On Deaf Ears.

Though the spineless Ahaz sent his cowardly note, and the presents that followed, to Tiglath-Pileser secretly, the truth leaked out. Great indignation was aroused among certain opponents of the king in Jerusalem at the discovery of his act of treachery to the nation, and a new party was formed to fight against submission to Assyria.

The aim of the new movement was, principally, to preserve the independence of Judah. The only avenue open seemed to be the alliance with Israel and Syria that the lamented king, Jotham, would not enter into.

With Ahaz looked upon as a traitor, the only one whom these patriots could turn, was the Prophet Isaiah, who loved his land and knew its traditions. So, the leaders of the patriotic party came to him with their plans. But Isaiah stood firm in the position he had taken with Jotham against entangling alliances.

He shocked these gentlemen with a well-spoken rebuke. He told them that the patriotism Judah needed was not of alliances and war, but of faith in God, of trust in Him who always guards and protects a righteous nation against its enemies.

Isaiah knew well enough the weakened and helpless condition of both
Israel and Syria. To join with them in a war against Tiglath-Pileser
would mean even greater ruin for Judah than the peaceful submission of
Ahaz. He pictured the results of such an alliance in the following words:

"Because this people have rejected the waters of Shiloah that
flow softly,
And rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son,
Therefore the Lord is about to bring upon them
The waters of the River Euphrates, mighty and great,
(Even the King of Assyria, in all his glory).
And it shall rise above all its channels,
And overflow all its banks;
And it shall sweep onward into Judah,
And it shall overflow and pass over it,
Reaching even to its neck,
And its outstretched wings shall cover the breadth of thy land,
O Immanuel."

To the king, the prophet sent a concise message that would have been heeded and understood by any one but a weakling like Ahaz. Isaiah referred to the utter helplessness into which Ahaz had cast Judah by his cowardly self-subjugation to Tiglath-Pileser. He pictured what might happen when that mighty monarch would receive the king's pitiful cry for help:

"In that same day the Lord will shave with the razor hired
beyond the Euphrates the head and the hidden hair; and it
shall even sweep away the beard."

Despite Isaiah's efforts, the peace party that stood by Ahaz, and the war party that desired an alliance with Pekah and Rezin, continued their separate agitations.

The capture of the town of Elath, at the head of the Arabian Gulf, by a detachment of the Syrian army, strengthened Ahaz in his belief that help could come only from Tiglath-Pileser. On the other hand, it convinced the war party that only the union with Samaria and Damascus could restore to the country this center of Judah's lucrative trade, that commanded the commerce to the south.

Isaiah recognized the uselessness of appealing to either of these opposing parties. He determined to appeal to the country at large, to the whole people, who were interested not in party quarrels, but in the welfare of the nation. He wanted to create a public opinion in favor of peace and in opposition to entangling alliances, either with Assyria or with the Palestinian coalition.

On his own property, in the heart of Jerusalem, where all the passers-by could see and read it, Isaiah erected a great sign which read:

"SWIFT BOOTY—SPEEDY PREY."

He meant this to indicate to the people that the triumphs of either the champions of peace or the champions of war would mean ruin to the nation at the hands of Assyria.

About this time a son was born to Isaiah. He gave a magnificent feast to the leading people of Jerusalem and, to bring his conviction home more forcibly, named the boy "Swift Booty—Speedy Prey."

At the close of the feast he addressed his guests and said, in part:

"Before the boy knows how to cry, 'My mother' and 'My father,'
they shall carry off the riches of Damascus and the spoil of
Samaria before the King of Assyria."

At a great meeting in Jerusalem, soon thereafter, Isaiah again took up the burden of his argument against Israel and Syria. He predicted the inevitable destruction of these two kingdoms, because they were in rebellion against Assyria, and he pointed out the consequent foolhardiness of involving Judah in the oncoming disaster. Regarding Israel he said:

"In that day the glory of Jacob shall grow dim,
And the fatness of his flesh wax lean.
And it shall be as when a harvester gathers standing grain,
And his arms reap the ears;
Yea, it shall be as when he gleans in the valley of Rephaim,
And the gleanings thereof shall be as the beating of an olive tree—
Two or three berries on the topmost branch,
Four or five on the boughs of a fruit tree,
Saith the Lord, the God of Israel."

Then, addressing himself as if he were speaking to the people of Israel, but hoping to drive the lesson home to the people of Judah, who were listening to him, he spoke most regretfully:

"For thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation
And hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength."

Turning to a consideration of the second of the allies, Syria,
Isaiah continued:

"Soon shall Damascus cease to be a city
And shall be a ruinous heap.
Its cities shall be given up to flocks
Which shall lie down, with none to make them afraid.
Ephraim shall lose her bulwark,
And Damascus her sovereignty,
And the rest of Syria shall perish;
Like the Israelites shall they be,
Saith the Lord of Hosts."

These descriptions of what would happen to Syria and Israel, however, did not go unchallenged. The prophet was told that he had evidently forgotten that all the nations in Palestine and along the Mediterranean, except Judah, were parties to this coalition against Tiglath-Pileser. Isaiah laughed. With fine scorn he cried:

"Ah! The multitude of many peoples
That roar like the roaring of the seas!
And the rushing of nations,
That rush like the rushing of many waters!
But he shall rebuke them and they shall flee far off,
And shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
And like the whirling dust before the storm.
At eventide, behold, terror;
Before the morning, they are no more."

Then, as if addressing himself to all the petty northern countries that were trying to drag his own beloved fatherland into the whirlpool of disaster, Isaiah spoke as follows:

"Make an uproar,
And be broken in pieces;
And give ear, all ye of far countries;
Gird yourselves and be broken in pieces,
Take counsel together, and it shall be brought to naught;
Speak the word and it shall not stand;
For God is with us."

And in answer to the appeal of the people as to what ought to be done in this national crisis, Isaiah replied:

"Call ye not conspiracy all that this people calleth conspiracy.
What they fear do not fear, nor be filled with dread.
The Lord of Hosts, Him regard as the conspirator!
Let Him be your fear and your dread!"