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Dr. Manny Arango
Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango and I'm your host for the Bible department podcast. Powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the journey. Let's be honest, a lot of us are still treating digital ministry like it's a backup plan from 2020. But discipleship isn't just happening on Sundays anymore. People need gospel centered connection every day of the week. And if you're stuck juggling five different platforms, one for giving, another for sermons, something else for events, it's no wonder engagement feels off. That's not ministry, that's a mess. Subsplash changes that one platform. Everything you need, media, giving, events, messaging, your app, your website, built specifically for churches. No hacks, no workarounds, just clarity and simplicity. Because every day you wait, families scroll past your sermons, new guests click away from clunky sites, and real people miss real moments with Jesus. Don't waste another summer stuck in digital survival mode. Use it to get ahead, simplify, upgrade, get back to what matters. Head to subsplash.combible-dept and schedule a free no pressure demo. And let this be the summer your church gets focused and fully equipped family. Welcome to day 194. We actually have a really, really, really fun section of the book of Isaiah. We are in chapters seven, eight and nine. Honestly, like an easy section to like flow through. There's a narrative arc. There's actually like a story, a plot that's happening. It's not just a bunch of poetry. And so I'm excited to dive in. If you have not done the reading for today, go back, do the reading. Because everything that I say in this episode will actually make sense if you have done the reading. So context. Okay, the first thing that we gotta deal with is context, because there's a lot of context to what is happening in this section. It's a fun section of the book of Isaiah, but without context, honestly, it is a bit confusing. So, so here's the context. Ahaz is the main character of this section. Chapter seven, verse one starts like this. It says, when Ahaz son of Jopham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram, and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they cannot overpower it. Okay, so that right there, that one verse is the historical context for what is happening. Now, remember we said that Isaiah is prophesying during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. So he has a long ministry that lasts multiple kings. So let's talk about this context. Okay? What is actually happening? Because there's gonna be a confrontation or conversation between Isaiah and Ahaz, and we kind of need to know what's taking place. Okay? So Ahaz, who is the king of Judah, is going up against Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Syria and Aram. This is also a little confusing. Syria and Aram are the same place. So Syria, the nation of Syria or the Arameans are the same exact people group, okay? And the Bible's just going to use them interchangeably. And that can be really confusing. So what has happened is that this is one of the most confusing and dramatic periods of Israel's history, which is known as the Syrophramatic War. Okay? Syro Ephraimatic War, or the Syrophragmatic alliance, the background of which was the assassination of King Pekahiah, the king of Israel, by Pekah. This is in Second Kings, chapter 15, verses 23 to 26. So honestly, you could pause this, go to 2 Kings, and just read those verses, then come back and hit play. All right? When Pekah assassinates Pekahiah, he becomes king, as Pekahiah was officially a vassal of Assyria. So get this. Pekahia is a vassal of Assyria. We've talked a lot about suzerain and vassals. Assyria is the suzerain, which means big king and vassal is a puppet king. Okay? It's honestly, this still happens to today, right? America being a world superpower will put a puppet king in a nation who's just going to give America favorable, you know, tariffs or prices on all kinds of stuff. So this is still something that happens today, right? Where hey, I big, big, you know, superpower promise to protect you if you ever go to war. We're going to be allies, but really, you know, I'm going to boss you around. So, you know, the world's a pyramid scheme. So there we go. All right. Pekahia is a vassal of Assyria. Pekah, who now assassinates Pekahia, could expect consequences, especially as Assyria was now ruled by a new expansionist king. His name is Tiglath Pileser iii. Tiglath Pilessa III is a big deal. You may not know that name, but in history, Tiglath Palisa iii, Big, big deal. Responsible for a lot of the expansion of the Assyrian empire. Okay? To combat this, Israel makes an alliance with its old enemy, Syria, or Aram. Remember, during, like, Elisha and Elijah, more Elisha