Daily Devotions
Isaiah
"Take heed, and be quiet"
Text: Isaiah 7:4
ISAIAH’S WORD TO KING AHAZ
Ahaz was ruled by an idolatrous and wicked king. He had inherited a strong kingdom established by his grandfather Uzziah (Azariah). No one dared to attack Judah which was ruled by mighty King Uzziah. But under Ahaz, Israel and Syria combined forces to attack Judah. Isaiah was sent to King Ahaz with a message from the LORD.
“Then the LORD said to Isaiah,
‘Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-Jashub your son,
at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool,
on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, and say to him: ‘Take heed, and be quiet;
do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands,
for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah.
Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you,
saying, ‘Let us go up against Judah and trouble it,
and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves,
and set a king over them, the son of Tabel’-””
Isaiah 7:3-6
1. A specific mission.
a) Isaiah was to speak to King Ahaz.
b) He was to bring his son, Shear-Jashub with him.
c) The meeting place was at an aqueduct on the highway to the Fuller’s Field.
2. The message to Ahaz.
a) He is to take heed to what God had to say to him.
b) He must also “be quiet”.
i) He must not allow his fears to get the better of him.
ii) To lead his kingdom well, he must be courageous and not be fainthearted.
3. God’s description of the two enemy kings.
a) They were but two stubs of smoking firebrand.
b) Their anger must not be feared.
c) Like stubs they would soon burn out.
4. Knowledge of what they were plotting.
a) They were plotting to trouble Judah.
b) They would attempt to breach the walls of Jerusalem.
c) They would install a puppet king over Judah.
d) This king, “The son of Tabel” would be jointly supported by Israel and Syria.
e) This was the plot by the two enemy kings of Judah.