In our last lesson, we met a new prophet named Isaiah. We learned about a disturbing vision he had the year that King Uzziah died in Israel. In the vision, Yahweh called on Isaiah to speak His convicting messages to the spiritual rebels in Isaiah’s homeland. But then Yahweh said that He would prevent those rebels from repenting of their sins. It’s a little tough to go firing out of the blocks when you’re told right from the start that your mission is going to fail. After all, isn’t the purpose of a prophet to turn spiritual rebels back to God? No. The purpose of a prophet is to honor God by doing what God tells him to do. This same rule applies in every area of service to God. Once God gives you a clear directive, pleasing Him with your obedience is all that matters. If you forget this principle and start worrying about end results (by constantly searching for evidence that you’re making some kind of positive difference in the world), then you’ll end up going off track. It’s when we take our focus off of God that we start exalting ourselves and compromising in our obedience so we can put out a product that we think will be more attractive to people. Instead of letting God direct our ministry efforts, we act like we have a superior knowledge of what humans want and need until we’re the ones who need to do some repenting.
Pleasing God is the only thing that matters. If you accomplish that, then you have succeeded. It doesn’t matter how many other people were involved. It doesn’t matter if no other created being ever notices what you did.
In Isaiah’s case, Yahweh is telling him to go preach a bunch of sermons and warnings to people who won’t listen, won’t care, and won’t respond in any positive way. Fine. Isaiah will do it, because Isaiah understands that pleasing God is all that matters.
JOTHAM, King of Israel
We’re told that Isaiah had his vision in the year that leprous King Uzziah dies. By then, Uzziah’s son Jotham has been helping rule the kingdom of Judah for quite a while. As Jotham continues in his reign, we’re told that he’s a decent king. He does right by Yahweh personally, but he doesn’t try to stop the people from worshiping their idols in the public shrines that have been set up all over his kingdom. As a powerful leader and spiritual role model to his people, Jotham should be banning the public worship of other gods. In this cultural context, that would be an appropriate step to take and one that Yahweh would undoubtedly reward. But instead, Jotham seems to be playing it safe. So safe, in fact, that he refuses to ever enter the Temple of Yahweh. Remember that it was inside the Temple that his father was struck with leprosy. We can understand that Jotham was probably a bit nervous about bringing a similar curse down on himself, but then again, it’s not like Yahweh can’t strike him anywhere he lives. As we learned back in Lesson 6, people were supposed to personally bring their sacrifices into Yahweh’s sacred House and give them to the authorized priests to be processed. By refusing to enter the Temple, Jotham is symbolically putting distance between himself and Yahweh and such behavior isn’t going to help a man thrive spiritually.
Today, many Christians get the erroneous idea that God the Father is a moody, brooding type who wants His people to cower in fear before His awesome Presence. Yet this is not who Yahweh is. Yes, He demands reverence from us, and reverence is a fear-based respect. But it’s not a fear of God being an unreasonable, angry sort of Being. It’s a fear that comes from acknowledging that God’s power is infinitely greater than our own, therefore it would be quite foolish to give Him a bunch of snarky attitude. An electric fence is only dangerous once you disregard the sign on it that says “Danger – Do Not Touch”. When we sincerely care about pleasing God, He is very clear about when He wants something from us. He doesn’t just silently store up rage against us and then one day make that rage explode in our faces. Because God is so patient and communicative, it is quite easy to avoid ever meeting His angry side.
When we sincerely care about pleasing God, He wants us to be confident that He loves us and that He is always listening to us. Back in the Old Testament, Yahweh wanted His followers to know that they were welcome in His holy House. God has never wanted those who sincerely care about Him to think they are unwelcome by Him. Today, He doesn’t want any of His followers to be afraid to approach Him—not even if they’ve done terrible things. Instead, when we mess up, God shows us how we can immediately get back into a good place with Him and He emphasizes hope.
MICAH, Prophet of Judah
Shortly after his father dies, Jotham makes his son Ahaz a co-regent with him. Around that time, a new prophet begins to preach in the land of Judah and his name is Micah. By now the prophet Amos has finished preaching in the north, but the prophet Hosea is still telling Israel that Yahweh is fed up with her rebellion. Meanwhile down in Judah, Micah is now adding his voice to Isaiah’s, and our two southern prophets are making very similar speeches as they travel about the land.
Prophetic Posers
So what does a real prophet sound like? Today the Christian Church is stuffed to the gills with prophets and prophetesses who just can’t wait to tell us all about their latest dream, vision, or “word” from God. They blab on and on about how much God is going to bless us and how much Jesus loves us. We’re told that if we think positively, pray repetitively, and tithe generously, the floodgates of Heaven will open and rain a bunch of goodies down on our devout little heads.
