War against Jerusalem
7 Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not [a]conquer it. 2 When it was reported to the house of David, saying, “The Arameans [b]have camped in Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake [c]with the wind.
3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son [d]Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the [e]fuller’s field, 4 and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and [f]terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in [g]its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 7 thus says the Lord [h]God: “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. 8 For the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people), 9 and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you surely shall not [i]last.”’”
Here we jump forward a generation, to the reign of Ahaz, king of Judah. He was the grandson of Uzziah, who was a good king, as he followed God, but not all of the people did. It wasn’t very far into his reign that Pekah and Rezin attacked Jerusalem (2 Kings 15), and that’s where we pick up the story.
It is likely that Ahaz was a bit on the fence at this point, and this was his moment to make an important choice. God sent Isaiah to lay it out before him, and even tells him point blank that this attack will not succeed, because God has decreed otherwise.
He concludes with a statement that seems a little odd, saying that Rezin is the head of Aram, and Remaliah is the head of Ephraim/Israel–Remaliah was an usurper, so possibly he only had the support of his own tribe, Ephraim. Either way, we must ask, what is the point?
The implication is that God was not the head of Israel or Aram, but Ahaz could choose to make God the head of Judah by serving Him alone. God would not allow this attack to succeed either way, but the choice of Ahaz would determine the course of events to follow. Unfortunately, he didn’t choose wisely, and ended up disobeying God in multiple ways (2 Kings 16).
We have the same choice, who will be our head? Along with that, there is the same comfort in the fact that it is not up to us to control things. If we allow God to be in charge, we don’t have to worry about the uncertain future. Sure, we are stewards, and we must do the best with what God entrusts to us. But there are so many things outside of our control, and they need to stay that way–because they are in God’s capable hands.
I’m reminded once more of something C.S. Lewis wrote of a message from God to a man named Ransom, “Have no fear, lest your shoulders be bearing this world. Look! it is beneath your head and carries you.” Sometimes, we try to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders, but it is not for us to carry the world. That’s completely upside down!
Rather, God is the head, and has created this world to sustain and support us. He will watch over us and be our provider; will we trust God and let Him be the head of our lives?