And Jehovah spoke again to Ahaz, saying,
Isaiah had already told King Ahaz that the attack of Syria and Ephraim on Jerusalem would fail, and the king said nothing. Now God speaks again — and the question is what a person does when God comes back after they have ignored Him.
What makes the second word remarkable is who heard it. Notice how God treats a king like this:
How touching is the patient grace God has toward this evil king! He reassures him instead of crushing him; He announces deliverance to him; He says to him, "Take heed and be quiet" — let Me act. He says, "Fear not" to him who on his part had everything to fear.
God was not asking for much. One small sign of faith would have been enough:
He looked for some response from the heart in front of Him — some faint "Amen" to His faithful word, one small link of faith, to allow Him, so to speak, to carry out all He had promised. But there was no response. So He would test this faithless man again.
The second word invites Ahaz to ask for a sign, with no limit set — the depth below or the height above. The size of the offer carried its own message:
God offers a sign to the feeble-hearted Ahaz and to the people seeking a prop apart from God. To the worldly man He would show all the grace and power He possibly could. And He would make His children feel that their unbelief and unfaithfulness have no excuse.
Yet faith itself would not have needed the offer:
Faith would not ask for a sign, because it does not need one; faith walks alone with God.
Ahaz answered that he would not ask, and would not put the Lord to the test. The words sound reverent. One writer names what they really are:
How often the hypocrisy of unbelief tries in this way to hide its contempt for the Lord. Its presumption really despises the word of His grace, and yet it puts on the dress of greater reverence and humility.
Behind the polite refusal was a fear of what nearness to God would cost:
Ahaz shrinks from coming too near God, and from having real proof that God was there. He is afraid he would then have to follow Him, drop the outward supports of his unbelief, and give up everything but God. Nothing frightens the people who belong to God only outwardly more than nearness to God. His nearness is a blessing without limit, yet the heart dreads it, because it will not give up what God condemns.
The offer also shows how small our own asking would be:
The Lord, wearied by his ways, told him to ask a sign, either in the depth or in the height above. What sign could he ask of the Lord? And what sign could any of us ask of the Lord? Surely our depth would be very shallow and our height very low.
The refusal did not stop God. The message moves past Ahaz to the house of David, and God gives a sign that no one asked for:
Ahaz, of "the house of David," would not ask for the sign "either in the depth, or in the height." God therefore says, in effect: I will give the sign Myself without your asking! I will give it both in the depth and in the height; and, as we see from other Scriptures, in that very "house of David."
The size of that grace shows in the man who received it:
Was it not the most wonderful grace to make such a promise to such a man? Yet in truth grace condemns unbelief and all other sin as the law never did or could. If Ahaz had asked for any sign within his own reach on earth or in heaven, it would have fallen unimaginably short of God's! If man refuses to ask through unbelief, God still gives a sign for His own glory: the virgin's Son, the woman's Seed, Immanuel!
- Again. God spoke a second time to a king who had ignored Him once. That is patience refusing to give up.
- Anywhere. The offer had no limit — depth or height — leaving unbelief no excuse at all.
- Afraid. Ahaz refused because nearness to God would have cost him the props he leaned on. Dread of that nearness drove him, not doubt.
- Acting. Pious-sounding words can hide contempt. Unbelief dresses itself up as reverence and humility.
- Anyway. God gave the sign unasked — the virgin's Son, Immanuel. Man's refusal to ask never stops God from giving.
Ask for thee a sign from Jehovah thy God; ask for it in the deep, or in the height above.
Isaiah had just told a frightened king that the threat against Jerusalem would collapse, and Ahaz would not believe it. So God offers proof: name any sign you like, high or low — older translations read "in the depth, or in the height above."
The offer comes to a king whose record was bad. One writer finds God's tone toward him remarkable:
But how touching is the patient grace God has toward this evil king! He reassures him instead of crushing him; He announces deliverance to him; He says to him, "Be careful, be quiet" — let Me act. He says "Do not fear" to a man who, for his part, had everything to fear.
The words "deep as Sheol or high as heaven" set no ceiling on what Ahaz could ask. One writer sees God offering everything He is able to show:
He would show the worldly man all the grace and power that He can possibly show. And He would make His children feel that their unbelief and unfaithfulness have no excuse.
Because the invitation was that wide, refusing it says everything. One writer sets Ahaz beside Abraham, who kept doing what Ahaz would not:
We can truly say that faith never aims more rightly than when it aims high and draws with a bold hand. "Ask a sign of the LORD your God," says the prophet to the king, "ask it either in the depth, or in the height above" — range through the divine resources, and use them. What king Ahaz would not do, wearying the Lord by his reserve, unbelief, and slowness of heart, Abraham does and continues to do.
