Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 7:12
But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
12. The answer of Ahaz reveals his utter incapacity for the faith which Isaiah demanded. He evidently believes that the sign will happen if he asks it, yet he cannot trust the spiritual fact which lies behind it. He is afraid of being committed to a policy in which he has no confidence, and therefore, under a pretence of reverence, he declines the ordeal. He will not put Jehovah to the proof. To “put Jehovah to the proof” is a mark of unbelief (Exo 17:7; Deu 6:16), but to refuse a proof which Jehovah Himself offers is an insult to the divine majesty which exhausts the patience of the Almighty.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I will not ask – In this case Ahaz assumed the appearance of piety, or respect for the command of God. In Deu 6:16, it is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God; and Ahaz perhaps had this command in his eye. It was a professed reverence for God. But the true reason why he did not seek this sign was, that he had already entered into a negotiation with the king of Assyria to come and defend him; and that he was even stripping the temple of God of its silver and gold, to secure this assistance; 2Ki 16:7-8. When people are depending on their own devices and resources, they are unwilling to seek aid from God; and it is not uncommon if they excuse their want of trust in him by some appearance of respect for religion.
Tempt – Try, or do a thing that shall provoke his displeasure, or seek his interposition in a case where he has not promised it. To tempt God is the same as to put him to the proof; to see whether he is able to perform what he proposed. It is evident, however, that here there would have been no temptation of God, since a sign had been offered him by the prophet in the name of God. The answer of Ahaz can be regarded either as one of bitter scorn, as if he had said, I will not put thy God to the proof, in which he will be found lacking. I will not embarrass thee by taking thee at thy word; or as the language of a hypocrite who assumes the mask of reverence for God and his command. – Hengstenberg. Chrysostom and Calvin regard the latter as the correct interpretation. If it be asked here why Ahaz did not put Isaiah to the test, and secure, if possible, the divine confirmation to the assurance that Jerusalem would be safe, the following may be regarded as the probable reasons:
(1) He was secretly relying on the aid of Assyria. He believed that he could fortify the city, and distress the enemy by turning away the supply of water, so that they could not carry on a siege, and that all the further aid which he needed could be derived from the Assyrians.
(2) If the miracle had been really performed, it would have been a proof that Yahweh was the true God a proof which Ahaz had no desire of witnessing. He was a gross idolater; and he was not anxious to witness a demonstration which would have convinced him of the folly and sin of his own course of life.
(3) If the miracle could not be performed, as Ahaz seems to have supposed would be the case, then it would have done much to unsettle the confidence of the people, and to have produced agitation and alarm. It is probable that a considerable portion of the people were worshippers of Yahweh, and were looking to him for aid. The pious, and the great mass of those who conformed to the religion of their fathers, would have been totally disheartened; and this was a result which Ahaz had no desire to produce.
(4) Michaelis has suggested another reason, drawn from the character of idolatry. According to the prevailing notions at that period, every nation had its own gods. Those of one people were more, and those of another less powerful; see Isa 10:10-11; Isa 36:18-20; Isa 37:10-13. If a miracle had been performed, Ahaz might have believed that it was performed by the god of the country, who might have had the disposition, but not the power, to defend him. It would have been to the mind of the idolater no proof that the god of Syria or Samaria was not more powerful, and might not have easily overcome him. Ahaz seems to have regarded Yahweh as such a God – as one of the numerous gods which were to be worshipped, and perhaps as not the most powerful of the tutelary divinities of the nations. This was certainly the view of the surrounding idolaters Isa 10:10-11; Isa 36:18-20; and it is highly probable that this view prevailed among the idolatrous Israelites.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 7:12
But Ahaz said, I will not ask
Why did Ahaz refuse to ask a sign?
Ahaz who looked on Jehovah not as his God, but only (like any of his heathen neighbours) as the god of Judaea, and as such inferior in the god of Assyria, and who had determined to apply to the King of Assyria, or perhaps had already applied to him as a more trustworthy helper than Jehovah in the present strait, declines to ask a sign, excusing himself by a canting use of the words of Moses, Thou shalt not tempt Jehovah. He refused the sign, because he knew it would confirm the still struggling voice of his conscience; and that voice he had resolved not to obey, since it bade him give up the Assyrian, and trust in Jehovah henceforth. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)
A secret disaffection to God
A secret disaffection to God is often disguised with the specious colours of respect to Him. (M. Henry.)
Making a decision
How often men, like Ahaz, arrive at decisions which are irrevocable and unspeakably momentous!
1. To have to make decisions that may be solemn in both these senses is one of the things that make the position of a ruler or statesmen so serious.
