Some of the oracles of this section were plainly delivered by Isaiah before that event, and simply seek to inspire Ahaz with a courage which should feel Assyrian help to be needless; others, again, imply that Ahaz has already called in the Assyrian: they taunt him with hankering after foreign strength, and depict the woes which the Assyrian will bring upon the land; while others (for example, the passage ix. 1-7) mean that the Assyrian has already come, and that the Galilean provinces of Israel have been depopulated, and promise a Deliverer. If we do not keep in mind the decision of Ahaz, we shall not understand these seemingly contradictory utterances, which it thoroughly explains. Let us now begin at the beginning of chapter vii. It opens with a bare statement, by way of title, of the invasion of Judah and the futile result; and then proceeds to tell us how Isaiah acted from the first rumour of the confederacy onward. I. THE KING (chap. vii.). _And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it._ This is a summary of the whole adventure and issue of the war, given by way of introduction. The narrative proper begins in verse 2, with the effect of the first news of the league upon Ahaz and his people. Their hearts were moved, like the trees of the forest before the wind. The league was aimed so evidently against the two things most essential to the national existence and the honour of Jehovah; the dynasty of David, namely, and the inviolability of Jerusalem. Judah had frequently before suffered the loss of her territory; never till now were the throne and city of David in actual peril. But that, which bent both king and people by its novel terror, was the test Isaiah expected for the prophecies he had already uttered. Taking with him, as a summary of them, his boy with the name Shear-Jashub--_A-remnant-shall-return_--Isaiah faced Ahaz and his court in the midst of their preparation for the siege. They were examining--but more in panic than in prudence--the water supply of the city, when Isaiah delivered to them a message from the Lord, which may be paraphrased as follows: _Take heed and be quiet_, keep your eyes open and your heart still; _fear not, neither be faint-hearted, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Remaliah's son_. They have no power to set you on fire. They are _but stumps of expiring firebrands_, almost burnt out. While you wisely look after your water supply, do so in hope. This purpose of deposing you is vain. _Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass._ Of whom are you afraid? Look those foes of yours in the face. _The head of Syria is Damascus, and Damascus' head is Rezin_: is he worth fearing? _The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and Samaria's head is Remaliah's son_: is he worth fearing?