Ahaz answers that he will not put the Lord to the test. It sounds humble. Commentators do not read it that way:
Ahaz was a hypocrite. In mock modesty he refused to ask for a sign. He used a pious phrase in his refusal, saying, "I will not tempt the Lord." But he was not asked to "tempt God." God Himself had told him to ask for a sign. Unbelief and self-will were at the bottom of his blank refusal, though covered under this pious phrase.
Another writer names what lies under the excuse, and it is not unique to Ahaz:
Ahaz shrinks from being too near God. He does not want real proof that God was there. He is afraid he would then have to follow Him, give up the outward supports of his unbelief, and let go of everything but God. Those who belong to God only outwardly dread nothing so much as nearness to God. His nearness is a blessing without limit, yet the heart dreads it, because it will not give up what God condemns.
The refusal does not end the matter. God answers it Himself, in both directions at once:
Ahaz, of "the house of David," would not ask for the sign "either in the depth, or in the height." So God says, in effect: I will give the sign Myself, without your asking! I will give it both in the depth and in the height; and, as we see from other Scriptures, in that very "house of David."
Read this way, the two extremes of verse 11 become a description of the Person God sent:
We can imagine no greater height than God. Jesus was "God manifest in the flesh." And we can imagine no greater depth, in a way, than Immanuel — God with us. He came into this world for purposes that included His shameful death on the tree. God's throne is in the height; Christ's cross is in the depth.
The sequence matters too. One writer points out that God names the depth first, then the height. He links this to Ephesians 4:9, "where it is emphasized that the descent comes before the ascent on high" (F. B. Hole).
The same writer then measures our own asking against it: "What sign could he ask of the Lord? And what sign could any of us ask of the Lord? Surely our depth would be very shallow and our height of very small elevation" (A. J. Pollock).
- Invited — God tells a failing king to ask, and sets no ceiling: depth or height, anything he likes.
- Refused — Ahaz hides behind a pious phrase. Underneath lie unbelief and self-will. He dreads nearness to God because he will not give up what God condemns.
- Given — what man will not ask for, God supplies unasked: "the Lord Himself will give you a sign."
- Measured — the sign fills both extremes Ahaz declined: the height is God Himself, the depth is the cross.
- Ordered — God names the depth first, then the height — the descent comes before the ascent on high.
And Ahaz said, I will not ask, and will not tempt Jehovah.
Isaiah had just invited Ahaz to ask for any sign he wanted, as deep or as high as he pleased — and the king turned it down in the language of reverence. So what is really happening when a man refuses what God offers him?
Ahaz borrows a rule of piety — do not put God to the test — and uses it against the very God who invited him. One writer points out that the rule did not apply to him at all.
Ahaz was a hypocrite. In mock modesty he refused to ask for a sign. He used a pious phrase in his refusal, saying, "I will not put the LORD to the test." But he was not asked to put God to the test. God Himself had told him to ask for a sign. Unbelief and self-will were at the bottom of his blank refusal, though covered under this pious phrase. And he was not the last of religious unbelievers to use the same expression, and for a like purpose.
What looks like reverence can be its opposite.
How often the hypocrisy of unbelief tries in this way to hide its contempt for the LORD. Through presumption, which despises the word of His grace, it dresses itself up in superior reverence and humility.
Behind the polite words was a man who did not want God that close.
God tells the king to ask a sign below or above (vv. 10, 11); but Ahaz (v. 12) shrinks from being too near God, and from having real proof that God was there. He is afraid that he would then have to follow Him, to give up the outward supports of his unbelief, and to give up everything but God. There is nothing that the outward people of God dread so much as nearness to God. His nearness is a blessing without limit, yet the heart dreads it, because it will not give up what God condemns.
Ahaz had already picked his rescuer, and it was not God.
Hezekiah acted in the opposite way to his father Ahaz. Isaiah had warned Ahaz not to fear the attack of Rezin, king of Syria, and of Pekah, son of Remaliah. The prophet urged him to ask the LORD for a sign that His promise would be kept. But Ahaz preferred to turn to the Assyrian.
Putting God to the test would mean distrusting Him — and Ahaz went further than distrust.
Ahaz coloured his unbelief and his disobedience with an appearance of piety. To put the LORD to the test would be to distrust Him. In fact Ahaz did much more than distrust Him: he did not believe the word of the LORD.
The offer had no limits — depth or height, anything he cared to name. That scale shows how small anything we could ask would be.
