Isaiah 7:18-25

Rachel Workman: ¹⁸ In that day the Lord will whistle for the army of southern Egypt and for the army of Assyria. They will swarm around you like flies and bees. ¹⁹ They will come in vast hordes and settle in the fertile areas and also in the desolate valleys, caves, and thorny places. ²⁰ In that day the Lord will hire a “razor” from beyond the Euphrates River^[h]—the king of Assyria—and use it to shave off everything: your land, your crops, and your people.^[i]

²¹ In that day a farmer will be fortunate to have a cow and two sheep or goats left. ²² Nevertheless, there will be enough milk for everyone because so few people will be left in the land. They will eat their fill of yogurt and honey. ²³ In that day the lush vineyards, now worth 1,000 pieces of silver,^[j] will become patches of briers and thorns. ²⁴ The entire land will become a vast expanse of briers and thorns, a hunting ground overrun by wildlife. ²⁵ No one will go to the fertile hillsides where the gardens once grew, for briers and thorns will cover them. Cattle, sheep, and goats will graze there.

Instead of trusting the Lord, Ahaz continued to trust Assyria for help, and Isaiah warned him that Assyria would become Judah’s enemy. The Assyrians would invade Judah and so ravage the land that agriculture would cease and the people would have only dairy products to eat (vv. 15, 21–23). The rich farmland would become wasteland, and the people would be forced to hunt wild beasts in order to get food. It would be a time of great humiliation (v. 20; 2 Sam 10:4–5) and suffering that could have been avoided had the leaders trusted in the Lord.

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John Burnett:  ¹⁸ In that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹ And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.^[a]

²⁰ In that day the Lord will shave with a razor that is hired beyond the River^[b]—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.

²¹ In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, ²² and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat curds and honey.

²³ In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels^[c] of silver, will become briers and thorns. ²⁴ With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. ²⁵ And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

God is making it clear that the consequences for the sin of Ahaz will be severe.  From prosperity to despairity, Judah had fallen due to their sins.

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Tomorrow’s reading for Isaiah 8:1-4

8 Then the Lord said to me, “Make a large signboard and clearly write this name on it: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.^[a]” ² I asked Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, both known as honest men, to witness my doing this.

³ Then I slept with my wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said, “Call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. ⁴ For before this child is old enough to say ‘Papa’ or ‘Mama,’ the king of Assyria will carry away both the abundance of Damascus and the riches of Samaria.”