Could you please answer this question for me?

Joh 19:11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore HE THAT DELIVERED ME UNTO THEE HATH THE GREATER SIN.

We know that there is no power but Of God (ROM 13:1), So it was God that delivered Jesus over to pilot in the above verse

Is it God that has the ‘greater sin’?

Thanks, K____

Dear K____,

I thought about this very question a few years ago, and because everything that God creates is good, and God Himself cannot sin, Jesus is speaking to our old man, who is responsible by the determinate hand of God to use us to crucify Christ.

Act 2:23  Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

We are the ones with the greater sin. Our religious self-righteous man of sin is the one with the greater sin. God used the evil that is within our vessels of dishonor to crucify our LORD so that in His death we would be recreated into vessels of Honor.

The religious man in us, our second beast with two horns, brings Christ before our first beast’s image, the law of the flesh, and it is our religious beast which has the greater sin, because Christ in us does not submit to the worship of flesh and blood, and therefore must be put to death so that we can justify ourselves as righteous by the law, Pilate, the image of the first beast. James explains it this way;

Jas 1:13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
Jas 1:14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

I am not tempted by God to crucify The LORD, I am drawn away of my second beast to kill him so that I can justify myself, by the first beast. My second beast has the GREATER sin because he dresses himself up as religious and then uses the law to kill Christ.

Hi K____,

No, God Himself tempts no man.

Jas 1:13  Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.

He is working all things after the counsel of His own will, and to accomplish His plan of salvation, He sent Satan to have Judas betray his Master to the Jews:

Joh 13:27  And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

Sin is scripturally defined as missing the mark, and all the Father does is right on the mark, including everything He sends Satan to do for Him.

He does not deny that He creates evil, but He, and He alone as God, is capable of calling light out of darkness and of making good come of evil, as he did with Joseph’s brothers whom God, through an evil spirit, had to sell him into Egypt so Joseph could come out of Egyptian slavery to being the ruler of Egypt and to bring salvation to his own sinful brothers.

Gen 45:4  And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5  But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6  For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.
Gen 45:7  And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8  So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Joseph is not accusing God of sinning. He is simply acknowledging that God is sovereign over both good and evil, and is doing exactly what He has planned from the beginning. And part of that plan was for Joseph’s brothers to sell him into Egyptian slavery, as a type of our own slavery to sin.

Then, out of that slavery Joseph was delivered to rule over those who had been his masters, and it is all a type of God working Christ’s death just as the Father had planned before He ever created Christ:

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

Paul deals with this matter of God’s sovereignty over evil with these facts:

Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

So number one: God is in the process of showing His mercy to the new man of every man, and in  order to do that, He has determined to “endure with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction”, meaning our sinful flesh. Secondly: as the Creator He has the right to do with His creatures as He desires, and is not capable of sinning inasmuch as all He does is exactly “what His hand and His counsel determined before to be done”. He never misses the mark, so He never sins, even when those who betray Him do so “after the counsel of His own will”:

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.

I think you already know all this, but there are the scriptures which demonstrate that God does not sin.

Mike Vinson

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 31 Discussion

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Isa 7:10-13 I Will Not Ask, Neither Will I Tempt The Lord

Isa 7:10 Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
Isa 7:11 Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
Isa 7:12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
Isa 7:13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

Isaiah is now being obedient to the commission he was given:

Isa 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Isa 6:9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isa 6:10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

Our last study saw that the Lord sent Isaiah to assure Ahaz and Judah that the invasion of Israel, allied with Syria, would not be successful. Now we read "the Lord spake again to Ahaz" offering to give King Ahaz a sign which would assure Ahaz of the reliability of His promise to preserve Judah. Ahaz rejects Isaiah's offer to receive from God reassurances of His sovereignty over the powers coming against Ahaz.

But Ahaz in this story, is the type and shadow of the king of our religious, self-righteous old man. What we are being told, and what is being demonstrated here, is that God truly is working all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11), even our self-righteous old man's rebellions are His sovereign work to fulfill what He has already written in His book of our lives.

