The Bible Says
Isaiah 7:3-9 Meaning

In Isaiah 7:3-9, the LORD sends the prophet Isaiah to comfort and assure King Ahaz in his moment of fear and desperation.

King Ahaz of Judah was fearful because his enemies King Rezin of Aram (Syria) and King Pekah of Israel had united against him and dealt his kingdom two devastating blows.

• Rezin had captured the port city of Elath, located at the south of Israel on the Gulf of Aqaba, which is part of the Red Sea (2 Kings 16:6).

• Pekah had attacked Judah and slaughtered 120,000 fighting men, including Ahaz’s son and advisor, and taken 200,000 women and children captive (2 Chronicles 28:6-8).

To make matters worse, the Aramean army was encamped with the army of Israel, just across the Judean border in Samaria. Their objective was the heart and capital of Ahaz’s kingdom-the city of Jerusalem.

When Ahaz and his people heard these reports, their hearts sank and “shook as trees of the forest shake with the wind” (Isaiah 7:2b).

For the moment, Jerusalem still stood (Isaiah 7:1), but without a miraculous intervention it seemed that it was only a matter of time until Judah would be utterly destroyed by her enemies.

Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field (v3).

Isaiah is the prophet of the LORD and the author of the book of Isaiah. At this time, Isaiah was commanded by God to Go out to meet Ahaz so he can deliver a message from the LORD.

The expression Go out indicates that Isaiah is to meet Ahaz out of Jerusalem, beyond the city walls.

In fact, Isaiah is commanded to meet King Ahaz not in the palace or temple, but out in the open-at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the fuller's field.

This location is significant.

The end of the conduit of the upper pool probably refers to a strategic part of ancient Jerusalem’s water system. The conduit describes a man-made water channel that brought water to the upper parts of Jerusalem. The end of the conduit likely means the place where water from the Gihon Spring-the city’s main water source-was collected and directed into the city.

The fact that it was on the highway to the fuller’s field further indicates that the meeting place was located outside Jerusalem’s walls. One possible reason King Ahaz might have been at the end of the conduit of the upper pool was to inspect the city’s water source in preparation for the impending siege.

It seems that the king of Judah was taking personal responsibility to oversee and secure Jerusalem’s defenses. That Isaiah was told to meet him there shows that the LORD was not distant or indifferent to Ahaz’s anxiety. He sent His prophet to meet the king exactly where he was-both physically and emotionally-before delivering His message.

Perhaps even more noteworthy in the LORD’s command is that Isaiah was told to bring his young son, Shear-jashub, with him-You and your son were to go out to meet Ahaz.

The reason Isaiah’s son is thought to be young is because he is described in Isaiah 7:16 as not yet knowing “enough to refuse evil and choose good.”

The presence of a young child-possibly as young as two or three years old-at the site  of a desperate military investigation would have been striking. Normally, an urgent military inspection would be no place for a child.

But amidst the fear of Ahaz and his people, Isaiah’s young son would have been a living symbol of innocence and hope shining against the shadow of the looming war enveloping the city. His presence was likely intended to quietly reinforce the prophetic message Isaiah came to deliver to Ahaz-that the LORD had not abandoned His covenant people.

The name of Isaiah’s son-Shear-jashub-further stresses this reassurance.

In Hebrew, Shear-jashub means “a remnant will return.” Without saying a word, Shear-jashub served as a living reminder of both judgment and hope. Even though destruction may come, Judah would not be annihilated. God would preserve a faithful remnant.

Shear-jashub’s presence and name were prophetic demonstrations to Ahaz of God’s merciful intent. And before Isaiah ever opened his mouth, the LORD had already begun speaking through the child’s mere presence and name.

And say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah (v 4).

The message Isaiah was given by the LORD to say to Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool began: Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted.

