25/06/17 Isaiah 7:17-25 “What
does it take to get God’s message through?”
Isaiah 7:17 – The Lord shall bring
upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not
come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; [even] the king of
Assyria.
days that have not come – the like of which have not been seen before
This passage appears to be about
the days that are coming upon Judah in the coming not-too-far-distant days; it
will come upon “thee” (clearly Ahaz), and upon “thy people” (thus the people of
Ahaz, that is, Judah), and upon “thy father’s house” (the royal line of Judah).
There will be tough times coming, days that are worse than anything they can
think of since Israel split into the two kingdoms (1 Kings 12:16-24). “even” isn’t
in the original, so the meaning may be “involving (or using) the king of
Assyria”.
When Ahaz was informed about the
threat of Syria and Israel, instead of turning to God for help, he turned to Tiglath–pileser III, king of
Assyria (2 Kings 16:7-9), to assist him in getting rid of his enemies. It seems
that at first Tiglath-pileser (king of Assyria
745-727 BC) did just that; he attacked Damascus (Syria) and took the
inhabitants captive to Kir, while Rezin
was executed. (Kir is a city of Moab, although some
say it is another name for Cush.)
However, it appears that Tiglath-pileser also attacked Judah in spite of the
payments made to him by Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:16-22), and this is probably what
Vs 17 above is talking about. He has already dealt with Syria and Israel with
very little trouble, and would consider Judah an easy target too. He doesn’t
want alliances; he wants conquest! He wants an empire. It is said that during
his reign he vanquished almost every nation known to the Assyrian world at that
time. He also installed Hoshea as puppet king of Israel (732-723 BC) in place
of Pekah. Then the Assyrian king, Shalmaneser
V (727-722 BC) took over and ended up carrying away Israel into captivity (with
Sargon II completing this process).
2 Kings 17:6 – In the ninth year of
Hoshea the king of Assyria (Shalmaneser V) took
Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor [by] the
river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
However, Shalmaneser
V died in 722 BC, the year of the deportation, so it is likely his younger
brother, Sargon II (722-705), took over this process of taking 27,000 people of
Israel into captivity. Sennacherib (Sargon II’s son, Assyrian king 705-681 BC)
attacked and destroyed Babylon in 689 BC. Babylon was under Assyrian domination
or rule from 911-609 BC except for this rebellion above which resulted in its
destruction in 689 BC. In around 609 BC Babylon came under the control of the
Chaldeans (Nabopolassar and then
Nebuchadnezzar) for about 50 years, but was once again under Assyrian rule when
Cyrus the Great of Persia took it in 539 BC.
Israel was more or less destroyed
as a nation in 722 BC, with the rest being taken away by Esar-haddon
(king of Assyria 681-669 BC) in about 670 BC.
Judah didn’t escape either; 120,000
would be slaughtered by Pekah before Judah would be
delivered from Israel.
2 Chronicles 28:6 – For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in
Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, [which were] all
valiant men; because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers.
And a further 200,000 were being
taken into captivity until the prophet Oded stopped
them.
2 Chronicles 28:8-11 – 8 And the children of Israel carried away captive of their
brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away
much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. 9 But
a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name [was] Oded:
and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them,
Behold, because the Lord God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath
delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage [that] reacheth up unto heaven. 10 And now ye
purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and
bondwomen unto you: [but are there] not with you, even with you, sins
against the Lord your God? 11 Now hear me therefore, and
deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for
the fierce wrath of the Lord [is] upon you.
Then Tiglath-pileser
distressed Judah (2 Chronicles 28:16-22) probably in 732 BC, around the same
time that Rezin was executed (and Pekah
was assassinated then too). From here on until Nebuchadnezzar, Judah would be devastated
by warfare and natural disasters, according to the rest of Isaiah Ch.7.
Isaiah 7:18 – And it shall come to
pass in that day, [that] the Lord shall hiss for the fly that [is] in
the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that [is] in
the land of Assyria.
the uttermost part – end; extremity; mouth; border.
At that time the Lord will call
(hiss) for the fly from the extremity of the rivers of Egypt. This probably
means flies from the mouth of the Nile (the Nile Delta). Kings Josiah, Jehoahaz and Eliakim (2 Kings 23:29-34) were involved in an
attack by Egypt.
Barnes suggests that the fly was
called a “zimb”, a savage insect that could trouble
even horses and camels. It is probably what is known as an Ethiopian horsefly.
The word “zimb” may also be related to the term “zebub”. Egypt would be such a “fly” in tormenting the
inhabitants of Judah at this time.
The bee was a more dangerous
insect; it represented the more serious power of Assyria at this time. The
Assyrian army was much more disciplined (like the bee) than the Egyptian army
(like the fly).
Sargon II, Sennacherib and Esar-haddon
were Assyrian kings who greatly troubled Judah at this time, along with the
destruction of Israel.
