7:1  When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it but could not overpower it.

These kings, the king of Aram, or Syria, which were a kindred people to Israel—that’s where Laban came from and Abraham’s relatives, and the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel—that’s the king of the northern kingdom of Israel, the Ten Tribe kingdom—these kind of formed a confederacy, or league, against the threatening Assyrian power from the north. And they wanted Judea to join with them in that alliance, and all of those little nations of that area. They wanted to form a united front against the Assyrians, thinking they could block the Assyrians from coming. And so they wanted to make Judea a puppet kingdom to their alliance. That scheme was doomed to fail because the kingdom of Israel had pretty well sunk into wickedness and degeneracy, and the Lord was going to allow the Assyrians to come in, as we’ll see from these next two chapters, seven and eight. And that is the context; that’s the historical background of these chapters.

Chapter six of Isaiah was the first chapter, chronologically, that begins with the year of the death of king Uzziah. And now we’re already two generations later, in the days of Ahaz son of Jotham. King Uzziah was a righteous king, but Ahaz and Jotham were not. So we have a pretty precarious situation in Judea, as well. The first two, when the house of David—that is, king Ahaz, who was the ruling king, and his cabinet, so to speak.

7:2  And when the house of David was informed that Aram was leading Ephraim on, the king’s mind and the minds of his people were shaken, as trees in a forest are shaken by a gale.

Aram being Syria, being confederate with Ephraim, or the Ten-Tribe kingdom. Ephraim was often the name given to the Ten tribe kingdom because the tribe of Ephraim usually led the Ten Tribe kingdom. Like in the book of Hosea, often the Ten-Tribe kingdom of the north is called Ephraim. There’s an identification, here, between the king and the people. “The mind of the king and the minds of the people are shaken.” What the one is experiencing is also experienced by the other. And that is a very important identification, there, that the one is as the other, as we’ll see, later on, as we come to chapters thirty-six and thirty-seven, where it talks about king Hezekiah and his people. And they’re of one mind, also. However, what the king does, there, and what the people do is of a positive nature. Here it’s of a negative nature.

In Isaiah’s seven-part structure these chapters, seven and eight, are juxtaposed with Hezekiah’s scenario, when the Assyrians are threatening at that time. And here, we see how a king and a people react negatively to the situation. And, later on in those chapters, thirty six to thirty-eight, we’ll see how a king and a people react positively, from the Lord’s standpoint, to the threatening Assyrians. Also, the storm imagery is always judgment imagery in the book of Isaiah. So the minds of the people are shaken. The minds of the righteous are never shaken. And we’ll see that all the way through Isaiah. It’s only the wicked that are shaken, apprehensive, and in confusion, at times of stress.

7:3  Then the Lord said to Isaiah, Go out and meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-Jashub, at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Reservoir, on the road to the Laundry Plaza.

Now, it seems like in the days of king Ahaz, who was an unrighteous king--a descendant of David,--over Judea, that Isaiah was not able to or was prevented from prophesying as prophets normally do. In fact, there’s very little that we can tie down, historically, except these chapters here, to the time of Jotham or Ahaz. And so, in order to get his message across Isaiah has to use different tactics. And one of them is that he names his sons by prophetic names. It’s almost as if, “well, since I can’t prophesy, directly, I’ll prophesy indirectly, through naming my sons by these prophetic names.

The name Shear-Jashub means “a remnant shall return,” or “a remnant shall repent.” In Hebrew, the word for repent and return are the same word; a remnant shall repent or a remnant shall return. And that name, alone, tells you a lot. First of all, it means that, in general, people are not repenting. And in general, people are going to be scattered or driven out. And a remnant, or only a small percentage of them, are going to repent and also return or be restored to their former status. That name is pregnant with meaning. It is also the place where they are to meet the king.       

