King of Assyeria (Tiglathpilser III), main city is Nineveh
King of Syria (or Aram) -ancient Aramaea (King Rezin) , main ciy is Damascus Aram is a region mentioned in the Bible located in present-day Syria,
King of Northern Israel, Ephraim, man city is Samaria
These three were united to form a coalition against Judah (captital is Jerusalem)
Isaiah 7:1 When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it.
The alliance between these two nations and their unsuccessful attack on Jerusalem is described in 2 Kings 16.
The attack on Jerusalem was ultimately unsuccessful, but the war against Judah took a great toll against the southern kingdom. 2 Chronicles 28:6 documents the damage: For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed one hundred and twenty thousand in Judah in one day, all valiant men, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. 2 Chronicles 28:5 says that the Syrian army carried away a great multitude of them as captives. The king of Israel also captured 200,000 men, women and children as captives, but sent them back to Judah at the command of the prophet Oded (2 Chronicles 28:8-15).
All in all, when the events of this chapter unfold, the nation of Judah had faced terrible calamity, and was devastated. As the combined armies of Israel and Syria approached Jerusalem, it looked like everything would be lost. In vs 2 we read that when Aram and Israel allied to attack Jerusalem, "the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken". Ahaz was challenged to trust God when things were bad, and it looked like soon, all would be lost.
But throught Isaiah, God instructed Ahaz in vss 4-7, "‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood....". 7 Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says:“‘It will not take place,
it will not happen,
8 for the head of Aram is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is only Rezin.
Within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people.
9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.
If you do not stand firm in your faith,
you will not stand at all.’”
But Ahaz didn't choose to trust in God. God even offered to ask for a sign that Ahaz could look to as affirmation of God's promise of protection. But Ahaz refused.
So how was Ahaz saved from this attack? To understand what happened and how these two nations "could not overpower it" (Isaiah 7;1, 2 Kings 16:5), you have to go back to 2 Kings 16:7 where it picks up where Isaiah 7:1 leaves off. Ahaz entered into an ungodly alliance with Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria: "Ahaz sent messengers to say to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, “I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” Ahaz even gave Tiglath-Pileser silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD as a present to win his favor and protection (2 Kings 16:7-9).
Cotinuing to read the account in 2 Kings:
- The king of Assyria responsded by attacking Damascus and put Rezin to death
- Ahaz then went to Damascus to visit the king of Assyria and while he was there he saw an altar. Ahaz sketched out what he saw and sent details plans to Uriah the priest to build in Jerusalem.
- When Ahaz returned, he presented offerings on it
vs 14 " As for the bronze altar that stood before the Lord, he brought it from the front of the temple—from between the new altar and the temple of the Lord—and put it on the north side of the new altar"
Ahaz then orderd Uriah to begin making morning and evening offerings on this new altar and said "I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance (he doesn't say from who....but it wasn't going to be from God Almighty).
Then in vs 18 "He took away the Sabbath canopy[a] that had been built at the temple and removed the royal entryway outside the temple of the Lord, in deference to the king of Assyria."
Returning back to Isaiah 7.....
With that as a backdrop, my understanding of how Ahaz responded to the promises made by God and the offering of a sign. Ahaz says (vs 12) "I will not ask Iwill not put the lord to the test". Without this backdrop, it sounds like Ahaz is being spiritual and not wanting to put God to the test. But what I believe he is actually saying. "I don't want to test God because I don't want to put my trust in Him. I'd rather rely on my own abilities and alliances with the king of Assyria."
so the Lord responds: (vs 17) "The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.”
The king of Assyria was going to destroy the Northern Kingdom and coalition anyway so it was foolish for Ahaz to form an alliance.
The destruction was completed in 722 BC. The oracle was given 12 years before the destruction.
God was able to prevent the northern coalition from invading if Ahaz would believe and God waas willing to give a sign to guarantee it. But since Ahaz did not believe, God announced that there would be a glorious future for the Davidic family although the immediate generation would not share in it and the present land would be devastated by the Assyrians and Egyptians.
With the sign of Immanual, that was a promise that Judah would servive.