Isaiah 8:1

Moreover the Lord said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz. And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the Lord to me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz. For 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. (Isaiah 8:1–4)

Judah refused the gentle fountain of God's protection and got the flood—a warning that whatever we trust instead of the Lord becomes our snare.

The Sign Given to Ahaz

A couple of weeks ago in Isaiah 7 we saw that great prophecy concerning the virgin birth in verse 14, where God spoke through Isaiah to King Ahaz:

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. (Isaiah 7:14–16)

We know for certain Isaiah 7:14 relates to the virgin birth of Jesus through Mary, because the Holy Spirit says so through the gospel of Matthew. Yet this prophecy also had to speak to King Ahaz in his own day, 700 years before Jesus would come.

Isaiah met Ahaz outside Jerusalem as the city was about to be besieged by the northern ten tribes of Israel and their ally, Syria. Many cities of Judah had already been decimated, and Ahaz was out at the conduit of the upper pool, probably securing a water supply for the coming siege. We know from 2 Chronicles and 2 Kings that Ahaz was already in discussion with the king of Assyria, having sent silver and gold from the temple and the palace to buy protection. He was not a good king; he bowed down to false gods on the high places around the city.

Trust Me and Be Established

God gave Ahaz an opportunity: if you will trust me, you will be established, and I will protect this city—not because you're a good king, but because I'm a good God. Throughout the Old Testament we see God's goodness and graciousness even in His judgment.

God even said, if you have a hard time believing me, ask a sign, whether in the depths below or the heights above, and I will do whatever you ask. What a powerful statement. I don't know about you, but there have been times in my life when I've gone through lapses of faith, wondering, is God really going to come through? There have been times I've set a fleece before the Lord, like Gideon—God, if you'll just do this, then I'll know. Here God offers to prove Himself to an unbelieving king. Yet Ahaz puts on a show of false spirituality: "I will not tempt the Lord." Isaiah answers that he is wearying God's patience—never a good idea.

So God says, even though you will not ask, I will give you a sign: a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. The question follows: how could a prophecy fulfilled by Jesus 700 years later also speak protection to Ahaz in his own day? Clearly there is a dual fulfillment, and I believe we see the near-term fulfillment right here in Isaiah 8.

Write It Plain: Maher-shalal-hash-baz

God tells Isaiah to take a great scroll and write with "a man's pen." I don't fully know what a man's pen is, but the best way to interpret it is: write very clearly, make it plain. It's similar to God's word to Habakkuk:

Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. (Habakkuk 2:2)

The word Isaiah was to write—Maher-shalal-hash-baz—literally means "he makes speed to the spoil; he hastens to the prey." In obedience, Isaiah brings two faithful witnesses, Uriah the priest and Zechariah. The law of Moses required this: "Out of the mouth of two or three witnesses shall a matter be established" (Deuteronomy 19:15). Once written before witnesses, it is established—a faithful saying.

Then Isaiah went to the prophetess, she conceived and bore a son, and the Lord spoke a second time: call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz. They had no ultrasound; Isaiah knew it would be a son only because the Lord told him. And the reason for the name follows in verse 4: before the child can cry "My father, my mother," the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria.

God Always Makes Good on His Word

This brings a clean fulfillment to Isaiah 7:15–16. Damascus was the capital of Syria, Samaria the capital of the northern ten tribes; both would be destroyed by Assyria within a very short time—before a small child could even discern father from mother. God set a clear timeframe on the promise.

God told Habakkuk after that great vision, "Though it tarry, wait for it." There are times God reveals a promise in His word, or gives a prophetic word, a vision, a dream—and we wonder, is it going to come to pass? We wait, and wait, and God says, though it tarries, wait for it. Here He fixed the time: before young Maher-shalal-hash-baz could say "Mama and Dada" or choose good over evil, these two nations would be done away with.

I'm seeing this with our own son right now. Ethan knows "Dada" well, and he knows the word "no"—and like all of us, he doesn't like it. He looks over to see if we're watching before he reaches for something forbidden, then crinkles up his face when we say no. A child reaches that point in just two or three years. Within that brief window, God promised, He would destroy the northern ten tribes and Syria and spare Jerusalem.