The king goes down there, no doubt for cleansing purposes or something. The upper reservoir is just above the pool of Siloam, today, and it’s where a continuous spring of water comes out of the mountain or out of the rock. And it is still flowing, to this day. It is symbolic of the Davidic dynasty, or became symbolic of the Davidic dynasty which was a perpetual dynasty that would never fail, according to all the prophets, such as Samuel, and Jeremiah, for example. So that’s a very symbolic place. It’s also the place where the prophet Nathan anointed Solomon to be king. So, it’s a place that’s symbolic of the Davidic dynasty, or the line of David, as a perpetual dynasty. So, it’s a very symbolic place for the prophet Isaiah to meet king Ahaz, because it is to put him in mind of the Davidic covenant, the Lord’s covenant with king David. And, later on, in chapter thirty-six, we see how when the Assyrians come in, they come in at that point. And we’ll see the “upper reservoir on the road to the laundry plaza,” again, in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in these chapters where he prophesies that the Assyrians will come into the land and swarm all over it like a flood and go right up to the neck, to the head. So, all of this is intended to communicate messages to king Ahaz.

7:4  Say to him, See to it that you remain calm and unafraid. Be not intimidated by these two smoking tail ends of kindling, by the burning anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah,

Because the Lord’s way is to not be afraid and shaken, but to be calm, these two kings, who he calls two smoking tail ends of kindling, because they’re almost out, they stir up trouble, they start fires, but their fires are almost out so don’t worry about them. The Assyrians are going to take care of them. Rezin is the king of Aram, or Syria, and the son of Remaliah is king Pekah of the Ten Tribe kingdom; in this case, Pekah is not even mentioned by name, directly. He’s just called the son of Remaliah. And that’s derogatory. When you don’t mention a person’s first name it becomes a derogatory thing. So the Lord is looking at this person very negatively.

7:5–6  even though Aram has conceived an evil plot against you, as has Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, who say, 6 Let us invade Judah and stir up trouble there. We will take it for ourselves by force and set a ruler over it—the son of Tabeal.

So, the evil plot, here, is to put a puppet ruler on the throne of Judea, the kingdom of Judah, that they can control so that they’ll have a united alliance against the Assyrians. They’re going to invade Judea, themselves, put a puppet ruler there, then they’ll be united against the Assyrians coming from the north.

Now, the son of Tabeal is another one of those names that tells you a lot. Tab, or Tav, is a Hebrew word for “good.” And “al” is the word for “not.” So the son of Tabeal means, “no-good son.” But the word for son also means vassal, a technical term. And “good” is a synonym of covenant keeping, or covenant blessing. If it was evil it would be covenant breaking and covenant curse. So, the son of Tabeal also means a non-covenantal vassal.             What does that mean? Well, king David was promised , unconditionally, that his descendants would always rule over Israel, somewhere in time, even after the split of the Ten Tribe kingdom when Jeroboam began to rule over the Ten Tribes. Still, Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, continued to rule over three tribes in the south—Judah, Benjamin and Levi. There were thirteen tribes altogether, the tribe of Joseph splitting into two, forming Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim became the ruling tribe in the northern kingdom. Judah remained the ruling tribe in the southern kingdom, or the House of David did. So, a non-covenantal vassal means that the vassal was not a descendant of David. Because David was the covenantal vassal. A non-covenantal vassal would mean someone who would not fit in with the Lord’s scheme of things, not being an heir of king David. So these kings of the north—of Syria and of the Ten Tribe kingdom of Israel—wanted to displace the Davidic dynasty. And, of course, they could not do that; the Lord would not allow that, because David was promised, unconditionally, that his descendants would rule there.

7:7  Thus says my Lord the Lord: It shall not occur or transpire.

Because the covenant with David was unconditional. So don’t worry about it, Ahaz.

7:8  For as surely as Damascus is the capital of Aram and Rezin the head of Damascus, within sixty-five years shall Ephraim be shattered as a nation.

