Isaiah 8:1-22 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Isaiah 8:1-22.
As usual, I highly recommend that you read the whole passage on your own a few times first. Then take a look at my sharing below. Let’s go!
Isaiah 8:1-4 (NIV)
1 The LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.
2 And I will call in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me.”
3 Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.
4 Before the boy knows how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
On verses 1-4: God had impressed upon Isaiah these words “Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz”, which means “quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil”. God then gets Isaiah to write these words down on a large scroll in the presence of two hostile witnesses (v1-2) who were close associates of King Ahaz of Judah: Uriah the priest (a “sketchy” priest in that when Ahaz wanted to build an altar just like the one the Arameans used to worship idols, he got Uriah to make the sketch (2 Kings 16:10)) and Zechariah, who was most likely King Ahaz’s father-in-law (2 Kings 18:2). God even gets Isaiah to pick these words as the name for his newborn son. Both this large scroll and Isaiah’s son would be a reminder to the land of Judah that Damascus (capital city of Aram) and Samaria (capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel) would be plundered soon.
Isaiah 8:5-10 (NIV)
5 The LORD spoke to me again:
6 “Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah,
7 therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the River– the king of Assyria with all his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks
8 and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through it and reaching up to the neck. Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land, O Immanuel!”
9 Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered! Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, and be shattered! Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us.
On verses 5-8: Here Isaiah warns that because the people of Judah rejected the Lord (symbolized by “the waters of Shiloah” – v6) and because they will be too busy rejoicing over the defeat of Aram (led by Rezin) and Israel (led by the son of Remaliah), Assyria will come and attack Judah (v7-8). Yet no matter how much Judah’s enemies plan, devise and strategize against Judah, they will ultimately be defeated (v10), “for God is with us”.
What can we learn from this?
– When your enemy or competitor is defeated, don’t just rejoice over their defeat, but ask yourself what you can learn from their defeat.
– God is sovereign. No matter how strong or smart a person is, no matter much they plan or strategize, God always has the final say. As Proverbs 16:1 says, “To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue.”
– When you experience anything good, remember that it wasn’t simply your planning or hard work that got you there. It’s God’s grace, “for God is with us”.
Isaiah 8:11-14 (NIV)
11 The LORD spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said:
12 “Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.
13 The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread,
14 and he will be a sanctuary;…
On verses 11-14a: What can we learn from this? Don’t place your trust in godless people and think the way they think. Don’t buy into every conspiracy theory you hear. Treat God as holy, fear Him and find rest in Him. When you do this, He will be a sanctuary (v14a), keeping you in peace, away from unhealthy, unproductive ways of thinking.
Isaiah 8:14b-15 (NIV)
14…but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.
15 Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.”
On verses 14b-15: Because both houses of Israel – Judah and Israel – rejected the Lord as their God, God will prove to be a stone that causes them to stumble fall and be ensnared. Likewise, we can keep rejecting God and His ways, but in the end God’s truth and God’s ways will always end up catching up to us. Love God’s ways and they will help you succeed. Reject God’s ways and they will be your downfall.
Isaiah 8:16-18 (NIV)
16 Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among my disciples.
17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.
18 Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.
On verses 16-18: Rather than putting his hope in anyone or anything else, Isaiah chooses to wait for the LORD and to trust in Him (v17). Isaiah sees him and his children as sign posts that God has given to Israel, such that whenever they see Isaiah and his children they will be reminded of what God has been saying.
Likewise, may you and I be signs and symbols in our world from the Lord Almighty, that whenever people see us they are reminded of who God is and the direction they need to head in.
Like Isaiah’s son Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, you and I have been given a name that speaks of victory. It’s the name of Jesus. Since God has given you His name, may you wear it well and powerfully.
Isaiah 8:19-20 (NIV)
19 When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
On verses 19-20: When people consult mediums and spiritists, they’re looking for life among the dead, “consult[ing] the dead on behalf of the living” (v19). Rather than consulting mediums and spiritists, we have Someone much better to consult: the Holy Spirit.
In verse 20 Isaiah gives an excellent standard for judging whether a word is from God or not: he tells his readers to go “to the law and to the testimony!” In other words, when you’re trying do decide whether a message you have heard is from God, ask “is what I am hearing in accordance with ‘the law and the testimony’ (v20), that is, God’s written word?” If not, then there is “no light of dawn” (nothing from God) in their words (v20). Earlier in verse 16 Isaiah was already promoting the importance of the law and the testimony, saying that his disciples need to bind them and seal them up (that is, hold them close and treasure them). The theme of treasuring God’s written word is evident here.
Isaiah 8:21-22 (NIV)
21 Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God.
22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.
On verses 21-22: These verses describe the ultimate fate of those who place their trust in someone/something other than the Lord. When we persist in rejecting God, the result is spiritual starvation, a hostile relationship with God, and much distress, darkness and fear.
Father, thank You for all the lessons we can learn from Your Word today. Thank You for giving Your name that we can wear. May we be effective signs and symbols that point the people around us to You. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