2. Every man is at some juncture celled to make a decision, the results of which to him individually will be of unspeakable importance; e.g., the young ruler. Every one of you will at some moment be called to decide for or against Christ, and the decision will be final and irreversible. The test may come to you in the shape of a temptation, appealing to some passion of the mind or lust of the flesh, and your eternal destiny may be determined by the manner in which you deal with that one temptation.
3. Like a railway train we are continually arriving at points, and the manner in which we take them affects our whole after career. (R. A. Bertram.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
I will not ask: this refusal proceeded not from the strength of his faith, but from his contempt of God, and total distrust and disregard of his word, and inward resolution to take another course; as is manifest both from the following words, and from the history of Ahaz, 2Ch 18.
Neither will I tempt the Lord; either,
1. By asking a sign, as if he questioned the truth of his word: so this was deep hypocrisy. Or,
2. By neglecting any means necessary for my preservation, which were indeed a tempting of God. And therefore I shall not sit still and rely upon God till I be destroyed, which will be the effect of thy counsel; but I shall do as becometh a wise king, seek for succour from potent allies, such as the Assyrian is. So this is flat rebellion against God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. neither . . . tempthypocriticalpretext of keeping the law (De6:16); “tempt,” that is, put God to the proof, as in Mt4:7, by seeking His miraculous interposition without warrant. Buthere there was the warrant of the prophet of God; to haveasked a sign, when thus offered, would not have been a temptingof God. Ahaz’ true reason for declining was his resolve not to doGod’s will, but to negotiate with Assyria, and persevere in hisidolatry (2Ki 16:7; 2Ki 16:8;2Ki 16:3; 2Ki 16:4;2Ki 16:10). Men often excusetheir distrust in God, and trust in their own devices, by professedreverence for God. Ahaz may have fancied that though Jehovah was theGod of Judea and could work a sign there, that was no proof that thelocal god of Syria might not be more powerful. Such was the commonheathen notion (Isa 10:10;Isa 10:11; Isa 36:18-20).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But Ahaz said, I will not ask,…. That is, a sign or miracle to be wrought; being unwilling to take the advice to be still and quiet, and make no preparation for war, or seek out for help from the Assyrians, and to rely upon the promise and power of God, and therefore chose not to have it confirmed by a sign; adding as an excuse,
neither will I tempt the Lord, by asking a sign; suggesting that this was contrary to the command of God, De 6:16 so pretending religion and reverence of God; whereas, to ask a sign of God, when it was offered, could not be reckoned a tempting him; but, on the contrary, to refuse one; when offered, argued great stubbornness and ingratitude, as Calvin well observes.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
12. And Ahaz said. By a plausible excuse he refuses the sign which the Lord offered to him. That excuse is, that he is unwilling to tempt the LORD; for he pretends to believe the words of the Prophet, and to ask nothing more from God than his word. Ungodliness is certainly detestable in the sight of God, and in like manner God unquestionably sets a high value on faith. Accordingly, if a man rely on his word alone, and disregard everything else, it might be thought that he deserves the highest praise; for there can be no greater perfection than to yield full submission and obedience to God.
But a question arises. Do we tempt God, when we accept what he offers to us? Certainly not. Ahaz therefore speaks falsehood, when he pretends that he refuses the sign, because he is unwilling to tempt God; for there can be nothing fitter or more excellent than to obey God, and indeed it is the highest virtue to ask nothing beyond the word of God; and yet if God choose to add anything to his word, it ought not to be regarded as a virtue to reject this addition as superfluous. It is no small insult offered to God, when his goodness is despised in such a manner as if his proceedings towards us were of no advantage, and as if he did not know what it is that we chiefly need. We know that faith is chiefly commended on this ground, that it maintains obedience to him; but when we wish to be too wise, and despise anything that belongs to God, we are undoubtedly abominable before God, whatever excuse we may plead before men. While we believe the word of God, we ought not to despise the aids which he has been pleased to add for the purpose of strengthening our faith.
For instance, the Lord offers to us in the gospel everything necessary for salvation; for when he brings us into a state of fellowship with Christ, the sum of all blessings is truly contained in him. What then is the use of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper? Must they be regarded as superfluous? Not at all; for any one who shall actually, and without flattery, acknowledge his weakness, of which all from the least to the greatest are conscious, will gladly avail himself of those aids for his support. We ought indeed to grieve and lament, that the sacred truth of God needs assistance on account of the defect of our flesh; but since we cannot all at once remove this defect, any one who, according to his capacity shall believe the word, will immediately render full obedience to God. Let us therefore learn to embrace the signs along with the word, since it is not in the power of man to separate them.
