A Tale Of Two Different Babies (Isaiah 7) Series

A Tale of Two Different Babies (Isaiah 7)

(Full disclosure: some of this material comes from a message preached by Dr. Tim Faber at a church near Eldon, MO around 2014. He gave me permission to use material from that message. Some of this message is also based on a sermon preached Sunday evening, 12-22-2024 at New Hope Baptist Church in Fulton, MO.).

Introduction: A long time ago, I remember a saying: “When the outlook is dark, try the up-look!” The nation of Judah and Ahaz, king at the time, had the chance to ask the LORD God of Israel for just about any kind of sign or confirmation—but he didn’t. As a result, the LORD promised to give Ahaz a sign that he couldn’t forget.

1 The Problem Facing Ahaz

Text: Isaiah 7:1-2, KJV: 1 And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. 2 And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.

The conditions facing Judah (the southern kingdom) were severe. Judah and Benjamin, plus the descendants of those who fled the ten northern tribes years ago, were pretty much alone against a two-nation allied fighting force. As an aside, most of the troubles Israel (united or divided) faced were from or caused by their cousins! Looking back at Genesis 10:21-31, note the names of each of Shem’s five sons. Elam became the ancestor of the Persians or Elamites; Asshur, the Assyrians and perhaps Babylonians; Arphaxad, the ancestor of Eber and the Hebrews; Lud and his descendants are seldom if ever mentioned elsewhere and Aram, the youngest, became the ancestor of the Arameans or Syrians (translations and renderings vary).

I mean, can you imagine what must have happened after a generation or two of these children growing up and hearing Asshur say, “I’m going to conquer the world!” and Aram saying, “Ah, not so fast, brother; you’ll have to come through my land first!” Elam would look on and say, “That’s not happening, either—just wait till you see what me and cousin Madai can do (Madai, as some think, became the ancestor of the Medes)! The Medes and Persians did indeed unite and controlled a LOT of territory, including the land of their own brothers and cousins! But that was before another grandson of Japheth, Dodanim (also called Rodanim) was the father of the Macedonians. One of his long-in-the-future descendants was a young lad named Alexander and, as they say, the rest is history. But I digress.

Ahaz might have been thinking, “It’s déjà vu all over again” when he heard the news of the joint Syrian-Israelite force marching his way. We’re not told how many men were in that combined army, but most likely, those two kings were not planning to lose. No doubt Ahaz had heard that about 60 years before, his great-grandfather Amaziah had (foolishly) challenged Joash, king of the northern tribes, to a contest. Joash said, in so many words, “Why do you want to fight and lose to me?” but Amaziah didn’t listen. Judah paid dearly for this challenge/battle. Read 2 Kings 14:8-14 and 2 Chronicles 25:17-24 to get a summary of what happened during and afterwards Amaziah’s reckless challenge.

This campaign or “Battle of Jerusalem” as some might call it, though, did have two effects on the parties involved. First, even though Ahaz was an ungodly king (2 Kings 16:1-4), the LORD still protected Jerusalem. The proof is that the enemy forces “could not prevail against” the city. At the very least, this implies there were some righteous men, in addition to Isaiah the prophet, who must have been praying to the LORD about this situation.

The second was that the hearts of Ahaz and many of the people were so scared that they were “moved . . . as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.” Anyone who has seen fully-grown trees swaying in a strong wind would understand this! This development is frightening!

But the LORD wasn’t about to let anything happen to Jerusalem at this time. He had a message which Isaiah received, and, in turn, Isaiah gave this message to Ahaz. Let’s look at this.

2 The Promise Ahaz Received

Text, Isaiah 7:3-9, KJV: 3 Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field; 4 And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, 6 Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal: 7 Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. 8 For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. 9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.