The Fountain Refused, the Flood Sent

Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son; Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria... and he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck... O Immanuel. (Isaiah 8:6–8)

God's word to Ahaz was, trust me and you will be established. But Ahaz would not. He took silver and gold from the temple and his own palace and sent it to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, in Nineveh: come help me, destroy the northern tribes so I am not destroyed. The king agreed. Because Ahaz would not trust God, God allowed the Assyrian army to continue its rampage right down into Judah, up to the very neck of Jerusalem.

Had Ahaz trusted the Lord, God would still have used Assyria to destroy the northern tribes and Syria—but He would have turned them back to Nineveh, not let them ravage Judah. Ahaz put his trust in mammon, in his own money, ingenuity, and worldly alliances. He chose the armies of this world over the Lord.

So God draws the contrast: the gentle waters of Shiloah—often a reference to the Lord Himself, the fountain of living water—versus the flood of Assyria. You have refused the fountain, so I will give you the flood. The very nation you trust in will become the thing that destroys you. The thing you put your trust in becomes your vice.

Decisions Have Consequences

This judgment would not come during Ahaz's reign; it would come ultimately under Hezekiah, when (Isaiah 36–37) Assyria would surround and nearly destroy Jerusalem until the Lord intervened. But it would come, because God makes good on His word. It all traced back to one man's decision not to trust the Lord.

Decisions have consequences—sometimes consequences that don't arrive for many years, but they do arrive. "If you sow to the flesh, you shall of the flesh reap destruction" (Galatians). Multitudes sow to the flesh day in and day out and may not see the harvest now, but judgment will come. Ahaz was an ungodly man who even caused his children to pass through the fires of Molech, offering them as human sacrifices to demonic gods. God said, trust me and I'll establish you. He refused, so the fountain became the flood.

Yet at the end of verse 8 there is a small word of encouragement: "O Immanuel"—God with us. A remnant shall return, just as Isaiah's first son was named Shear-jashub, "a remnant shall return." Destruction would come, but God would preserve a remnant.

A Confederacy, or the Lord?

Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And 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. (Isaiah 8:13–14)

God spoke a second time to Isaiah: don't walk in the way of this people. Don't say "a confederacy" as they say. The people of Jerusalem were excited because Ahaz had made his alliance with Assyria, and they figured they were safe. They strengthened themselves in an unholy alliance. Later in Isaiah they would even say, "We have made a deal with death; we'll be fine."

We do the same thing. After the towers fell in 2001 and a global war on terror was declared, we encouraged ourselves: we have a bigger army, more money, better plans, we'll be fine. But did we turn to the Lord and trust Him? God told Isaiah, don't be like them. Don't trust these fickle things that can turn around so quickly. Sanctify the Lord of hosts; let Him be your fear and your dread.

There is a constant temptation, individually and as a nation, to trust in external things. You lose your job and say, that's fine, I have a savings account—trusting in mammon, not God. An unexpected bill comes, your heart races, then you think, it's okay, I have that line of credit, that MasterCard. As a nation we say, we're the strongest empire that ever was. God says, don't be like the rest of this people.

What Are Our Gods?

We think we're so progressive in 2010 that we have no idols. But an idol is simply that which you trust in. Your god is what you hope in and look to for help. So what gods have we allowed into our lives in the body of Christ? When times are tough, who do we turn to first? Is the Lord our fear and our dread? Do we sanctify Him in our hearts?

If we do, He will be our sanctuary. If not, He becomes a stone of stumbling and a snare. The people of Judah thought themselves far better off than their brothers in the north—after the kingdom split under Rehoboam, ten tribes went north, and Judah and Benjamin kept Jerusalem and the temple. They assumed they were fine and the northerners would get it bad. We can fall into the same trap in America: we go to church, so we're fine, and everyone else is in trouble. But we are only okay if God is our sanctuary—if He is our fear and dread and we trust Him alone. If we trust our bank account or our 401(k)—now a 201(k) since they fell apart—then we're no different from the world, even sitting in church on Sundays and Wednesdays.