We learn from Kings and Chronicles that King Ahaz did not walk in the steps of his father David, but acted according to the abominations of the nations around. The Lord, wearied by his ways, told him to ask a sign, either in the depth or in the height above. What sign could he ask of the Lord? And what sign could any of us ask of the Lord? Surely our depth would be very shallow and our height of very small elevation.
Because Ahaz would not choose, the Lord chose.
The heart of Ahaz had turned to false gods. Hardened in this way, he refused the offered help, though under the pretence of piety. He could not deceive the Searcher of hearts. After a solemn warning the prophet announced that the Lord Himself would give a sign. "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." … David's house might fail in their responsibility, as they seriously did, and forfeit everything. But on that very ground God could step in, acting from His own heart and according to His purposes.
The lesson runs wider than one king.
How we read in this, on the one hand, man's utter inability to please God or reach up to His thoughts. On the other hand, despite all that man is, God is set on blessing him, and Christ is His Resource in doing so.
- Invited. God told Ahaz to ask. So the rule against testing the Lord did not cover him: his refusal was self-will wearing a pious phrase.
- Afraid. He shrank from nearness to God, because proof would have cost him the props his unbelief leaned on.
- Committed. He had already turned to Assyria; his answer was not distrust only, but disbelief of God's word.
- Outmatched. Offered depth or height, he could name nothing worth naming. The size of the offer showed how little man reaches toward God.
- Given. So the Lord gave the sign Himself: Immanuel. David's house failed, and God's purpose still stood.
And he said, Hear then, house of David Is it a small matter for you to weary men, that ye weary also my God?
Ahaz has just refused God's offer of a sign, hiding his unbelief behind a show of reverence. So the prophet turns from the king to the whole royal line: this house has worn out people, and now it is wearing out God.
In the older English translation, the pronouns shift from singular to plural at this exact point. One writer takes that shift as the key to the passage.
The wicked king Ahaz has rejected God's gracious offer of a sign. His pious excuse was that asking would be tempting God. Jehovah then turns from him and speaks to the house of David. He looks beyond the present trouble, which was really a small matter. In that chapter and the two that follow, He gives a magnificent promise of the coming of Immanuel... In verse 11 God speaks to Ahaz: "Ask for yourself." He refuses. Then He addresses the house of David in verses 13 and 14, in the plural. In verses 16 and 17 He addresses Ahaz again, in the singular.
Commentators differ here. Kelly still reads the promise as made to Ahaz himself.
Ahaz had said he would not put God to the test — language that sounds humble. The prophet treats it as a cover.
How often the hypocrisy of unbelief tries in this way to hide its contempt for Jehovah! Its presumption really despises the word of His grace, yet it puts on the clothing of superior reverence and humility. The prophet, however, sees through the trick put forward by an evil heart of unbelief. He now calls the house of David to hear. They must hear not only his reproof, but what the Lord Himself was going to give. Ahaz shrank from God even in His goodness. Flesh never trusts God. It is bent on its own will and instinctively avoids grace, which must assert and give effect to the will of God.
The refusal had a motive. A sign would have cost Ahaz the alliance with Assyria that he had already chosen.
But the unbelieving king refused the offer. His wicked heart dreaded the consequences of such a sign. He did not want to be near to God and get a sign that God was near to him. He felt that in such a case he would have to abandon what God condemns and give up the alliance with the Assyrian.
The verse names two acts of wearying, and the second is the graver one.
The house of David had not only wearied men, but had wearied God also. Ahaz feels God coming near, and shrinks back from the offered sign under a form of piety. God then takes up the matter in grace, as to Messiah, but in the revelation of judgment.
Ahaz was not just one bad king among many. With him, the family of David itself broke down.
In the person of Ahaz the family of David completely abandons its faithfulness... The family of David itself fails in this way, and every hope is ruined. At that point prophecy brings in the promise of Christ to be the support of the faithful. This sign was to be in the family of David itself.
God answers this house with a gift, not a blow. The gift is far larger than anything the king would have dared to ask.
Was it not the most wonderful grace so to promise to such a man? Yet in truth grace condemns unbelief and all other sin as the law never did and never could. Had Ahaz asked any sign within his range of earth and heaven, how immeasurably short of God's it would have been! If man refuses to ask through unbelief, God does not fail to give a sign for His own glory: the virgin's Son, Immanuel!
There is an irony here. The king's unbelief did not damage the promise; it drew it out.
Ahaz, the king of Judah, feared for Jerusalem and the royal line. He had no cause to fear, for God had promised David a son to come from his own body — the one King David called his Lord, the root and offspring of David. The house of David was perfectly secure. So the unbelief of Ahaz became the occasion for this great prediction.
