Read Isaiah 7:14-23 for the bow:
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Therefore the Lord Himself giveth to you a sign, Lo, the Virgin is conceiving, And is bringing forth a son, And hath called his name Immanuel,
Butter and honey he doth eat [this seems like a strange thing to point out until you read the rest of the chapter], When he knoweth to refuse evil, and to fix on good.
For before the youth doth know To refuse evil, and to fix on good, Forsaken is the land thou art vexed with, because of her two kings.
Jehovah bringeth on thee, and on thy people, And on the house of thy father, Days that have not come, Even from the day of the turning aside of Ephraim from Judah, By the king of Asshur.
And it hath come to pass, in that day, Jehovah doth hiss for a fly that is in the extremity of the brooks of Egypt, And for a bee that is in the land of Asshur.
And they have come, and rested all of them in the desolate valleys, And in holes of the rocks, and on all the thorns, And on all the commendable things.
In that day doth the Lord shave, By a razor that is hired beyond the river, By the king of Asshur, The head, and the hair of the feet, Yea, also the beard it consumeth.
And it hath come to pass, in that day, A man keepeth alive a heifer of the herd, And two of the flock,
And it hath come to pass, From the abundance of the yielding of milk he eateth butter, For butter and honey doth every one eat Who is left in the heart of the land.
And it hath come to pass, in that day, Every place where there are a thousand vines, At a thousand silverlings, Is for brier and for thorns.
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Isaiah mentions the survivors will eat butter and honey because the impending Assyrian invasion will destroy all the crops, the land will be more suitable for raising animals, and dairy and foraging will become their main supply of food.
What weapon does the king leading this invasion carry?
Continue reading Isaiah 7:24-25 for the bow:
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With arrows and with bow he cometh thither, because [of which] all the land is brier and thorn.
CSB - A man will go there with bow and arrows because the whole land will be thorns and briers.
ESV - With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns.
DBY - with arrows and with the bow shall they come thither, for the whole land shall become briars and thorns.
HNV - With arrows and with bow shall one come there, because all the land shall be briers and thorns.
NASB - People will come there with bows and arrows because all the land will be briars and thorns.
Verse 25: And all the hills that with a mattock are kept in order, Thither cometh not the fear of brier and thorn, And it hath been for the sending forth of ox, And for the treading of sheep!
Isaiah 8:1-16 calls the Assyrians conquerors:
And Jehovah saith unto me, ‘Take to thee a great tablet, and write upon it with a graving tool of man, To haste spoil, enjoy prey.’
And I cause faithful witnesses to testify to me, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.
And I draw near unto the prophetess [Isaiah’s wife], and she conceiveth, and beareth a son; and Jehovah saith unto me, ‘Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz, [which means "to take spoil, to seize prey"]
for before the youth doth know how to cry, My father, and My mother, one taketh away the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria before the king of Asshur.’
And Jehovah added to speak unto me again, saying:
‘Because that this people hath refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, And is rejoicing with Rezin and the son of Remaliah,
Therefore, lo, the Lord is bringing up on them, The waters of the river, the mighty and the great, (The king of Asshur, and all his glory,) And it hath gone up over all its streams, And hath gone on over all its banks.
And it hath passed on into Judah, It hath overflown and passed over, Unto the neck it cometh, And the stretching out of its wings Hath been the fulness of the breadth of thy land, O Emmanu El!
Be friends, O nations and be broken, And give ear, ye far off ones of earth, Gird yourselves, and be broken, Gird yourselves, and be broken.
Take counsel, and it is broken, Speak a word, and it doth not stand, Because of Emmanu-El!
For thus hath Jehovah spoken unto me with strength of hand, and instructeth me against walking in the way of this people, saying,
‘Ye do not say, A confederacy, To all to whom this people saith, A confederacy, And its fear ye do not fear, Nor declare fearful.
Jehovah of Hosts – Him ye do sanctify, And He is your Fear, and He your Dread,
And He hath been for a sanctuary, And for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of falling, To the two houses of Israel, For a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And many among them have stumbled and fallen, And been broken, and snared, and captured.
Bind up the testimony, Seal the law among My disciples.
Read Isaiah 28:1-5 for the crown being given and for details on the conquest:
Wo to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim [ruling tribe in the kingdom of Israel]. And the fading flower of the beauty of his glory, That is on the head of the fat valley of the broken down of wine.
Lo, a mighty and strong one is to the Lord, As a storm of hail - a destructive shower, As an inundation of mighty waters overflowing, He cast down to the earth with the hand.
By feet trodden down is the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,
And the fading flower of the beauty of his glory That is on the head of the fat valley, Hath been as its first-fruit before summer, That its beholder seeth, While it is yet in his hand he swalloweth it.
In that day is Jehovah of Hosts For a crown of beauty, and for a diadem of glory, To the remnant of His people.
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Isaiah 10:5-14 calls the Assyrians conquerors too:
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Wo to Asshur, a rod of Mine anger, And a staff in their hand is Mine indignation.
Against a profane nation I send him, And concerning a people of My wrath I charge him, To spoil, and to seize prey, And to make it a treading-place as the clay of out places.
And he – he thinketh not so, And his heart reckoneth not so, For – to destroy is in his heart, And to cut off nations not a few.
For he saith, ‘Are not my princes altogether kings?
Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus?
As my hand hath got to the kingdoms of a worthless thing, and their graven images, Greater than Jerusalem and than Samaria,
Do I not – as I have done to Samaria, And to her worthless things, So do to Jerusalem and to her grievous things?
And it hath come to pass, When the Lord doth fulfill all His work In mount Zion and in Jerusalem, I see concerning the fruit of the greatness Of the heart of the king of Asshur. And concerning the glory of the height of his eyes.
For he hath said, ‘By the power of my hand I have wrought, And by my wisdom, for I have been intelligent, And I remove borders of the peoples, And their chief ones I have spoiled, And I put down as a mighty one the inhabitants,
And my hands as to a nest Getteth to the wealth of the peoples, And as a gathering of forsaken eggs All the earth I – I have gathered, And there hath not been one moving wing, Or opening mouth, or whispering.’
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