Isaiah 7:19 – And they shall come,
and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the
rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.
rest – rest; settle down and remain; to repose; have rest; be
quiet.
desolate valleys – precipitous (steep) valleys (wady
/ wadi; torrent valley)
the holes of the rocks – the holes (clefts) of the rocks (cliff; stronghold)
bushes – can mean pastures; watering-places
All these flies (the Egyptians)
and bees (the Assyrians) will come and rest (settle down and remain – they
aren’t going away in a hurry) in the steep water-torrent valleys (wadys) and in clefts of the rock (their strongholds) and on
all thorn bushes (they’ll be everywhere!) and upon all bushes (all their
pasture-lands and water supplies).
That is, they will be everywhere
like a plague; they’ll be in their faces all the time.
The thorn bush signified times of
hardship.
Isaiah 55:13 – Instead of the thorn
shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle
tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign [that]
shall not be cut off.
Isaiah 7:20 – In the same day shall
the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, [namely], by them beyond the
river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall
also consume the beard.
beyond the river – across the river Euphrates.
The picture of shaving could refer
to the victor’s custom of shaving the heads of their captured slaves, or as an
insult.
1 Chronicles 19:4 – Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved them, and cut off
their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away.
Also note Isaiah 50:6 – I gave my back to the smiters,
and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame
and spitting.
It could also refer to the
stripping of the 200,000 Judean captives.
2 Chronicles 28:15 – And the men which were
expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed
all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them
to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon
asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren:
then they returned to Samaria.
However, here it appears to refer
to more than just the head being shaved. In fact, it appears to be symbolic of
Judah in that all the people are affected by this and not just the leaders of
the nation. It could also signify the stripping of the people and the land of
everything they possess. Judah has already been diagnosed as being putrid,
rotten to the core, from head to toe, all of them, the whole lot!
Isaiah 1:5-6 – 5 Why should ye be stricken any more?
ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart
faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head [there
is] no soundness in it; [but] wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound
up, neither mollified with ointment.
The fact that this is the razor that is hired (note
that the definite article is in the original), that is, the hired razor, points to the attempt by Ahaz to hire Tiglath-pileser to do his dirty work for him. The Assyrian
king will not only do Ahaz’s dirty work as per his hire, he will also take
every advantage possible against a weak nation like Judah that cannot fight its
own battles.
2 Chronicles 28:19-20 – 19 For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of
Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord. 20
And Tilgath–pilneser
king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not. 21
For Ahaz took away a portion [out] of the house of the Lord,
and [out] of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave [it]
unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not. 22 And
in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord: this [is
that] king Ahaz.
also consume the beard – symbolic of the manly strength of the nation. A picture
of dealing with wimps! They are no longer men but women, but perhaps effeminate
as the word “women” in Isaiah 3:12 can mean.
Isaiah 3:12 – [As for] my people, children [are] their oppressors, and
women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause [thee] to
err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
Isaiah 7:21-22 – 21 And it
shall come to pass in that day, [that] a man shall nourish a young cow,
and two sheep; 22 And it
shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk [that] they shall give he
shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the
land.
milk – milk; sour milk;
cheese.
butter – butter; curds; clotted milk.
Even though Vs 22 speaks of the
abundance of milk, and butter and honey (which could imply a time of good
provision), the overall context can only mean a time of great hardship. (See
Isaiah 5:17) The land has reverted back to thorn bushes and pastures with
waterholes (Vs 19). Planned and consistent cultivation seems to have gone, with
the inhabitants now eking out a meagre existence. Instead of planting crops to
reap, they are now drifting like nomads, following the pastures and waterholes
like the shepherds of old (such as Abraham would have been). A young heifer and
two ewes (the word used is feminine gender) per person (or per family) would
provide an abundance of milk but little else except what they could gather from
the country around them, such as wild honey, perhaps berries from the thorn
bushes and so on. They couldn’t kill for meat without losing some of that
abundance of milk to provide clotted milk (as the word butter signifies).
And this is probably what the
terms butter and honey in the following mean: that the prophecy would initially
refer to the times immediately ahead, and that by the time this child was born,
such basic nomadic existence would already be common.
Isaiah 7:15-16 – 15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse
the evil, and choose the good. 16 For before the child shall
know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
The picture is of an existence
where the only guaranteed foods available in any abundant quantity will be milk
(butter, clotted milk, curds, cheese, etc) and wild honey. Thus, the people
remaining in the land (after the purging by killing and pressing into slavery)
will eat what they can get, which means milk products and honey!
Isaiah 7:23 – And it shall come to
pass in that day, [that] every place shall be, where there were a
thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall [even]
be for briers and thorns.
The briers and thorn bushes is
what you get when you let the land go back into its natural state. The plants
that are least likely to be eaten by cattle and sheep are the briers and thorn
bushes. That which survives the best will be that which survives!
Where there were a thousand vines
worth a silver shekel each (a “silverling”), that is,
a very productive vineyard given the price of the vines, there will now be
worthless briers and thorns. Clearly the land has been ravaged by warfare and
neglect.
Song of Solomon 8:11-12 – 11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal–hamon;
he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to
bring a thousand [pieces] of silver. 12 My vineyard,
which [is] mine, [is] before me: thou, O Solomon, [must have] a
thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.