- Wearied. Ahaz's house had already worn out human patience. By refusing God's sign, it wore out God's patience too — and that is the offence Isaiah names.
- Disguised. The refusal wore the clothing of reverence. Unbelief that refuses to come near God often speaks the language of humility.
- Widened. The prophet turns from the one king to "the house of David." The issue is bigger than a local war scare — it is the whole royal line.
- Given. Right where the royal family failed, God gives the sign unasked — Immanuel, born inside that same failing house.
- Secured. Man's refusal did not cancel God's purpose. Grace answered contempt with a gift no one on earth would have thought to ask for.
Therefore will the Lord himself give you a sign Behold, the virgin shall conceive and shall bring forth a son, and call his name Immanuel.
Two allied kings were about to invade Judah. God offered its king, Ahaz, a sign to steady his faith, and Ahaz turned it down. The answer God gave anyway reaches far past that crisis: a virgin's son named Immanuel, "God with us."
Writers point to the plot that hung over Jerusalem at that moment.
Rezin, King of Syria, and Pekah, King of Israel, had joined forces against Judah and Jerusalem. They meant to set aside the royal line of David, and with it the Messiah, and to put the son of Tabeal on the throne (v. 6). Even so, "thus says the Lord God: It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass" (v. 7).
Ahaz refused the sign God offered. One writer looks at how God answered a man who did not want Him close.
Ahaz did not like God to draw too near. God answered it with Immanuel — God with us… Was it not the most wonderful grace to promise this to such a man? Yet grace condemns unbelief and every other sin as the law never did and never could. If Ahaz had asked for any sign he could imagine on earth or in heaven, it would have fallen far short of God's sign. If man refuses to ask through unbelief, God does not fail to give a sign for His own glory: the virgin's Son, the woman's Seed, Immanuel!
God had told Ahaz to ask for a sign either in the depth or in the height above. One writer sees both in the sign God chose.
The Virgin's Son becomes THE SIGN, given by God in "the depth" and in "the height" too. Who but the blessed God, infinite in wisdom, could have thought of such a sign or given it? Look at "the depth" of human weakness: that wonderful baby held on the virgin's lap. Yet even there His name tells us of "the height" of His glory — "Immanuel," "God with us."
The Hebrew word behind "virgin" has long been argued over. Writers answer first from the passage itself: a sign has to be something out of the ordinary.
Here the context needs the word to mean virgin, and nothing less. There is no sign or wonder in a young married woman bearing a son. People knew from the very start that the One who would rescue mankind from the serpent, our enemy, must be born of a woman in some unusual way… The virgin's Son is Immanuel, the Lord Jehovah.
There is also the old Greek translation of the Old Testament. Jews made it long before anyone was arguing over this verse.
Christ came, and the prophecy was fulfilled. After that, the Jews worked hard to deny that the Hebrew word means virgin. They said it meant only a young woman, and unbelievers still follow them today. But the Greek version of the Old Testament was made by Jews long before that prejudice arose. They translated the word by the Greek word that can only mean virgin. That one fact undoes the whole attack on the prophecy.
Some have read the child as Ahaz's own son Hezekiah. The arithmetic rules it out.
The idea that Hezekiah was the virgin's son cannot stand. Ahaz reigned sixteen years, and Hezekiah was twenty-five when he began to reign. So Hezekiah was already a boy of at least eight before his father's reign began. Isaiah could not have foretold his birth to Ahaz, who was on the throne by then.
Matthew's Gospel opens with this verse as its first quotation from the Old Testament.
The royal line of David's house was to continue until the Messiah came, but how much further the sign goes! He would be not only the virgin's son, the woman's seed of Genesis 3:15, but "Immanuel." Matthew's Gospel opens by showing Him to be the son of David (v. 1). Then this first quotation from the Old Testament shows Him to be more than a man born by a miracle. He is God Himself come down in grace.
The comfort here reaches past one threatened royal line.
This was enough. God had promised that the Messiah would come from David's line. So God kept the house of David safe until the appointed hour, unworthy as it was… My whole aim is to point to one fact, so full of comfort to the believing heart: God's purposes never fail, however great man's sin may be.
- Threat. Two kings planned to remove David's line from the throne; God said their plan would not stand.
- Refusal. Ahaz would not ask for a sign, so God gave one Himself. Grace answered unbelief with far more than the king would have asked for.
- Sign. A married woman bearing a son is no wonder. The sign needs a virgin — which is how the old Greek translation read it, before any argument began.
- Name. Immanuel means "God with us." The child is man, and He is God — the deepest humility and the highest glory in one person.
- Guarantee. Because the Messiah had to come from David, God kept David's house safe. His purposes hold, however far people fail.