Isaías 7

Isaías 7

Trapp adds "Call them in contempt a couple of firebrands, such as would do mischief but cannot, because smoking and not burning, and but the tails of smoking firebrands neither, such as are smoking their last, and shall shortly be utterly extinct. In a word, they have more pride than power, being a mere flash." Fierce anger - (Literally a burning nose) The burning (intense, hot) anger emanates from a "smoldering firebrand", a firebrand about to burn out! This is why King Ahaz is to take care and be calm. Ahaz's (Judah's) enemies may have a lot of bark but no bite according to Jehovah. Ahaz's reaction to Syria and Israel reflected his human perspective on the problem. To Ahaz this was a big problem, for these two enemies allied together constituted a terrible threat! What Ahaz failed to do was to see them as God saw them, as two stubs of wood about to burn out, as all smoke and no fire! 🙏 THOUGHT - How often we are like Ahaz and choose to keep our focus on our problem rather than looking at the One Who can solve our problems! What problem has you paralyzed with fear? Who are you choosing to look at to solve this problem, yourself, the arm of flesh or Jehovah, the Almighty God? Son of Remaliah - Skinner is probably correct when he writes that "Pekah was a usurper, a novus homo, and Isaiah never condescends to utter his name. Cp Isa 7:5, 9) (See The book of prophet Isaiah) Isaiah 7:5 'Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying,: Aram [Syria]: Ps 2:2 83:3,4 Na 1:11 Zech 1:15 Isaiah 7 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Psalm 2:2 The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed (MESSIAH), saying, YAHWEH THRU ISAIAH EXPLAINS THE EVIL Because - Term of explanation. The little word “Because” opens the curtain on the political storm behind Isaiah 7. God tells Ahaz exactly what his enemies are thinking. Isaiah explains the nature of the fierce anger as pre-medicated evil against King Ahaz and His Kingdom of Judah. Aram, with Ephraim - Aram = Syria, led by Rezin. Ephraim = the northern kingdom of Israel under Pekah. These two traditional rivals had become partners, not out of love for each other, but out of fear of Assyria. Their coalition had one purpose which is to force Judah to join their anti-Assyrian bloc. And the son of Remaliah - Notice how God speaks of Pekah. Not “King Pekah.” Not “mighty ruler.” Simply “the son of Remaliah.” This is deliberate divine diminishment of Pekah, King of Israel. Some see this way of referring to Pekah as a title of contempt for his usurping the crown rather than having descended from the royal line. Every human scheme must pass through the filter of divine permission. Has planned evil against you, saying - Planned signifies this is a deliberate strategy, calculated conspiracy and political scheming. What men call strategy, God may call evil. Their evil is explained in following passages -- Deposing Ahaz, Ending David’s dynasty, Installing a puppet ruler. This was a direct (satanic) attack on 2 Samuel 7:12-16+, Yahweh's promise to David that through him would come the Messiah. If Satan could decaptitate the Davidic line with this evil plan, he could prevent the coming of the Messiah. The sovereign, omnipotent, covenant keeping God obviously would not let that happen! Ahaz looked at the seen circumtances, not the unseen God. Ahaz saw two armies, potential political extinction and overall human impossibility. God saw a temporary conspiracy, men under His leash and a plan that “shall not stand” (Isa 7:7) The Omniscient God exposed the Syro-Ephraimite coalition’s secret agenda to show Ahaz that what looked like an unstoppable political plot was, in heaven’s view, a fragile and doomed conspiracy against His covenant. And like Ripley's logo says "Believe it or not!" This was to be King Ahaz's ultimate faith test! Isaiah 7:6 "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,": Isaiah 7 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries THE THREE PART EVIL PLAN Let us go up against Judah and terrorize (qus) it, and make for ourselves a breach (baqa') in its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it - Now Isaiah tells Ahaz the three specific objectives of the planned evil. (1) Campaign