CHAPTER 8

(742 B.C.)

INVASION OF SYRIA AND ISRAEL BY ASSYRIA; THE PROPHETIC NAMES OF ISAIAHS SONS

¹Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take you a great roll, and write in it with a mans pen concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz. (Isaiah was to write upon the roll that he was to have another son, and that this little boy was to be a sign to Israel. His name, which is the longest in the Bible, literally means plunder speeds, spoil hastens.

The tablet posted in a conspicuous place was to be read by all.)

²And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the Priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. (Uriah the High Priest was Ahazs colleague in idolatry [II Ki. 16:16]. Him attaching his signature to the tablet predicting the birth of Isaiahs symbolic child made the denial of the circumstances of the birth and its prediction impossible.

All of this shows that association with Godliness does not guarantee Godliness. Uriah the High Priest is intimately associated here with one of the greatest Prophets who ever lived, namely Isaiah, yet he would know none of Isaiahs Righteousness.)

³And I went unto the Prophetess; and she conceived, and bore a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz. (Even though the term the Prophetess does not necessarily mean here that the wife of Isaiah uttered Prophecies, still, more than likely, the Lord did use her in this capacity.)

⁴For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria. (All of this was fulfilled a little bit short of two years after it was uttered. Even though the Scripture does not record this foray into Samaria, still, the inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser, the Assyrian king, supplied the deficiency. They state that this monarch sent the population, the goods of the people of Beth-Omri, and their furniture to the land of Assyria. This place was Samaria, i.e., Israel.)

⁵The LORD spoke also unto me again, saying (in view of the pointed and direct Prophecies of Isaiah given to him by the Lord, there was no excuse for Judahs continued rebellion against God. Proper Repentance on the part of Ahaz and Judah would have secured the help of the Lord rather than His judgment),

⁶Forasmuch as this people refuses the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliahs son (in essence, the Lord is saying that inasmuch as the Northern Kingdom of Israel preferred the Syrians, He would give them even more, the Assyrians; however, it would not be a pleasant trip.

The waters that go softly speak of Christ, as the river strong and many of Assyria speaks of Satan.

As well, Verses 7 and 8 also point forward to the time in the future when the Assyrian, i.e., the Antichrist, will conquer Immanuels land [Dan. 11:45]);

⁷Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks (the river is the Euphrates. The overflow of the latter portion of the Verse speaks not only of the coming invasion by the Assyrians of Judah, but also looks forward to the coming Antichrist, who will attempt to completely destroy Israel):

JUDAH INVADED ALSO

⁸And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel. (This Prophecy as well has not only a near meaning, but also reaches into the far distant future of the Antichrist. The use of the word Immanuel speaks of the Antichrist, who will attempt to make this land his land. He will fail!

The statement, He shall reach even to the neck, refers to the Assyrian attack stopping short of destroying Judah. The flood shall not submerge the head, but only rise as high as the neck. This was fulfilled under Hezekiah, when the Assyrians took most of Judah, but failed to take Jerusalem, the head.)

FALSE AND TRUE DEPENDENCE

⁹Associate yourselves, O you people, and you shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all you of far countries: gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces. (Give ear, all you of far countries refers to the outlying nations that are to witness the discomfiture of the Assyrian boast [II Chron. 32:21-23]. The Prophecy was fulfilled exactly as the Lord spoke through Isaiah.)

¹⁰Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. (No matter how clever the plan of the opposition against Gods People, such would come to naught.)

¹¹For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying (it was not merely idolatry against which Isaiah was warned, but that the whole spirit and tone of the society of his day was in conflict with Jehovah),

¹²Say you not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear you their fear, nor be afraid. (The word ye implies a transition from the singular to the plural. It implies that Isaiah did not stand totally alone, but had at least some followers, a little flock.

The idea of the Verse is that the majority of the people favored an alliance with Assyria and, therefore, would accuse Isaiah and others of treason who did not support this cause, but in effect proclaimed trust in the Lord.)

¹³Sanctify the LORD of Hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. (God is sanctified by being trusted [Num. 20:12]. These who feared Rezin of Syria and Pekah of Samaria, despite Gods assurances that their designs should fail, did not believe in Him, and so did not sanctify Him.)

¹⁴And He shall be for a Sanctuary; but for a Stone of stumbling and for a Rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (A Sanctuary is a refuge, and something more. It is a Holy Refuge, a place which is a refuge because of its holiness.

The Prophecy is that both the houses of Israel and Judah would ultimately forsake Jehovah and find in Him a snare and a Rock of offense.

As well, it is a direct Prophecy of the coming of the Messiah and His Ministry in Israel.

Christ is the Sanctuary to those who will believe Him a place of safety. He would also be the Stone of stumbling and the Rock of offense.)

¹⁵And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. (This refers to Israels destruction by Titus in A.D. 70.)

¹⁶Bind up the Testimony, seal the Law among My disciples. (These Words are still those of Jehovah and are addressed to His servant, Isaiah.

God commands that the Prophecy shall be written on a Scroll, which is then to be carefully tied with a string and sealed for future use. It is yet for an appointed time to be fulfilled.)

¹⁷And I will wait upon the LORD, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him.

¹⁸Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion. (The phrase, from the LORD of Hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion, means that God had not left Zion. The Shechinah still rested between the Cherubim and the Holy of Holies. While this is so, God is still with His People Immanuel. Sadly, Judah took little advantage of the Glory and Grace that were in their midst.)

¹⁹And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? (Isaiah was speaking of those in Judah who were attempting to contact departed loved ones and claiming communication with the dead.

The question is: should not these individuals seek a Living God rather than dead people?)

²⁰To the Law and to the Testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them. (The great question should always be, and about any situation, Is it Biblical?)

²¹And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. (The prediction is that Judah would not blame themselves for their problems, but would rather blame God.)

²²And they shall look unto the Earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness. (This darkness refers here to demon spirits.)