Chapter 7

7:1-7

7:4-13

7:13-17

7:18-25

Recap

A. Find Out:

1. Who has come to fight against Jerusalem and when? v.1

2. What effect did this have on Ahaz and the people? v.2

3. Who was Isaiah to take with him to see Ahaz? v.3

4. What was he to say? v.4

5. What had the enemy planned to do? v.5,6

6. But what did the Lord say about it? v.7

B. Think:

1. What was the threat to Judah ?

2. What would their feelings have been?

3. When God's word comes, what is now the crucial issue for them?

C. Comment:

     We now appear to have moved on at least eight years from chapter 6 and the southern kingdom of Judah is now being threatened by the northern kingdom of Israel that has entered into an alliance with Aram ( Syria ) from the north. The effect is to greatly worry king Ahaz and his people in Jerusalem . It is at this stage that the Lord sends Isaiah to fulfil his first recorded role in the book as divine messenger.

     The message he brings is to keep calm or keep still, don't be afraid and don't get down about these invaders; they plot your downfall but it will not happen!

     Now what is the key issue here? It is whether to believe in God and trust Him, and that is the same issue that comes to each one of us again and again. Naturally speaking the odds are against us, the enemy outnumber us, things look bad, but then the Lord speaks and says that we will win through. Will we believe Him? The sign of believing is to remain at peace in the face of upset. The battle is always one of believing. It was true in the garden of Eden and it is still true today. The enemy would like us subdued, he would want to put us down, to make us worried and afraid and all God has given us is His word. We can trust it! Believe it!

D. Application:

1. When the enemy comes the issue is, “What has God said?”

2. When we have heard that, the issue is then, “Will I believe Him?”

Chapter: Isaiah 7

Passage: Isaiah 7:4-13

A. Find Out:    

1. What, again, had Israel and Aram plotted? v.5,6

2. What 5 facts does God give in reply in verses 8 & 9a

3. What does he say is necessary? v.9b

4. What does the Lord then instruct Ahaz to do? v.10,11

5. Yet what was Ahaz's reply? v.12

6. What was Isaiah's response? v.13

B. Think:

1. What do you think was the Lord's purpose in His answer in v.8 & 9?

2. Why do you think the Lord offered a sign for Ahaz?

3. Why do you think he refused to ask for one?

C. Comment:

      In answer to the challenge from the north the Lord is basically saying to Ahaz, “Get it in perspective!” Look, He says, the capital of Aram is Damascus and the ruler of Damascus is only Rezin, a human being. The capital of Ephraim ( Israel ) is only Samaria and the ruler of Samaria is only Remaliah's son, an even less important man. I am God so don't worry about mere human beings, for I have got plans for them. Within a lifetime Israel will have gone, for I have decreed it. All I ask of you is that you hold firm in your faith and do not go the way of Israel . If you follow Israel 's example you will go the same way.

     Then the Lord speaks further to Ahaz and commands him to ask for a sign.. Now normally asking for a sign is a show of unbelief but in this case failing to ask for it, when the Lord has commanded you to ask, is the show of unbelief. Ahaz unfortunately reveals his unbelief, to the frustration and anger of Isaiah. Tomorrow we'll see his further response. Twice in this chapter the Lord has asked something of Ahaz. The first was simply to believe Him and be at peace (v.4) and the second was to ask for a sign. He clearly failed in the second so there was not much hope in his obeying the first as well. Read of this in 2 Kings 16:5-10 to see how he relied on Assyria and not the Lord.

D. Application:

1. The Lord calls us to believe His word.

2. Failure to respond is unbelief and sin.

Chapter: Isaiah 7 

Passage: Isaiah 7:13-17      

A. Find Out:

1. What did Isaiah say Ahaz is doing? v.13b

2. What did he say God would do? v.14

3. What did he say the Lord would do? v. 16b

4. When did he say it would happen? v.15,16a

5. Who did the Lord then say He would deal with? v.17a

6. How would He deal with them? v.17b

B. Think:

1. What does the name of the coming son imply?

2. How soon will it be before the Lord deals with the invaders?

3. Will that mean everything will be all right with Judah ?

C. Comment:

     Ahaz, in his unbelief, has refused to ask for a sign, so the Lord says, very well, this will be my sign to you, because I know in your heart you would like to be more sure of what I'm saying; I will deal with your oppressors and you will see it and know that it has happened.

