o c c i d o x y

Isaiah is called in Chapter 6 to preach the word of the LORD to Ahaz, King of Judah.  In Chapter 7, verse 3 Isaiah is called to speak to Ahaz on the topic of the threatening encroachment on Jerusalem by Rezin of Syria and Pekah of Israel.  One of the fears in the heart of Ahaz is the fact that “Syria is in league with Ephraim” (v. 2) which is a tragic fulfillment of God’s promise that sword of the Lord shall never depart from the house of David (2 Samuel 12:10).  Additionally, Ahaz was familiar with the strength of Pekah.

6 For Pekah the son of Remaliah killed 120,000 from Judah in one day, all of them men of valor, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. 7 And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, killed Maaseiah the king’s son and Azrikam the commander of the palace and Elkanah the next in authority to the king. 8 The men of Israel took captive 200,000 of their relatives, women, sons, and daughters. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria. (2 Chron. 28:6-8 ESV)

Isaiah is called to tell him to do four things, or perhaps it is one thing described in four ways: be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint. The enemies of Judah, Pekah and Rezin, were fiercely angry; they had devised evil in their hearts; they had gone up to Judah to terrify it, to conquer it, and to set up a pagan king in the midst of it.  Isaiah is told to speak these words to Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field.

Isaiah is told to speak to him in a very specific place.  This is because the content of the message is illumined by the environment of its telling.  First, let us consider that the conduit of a pool or bath is not subject to change, therefore the fact the Isaiah is told where that conduit is is seemingly too much information.  The highway to the Washer’s Field has a deeper connotation.  The Washer’s Field is the Valley of Hinnom.

The Valley of Hinnom probably had a positive connotation at this time.  Later on, it had a negative one, but here we see it is still associated with cleansing, washing, and laundering (all possible interpretations of kubs).  Isaiah meets him at the end of the conduit because that is where the water flows in from the crisp clean raised-valley water of Hinnom.  The upper pool would be preferential as it would be the cleanest.  One could likely hear the rippling and bubbling of the flowing water: just the right place to hear the words of quietness, calmness, courage, and care.

This is significant to what comes next, as well: the appropriate testing of God that Ahaz refuses, which in turn wearies God leading to the sign that Immanuel shall come to bring war and wisdom.