of terror calculated to fill Judah with fear, anxiety, apprehension (terrorize it), which from Isa 7:3 was already having its intended impact on the King and the nation of Judah. (2) Split the defensive walls (a breach) of the city of Jerusalem wide open! (3) Set up a puppet king - Tabeel about whom nothing specific is known. Tabeel in some resources is said to mean "God is good" but there are a few sources (Leupold; The Exhaustive Dictionary of Bible Names) that say the meaning of the slightly altered form of the name is "Good for nothing" which might be an intended pun. Terrorize (06973) (qus) can mean to loathe or be disgusted but as used here in the causative sense it means to vex (bring trouble, distress, agitation, to make one cower) A verb meaning to loathe, feel disgust, or be sick of. It describes God’s revulsion toward pagan practices (Lev 20:23), Israel’s ungrateful disdain for manna (Num 21:5; Ps 78:22–25), personal aversion such as Rebekah toward her Hittite daughters-in-law (Gen 27:46), and despising the Lord’s rebuke (Prov 3:11). It can also denote hostile resentment toward Israel’s prosperity (Ex 1:12; Num 22:3). In Isaiah 7:6 the causative sense means to vex or provoke, reflecting the enemies’ intent to make Judah abhor them. Leonard Copes - (TWOT) - qûṣ denotes the deep emotional reaction of the subject issuing in a desired repulsion (or destruction) of the object. Compare the following synonyms: bāʿash "to be or become stinking, odious," gāʿal "to cast away as unclean, to loathe," shāgaṣ "to detest as unclean," tāʿab "to treat as an abomination" in a ritualistic and, also, a moral and general sense, dērāʾôn "object of contempt," and qûṭ, a variant spelling of our root. The root occurs nine times. Understanding the state of mind denoted by this root enlightens many passages. Rebekah complained to Isaac that she loathed her life because of Esau's wives (Genesis 27:46). If she is telling the truth perhaps their strange ways had so irritated her that her life had become unbearable. At least this is probably what Isaac believed. It is such an irritation and loathing that is forbidden toward God's fatherly reproof (qûṣ is parallel to māʿaś, q.v.). This word describes God's feelings toward the Canaanites (Leviticus 20:23) and toward all idolatry (cf. qût). Israel used it to describe their feelings toward the manna after prolonged feeding on it (Numbers 21:5). Several peoples are described as having such an irritating abhorrence of Israel (Exodus 1:12; Numbers 22:3; 1 Kings 11:25), and Israel felt the same toward her enemies (cf. Isaiah 7:6, 16). Gilbrant - The verb qûts means "to loathe" or "to dread." Strong's concordance lists two other verbs with this same spelling (HED #6972, 6974), but modern lexicons list these two words under the root qîts. Qûts is a by-form of the verb qôt (HED #7248), which also means "to loathe." The Jewish Aramaic verb qûts means "to be or feel disgust(ed)." Generally, qûts is used to describe people who cause feelings of loathing and abhorrence within others. Rebekah loathed her own life because of the Hittite women Esau had married (Gen. 27:46). The Lord abhorred the Canaanite nations because of their evil way of life (Lev. 20:23). This human causation is also true when the word means "to dread." The Egyptians were in dread of the growing number of Israelites in their land (Exo. 1:12). The Moabites were in dread of the huge number of Israelites moving into their area (Num. 22:3). In this passage, the verb appears in a parallel statement with the verb gûr (HED #1513), which also means "to dread," "to fear." Three references have an object rather than a person as the source of loathing or dread. Israel loathed the manna after eating it for nearly forty years (Num. 21:5). Proverbs 3:11 admonishes the reader not to loathe the Lord's correction. In this passage, the verb appears in a parallel statement with the verb māʾas (HED #4128), which means "to despise." Isaiah prophesied that the lands of Ephraim and Syria, which Ahaz dreaded, would soon be overthrown (Isa. 7:16). This verb appears in the Hiphil stem in Isa. 7:6, and translators have gone a few different directions with this word. Assuming this root, the Hiphil means "to cause someone