The title “prophet” has been used as a synonym for “kiss up” and “conman” for thousands of years. Who was it back in Lesson 15 that was telling the rebellious Ahab to wage war against Yahweh’s will because Yahweh would surely bless him? Prophets. And who is it that is currently telling two nations full of spiritual rebels that nothing bad will happen to them? Prophets.
Micah and Isaiah aren’t the only ones speaking God’s messages in the kingdom of Judah. There are scores of other voices ringing out loud and clear, and completely countering everything Yahweh says. By slapping an authoritative “Thus says Yahweh” onto messages that they know everyone wants to hear, Jewish false prophets are gaining great popularity among their fellow countrymen. The citizens of Judah enjoy being schmoozed and told that their national God thinks they are oh so wonderful. But while these false prophets are working hard to increase their number of fans, Yahweh has something to say about their shady use of His Name and Authority.
Thus says Yahweh: “Concerning the prophets who lead My people astray: They proclaim peace as long as they have something good to eat; but they declare a holy war against anyone who refuses to feed them. Therefore it shall be like night to you: you shall have no more visions. Yes, it shall be dark to you–without any divination. The sun will set for the false prophets, and the day will turn black for them. The seers will be ashamed and the diviners will be disgraced. They will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God.” (Mic. 3:5-7)
The false prophets in these times are just like the ones we’re surrounded by today: they are enormously arrogant, strutting about the city casting their unauthorized “words” from above and expecting everyone to pay homage to them.
Sometimes they charge for their services, and if you don’t pay them enough, then their vision of your personal future suddenly turns rather dark. If you scoff at them, they start calling curses down on you in Yahweh’s Name. They are a bunch of insufferable windbags, yet the people are listening to them and hanging on every word these posers speak while telling Isaiah and Micah to stuff it. But why? Isaiah and Micah are speaking the truth. Well, yes, but the truth is exactly what these people do not want to hear.
For this is a rebellious people—they are false sons, sons who refuse to listen to the instruction of Yahweh. They say to the seers, “You must not see visions!”; and to the prophets, “Stop prophesying to us what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. Get out of the way, get off the path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!” (Isa. 30:9-11)
Soul Attitudes
God judges us by our soul’s response to Him. When He sees that we sincerely care about pleasing Him in our souls, He is delighted. But when He finds a bunch of snarky defiance and a willful tuning out of His Voice, then He gets angry. Notice how Yahweh addresses both the reverent and the rebellious in this passage.
“Zion will be redeemed with justice and her repentant ones with righteousness. But transgressors and sinners will be crushed together, and those who forsake Yahweh will come to an end.” (Isa. 1:27-29)
In the Old Testament, Zion is sometimes used as another name for Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem spanned across the tops of several hills, one of which was Mount Zion.
Today there is endless fuss over holy sites in Israel along with heated debates about exactly where certain events in Jesus’ life took place (such as His death and burial). Don’t get caught up in any of that foolishness. The point of understanding some basic geography is to understand the text better. In Bible times it was very common to refer to a nation by many names: its actual name, the name of its capital city, the name of other prominent cities within its borders, its current ruler, its famous structures, and its key geographical features. As we study the prophets, we’ll find Yahweh using many nicknames for various nations, and I’ll help you out with those as we come across them.
As we learned in our previous lesson, Yahweh is withholding any further conviction from the rebels in Judah. Though they hear Isaiah preaching, their souls feel no desire to change. But not everyone in Judah hates Yahweh. There is a faithful remnant still struggling to stay true in a land where people are wallowing in irreverence and flaunting their worship of false gods. It isn’t easy trying to stay loyal to Yahweh in these times, but some souls are still fighting the good fight. Yahweh knows who those souls are, and He reminds them in this passage that they will be rewarded. But as for the other little jerks—they’ve burned up the last of His patience so He’s not giving them anymore chances.
“Say to the righteous that it will go well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. But woe to the wicked! It will go badly with them, For what they deserve will be done to them.” (Isa. 3:10-11)
The Witness
So if Yahweh has already decided to destroy Israel and Judah, why raise up prophets to talk about it? Because Yahweh wants everyone to understand exactly why He is going to trash these two nations. He could just topple them without any explanation at all. While that would certainly be satisfying, it wouldn’t be much of a witness to others. Remember that Yahweh loves everyone, not just the Jews. Whenever He raises up a prophet to speak, He makes sure that His messages get widely circulated. People in other nations are hearing about the messages of doom that Isaiah and Micah are preaching, and it certainly grabs their attention to hear two Jewish men prophesying the downfall of their own nation. Who in their right mind wants their own homeland to be destroyed? What could possibly be motivating these two men to talk like this? These are the kinds of curious questions that Yahweh is intentionally stirring up. Then He makes sure to answer all of the questions He is raising by giving very clear explanations of why He is going to turn against His own chosen nation.
“Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, because their speech and their actions are against Yahweh; they rebel against His glorious Presence. The expressions on their faces testify against them for they flaunt their sin like Sodom; they do not even try to conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves!” (Isa. 3:8-9)
In Bible times, every nation worshiped many different gods, and gods were viewed as moody, volatile beings who could very easily turn against their own people if they didn’t feel they were being pampered enough. So to other nations, it makes logical sense that the national God of Israel is mad because His people aren’t paying enough attention to Him. But it’s also obvious to everyone that the people of Israel and Judah worship many different gods: the weather god Baal, the goddess Asherah, the gods Chemosh and Molek (who were both big fans of child sacrifice), plus those two random calf gods that King Jeroboam invented back in Lesson 12. So even if this Yahweh Deity was angry, could He really overthrow all the other gods of Judah and Israel? Is any god that powerful?
In these times, it was believed that gods were either bound to certain regions of land or that they traveled about with their people groups. Yet this Yahweh is saying that He’s going to destroy the whole world. Well, someone certainly has a large ego. After all, no god is that strong.
“For Yahweh of Heaven’s Armies has a day of reckoning. He will punish the proud and mighty and bring down everything that is exalted. He will cut down the tall cedars of Lebanon and all the mighty oaks of Bashan. He will level all the high mountains and all the lofty hills. He will break down every high tower and every fortified wall. He will destroy all the great trading ships and every magnificent vessel. Human pride will be humbled, and human arrogance will be brought down. Only Yahweh will be exalted on that day of judgment.
Idols will completely disappear. When Yahweh rises to shake the earth, His enemies will crawl into holes in the ground. They will hide in caves in the rocks from the terror of Yahweh and the glory of His majesty. On that day of judgment they will abandon the gold and silver idols they made for themselves to worship. They will leave their gods to the rodents and bats, while they crawl away into caverns and hide among the jagged rocks in the cliffs. They will try to escape the terror of Yahweh and the glory of His majesty as He rises to shake the earth.” (Isa. 2:12-21)
Bashan was a very fertile area of land that ended up in Israel’s territory after the nation split in two. With herding and farming being such key forms of wealth in the biblical world, such land was highly prized.
Lebanon was a majestic mountain range filled with postcard worthy views and rich in many key natural resources, such as cedar.
Notice how Yahweh talks of stripping the trees from these places and flattening all high mountains (some of the mountains of Lebanon were so tall that they had ice on their peaks year round). This is like God saying to Egypt “I’m going to dry up the Nile River” or saying to America “I’m going to turn all of your highways into rubble.” It’s pretty terrifying to hear God threatening to take out geographical features that your country depends on to function. When Yahweh then goes on to say He’ll break down all high towers and fortified wall, He’s talking about stripping away military defenses. This would be like God saying to modern day Britain “I’m going to sink all of your naval ships and break off the wings of all your military planes.” Enclosing cities in thick stone walls was a vital defense in Bible times. High towers held watchmen that could sound the alarm when they spotted enemies approaching.
Yahweh is already painting a picture of a devastated economy by His threats to wipe out key natural resources. But He also says He’ll sink all trading vessels, which is another picture of devastation. The biblical world hugs the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and using ships to import and export goods was vital. There were no planes, trains or trucks in these days. Nothing that could compete with the bulk carrying capacity of large sea vessels. Once again, this imagery is meant to terrify and exalt Yahweh as being super powerful.
Speaking of how powerful Yahweh is, notice His claim that every idol will disappear. It’s easy for modern day Christians to just hear this as Yahweh saying He’s going to get rid of a bunch of ugly decor items. But to the people of this time, this statement was the same as saying, “I will defeat every other god in existence.” This was very heady talk. Yahweh then goes on to describe a bunch of people who are scared out of their wits by His awesomeness and trying to hide in caves just to get out of His line of fire.
Rodents and bats move in when people abandon an area for long enough, and here Yahweh says people will leave their idol paraphernalia behind when they flee to their caves. When disaster strikes, people would normally increase their worship of false gods, and when they traveled, they’d be sure to take god worshiping equipment with them, which often included small figurines of their favorite gods. Just as you need a cell phone to call up a friend today, many people felt they needed a physical statue to get a message through to their god. So it is a very strong statement to describe people leaving their idols behind when they flee from the scary Yahweh. It means people have come to the conclusion that there is no god able to protect them from Him.
Well, this Yahweh clearly thinks He is all that and a bag of chips. Sure, gods are supposed to be on the egotistical side, but goodness. This Yahweh talks as if He’s the only God around.