So examine yourself. Is He the one we trust, or have we made other things our gods? Only you can answer that, and only as you bring it before the Lord regularly. As Paul says, test yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Seek the Lord and He is a safe sanctuary; reject Him and He is a stone of stumbling and a snare.

Living Epistles and Signs

Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion. (Isaiah 8:18)

Isaiah's response is the right one: bind up the testimony, seal the law, hide God's word in your heart, and wait upon the Lord. "I will look for him," he says—and God promised through Jeremiah, "You will find me when you search for me with all your heart." Like Habakkuk standing on the rampart to watch what the Lord would do, Isaiah waited. And he learned the truth he would later write: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles" (Isaiah 40:31). He could write it because he had lived it.

God had made Isaiah and his children signs to the nation. Their very names preached. Isaiah means "Jehovah is salvation." His firstborn, Shear-jashub, meant "a remnant shall return"—God's gracious gift. His second son, Maher-shalal-hash-baz, spoke of sure judgment by Assyria. It strikes me that the gracious gift comes first and the sure judgment second—just as Jesus came the first time to bring a gracious gift and will come the second time to bring sure judgment.

You and I are also signs to this world—living epistles, as Peter says. God wants to speak through your life. The world is watching to see whether we really trust God and follow His word. Jesus said we are the light of the world, a city set on a hill that cannot be hid; let your light shine that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. It shouldn't be that the only reason they know we're Christians is a fish on the bumper or a slogan on a shirt—those can even be a poor witness when you're speeding down the freeway. The world should know us by the way we live and love. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 15).

Seek God, Not the Dead

And 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? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. (Isaiah 8:19–20)

Judah chose the flood over the fountain and continued in their wicked path, choosing darkness over light. Instead of seeking God's word they turned to familiar spirits, soothsayers, wizards, witches—those who claimed to speak for the dead. God says, how foolish—why seek the dead on behalf of the living? Turn to the law and the testimony, the word of the Lord; if they speak not according to it, there is no light in them.

Our own day is the same. Spending some time at home recently with our family and newborn daughter, I was amazed at how many shows now chase ghosts. The occult has always been big, but it seems even bigger now, along with the influx of Eastern practices since the 1960s—the very thing God judged in Judah ("they be replenished from the east," Isaiah 1).

Even King Saul, on the day he died, sought the witch of Endor and called up Samuel, which scared her half to death. God says this is insane—turn to the law and the testimony, for without God's word there is no light. As Isaiah 5 says:

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20)

The word of God is sweet—"sweeter than honey in the honeycomb" (Psalm 19), "a lamp unto our feet" (Psalm 119:105). Yet people put the bitter word of the occult and of man's wisdom before the sweet word of God, turning to the stars and the horoscope. Turn to the Lord; only He can enlighten our eyes. The things of this world are sweet in the mouth but bitter in the stomach.

Driven to Darkness

And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry... they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God... and they shall be driven to darkness. (Isaiah 8:21–22)

Those who refuse the Lord's word have no light, so they pass through the land distressed, hungry, fretting, filled with worry and anxiety. Isn't it interesting that the nation chasing so much wisdom from the occult and from human cleverness is also filled with more anxiety than any other? They shake their fists at God as if it were His fault. I've sat with many unbelievers in tragedy who never sought, served, or worshipped the Lord, yet who become angry with Him when things go wrong. It makes no sense—they want nothing to do with God until they need someone to blame. Chapter 8 ends in gloom: trouble, darkness, dimness, anguish.

The Great Light

Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation... The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. (Isaiah 9:1–2)

After the darkness comes a "nevertheless." The northern ten tribes would be utterly destroyed by Assyria, becoming the lost tribes, the region called Samaria. Yet God planned a special blessing for that very land—Zebulun, Naphtali, Galilee of the Gentiles. The bulk of Jesus' ministry would take place in that region of greatest darkness, and into it the great light would shine.

This light brings joy "according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil" (Isaiah 9:3). Picture the joy after a season of toil—clearing rocks, planting, weeding, carrying water—when the harvest finally comes. Or the joy of the victorious army dividing the spoil; you're alive, you've won, and now you celebrate. In our terms, the joy of the team that wins the Super Bowl.

