Reflections on Isaiah 8

Isaiah 08 (Contemporary English Version)
1. The LORD said, "Isaiah, get something to write on. Then write in big clear letters the name, MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ.
   
2. I will have Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah serve as witnesses to this."
   
3. Sometime later, my wife and I had a son, and the LORD said, "Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.
   
4. Because before he can say 'Mommy' or 'Daddy', the king of Assyria will attack and take everything of value from Damascus and Samaria."
   
5. The LORD spoke to me again and said:
   
6. These people have refused the gentle waters of Shiloah and have gladly gone over to the side of King Rezin and King Pekah.
   
7. Now I will send the king of Assyria against them with his powerful army, which will attack like the mighty Euphrates River overflowing its banks.
   
8. Enemy soldiers will cover Judah like a flood reaching up to your neck. But God is with us. He will spread his wings and protect our land.
   
9. All of you foreign nations, go ahead and prepare for war, but you will be crushed.
   
10. Get together and make plans, but you will fail because God is with us.
    
11. The LORD took hold of me with his powerful hand and said: I'm warning you! Don't act like these people.
    
12. Don't call something a rebellious plot, just because they do, and don't be afraid of something, just because they are.
    
13. I am the one you should fear and respect. I am the holy God, the LORD All-Powerful!
    
14. Run to me for protection. I am a rock that will make both Judah and Israel stumble and break their bones. I am a trap that will catch the people of Jerusalem--they will be captured and dragged away.
    
15. (SEE 8:14)
    
16. My message and my teachings are to be sealed and given to my followers.
    
17. Meanwhile, I patiently trust the LORD, even though he is no longer pleased with Israel.
    
18. My children and I are warning signs to Israel from the LORD All-Powerful, who lives on Mount Zion.
    
19. Someone may say to you, "Go to the fortunetellers who make soft chirping sounds or ask the spirits of the dead. After all, a nation ought to be able to ask its own gods
    
20. what it should do." None of those who talk like that will live to see the light of day!
    
21. They will go around in great pain and will become so hungry that they will angrily curse their king and their gods. And when they try to find help in heaven
    
22. and on earth, they will find only trouble and darkness, terrible trouble and deepest darkness.

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Chapter 8 is a continuation of the events of chapter 7 in which Judah was threatened by an alliance between Israel and Aram. Through Isaiah, God told king Ahaz of Judah not to fear this alliance for the two nations would never attack Judah. Ahaz, however, rejected this word from the Lord and God told him that within two years Judah would be invaded by Assyria. In its continuation on this subject, chapter 8 says that there is hope for Judah. Yes, Judah would be invaded by the Assyrians, but Judah would survive.

Isaiah was to have a son whose name spoke of plunder and spoils of war. That was the meaning of the name Maher-shalal-hash-baz that Isaiah was to name his son. It prophesied that the wealth and spoils of both Aram and Israel would be carried off by Assyria. This was to happen before the boy "knows how to call out father or mother." In other words, within two years the Aram/Israel alliance would be broken up by Assyria and the two countries destroyed. Verses 5-8 describe this destruction. Assyria's invasion of these countries would be like the "mighty rushing waters of the Euphrates River" flooding Aram and Israel and sweeping them away. This invasion would even flow into Judah "reaching up to the neck." But Judah will be spared.

Then Isaiah brings it all into proper perspective. It is not other nations and powers we should fear. It is the Lord who has power over all these we should fear. All of the plans of nations can be broken, but God's plans are sure. There is none who can deter Him and His plans. Therefore, we should regard the Lord as holy and hold Him in awe. In doing so, we have nothing to fear. But if we reject the Lord, we have everything to fear for we are no longer under His protective arm.

Isaiah's testimony is this: "I will wait for the Lord." When others consult the spirits of the dead he will consult the Lord. Why would one consult the dead on behalf of the living, he asks? Those who consult the dead will soon join them. The only hope lies in the Lord.