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.
We’re not told exactly when the LORD gave this message to Isaiah but it was after Ahaz heard that his enemies were on the march against Jerusalem. Verse 2 ended with the idea that not just Ahaz but a lot of other people were terrified, like trees blowing in the wind. Anyone who’s ever seen or experienced a strong windstorm knows this. It’s one thing to see leaves or branches blowing in the wind—even a gentle breeze could do this—but to see trees, themselves, swaying back and forth is much different.
Now Isaiah and his son, Shear-jashub (translated, Shear-jashub means “a remnant will return:, according to https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7610.htm) went to meet Ahaz. Apparently this meeting took place outside the city walls near a\the fuller’s field (a fuller did laundry). First, notice the four similar commands Isaiah was to give Ahaz:
--Take heed, or pay attention to what I’m going to tell you;
--Be quiet, or listen to what I have to say;
--Fear not, or stop being afraid (remember, Ahaz and others were “scared half to death” as a lot of people used to say. Some have observed that there “fear not” or similar words are found 365 times in the Bible, or one for every day of the year! I have not personally checked this but at any rate, when the Lord speaks “fear not”, it’s always a comfort to me.
--And, the last, Neither be faint hearted. Then the LORD goes on to say that Rezin and Pekah (whose name the LORD never used in this passage) were two tails of two smoking firebrands. This may mean that their “power” was just about gone. Another picture is like trying to start a new fire with dying embers. Commentaries would provide more information.
Then after these words, the LORD gave a prophecy through Isaiah’s message. Part of it was that even though Rezin and Pekah had declared war on Judah, and had plans to install another (puppet?) king in place of Ahaz, none of that was going to happen! Even more, the LORD said for certain that within 65 years, Ephraim (Israel, the northern tribes) would be “broken, [and] not a people”. Indeed, the Assyrians came and carried a good number of the northerners captive to various lands near Assyria (2 Kings 17, also https://www.worldhistory.org/Sargon_II/).
With all that said, the LORD closed that message by saying, “If you won’t believe it, you surely won’t be established.”. I myself wasn’t sure what this means, but some of the commentators have thoughts. Ellicott’s commentary (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ellicott/isaiah/7.htm) suggests Ahaz may have been “incredulous (the LORD really means this?”). Adam Clarke’s commentary (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/clarke/isaiah/7.htm) notes that unless all Judah (not just Ahaz, note the plural or “ye” in the verse) believes this prophecy, the same thing will happen to you. Matthew Poole’s commentary has similar content (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/poole/isaiah/7.htm).
Once again, we’re not given Ahaz’ s reaction to this message. Clearly he didn’t totally believe it because the LORD gave him an incredible opportunity, something few people have ever had.
3 The Prediction Ahaz Rejected
Text, Isaiah 7:10-16, KJV: 10 Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, 11 Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. 12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. 13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. 16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
I have to ask, how many of us have ever received a blank check? I mean, one where the check is made out to you, signed by the account holder, but there is no specified amount? There has been a time or two when I’ve been asked to provide one of these (don’t ask by whom) but that request went absolutely nowhere!
But Ahaz was one of the few people in history who had, not only a direct message from the LORD, but also a chance to ask for absolutely anything! The only other person in Scripture who I can think of to get a blank check like that was Solomon. You remember the story; Solomon had not been king of Israel for very long when the LORD appeared to him in a dream and asked Solomon, “What shall I give you?” Solomon simply asked for wisdom and knowledge so that he could be a good judge (and king) of all Israel—and the LORD honored that request, plus He gave Solomon a lot more (2 Chronicles 1:7-13). We still read Solomon’s wisdom even today.
Now how many of us have walked away or rejected a promise or premise like this? I can’t think of very many, but no doubt there were some or more who have. And Ahaz falls into this group. Even when he heard the LORD’s offer of “ask Me anything”, he put on his (hypocritical?) face and said, “I will not ask (anything), and I will not put the LORD to the test!” Okay, maybe he knew or at least recalled Deuteronomy 6:16 (you shall not tempt the LORD thy God”, but this was not a test of the LORD.