than Elijah, Elisha's life, Aram and Israel are at war with each other. Okay? Uh, so. But they team up against each other to defend each other, to defend themselves against Assyria. So a common enemy makes us friends. By the way, about 100 years before this, Syria and Israel had teamed up and stopped the Assyrian advance a century before. Okay? So they're teaming up again and hoping, hey, we had good luck the last time we teamed up. Maybe we'll have good luck again. So the Siro in Syro Ephraimatic is Syria, and the Ephraimatic is Ephraim, the tribe of Ephraim, which really is just the entire northern kingdom of Israel. Okay? They have an alliance, okay? Their goal in their hope was to strengthen their alliance by persuading Judah Ahaz is the king of Judah by persuading Judah to join their alliance. Because Judah is still wealthy from the reign of Uzziah. So Uzziah was an amazing king. Lots of wealth came into the land of Israel, and so they are looking for an ally. When persuasion did not work to get Ahaz to join the Syro Ephraimatic alliance, they show up on Judah's doorstep or on Jerusalem's doorstep to declare war and depose Ahaz and install a puppet king on the throne of Jerusalem who is going to ally with Syria and with Israel against Assyria. That is the context, okay? It is this war that is happening when Isaiah begins delivering Yahweh's message to King Ahaz. So, verse two of chapter seven. Now, the house of David was told, that's Judah. The southern kingdom of Judah was told aram has allied itself with Ephraim. Ephraim is just a nickname for Israel, okay? Aram has a lot of self with Israel. So the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken. Okay? Ahaz is scared. Ahaz, King of Judah, scared as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind. Then the Lord said to Isaiah, go out, you and your son, Shirab Jashub. Okay? So that's kid number one, Shirab Jasher, you need to keep track of the kids to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the upper pool on the road to the launderer's field. I know that sounds like just unnecessary detail, but the reason that he's at an aqueduct at the upper pool is because they're getting ready to be Sieged, okay? Syria and Israel are going to besiege them. And the number one thing that you need in the middle of a siege is a water supply, okay? You don't want the people inside the city walls to starve and dehydrate and die, because that's the point of a siege, is to get the people inside of the city wall to surrender. So, yeah, they're safe against the army, but if you don't have food and you don't have water, you gonna die. That's why he's at an aqueduct, to make sure, like, can we manage the siege? Okay, Verse four. Say to him, be careful. Be careful. Keep calm and don't be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood. Because of the fierce anger of Rezin, who's the king of Aram, AKA Syria, and the son of Remaliah. He doesn't even, you know, dignify, you know, Pekah with his name. Just the son of Remaliah, Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah's son have plotted your ruin, saying, let us invade Judah. Let us tear it apart and divide it amongst ourselves and make the son of Tabeel king over it. Who's the son of Tabeel? We don't know. But that's the puppet king that they want to install in Ahaz's place. Yet this is what the sovereign Lord said. It will not take place. It will not happen. This is not ordained by God, so you don't need to be afraid. Again, the Lord spoke to Ahaz. This is verse 10. Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or the highest heights. This is what Isaiah now says. And now Ahaz busts out his false humility. Terrible response. Verse 12. You may not realize it's a bad response, but this is a terrible response. But Ahaz says, I will not ask. I will not put the Lord to the test. Sounds great, but listen to Isaiah's response. Then Isaiah said, hear now, you son of David, you house of David. It is not enough to try the patience of humans. Will you try the patience of my God also like Bruh. Don't try me. Not today, ok? You coming for the wrong one. He immediately discerned. First of all, trying to like trick a prophet is stupid. Trying to lie to a prophet is dumb like Bruh, It's a prophet. Second, here we go. Verse 14. And now we can get into nerdy nuggets. That's enough context, okay? Everything else is happening within the historical context that I've given you, Tiglath Palisade III from Assyria with the Syro Ephraimatic alliance. Okay. With the puppet king that they're trying to install, with Pekahaya and Peka. Like, a lot of names, a lot of characters, a lot of people to keep up with. I hope I did an okay job giving you all the context. Family. The wait is over. My brand new book, Crushing Chaos, is out now and available everywhere. Books are sold. Literally. Today I walked into