“I, Yahweh, am the Maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by Myself and spreading out the earth all alone. I cause the omens of boasters to fail, making fools out of diviners. I overthrow the learning of the wise and turn it into nonsense, I am the One who carries out the words of My servants and fulfills the predictions of My messengers.” (Isa. 44:24-26)
As much as everyone would like to ignore the words of these prophets, they can’t get around the fact that Yahweh has pulled off some pretty accurate predictions of future events—very far in advance, too. He doesn’t just predict the future of His own people, but He seems to know what’s going to happen in the entire world as well.
“Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, Yahweh? There is no other God besides Me: a righteous God and Savior; there is none except Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and it will not turn back: That to Me every knee will bow, and every tongue will swear allegiance.” (Isa. 45:21-24)
Anyone living in these times who does some honest soul searching has to admit that their gods aren’t very impressive in the prophecy department. There are a lot of sorcerers and diviners running around who are getting high on mind altering drugs and poking at animal guts to try and get a glimpse into the future, but their success rate is pretty low. Somehow other gods just don’t seem as smart as Yahweh, and He knows it.
“Tell us, you idols, what is going to happen. Tell us what the former things were, so that we may consider them and know their final outcome. Or declare to us the things to come, tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods. Do something, whether good or bad, so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear. But you are less than nothing and your works are utterly worthless; whoever chooses you is detestable.” (Isa. 41:22-24)
The people of these times love their idols. They make large ones and little pocket sized ones that they can carry around on their person. They make fancy ones and plain ones. Life revolves around the worship of idols, and people feel important when they show off some new idol they’ve just made. But when they hear the latest gossip about what the prophet Isaiah is saying down in Judah, suddenly the whole idol thing starts to lose its luster.
A man burns part of a tree to roast his meat and to keep himself warm. He says, “Ah, that fire feels good.” Then he takes what’s left and makes his god: a carved idol! He falls down in front of it, worshiping and praying to it. “Rescue me!” he says. “You are my god!”
Such stupidity and ignorance! These people’s eyes are closed, and they cannot see. Their minds are shut, and they cannot think. The person who made the idol never stops to reflect, “Why, it’s just a block of wood! I burned half of it for heat and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat. How can the rest of it be a god? Should I bow down to worship a piece of wood?” The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes. He trusts something that can’t help him at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, “Is this idol that I’m holding in my hand a lie?” (Isa. 44:16-20)
Hm. People never really looked at their idols in quite this way before. Yahweh has a way of turning cool into stupid. But this claim He makes about being the only God in existence—that’s pretty hard to swallow.
“It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands and I ordained all their host.” (Isa. 45:12)
“I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’” (Isa. 46:9-10)
But then again—what if it’s true? What if Yahweh really is the only real God?
It is Yahweh who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before Him. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. It is He who reduces rulers to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, scarcely have they been sown, scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, when He merely blows on them, and they wither, and the storm carries them away like stubble. (Isa. 40:22-24)
Here’s where some of the folks living in the nations surrounding Israel and Judah will be thinking: “Wow. If Yahweh really is the only God in existence, then who wants to keep following dumb idols? We didn’t get it before, but now we do. That Isaiah guy has opened our eyes. But we don’t live in Israel or Judah. We’re not part of Yahweh’s ‘chosen people’, so will He even accept us?”
Let no foreigner who is bound to Yahweh say, “Yahweh will surely exclude me from His people.” And let no eunuch say, “God will not accept me for I am childless—I am like a dry tree.”
For this is what Yahweh says: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who choose what pleases Me and hold fast to My Covenant—to them I will give within My Temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever. And foreigners who bind themselves to Yahweh to minister to Him, to love the Name of Yahweh, and to be His servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to My Covenant— these I will bring to My holy mountain and give them joy in My House of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My House will be called a House of prayer for all nations.” (Isa. 56:3-7)
Eunuchs were castrated men. The most well-known reason to castrate a man was when a king wanted him to serve as a bodyguard for the king’s royal harem, and he wanted to ensure there were no shenanigans going on. The women who were part of the royal harem didn’t get out much. Being pulled into a harem was like being locked away in a super strict convent: you weren’t allowed to go out and socialize with normal people and you sure weren’t having any romance. Put a few buff men into that hormone charged situation and it was just a matter of time until the harem bodyguards were enjoying what the king was too busy to care about. If you were a king, having another man romp in the sack with your women was considered a massive public humiliation, so castrating the harem’s bodyguards was considered a wise precaution.
But of course kings weren’t the only ones to have this kind of power. Slavery was hugely popular in Bible times, and in many situations, owners felt free to do whatever they wanted to their slaves. The fact that Yahweh specifically addresses eunuchs in this passage tells us that there were a lot of these folks around–far more than just those working for kings. A castrated man is physically unable to have intercourse or produce sperm. In a world where fertility and virility were considered very important, it was impossible to be a eunuch and not feel inferior. It says a lot about Yahweh’s Character that He specifically addresses this group of folks who would have felt damaged beyond repair, and assures them that they are valued by Him.