The LORD begins His message with words of comfort. This gentle beginning is a divine call to composure in the midst of panic and fear. The words confront the inner unraveling of Ahaz with deliberate calm and firm reassurance. Each phrase: Take care-Be calm-Have no fear-Do not be fainthearted, is measured and purposeful. They are spoken as if God is applying steadying pressure to uplift a heart on the verge of collapse.

Rather than rushing into commands about military strategy or political alliances, the LORD begins by addressing the king’s emotional and spiritual state. It is not a scolding but a shepherding word, inviting Ahaz to regain his footing by looking away from his fears and toward the faithfulness of God.

Despite the horrors he and his kingdom have suffered and were now facing, the reason Ahaz can take care and be calm, have no fear and not be fainthearted was because the survival of Judah did not depend on his efforts.

The survival of Judah rests on the power of God who will not allow the house of David to fall (2 Samuel 7:16).

After comforting Ahaz, the LORD through His prophet Isaiah acknowledged the dangerous circumstances the king now faced. Ahaz and his people’s hearts were trembling with fear that they were about to be attacked by two armies. The LORD reframed the situation from their limited perspective. God now gave His absolute perspective which would give hope.

The LORD mocked the power of these two armies as these two stubs of smoldering firebrands. God’s expression compares the burning fury of these two armies to two burnt-out torches giving off their final wisps of smoke before they became extinguished. Because their power was spent and about to end, Ahaz did not need not be fainthearted or afraid of them.

This was the LORD’s estimation of Ahaz’s enemies: their fury may seem terrifying to you, but not to Me. Their fire is fading.

God then names Ahaz’s enemies and identifies the two stubs of smoldering firebrands as Rezin king of Aram, and the son of Remaliah who was Pekah, king of Israel (Isaiah 7:1).

Ahaz was not to be fainthearted on account of their fierce anger. Compared to the power of the LORD, the fierce anger of Rezin and Pekah were completely irrelevant.

Notice how Isaiah does not name Pekah as the king of Israel, but rather refers to him as the son of Remaliah. This slight was intentional and was designed to diminish Pekah’s standing. Pekah, the son of Remaliah, did not receive his authority legitimately. He was an officer of the king who usurped the throne by assassinating the leader he was supposed to serve (2 Kings 15:25). In the LORD’s message to King Ahaz, Isaiah diminishes Pekah as someone’s son. Because Pekah is not a legitimate or lasting ruler Isaiah refuses to recognize the son of Remaliah by his stolen title.

Ahaz on the other hand is a son of David. And this makes a huge difference, because of what God promised David when He made a covenant with him (2 Samuel 7:8-16).

The LORD then acknowledged the situation from Ahaz’s perspective and addressed the cause of his distress.

Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying… (v 5).

Aram was the kingdom of King Rezin. The kingdom of Aram was Syria, located to the northeast of Israel. Rezin had led the armies of Aram against King Ahaz of Judah.

Ephraim was one of Joseph’s two sons (Genesis 41:52, 48:5) and the namesake of one of the tribes that descended from him (Numbers 1:32-33).

In this context, Ephraim is used as a synonym for the kingdom of Israel after it split from Judah. Ephraim was a leading tribe of the northern kingdom after the united monarchy divided into two kingdoms. Jeroboam I, the northern kingdom’s first ruler after Solomon, was from the tribe of Ephraim (1 Kings 11:26). Over time, Ephraim became a shorthand or symbolic name for the entire northern kingdom, especially in prophetic literature (Jeremiah 31:20, Ezekiel 37:16, Hosea 4:17, Zechariah 9:10).

The son of Remaliah (Pekah) was the leader of Ephraim/Israel and he too had planned evil against King Ahaz of Judah.

The LORD then lays bare Rezin and Pekah’s evil plans against King Ahaz and Judah. He tells Ahaz the plan of his enemy:

“Let us go up against Judah and terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it” (v 6).