Why such joy? "For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden... as in the day of Midian" (Isaiah 9:4). In Gideon's day the Midianites swept up every harvest like locusts—much like Hopper's gang in A Bug's Life, where it was even the locusts who came and took the food. Gideon was found threshing wheat in a winepress—futile work in the wrong place—when the angel of the Lord called him. "How can the Lord be with me, if I'm threshing wheat in a winepress?" Yet God sent him in that strength, and Gideon with 300 men put 150,000 Midianites to flight. That kind of joy is coming. And when the war is finally over, all the instruments of war will be burned, fuel for the fire—the same hope as Isaiah 2:4, swords beaten into plowshares.

Unto Us a Child Is Born

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end... The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform it. (Isaiah 9:6–7)

Darkness came not because God is cruel but because the people rejected the light. Because He is good, He promised to bring light again—and that light is a child, a Son. The child being born speaks of His humanity; the Son being given speaks of His divinity—one Person with two natures, fully God and fully man, the final fulfillment of the virgin-birth prophecy of Isaiah 7:14.

The government will be upon His shoulder—His own strength will uphold it; He needs no army to sustain it. His name is Wonderful: His reign of righteousness will never be dull, and we'll all stand in awe. He is the Counsellor with wisdom to know the right plan, the Mighty God with power to bring it about, the Everlasting Father—better rendered the "Father of eternity," the origin from which we step into eternity ("I am the way... no one comes to the Father but by me," John 14)—and the Prince of Peace. His kingdom fulfills the promise to David (2 Samuel 7) and will increase forever.

A Government Worth Belonging To

Pastor Gail Erwin, who has spoken here a number of times, describes this government beautifully. Politicians of this day look for what they can get from you; Jesus looks for what He can do for you. Leaders surround themselves with servants; Jesus surrounds us with His servanthood. Leaders use power to build an empire; Jesus uses His power to wash our feet. Generals need wars to keep their weapons sharp; Jesus brings peace and rest to our hearts. The higher one rises in this world, the more inaccessible he becomes; but Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. Leaders are desperate to be seen and heard; Jesus sought anonymity so He could be useful.

Jesus is not in charge of the halls of Washington, London, Moscow, Baghdad, Paris, or Bonn—so how can the government be on His shoulder? Actually, His government is at work in wonderful ways. When someone miraculously leaves drugs or alcohol and is restored to family and work, I see he is now governed by God. When Christians gently care for orphans and the rejected, when people eagerly learn the Bible and joyously praise, when people give up lucrative careers to share the gospel, when they move to distant lands because they love people who have not heard—I know who governs them. His government is alive and working, often silently and unseen, and we are by choice governed by God. Hope, joy, peace, and rest cover its subjects; justice, mercy, and grace amazingly coexist. The borders are open—come in.

Be the Light

He alone brings light into the dimness of this world; it is found in no other person, thing, or experience. He is the only way. When we turn to Him, as this whole passage shows, we find sanctuary, rest, peace, joy—everything man actually seeks and wrongly looks for in the world.

Having received this freely, may we be willing to give it freely, for this world desperately needs the light of Christ and desperately needs you and me to shine it in the dark day in which we live. Isaiah lived in the midst of darkness 2,800 years ago, yet had hope and joy because he knew this King and His government. Things may grow more dark in our day, and I believe they will, until the King of kings returns. But may we recognize that He is our governor, that we are part of His kingdom now—and may we preach His kingdom to this lost world.

Closing Prayer

Father, I thank You that You have called us to be part of Your kingdom, and that You've opened the way. I pray that You would give us the words to speak to those outside the walls, outside the gates. Help us to be ambassadors of Your kingdom, bringing the message of the King to those who are lost. I pray for our family members and friends who have not yet yielded to Your lordship, who have not come to the place of trusting in You—that they would see in us an example, that they would see Your light shining. Help us to be good witnesses, just as You told Your disciples before You ascended: the Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts. Would You pour out Your Spirit afresh and anew upon this group gathered here tonight, that we would be witnesses unto You in Escondido, in North County, in California, in the United States, to the uttermost parts—wherever You take us. Shine through us, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.