71 And it cometh to pass in the days of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, gone up hath Rezin king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, to Jerusalem, to battle against it, and he is not able to fight against it. 2 And it is declared to the house of David, saying, 'Aram hath been led towards Ephraim,' And his heart and the heart of his people is moved, like the moving of trees of a forest by the presence of wind. 3 And Jehovah saith unto Isaiah, 'Go forth, I pray thee, to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear-Jashub thy son, unto the end of the conduit of the upper pool, unto the highway of the fuller's field, 4 and thou hast said unto him: 'Take heed, and be quiet, fear not, And let not thy heart be timid, Because of these two tails of smoking brands, For the fierceness of the anger of Rezin and Aram, And the son of Remaliah. 5 Because that Aram counselled against thee evil, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, saying: 6 We go up into Judah, and we vex it, And we rend it unto ourselves, And we cause a king to reign in its midst—The son of Tabeal. 7 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: It doth not stand, nor shall it be! 8 For the head of Aram 'is' Damascus, And the head of Damascus 'is' Rezin, And within sixty and five years Is Ephraim broken from 'being' a people. 9 And the head of Ephraim 'is' Samaria, And the head of Samaria 'is' the son of Remaliah. If ye do not give credence, Surely ye are not stedfast.'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 7:1-9
Commentary on Isaiah 7:1-9
(Read Isaiah 7:1-9)
Ungodly men are often punished by others as bad as themselves. Being in great distress and confusion, the Jews gave up all for lost. They had made God their enemy, and knew not how to make him their friend. The prophet must teach them to despise their enemies, in faith and dependence on God. Ahaz, in fear, called them two powerful princes. No, says the prophet, they are but tails of smoking firebrands, burnt out already. The two kingdoms of Syria and Israel were nearly expiring. While God has work for the firebrands of the earth, they consume all before them; but when their work is fulfilled, they will be extinguished in smoke. That which Ahaz thought most formidable, is made the ground of their defeat; because they have taken evil counsel against thee; which is an offence to God. God scorns the scorners, and gives his word that the attempt should not succeed. Man purposes, but God disposes. It was folly for those to be trying to ruin their neighbours, who were themselves near to ruin. Isaiah must urge the Jews to rely on the assurances given them. Faith is absolutely necessary to quiet and compose the mind in trials.