Isaiah 7:1-16 (Notes) Application: Iran
Isaiah 7:1-16
Saturday Morning 5/23/2026
Application: Iran
Background:
Ahaz was a king of Judah.
The Messiah was to be a descendant of the royal line of Judah, i.e., a descendant of the Davidic kings.
All the kings of Israel (the Northern kingdom) were bad.
Most of the kings of Judah were bad. A handful were good: David, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah.
Ahaz was very bad:
2 Chronicles 28:1-8 (NLT)
1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. He did not do what was pleasing in the sight of the LORD, as his ancestor David had done.
2 Instead, he followed the example of the kings of Israel. He cast metal images for the worship of Baal.
3 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 the LORD had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites.
4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense at the pagan shrines and on the hills and under every green tree.
5 Because of all this, the LORD his God allowed the king of Aram to defeat Ahaz and to exile large numbers of his people to Damascus. The armies of the king of Israel also defeated Ahaz and inflicted many casualties on his army.
6 In a single day Pekah son of Remaliah, Israel’s king, killed 120,000 of Judah’s troops, all of them experienced warriors, because they had abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors.
7 Then Zicri, a warrior from Ephraim, killed Maaseiah, the king’s son; Azrikam, the king’s palace commander; and Elkanah, the king’s second-in-command.
8 The armies of Israel captured 200,000 women and children from Judah and seized tremendous amounts of plunder, which they took back to Samaria.
Now let’s read Isaiah 7 and there is going to be an application and an understanding for us TODAY regarding Iran:
Isaiah 7:1-16 (NLT)
1 When Ahaz, son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, set out to attack Jerusalem. However, they were unable to carry out their plan.
(These 2 kings wanted to get rid of Ahaz through whom the Messiah would come.)
2 The news had come to the royal court of Judah: “Syria is allied with Israel against us!” So the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, like trees shaking in a storm.
(They trembled with fear because of the huge slaughter and disaster that had already happened at the hand of these 2 adversaries. See 2 Chronicles passage above)
3 Then the LORD 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.
4 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 Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah.
5 Yes, the kings of Syria and Israel are plotting against him, saying,
6 ‘We will attack Judah and capture it for ourselves. Then we will install the son of Tabeel as Judah’s king.’
(Again, they wanted to replace Ahaz. But the Lord could never allow this!)
7 But this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “This invasion will never happen; it will never take place;
8 for Syria 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.
9 Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria, and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah. Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.”
(Ahaz is told to hang in there and these 2 kings will soon no longer be a danger to him.)
10 Later, the LORD sent this message to King Ahaz:
11 “Ask the LORD your God for a sign of confirmation, Ahaz. Make it as difficult as you want—as high as heaven or as deep as the place of the dead.”
(The LORD made an incredibly gracious offer to Ahaz which in an insincere and phony manner Ahaz turned down.)
12 But the king refused. “No,” he said, “I will not test the LORD like that.”
13 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?
14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).
(This is the announcement, the great prophecy of the virgin birth that was to take place about 700 years future to this time. This was to be a miraculous fulfillment!)
15 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 here is the near fulfillment: this child. Who was this child? This was to be a non-miraculous fulfillment but a near fulfillment nevertheless. There is always a near fulfillment.)
16 For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted. We’ll stop here today.
From the Baker Prophecy Handbook:
(Baker Handbooks) Immanuel may have been an otherwise unidentified child born to the house of David. In this case, the young lady addressed by Isaiah may have been a queen or princess in the royal family (and possibly even a virgin at the time the prophecy was delivered).
(I have edited this): I believe there was a sign function for the child (see 7:14). As in 7:14–16, the removal of Judah’s enemies would take place before the child reached a specified age (see 8:4).
Now what about Iran?
Ezekiel 38:2-5 (NLT)
2 “Son of man, turn and face Gog of the land of Magog, the prince who rules over the nations of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him.
3 Give him this message from the Sovereign LORD: Gog, I am your enemy!
4 I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws to lead you out with your whole army—your horses and charioteers in full armor and a great horde armed with shields and swords.
5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya will join you, too, with all their weapons.
Ezekiel 38:8-9 (NLT)
8 A long time from now you will be called into action. In the distant future you will swoop down on the land of Israel, which will be enjoying peace after recovering from war and after its people have returned from many lands to the mountains of Israel.
9 You and all your allies—a vast and awesome army—will roll down on them like a storm and cover the land like a cloud.
This prophecy of Ezekiel’s War has not yet come to pass.
But it will come to pass. Therefore, Iran or Persia cannot be completely ridden of its evil rulers. That is an absolute impossibility. Why? Because it is the Lord’s will for this to happen. Why?
Ezekiel 38:16 (NLT)
16 and you will attack my people Israel, covering their land like a cloud. At that time in the distant future, I will bring you against my land as everyone watches, and my holiness will be displayed by what happens to you, Gog. Then all the nations will know that I am the LORD.
Ezekiel 38:21-23 (NLT)
21 I will summon the sword against you on all the hills of Israel, says the Sovereign LORD. Your men will turn their swords against each other.
22 I will punish you and your armies with disease and bloodshed; I will send torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and burning sulfur!
23 In this way, I will show my greatness and holiness, and I will make myself known to all the nations of the world. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
So, we see how the LORD will not allow Ahaz to be deposed or killed - because he can’t be. The Messiah has to descend from him. Similarly the Ezekiel’s war prophecy must be fulfilled in order for Yahweh to show His greatness and holiness to all the nations of the world and that requires an intact Iran.