When Ahaz refuses the sign offered to him, by doing so he displays both his obstinacy and his ingratitude; for he despises what God had offered for the highest advantage. Hence also it is evident how far we ought to ask signs, namely, when God offers them to us; and therefore he who shall reject them when offered, must also reject the grace of God. In like manner fanatics of the present day disregard Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and consider them to be childish elements. They cannot do this without at the same time rejecting the whole gospel; for we must not separate those things which the Lord has commanded us to join.
But a question may be asked, Is it not sometimes lawful to ask signs from the Lord? For we have an instance of this in Gideon, who wished to have his calling confirmed by some sign. (Jud 6:17.) The Lord granted his prayer, and did not disapprove of such a desire. I answer, though Gideon was not commanded by God to ask a sign, yet he did so, not at his own suggestion, but by an operation of the Holy Spirit. We must not abuse his example, therefore, so that each of us may freely allow himself that liberty; for so great is the forwardness of men that they do not hesitate to ask innumerable signs from God without any proper reason. Such effrontery ought therefore to be restrained, that we may be satisfied with those signs which the Lord offers to us.
Now, there are two kinds of signs; for some are extraordinary, and may be called supernatural; such as that which the Prophet will immediately add, and that which, we shall afterwards see, was offered to Hezekiah. (Isa 38:7.) Some are ordinary, and in daily use among believers, such as Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which contain no miracle, or at least may be perceived by the eye or by some of the senses. What the Lord miraculously performs by his Spirit is unseen, but in those which are extraordinary the miracle itself is seen. Such is also the end and use of all signs; for as Gideon was confirmed by an astonishing miracle, so we are confirmed by Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, though our eyes behold no miracle.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
MANS IMAGINED INDEPENDENCE OF GOD
Isa. 7:12. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.
We are commanded to ask for all we need and desire (Mat. 7:7; Php. 4:6). But many say, I will not ask.
I. Men are apt to act thus when possessed of earthly resources. How hard is it for a man of wealth to pray, Give us this day our daily bread! He has much goods laid up for many years. How natural for a man in health and prosperity thus to forget his dependence on God (H. E. I. 4000, 4001). Even in trouble a man is apt to look elsewhere for aid: e.g., in sickness to the physician; even when convinced of sin, to his own efforts, or to a human priest.
II. Men often act thus on the pretence of not tempting God. On the ground that their affairs are beneath His notice (H. E. I. 40154025, 22452248, 2325, 3226, 3403). On the ground that God has already established the laws by which all things are regulated (H. E. I. 31793182, 3751, 3752, 3757).
III. But the real reasons why men act thus are because they trust in themselves, and have no real faith in God. The real reason why Ahaz did not ask was because he was bent on forming an alliance with Assyria. Let it be ours gratefully to accept the privilege so graciously offered, seeing that God has given us far more than was given to Ahaz: we have all the great and precious promises contained in the Scriptures, the knowledge of the unspeakable gift of Gods dear Son, the accumulated experience of all generations of His faithfulness as the hearer of prayer. We may have our own experience of it; if we will but ask, we shall receive. How much greater our sin than that of Ahaz, if in these circumstances we say, I will not ask!John Johnston.
MOMENTOUS DECISIONS
Isa. 7:12. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, &c.
In studying what the commentators have to say about this chapter, I met with a sentence that set me thinking. It was this: In that very hour, in which Isaiah was standing before Ahaz, the fate of Jerusalem was decided for more than two thousand years (Delitzsch).
I. How true is this declaration! Ahaz was called upon to choose between the alliance with Assyria and alliance with God. His choice was announced in these four words, I will not ask; then he decided against God, and all the disasters which have come upon Jerusalem since that day have been in a very real sense the result of that fatal decision.
II. How typical is this incident! How often men, like Ahaz, arrive at decisions which are irrevocable and unspeakably momentous!
1. To have to make decisions that may be solemn in both these senses is one of the things that make the position of a ruler or statesman so serious. Not to be coveted are the positions in which a mans resolves and utterances become fateful for whole peoples. But Pharaoh was in such a position, and like Ahaz he made a fatal mistake (Exo. 10:28).