This is a problematic verse. It says, in the Masoretic text, since the destruction of Ephraim happened right on the heals of this prophecy, scholars believe that it was six, or even five years. And all of the time frames in these two chapters are within just a very few years, within a hand’s breadth of years. So sixty five years, as it says in Isaiah, is probably a scribal error. It should be within six or five years. Damascus is the capital of Aram, or Syria. The Hebrew word for capital and head is the same word. And Rezin is the head of Damascus, the leader of Syria, the king of Syria. Ephraim is going to be shattered as a nation because of its general state of wickedness, and also because of its evil plot that these rulers have, to overthrow the line of David. What happens when someone transgresses against the Lord’s covenant and infringes upon the rights of a vassal to the Lord? It means that the curses of that covenant come upon those who infringe upon those rights of the Lord’s vassal. So, in that sense, the very things that they’re conspiring to do against Judah are going to happen to themselves. The Assyrians are going to come in, conquer Syria and the Ten Tribe kingdom of Israel, and put puppet rulers in their places.

7:9  But as surely as Samaria is the capital of Ephraim and the son of Remaliah the head of Samaria, you will not believe it, because you are not loyal.

This is a play on words, in Hebrew, which you can’t tell very well in English translation: you can’t believe it because you’re not loyal. If king Ahaz had been a loyal king to the Lord, king Ahaz would have been in tune with the situation with the Lord’s scheme of things, and he would have believed the prophecy of Isaiah. And he would have known Isaiah was a prophet and have believed the word of the Lord given through him. But because Ahaz was not a loyal vassal, himself, he will remain shaken and afraid, and confused and not go along with the Lord’s plan. He doesn’t even believe what the prophet Isaiah is saying. That’s the reason Isaiah hasn’t been prophesying during his time. He was constrained not to do so, or forbidden by the king. Samaria is the capital of Ephraim, or the Ten Tribe kingdom. And the son of Remaliah, again the derogatory version of Pekah, the son of Remaliah, is the head, or the leader of Samaria, the capital.

           
7:10  Again the Lord addressed Ahaz, and said, 11 Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God, whether in the depths below or in the heights above.

As a confirmation. In that sense, the word, sign, has a slightly different meaning in Hebrew. It’s the same word that’s translated sign, or miracle. So you can ask for a miracle, just like Gideon asked the Lord for a miracle when he said, “Let the fleece be damp, full of dew, and the ground around it be totally dry.” And the next night he asked, “Let the fleece be dry, and the ground it be totally wet with dew. And he got the sign, each time. Then he went confidently with his soldiers against the enemies of Israel. And so it’s okay to ask for a sign, or confirmation. That’s different from asking for a miracle, such a cutting off an arm and restoring it again, or some other manifestation whenever you want some miraculous thing just to consume it upon your lust. Here, this is asking for a confirmation from the Lord. In this case there is a third person involved and that’s because he’s offering the sign on behalf of the Lord. So, king Ahaz is offered a sign, or confirmation from the Lord: “in the depths below or in the heights above. “ Anything—you can ask virtually anything, to manifest the power of God.

7:12  But Ahaz said, I will not. I will not put the Lord to the test.

So Ahaz doesn’t want the confirmation. Why? Because he knows that when Isaiah offers it, it’s going to happen, just like he asks for, and Ahaz would rather stick to his fearful point of view. So, you see how the mind of the wicked works, too. They’re not interested in the truth, they’re not interested in the right. Their mind’s already made up, and they’ll go with that. Also, this is a form of pious hypocrisy. You say I will not put the Lord to the test. Yes, the law of God says thou shall not put the Lord thy God to the test. And that is, in that kind of way, in asking for a miracle. But when it’s offered to you as a confirmation, that’s different. Then you better take it. So, Ahaz, in this sense, is putting himself above Isaiah.

7:13  Then Isaiah said, Take heed, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Must you also try the patience of my God?