to fear or dread." The KJV, translating the word as "vex," the NASB, translating the word as "terrorize," and the RSV, translating the word as "terrify," all assume qûts came from this root, and this is most likely correct. The margin of the KJV, however, suggests that qûts might instead mean "to waken." This assumes that the verb comes from the root qîts (HED #7301). The advantage of assuming this root is that all occurrences of qîts appear in the Hiphil stem, while the root meaning "to dread" only occurs in the Hiphil stem in Isa. 7:6; the rest are in the Qal. The NIV translates the verb as "to tear it apart." This translation assumes that it is an Arabic cognate of qada. In Aramaic and Mishnaic Hebrew, qûts is a by-form of qātsats, which means "to cut down" or "to destroy." Though some scholars assume this separate root and cite Isa. 7:6 as having this meaning of "to tear apart" or "to demolish," the goal of the kings of Syria and Ephraim was not to destroy Judah but to force it to join their coalition against the Assyrian Empire. Therefore, "to cause dread" fits the context better. (Complete Biblical Library) Make a breach (01234)(baqa') means to rend, rip, open. Leupold says baqa' "involves the idea of cleaving an object apart, and then that which remains is to be partitioned between the two assailants (Borrow Exposition of Isaiah) John Oswalt (TWOT) - Baqa means to split, break open, divide, burst forth, or hatch. It conveys the forceful rending of something—such as the sea or wood (Ex 14:16, 21; Ps 78:13; Eccl 10:9), the tearing open of bodies (2 Ki 8:12; Hos 13:16; Amos 1:13), and the hatching of eggs (Isa 34:15; 59:5). It can denote breaking into or invading (2 Sam 23:16; 2 Chr 21:17), the splitting of the Mount of Olives at the Lord’s coming (Zech 14:4), and the breaching of wineskins, light, tunnels, or valleys (Josh 9:13; Isa 58:8; Judg 15:19; Mic 1:4). The term also describes a city taken by storm or broken through (Isa 7:6; Ezek 26:10). This root with its derivatives appears seventy-three times in the OT. Cognates are found in Ugaritic (bqʿ), Arabic (faqaʿa) and Ethiopic. The basic idea seems to be "a strenuous cleaving of recalcitrant materials" (Greenfeld, HUCA). As a result of the cleaving, the contents may "burst forth" (cf. Isaiah 58:8, etc.), but it is clear that this meaning is secondary and not primary as with such roots as ‏פָּצַח‎ (pāṣaḥ), or ‏פָּרַץ‎ (pāraṣ). bāqaʿ is used in five situations, all of which express the forcefulness of the splitting action. Of these, only the first sees the splitting action as coming from within, as in the hatching of eggs (Isaiah 34:15; Isaiah 59:5), the splitting of wineskins (Joshua 9:4, 13), the dawn rending the heavens (Isaiah 58:8; cf. Mesha Insc. 1.15), etc. The second usage expresses the splitting actions encountered in daily life as the splitting of wood (Genesis 22:3; 1 Samuel 6:14) or of stones (Psalm 141:7). Thirdly, the word is used with reference to the splitting of the earth. In all cases but 1 Kings 1:40, where the splitting is attributed to the noise of jubilation over Solomon's coronation, this is the work of the Lord (Numbers 16:31, etc.). Two references here are of special importance, for they indicate that the earth will be split upon the return of the Lord (Micah 1:4, Zech. 14:4). The creation will not be able to stand when the Creator returns in his glory. Fourth, bāqaʿ is associated with warfare and violence. It is used several times to express the action of troops in breaking into a city, camp or territory (2 Kings 25:4; 2 Chron. 21:17; Ezekiel 30:16). The results of such a conquest were often horrifying. Captives and young children were frequently thrown from high places so that they were "split open" (KJV "dashed to pieces") on the rocks below (2 Kings 8:12; 2 Chron. 