a Barnes and Noble and I signed a bunch of copies at a physical location. So you can grab this book at a physical Barnes and Noble or you can go to a Books a Million or Amazon or anywhere books are sold and grab a copy. If you enjoy reading the Bible from an ancient perspective, if you understand that the beauty of scripture is actually knowing it in context, then you'll love this book. And if there's any chaos in your personal life, I think that reading the Bible from an ancient perspective can actually help to crush the chaos in your life. I think this book is going to be a New York Times bestseller. I really do. I think we wrote a good one. I think you should get a copy today. All right, back to the episode. Now let's get into nerdy nuggets. Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Emmanuel. Now, what does Isaiah mean by this when he says it? Obviously, we know that this is a prophecy about Jesus, but prophecies about Jesus have to mean something in their actual context. Okay, Isaiah can't be confused by what he's saying, right? The words have to have value to the person saying it and to the person hearing it. Well, in Hebrew, the word virgin actually can be translated as unmarried woman or virgin. So the New Testament authors are going to translate it virgin. But it can also be translated unmarried woman is going to give birth to boy Emmanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. For before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. So Isaiah is talking about a real child, okay? And this is child number two. So Jer Jessub Sheer Jasher is child number one. Emmanuel is child number two. So I want you to see that what Isaiah says means something in its direct context, but it also means something for the future that Jesus is going to fulfill. Okay? Verse 18. In that day, the Lord will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria. So now Isaiah starts to prophesy that Assyria will get raised up as an instrument of God. And then you're gonna get verse 20, which is just rough. In that day, the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates River. The king of Assyria. This is Tiglath Pilese iii. By the way, to shave your head and private parts, shaving your pubic hair in the ancient world is bad news. Okay? Not good. Okay. So God's like, I'm gonna shave your head and your private parts and cut off your beard as well. Now this is getting real nerdy. But any man with his beard cut off was seen as a eunuch. So let's say you went to the British Museum. You would know that there are quote unquote normal men because they have beards. And any man who was going to be around the queen needed to be a eunuch. So they were going to get castrated. In the way that you showed that someone was castrated was by removing their beard. So a shaved head, a shaved beard, and shaved pubic hair. This is just total humiliation. This is the Bible language for complete humiliation. Now we're going to get into chapter eight, and we're going to get kid number three, Mahershell Hashbaz. I love saying that kid's name, by the way. Mahershala hash Baz. Imagine being named Mahershala Hashbaz. Say it again. Mahershala Hashbaz. Come on, Mufasa. Say it again. Mufasa Ma Mahershell Hashbel. Okay, chapter eight. We're going to get another kid. This is kid number three. And we're essentially going to get another prophecy about Jesus. It says this in chapter nine, verse two. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those living in the land of deep darkness. A light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation, increased their joy. And then verse six. For to us a child is born, for us a son is given. And the government will be on his shoulders. And. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace, there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. All right, a ton of prophecy about Jesus actually in this entire section. So let's actually break down the three kids. Let's let's deal with Shir Jasher Emmanuel and then Mahershala Hashbez. Okay. Isaiah meets Ahaz when he's checking on the city's water supply. Ahead of a coming siege, Isaiah brings his son as a rebuke to Ahaz. Okay, Sheer Jasher is here with Isaiah. Now here's the context, but also a nerdy nugget. Ahaz had previously sacrificed his own son to a pagan God. This is found in Second Kings, chapter 16, verse 3. Possibly burnt alive to Molech, his son's name is also a message. This Isaiah's son's name is also a message, meaning a remnant will return, which is a message of both doom. Because in order for a remnant to return, that means someone has to get enslaved. Okay? So it's a message of warning, but also of restoration, which you're going to see this theme all the way through the prophets. Hey, there's warning, there's doom, there's destruction, but there's also restoration. So that's shear Jasher. Next