And he calls him the house of David, because, again, it’s putting Ahaz in mind of the Davidic covenant, the Lord’s covenant with king David and his ruling heirs. “ Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Must you also try the patience of my God?” Here, Isaiah is showing a little bit of anger toward king Ahaz, and rightfully so, letting him know that generally he’s not being a good ruler. Ahaz must be oppressing the people as well, for Isaiah to be saying this kind of thing. Now, he also says, “Must you also try the patience of my God?” He doesn’t say, “your God,” anymore. In the previous verse, in verse eleven, it said: “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God.” When it says “your God,” that’s a covenant formula. It expresses a covenant relationship-- “your God,” “ his people.” Now Isaiah says, “my” God. Why does he suddenly switch? It’s to show that Ahaz has rejected his God, but Isaiah still claims him as his God. So he personalizes it again, to let Ahaz know that Ahaz has rejected his God. What is going on here is a very symbolic encounter between these men. All the while, no doubt, Shear-Jashub, Isaiah’s son, is standing there, kind of as a witness or as a third party.

7:14  Therefore will my Lord of himself give you a sign: the young woman with child shall give birth to a son and name him Immanuel.

He’s going to give you a sign, anyway, Ahaz. It’s not the one you’re expecting. “The young woman with child shall give birth to a son and name him Immanuel.” Young woman, in Hebrew, is almah, which is not the word for “virgin, which is betulah, which is another word that’s not used here. So, when the King James and the other translations translate a virgin shall conceive, it’s not founded in Hebrew. A virgin can’t conceive, anyway. If she conceived she would not longer be a virgin. Isaiah uses the right word. “The young woman with child shall give birth to a son and name him Immanuel.” Now, the word, son, there, is used kind of juxtaposed with the son of Tabeal, in verse six.

The word, son, means literal son, always, of course. In this particular sense it’s also vassal. This is another vassal. And he’ll be called Immanuel, which means God is with us. In chapters seven and eight, there are three sons spoken of: Shear-Jashub—a remnant shall repent, or a remnant shall return; Immanuel, God is with us, and in chapter eight, Shalal-Hash-Baz, which means: hasten the plunder, hurry the spoil. And these three sons are all symbolic of categories of people, just as Isaiah gives us the imagery of precious metals and stones, and semi-precious and common metals and stones, to distinguish three categories of people, through these imagery of metals and stones, or, in this case, through the symbolic nicknames of the three sons. In the book of Psalms it often talks about God being with his people. When God is with the people, there’s protection for them. They’re being blessed. They are the elect people that he’s with. So the name Immanuel symbolizes an elect category of people. And we’ll see that as we go on, in the next few verses, how that name is symbolic in that sense, and also as it is in chapter eight. We tend to isolate this verse from the context of chapters seven and eight. And by isolating it we neglect those other meanings, there, that are relevant to this verse.

But the name, Immanuel, means “God is with us.” Now, I know that commentators, like Matthew, the evangelist, in the New Testament, apply these verse to Christ. And certainly, on the spiritual ladder, Christ is at the apex. However, there are other Messianic roles, or other Messianic characters, beginning with king David, himself, who are below Christ, who typify Christ, they typify Christ. In the context in which this prophecy is given it had to have meaning to Ahaz, something relevant and historical to his day. If not, it would be just like saying, well, I’m going to give you a sign up on the moon, and you can’t be there right now, you can’t see it but there’s going to be something happening there. You might as well say something like that, that far removed in time. It wouldn’t have any meaning to king Ahaz, because the nature of Hebrew prophecy is that it can have several levels of fulfillment. At the first level of fulfillment, the most pertinent one to king Ahaz would have to be something that would happen in his own day. And we’ll see how that’s fulfilled historically. It is fulfilled, historically, in king Hezekiah, son of king Ahaz. He is the Immanuel spoken of, on a historical level, because he is the righteous vassal king, or the righteous servant, or son of the Lord that fulfills this prophecy.