25:12). Pregnant women were all too commonly "ripped up" (2 Kings 15:16; Amos 1:13, etc.). The final usage is associated with water production and behind that lies creation. These creative activities were directly paralleled by God's redemptive actions on behalf of Israel. The One who first cleaved open brooks and springs (Psalm 74:15) was able to do it again in the wilderness of Sinai (Psalm 78:13; Isaiah 48:21). The One by whose knowledge the great deeps were first split up (Proverbs 3:20) (and again in Noah's day [Genesis 7:11]) could once again exercise his mastery over the waters by dividing the waters of the Red Sea for his people (Exodus 14:16; Isaiah 63:12, etc.). In the Akkadian creation epic, Marduk is said to have split the body of Tiamat, the Great Deep, as the basis for creation. Whether some relation exists between the biblical and Akkadian material is difficult to ascertain (cf. Psalm 74:12-17; Isaiah 51:9-11). In any case God's creation was pictured as ex nihilo and not as the result of some warfare of the gods. However, the burden of these passages is not simply that God is possessed of such terrible power as to split rocks and waters, etc., but that the possessor of such power is able to redeem a lost creation. Of this the Akkadian knows nothing. See the discussion under tehôm, no. 2495a. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. TWOT Gilbrant - Bāqaʿ, meaning "divide," "break through," or "tear," occurs, with its derivatives (HED #1261, #1262), 73 times in the OT. The Ugaritic bq' and Arabic Faqa'a are cognate Semitic words. In all its verbal forms, the word is used in four relatively distinct senses. In Isaiah, the word is used twice to mean "hatch" ("break out" of an egg). Owls, a sign of desolation and condemnation of uncleanness, will reside and reproduce ("hatch" young) in Edom as a sign of the judgment of God in 34:15. God condemns the disobedience and sin of his people in 59:1-8, associating their evil plots with the picture of the eggs of deadly poisonous snakes, where snakes come out ("hatch,"). A second use of connotes a ripping and tearing action. Several verses (Amos 1:13; 2 Ki. 15:16; 8:12; Hos. 13:16) refer to soldiers "ripping up" pregnant women. Such behavior on the part of Ammorite warriors (Amos 1:13) results in God's punishment. Menahem, king of Israel by virtue of his assassination of the rightful king, Shallum, is described as a blood-thirsty conqueror, similar to pagan nations, by attributing to him the vicious slaughter of defenseless women in 2 Ki. 15:16. The prophet Elisha weeps over the prophecy given to him that Hazael, soon-to-be king of Syria in the place of Ben-hadad, will become a ruthless killer of women and children (2 Ki. 8:10-15). Hosea's prophecy of judgment on Samaria's disobedience includes the deaths of children and women at the hands of enemy soldiers (13:16). The idea of ripping and tearing occurs in two other passages. The 42 youths who ridiculed Elisha were "torn" to pieces by two bears (2 Ki. 2:24). God pictures his actions toward a disobedient, sinful tribe of Ephraim to be like a bear or lion who attacks and "tears" its victim to pieces (Hos. 13:8). A third meaning is "to break open," or "to create a breach." Examples are: wineskins (Job 32:19); the morning light (Isa. 58:8); men through military ranks (2 Sam. 23:16) and cities (Jer. 39:2). The most numerous occurrences convey the meanings "to divide," "to cleave" or "to rent." God divides the sea (Exo. 14:16; Ps. 74:15; 78:13). He also cleaves a hollow place (Judg. 15:19; Ps. 141:7; Ecc. 10:9; Isa. 48:21; Zech. 14:4). The word also speaks of "rending" the shoulder (Job 26:8; Ezek. 30:16). The word picturesquely illustrates poetic and symbolic language such as the dawn splitting the heavens (Isa. 58:8) and God rending the earth with His presence (Hab. 3:9, Mic. 1:4, Zech. 14:4). (Complete Biblical Library) Isaiah 7:7 thus says the LORD GOD, "It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass Isa 8:10 10:6-12 37:29 46:10,11 Ps 2:4-6 33:11 76:10 Pr 21:30 La 3:37 Da 4:35 Ac 4:25-28 Isaiah 7 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries JEHOVAH'S PROMISE GOD VETOS THEIR HUMAN PLOT Thus says the LORD GOD, "It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass" - Note God's double (not stand nor...come to pass) prophetic promise to Ahaz. The LORD not only reveals the future; He guarantees its outcome with unshakable certainty. Yet even the surest divine promise must still be received by faith. Ahaz’s later refusal to ask for a confirming sign exposes a heart that would not trust what God had declared. The problem was not the reliability of God’s word, but the unbelief