Let's take a closer look at Isaiah 9:9/10 and the symbols it is using.  It is Isaiah 9:9 in most Jewish numbering systems, 9:10 in most Christian translations.

דָּבָר שָׁלַח אֲדֹנָי, בְּיַעֲקֹב; וְנָפַל, בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל.	7/8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it fell in Israel.
וְיָדְעוּ הָעָם כֻּלּוֹ, אֶפְרַיִם וְיוֹשֵׁב שֹׁמְרוֹן, בְּגַאֲוָה וּבְגֹדֶל לֵבָב, לֵאמֹר.	8/9 And all the people shall know, Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in pride and with an arrogant heart:
לְבֵנִים נָפָלוּ, וְגָזִית נִבְנֶה; שִׁקְמִים גֻּדָּעוּ, וַאֲרָזִים נַחֲלִיף.	9/10 'The bricks have fallen, but we will build with cut stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but cedars will we put in their place.'

Note the parallel between how the Word of the L-rd "fell" (נפל) and how the bricks "fell" (נפל).  Since it is unusual to use the word "fall" (נפל) to describe the Word, this should be considered a significant parallel.

Two statements appear in parallel here.  The first part of each is significant;

• The bricks have fallen...
• the sycamores have been cut down...

The word "brick" is from the root "לבן" which can mean "brick" but can also mean to whiten or purify.  The double use of this term probably comes from the fact that bricks went through a whitening process in the furnace.

The word "sycamore" is from the root "שקם" which refers to the Ficus Sycomorus species, a tree that gives off figs and does not grow in America.  is is related to the American fig tree due to the similarity in name.  But the American sycamor tree does not give off figs and is not related to this tree in any way but name. The root word "שקם" can be translated as a type of fig tree, but it can also be translated "rehabilitate".

So of the two examples used in these two parallel statements, "brick" can also mean "purify" and "sycamore" can also mean "rehabilitate".  Do you think that is a coincidence?  Probably not.  These two examples were probably chosen for their symbolic meaning.

The context of this passage indicates how the people are NOT rehabilitating themselves from pride, but are replacing what is good with what is bad.  This is being brought out in the examples.  For it says,

"'The bricks (a refined material) have fallen,
but we will build with cut stones (raw material, cut to fit, modified by man)"

Perhaps now it is easier to see what was intended by this passage.  The heart of man must be rehabilitated and refined by the Word of G-d, because we are naturally stubbornate, just like bricks must be refined in a fire.  But both the bricks and the Word are described as "fallen" in this passage.  It continues to say,

"'The FICUS SYCAMORUS (a seasonal tree that gives fruit) have been cut down,
but we will replace with cedars (an evergreen that gives no fruit)"

When we translate this as "sycamore", people see an amazing parallel to 9/11.  If we translate it like this, we don't, because there was no ficus sycamorus involved.  But what is more important here is the symbolism.  A tree that gives off fruit is replaced by one that does not.  That is the symbolism.  The refined heart of man gives off fruit.  But this passage isn't just about bricks and fig trees.  Its about what they symbolize.

Also, the cedar was used as a symbol of pride only a few chapters earlier by Isaiah/Yeshayahu 2:12-14 (2:13-15) where it reads,

כִּי יוֹם לַיהוָה צְבָאוֹת, עַל כָּל-גֵּאֶה--וָרָם; וְעַל, כָּל-נִשָּׂא וְשָׁפֵל.	For the LORD of hosts hath a day upon all that is proud and lofty, and upon all that is lifted up, and it shall be brought low;
וְעַל כָּל-אַרְזֵי הַלְּבָנוֹן, הָרָמִים וְהַנִּשָּׂאִים; וְעַל, כָּל-אַלּוֹנֵי הַבָּשָׁן.	And upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan;
וְעַל, כָּל-הֶהָרִים הָרָמִים; וְעַל, כָּל-הַגְּבָעוֹת הַנִּשָּׂאוֹת	And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up

Cedars can grow tall, and since Hebrew thought equates height with loftiness or pride, it is used as a symbol of pride here.  But in Isaiah 9:9/10, there's a contrast.  Because a newly planted cedar would be a baby tree that is not very tall.  So in Isaiah 9, a symbol of something that grows tall, and was recently just used as a symbol of pride in Isa/Yesh 2, is mentioned again in Isa/Yesh 9 as something not as tall as we tend to equate when we think of cedars.  In other words, it is trying to convey how what man lifts up as pride is not so lofty after all!

And while the names "Ephraim" and "Samaria" identify the nation to which this was spoke, even these names could be used symbolically in this passage.  "Ephraim" means "doubly fruitful".  In this passage, we are given two examples, and one involves replacing a fruit ebaring tree with one that does not bear fruit.  "Samaria" comes from the Hebrew word "שמר" which means to keep or preserve. 

 

In one sense, the status quo is not being kept or preserved at all since bricks are replaced by cut stones and a fruit tree is replaced by one that bears no fruit.  But in another sense it is, because it deals with how the human heart is being preserved in its original stubborn state, unrefined by the Word.

No word of God is ever wasted, and the names "Ephraim" and "Samaria"  where not chosen by accident here.  They fit the context.