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ISAIAH CHAPTER 8
OBSERVATION STAGE
The purpose of
the observation stage is to maintain focus on the text at hand within the
normative rules of language, context and logic 
.
.This
limits the observer to the content offered by the book of Isaiah. This
will serve to avoid going on unnecessary tangents elsewhere; and more
importantly, it will provide the framework for a proper and objective
comparison with passages located elsewhere in Scripture.
Remember that something elsewhere may be true, but in the text at hand it may not be in view.
The context of chapter 7 continues in chapter 8:
****** EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 7 *******
Or
skip to the beginning of chapter 8: 
(Isa 7:17 NASB) ''''The LORD will bring on you, on your people, and on your father's house such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim separated [lit., departed] from Judah, [the LORD will bring on you] the king of Assyria. (Isa 7:18 NKJV) In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the rivers, [lit., waterways] of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. (Isa 7:19 NKJV) They will come, and all of them will rest In the desolate valleys and in the clefts of the rocks, And on all thorns and in all pastures. (Isa 7:20 NKJV) '''In the same day the Lord will shave with a hired razor, With those from beyond the River, with the king of Assyria, The head and the hair of the legs, And will also remove the beard. (Isa 7:21 NKJV) It shall be in that day That a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep; (Isa 7:22 NKJV) So it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give, That he will eat curds; For curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land. (Isa 7:23 NKJV) It shall happen in that day, That wherever there could be a thousand vines Worth a thousand shekels of silver, It will be for briers and thorns. (Isa 7:24 NKJV) With arrows and bows men will come there, Because all the land will become briers and thorns. (Isa 7:25 NKJV) And to any hill which could be dug with the hoe, You will not go there for fear of briers and thorns; But it will become a range for oxen And a place for sheep to roam.''' '''' =
Isaiah went on to declare that as a result of not trusting in the LORD for protection from Aram and Ephraim, the LORD would bring upon Ahaz and the people of Judah and on his [Ahaz's] father's house, i.e., the house of David, referring to the rulers of Judah - such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah. The LORD's agent would be the king of Assyria and his vicious armies. Despite Isaiah's prophetic warning, Ahaz paid a huge tribute to Tiglath-Pileser, ruler of Assyria. Whereupon Tiglath-Pileser conquered and dispersed the kingdoms of Aram and Ephraim. But then the LORD turned Assyria toward Judah to execute a series of attacks that were the worst since the ten Northern Tribes departed from the two southern tribes in 931 B.C., (Isa 7:17).
And true to Isaiah's prediction, "In that day [referring to a day of temporal judgment], the LORD will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the rivers, [lit., waterways] of Egypt [i.e., whistle for the hordes of Egyptian soldiers who are as numerous and bothersome as flies who will invade from the south]; and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria," [i.e., for the swarms of vicious and supremely cruel soldiers of Assyria, who will attack from the northeast to infest the kingdom of Judah throughout the land even to "the desolate valleys and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all thorns and in all pastures,"[places where flies and bees don't usually go], (Isa 7:18-19).
Isaiah goes on to say in Isa 7:20, "In the same day," [referring to the time of temporal judgment in view in verse 19] the LORD will shave [in a figurative sense] with a hired razor - those from beyond the [Euphrates] River => the king of Assyria, [and his armies]." So God's instrument was "a hired razor," Assyria, which ironically alluded to king Ahaz's paying a large tribute to Tiglath-Pileser, ruler of Assyria to hire his armies to destroy Aram and Ephraim. Just as a razor sweeps away all hair before it, so Isaiah prophesied, Assyria would be the instrument of the LORD, whose soldiers woud shave in the sense of mow down all that was before them. They would shave "the head, the hair of the legs and will also remove the beard" of the kingdoms of Aram, Ephraim and then Judah, but stop short of Jerusalem, (Isa 7:3-8). And then Assyria's army would be completely demolished by the LORD at the gates of Jerusalem, (Isaiah chapters 36 & 37). Note that to shave off the beard is a great indignity and shame to an Easterner, adding insult to injury to a defeated foe, (Isa 7:20).
