Title: Prophecy of Immanuel / Isaiah 7
Content: Prophecy of Immanuel
Isaiah 7
1. Isaiah the prophet who met Ahaz (1-9)
This paragraph shows the actual ministry of Isaiah after receiving his vocation.
When Ahaz and the people tremble greatly when they hear the news that Ephraim and Syria will form an alliance against Israel, God sends a message of comfort and assurance through Isaiah. While prophesying the defeat of Syria and Ephraim, he also prophesied to Ahaz, “If you do not have faith, you will not be able to stand firm.”
In the midst of tribulation, God is a God of comfort and salvation. Who is comforted and saved? Those who have faith receive it.
2. Immanuel prophecy (10-17)
① Seek the omens (10-13)
God proclaimed the promise of salvation and called for faith. But Ahaz did not have sincere faith in the Word of God. So God gave an opportunity to give a sign for the purpose of strengthening our weak faith. A sign is a miracle given as a sign in order to make people believe the word of God, and it is intended to induce obedience by focusing attention on the word of God. But Ahaz said, "I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test." That's a pretty blatant word. But it was a response of hypocrisy and unbelief disguised as piety. Because Ahaz tried to solve the problem with the help of the king of Assyria rather than the word of God.
② Immanuel prophecy (14-17)
Ahaz refused the sign, but God made the prophecy of Immanuel himself. God took this prophecy of Immanuel as a sign of the word to Ahaz and made it a future prophecy of the coming of the Messiah. Such prophecies of the Old Testament are fulfilled doubly through the historical situation of the time and the coming of the Messiah.
3. Prophecy of judgment through Assyria (18-25)
After the prophet's vocation and the prophecy of Immanuel was proclaimed, it is now referring to the judgment that will come again on Judah. When King Ahaz did not believe in God's promise and tried to overcome the crisis through the strength of the Assyrian army, Judah was inevitably doomed to destruction. The text records the thorough judgment that Judah will receive from God for deliberately disregarding God's Word.
① Foreign troops will cover the entire territory (18-19)
② The people of Judah will be thoroughly ravaged (20-25)
The king of Assyria, who abolished the two kings of Israel at Aramit at the request of Ahaz, did not stop there and slaughtered the people of Judah. As a result, they experience economic poverty (21-22) and industrial devastation (23-25).