Look back upon what we studied not
long ago. They can’t say they weren’t told!
Isaiah 5:3-5; 10 – 3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah,
judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 4 What could
have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when
I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? 5
And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will
take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; [and] break down
the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: 6 And I will
lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but
there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they
rain no rain upon it.
10 Yea, ten
acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an
ephah. (That is, it’s no longer worth growing
these vines!)
Isaiah 7:24 – With arrows and with bows shall [men] come
thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
Why have these men come with bows
and arrows (that is, weapons)? How could this be a consequence of the land
becoming briers and thorns? Logic says that this is hardly to do with warfare
of any kind, for the briers and thorns shouldn’t affect the battle one way or
the other, other than discomforting both sides. Therefore, we have to be
talking about hunters who are seeking out game to eat, keeping in mind that
they need their farm animals for milk products. It is most likely that with the
neglect of cultivation and the increase of thorn bushes and briers, wild
animals have built up in numbers. Hunters would therefore be able to kill these
animals for food and perhaps clothing, but might also need to kill any
dangerous animals such as lions, wolves and bears which could be common in such
conditions.
Isaiah 7:25 – And [on] all
hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there
shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the
sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.
The meaning appears to be that on
all the hills that used to be dug with the mattock (hoe), people will now not
go for fear of the briers and thorns. Only those animals better suited to
briers and thorns will go into them, such as oxen and lesser cattle (can mean
sheep, but here probably means goats that have little or no fear of thorny
plants).
Thus, on all the hills that used
to be cultivated, or those that could be cultivated, no-one who has a fear of
briers and thorns will come there, or there will be no-one living there
because of their fear or dislike of briers and thorns. Instead it will be only
good for grazing such animals that have little or no fear of such prickly
bushes. The bottom line is that it will not be a good place to build a town or
places for people to dwell in. It is a picture of a desolate land.
The land has now become what is
known as fallow land, land that is put aside for a season (or more) to let it
rest before planting the next crop or using it for agricultural purposes. Judah
is going to be made to lie fallow for a season in order to start the new cycle
afresh. (Note the 7th sabbath year and the 50th jubilee
sabbath.) The oncoming captivity will be a time of lying fallow for Judah.
After this period of captivity, if they are ever going to learn their lesson,
they will come back with a fresh start to their lives. Jeremiah had the same
picture maybe a hundred or more years later.
Jeremiah 4:3 – For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up
your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
Even Hosea, who prophesied among
the northern tribes from about 786-726 BC (perhaps the generation before
Isaiah) shared the same picture, yet about Israel, rather than Judah.
Hosea 10:12-15 – 12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break
up your fallow ground: for [it is] time to seek the Lord, till he come
and rain righteousness upon you. 13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten
the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy
mighty men. 14 Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy
people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman
spoiled Beth–arbel in the day of battle: the mother
was dashed in pieces upon [her] children. 15 So shall
Beth–el do unto you because of your great wickedness: in a morning shall the
king of Israel utterly be cut off.
Hosea also told of the coming
devastation of Israel, and their captivity, because of their extreme evil. This
following passage appears to be about the coming destruction of Israel in 722
BC.
Hosea 5:3-9 – 3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O
Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, [and] Israel
is defiled. 4 They will not frame their doings to turn unto
their God: for the spirit of whoredoms [is] in the midst of them, and
they have not known the Lord. 5 And the pride of Israel doth
testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity;
Judah also shall fall with them. 6 They shall go with their
flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord; but they shall not find [him];
he hath withdrawn himself from them. 7 They have dealt
treacherously against the Lord: for they have begotten strange children: now
shall a month devour them with their portions. 8 Blow ye the
cornet in Gibeah, [and] the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud [at] Beth–aven, after thee, O Benjamin. 9 Ephraim
shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made
known that which shall surely be.
And Isaiah appears to take up the
same prophesy in Isaiah 10:28-29 – 28 He
is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron;
at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages: 29
They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.
Have God’s people learned yet from
all this? They didn’t learn then, even though it was spelled out more than
clearly! They (Judah) came back from captivity with a fresh start, yet even
though they had hit rock-bottom before the captivity, they just continued to
dig even deeper! Once they had got a smell of freedom from God’s law, they
never looked back! And today we have all kinds of “churches” teaching whatever
it is that they desire that God should do for them. Even the calvinists get in
on the act and decide that the Bible doesn’t say what they want it to say so
they change it until it does. No-one can “prove” them wrong for they have this
“infallible” understanding that what they believe is absolutely “right”. And, because
they “know” they are “right”, therefore the Bible has to be interpreted
according to that which they “know” is the “truth”. No other explanation can be
acceptable because their “knowledge” of the absolute “truth” can never
be overruled. All things therefore must be interpreted according to their
“absolute truth”. Like Judah in Isaiah’s day, God must be made to fit in with
their “absolute truth”, and even if a prophet should say otherwise, then the
prophet must be wrong. God’s word must never be allowed to interfere with their
“absolute truth”! And so, God has become a mere convenience, something to be
used whenever necessity demands (but hopefully not too often!).
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