Isaiah 7:1-9

Rachel Workman: 7 When Ahaz, son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Syria^[a] and Pekah son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, set out to attack Jerusalem. However, they were unable to carry out their plan.
² The news had come to the royal court of Judah: “Syria is allied with Israel^[b] against us!” So the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, like trees shaking in a storm.
³ Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Take your son Shear-jashub^[c] and go out to meet King Ahaz. You will find him at the end of the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed.^{[d] 4} Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn’t need to fear the fierce anger of those two burned-out embers, King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah. ⁵ Yes, the kings of Syria and Israel are plotting against him, saying, ⁶ ‘We will attack Judah and capture it for ourselves. Then we will install the son of Tabeel as Judah’s king.’ ⁷ But this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“This invasion will never happen;
    it will never take place;
⁸ for Syria is no stronger than its capital, Damascus,
    and Damascus is no stronger than its king, Rezin.
As for Israel, within sixty-five years
    it will be crushed and completely destroyed.
⁹ Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria,
    and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah.
Unless your faith is firm,
    I cannot make you stand firm.”

The thing that stands out the most to me here is the verse that states "Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm". Let that sink in.

____________________________________________________________________________________

John Burnett:  7 In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. ² When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with^[a] Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz^[b] and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

³ And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub^[c] your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. ⁴ And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. ⁵ Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, ⁶ “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it^[d] for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” ⁷ thus says the Lord God:  If you belong to Jesus Christ, we have no need to worry or fear.  Isaiah was sent by God to let Ahaz know that He belong to God and that God was not going to let anything happen to him.  For those who have been born again, the Holy Spirit, was sent to calm our fears and worries and help us to battle our sinful nature.

“‘It shall not stand,
    and it shall not come to pass.  This situation is very similar to what is occurring today.  Israel is surrounded by its enemies but ultimately, it shall not come to pass because Jesus will return and take reign over Israel and the whole world.
⁸ For the head of Syria is Damascus,
    and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years
    Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
⁹ And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
    and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you^[e] are not firm in faith,
    you will not be firm at all.’”

____________________________________________________________________________________

Tomorrow’s reading for Isaiah 7:10-17

¹⁰ Later, the Lord sent this message to King Ahaz: ¹¹ “Ask the Lord your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.^[e]”
¹² But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the Lord like that.”
¹³ Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? ¹⁴ All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin^[f] will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). ¹⁵ By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yogurt^[g] and honey. ¹⁶ For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted.
¹⁷ “Then the Lord will bring things on you, your nation, and your family unlike anything since Israel broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria upon you!”