It was a test for Ahaz! Even though Ahaz worshipped false gods and idols the LORD God of Israel still loved and cared for him. For Ahaz to insult God to His face is not something I would be proud of and to this day I wonder what in the world Ahaz was thinking.
We do know what God was thinking, though, and that was to prove to Ahaz that He, as the LORD God of Israel was in control—not Ahaz, not Rezin and Pekah, and clearly not the idols Ahaz was worshiping. We can see this through the prediction that God was making, and something Ahaz had no control over in any way whatsoever.
The prediction, two-fold in nature, was just this: a virgin was going to conceive and have a son who would be named Immanuel. Let me say this, much has been written about the word Isaiah used for “virgin” in this verse. To paraphrase the late Dr. Cliff Marquardt of Tri-State Bible College in South Point, Ohio, Isaiah said this “virgin” was, in Hebrew, an “almah”, which could be used in the identifying sense (a girl old enough to marry but had never “known” a man) or in the ironic sense—he explained that an “almah” could be an immoral girl, but never was an “almah” a married woman. There is another word for “virgin”, in Hebrew, which is “bethulah” and the lexicons can give a lot more information than I can.
So that was the first part of the sign to Ahaz, a marriage-aged virgin would conceive and bear a son, and this baby boy would be named “Immanuel” which means “God with us”. But there’s more to this prediction: Isaiah said Immanuel would eat butter (curdled milk or curds, according to https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2529.htm, and honey. I’ve read in a few places that honey is one of the most perfect foods ever given to men (even if the bees don’t like us taking it from them, but I digress). Some have said that if honey was good enough for John the Baptist and Samson then it was good enough for them, too!
And as for curds: that may have been a baby food in those days but I can’t say for sure. At the very least, the baby would have to be old enough for his or her digestive system to handle it. Those of us who are parents know that each child is unique and can handle more or less solid foods at different times. One of my own children, as young as six months of age, loved mashed potatoes and gravy! But our youngest grandson, just three months old at this time (born 10/24), can’t possibly handle much of anything besides milk. Our other three grandsons all want to hold him, and feed him. Well, the youngest can handle the holding but the food—not so much, especially when his mother gives them THE LOOK (most of us understand this!).
All of these details, the fact of the birth, the baby’s name, and what the baby would eat, were all part of the prediction which Ahaz rejected. Tucked away at the end of verse 16 is the greatest promise of this whole prediction, namely, that before Immanuel, the yet-to-be-born baby in Ahaz’s time would know to choose between evil and good, both kings (Rezin and Pekah) would, if I read the text correctly, be removed from their thrones.
The remainder of chapter 7 has more of this prediction—not that it concerns the baby, but that it does concern Judah and Jerusalem. Ahaz had appealed to the king of Assyria for help (2 Chronicles 28:16-21) but that didn’t work. Judah was in trouble and the LORD disciplined them, as He had several times in the past, because they were as a whole unfaithful.
Even so, there’s more to the story. There’s another baby boy in view here!
4 The prophecy Ahaz never understood
Like all prophecies delivered by true prophets of the LORD (there were and are false prophets, even today), this prophecy came true. And yet, Isaiah saw, perhaps dimly, that there was another Baby who would be born. No, Isaiah didn’t know when, but this prophecy of another Immanuel would come true later. We can look back over the years and see how God gave, and fulfilled, various prophecies even though the prophets themselves may not have understood all the messages the LORD gave them.
The prophecy which Ahaz received had a double or second fulfillment, many years later! That was because another virgin (Mary, a “parthenos” or virgin in Greek) heard Gabriel’s message and agreed to become the mother of Messiah Jesus. There’s not too much to add to the story of Jesus—most of us are very familiar with it—but we can agree that when the time was right (Galatians 4:4) God did send His Son, just like He promised.
We can be grateful Jesus came to us. Now, then, have you come to Jesus?
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
