Warning and Hope – Isaiah 8:1-10

The very best leaders during our covid-19 pandemic have had two characteristics. They have shot straight with us about how serious and dangerous the epidemic will be, but they have offered us hope that we will come through it. This is what we see from Yahweh, as well, as He speaks through His prophet Isaiah to His people about their dire situation.

Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large tablet and write on it in common characters, ‘Belonging to Maher-shalal-hash-baz.’ And I will get reliable witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, to attest for me.”

And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz; for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

The LORD spoke to me again: “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”

Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered; give ear, all you far countries; strap on your armor and be shattered; strap on your armor and be shattered. Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us. (Isaiah 8:1–10, ESV)

Isaiah had been sent to king Ahaz of Judah to urge him to trust in Yahweh instead of cringing at the alliance of Israel with Syria and seeking his own alliance with Assyria. God had given Ahaz a sign to confirm Isaiah’s message. Now Isaiah broadcasts the sign to all the people, writing it down on a large tablet and God moves officials in Ahaz’ government to attest to it. But this time the child, who is the sign, is clearly identified as Isaiah’s son and given a different title than “God with us.” This new title is much more judgment oriented. Mahal-shalal-hash-baz means “swift to the plunder” and speaks of the plunder of Judah coming from Assyria.

Isaiah’s original prophecy to Ahaz is incorporated into this one. The alliance Ahaz feared will be brought to nothing before Isaiah’s child can say, “my father” or “my mother.”  Assyria will conquer Syria and Israel.  But the scourge will not end there. This overflowing river, the Euphrates as a symbol of Assyria, will spread into Judah also and rise so high that it will come just short of drowning Judah. In this prophecy Yahweh refers to Judah now as belonging to Immanuel, God with us, giving Isaiah’s son a broader meaning as God’s chosen one who brings protection and deliverance.

The coming invasion will be shattered. It will not drown Judah, though it threatens to. This is exactly what happened as the historical account shows that Assyria came to besiege Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah, Ahaz’ son and successor, but was miraculously prevented from defeating Judah and was turned back from its purpose (Isaiah 36-37; 2 Kings 18-20). God is both warning Judah to repent and promising discipline while also assuring her that she will be delivered. God warns but also gives hope.

How gracious God is even in the midst of judgment! He cannot let injustice and wickedness go unpunished, but He has a yearning for His people to be redeemed and He uses the one to get to the other. For the church and all its individual believers God will bring painful discipline when we stray from the path, but it will move us back onto the path.

Discussion Questions

1. How did your parents discipline you as a child?
2. Do you appreciate the discipline? Why or why not?
3. What keeps God’s discipline from having negative effects?
4. Why do we always seem to have to be brought to the brink of disaster before we “get it” and come back to the Christian path?
5. Jesus is the ultimate Emmanuel who rescued us from the flood of sin and death. How did you experience his deliverance of you?
6. Who do you know who needs to see a tablet written large with warning and hope?