Ahaz is offered by God, through His established and acknowledged prophet, to be given a sign from God that the conspiracy against him would not succeed. God is demonstrating to Ahaz, a type of us, that the kings of this world are ruled by Him, and we, while being the adulterous, self-righteous wife of Christ, do not like Christ demonstrating to us His sovereign power over the kingdom of this world. That would mean that He is also sovereign over us, and we do not want to even hear such a thing, much less have it demonstrated to us. So we say to the Lord who has made us this offer:

Isa 7:12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.

There we are! From our rebellious, self-righteous perspective, just like Job, we have now demonstrated (to ourselves) that we are more righteous than God Himself, who we know has already specifically instructed us:

Deu 6:16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.

If indeed Ahaz were seeking and demanding a sign from God, he would indeed be demonstrating a lack of faith in the sovereign rule of God over the kingdoms of this world:

Dan 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

But in this case it is God who has commanded King Ahaz, who typifies and foreshadows who we are as self-righteous, adulterous Babylonians, to ask of Him a sign, and Ahaz refuses to acknowledge that Isaiah is speaking for God.

The reason Ahaz acts in this manner is that He is the type of who we are as the Lord's adulterous wife. As such this is what we all do:

Pro 30:20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

Ahaz was not a righteous king. He rejected Isaiah's place as God's messenger, and He was intent upon putting himself above the priesthood as well as the Lord's prophets, as we are told of his history.

This is actually what we are being told about ourselves at this point in our "one event" (Ecc 9:2):

2Ki 16:2 Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father.
2Ki 16:5 Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.
2Ki 16:7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.
2Ki 16:8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.

2Ki 16:10 And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.
2Ki 16:11 And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus.

2Ki 16:15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.
2Ki 16:16 Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.
2Ki 16:17 And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.

"Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria." He had Urijah the priest to build an altar to replace the Lord's altar, but in his self-righteousness, he kept the Lord's altar in another location by which "to enquire [of the Lord]". King Ahaz is us as these "seven women":

Isa 4:1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

King Ahaz had not respect for the God of his fathers, yet when the Lord commands him to "Ask of me", Ahaz self-righteously condemns God by insinuating that God is contradicting His own commandment for us not to tempt him. That is what we do when we live the life of a hypocrite wanting the name of Christ, while rebelling against His doctrines. We want His name, but we do not want to eat his bread or wear his apparel.

It requires faith to depend on God when things appear to be hopeless. But as 'Ahaz' we have not yet been granted any faith in the power of God.

Typical of us, he gives all of God's treasures to the king of Assyria, and 'Assyria' is just and earlier type and shadow of Babylon. Ahaz therefore typifies our lives while we are in Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.

Rev 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Ahaz hated both the priesthood and the Lord's prophets, and the priests under Ahaz are not as strong as the priests who withstood Ahaz's grandfather, Uzziah. Even the priesthood is now corrupted at this part of our walk.

Nevertheless, just as the Lord showed mercy to King Ahab when Ahab fasted before the Lord, so too, the Lord is willing to show mercy to Ahaz and Judah when their hearts show any fear of the Lord.

Because this really is a part of our experience, I will take the time to demonstrate how the Lord works with us to drag us to Himself "while we [are] yet in [our] sins":

Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Notice that God also showed mercy upon Ahab right at the time when Ahab, via his wife, Jezebel, had killed Naboth and had taken Naboth's vineyard:

1Ki 21:17 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
1Ki 21:18 Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it.
1Ki 21:19 And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.
1Ki 21:20 And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.
1Ki 21:21 Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel,
1Ki 21:22 And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin.
1Ki 21:23 And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.
1Ki 21:24 Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.
1Ki 21:25 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.
1Ki 21:26 And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
1Ki 21:27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
1Ki 21:28 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
1Ki 21:29 Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.

That is somewhat similar to the state of mind of Ahaz and Judah when Isaiah is sent with this prophecy concerning the demise of the two kings seeking to destroy Ahaz and Judah:

Isa 7:2 And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.

Neither Ahab nor Ahaz, as types of our old man, are reformed at this time, in spite of the Lord's mercy. The old man was made to be taken and destroyed, but that time is not yet come. Our old man's death is a slow, torturous, fiery and painful experience. Yet it is at this perilous time that the Lord gives us the prophecy of a savior who will deliver us out of our helpless and hopeless condition and situation.

