Day 199. Isaiah 7-9

The reading for today is made up, like all of Isaiah's prophecies, of equal parts doom and radiant hope.
The historical situation is this: The king of Syria (called Aram in the text) and Pekah, the king of the Israel, the northern kingdom (called Ephraim in the text), have made an alliance against the rising power of Assyria. They first invite King Ahaz of Judah to join them, and when he hesitates, they seek to make war on the southern kingdom in order to put a candidate of their choosing on the Judean throne. When word reaches Jerusalem of impending invasion, the prophet tells us that "the heart of [Judah's] people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind" (7:2).
But at this crucial moment the Lord commands the prophet Isaiah to take his son Shear-jashub (this impossible name means "a remnant shall return") and go to king Ahaz with a message of encouragement and hope—"Take heed, be quiet, do not fear" (7:4). The two nations that are arrayed against him are the "smoldering stumps of firebrands"--they are already going out. The northern kingdom will only last one more generation. There is nothing to fear from them; their fate is sealed. But king Ahaz is also given a warning--"If you do not stand firm in faith; you will not stand at all" (7:9). (This is a word we need near hear in our own personal situations.)
Then in order to further encourage the frightened king, through the prophet Isaiah the LORD offers to give him a sign in order to show that all will come to pass. Ahaz piously refuses—elsewhere in the Bible testing God is deemed a great sin (see Luke 4:12). But this time is different--this time God himself has offered a sign, and he bristles with anger when Ahaz refuses it.
But God persists, offering him the sign of Immanuel. A young woman will be with child and have a son. (In the Greek translation of the Old Testament "young woman"—in Hebrew "alma"—is translated with the Greek word "virgin." So the Gospel of Matthew 1:23 uses this passage from Isaiah as a prediction of Mary's virginal conception of our "God with us," Jesus.) But before the child Immanuel knows the difference between good and evil, he will eat "curds and honey" in a land depopulated by "the king of Assyria" (7:21).
The prophecy of the destruction of Syria and Israel is further underscored by the birth to Isaiah and his wife, "the prophetess," of another child with another sinister, prophetic name—in English "the spoil speeds, the prey hastens" (8:4). The significance of the name is this—"before the child knows how to say 'My father' and 'My mother,' the wealth of Damascus [the Syrian capital] and the spoil of Samaria [the capital of Israel] will be carried away by the king of Assyria" (8:4). And because the people of Judah feared their enemies rather than trusted in the LORD, the Assyrian flood will sweep over them too, reaching "up to the neck" (8:8). They will be spared the utter destruction marked out for the northern kingdom—but just barely--by Immanuel—"God with us" (8:10). And thus they will learn to put their trust in the LORD rather than fearing their enemies, however strong.
So for Israel there is danger and near disaster in the near future, but beyond the Assyrian storm, the long-range forecast is for radiantly good weather. For those who survive a further prophesy is made of the appearance of a righteous king arising from the house of David. He will come, strangely enough, not from Jerusalem but from "Galilee of the nations" (9:1). The reign of this "messiah" will be marked by endless peace and justice his titles suggest (9:4-7). The early Church saw in this a clear prophecy of the appearance of its Messiah, "Nazorean" from Galilee (Matthew 2:23).
Though a remnant of Judah will be spared, the judgment will fall most heavily upon the northern kingdom of Israel for its injustice to the needy and the poor (10:1-2) and because it turned against its sister kingdom and against the house of David. For its sin and pride, Israel will be "cut off . . . head and tail" (9:14). Isaiah's prophecy foretelling the destruction of the northern kingdom (9:8-10:4) ends with the pathetic question: "To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth, so as not to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain?" (10:3-4). Not to the LORD, who has resolved upon their destruction. Each stanza of the prophecy foretelling the annihilation of Israel ends with the refrain—"For all this [the LORD's] anger has not turned away; his hand is stretched out still" (9:12, 17, 21, 10:4). The sentence is pending, but still sure. God's hand remains stretched out until his will is completely
done.