Isaiah predicted that in that day of temporal judgment, many animals would be killed, the land would be devastated hence devoided of cultivation of crops, and many Judahites would be killed or dispersed from the land. The land would be of little use for cultivation. Grape vines which were a significant source of food and income would be destroyed. Isaiah mentioned three times for emphasis that the land would become full of briers and thorns and wild grasses; it would be a range for oxen and sheep who could penetrate the briers and thorns to roam and graze. Few young animals would exist to consume the milk of the few cows and sheep that would remain. This left a relative abundance of milk and curds for the few remaining residents of the land as a food source. Furthermore, the fields would become filled with wild flowers which bees thrived upon, providing honey as another food source for those that remained. The land would revert to a place for hunting wild prey by men with bows and arrows - another food source for those whom the LORD saw to it would remain in the land and be thus provided for, (Isa 7:21-25).
****** END OF EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 7 ******
(Isa 8:1 NKJV) '''Moreover the Lord said to me, Take a large [tablet], and write on it with [an engraving tool] of man [i.e., in the language of the common man] 'Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz' [lit., 'quick to plunder, swift to the spoil']."
(Isa 8:2 NKJV) And I [Isaiah] will take for myself faithful witnesses to [bear witness]: Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.
(Isa 8:3 NKJV) Then 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;
(Isa 8:4 NKJV) for before the child shall have knowledge to cry 'My father' and 'My mother,' the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria."
(Isa 8:5 NKJV) The Lord also spoke to me again, saying:
(Isa 8:6 NKJV) "Inasmuch as these people [Israelites of Northern Israel] refused The waters of Shiloah that flow softly, And rejoice in Rezin and in Remaliah's son;
(Isa 8:7 NKJV) Now therefore, behold, the Lord [bringing] up over them The waters of the River, mighty and great... king of Assyria and all his glory; He [ascends] all his channels And goes over all his [river] banks.
(Isa 8:8 NKJV) He [passes] through Judah, He [overflows] and [passes through], He [is touching] up to the neck; ... the stretching out of His wings Will fill the breadth of Your land, O Immanuel.
(Isa 8:9 NKJV) Be shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Give ear, all you from far countries. Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces; Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces.
(Isa 8:10 NKJV) Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; Speak the word, but it will not stand, For God is with us."
(Isa 8:11 NKJV) For the Lord spoke thus to me [Isaiah] with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people [of both houses of Israel], [the LORD said] [to Isaiah]:
(Isa 8:12 NKJV) "Do not say '[an unlawful alliance]' concerning all that this people call [an unlawful alliance - referring to the alliance between Aram and Ephraim against Judah], Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.
(Isa 8:13 NKJV) The LORD of hosts, Him you shall [sanctify, i.e., set apart as God] [Let] Him [be] your fear, and [let] Him [be] your dread.
(Isa 8:14 NKJV) He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of [striking] and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
(Isa 8:15 NKJV) And many among them shall stumble; They shall fall and be broken, Be snared and taken."
(Isa 8:16 NKJV) [Isaiah said to] Bind up the testimony, Seal up the law among my disciples.
(Isa 8:17 YLT) And I have waited for [the LORD], Who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob, And I have looked for Him.
(Isa 8:18 NKJV) Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me! [We] are for signs and wonders in Israel From the Lord of hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion.
(Isa 8:19 NKJV) And when they say to you, 'Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,' should not a people seek their God? [Should they seek] the dead on behalf of the living?
(Isa 8:20 NKJV) To the law and to the testimony! If they [are not speaking] according to this word, it is because [there is] no light in them.
(Isa 8:21 NKJV) They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and curse their king and their God, and look upward.