The invaders intend to spread fear, create chaos, and remove the rightful authority. Their plan was to:

• Invade and terrorize Judah,
• Besiege and attack the city of Jerusalem
• Breach its walls,
• Depose and likely kill King Ahaz and his entire house
• Install their own puppet king-the son of Tabeel.

The son of Tabeel does not appear to be identified anywhere else in the Bible. He may have been a lord or officer of Aram. He was the figure that Rezin and Pekah wanted to establish on the throne of Judah instead of King Ahaz, whom the LORD had installed because he was a son of David.

The LORD diminishes his significance like He did with the son of Remaliah by refusing to mention his name. He is only the son of Tabeel. Remaliah and Tabeel are impermanent nobodies-and so were their sons. Ahaz is the son of someone of great significance. Ahaz is a son of David, to whom God made an unbreakable promise.

Rezin and Pekah’s evil plan was a deliberate attempt to overthrow the line of David. They aimed to replace God’s chosen ruler with one of their own choosing. They presumed to usurp God’s kingdom for their own purposes. But their plot was evil ambition and doomed to fail. The reality of its failure is already assured in heaven.

After describing the situation from both heaven and King Ahaz’s perspective, the LORD then tells Ahaz what will happen to his enemies and their evil plans against him.

Thus says the Lord GOD: “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass (v 7).

To emphasize the certainty of this prediction, Isaiah prefaces it with: thus says the Lord GOD. In Hebrew, the title Lord GOD comes from the words “Adonai Yahweh.”

“Adonai” means Lord or Master. It describes GOD’s role as ruler of the universe. Rezin may be king of Aram. The son of Remaliah may rule Ephraim. And Ahaz is king of Judah. But the Lord GOD is sovereign Ruler of everything in heaven and earth.

“Yahweh” is the covenant name of GOD and comes from the response: “I AM WHO I AM” which He gave Moses at the burning bush, when Moses asked what name he should tell the Israelites when they inquired who had sent him (Exodus 3:13-14).

As the sovereign Ruler of the cosmos, the Lord GOD determines what shall or shall not stand or come to pass (Job 42:2, Isaiah 46:10, Lamentations 3:37, Daniel 4:35).

The Lord GOD assured King Ahaz that his enemies’ evil plot against him shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. The Lord GOD assured Ahaz that Rezin and the son of Remaliah shall not go up against Judah… and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it.

Instead, the house of David and the Lord GOD’s covenant promises shall stand.

Instead of the house of David falling, the houses of its enemies will fall.

The Lord GOD repeated this reassuring truth for emphasis:

• their plans shall not stand
• nor come to pass.

The LORD would not allow it to stand.

The LORD then begins to describe the limits of what He has allowed Rezin and the son of Remaliah to rule-this includes both their geographical limits and the amount of time they had left to rule:

For the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people), and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah (vv 8-9a).

The LORD poetically strips away the illusion of power from Judah’s enemies by naming their limitations.

• For the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
• And the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.

Aram has a capital-the city of Damascus-and a king-Rezin. But that is as far as Aram’s authority reaches. Likewise, the seat of Ephraim (the northern kingdom of Israel) is named Samaria, and the ruler of Samaria is merely the son of Remaliah. And that is a far as Ephraim’s authority extends.

Samaria was the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel. Because of its prominence, the entire kingdom was sometimes referred to as Samaria. Even into the first century the area was called Samaria and its inhabitants Samaritans.

Notice again how the Lord GOD mocks the usurping king of Ephraim, by not speaking his name (Pekah). He is only referred to as the son of Remaliah. He is illegitimate and impermanent, unlike Ahaz, who is a son of David, whose house will endure forever (2 Samuel 7:16).

In the middle of the LORD’s poetic defining of the small reaches of Aram and Ephraim is a prophetic utterance: (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people).

This remarkable prediction is part of Isaiah’s prophecy and is part of its ancient text-it was not added later. The reason the NASB-95 translators put parentheses around it was to demonstrate how it interrupted the poetic flow of the surrounding prophecy. The parentheses show that it was a side comment that interjected between the symmetry of: For the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin… and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.