Whatever other Messianic interpretations it may have, such as to Christ, or to a latter-day David, or to others—and besides the fact that it represents a category of people, as do the other two sons. So it’s very important, then—and this is a very good example of it-- to take prophecies such as these, in Isaiah –and see them in their context, because everything in Isaiah has word links. It’s like an internal system of checks and balances; you can know for sure what this prophecy’s all about, from its context, from its word links. So, let’s just leave that in abeyance—just take my word for that, as far as that goes right now, if you want—and we’ll see how all that is fulfilled. The young woman with child-- So it has to be a young woman with child who’s with child now, and whom Isaiah can point to and say, “there she is,” or “she’s there at the laundry plaza doing her laundry,” or something like that, or it would have to have been king Ahaz’s wife if it was king Hezekiah who was the son spoken of. It’s something relevant to king Ahaz that he can relate to. It’s not something far away like on the moon, or 2,000 years later, or whatever.

7:15  Cream and honey will he eat by the time he has learned to reject what is evil and choose what is good.

Now, cream and honey is the food of Nomads. And it is the food that Israelites ate, or it is the nomadic lifestyle that symbolizes the nomadic lifestyle that the Israelites often reverted to when things got bad in their country. When there was anarchy and lawlessness, and the disintegration of the society, then the catchword was, “to your tents, O Israel!” Let’s go back to our tents and get out of this for awhile. That’s implied here by the “cream and honey,” or “curds and honey,” as some scholars translate it. It’s nomadic food. It means that there’s still a sufficiency, because if there was not a sufficiency of food and drink, that would be a covenant curse. But since this is a righteous son, Immanuel—God is with us—there is sufficiency, but it’s not your everyday fare of the city. It’s what the Bedouins live on. If you live with them for awhile you’d see that they have the goats and the sheep and the milk; they kind of eat this fare.

“By the time he has learned to reject what is evil and choose what is good”-- so, as a young child, in his day, when he’s still a young child—that is, we would say that is the age of eight-- “by the age of eight he learns to reject what is evil and choose what is good, “ because that’s the age of accountability. Now, “evil” and “good” are also covenant terms. So it means he’s learning to keep covenant with the Lord. Choosing the good is to keep covenant with God. Of course we know he’s good because of his name, here. But while he’s still a young man, learning to keep covenant with the Lord, it’ll be a time of distress. He’ll be forced to a nomadic lifestyle, for awhile. That’s also implied by the name of the son, Shear-Jashub, a remnant shall repent, or a remnant shall return. Those who repent are also the ones who return. Return from where? Well, from being out there for awhile, from being dispersed or scattered, living in a situation that’s not a normal situation.

7:16  But before the child learns to reject the evil and choose the good, the land whose two rulers you loathe shall lie forsaken.

So, even as the child is growing up, before he has learned to keep covenant with the Lord—whether it’s at the age of eight, or the age of thirteen, or Bar Mitzvah age—it’s not that important; he’s a young child. “The land whose two rulers you loathe—that is, Syria and the Northern kingdom of Israel, the two rulers being Rezin and Pekah, shall lie forsaken.” In other words, the Assyrians who have been threatening them are going to desolate their lands, even while the child is still growing up. So you can see how this is a sign for Ahaz, intended for his day, not something far off that Ahaz can’t relate to. Otherwise, how could it be a sign to Ahaz? Would God give a sign that Ahaz would never see? That would not be a sign. It’s something that’s happening in his day.

7:17  The Lord will bring upon you and your people and your father’s house a day unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—the day of the king of Assyria.

“The day” is the day of judgment. When Ephraim broke away from Judah when Jeroboam began to rule over the ten northern tribes, and left Rehoboam with only three tribes in Jerusalem, Rehoboam, the son of Solomon the son of David—that was a woesome day because here we had a united nation that is now split into two, with enmity between the two that remained, down the generations. The House of Israel was a house divided, from that day on. And this day is going to be like that day. It’s going to be a woesome day, a woeful day. The king of Assyria’s going to come in and desolate those two lands, up north. That’s how Ephraim will be shattered as a nation, as it says in verse eight. “The day of the king of Assyria—that is, his day, or the great day of his power when he’s given power over the nations of the earth, at least those other nations.