(Isa 8:22 NKJV) Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and [they will be] driven into darkness." '''
(Isa 8:1 NKJV) '''Moreover the Lord said to me, Take a large [tablet], and write on it with [an engraving tool] of man [i.e., in the language of the common man] 'Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz' [lit., 'quick to plunder, swift to the spoil']." (Isa 8:2 NKJV) And I [Isaiah] will take for myself faithful witnesses to [bear witness]: Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. (Isa 8:3 NKJV) Then 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; (Isa 8:4 NKJV) for before the child shall have knowledge to cry 'My father' and 'My mother,' the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria." =
Isaiah declared that the LORD was saying to him to take a large tablet, evidently of wood, metal or stone and write on it with "a chisel of man," i.e., that which could be used to make characters of the language of the common man as opposed to that of the upper ranks. The message on the tablet was chiseled in the common language of the day with letters large enough to be read and relayed to others even at a distance by all who passed by. Isaiah was commanded to write the Hebrew words rendered "Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz," which literally meant 'quick to plunder, swift to the spoil' referring to what the Assyrian armies would do. These words were later declared by the LORD to be the name of Isaiah's son who would be conceived shortly after that, implying the certainty of Isaiah conceiving and giving birth to a son. This further corroborated the prophecy of Assyria's conquering of Aram and Israel, two kingdoms which had conspired in an alliance together to conquer the kingdom of Judah, (Isa 7:1). From 734 to 732 B.C., the kingdom of Assyria was "Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz" = "quick to plunder, swift to spoil" when it conquered these two kingdoms destroying their capacity to wage war on Judah, fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy, (Isa 7:4-17; 8:1).
Two influential individuals, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, were commanded by Isaiah to be witnesses to testify that Isaiah's prophecy had been inscribed on the tablet at the time he professed it in order to prove to the people of Judah and the world that his words were a valid prophecy that was fulfilled hence he was speaking for the LORD. Although Uriah was an influential priest at the time and provided corroborative testimony of Isaiah's prophecy; in 732 B.C. he later followed king Ahaz's orders and changed the temple worship to conform with the pagan worship practiced at Damascus, the capital of Aram. Note that being a reliable witness did not demand that one have a godly character, (Isa 8:2).
Isaiah's wife was called 'the prophetess' evidently because she was the wife of a prophet or because she bore children with prophetic names, hence she was associated with the communication of the prophetic messages of God. There is no evidence in Scripture that she was a prophetess in her own right. Shortly after Isaiah's chiseled prophecy on the large tablet, Isaiah had intimate relations with his wife and she conceived and bore a son. The LORD told Isaiah to call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, the words which were inscribed on the tablet. So Isaiah's son, Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, was also a sign of the future destruction of the Aram-Israel alliance against Judah through Assyrian conquest; for the LORD explained to Isaiah, "Before the child shall have knowledge to cry 'My father' or 'My mother,' the riches of Damascus [capital of Aram] and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria," (Isa 8:4). About a year and nine months (nine months later for the pregnancy and one year of the child's life before he could utter 'my father' or 'my mother'), in 731 B.C., Assyria would plunder both Damascus (Aram's, i.e., Syria's capital city of whom Rezin was ruler at the time) and Samaria (Israel's capital of whom Remaliah was king). This confirms the date of 734 for Isaiah's prophecy. When Damascus and Samaria fell, Judah should have turned to God as Isaiah had told her to; but she did not, (Isa 8:3-4).
(Isa 7:14 YLT) '''Therefore the Lord Himself [is giving] to you [plural, i.e., Judah] a sign, [behold], the Virgin [the pregnant one] [the one giving birth to] a son, And she [has called] his name Immanuel. (Isa 7:15 NKJV) Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. (Isa 7:16 NKJV) For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings... (Isa 8:1 NKJV) '''Moreover the Lord said to me, Take a large [tablet], and write on it with [an engraving tool] of man [i.e., in the language of the common man] 'Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz' [lit., 'quick to plunder, swift to the spoil']." (Isa 8:2 NKJV) And I [Isaiah] will take for myself faithful witnesses to [bear witness]: Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. (Isa 8:3 NKJV) Then 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; (Isa 8:4 NKJV) for before the child shall have knowledge to cry 'My father' and 'My mother,' the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria." =
Although Isaiah's second child was conceived and born after Isaiah's chiseled prophecy on the large tablet, (734 B.C.), after which Damascus was occupied and Samaria plundered by Assyria before that second child was able to cry 'my father ' or 'my mother' (~1 yr old), (733-732 B.C.); and although that second child was born after the LORD's prophecy of the maiden / virgin who was to give birth to a Son, Whose name she would call 'Immanuel;' he was not a fulfillment of the 'Immanuel' prophecy, as some contend.