Can you see how Yahweh used prophets like Isaiah to witness to the entire biblical world? Today we’re still reading His messages and learning about what a gracious God He is. All are welcome to come. This is the way it has always been with Yahweh.
AHAZ, King of Judah
While the words of the prophets are being circulated throughout many nations, King Jotham dies in Judah and his son Ahaz succeeds him. Right away there is trouble—double trouble, in fact. The nations of Israel and Aram join forces to attack Judah.
What a bunch of bullies! Ahaz is very distressed. Ahaz is also an idolatrous punk who sacrifices his own sons to disgusting idols.
Ahaz followed the bad example of the kings of Israel. He cast metal images for the worship of Baal. He offered sacrifices in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, even sacrificing his own sons in the fire. In this way, he followed the detestable practices of the pagan nations that Yahweh had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the pagan shrines and on the hills and under every green tree. (2 Chron. 28:2-4)
Once we learn that Ahaz is running around sacrificing to every idol he can get his hands on, we can understand why Yahweh cooks up this little war to give him a hard time. As the combined armies of Aram and Israel set out to attack the royal city of Jerusalem, Ahaz panics. Is this going to be the end of Judah? After giving the little twit some time to panic, Yahweh generously sends Isaiah to go calm him down.
Then Yahweh said to Isaiah, “Take your son Shear-jashub and go out to meet King Ahaz. You will find him at the end of the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed. Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn’t need to fear the fierce anger of those two burned-out embers, King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah son of Remaliah. Yes, the kings of Aram and Israel are plotting against him, saying, ‘We will attack Judah and capture it for ourselves. Then we will install the son of Tabeel as Judah’s king.’ But this is what the Sovereign Yahweh says:
“This invasion will never happen; it will never take place; for Aram is no stronger than its capital, Damascus, and Damascus is no stronger than its king, Rezin. As for Israel, within sixty-five years it will be crushed and completely destroyed. Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria, and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” (Isa. 7:3-9)
Here Yahweh assures Ahaz that this is not the end of Judah. Instead, Yahweh is going to make an end of Aram and Israel. This should be comforting news to Ahaz. Now if he’d just repent out of his brattitude and put his trust in Yahweh where it belongs. But no, Ahaz isn’t about to give credibility to these grand promises until he gets some kind of proof.
Well, fine. Yahweh is so generous that He is willing to overlook Ahaz’s rebellion for the moment and help the nervous king bolster his faith. A miraculous sign ought to do the trick. Yahweh even lets Ahaz pick what the sign will be.
Again Yahweh spoke to Ahaz, “Ask Yahweh your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”
But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put Yahweh to the test.” (Isa. 7:10-12)
This response sounds God-honoring but it’s really a bunch of guff. Ahaz doesn’t respect Yahweh, and probably doesn’t believe Yahweh has the chops to handle this crisis. So he tries to blow Isaiah off because he really isn’t interested in what Yahweh has to say.
Of course Yahweh sees how rotten Ahaz’s attitude is. When Yahweh cues Isaiah that the king is being rebellious, Isaiah loses his temper.
Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience of my God as well? All right then, Yahweh Himself will choose the sign. Look! A virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yogurt and honey. But before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted. Then Yahweh will bring things on you, your nation, and your family unlike anything since Israel broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria upon you!” (Isa. 7:13-17)
Now wait a second—Immanuel? A virgin having a baby? Isn’t this a prophecy about Jesus? Nope, it’s a prophecy about a son that Isaiah is about to have with his prophetess wife. Immanuel is Isaiah’s kid, and this passage has nothing to do with Jesus. But centuries later, Jesus’ disciple Matthew will be writing his gospel book and he will remember this passage along with many other passages in the Old Testament. He’ll then think to himself, “A special child with a name that means ‘God is with us.’ Hey, that sounds like a perfect name for Jesus!” So, after describing how the virgin Mary came to be with child Matthew will write:
All this took place to fulfill what Yahweh had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). (Matt. 1:22-23)
Good grief, no. When we read Matthew’s comment, he makes it sound like the Immanuel prophecy was some ancient promise that was still waiting to be fulfilled. Yet by the time we finish Isaiah 8, Yahweh will have already fulfilled this prophecy of a boy being born. You see, the term that is being translated virgin here can also be translated as a young woman. This term does not have to mean a woman who has never had sex. After leaving the irritating Ahaz, Isaiah finds his wife and has a bit of romance. Like every culture, the ancient Jews have euphemisms that they use to refer to highly personal things. So instead of saying “I had sex with my wife,” Isaiah says:
So I went in to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then Yahweh said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz; for before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria.” (Isa. 8:3-4)
This Maher kid is the famous Immanuel, as Yahweh will confirm. The Jews were big on having multiple names, and often picked up new nicknames for themselves as monuments of major life events. In little Maher’s case, both his given name and his nickname are directly related to this war situation.
