10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: 11 “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” 13 And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. 17 The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”
18 In that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.
20 In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.
21 In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, 22 and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat curds and honey.
23 In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns. 24 With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. 25 And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread. – Isaiah 7:10-25 ESV
King Ahaz of Judah had a decision to make. Would he allow his fear of the alliance between Israel and Syria to get the best of him? Would the foreboding circumstances he faced force him to take matters into his own hands? Or would he trust the word of God?
God had already assured Ahaz, “This invasion will never happen; it will never take place” (Isaiah 7:7 NLT). But God also knew that Ahaz was not buying it, so He offered to provide Ahaz with a sign as proof.
“Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” – Isaiah 7:11 ESV
God challenged Ahaz to make his request as difficult as he possibly could, using the depth of Sheol and the height of heaven as the two extremes. And yet, surprisingly, Ahaz refused to take God up on his offer. He rather piously states, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test” (Isaiah 7:12 ESV). At first glance, Ahaz’ statement appears to portray him as a God-honoring Jew who was expressing his confident faith in Yahweh. But the truth is, Ahaz had already made plans to form an alliance with Assyria. He had come up with his own solution to the problem of the alliance between Israel and Syria. And his pious-sounding refusal to put God to the test fooled no one, including Isaiah.
“Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.” – Isaiah 7:13-14 ESV
Ahaz was testing the patience of God. This most-recent display of faithlessness and his ongoing lifestyle of unrighteousness demanded a response from God. But Isaiah makes it clear that the poor leadership of Ahaz was going to bring judgment against the “house of David.” In other words, Ahaz’s godless actions would have dire ramifications on the entire Davidic dynasty.
And yet, right in the middle of Isaiah’s indictment of Ahaz and the house of David, he expresses a line that has become very familiar to us.
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. – Isaiah 7:14 ESV
This very same statement was quoted by the angel who appeared to Joseph in a dream.
“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us).” – Matthew 1:20-23 ESV
Notice that the angel referred to Joseph as a son of David. He was born into the line of David, as the opening verses of Matthew 1 make clear. And even though Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus, he would become his adoptive father, making Jesus his legal heir and also a legal descendant of David. But the gospel of Luke traces the lineage of Jesus through Mary, making Him a descendant of David by blood.
So, in the middle of this confrontation with King Ahaz, Isaiah makes a prophetic pronouncement about the coming Messiah, who would be a descendant of King David. And while Ahaz was doubting the very presence and power of God, the future Messiah would be represent the very presence of God, thus His name: “God with us.”
But while this prophecy would have an obvious future fulfillment in the birth of Jesus, it must have had a more contemporary manifestation. Isaiah describes the meager diet of the child. By the time he is old enough to know right from wrong, he will be eating curds and honey, the diet of the poor and destitute. And will be the result of some catastrophic event.
…before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted… – Isaiah 7:16 ESV
Isaiah predicts a time when Syria and Israel will no longer be a threat. Their lands will be desserted. And this will be a result of the Assyrian’s conquest of the land. But this will leave the land of Judah struggling with food shortages as well. In 733-32 B.C., just a year or two after this prophecy was made, the Assyrians would invade Syria and Israel. The very nation with whom Ahaz had determined to make an alliance, would be used by God to bring judgment against Israel and Judah. Ahaz and his people would also feel the brunt of Assyria’s military might. This supposed ally, in whom Ahaz had placed his trust, would prove to be anything but trustworthy.
Isaiah warns Ahaz that the future judgment of God was going to be worse than what He had done when He split the kingdom in two after Solomon’s failure to remain faithful. And it would come in the form of the king of Assyria, the very one Ahaz had chosen to trust instead of God.
The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria! – Isaiah 7:14 ESV
The following verses record Isaiah’s description of the coming judgment. He repeatedly uses the phrase, “in that day.” This is a clear warning that there was a time ordained by God when He would call forth judgment on Judah. Isaiah uses the metaphor of bees and flies, one representing Assyria and the other, Egypt. Judah would find itself infested by troops coming from the north and the south. They would invade the land in great numbers.
Isaiah portrays the king of Assyria as a barber who will shave all the hair from the bodies of the people of Judah. This portrays the coming humiliation of Judah at the hands of the Assyrians. For a Jew to have his head shaved would be a horrifying and humiliating experience. It was a sign of subjugation and slavery.
Things would become so bad that, rather than huge herds of sheep and cattle, the average Jew would be happy to have a young cow and a couple of sheep. And he will have to content himself with eating curdled milk and honey in order to survive. It will be a time marked by great need and a sparsity of food.
And rather than vineyards filled with abundant grapes, their fields will be filled with briers and thorns. Rather than hoeing and planting, men will be relegated to hunting for wild life. The once fruitful land will become desolate and the domain of grazing livestock.
The words of Isaiah carry a bleak message. But nestled in the midst of all the doom and gloom is God’s promise of Immanuel. The judgment of God is always accompanied by the grace and mercy of God. He would bring judgment against Judah, but there was a day coming when He would send His Son to be the Messiah and Savior. Ahaz had proven to be unfaithful, but God would keep His covenant promises.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson