In the previous post we spent a good deal of time introducing King Ahaz – he was not the best of kings. That was being nice. He was awful. He was judged to be comparable in wickedness to all the wretched kings of Judah and Israel.  In this context it is easy to see why the prophet Isaiah views Ahaz as one who lacks faith and trust in God, and in this way the king becomes a symbol of the people of God, who in the face of the Assyrian threats are becoming a people who also lack faith and trust in God.  The king and the people depended upon the legacy of the Davidic dynasty as the sign of their “covenant” with God. Their ideology professed a sublime confidence God would protect his chosen king and city…no matter what. This can be seen in  Psalm 46:1–4:

God is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.
Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shaken
and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea . . . .
The Lord of hosts is with us;
our stronghold is the God of Jacob.

Such a profession is easily made when there is no immediate danger. Faced with an actual invasion, however, “the heart of the king and the heart of the people trembled, as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind” (Isa 7:2).