have scripture telling us that some characters of the OT asked for a sign, but as far as I know, this is
the only one where God specifically instructed someone to ask for a sign.

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