****** EXCERPT FROM ISAIAH CHAPTER 7 ******
(Isa 7:14 YLT) "Therefore the Lord Himself [is giving] to you [plural, i.e., Judah] a sign, [behold], the Virgin [the pregnant one] [the one giving birth to] a son, And she [has called] his name Immanuel. (Isa 7:15 NKJV) Curds and honey [infant food signifying that He was growing up] He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. (Isa 7:16 NKJV) For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings." =
Isaiah announced that the LORD Himself would give a sign of His own choosing. Notice that the word rendered "Himself" in the NKJV is in an emphatic mode in Isa 7:14 emphasizing the LORD's singularly emphatic response to Ahaz's rejection of a sign to provide one Himself without any imput from the arrogant faithless king. The word rendered "Behold" in verse 14 brings attention to an astounding sign of the maiden / virgin's birth of a Son Whom she would call His name Immanuel meaning God is with us:
(Isa 7:14 YLT) "Therefore the Lord Himself [is giving] to you [plural, i.e., Judah] a sign, [behold], the Virgin [the pregnant one] [the one giving birth to] a son, And she [has called] his name Immanuel.
(Isa 7:14 Hebrew) "lkn ..........ithn ................adni ............eua .l-km ..........auth .ene
..............................."therefore he-shall-give ..my-LORD he ...to-you ......sign .behold
e-olme.................... ere ..................u-ildth .........................bn ..u-grath ................shm-u
the-maiden/virgin .pregnant-one and-one-giving-birth .son and-she-has called .name-of-him
omnu~al
Immanu~El
(Isa 7:15 NKJV) Curds and honey [infant food signifying that He was growing up] He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. (Isa 7:16 NKJV) For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings."
Note that the Child in the prophecy of Isa 7:14-16 is stipulated as having been given birth to by "the Virgin" with the definite article - the pregnant one, (noun), the one giving birth (participle for noun) to a Son. And she [has called] His name Immanuel, [lit., Immanu~El or God is with us]." The LXX, (Septuagint = Greek version of the Hebrew Text] translators used the unambiguous word 'parthenos' ('virgin') to translate 'almAh' rendered "virgin" in the NKJV. This Hebrew word transliterated "almAh" refers to a young woman of marriagable age implying virginity. It evidently comes from the concept of a young maiden / woman being closely guarded and kept from men's gaze in their parents' custody in the East - which implies virginity. So the verse points to the unique, one of a kind maiden / virgin the pregnant one who gives birth to the Child Whom she would call Immanuel meaning God is with us which excludes sexual intercourse, otherwise she could not be stipulated as the maiden / virgin. There is no clear OT example of the use of 'almAh' for a married woman. In the next two verses, it is stipulated that the Child will grow up on "curds and honey" the normal diet of a weaned child; and reach the point of knowing to refuse evil and do good - from conception to accountability -. after but not necessarily immediately after the kingdoms of Syria and Ephraim have been destroyed by Assyria.
A short term fulfillment of this prophecy through a maiden / virgin through marriage and sexual relations with king Ahaz or with Isaiah or some other man, to give birth to a son whose name she would call "Immanuel" or through all of Judah's mothers at that time who returned to faith in the LORD calling their sons "Immanuel," as some contend, cannot be in view in Isa 7:14. Any woman who gave birth to a son as a result of sexual relations was a common occurrence and hence not a unique miraculous sign from the LORD to corroborate a particular promise He made through His prophet Isaiah. Isaiah's wife could not be classified at this time as a maiden / virgin because she had already given birth to a son named "Shear-Jashub, (cf. Isa 7:3); nor was Ahaz's wife, the queen, a maiden / virgin at the time. Furthermore, any mother by sexual relations could not be called the maiden / virgin at the time of giving birth because the original text literally stipulates, "The maiden /virgin with the definite article - the pregnant one, (noun), the one giving birth (participle for noun) to a Son," which rules out sexual relations. Finally, the scenario of a fulfillment of this prophecy through all of Judah's married women who returned to faith in the LORD in that time is ruled out because the prophecy refers to a singular noun with the definite article hence the specific and unique "maiden / virgin," is in view which cannot refer to mothers in plural.