This prophetic interjection is remarkable. It accurately predicted that within another 65 years the northern kingdom of Israel (Ephraim) will be shattered and that it will no longer even be considered or recognized as a nation or distinct group of people. In 722 BC, the kingdom of Israel was conquered by Assyria and its people exiled (2 Kings 17:6). Some date the sole reign of Ahaz beginning around 735 BC, which would mean this prophecy actually took place thirteen years after it was given. But God’s prophet merely says within another 65 years the northern kingdom will fall.

Presently Ephraim and Aram seemed to be on the verge of replacing King Ahaz and the house of David with the son of Tabeel as its king. But here the Lord GOD is declaring, and Isaiah is predicting, that the king of Ephraim and the illegitimate house of Remaliah will not merely be replaced-Ephraim as a nation and a people will be no more.

In the next chapter, Isaiah accurately predicted in great detail how the larger kingdom of Assyria would soon wash away and destroy both Aram and Israel (Samaria) as a sudden flood over them (Isaiah 8:1-8).

Isaiah’s prophecy concluded with a warning for Ahaz and his followers:

If you will not believe, you surely shall not last (v 9b).

This was Ahaz’s opportunity to trust the LORD and identify with Him. If Ahaz would not believe the LORD, then he would be like Rezin and Pekah, and the son of Tabeel. He would not last and become as unremarkable and forgettable as those men.

God did not explicitly say what would happen to Ahaz if he would believe Him during this trial, but it is implied that he would last. This likely meant that the name of Ahaz would become great and endure through the ages. In other words, Ahaz’s name might have endured as David’s name had endured, but only if he would believe the LORD’s message to him.

Notice how the house of David and the promises of the Davidic covenant were not contingent upon Ahaz’s belief. The LORD had determined to deliver Ahaz and the house of David because of His promise-regardless of what Ahaz believed. But if Ahaz’s name was going to last and become great then it would be contingent on if he believed God’s word.

King Ahaz and King Hezekiah

King Ahaz and his son King Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:1, 2 Chronicles 29:1), though a generation apart, each faced similar circumstances during their reigns as king of Judah. Both kings faced a bloody invasion that threatened to end their kingdom. And both kings were given a clear invitation to trust in the LORD in their moment of danger. In each case, God’s invitation came through the agent of the prophet Isaiah as His messenger.

This commentary has already explained the dangers Ahaz faced when his enemies attacked him, and the LORD’s invitation for him to believe in Him. But here is a summary of the deadly circumstances King Hezekiah experienced during his reign.

During the reign of Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah and captured many fortified cities (2 Kings 18:13). Hezekiah faced overwhelming odds as Assyria (then the dominant world power) laid siege to Jerusalem and mocked the God of Israel through messengers (2 Kings 18:17-35, Isaiah 36). The Rabshakeh, a spokesman for Sennacherib, publicly taunted Hezekiah and urged the people not to trust in the LORD or their king.

Unlike his father Ahaz (2 Kings 16:2-4, 2 Chronicles 28:1-4), Hezekiah followed the LORD (2 Kings 18:3-6, 2 Chronicles 29:2).

In response, Hezekiah turned to the prophet Isaiah (2 Kings 19:1-2). He humbled himself before God, and prayed in the temple, seeking divine deliverance (2 Kings 19:14-19). The LORD answered through Isaiah with a message of reassurance, promising that Sennacherib would not enter the city nor shoot an arrow there (2 Kings 19:32-34; Isaiah 37:33-35).

That night, the angel of the LORD struck down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers (2 Kings 19:35), delivering Jerusalem by divine intervention-just as God had promised.