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isa 7:15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
Isa 7:16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

We do not have the time this week to discuss the spiritual significance of these three verses, but I do want to discuss the timing of this prophecy this week. Lord willing, we will get to the spiritual application of these verses within us next week.

It is most interesting that this promise is given to us at our lowest moment, as is demonstrated elsewhere in scripture by the stories of Adam and Eve, their son Cain, King David, and here in the case of wicked King Ahaz.

Notice at what point the Lord reassures us of our ultimate salvation:

Gen 3:16 Unto the woman [Eve is us, as the bride of Christ] he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception [I will judge you]; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to [Hebrew:  'el - against] thy husband, and he [Christ] shall rule over thee. [Christ will rule us all at the appointed time.]

In the next chapter we have the story of Cain killing his brother, Abel, but notice what the Lord tells Cain concerning the sin that dominates us as typified by Cain, murdering his brother, Abel:

Gen 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto [Hebrew: 'el - H413 against] thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him [over sin].
Gen 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against^H413 Abel his brother, and slew him. [The Hebrew word translated as 'against' in this verse is the word 'el, H413, and it is the same Hebrew word translated as 'to', as in "Thy desire shall be to thy husband..." in Gen 3:16. The same word is translated as 'unto' in Gen 4:7. They should all be translated as 'against'].

For those with eyes to see it is at King David's lowest point that God's prophet assures him of a good end:

2Sa 12:9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
2Sa 12:10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

This is indeed the judgment of God upon the horrendous sin King David had committed against the Lord and against King David's own faithful captain, Uriah. But this is what the spirit reveals to us through King David:

Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

That is the work of the judgments of God in our lives, and Isaiah himself longed for the Lord's judgments "in the earth":

Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Oh, that the "sword [of the Lord will] never depart from [our own spiritual] houses", and that each of us will be "brought to [our] wits' end" and are "judged" in this age, as was King David in type and shadow!

Now let's consider another very important point. Did this prophecy which Christ gave to Isaiah to give to Ahaz have any "for the time then present" application (Heb 9:9)? Yes, of course it did.

In the very next chapter we are told:

Isa 8:3 And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz.
Isa 8:4 For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

Mahershalalhashbaz means to 'hasten to the plunder', and it refers to what Assyria will do to Israel and to Syria. It is also a prophecy of what Babylon would later do to Judah and Jerusalem. In this chapter, chapter 7, Isaiah is sent to meet Ahaz with his son Shearjashub. The name 'Shearjashub' means 'the remnant shall return', an obvious prophecy of Judah and Israel being carried away into captivity with only a remnant returning to Jerusalem to rebuild the Lord's house:

Isa 7:3 Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field;
Isa 7:4 And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

So while this prophecy had a "for the time then present" application, involving the prophetic significance of the birth of Isaiah's children, and the prophetic meaning of the names of Isaiah's sons, we are given faith to believe that as the New Testament tells us, this prophecy also refers to the virgin birth of Christ, who is our ultimate deliverer, as those who are the ultimate 'remnant' of Judah and Jerusalem who also must physically return from Babylonian captivity and "come out of her", as that remnant who were indeed plundered and carried away by the thieving merchants of Babylon.

Here is the spiritual fulfillment of this prophecy:

Rev 18:8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
Rev 18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
Rev 18:12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Rev 18:13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

Knowing that Christ and His Words have an is, was and will be character gives us the faith to believe and to accept the words of these verses as the holy spirit in the New Testament tells us we are to take them:

Mat 1:22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
Mat 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

This entire story 'happened to Judah, and it was written for our sakes upon whom the ends of the ages have come' (1Co 10:11). There was an outward application which assured Ahaz that the present conspiracy would not succeed, but the spiritual significance of these events is that these things all happened for our admonition (1Co 10:11), and they are all types and shadows of us as "the church, which is His body" (Col 1:24).

