Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 7

Verses 1-25

1. Intro:
   1. Albert Smith(leaving for 6 months)
      1. Peru Short Term Missions team - Iquitos, Peru.
      2. Team: Albert Smith, Gabriel Garcia, [Ena Modrich & Nick Hanks left already], Henry & Gerri Meyer, Ruben Herdia, Spencer Carlson.
      3. Leave Saturday(April 3-11).
      4. Team up w/Bible College students. To sow seeds for eventual church plants(using drama, children’s ministry, & evangelistic messages)
   2. Q: Don’t you clean out a vessel before you use?
      1. That’s what God did with Isaiah(ch.6:6,7). 1^st He cleansed him, now he’ll use him to proclaim His message.
      2. Cup on the sink at home: You might blow it, rinse it, or wash it!
      3. It sure seems like the Lord works the same way today…1^st our cleansing, then our using!
      4. 1^st a glimpse of His holiness, then & only then could he preach a message of condemnation.
   3. Outline: Fear, Faith, Future!
2. FEAR! (1-2)
   1. (1) Intro:
      1. Judah: King Ahaz. (grandson of Uzziah; dad was Jotham/reigned 16 yrs., not mentioned)
      2. Israel: King Pekah. (“open eyed” [Peek-a-boo]. Became king from a bloody coop)
      3. Syria: King Rezin.
   2. (2) Like, Wind in the Woods! (Shaken w/fright)
      1. Also Assyria & Egypt are on the move! (watch-a gonna do when they come for you)
      2. Q: When circumstances threaten you, what do you do?
      3. Worry is different from concern! - We are to be concerned for things we are responsible for. Worry is concerning ourselves w/things over which we have no control.
      4. Q: Do you struggle with fears, anxiety, worry?
      5. Q: Are you presently struggling with fears?
      6. Q: What can we learn from Ahaz?
      7. Q: Better yet, what can we learn from Isaiah’s counsel? (let’s read)
3. FAITH! (3-9)
   1. ​​​​​​​Shear-Jashub – “a remnant shall return”.
   2. (4) Be Careful & Be Calm!
      1. Isaiah was told to bolster the courage of his fearful king.
      2. He took his son as a living “visual aid”.
         1. Shear-Jashub – “a remnant shall return”. Trust in God & he’ll bring deliverance.
         2. Faith in Scripture is always a remedy to fear!
         3. Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid just believe!”
      3. Man sees Æ 2 world powers knocking at his door.
      4. God sees Æ 2 smoldering stubs of firewood. (i.e. soon to be burned up & vanish)
         1. Often our problem is the direction we are looking. Q: What’s your focus?
         2. Q: Ask, am I looking at the problem or to the problem solver!
   3. (5) Remember Ephraim was Israel’s largest tribe, so often they would call Israel(northern kingdom) simply by the tribe Ephraim.
   4. Syria & Ephraim’s idea is, “if we can put all of Palestine together we can withstand Assyria!”
      1. So they thought to dethrone Ahaz & replace him w/a puppet king…son of Tabel(6). [would that be “TV Tray”?]
   5. (6) Let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves –
      1. Q: Anyone trying to make a gap in your wall right now?
      2. Q: In your marriage wall? Your family wall? Your integrity wall? In your “calling” wall?
   6. (9) If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all!
      1. Ahaz was faced with should I go to Assyria for help, or should he trust the Lord?
      2. Ahaz was told to “be careful & be calm” don’t worry about this Syria-Israel alliance…it will not succeed!
      3. Q: Don’t we struggle with this as well? (where we place our trust)
      4. A United Press release in a midwestern city told of a hospital where officials discovered that the firefighting equipment had never been connected. For 35 years it had been relied upon for the safety of the patients in case of emergency. But it had never been attached to the city's water main. The pipe that led from the building extended 4 feet underground -- and there it stopped! The medical staff and the patients had felt complete confidence in the system.They thought that if a blaze broke out, they could depend on a nearby hose to extinguish it. But theirs was a false security. Although the costly equipment with its polished valves and well-placed outlets was adequate for the building, it lacked the most important thing -- water!
4. FUTURE! (10-25)
   1. ​​​​​​​(11) Q: Is God so puny that he trembles at our questions?
      1. Literally: “make the request deep or make it high above!”
      2. Ask for great things! – Ask in faith, having the courage to wait w/patient perseverance for Him, & meanwhile doing those things that are w/in our power to do.
