Isaiah 7 · The Lantern

A Message to Ahaz

And it was, in the days of Ahaz son of Jotham son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem for war against it — and he was not able to fight against it.

And it was told to the house of David: “Aram has settled upon Ephraim.” And his heart shook, and the heart of his people, as the trees of a forest shake before a wind.

And the LORD said to Isaiah: Go out, please, to meet Ahaz — you and Shear-jashub your son — at the end of the channel of the upper pool, at the highway of the launderer’s field.

And say to him: Take care and be quiet; do not fear, and let your heart not be soft, because of these two tails of smoking firebrands — because of the burning anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah.

Because Aram has counseled evil against you — Ephraim and the son of Remaliah — saying,

“Let us go up against Judah and split it open and breach it for ourselves, and make a king reign within it, the son of Tabeal” —

thus says the Lord GOD: It will not stand, and it will not be.

For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and in another sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.

And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not stand firm, surely you will not be made firm.

It is essential to notice that the statement means that those who read it do not only need understanding but also faith; and not only faith but also understanding. Those of the circumcision who do not believe in the Christ of God, though even now they hear these words, do not have understanding of the subject of this prophecy because they do not hear with the mind.

(Verse 12.) And Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. This is not humility, but pride, that he does not want to ask for a sign from the Lord. Although it is written in Deuteronomy: You shall not test the Lord your God (Deut. 6:16), and the Savior used this against the devil as a testimony (Matt.

And the head of Ephraim, as above. If you will not believe. Here he places the condemnation of the unbelieving. If you will not believe, namely in the promises of the Lord, you too shall not continue in your land, but you will be taken captive: behold, he that is unbelieving, his soul shall not be right in himself (Hab 2:4).

The Sign of Immanuel

And the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying:

For the one and the same Spirit of God, who proclaimed by the prophets what and of what sort the advent of the Lord should be, did by these elders give a just interpretation of what had been truly prophesied; and He did Himself, by the apostles, announce that the fulness of the times of the adoption had arrived, that the kingdom of heaven had drawn nigh, and that He was dwellin…

(Verse 10, 11.) And the Lord added, speaking to Achaz, saying: Ask for yourself a sign from the Lord your God in the depths of hell, or in the highest above. He had previously spoken to Achaz through the prophet, saying: Behold, be silent, do not fear, and so on.

And the Lord spoke again to Achaz. Here the sign of liberation is set out. And first, the liberty to choose a sign is given; second, the sign for believing is conferred: therefore the Lord himself shall give (Isa 7:14). Concerning the first, three things are set out.

Ask for yourself a sign from the LORD your God — make it deep as Sheol or make it high above.

But what Isaiah said, "From the height above, or from the depth beneath," was meant to indicate, that "He who descended was the same also who ascended." But in this that he said, "The Lord Himself shall give you a sign," he declared an unlooked-for thing with regard to His generation, which could have been accomplished in no other way than by God the Lord of all, God Himself gi…

As far as the wording goes, Ahaz acted modestly when he had been commanded to "ask a sign in the depth or in the height"; and he gave a reason why he was unwilling to "ask," for he said: "I will not ask, nor will I tempt the Lord." And yet for this modesty he is blamed, and it is said to him: "Hear now, O house of David: is it a small thing for you to offer a contest to men, an…

First, the liberty of choosing a sign is conceded: and the Lord said to Achaz—because he disdained the prophets, the Lord himself spoke: because it seems hard that such powerful kings would be destroyed so quickly—ask you a sign, that you might believe, of the Lord your God.

And Ahaz said: “I will not ask, and I will not test the LORD.”

And he said: Hear now, house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also?

And when He says, "Hear, O house of David," [Isaiah 7:13] He performed the part of one indicating that He whom God promised David that He would raise up from the fruit of his belly (ventris) an eternal King, is the same who was born of the Virgin, herself of the lineage of David.

(Verse 13.) And he said, hear therefore, house of David: Is it not enough for you to be troublesome to men, that you are also troublesome to my God? Who is this that said, hear therefore, house of David? Not God who had said above to Ahaz: Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; but a Prophet, as is proven from what follows: For you are troublesome to my God.

Third, the rebuke of the one who refuses is set out: and he, namely, Isaiah, said: therefore, since you are so rebellious, hear you therefore, O house of David, because of its consent in the malice of the king, or because the promised Christ is given as a sign to David: of the fruit of your womb I will set upon your throne (Ps 131[132]:11).

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the young woman is pregnant and giving birth to a son, and she will call his name Immanuel.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.

And what goes before also establishes this interpretation. For he doth not merely say, "Behold, the Virgin shall be with child," but having first said, "Behold, the Lord Himself shall give you a sign," then he subjoins, "Behold, the Virgin shall be with child." Whereas, if she that was to give birth was not a virgin, but this happened in the way of marriage, what sort of sign w…

Therefore. Here the sign for belief is given. And first, the sign of liberation is conferred; second, he threatens the unbelieving with the punishment of destruction: the Lord shall bring upon you (Isa 7:17). Now this is the sign of the Incarnation of Christ. But the Jews object against this in many ways.

Curds and honey he will eat, by the time he knows to refuse the evil and choose the good.

"Butter and honey shall he eat." How is it prophesied that Christ "shall eat butter and honey"? And even if this be expounded by the Lord's bestowing it, again the things that follow will press upon us other questions.

Now, since the Lord was not a mere man but was also God and knew all things, he stood in no need of reflection, inquiry, counsel or judgment. He also had a natural affinity for good and antipathy for evil. Thus it is in this sense that the prophet Isaiah, too, says, "Before the child shall know to refuse the evil, he will choose the good.

Second, as to his humanity: he shall eat butter and honey, literally, manly foods, because from infancy he held himself to the manner of other men: and being born, I drew in the common air, and fell upon the earth, that is made alike, and the first voice which I uttered was crying, as all others do (Wis 7:3).

For before the boy knows to refuse the evil and choose the good, the ground whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.

Judgment to Come

The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house days such as have not come since the day Ephraim turned away from Judah — the king of Assyria.

And it will be, in that day, that 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.

And they will come and settle, all of them, in the steep wadis and in the clefts of the crags, and in all the thornbushes and in all the pastures.

In that day the Lord will shave, with a razor hired beyond the River — with the king of Assyria — the head and the hair of the legs; and the beard also it will sweep away.

And it will be, in that day, that a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep;

and it will be that from the abundance of milk they give he will eat curds — for curds and honey will everyone eat who is left in the midst of the land.

And it will be, in that day, that every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand of silver will be for briers and for thorns.

With arrows and with the bow one will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns.

And all the hills that used to be hoed with the hoe — you will not come there for fear of briers and thorns; and it will be for the sending out of the ox and for the trampling of the sheep.

Isaiah7

A Message to Ahaz

The Sign of Immanuel

Judgment to Come