of the king who heard it. Recall that Ahaz was a wicked King in Judah but nevertheless, God in His longsuffering was showing Ahaz mercy in spite of his iniquity. And before we are too hard on Ahaz, we need to recall the times in our life when we have been rebellious and disobeyed the Lord's clear Word and yet He has been longsuffering with us! Amazing grace. Amazing God. Who saved and continues to save a wretch like me! Ahaz was a spiritually flawed, deeply wicked king, yet in His longsuffering God still reached toward him with undeserved mercy. The LORD did not treat Ahaz according to his iniquity but continued to warn, restrain, and invite him back to the path of trust. 🙏 THOUGHT - Before we judge Ahaz too harshly, we must remember our own seasons of rebellion—those times when we ignored God’s clear Word and chose our way instead of His. Even then, He did not cast us aside. He was patient, pursuing, and faithful when we were faithless (cf 2Ti 2:13+). Truly this is amazing grace from an amazing God Who saved a wretch like me and continues, day by day, to save, restore, and keep me by His mercy. Ahaz and Judah were now faced with the question, "Do we take God at His Word?" Beloved, God's promises must be believed to be received and realized experientially. FAITH "ENDORSES" GOD'S CHECKBOOK OF PROMISES Spurgeon discusses the vital link between God's promises and man's trust in his wonderful (recommended) devotional Faith's Checkbook (Pt 1 Pt 2 Pt 3 Pt 4)... A PROMISE from God may very instructively be compared to a check payable to order. It is given to the believer with the view of bestowing upon him some good thing. It is not meant that he should read it over comfortably, and then have done with it. No, he is to treat the promise as a reality, as a man treats a check. He is to take the promise, and endorse it with his own name by personally receiving it as true. He is by faith to accept it as his own. He sets to his seal that God is true and true as to this particular word of promise. He goes further, and believes that he has the blessing in having the sure promise of it, and therefore he puts his name to it to testify to the receipt of the blessing. This done, he must believingly present the promise to the Lord, as a man presents a check at the counter of the bank. He must plead it by prayer, expecting to have it fulfilled. If he has come to heaven’s bank at the right date, he will receive the promised amount at once. If the date should happen to be further on, he must patiently wait till its arrival; but meanwhile he may count the promise as money, for the bank is sure to pay when the due time arrives. Some fail to place the endorsement of faith upon the check (of promise), and so they get nothing; and others are slack in presenting it, and these also receive nothing. This is not the fault of the promise, but of those who do not act with it in a common-sense, business-like manner. God has given no pledge which He will not redeem, and encouraged no hope which He will not fulfill. To help my brethren to believe this, I have prepared this little volume. The sight of the promises themselves is good for the eyes of faith: the more we study the words of grace, the more grace shall we derive from the words. To the cheering Scriptures, I have added testimonies of my own, the fruit of trial and experience. I believe all the promises of God, but many of them I have personally tried and proved. I have seen that they are true, for they have been fulfilled to me. This, I trust, may be cheering to the young and not without solace to the older sort. One man’s experience may be of the utmost use to another; and this is why the man of God of old wrote, "I sought the Lord, and he heard me"; and again, "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him." All the promises of God are “Yea and Amen” in Christ Jesus; and as He is ours, every promise is ours if we will but lie down upon it in restful faith. The firmest things in the universe are the promises and purposes of the unchanging God, and these are the safeguard of the obedient believer. There is a promise prepared for your present emergencies; and if you will believe and plead it at the mercy-seat through Jesus Christ, you shall see