8:6-8Because the people of Judah rejected God's kindness, choosing instead to seek help from other nations, God would punish them. We see two distinct attributes of God~—his love and his wrath. To ignore his love and guidance results in sin and invites his wrath. We must recognize the consequences of our choices. God wants to protect us from bad choices, but he still gives us the freedom to make them.
Life Application Study BibleIsaiahChapter 8
Isaiah 8
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1103, 1104, 1105
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
8Isaiah 8
The Coming Assyrian Invasion
1Then the LORD said to me, “Make a large signboard and clearly write this name on it: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.*” 2I asked Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, both known as honest men, to witness my doing this. 3Then I slept with my wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said, “Call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 4For before this child is old enough to say ‘Papa’ or ‘Mama,’ the king of Assyria will carry away both the abundance of Damascus and the riches of Samaria.” 5Then the LORD spoke to me again and said, 6“My care for the people of Judah is like the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, but they have rejected it. They are rejoicing over what will happen to* King Rezin and King Pekah.* 7Therefore, the LORD will overwhelm them with a mighty flood from the Euphrates River*—the king of Assyria and all his glory. This flood will overflow all its channels 8and sweep into Judah until it is chin deep. It will spread its wings, submerging your land from one end to the other, O Immanuel.
9“Huddle together, you nations, and be terrified.Listen, all you distant lands.Prepare for battle, but you will be crushed!Yes, prepare for battle, but you will be crushed!
10Call your councils of war, but they will be worthless.Develop your strategies, but they will not succeed.For God is with us!*”
A Call to Trust the LOAD
1111 The LORD has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said,
12“Don't call everything a conspiracy, like they do,and don’t live in dread of what frightens them.
13Make the LORD of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life.He is the one you should fear.He is the one who should make you tremble.
14He will keep you safe.But to Israel and Judahhe will be a stone that makes people stumble,a rock that makes them fall.And for the people of Jerusalemhe will be a trap and a snare.
15Many will stumble and fall,never to rise again.They will be snared and captured.”
16Preserve the teaching of God;entrust his instructions to those who follow me.
17J will wait for the LORD,
who has turned away from the descendants of Jacob.Twill put my hope in him.
18I and the children the LORD has given me serve as signs and warnings to Israel from the LORD of Heaven’s Armies who dwells in his Temple on Mount Zion. 19Someone may say to you, “Let’s ask the mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead. With their whisperings and mutterings, they will tell us what to do.” But shouldn't people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead? 20Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark. 21They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven 22and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness.
Hope in the Messiah
1*Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. 2* The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness,*
Textual footnotes
- 8:6a Or They are rejoicing because of.
- 8:10 Hebrew Immanuel! 8:6b Hebrew and the son of Remaliah.
- 8:25 pounds or 11.4 kilograms in weight. 8:1 Maher-shalal-hash-baz means “Swift to plunder and quick to carry away.”
Life Application Notes 9 notes
8:7,8The heart of the Assyrian Empire was located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. This flood is a poetic way of describing the overwhelming force of the Assyrian army.
8:9To “be crushed” means to lose courage by the pressure of sudden fear.
8:11Isaiah, along with most of the prophets, was viewed as a traitor because he did not support Judah’s national policies. He called the people to commit themselves first to God and then to the king. He even predicted the overthrow of the government.
8:11-15For the people of Judah, fear of invasion was a constant threat. They had powerful enemies on their doorstep. Yet Isaiah said, “The LORD of Heaven’s Armies... is the one you should fear... He will keep you safe.” Fear is a powerful enemy of our faith and a strong deterrent to the believer's peace of mind. Fear of war, terrorist attacks, disease, and pollution can rob us of our trust in God. God is our shelter and hiding place (4:6). Ask him to drive inappropriate fear from your heart and to help you fear only him.
8:16Because some people faithfully preserved the teaching of God and passed on these words from generation to generation, we have the book of Isaiah today. Each of us needs to accept the responsibility to pass on God's Word to our children and grandchildren, encouraging them to love the Bible, read it, and learn from it. Then they will faithfully pass it on to their children and grandchildren.
8:17Isaiah decided to wait for the LORD, though God had “turned away from” the people of Israel. For some believers, patient waiting becomes the most difficult testing they must face: waiting for illness to pass, for a child to return to God and the church, or for God to make matters right in a particular situation. Many of the prophecies God gave through the prophets would not come true for 700 years; others still haven’t been fulfilled in our lifetime. Are you willing to accept the LORD’s timing, not yours?
8:19The people would consult mediums and psychics, seeking answers from dead people instead of consulting the fiving God. God alone knows the future, and only he is eternal. We can trust God to guide us.
8:21After rejecting God's pian for them, the people of Judah would blame God for their trials. People continually blame God for their self-induced problems. How do you respond to the unpleasant results of your own choices? Where do you fix the blame? Instead of blaming God, took for ways to grow through your bad choices and failures.
Charts, profiles & sidebars from the printed pages
Study feature · page 1104
8:7 Hebrew the river.
Study feature · page 1105
NAMES FOR MESSIAH
Wonderful Counselor..... He is exceptional, distinguished, and without peer, the one who gives the right advice.
Mighty God............. He is God himself.
Everlasting Father........ He is timeless; he is God our Father. Prince of Peace His government is one of justice and peace. Isaiah uses four names in 9:6 to describe the Messiah. These names have special meaning to us.
Christ’s ministry (Matthew 4:15, 16). The territories of Zebulun and Naphtali represent the northern kingdom as a whole. These were also the territories where Jesus grew up and often ministered; this is why they would see “a great light.” 9:2 The apostle John also referred to Jesus as the “true light” (John 1:9), Jesus referred to himself as “the light of the world” (John 8:12). Whenever we see the lights of Christmas, let them remind us that they recall Christ, our true Light. 9:2-6 {na time of great darkness, God promised to send a fight who would shine on everyone living in the shadow of death. He is both “Wonderful Counselor” and “Mighty God.” This message of hope was fulfilled in the birth of Christ and the establishment of his eternal Kingdom. He came to deliver all people from their slavery to sin.