Finally, there is nothing in Scripture that stipulates that a short term fulfillment of this prophecy had occurred - especially that which parallels the unique long term fulfillment of Mary the betrothed/wife of Joseph still a virgin yet giving birth to Jesus Christ via the work of the Holy Spirit Whom she called His name Immanuel meaning "God is with us," (Mt 1:23). Since king Ahaz had refused to accept any sign from the LORD; and since the generations of Judah following Isaiah's prophecy would not be faithful to the LORD, then a short term fulfillment would not be forthcoming. Hence the fulfillment of the LORD's prophecy would be to a generation of His chosen people more than 700 years later.
Just as the prophecy of Isa 9:1-7 jumped centuries foreward, so the prophecy of Isa 7:14-16 was similarly fufilled.
(Isa 9:1 NKJV) "Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed As when at first He [treated with contempt] The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward more heavily oppressed her, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, In Galilee of the Gentiles.
(Isa 9:2 NKJV) The people [of Israel] who who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.
(Isa 9:3 KJV) [You have] multiplied the nation. [Have You] not increased the joy? They [rejoice] before [You] according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice [to divide] the spoil.
(Isa 9:4 NKJV) For You have broken the yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, As in the day of Midian.
(Isa 9:5 HOLMAN) [For the warrior's trampling sandle] and the garments [rolled in the blood of battle] will be burned as fuel for the fire.
(Isa 9:6 NKJV) For unto us [Israel, Isa 1:1, 8:18] a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
(Isa 9:7 NKJV) Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."
****** END OF EXCERPT FROM ISAIAH CHAPTER 7 ******
(Isa 7:14 YLT) '''Therefore the Lord Himself [is giving] to you [plural, i.e., Judah] a sign, [behold], the Virgin [the pregnant one] [the one giving birth to] a son, And she [has called] his name Immanuel. (Isa 7:15 NKJV) Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. (Isa 7:16 NKJV) For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings... (Isa 8:1 NKJV) Moreover the Lord said to me, "Take a large [tablet], and write on it with [an engraving tool] of man [i.e., in the language of the common man] 'Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz' [lit., 'quick to plunder, swift to the spoil']." (Isa 8:2 NKJV) And I [Isaiah] will take for myself faithful witnesses to [bear witness]: Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. (Isa 8:3 NKJV) Then 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; (Isa 8:4 NKJV) for before the child shall have knowledge to cry 'My father' and 'My mother,' the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria. (Isa 8:5 NKJV) "The Lord also spoke to me again, saying: (Isa 8:6 NKJV) "Inasmuch as these people [Israelites of Northern Israel] refused The waters of Shiloah that flow softly, And rejoice in Rezin and in Remaliah's son; (Isa 8:7 NKJV) Now therefore, behold, the Lord [bringing] up over them The waters of the River, mighty and great... king of Assyria and all his glory; He [ascends] all his channels And goes over all his [river] banks. (Isa 8:8 NKJV) He [passes] through Judah, He [overflows] and [passes through], He [is touching] up to the neck; ... the stretching out of His wings Will fill the breadth of Your land, O Immanuel. (Isa 8:9 NKJV) Be shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Give ear, all you from far countries. Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces; Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces. (Isa 8:10 NKJV) Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;" Speak the word, but it will not stand, For God is with us. (Isa 8:11 NKJV) For the Lord spoke thus to me [Isaiah] with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people [of both houses of Israel], [the LORD said] [to Isaiah]: (Isa 8:12 NKJV) "Do not say '[an unlawful alliance]' concerning all that this people call [an unlawful alliance - referring to the alliance between Aram and Ephraim against Judah], Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled." (Isa 8:13 NKJV) The LORD of hosts, Him you shall [sanctify, i.e., set apart as God] [Let] Him [be] your fear, and [let] Him [be] your dread. (Isa 8:14 NKJV) He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of [striking] and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (Isa 8:15 NKJV) And many among them shall stumble; They shall fall and be broken, Be snared and taken.''' =
