71 Now it came about in the days of Ahaz , the son of Jotham , the son of Uzziah , king of Judah , that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah , king of Israel , went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer e it. 2 When it was reported to the house of David , saying , "The Arameans have camped in Ephraim ," his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind . 3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah , "Go out now to meet Ahaz , you and your son Shear-jashub , at the end of the conduit of the upper pool , on the highway to the fuller's field , 4 and say to him, 'Take care and be calm , have no fear and do not be fainthearted e because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands , on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah . 5 'Because e Aram , with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah , has planned evil against you, saying , 6 "Let us go up against Judah and terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it," 7 thus says the Lord GOD : " It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass . 8 "For the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 e years Ephraim will be shattered , so that it is no longer a people ), 9 and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah . If you will not believe , you surely shall not last .""'
10 Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz , saying , 11 "Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God ; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven ." 12 But Ahaz said , "I will not ask , nor will I test the Lord !" 13 Then he said , "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 ? 14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign : Behold , a virgin will be with child and bear a son , and she will call His name Immanuel . 15 "He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good . 16 " For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good , the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken .
17 "The Lord will bring on you, on your people , and on your father's house such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah , the king of Assyria ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 7:1-17
Commentary on Isaiah 7:1-9
(Read Isaiah 7:1-9)
Ungodly men are often punished by others as bad as themselves. Being in great distress and confusion, the Jews gave up all for lost. They had made God their enemy, and knew not how to make him their friend. The prophet must teach them to despise their enemies, in faith and dependence on God. Ahaz, in fear, called them two powerful princes. No, says the prophet, they are but tails of smoking firebrands, burnt out already. The two kingdoms of Syria and Israel were nearly expiring. While God has work for the firebrands of the earth, they consume all before them; but when their work is fulfilled, they will be extinguished in smoke. That which Ahaz thought most formidable, is made the ground of their defeat; because they have taken evil counsel against thee; which is an offence to God. God scorns the scorners, and gives his word that the attempt should not succeed. Man purposes, but God disposes. It was folly for those to be trying to ruin their neighbours, who were themselves near to ruin. Isaiah must urge the Jews to rely on the assurances given them. Faith is absolutely necessary to quiet and compose the mind in trials.
Commentary on Isaiah 7:10-16
(Read Isaiah 7:10-16)
Secret disaffection to God is often disguised with the colour of respect to him; and those who are resolved that they will not trust God, yet pretend they will not tempt him. The prophet reproved Ahaz and his court, for the little value they had for Divine revelation. Nothing is more grievous to God than distrust, but the unbelief of man shall not make the promise of God of no effect; the Lord himself shall give a sign. How great soever your distress and danger, of you the Messiah is to be born, and you cannot be destroyed while that blessing is in you. It shall be brought to pass in a glorious manner; and the strongest consolations in time of trouble are derived from Christ, our relation to him, our interest in him, our expectations of him and from him. He would grow up like other children, by the use of the diet of those countries; but he would, unlike other children, uniformly refuse the evil and choose the good. And although his birth would be by the power of the Holy Ghost, yet he should not be fed with angels' food. Then follows a sign of the speedy destruction of the princes, now a terror to Judah. "Before this child," so it may be read; "this child which I have now in my arms," (Shear-jashub, the prophet's own son, verse 3,) shall be three or four years older, these enemies' forces shall be forsaken of both their kings. The prophecy is so solemn, the sign is so marked, as given by God himself after Ahaz rejected the offer, that it must have raised hopes far beyond what the present occasion suggested. And, if the prospect of the coming of the Divine Saviour was a never-failing support to the hopes of ancient believers, what cause have we to be thankful that the Word was made flesh! May we trust in and love Him, and copy his example.
Commentary on Isaiah 7:17-25
(Read Isaiah 7:17-25)
Let those who will not believe the promises of God, expect to hear the alarms of his threatenings; for who can resist or escape his judgments? The Lord shall sweep all away; and whomsoever he employs in any service for him, he will pay. All speaks a sad change of the face of that pleasant land. But what melancholy change is there, which sin will not make with a people? Agriculture would cease. Sorrows of every kind will come upon all who neglect the great salvation. If we remain unfruitful under the means of grace, the Lord will say, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth for ever.