Isaiah 7:13-25

In the first half of Isaiah 7, the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Aram planned to invade and overthrow King Ahaz, the young new Judean king in Jerusalem. 

In response, Yahweh sent Isaiah to Ahaz to strengthen his faith. Through Isaiah, God told Ahaz to ask for any sign he wanted from Him so God could prove to Ahaz that He would protect Jerusalem.

But Ahaz turned him down. This generous offer was too much for Ahaz because he didn’t want to bind himself to Yahweh by making such a request. He preferred depending on Assyria rather than Yahweh.  

God responds in verse 13, rebuking the entire house of David, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?” By ignoring God’s prophet, they were really ignoring God Himself. 

In judgment of Ahaz's rejection, God gives a promise in verse 14 and a penalty in verses 15-25.

God's promise is to give a sign for future descendants of David: a virgin will have a son named “God with us” (14). The boy will “refuse evil and choose good”, unlike King Ahaz, who has clearly chosen evil over good in this chapter (15-16). We know this boy because He grew up to die for our sins and rule the world. He is Jesus, the sinless King of Israel. No other human being in the world ever "refused evil and chose good" like Him. And no birth was a clearer sign of God's presence with His people.

But the penalty is shown in the fact that the boy will grow up eating curds and honey (15), meaning the boy will grow up in a time when Judah is  economically weak after being destroyed and occupied by its enemies (repeated in 7:21-23). In addition to Judah being conquered, in verse 16, God adds that the two nations Ahaz feared, Aram and Israel, will be destroyed.

Like clockwork, God fulfilled His promise to allow Assyria to devastate these nations. After this prophecy was given around 734 BC, the Kingdom of Aram fell in 732 BC, Israel fell in 722 BC, and Judah was devastated in 701 BC. 

Finally, in verses 17-25, God describes the decline of the Kingdom of Judah. Verse 17 states, “Yahweh will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house days which have never come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah—the king of Assyria!”  Just 33 years later, Sennacherib, the King of Assyria, would fulfill this prophecy with a devastating campaign through Judah against Ahaz's son, Hezekiah.

The final verses of chapter 7 describe a long period of Judah’s decline after Assyria's first attack:

- Egypt and Assyria will devastate Judah for a long period (18-20).

- Judah’s herds will graze on the devastated countryside producing more milk than the decimated population can drink (21-22).

- Briars and thorns will replace formerly cultivated areas, leaving only hunting and pastureland (23-25).

The lesson is clear: God is always gracious, so trust Him to take care of you. 

Even when Ahaz rejected Him, God didn’t end His covenant with David or Israel. Instead, He allows Ahaz and the nation to go the way of the prodigal son and suffer the misery sin brings with it. But the promise remains: God will send His perfect King one day to rule a repentant Israel in total righteousness.

As Christians in the age of social media, web searches, and artificial intelligence, it’s easy to be like Ahaz and face hardship depending primarily on the world and its resources. But as powerful as our technology is, it is not sufficient for us because it’s still just the work of human hands.

God sovereignly gives us trials to conform us to the image of His Son. When we go through difficulty, our habit should be seeking to glorify Him in all areas of our lives by giving Him our concerns in prayer, by applying His word in the way we live, and by trusting His plan for us.

Pastor David