7:18  In that day the Lord will signal for the flies from the far rivers of Egypt and for the bees in the land of Assyria.

Whenever you see that expression, “in that day,” it means that day of judgment. We’ve already discussed that day a number of times. “The day of the Lord,” it’s called, a period lasting a few years, in which the Assyrians virtually conquer the world, and the Lord judges his people. “The flies from the far rivers of Egypt,” and “bees from the land of Assyria,” are unlikely literally flies and bees, but are swarms of people are going to come from Egypt, swarms of them come from Assyria. Now Assyria and Egypt are generally always enemies, and so the conflict between the two would take place here in the Promised Land. The ones would come swarming from the North, and the others would come swarming from the South, and swarm all over the land, like pests. And that’s also imagery that identifies a plague. So it implies covenant curse, because of the wickedness of the people, in general.

7:19  And they will come and settle with one accord in the river beds of the prairie and in rocky ravines, and by all ditches and water holes.

And whether that’s symbolic it’s possible that rivers and riverbeds, ditches and waterholes, and prairies, are symbolic, it gives the impression that the “bees” and “flies” will be everywhere. Now, later on in Isaiah, we’ll see that some of these kinds of places are where occult rituals are performed, so that may be an allusion to that.

7:20  In that day my Lord will use a razor hired at the River—the king of Assyria—to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to cut off even your beard.

The razor, in this case, is the king of Assyria, as it says here. We’ll see, later on, that he’s also called by other names, such as the Lord’s ax, and saw, and other destructive instruments in the Lord’s hands. The king of Assyria is an instrument in the Lord’s hand to bring about this judgment. The River is also a name that the king of Assyria is called, in the next chapter. He’s called by the name, Sea, and River, throughout the book of Isaiah. In chapter five we saw that he was called Sea, and River. Both of those terms were ancient near eastern names of the enemies of the god, Baal. So they were names of a god of chaos, a false god who caused chaos, that the god, Baal had to conquer. So this has a very negative connotation. In Isaiah, also, Sea and River allude to the Flood. We see, in the next chapter, that the king of Assyria is likened to a new Flood that floods the earth. He’s that destructive, alluding to the Flood anciently, at the time of Noah.

“He will use a razor, hired at the River—the king of Assyria.” Traditionally, it was the river Euphrates, also, which bordered the land of Assyria, and so it implies trouble that comes from the north. “To shave your head and the hair of your legs, and cut off even your beard. “ As we saw Rezin, was the head of Damascus, and the son of Remaliah was the head of Samaria.
First it’s the leaders of the people that are cut off. Chapter nine, verse fifteen says, “the elders, or the notables are the head. The prophets who teach falsehood, the tail.” So the word, head, also alludes to the leadership of the people. So, when the Assyrians shave the head it means they will take away their leadership. And that is exactly how the Assyrians conquered, anciently. They would come in and take away the leadership, or the elite, ruling class of the people. They would take them away and leave the mass of the people in a leaderless state so they could more easily control them, with their puppet rulers. The “hair of your legs,” too, implies bondage and captivity because slaves-- men-- were shaven, to identify them and to shame them. Their beards, and all hair was shaven off, to intimidate them and to humiliate them and to mark them as slaves. So if they escaped they would know who they were. “To cut off even your beard--” The word, beard, in Hebrew, is zaqan, a word similar to the word, elder, which is zaqan, spelled the same, actually, with three consonants. And so, to cut off the beard, it means to cut off the elders. It kind of has a double meaning, there.

7:21  In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and a pair of sheep.

In “that day,” the same day of judgment when the Assyrians do their thing, a man—not very many men—a man here and a man there who escape this calamity, who saw trouble coming and knowing that it’s all over for the people, and being inspired of God,--go out, for awhile, and revert to the nomadic lifestyle and take a young cow and a pair of sheep with them. The cow gives milk. The sheep were also milked, anciently, and still are, today, and used for food and clothing. It’s the bare minimum. Because nobody has just one cow and a pair of sheep. They usually have lots of goats and sheep and other animals. So this is an emergency situation.