         1. We can’t create the wind nor change it’s direction, but we can raise our sails to catch it when it comes.
         2. We can’t create electricity, yet we can tap into it w/a wire that will conduct it, allowing it to work.
         3. We can’t control God’s Spirit, but we can place ourselves before the Lord in obedience to what he has called us to do, & we will come under the influence & power of His mighty breath. (Streams in the Desert; pg.222)
      3. God is waiting for His Elisha’s today who will call out, “Where is the God of Elijah?”
         1. ​​​​​​​2 Kings 2:14 “Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, "Where is the LORD God of Elijah?" And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way & that; & Elisha crossed over.”
         2. Elisha wasn’t doubting God, but instead was asking Him to demonstrate His power through him.
   2. (12) The pious king refuses…out of fear!
      1. Ahaz pretended to be very spiritual when he refused to ask for a sign, but his rejection of the sign was actually a rejection of the Lord & His messenger. (Warren Wiersbe; pg.457)
      2. God’s Word goes to work when we believe it & act on it!
         1. Ahaz only talked about it!
   3. (14) Double fulfillment!
      1. [1] Immediate Fulfillment - The birth of Isaiah son – Isaiah’s wife was a virgin before her 1^st born. By the time the child was 12 yrs old the 2 nations whom Ahaz fared would be destroyed! (see 16b)
         1. This happened in 732bc. Assyria destroyed Syria.
         2. 722bc Assyria takes Israel captive
         3. 65 years later(vs.8) in 669bc the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal re-populates Israel w/foreigners w/the remaining Israelites that were left in the land. They intermarry & the result…the ½ breed “Samaritans” were born.
         4. By 650bc this cruel Empire(Assyria) covered the whole fertile crescent(i.e. Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, even Egypt) All except about 150 acres known as Jerusalem.
            1. Now the king at that time was Hezekiah, who to keep it from Sennachereb, had a tunnel excavated 600 yards thru solid rock to get water into the city.
            2. From the Gihon springs to(what became) pool ofSiloam. 2 Chron.32:30
         5. 587bc Babylon takes Judah Captive.
      2. [2] Far Fulfillment - The birth of Jesus – we know this because of Mt.1:23.
   4. It’s all about God with Us!
      1. Ahaz says, “I’ll bring in an army!” God says, “I’ll bring in a child!”
      2. He is with us, & He is God!
      3. Not “Assyria-el”(Assyria w/us!) Not God w/o us! Not God against us!
      4. Check out the J.W. New World Translation Mt.1:23. (not, a god?)
      5. Spurgeon, “Immanuel, God with us in our nature, in our sorrow, in our lifework, in our punishment, in our grave, and now with us, or rather we with him, in resurrection, ascension, triumph, and Second Advent Splendor.”
      6. Isaiah is called “the evangelical prophet” because he says so much about Jesus Christ:
         1. Isaiah speaks about His forerunner(40:1-60); His birth(7:14); His ministry in the Spirit(61:1,2); His rejection by the nation (6:9-13); As the stone of stumbling(8:14); His ministry to the Gentiles(49:6); His future kingdom (11:1-9); And, His atoning death on the cross(53).
   5. (18-25) Egypt & Assyria both invade & end up clashing in Judah…thus the land was devastated.
      1. (20) Shaved clean (in totality!)
      2. (22) Curds & Whey: (Miss Muffet) [Goat’s yogart]
         1. Curds = The part of milk that coagulates when the milk sours or is treated with enzymes. Curd is used to make cheese.
         2. Whey = The watery part of milk that separates from the curds, as in the process of making cheese.
   6. Q: Are you tempted to seek the human way out of your problem?
      1. It is faith in God not faith in man’s treaties that brings the victory.
   7. Communion:
      1. ​​​​​​​Communion is to remind us Immanuel/“God With Us”!
      2. Q: In daily experience do you know Christ as “with you”?
      3. Q: How was he “with you” today?
      4. Q: How will he be with us in the elements?
      5. Bread: Q: How will He be “with us” in the Bread?
         1. This is my body!
         2. Ever received not the gift but the picture of the gift?
         3. The gift was ordered but it hadn’t arrived.
         4. The picture was a symbol of that gift.
         5. It represented the gift, as this bread represents Christ.
      6. Cup: Q: How will He be “with us” in the Cup?
         1. This is my blood!
         2. This is a cup of forgiveness.
         3. Both to receive forgiveness & to extend forgiveness.