Maher-shalal-hash-baz rolls smoothly off the tongue and it means “quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil.” Remember that this boy is a miraculous sign to Ahaz and all of Judah that is supposed to remind them about the predictions Yahweh has made regarding Aram and Israel. When those nations fall–which Yahweh says will be soon–there will be loads of loot to plunder. Now that baby Maher has been born, he’s functioning like a living timer, counting down the days until Yahweh’s prophecy comes true. Everyone in Judah can ask each other, “Hey, how’s little Maher-shalal-hash-baz doing? How old is he now? Is he talking yet? Remember what Yahweh said? It won’t be long now until our enemies are destroyed.” This is how it’s supposed to work with symbolic children.
Up in the north, everyone’s looking at Hosea’s three bizarrely named kids and thinking about how mad Yahweh is at Israel (see Lesson 20).
Now in the south, people are looking at Isaiah’s two sons and remembering various messages that the prophet has spoken.
And just to make it very clear to everyone that this kid is the prophesied Immanuel child, Yahweh says to the boy:
“My care for the people of Judah is like the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, but they have rejected it. They are rejoicing over what will happen to King Rezin and King Pekah. Therefore, Yahweh will overwhelm them with a mighty flood from the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria and all his glory. This flood will overflow all its channels and sweep into Judah until it is chin deep. It will spread its wings, submerging your land from one end to the other, O Immanuel!” (Isa. 8:6-8)
This whole Immanuel package of prophecies contains some very good and some very bad news. It’s reassuring to hear Yahweh promising to trash Aram and Israel for Judah’s sake. But then it’s quite disturbing to hear Him say that He will then bring Assyria in to beat on Judah as well. Hm. Can’t He skip that second part?
In the meantime, Israel and Aram—those two nations who Yahweh is supposed to be taking care of—are butchering Judah. In one day King Pekah of Israel slaughters 120,000 of Ahaz’s best soldiers, along with Ahaz’s son and his closest advisers. Then Pekah drags off 200,000 Judean citizens as slaves. So…at what point is Yahweh planning to bring in Assyria to save the day?
King Pekah is overdoing it. Yahweh helped him win the battle and gather all the captives in order to give Ahaz a good scare. But Pekah’s soul attitude is foul. He forgets that Israel and Judah used to be one nation and that these are his own brothers that he is treating so cruelly. So now Yahweh raises up a prophet named Oded to intercept the army that is leading this long slave march.
But a prophet of Yahweh named Oded was there in Samaria when the army of Israel returned home. He went out to meet them and said, “Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah and let you defeat them. But you have gone too far, killing them without mercy, and all of heaven is disturbed. And now you are planning to make slaves of these people from Judah and Jerusalem. What about your own sins against Yahweh your God? Listen to me and return these prisoners you have taken, for they are your own relatives. Watch out, because now Yahweh’s fierce anger has been turned against you!” (2 Chron. 28:9-11)
Oh. Suddenly everyone decides they don’t need the slaves after all. The leaders of Israel rush to help the army put everything back to right. They give the abused slaves their clothes and shoes back, feed them, supply donkeys for the ones who are weak and injured, and lead them back to Judah. Whew, that was close.
Meanwhile, back in Judah, Ahaz is in a terrible panic. The news of his downfall has spread to neighboring nations and now the Edomites and Philistines are attacking as well. Everyone’s nipping off pieces of his territory. This isn’t good. Forget about waiting on Yahweh—Ahaz will go directly to the ruthless King Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria and ask him for help. Tiglath ought to be good for something because he’s got major manpower and both Israel and Aram are afraid of him. Heck, everyone is afraid of him. If Ahaz throws enough money at him, maybe Tiglath will agree to come rescue him. But where will he get the money? Yahweh’s Temple in Jerusalem has a lot of silver and gold in it. Surely Yahweh won’t mind if Ahaz strips the Temple to buy the favor of an idol worshiping emperor.
Oh good, Tiglath has agreed to help. Wait–now he’s invading Aram…whoops, now he’s totally conquering Aram by destroying its capital city of Damascus. Yikes, now he’s murdering Aram’s King Rezin! This wasn’t quite what Ahaz had in mind, for now the terrifying Assyrian empire is even bigger and closer than it was before.