The phrase "these people" in Isa 8:6 refers to the Israelites of the Northern Kingdom, i.e., Samaria. They were described as having "refused the waters of Shiloah [i.e., Siloam] that flow softly." Since the waters of Shiloah were a spring that fed a small reservoir within Jerusalem's walls, hence a figure of speech for Jerusalem, i.e., the kingdom of Judah; then to refuse the waters of Shiloah is to reject being aligned with the people of the LORD in Judah. So the phrase rendered "Inasmuch as these people [Israelites of Northern Israel] refused The waters of Shiloah that flow softly, And rejoice in Rezin and in Remaliah's son" indicates that the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel had rejected their relationship and alliance with God and His chosen people in Judah. They had rejoiced amongst themselves in their alliance with Rezin, king of Aram to conquer and rule over Judah, (cf. Isa 7:1). And they had rejoiced in their own king, (Pekah) son of Ramaliah who made that foolish alliance which did not accomplish its purpose, (Isa 8:5-6).
(Isa 7:1 NKJV) "Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Ramaliah, [and] king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against it, but could not prevail against it."
The LORD goes on to tell Isaiah that He will overflow, i.e., flood the kingdoms of Aram and Israel with "the waters of the River, mighty and great" traditionally referring to the Euphrates, the greatest river of that area of the world which flowed through the kingdom of Assyria, hence a figure of speech for Assyria, (cf. Isa 8:7b).
So the LORD would bring the armies of Assyria to ascend and overflow into the kingdoms of Ephraim and Aram in 732 B.C. and 734 B.C. respectively, (Isa 8:7; cf. 7:17). The armies would pass through Judah in 701 B.C. "up to the neck," (for above the neck was the capital of Judah, Jerusalem, elevated on hills, being the head), (Isa 8:8c). The phrase rendered "The stretching out of His wings Will fill the breadth of Your land, O Immanuel" at the end of Isa 8:8 conveys an image of the LORD protecting Jerusalem against the onslaught of Assyrian stopping it short of conquering Jerusalem. The phrase rendered "O Immanuel" at the end of verse 8 which means "God is with us" conveys to Judah that the LORD would protect His people as promised - from Aram and Ephraim and Assyria, (cf. Isa 3:17). This message is corroborated in Isa 7:14 and 8:9-15; (Isa 8:8).
Isaiah goes on to report that the LORD said to those far away peoples who would try to conquer Judah, (Isa 8:9 NKJV) "Be shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Give ear, all you from far countries. Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces; Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces. (Isa 8:10 NKJV) Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; Speak the word, but it will not stand, For God is with us.." Isaiah explains that God is with Judah, His people, and warns that those who try to conquer Judah will be broken into pieces, (Isa 7:8, 10; 8:9-10).
Isaiah went on to explain that the LORD told him and the people of Judah, (verbs are plural), not to walk in such an unfaithful manner as those people from Aram and Ephraim, who conspired to attack Judah. Note that the word rendered "conspiracy" from the Hebrew word "qesher" means an unlawful alliance, a conspiracy referring to the ungodly alliance of Aram and Ephraim. Since it had already been established that there was a conspiracy between Aram and Ephraim to the extent that these two kingdoms actually waged war on Jerusalem, (Isa 7:1, 8:6), then the word cannot mean confederacy as some maintain. So when Isaiah went on to say that that the LORD told him, (Isa 8:12 NKJV) "Do not say '[an unlawful alliance]' concerning all that this people call [an unlawful alliance - referring to the alliance between Aram and Ephraim against Judah], Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled;" he could not be contradicting the clear evidence of the combined attack of Aram and Ephraim on Judah. The LORD had commanded Isaiah and His people, ("this people [who are] calling [this alliance between Aram and Ephraim a conspiracy") to not speak fearfully of the alliance of Aram and Ephraim against them, (cf. Isa 8:6), for this would incite "this people" to be all the more fearful. Nor were they to dread the Assyrian kingdom's forces, (cf. Isa 8:4-10). He [the LORD] will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of [striking] and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (Isa 8:15 NKJV) And many among them shall stumble; They shall fall and be broken, Be snared and taken."
