Isaiah 7:9

And the head of Ephraim, its capital and stronghold, is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. The meaning of this somewhat enigmatic saying is evidently this, that both Syria and the kingdom of Israel would be confined to the territory now occupied by them, since their schemes of conquest would utterly fail. Moreover, Ephraim, the northern kingdom, was destroyed within the next sixty-five years, Shalmanezer of Assyria taking the majority of the people into exile in the year 722 B. C. and the downfall of the country being completed with the settling of colonists from Asia, about 675 B. C. 2 Kings 17:24; Ezra 4:2. The prophet closes his encouraging message with the words, If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established, that is, if Judah, both its king and its people, would not firmly cling to God's Word and promise, it would also cease to exist, it would be destroyed. This word has a general application: He who does not believe will not be able to stand before the judgment of God.