In comparing their circumstances, we see the following similarities:

1. Both kings faced an overwhelming military threat.
   
   Ahaz faced a coalition of Aram and Israel, poised to conquer Jerusalem.
   (Isaiah 7:1-2)
   
   Hezekiah faced the Assyrian empire, which had already conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and devastated the surrounding cities in Judah.
   (2 Kings 18:13; Isaiah 36:1)
   
   
2. Their enemy’s goal was to replace both kings.
   
   Ahaz’s enemies sought to set up the son of Tabeel as king.
   (v 6)
   
   The Rabshakeh implied that Hezekiah would fall, and mocked his trust in the LORD.
   (Isaiah 36:14-20)
   
   
3. The LORD gave both kings a prophetic word through the prophet Isaiah.
   
   Ahaz was approached by Isaiah and offered reassurance and a sign.
   (Isaiah 7:3-11)
   
   Hezekiah received direct messages from Isaiah with promises of deliverance.
   (2 Kings 19:6-7, 20-34; Isaiah 37:6-35)
   
   
4. The LORD offered both kings assurance based on faith.
   
   Ahaz was told: If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.
   (v 9)
   
   Hezekiah was encouraged to trust that “the zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
   (Isaiah 37:32)
   
   
5. God promised both kings that the enemy would fail to take Jerusalem.
   
   Ahaz was told: It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass.
   (v 7)
   
   Hezekiah was told, “He shall not come to this city or shoot an arrow there.”
   (2 Kings 19:32, Isaiah 37:33)

These parallels show how God consistently invited His covenant kings to trust in Him amid crises. But King Hezekiah responded in humility and faith, while King Ahaz hardened his heart and refused to believe.

King Ahaz and the Gospel

The Lord’s protection of King Ahaz as a descendant of David is similar to God’s promise and opportunity to those who have received the Gift of Eternal Life. Ahaz’s protection by being a member of the House of David was given to him without condition.

The Gift of Eternal Life is freely granted to all who believe that Jesus is God and that His life, death, and resurrection have the power to save them (John 3:14-16, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Those who receive the Gift of Eternal Life become part of the House of Jesus and belong to God’s eternal family (John 1:12-13). Their sins are forgiven (Colossians 1:20, 2:13-14). And through Jesus’s resurrection they will live forever with God (John 11:25). Nothing can change or alter these unconditional gifts (John 10:28), because they are based on God’s promise, not believer’s works or future choices.

As the Apostle Paul told Timothy: “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). Believers in Jesus are given protection as members of His “House” regardless of their behavior.

Isaiah’s statement to Ahaz that If you will not believe, you surely shall not last is similar to the Prize of Eternal Life. The Prize of Eternal Life is the experience of blessing of walking in the reality of being a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). It is the great blessing that comes from being an overcomer who is a faithful witness for Jesus (Revelation 1:3, 3:21). Ahaz could have been great among the kings of Judah by believing. Similarly, if those who have received the Gift of Eternal Life desire to be great in the kingdom of heaven, they must win the Prize of Eternal Life (1 Corinthians 9:24).

The prize or crown of life is reserved for those who are faithful to follow God and overcome their circumstances by faith-trusting in His promises and relying on His power.

Winning the prize is conditional on walking by faith. As Paul told Timothy: “If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He will also deny us [the opportunity to reign with Him]” (2 Timothy 2:12).

Jesus said similar things:

“He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
(Revelation 3:21)

“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and the holy angels.”
(Luke 9:26)

Luke 9:26 and 2 Timothy 2:14b are like the Lord’s words to Ahaz: If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.

Bu the implied promise of greatness in the Lord’s message to Ahaz is also explicit in the words of Jesus:

“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”
(Matthew 19:29)

We will see that Ahaz did not believe God in the following commentary of Isaiah 7, and as we read of Ahaz’s reign in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles,. The House of David endured, but his name did not last, and he was a rather forgettable king.

Let us not be like Ahaz. Let us be like Jesus:

“…let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
(Hebrews 12:1b-2)