Well, one part of the Immanuel prophecy has been fulfilled: Aram is destroyed. Now let’s see: when else have we heard about the Assyrians trashing Damascus and hauling the Arameans off as slaves? Ah yes, Yahweh had said something like this would happen through the mouth of the prophet Amos:
“The people of Damascus have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They beat down My people in Gilead as grain is threshed with iron sledges. So I will send down fire on King Hazael’s palace, and the fortresses of King Ben-hadad will be destroyed. I will break down the gates of Damascus and slaughter the people in the valley of Aven. I will destroy the ruler in Beth-eden, and the people of Aram will go as captives to Kir,” says Yahweh. (Amos 1:3-5)
Kir is in Assyria. King Rezin is a descendant of Hazael—that nasty royal servant who smothered his boss in bed back in Lesson 18. Gilead is a region of Israel’s territory that Aram has a history of brutally attacking. Aram has just finished helping the king of Israel attack Judah and Yahweh is done putting up with Aram’s bad attitude.
Now things would be fine if King Tiglath would just go back to Assyria and stay there. But he doesn’t. He comes marching into Judah and starts attacking Ahaz next. This is definitely not what Ahaz wanted!
When King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria arrived, he attacked Ahaz instead of helping him. Ahaz took valuable items from Yahweh’s Temple, the royal palace, and from the homes of his officials and gave them to the king of Assyria as tribute. But this did not help him. (2 Chron. 28:20-21)
This whole alliance has blown up in Ahaz’s face. If only he could find some god who would actually help him the way he wants to be helped. Yahweh is obviously not going to. But maybe the gods of Aram could be useful—after all, Ahaz hasn’t tried worshiping them yet. During a trip to the freshly conquered Damascus to try and schmooze Tiglath, Ahaz spots an altar that the Arameans had built to worship their gods. My, isn’t that an attractive design. Ahaz has some plans drawn up for how to duplicate it, then he orders a priest in Jerusalem to build an exact replica and use it to make sacrifices for all of the people.
Even during this time of trouble, King Ahaz continued to reject Yahweh. He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus who had defeated him, for he said, “Since these gods helped the kings of Aram, they will help me, too, if I sacrifice to them.” But instead, they led to his ruin and the ruin of all Judah.
The king took the various articles from the Temple of God and broke them into pieces. He shut the doors of Yahweh’s Temple so that no one could worship there, and he set up altars to pagan gods in every corner of Jerusalem. He made pagan shrines in all the towns of Judah for offering sacrifices to other gods. In this way, he aroused the anger of Yahweh, the God of his ancestors.
The rest of the events of Ahaz’s reign and everything he did, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. When Ahaz died, he was buried in Jerusalem but not in the royal cemetery of the kings of Judah. Then his son Hezekiah became the next king. (2 Chron. 28:22-27)
Wow, what an idiot. Even Ahaz’s own idolatrous people can’t stand him, so they refuse to give him a royal burial. Notice how he locked up the Temple so that no one else could come and bring sacrifices to Yahweh. That move put the Levite priests out of a job. We’re very glad to see Ahaz go, and since he was such a jerk to Yahweh, he definitely deserves a double frowny.
Naked Prophets
Remember how the Philistines took advantage of Judah’s distress and started attacking while Ahaz was too short on manpower to defend himself? Well, pretty soon they get their own back. During the reign of Ahaz’s son Hezekiah, a new king of Assyria attacks Philistia and defeats one of its key cities. It’s at this time that Yahweh gives Isaiah some very strange orders. He wants Isaiah to do a little role playing and act like one of the victims of Assyria’s next big conquest, which will be the mighty nation of Egypt and her neighboring nation of Cush. (Some translations of the Bible substitute Ethiopia for Cush, although you shouldn’t think of these nations as the same. Cush was its own nation, but very little is known about it. Its proximity to ancient Egypt causes people to assume it was where modern day Ethiopia is, but this isn’t necessarily true.)
So just how is Isaiah supposed to physically act out a future military conquest? Well, the tradition in these times was to take slaves once you sack a place. Then, to demoralize those war slaves so that they won’t think of giving you trouble wherever you relocate them, you would make them go through a miserable physical ordeal by stripping them naked, chaining them together, and making them march wherever you wanted to relocate them too. Battles were brutal in Bible times with humans being abused in many horrific ways. The Jews were no exception here–they were as immoral and sadistic as everyone else when it came to flaunting their military might.
Okay, so war is ugly and people get sick and twisted on the battlefield. But what does that have to do with Isaiah? Just what is Yahweh expecting him to do?
“Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet.” So Isaiah did, going around stripped and barefoot.