2. Few are called to fill positions of such responsibility, but every man is at some juncture called to make a decision the results of which to him individually will be of unspeakable importance. The Young Ruler arrived at such a juncture, and made such a decision. Every one of you will at some moment be called upon to decide for or against Christ, and the decision will be final and irreversible. The fact that it is so will probably not be suspected by you; you will decide against Christ, in the expectation of reversing the decision on some other occasion, which will never come to you. This decision you may make now; it is the undeniable possibility which makes the preaching and hearing of the Gospel so solemn a thing. This supreme decision may be made by you in another manner. The test may come to you in another formin the shape of a temptation appealing to some passion of the mind or lust of the flesh, and your eternal destiny may be determined by the manner in which you deal with that one temptation (H. E. I. 4737, 4738, 4636).
3. Like a railway train, we are continually arriving at points, and the manner in which we take them affects our whole after career. This is true in regard to many things, unspeakably inferior in importance to the questions of surrender or non-surrender to Christ, or of loyalty or disloyalty to Him, but yet of marvellous influence in determining whether our after life is to be happy or miserable: business, social and domestic relations.
In view of these factsthat so much may depend upon any decision we make, and that it is absolutely concealed from us which decisions are final and irrevocablewhat is it that, as wise men, it becomes us to do?
1. Let us settle each question that is put before us in the spirit of righteousness. Always let us ask only, What is right?
(1.) This is the only path of safety.
(2.) By this path heroism is reached, and world-wide influence may be reached. We think of Moses (Heb. 11:24-27), of the Apostles (Act. 4:19-20), and of Luther before the Diet of Worms, as heroes; but they had no such thoughttheir only thought was that of fidelity to duty; and it is thus only that true heroism can be reached (P. D. 1189).
2. Let us day by day commit ourselves to the guidance of God, praying Him to strengthen our understanding, to quicken our conscience, to sanctify our desires, and so to work in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
IRRELIGIOUS PIETY
Isa. 7:12. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.
Ahaz here poses as a better man than the prophet. He refuses to follow the direction which Isaiah has given him, and refuses, because, he alleges, to do so would be wrong. His disregard of what he knows to be a Divine direction, he covers by an appeal to a general principle which God has been pleased to give for our guidance (Deu. 6:16). Thus he sought to silence the reproaches of conscience within, and of good men without. We may take him as the representative of that large class of persons who for their actions assign reasons that really are not their governing motives, and cover wrong actions by what appear to be cloaks of righteousness, but really are cloaks of hypocrisy.
How numerous these people are! We find them in all ranks of life; there is this skilful use of pretexts in all realms of human activity.
1. Social life,e.g., A man rejects a suitor for his daughters hand, the suitor being forty-five years of age and the daughter twenty-two, professedly for the excellent reason that too great a disparity in age between man and wife is not desirable, but really because the suitor is not sufficiently wealthy.
2. Business,e.g., A man refuses to become security for another, because, he says, he has entered into an undertaking with his partners not to incur any such responsibility, and because it is important that deeds of partnership should be honourably observed; really because he has no wish to oblige the man who asks his aid.
3. Politics.Why, this is a form of activity which has to a large extent ceased to be care for the welfare of the city or of the community, and has to the same extent become a game of pretexts, in which broad and great principles are used to cover petty and personal ends.
4. Religion.Alas! into this realm also men carry the same spirit and practices. Let us look at some of the prevalent forms of irreligious piety.
(1.) There is the man who will not make any confession of Christ, because religion is a thing between a mans own soul and God.
(2.) There is the man who will not join the church, because the members of the church are so inconsistent, and inconsistent Christians are among the greatest of all hindrances to the progress of Christianity.
(3.) There is the man who never attends a week-evening service, because there is no real religion in neglecting ones daily duties, and we are expressly told that we are to be diligent in business. The same man, however, finds it neither impossible nor inconsistent with his duties to attend political meetings and popular concerts.
(4.) There is the man who never subscribes to any foreign missionary society, because religion, like charity, should begin at home, and even in this so-called Christian land there are millions of practical heathen who need to have the Gospel preached to them. How much does this man contribute towards home missions?
(5.) There is the man who will not contribute to any church-building fund, because he does not believe in bricks and mortar, and because true religion before God and the Father isnot to build costly sanctuariesbut to help the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world (cf. Joh. 12:4-6).
(6.) There is the man who has no hesitation in joining in a Sunday excursion, because the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, and becausethe two pleas almost always go togetherit is possible to worship God as truly in the great temple of nature as in any temple built by man. Picture the man as he actually worships God in the great temple of nature; and inquire how he feels on Monday after what he calls a little relaxation on the Sunday.
(7.) There is the man who indulges freely in what many people consider worldly amusements, because it is not well to be too strait-laced; Solomon, indeed, warns us against being righteous overmuch; and there is nothing so likely as Pharisaism to disgust young people with religion (H. E. I. 50385043).