     Now at this point we might be focusing on the child to come, because we know now that this prophecy was also fulfilled in Jesus, but at that moment the child was only a part of the whole prophetic picture. A young woman would conceive and bear a child. That means at least nine months would pass. After he was weaned he would eat the food of the poor, curds and honey and that would be at the age when he was also learning to know the difference between right and wrong, perhaps between 2 and 3 years old. But before that happened God would deal with the oppressors; in other words, probably before 3 years are out the Lord would deal with them. In fact within 3 years Assyria had overcome Damascus ( Aram ) and thirteen years later Samaria was taken. It would appear from verse 17 that the Lord also warns Ahaz that because of his unbelief, he too would suffer under Assyria . See 2 Chronicles 28:20 to see that this did in fact happen. The Lord's “sign” was in fact to be the events themselves, coming to judge and discipline.

D. Application:

1. When the Lord says He will do something, He WILL do it!

2. The Lord may take time, but He will do it.

Chapter: Isaiah 7

Passage: Isaiah 7:18-25        

A. Find Out:

1. What will the Lord call up and what will they do? v.18,19

2. Who will the Lord use to do what? v.20

3. What will people survive on? v.21,22

4. What will replace what? v.23

5. How will men react to that? v.24

6. What will change into what? v.25

B. Think:

1. What do the first two “in that day” pictures indicate?

2. What does the third one indicate?

3. What does the fourth one indicate?

C. Comment:

     The Lord has just warned Ahaz that Assyria will come against them because of their unbelief. Now He gives details of what will happen in a series of pictures (and seems to add a reference to using Egypt for this as well).

     First, He portrays Assyria & Egypt coming like swarms of flies or bees that settle over EVERYTHING. Then He uses the picture of Assyria being like a barber's razor that will completely denude them, an indication that this will come intimately close and affect all of them.

     Next, the Lord portrays the results of this: the land will be stripped of all its glory, the beautiful vineyards will be cleared away, crops will be taken and all that will be left for the people to survive upon will be milk that has gone off and honey gleaned from nature. The final picture is of a desolate land running wild, going back to nature with no one to care for it.

     Each of these pictures is frighteningly graphic and there can be no doubt left in anyone's mind as to what the Lord is saying. The only question that is left is will Ahaz and the people BELIEVE what God is saying and DO something about it?

D. Application:

1. God always gives clear warning of impending judgement.

2. The questions are, will we hear Him, will we believe Him and will we do

     something about it? It still applies today.

RECAP - "Reassurance & Rebuke" - Isaiah 7

SUMMARY :  

In this next group of 4 studies we have seen :

- Aram and Israel going to move against Judah

- God's word of encouragement that He will deal with them

- the Lord instructing Ahaz to ask for a sign

- Ahaz refusing to ask and being rebuked for it

- the Lord saying He will provide a sign

- the sign will be a child born, called Immanuel

- judgement will also be brought on Judah for their unbelief

- the judgement will come in the form of Assyria

- Assyria will clean the land

COMMENT :

     In a historical setting we see practical prophecy in the form of encouragement for Ahaz. But prophecy brings responsibility with it, to believe what God says. Unbelief will be rebuked, and where the unbelief is deep seated it will bring discipline or judgement.

     In a day of increasing prophecy we need to bear these lessons in mind. The principles are still the same.

LESSONS?

1. When opposition comes we need to seek the Lord

2. When the Lord speaks He expects us to believe Him

3. Failure to believe earns rebuke

4. When God says He will act, He WILL act

5. He may take time to do what He says, but He WILL do it.

PRAY :

     Thank the Lord for HIS faithfulness, to us and to His word, that He will never leave us or forsake us and He will do what He says.

PART 7 : "A Flood and Fear"

     In this last Part of this set of studies we will see the coming judgement as a river in flood, Assyria will come sweeping over the whole land. That will no doubt create fear but Isaiah is warned instead to fear God. This is going to be a difficult time but in the midst of it, it is to be the fear of the Lord which keep Isaiah