This entire story, containing the prophesy of the coming of Christ, is also a prophecy of the coming "time of reformation":

Heb 9:8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
Heb 9:9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
Heb 9:10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

Judah is already established in this prophecy as "a figure for the time then present" of the great harlot who has committed fornication with all the kings of the earth:

Isa 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Isa 1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

And this is what "the faithful city [which became] an harlot... for the time then present" prefigured:

Rev 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Judah and her king Ahaz are so corrupt that she has no faith in the God who destroyed Egypt for their sakes, brought them through the Red Sea and gave them the promised land. Instead King Ahaz, as a type of you and me, is making alliances with the King of Assyria. Like any harlot, Ahaz thinks his adulterous lovers will protect and care for him, but the reality is that it is just a matter of time before the beast on which she is sitting will turn on her and burn her with fire and devour her flesh:

Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Rev 17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Ahaz rejected God's words through His prophet Isaiah. He had the illusion of dominating Israel and Syria because of his willingness to get in bed with the king of Assyria, but the spiritual significance of this entire story is nothing more than "the pleasures of sin for a season", and at the certain and appointed time the king of Assyria will turn on Judah and besiege her and her king. Her judgment will again be delayed, but the King of Babylon, a new king of the same Chaldean people, will hate the whore Judah is, and will "make her desolate and naked, and [will] eat her flesh and burn her with fire". That is exactly what the Babylonians did to Judah, just as the Assyrians had earlier done to the northern kingdom of Israel and to Syria.

2Ki 17:23 Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.

2Ki 24:14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
2Ki 24:15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.

But Judah's judgment has already begun. This conspiracy of Rezin of Syria and Pekah, King of Israel against Judah, had begun in the days of Ahaz's father Jotham.

2Ki 15:36 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
2Ki 15:37 In those days [the days of Jotham] the LORD began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah.

So "the Lord" had been chastening Judah as a nation from before the time Ahaz became king, yet there is no sign of any sense of national repentance. This is exactly what happens to all of us with whom the Lord is working to bring upon us His judgments in this age. The seven plagues of the seven angels will be fulfilled before any of us will enter into the temple of God in heaven (Rev 15:7-8), but the seven plagues are preceded by the seven trumpets and the seven seals which must also be fulfilled and kept. So the threat of invasion by Syria and Israel is just the beginning of sorrows for Judah as a type of our own judgment.

It is in this state of fear and confusion that the Lord's words come to us "while [we are] yet sinners" (Rom 5:8 and Eph 2:5), and offer us hope, and remind us that our enemies are all in His hand and that they have no power but what is given them from above:

Joh 19:10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
Joh 19:11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

This is not a principle which did not exist before Christ spoke those words to Pilate. These words have always been true, and they were true when Rezin and the son of Remaliah were threatening Judah. Those men had no power except what was given them from above, and Christ has sent Isaiah to tell Ahaz that this is not yet the time to suffer the judgments of God upon Judah. At the same time the Lord informs us that though judgment is coming so too salvation is coming to God's people through that judgment, and the Savior, who is to bring that salvation will also come to His people at the appointed time.

Rom 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

The story of the prophecy being given to Ahaz happened to him and is written for our spiritual admonition.

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them [including King Ahaz and Jerusalem and Judah] for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

In spiritual terms this story and the prophecy within this story was not even ministering to Ahaz or Isaiah or to any of the people of their day as Peter makes so very clear:

1Pe 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Being given faith to believe the words of 1Co 10:11 and the words of the holy spirit in 1Pe 1:9-12, next week, Lord willing, we will receive instruction concerning what the admonition of this prophecy for us is:

When Isaiah prophesied about the virgin conceiving Immanuel, we are told that before the child will know how to refuse the evil, and choose the good, he shall eat butter and honey, and the land shall be forsaken of both her kings.

Here again are our verses for next week's study:

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isa 7:15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
Isa 7:16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

Learning how to refuse what is evil, and choose what is good is a process that involves [first] eating butter and honey, and having the two kings in the land, the beast and the dragon, to be forsaken. It's of no coincidence that during His initial conversation with Moses, the Lord, speaking from the burning bush, told Moses that He will bring his people out of Egypt and into a land flowing with milk and honey.

Exo 3:8 KJV And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

We will stop here for now, and next week, Lord willing, we will discover just how important it is that we begin our knowledge of Christ and His kingdom within us by consuming only 'milk and honey' to begin with.