So we might go on with this miserable catalogue. Satan, we are told, appears sometimes in the guise of an angel of light, and in this respect his children are wonderfully like him; they are marvellously ingenious in using holy principles to cover unholy purposes. But what does all this ingenuity amount to? Whom do they succeed in deceiving? Not men for any length of time. The wolf never succeeds in long completely covering itself with the sheeps clothing. The mask of the hypocrite will slip aside. And when it does so, men despise him for wearing it. Did he show himself as he is, men might, would, condemn him; but they would not despise him so much. And GodHe is never deceived. He loathes the false pretenders to righteousness; and ere long He will strip them bare, and expose them to the execration of the universe (H. E. I., 30173032; P. D., 1923, 1924, 1930).
What is the practical lesson to be learned from the whole? To pray that God will help us in all things to be sincere; to live as seeing Him who is invisible, remembering that He sees what is invisiblethe motives underlying the actions that are seen of men. Nothing else can win for us from Christ the priceless commendation, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(12) I will not ask . . .The king speaks as in the very accents of faith. He will not put Jehovah to any such test. Not, perhaps, without a sneer, he quotes almost the very formula of the Law: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God (Exo. 17:2; Deu. 6:16). Was the prophet going to forget his own teaching, and become a tempter to that sin? That which lay beneath this show of humble trust was simply self-will and utter unfaith. He had already made up his mind to the Assyrian alliance, against which he knew Isaiah was certain to protest. The fact that the words that follow are spoken to the whole house of David, may, perhaps, imply that the older members of the royal family were encouraging the king in his Assyrian projects, and had, perhaps, suggested his hypocritical answer.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Neither will I tempt the Lord Jehovah. A master-stroke of dissimulation. Ahaz makes skilful use of his Hebrew education by quoting a text in Deu 6:16. He does this perhaps as a parry against Isaiah, perhaps to suit the orthodox part of his audience. To tempt Jehovah is to put him to the test to see if he has power. And here Ahaz assumes to be more pious than Jehovah himself, who offered the test.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 7:12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
Ver. 12. I will not ask. ] All, lewd lowly! “I will not ask”; what a base answer was this of a bedlam Belialist! what a wretched entertainment of such an over bounding mercy! He doth upon the matter say, I will ask no asks; I will try no signs, I know a trick worth two off that; God shall for me keep his signs to himself; I crave no such courtesy at his hands; I can otherwise help myself, viz., by sending to the Assyrian. If the Lord could and would have helped, how happeth it that so lately no less than a hundred and twenty thousand of my subjects were cut off in one day by this Remaliah’s son, as you contemptuously call him?
Neither will I tempt the Lord.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I will not ask. He had already made up his mind to appeal to Assyria, and had probably sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser (2Ki 16:7. 2Ch 28:16). His self-hardening is masked by his apparently pious words.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah.(with ‘eth) = Jehovah Himself. App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I will not ask: 2Ki 16:15, 2Ch 28:22
neither: Eze 33:31
tempt: Deu 6:16, Mal 3:15, Act 5:9, 1Co 10:9
Reciprocal: Exo 17:2 – wherefore Luk 8:49 – trouble Act 15:10 – Why Jam 4:2 – because
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7:12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I {k} tempt the LORD.
(k) Not to believe God’s word without a sign, is to tempt God, but to refuse a sign when God offers it for the aid and help of our infirmity is to rebel against him.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Ahaz refused to ask for a sign. He did not want God to confirm that He would protect Judah because he had already decided not to trust God but to make other arrangements. He tried to justify his disobedience and his lack of faith with a pious statement that he did not want to test Yahweh (cf. Deu 6:16). Testing the Lord got Israel into big trouble in the wilderness and at other times, but asking for a sign was not testing God when He commanded it. God prohibited testing Him (demanding proof) when His people doubted or rebelled against Him (cf. Psa 95:9; Mat 16:4; Mar 8:12; Luk 11:29), not when they wanted a sign to strengthen their faith (cf. Jdg 6:36-40; 2Ki 20:8-11; Psa 34:6; Mal 3:10). Ahaz wanted to appear to have great faith in God, but he had already decided to make an alliance with Assyria.
"This was like a mouse sending for the cat to help him against two rats!" [Note: Alfred Martin, Isaiah: "The Salvation of Jehovah," p. 39.]
Ahaz may even have convinced himself that this alliance was the means God would use to deliver Judah. A sign from God would only prove that Ahaz’s plan was contrary to God’s will. Compare King Saul’s refusal to obey God and its consequences.