Isaiah 7
Israel/Ephraim and Syria gang up to attack Judah, but God sent Isaiah and his son Shear Jashub, whose name means “A remnant will return”, to reassure King Ahaz of Judah that they will not succeed.
YHWH (probably through Isaiah) told Ahaz to “Ask for a confirming sign from the Lord your God. You can even ask for something miraculous.” But Ahaz gave a supposedly pious response “I don’t want to ask; I don’t want to put the Lord to a test.”
This of course bring to mind Jesus’ similar words when the devil tempted Him. But there’s a big difference – whereas Ahaz was exhibiting false piety, a smokescreen designed to cover up his lack of faith in YHWH, Jesus was showing His faith.
So, ironically, this then leads to Isaiah’s reply and his famous Immanuel prophecy:
“Pay attention, family of David. Do you consider it too insignificant to try the patience of men? Is that why you are also trying the patience of my God? For this reason the Lord himself will give you a confirming sign. Look, this young woman is about to conceive and will give birth to a son. You, young woman, will name him Immanuel. He will eat sour milk and honey, which will help him know how to reject evil and choose what is right. Here is why this will be so: Before the child knows how to reject evil and choose what is right, the land whose two kings you fear will be desolate. The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your father’s family a time unlike any since Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!” (Isaiah 7:13-17, NET - New English Translation.)
The NET footnotes point out these interesting points:
- It is very likely that Isaiah pointed to a woman who was present at the scene of the prophet’s interview with Ahaz. Isaiah had met him where the people wash clothes (7:3) and likely there were many women present at the scene. (From the NET footnote.)
- Initially the prophecy appears to be a message of salvation. Immanuel seems to have a positive ring to it, sour milk and honey elsewhere symbolize prosperity and blessing (see Deut 32:13-14; Job 20:17), verse 16 announces the defeat of Judah’s enemies, and verse 17a could be taken as predicting a return to the glorious days of David and Solomon. However, the message turns sour in verses 17b-25. God will be with his people in judgment, as well as salvation. The curds and honey will be signs of deprivation, not prosperity, the relief announced in verse 16 will be short-lived, and the new era will be characterized by unprecedented humiliation, not a return to glory. Because of Ahaz’s refusal to trust the Lord, potential blessing would be transformed into a curse, just as Isaiah turns an apparent prophecy of salvation into a message of judgment. Because the words “the king of Assyria” are rather awkwardly tacked on to the end of the sentence, some regard them as a later addition. However, the very awkwardness facilitates the prophet’s rhetorical strategy here, as he suddenly turns what sounds like a positive message into a judgment speech. Actually, “the king of Assyria,” stands in apposition to the earlier object “days,” and specifies who the main character of these coming “days” will be.
Now, you might have noticed, the passage says “young woman” and not “virgin” like when Matthew quoted it in Matthew 1:22-23 to apply it to Mary and Jesus’ virgin birth.
Did Matthew make it up? Nope. Long before Matthew was born, Jewish scholars in Alexandria had translated the Old Testament into Greek in what came to be known as the Septuagint. This is because Greek was the English of that time. Getting the scriptures into Greek meant that it was accessible to people of many countries. And when those scholars – remember, that was long before Jesus was born – translated it, they translated the Hebrew word "עַלְמָה" (almah), which generally means “young woman of marriageable age” (who might or might not be a virgin) to the Greek word “παρθένος” which explicitly means virgin.
Furthermore, Jewish understanding at the time of Jesus expected a second fulfilment of this prophecy to be that of the Messiah.
So it is very interesting, that this (and possibly other) prophecies may have a first fulfilment that is close to the lifetime of the original hearers, and then a later fulfilment much longer down the line.
Some Christians think that this is the case with the prophecy of 666 – the Antichrist – whose first fulfilment was the Emperor Nero, because of the Jewish interpretative method of Gematria, which numerical values to letters. When the name "Nero Caesar" is translated from Greek to Hebrew, it can be rendered as "נרון קסר" (Neron Kesar). The numerical values of these Hebrew letters add up to 666:
- נ = 50
- ר = 200
- ו = 6
- ן = 50
- ק = 100
- ס = 60
- ר = 200
- Total = 666
Just as with Isaiah 7:14, some Christians believe in a double fulfilment of the prophecy of 666. This means that while Nero might be the initial historical fulfilment, a future, more ultimate fulfilment is still anticipated – Nero is viewed as a type or foreshadowing of a future Antichrist figure. Just as Nero represented the ultimate earthly antagonist to early Christians, the future Antichrist will embody the ultimate opposition to Christ and his followers at the end of time.
So, all this is very interesting, but what does it mean for application in my life today?
I take the lesson that we must trust in YHWH even when the situation seems dire. The combined strength of Syria and Ephraim/Israel would have been able to destroy Judah, but God still had His plans for Judah. We must trust in the Lord like Jesus, and not like Ahaz. Yet, even with Ahaz's weak faith, God can do something.
