Isaiah 8
Prophecies about Assyria’s Coming Invasion
This prophecy continues from Isaiah 7, where God assured Ahaz, king of Judah, that he would not be overthrown by the combined forces of Syria and Israel. - David Guzik
The reign of Ahaz and the events contemporary to the prophecies of Isaiah 7-12 are recorded in 2 Kings 16 and 2 Chronicles 28.
Isaiah’s Son
The Name
Vs. 1-2 - Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large piece of parchment and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-shalal-hash-baz. I have appointed trustworthy witnesses—the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.”
The name Maher-shalal-hash-baz means “Speeding to the plunder, hurrying to the spoil” and it signifies the rapid future advancement of Syria. The presence of witnesses indicates that the writing of this prophecy had the force of a legal document. - Tremper Longman III
The Boy
Vs. 3-4 - The Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz
Isaiah was told that he would have a son and that his name would be a sign to Judah. Some commentators speculate that the child in Isaiah 7 and Isaiah’s son mentioned here are two different children, both given names to convey a message from God. Others believe that chapter 8 continues the prophecy of chapter 7 and that Isaiah’s son was “Immanuel” whose childhood would provide a timeline for God’s judgment and promise of God’s faithfulness.
The prophecy is immediately fulfilled with the arrival of Isaiah's newborn son via his wife in the natural way, since the Hebrew word “almah” can mean “young woman” in addition to “virgin” (Elwell, 725). This son was named ultimately Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (Isaiah 8:1-4) as prophetic symbolism for the Assyrian plundering (Howell, 13). Some scholars point to this different naming of the child as a second mutually exclusive sign from Isaiah, in which the name Immanuel only points to Christ and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz only points toward Isaiah's current day (Sailhamer, 364). However, this would mean Isaiah's “first” sign to Ahaz was basically irrelevant to his situation, since it was solely future looking and would defy Isaiah's eagerness for Ahaz to ask for a sign to confirm a decision to trust in God. It is better to see these events through the “prophetic perspective,” where the prophecy acted as a sort of double entendre so that Isaiah saw immediate future and far future events collapsed into a single vision. Thus, the arrival of Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz was a fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, with the final and ultimate fulfillment through the literal virgin birth of Mary's son Jesus, who filled the name Immanuel to its full meaning. For Jesus was the epitome of “God with us,” not just near to help His people through a military and political ordeal, but to literally and then spiritually be with us “until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20) freeing those who accepted God's “sign” from the far greater nightmares of sin and death (Howell, 13). - Brett Yardley, Assistant Professor of Philosophy - DeSales University
The Message
Vs. 4 - before the boy knows how to call ‘Father,’ or ‘Mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria.”
The point of the prophecy is that, within just a few years, the Assyrian army would advance to crush Damascus, the capital of Resin’s Syria, and Samaria, the capital of Pekah’s northern kingdom of Israel. - Tremper Longman III
Judah’s Invasion
Rushing Water
Vs. 7 - The Lord will certainly bring against them the mighty rushing water of the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria and all his glory.
Faced with threats from the Israel/Syrian alliance, Ahaz and Judah looked to Assyria for help instead of seeking God’s protection.
The people of Judah, however, are unmoved; they still refuse to believe. They reject the help of God (likened to the waters of the gently flowing canal of Shiloah in Jerusalem), and prefer instead the help of Assyria (likened to the waters of the mighty river Euphrates). - Don Fleming
Up to The Neck
Vs. 8 - It will pour into Judah, flood over it, and sweep through, reaching up to the neck
Assyria would completely conquer the northern nation of Israel. The ten northern tribes would cease to be a nation after the Assyrians conquered them. But the Assyrians would not conquer the southern nation of Judah. They would “flood” them (fill the breadth of Your land), and reach up to the neck, but not over their heads. Judah would survive the Assyrian invasion but suffer much destruction from the Assyrians.
Indeed, 2 Kings 18:13 describes the extent of the Assyrian invasion against Judah: And in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. Yet, Hezekiah was able to keep the king of Assyria away from Jerusalem, and barely able to survive, by buying his favor with riches from the temple – even stripping gold from the temple doors to appease the pagan king. - David Guzik
God Is With Us
Vs. 10 - Devise a plan; it will fail. Make a prediction; it will not happen. For God is with us.
The sign of Isaiah’s son conveyed the promise that God would be with His people in belief and unbelief. Because of his faithfulness to His character and covenant, He would discipline and deliver. He would prune but also preserve and then provide the ultimate fulfillment of Immanuel through His own Son.
Isaiah’s Instructions
Only The Lord
Vs. 11 - For this is what the Lord said to me
Vs. 13 - You are to regard only the Lord of Armies as holy. Only he should be feared; only he should be held in awe.
Once again God reminds Isaiah to trust in him alone. Isaiah is not to follow Ahaz and the people, whether in fearing the Israelite-Syrian alliance or in trusting in Judah’s alliance with Assyria. God should be the means of Judah’s safety; but if the people do not trust in him they will find that he is the means of their destruction. - Don Fleming
A Stone of Stumbling
Vs. 14 - He will be a sanctuary; but for the two houses of Israel, he will be a stone to stumble over and a rock to trip over
Isaiah explained that Yaweh desired to be a sanctuary for His people. But because of their unwillingness to trust Him, He became a stone to stumble over. Peter quoted this prophecy, among others, to describe Jesus as the ultimate “stone” over which many of God’s people would stumble in unbelief. For those who trust God, He is a rock of strength. But for those who reject Him, He becomes a stone of stumbling.
1 Peter 2:4,6 - As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God. For it stands in Scripture: A stone to stumble over, and a rock to trip over.
My Children As Signs
Vs. 18 - Here I am with the children the Lord has given me to be signs
Isaiah had been called to prophesy, and to use his children in his prophetic messages. It is as if he is saying, “Look at us! We are the message!” - David Guzik
Go to God
Vs. 19-20 - When they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the spiritists who chirp and mutter,” shouldn’t a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? Go to God’s instruction and testimony!
In their desperation to know the future and to secure their survival, God’s people looked everywhere for answers, even those who would conjure spirits. But Yaweh’s consistent calling was for His children to rest in His promise to rescue.
