Isaiah 7: Stand Firm or Lose All

isa 7: 3 Then the LORD said to Isaiah, "Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, [b] to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman's Field. 4 Say to him, 'Be careful, keep calm and don't be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood—because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah. 5 Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah's son have plotted your ruin, saying, 6 "Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it." 7 Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
" 'It will not take place,
it will not happen,

Isaiah 7: Stand Firm or Lose All
IN THIS STUDY we see King Ahaz of Judah miss a crucial opportunity to trust God in troubled times. He was too frightened to trust God and too vain or proud to ask for the offered sign. Ahaz's leadership can be summarized in this way: "Faith played no part in his religion or his politics" [The New Bible Commentary: Revised]. Isaiah's cool and calm trustfulness emerges in the most vivid contrast to Ahaz's maneuverings. Assyria was the incomparably brutal superpower of the day, threatening to engulf Syria, Israel and Judah at any time. The chill which it cast over the whole scene is comparable to modern armies like the Nazis, the Mau Mau, the Khmer Rouge and, most recently, Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard. Yet Isaiah was confident that even mighty Assyria was under his God's control.

Warming Up to God
Recall a time you experienced God's grace when you were in a very tight spot or in the midst of a personal crisis. Offer your praise to God for his faithfulness.

Read Isaiah 7. »
Discovering the Word
Study map 1 (see introduction) to get a picture of the setting. How does God describe Ahaz's enemies in verses 3-6?
How does the Lord's statement "It will not happen" (vv. 7-9) challenge and encourage Ahaz to trust him?
Why do you think God was impatient with Ahaz (vv. 10-13)?
What is the significance of the sign of the virgin's child (vv. 14-17)?
Ahaz thought he was outwitting two small enemies by allying himself with his biggest one. What disastrous miscalculation did this involve according to verses 17 and 20?
Ahaz hoped to preserve his crown and kingdom, but his land would become a shambles. How do verses 18-25 expound the fateful consequences of his choice?
Applying the Word
When have you found verse 9—"If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all"— to be true for you?
How can you better prepare to meet some real or imagined crisis by applying to yourself this very moment the exhortation that Isaiah gave to Ahaz, especially verses 4 and 9?
Responding in Prayer
Pray that you will not lose heart.