As Flies and Bees
Isa 7:17 The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.
Because Ahaz would not listen to God, The LORD spoke to him of coming disaster. The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people. They might have lived in peace, but they were stubborn.
Isa 7:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
Isa 7:19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.
The LORD will whistle to the Assyrians, in which Ahaz tried to befriend, even worshipping their Gods, and they will come in swarms. The Egyptians would come too, as flies and the Assyrians as bees, to sting; they will be everywhere.
Isa 7:20 In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.
The LORD will hire them to come and humble them by shaving the head and legs and also consume the beard. The Assyrians were known for their cruelty and torture of their enemies.
The prophet Jonah refused to go to them, because he wanted the Lord to destroy them, instead he took a boat to Tarshish. But the LORD made him return to witness to them, and they repented.
Jonah 1:2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
Jonah 1:3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
To shave off the beard of an Oriental was an unbearable shame to him and was a sign of great sadness and mourning as well as despicable slavery. (Bultema)
Isa 7:21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
Isa 7:22 And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.
This would be all that would remain of their possessions; a little milk and butter and honey from the land. Their agriculture would be ruined.
Isa 7:23 And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns.
Briers and thorns will replace the vineyards and fields of grain.
Isa 7:24 With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns.
Isa 7:25 And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.
The land shall become a grazing place for oxen and lesser domestic cattle; sheep and goats. All this, because Ahaz refused to take the LORD's offer of help.
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