Then Yahweh said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and dire warning against Egypt and Cush, so the king of Assyria will lead away stripped and barefoot the Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles, young and old, with buttocks bared—to Egypt’s shame. Those who trusted in Cush and boasted in Egypt will be dismayed and put to shame. In that day the people who live on this coast will say, ‘See what has happened to those we relied on, those we fled to for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?’” (Isa. 20:2-6)
With Egypt being the biggest power around aside from Assyria, and the only one with enough muscle to give Assyria a good fight, it’s terrifying news for all of the smaller nations that Yahweh is going to give Egypt over to Assyria. And yet what about the prophet Isaiah having to walk around butt naked in public? This is one of those moments where a man really has to be confident that he is correctly discerning God’s Voice. How embarrassing is it to go around in your birthday suit for three long years? No one wants to see that view. And how can you expect people to take you seriously when all you’re wearing is your epidermis?
When it comes to honoring God, this is one of those assignments that really separates the men from the boys. Isaiah mans up and leaves the tunic at home. We can’t help wondering how his family handled this.
“Gee, Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, how come your dad is walking around in the nude?”
“Oh, he’s a sign to Egypt and Cush.”
“Well, when is he going to stop being a sign and put some clothes on?”
“I don’t know.”
“Your dad’s weird.”
It had to be challenging to be a son of Isaiah. No doubt his wife also received her share of heckling. It had to be challenging to be married to Isaiah as well.
Now the Jews were a very theatrical people who were always broadcasting their emotions in dramatic public ways. When someone died, professional mourners were hired to really throw a ruckus: wailing at the top of their lungs, throwing dirt on themselves, tearing their tunics, etc.. Emotional suppression simply wasn’t valued this culture.
All of the prophets we meet in the Bible are Jewish, and they often act theatrical to convey not just their own emotions, but Yahweh’s as well. Notice how God told Isaiah to take off the sackcloth he was wearing in the previous passage. Sackcloth is a rough, scratchy material which happy people would never consider wearing. Sackcloth symbolized misery and sadness, so when those are the feelings you want to convey, then out comes the sackcloth tunic. The idea is that when other people see you wearing what is obviously a very uncomfortable outfit, they’ll ask, “Hey, man, I see you’ve got your sad clothes on. What’s wrong? Want to talk about it?” As a prophet who is filled with mournful messages, Isaiah frequently wears sackcloth to draw attention to himself and emphasize the gravity of his messages.
Now while Isaiah is going around in his birthday suit, the prophet Micah is feeling deeply disturbed by the messages he is receiving from God about the coming destruction of Israel and Judah.
“Hear this, all you nations; listen, O earth and all you who live on it. And let the Sovereign Yahweh be a witness against you, Yahweh from His holy Temple. Look! Yahweh is coming from His dwelling place; He comes down and treads on the heights of the earth. The mountains melt beneath Him and the valleys split apart, like wax before a fire, like water rushing down a slope. All this is because of Jacob’s sin, because of the sins of the nation of Israel. What is the place of Jacob’s transgression? Isn’t it Samaria? What is Judah’s place of idol worship? Isn’t it Jerusalem?”
“Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble, a place for planting vineyards. I will pour her stones into the valley and lay bare her foundations. All of her idols will be broken into pieces; all the gifts to her idols will be burned with fire. I will destroy all of her idols, and because Samaria earned her wealth by being unfaithful to Me through her acts of harlotry, it will be spent as wages for prostitutes when it is carried off by others who are not faithful to Me.” (Mic. 1:2-7)
Today we can gloss over these words with wandering minds and not think much of them. But the prophet Micah is feeling the intensity of Yahweh’s anger burning in his soul. His mind is flooded with graphic images of the coming devastation and he is extremely upset. He wants to show everyone just how upset he is—to grab their attention and make them realize how serious Yahweh’s words are.
Weeping and wailing are standard issue when you’re a Jew so Micah starts making a ruckus in the public streets. People start looking. What’s the prophet so upset about? Micah needs to do something more to show everyone just how intensely he feels. He would tear his tunic but somehow that’s just not strong enough. So he rips the tunic off, kicks off his sandals and shouts out his message with great anguish in his voice.
“Because of this I will weep and wail; I will go about barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and moan like an owl. For Samaria’s plague is incurable and it has spread to Judah! It has reached the very gate of my people, even to Jerusalem itself!” (Mic. 1:8-9)
Alrighty then. It’s dramatic times in Judah as everyone wonders what the two crazy prophets will come up with next.
Looking Ahead
So will Ahaz’s son Hezekiah follow his father’s terrible example? Is Yahweh finally going to follow through on His threats to destroy Israel? After all, Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz is growing up fast and Yahweh has already destroyed Aram. In our next lesson, we’ll learn about the fall of Samaria, Israel’s capital city, and what happens to all the Jews who are living in the northern kingdom. It’s right after the fall of Samaria that certain decisions are made which lead to an intense hatred between the Jews of Judah and a people group in the north who eventually become known as Samaritans.
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