is Emmanuel. Now this is where it gets interesting, because of course, we jump to Jesus, but we can't just jump to Jesus. The. The name Emmanuel means God with us. Okay? And it says before the child could grow up, both Israel and Aram would be destroyed, which is 100% true. What Isaiah prophesied is 100% true. Within a short time span, Israel and Aram are going to get swallowed up by the Assyrian empire. The God with us, Emmanuel, is also a message and a choice for Ahaz. God will be with him. But how God is with him depends on Ahaz. He will either submit to Yahweh as king and know him as salvation. So it's either Yahweh, your salvation will be with you, or he will continue disobedience and know Yahweh as judgment, which means Yahweh will be with you as judgment. So Yahweh's with you no matter what. I know we love to say God's with me and it's warm fuzzies, but actually what Isaiah is saying is God will be with you. Whether in salvation or in judgment, God is with you. So, like, smarten up, wise up. Okay? This is the sheer Jasher is the first, like, warning. Then Emmanuel is the second warning. Okay? And then the third warning is Mahershala Hashbaz. Isaiah is told to write this name down in front of witnesses. And then when his wife conceived and a son was born, it was the. The boy was given this name. It means the spoil speeds the prey hastens which meant that Samaria and Damascus would be plundered by Tiglath Palisade iii. The similarity between this and Emmanuel Child is why some think that the original Emmanuel Child was actually Mahershal Hashbaz. There's also a bunch of debate about whether or not Isaiah's wife is actually also a prophet or if she's just a prophetess in the same way that anyone married to a prince is a princess. So anyway, that's real nerdy. And that's real. That's far down the rabbit hole. So those are all the nerdy nuggets. Okay. Timeless truth. Obviously the timeless truth for this one is very, very, very, very easy. And as in the United States of America. I don't know when you're listening to this or watching this, but. But at the time of this recording, we just had an election week. And you wanna know what's good news in the middle of election week? That Jesus was prophesied in the book of Isaiah. And here we go. Verse 6 of chapter 9 says this. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. And the government will be on his shoulders. That the government is on the shoulders of Jesus. The government is not on the shoulders of anybody else. And he will be called a wonderful counselor. He's wise. He's a mighty God, he's strong. He's an everlasting Father, he's eternal. And he's a prince of peace. He's not the prince of war, He's a prince of peace, of the greatness of his government. In peace there will be no end. Isaiah is prophesying this in a time of political turmoil. He's saying, although Aram wants to install a client king or puppet king, all although Pekah in Israel is trying to, you know, plot against you. Hey, Ahaz, I need you to know that the government rests on shoulders that are far broader than yours. Isaiah is prophesying about the Messiah, the ultimate king of Israel, in the middle of political upheaval. And you know what? There's political upheaval all around the world, all the time. There's always going to be a nation under the sun that's living in political upheaval. And you want to know what the word of the Lord is? That God and God alone is the one who the government rests on his shoulders. He's a wonderful counselor. He's a mighty God, he's an everlasting father. He's a prince of peace. And he will reign and his kingdom will be established and he will uphold justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. And so our hope, our faith, our allegiance is not in any earthly government. It's to the King of Kings and to the Lord of Lords. We have to keep that our focus. We are citizens of heaven. We have dual citizenship. Our citizenship here on the earth matters. My American passport is fantastic, and I'm glad to be an American. But I'm also part of the Kingdom of Heaven. And anytime that there's political turmoil, no matter who wins an election, it doesn't make my day or ruin my day, because my hope is actually built on a solid rock, not on the sinking sands of human political campaigns. And that is a timeless truth that we need to be reminded of all the time, especially every four years. Love y'. All. I'll see you tomorrow for day 195 as we continue our trek through the Book of Isaiah. We got chapters 10, 11, and 12 tomorrow. If you're on a streak, please, please don't break it. I'm so proud of you. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show@thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram at the Bible department. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@the bibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.