1. Signs of God's presence 7:1-9:7

A unifying theme in this subsection is children. The children were understandably a major concern of the Israelites threatened as they were with invasion. However, the children also embodied qualities that the adult Israelites needed to adopt to survive, such as innocence, trust, and acknowledged weakness. Indeed, a child promised in this passage, Jesus, would eventually save them.

 The command to trust God 7:1-9

This introductory segment provides the basic information about the historical situation that Judah faced plus God's command concerning that situation. Would King Ahaz face his threat from God's perspective or from man's? Would he trust in Yahweh or in soldiers? Would he exercise faith or resort to works?

7:1 King Ahaz, the grandson of King Uzziah (6:1), reigned in Judah from 735-715 B.C. altogether. Early in his reign King Rezin of Syria (Aram) and King Pekah of Israel allied against him (see 2 Kings 15:37; 16:5, 10-18; 2 Chron. 28:22-24).⁸⁴They attacked Jerusalem to force Ahaz and Judah to ally with them against Assyria, which was growing stronger in the northeast and threatening to annihilate them (2 Kings 15:37).⁸⁵God protected Jerusalem, and this dual enemy could not force Judah into a treaty. This verse summarizes the attack, and the following verses give more details about it.⁸⁶

7:2 When Ahaz ("the house of David"of all people!) heard that Syria had moved its army into the Northern Kingdom (Ephraim) and had settled down there, he and his people shook with fear.⁸⁷Ahaz had previously suffered defeat at the hands of both these enemies (2 Chron. 28:5-8). Edom and Philistia were also threatening Judah at this time (2 Chron. 28:17-18). What Ahaz would do would affect the future of his dynasty, the house of David.

7:3 God instructed Isaiah to take his son Shearjashub (a remnant shall return; cf. 6:13) and meet Ahaz at a strategic water source for Jerusalem, which Ahaz was apparently examining.⁸⁸Shearjashub's presence may have been designed to encourage Ahaz to believe that his enemy would not destroy Judah completely even though they had already defeated him previously (cf. v. 4). Still the mention of only a remnant returning was sobering. This was the very spot on which Sennacherib's field commander later stood to hurl insults at Hezekiah (36:2), the fulfillment of Isaiah's prediction of an Assyrian attack.

7:4-6 Yahweh instructed His prophet to assure the king not to fear his enemies (cf. Deut. 31:6-7; Josh. 1:6-9). They had been firebrands, but now they were only smoldering embers. Their threats of breaching Jerusalem's walls, terminating Ahaz's dynasty, and setting up a puppet ruler would come to nothing. Isaiah's references to Remaliah and Tabeel encouraged Ahaz to think about his own dynasty.

7:7-9 In contrast to what the two enemy kings said (v. 6), the sovereign God assured Ahaz that the evil that Judah's enemies had planned for her would not materialize. By pointing out that the head of Syria was Damascus and the head of Damascus was Rezin, God was contrasting the limited sovereignty of Rezin with His own. This is also the point of His reference to the son of Remaliah being over Samaria, which was Ephraim's capital.⁸⁹God promised that Israel would not be a people (would be destroyed as a nation) within 65 years. The Northern Kingdom suffered defeat in 722 B.C., only about 13 years from then. However in 671 B.C., about 62 years after this prophecy, King Esarhaddon began importing foreign settlers into the former Northern Kingdom that made return and resettlement there impossible (cf. 2 Kings. 17:24; 2 Chron. 33:11; Ezra 4:2, 10).

Ahaz's responsibility, and the responsibility of all who heard this prophecy (the "you"is plural), especially the government leaders, was to believe this promise of God and to trust Him. If they would not believe it, they would not last.

"Only through trusting in the present and ultimate veracity of God is any real security possible."⁹⁰

 Ahaz and Judah's test 7:10-8:10

Now Ahaz had to make a decision. Would he trust that God was with him and would protect Jerusalem, or would he reject God's promise and try to establish security another way?

 Clarification of the issue 8:11-9:7

Having received two signs of God's dealing with them in the immediate crisis that they faced plus accompanying warnings, the people of Judah next received additional incentives to trust Yahweh.