7: 22  And because of their plentiful milk, men will eat the cream. All who remain in the land will feed on cream and honey.

That is, those who have them. The animals will give plenty of milk, because they’ll go back into the wilderness lifestyle, the nomadic lifestyle, as the Bedouins. And they do pretty well out there. Like I’ve said, it’s not the food of the cities with their everyday plenty. But it’s enough. They’re not under a covenant curse. They’re just in a temporary situation because of the nature of the times. “All who remain in the land will feed on cream and honey.” Not the masses. Not everybody. But those who remain. The word “ remain” links to other places in Isaiah, to the remnant who survive the destruction. “In the land” means they still have land. They still have the promise of land. They’re not thrown out of their land. They don’t lose their land. They will receive an inheritance in the land, again. Or it remains theirs. They’re just temporarily discomfited. They’ll feed on cream and honey. But in verse fifteen we saw that the son Immanuel eats cream and honey. Those are word links that tie these people who are in a temporary emergency situation to the Son Immanuel in verses fourteen and fifteen, through the word links. What he does, they do. As he survives, they survive. Or as they survive, he survives. [? ] they survive together, because the word links link to one idea.
So, just as in chapter seven, the king’s mind, and the minds of his people were shaken—they’re linked together. So, the Son Immanuel, here, and these who are surviving in an emergency situation are linked together by the eating of cream and honey. Both revert to the nomadic lifestyle for awhile.

7:23  In that day every plot of ground with a thousand vines worth a thousand pieces of currency shall be briars and thorns.

Like I said, it’s a time of judgment. The land reverts to wilderness. So the cultivated plots that are now yielding high harvests will then just be neglected. So it implies several years of neglect, invasion by enemies, people are taken out into captivity, dispersion, destruction, until the land becomes a wilderness again. That’s the time which we’re talking about.

7:24  Men will go there with bows and arrows, for the whole land shall revert to wilderness.

Bows and arrows because of the wild beasts that’ll be out there that will, again, take over the land instead of people. And wild beasts, too, are covenant curse. Briars and thorns are covenant curse. Wilderness is a covenant curse. Cultivated land is a covenant blessing.

7: 25  And on all hillsides cultivated by the hoe you will no longer go for fear of the briars and thorns, but they shall serve as a cattle range, a  terrain for sheep to tread down.

And that’s symbolic, because cattle and sheep are also symbolic of people in the book of Isaiah. They’re kosher animals. So, it’s almost referring to the lifestyle of those who survive, besides referring, literally, to cattle and sheep. The animals who are not taken with the survivors, or who are not killed, are left roaming the land. Because of the way Isaiah has structured his book we can read all of this, historically, and also as a latter-day scenario. And so even these biographical chapters, six, seven, and eight, in particular, and also the biographical chapters later on, in the Hezekiah scenario—chapters thirty-six through thirty-nine—can be read on two levels. One applying to the time of Ahaz and Hezekiah, and Isaiah, and then one typifying something in the latter days. And that implies a latter-day Davidic dynasty, represented by Ahaz and his people, here, will apostatize. And they will be juxtaposed with a righteous Davidic dynasty, represented by Hezekiah in chapters thirty-six through thirty-eight, and his people again, in the latter-days. The way that Isaiah structured his book in the seven-part structure shows that these two blocks of chapters are juxtaposed, or in counterpoint with each other, so that they could be read in a historical sense where Hezekiah succeeded king Ahaz, since he was the son of king Ahaz and was the next generation. But the way Isaiah has structured his book in the seven-part structure they can be read as contemporaries. King Ahaz typifies somebody who is in an apostate dynasty today. And king Hezekiah could represent somebody today who [recording cut out.]
end of chapter 7