the hand of the Lord stretched out to help you. Everything else will fail, but His word never will. He has been to me so faithful in countless instances that I must encourage you to trust Him. I should be ungrateful to God and unkind to you if I did not do so. Seeing that it is the word of a God so true, so immutable, so powerful, so wise, I will and must believe the promise.” If we thus meditate upon the promises, and consider the Promiser, we shall experience their sweetness, and obtain their fulfilment. A man prevails only as he believes (cp 1Jn 5:4). The Holy Spirit is the Author of faith, and strengthens it, so that we pray believing God’s promise. Isaiah 7:8 "For the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people),: 2Sa 8:6 Isaiah 7 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Isaiah 17:1-6 (PARALLELS DESCRIPTION OF DESTRUCTION IN Isaiah 7) -- The oracle concerning Damascus. “Behold, Damascus is about to be removed from being a city And will become a fallen ruin. 2 “The cities of Aroer are forsaken; They will be for flocks to lie down in, And there will be no one to frighten them. 3“The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, And sovereignty from Damascus And the remnant of Aram; They will be like the glory of the sons of Israel,” Declares the LORD of hosts. 4 Now in that day the glory of Jacob will fade, And the fatness of his flesh will become lean. 5It will be even like the reaper gathering the standing grain, As his arm harvests the ears, Or it will be like one gleaning ears of grain In the valley of Rephaim. 6 Yet gleanings will be left in it like the shaking of an olive tree, Two or three olives on the topmost bough, Four or five on the branches of a fruitful tree, Declares the LORD, the God of Israel. JEHOVAH'S VERDICT ON THE THE SYRO-EPHRAIMITE ALLIANCE For - This is a term of explanation. Whenever you encounter a "for" at the beginning of a sentence you need to stop and interrogate with the 5W/H'S questions. This discipline will slow you down, help you begin to meditate on the text and allow your Teacher, the Holy Spirit time to illuminate the text. In the present context, Jehovah God is explaining (in Isa 7:7, 8) why the enemies' evil plan will not come to pass. The head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin - The statement emphasizes that political authority flows in an ordered chain—Aram’s power is centered in its capital Damascus, and Damascus in turn is ruled by its king Rezin—highlighting the merely human and limited nature of Judah’s enemies. Now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered - The specific statement of timing of this event is enigmatic because we know that the events in this chapter took place during Ahaz's reign, so somewhere around 735BC by some estimates. History teaches us that Ephraim (Israel) was taken into captivity by Assyria in 722BC which would be only 12 years later. Michael Rydelnik (page 1019) While Judah’s enemies appeared to be powerful, God declared that in 65 years, Ephraim (the independent northern kingdom of Israel) would be shattered, so that it was no longer a people (v. 8). This prediction came to fruition in three phases. (1) Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria, sent many captives from Israel to Assyria when he conquered Israel in 732 BC (cf. 2Kg 15:29). (2) Assyria destroyed the kingdom of Israel in 721 BC, sending a large portion of the population to Assyria and replacing them in Israel with other peoples (cf. 2Kg 17:24). (3) The fulfillment was completed when Ashurbanipal made the final population transfers between Israel and Assyria (cf. Ezr 4:2, 10). Thus, in exactly 65 years, the kingdom of Israel was shattered, so that it [was] no longer a people (v. 8). Leupold explains the prediction this way "Sixty-five years would bring us down to 670, when Esarhaddon was the Assyrian king. Of him, however, it is said that he brought colonists to Samaria to replace the last group that had been removed; and this step was really the one that spelled the total end of the national existence of Ephraim (cf. 2Ki 17:24ff.; Ezra 4:2, 10). So the statement—Isa 7:8c—is both correct in itself and very much in place at this point. (BORROW Exposition of Isaiah)