Isaiah 7:1-9--Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

Isaiah 7:1-9
English Standard Version

Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz
7 In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. 2 When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

3 And the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. 4 And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 7 thus says the Lord God:

​“‘It shall not stand,
    and it shall not come to pass.
8 For the head of Syria is Damascus,
    and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years
    Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
    and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you are not firm in faith,
    you will not be firm at all.’”

We have now moved ahead in the timeline to the time of King Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah (the king who had just died in chapter 1).  Ahaz being the next son of David in succession for the throne when his father died is anointed king over Judah and the true king over all of Israel, even if the northern 10 tribes choose to not recognize him as their king.

Speaking of the northern ten tribes, they thought it was a good idea to join up with the king of Syria to go to war against Judah (probably to test Ahaz since he was a new king).  Syria was a very powerful nation at the time, so the heart of the king of Judah melted like wax and shook like a tree in the wind (he lost all courage and strength and was afraid) when he heard that Syria had allied itself with the northern tribes calling themselves Israel or Ephraim.

The LORD sent Isaiah to go out to King Ahaz to give him a message of hope.  The LORD was ready to fight for Ahaz and the people of Judah, even with everything that the LORD has just said to Judah about how they deserve to be judged.  It is not His plan for Judah or Jerusalem to fall into the hands of Ephraim or Syria.  The LORD said that they were like two shouldering stumps of what used to be great trees that have already been cut down and their stumps burned with fire.  

The Lord gives Ahaz some insight that neither Damascus of Syria and Samaria of Ephraim will no longer be of issue or concern for much longer.  God will use Assyria to judge them both in short order.  He even gives a timeframe for the judgment of Samaria--within the next 65 years.  God will also judge the lines of these kings who have plotted this evil against the Lord's anointed king over His people.