In Isaiah 7, we are introduced to more of the historical details regarding the context that Isaiah was called to minister in the name of the LORD. It is the last years of the northern kingdom of Israel’s existence (735 B.C.). The small nations of Israel and Aram are feeling the threat of invasion from the superpower of Assyria. Pekah and Rezin, the kings of Israel and Aram, sought to bolster their defences by invading the southern kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 16:1-6, Isaiah 7:1,2). Their plans were to replace its Davidic King, Ahaz, with their own king, a man referred to as the son of Tabeel (Is. 7:6).

Forget God’s Promises At Your Own Peril

Isaiah is called by the LORD to meet King Ahaz and give him the encouraging word that if he trusts the promises of God, he has nothing to worry regarding the threat of Aram and Israel ( Is. 7:3-10). Ahaz is a King from David’s line, and the LORD had given the promise to David, through the Prophet Samuel many years before, that the Lord would never remove the dynasty from the family of David (2 Samuel 7:11b-16).

It is this divine commitment and prerogative for the Jewish King always to be from David’s line that causes the LORD to not even to refer to Pekah’s name when He gives His prophetic word to Isaiah. Three times He refers to Pekah, and each time the LORD refers to him as Remaliah’s son (Is. 7:4,5,9). As king of the northern kingdom of Israel, Pekah should have known and respected that it was the LORD’s will for Judah to always have a king from David’s line. But Pekah despises the LORD and His word, so the LORD doesn’t even acknowledge Pekah by name. Even the proposed new king of Judah, that Pekah and Rezin want to usurp the Davidic throne with, is not even named. He is called the son of Tabeel (Is. 7:6). This is no accident. You deeply dishonor the LORD and He will not accord you respect before others.

Ahaz ends up not trusting the LORD’s promise (Is. 7:12-13), and sets the southern kingdom and the earthly Davidic line of kings on a perilous course, which will result in their eventual exile. To fully understand Ahaz’ response to Isaiah’s words, we need to read 2 Kings 16:7-14. Even before Isaiah met him, it seems that King Ahaz had already decided that he was going to trust Assyria. He was going to place his lot for deliverance from Israel and Aram on Assyrian military strength. In 2 Kings 16, we read that this political alliance with Assyrian’s king also had religious stipulations. They ended up building an altar to the Assyrian gods right in the Jerusalem Temple, right beside the LORD’s altar (2 Kings 16:10-16).

Whom Will You Trust?

King Ahaz made the fateful choice of trusting man more than the LORD. The LORD ends up prophesying through Isaiah that the northern kingdom of Israel and Aram would be destroyed in short order by the Assyrians (Is. 7:16-17), and that eventually the Assyrians would seriously weaken the southern kingdom of Judah. Much of the last half of Isaiah 7 and Isaiah 8 is filled with this grim news from the LORD. It’s a hard lesson for God’s people to learn: whatever you trust, in place of the LORD, will eventually cause your destruction. God’s “people rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah”, therefore God is going to bring the mighty floodwaters of the Assyrian king, against Israel and Aram, and even to the doorsteps of Judah (Is. 8:5-8).

With the failure of Ahaz, the earthly line of the Davidic kings have reached a seemingly dead end. Yes, there will be more kings in Judah before their exile at the hands of the Babylonians down the road. But it is quite evident that they will not usher in a messianic age in which the knowledge of the LORD fills the earth (Is. 11:9). Someone more is required to sit on the throne of Israel in order for the Abrahamic promises to bless the whole world to be fulfilled (Gen. 12:1-3). It is no accident that at this point in Isaiah’s great vision of a new world, that he begins prophesying of a Davidic king that will not only be human but divine, as well. He is called Immanuel, ‘God with us’ (Is. 7:14), and the great Christmas passage in Isaiah 9:2-7 is given. Let me quote the last 2 verses of that passage:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

The LORD is longsuffering and faithful to all His promises. It will be the faithfulness of the crucified and risen Christ/Messiah Jesus that will serve as the basis of blessing the world through Abraham’s descendants. It will take a new covenant with both Jew and Gentile through Jesus to fill the whole world with the knowledge of the LORD.

The LORD will use even the idolatry and misplaced trust of people like King Ahaz to accomplish His promises for the world. In the midst of judgment, He extends mercy and hope. As we read these chapters in Isaiah, many in Israel and Judah ended up being destroyed by their idols. Remember Jesus’ words: “Live by the sword, die by the sword“. But to those who repented of their sins and turned to the LORD, they found forgiveness and hope, even as their nation entered the deep night of apostasy.

QOTD: Are you placing your ultimate security and pleasure in the LORD or in something or someone else?