So the LORD would be a sanctuary, a place of safety, for those of His people who believed in Him. But for those who did not believe in Him, He would be the means of destruction - literally, a stone, a rock, a trap, and a snare to both houses of Israel - which included the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The LORD's prophecy through Isaiah went beyond the temporary application in Ahaz's time.
The imagery in verse 15 is one of the capture of wild animals; it stipulates that many individuals from both houses of Israel will stumble, fall, be broken, snared, be taken [into captivity], in a series of words which are used to portray the capture and destruction of wild animals. The Hebrew text of Isa 8:15 consists of seven words, five of them are verbs which end in the same vowel, four of those verbs begin with the same letter and fall one right after the other. Hence there is an emphatic auditory effect which magnifies the intensity of terror portrayed in the verse, (Isa 8:11-15).
(Isa 8:16 NKJV) '''[Isaiah said to] Bind up the testimony, Seal up the law among my disciples. (Isa 8:17 YLT) And I have waited for [the LORD], Who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob, And I have looked for Him. (Isa 8:18 NKJV) Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me! [We] are for signs and wonders in Israel From the Lord of hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion. (Isa 8:19 NKJV) And when they say to you, 'Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,' should not a people seek their God? [Should they seek] the dead on behalf of the living? (Isa 8:20 NKJV) To the law and to the testimony! If they [are not speaking] according to this word, it is because [there is] no light in them. (Isa 8:21 NKJV) They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and curse their king and their God, and look upward. (Isa 8:22 NKJV) Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and [they will be] driven into darkness." ''' =
Isaiah's command to his disciples to "Bind up the testimony, Seal up the law among [my] disciples," must be interpreted as the words conveyed the message: literally - because only that kind of interpretation can be maintained in the context of the passage. Any other kind would require an artificial approach outside of the context. So a more detailed account of what Isaiah had inscribed upon a tablet which he had appointed two men to witness to, (Isa 8:1-2), were written on a parchment roll which his disciples - serving as witnesses - bound up and sealed. This was a pattern of the way Isaiah worked. (Isa 8:1-2; cf. Isa 29:11; 30:8). So Isaiah's testimony was bound and sealed up, (1) to secure the integrity of Isaiah's testimony so that it could not be claimed that it was altered; and (2) to prove itself as God's word coming from the mouth of God's prophet Isaiah as the prophecies were fulfilled over the coming years. Consequently, Isaiah's testimony had the force of law, which fortified his position as God's prophet, (Isa 8:15-16).
Isaiah then professed that he had waited for the LORD despite the lack of trust of Judah. The LORD was hiding His face from the house of Jacob - from Judah, those left of His chosen people - in the sense that He was withholding blessing and protection from them and putting them under severe discipline, because of their lack of faith in Him. Despite Judah being separated from fellowship with the LORD, Isaiah remained faithful and professed that faith in the LORD: "And I have looked for Him," (Isa 8:17).
In the next verse, Isaiah declared that he and the children whom the "LORD of hosts Who dwells in Zion" had given him, were "signs and wonders in Israel," in the sense of symbols and reminders of what was in store for God's chosen people Israel, (now principally located in the kingdom of Judah). Isaiah's name which literally meant "Yahweh is salvation," told the people that the LORD would ultimately deliver His people into the eternal kingdom of God. Each child's name was also a symbol of prophecy relative to God's people: Shear-Jashub, "A remnant shall return," reminded Judah that a believing remnant would return from captivity in Babylon, (cf. Isa 10:21-22). Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, "quick to plunder, swift to the spoil" Isaiah's second son reminded the people of Judah that they would be delivered from the Aram-Israel alliance by the Assyrians who would plunder those nations, (Isa 8:18).
Isaiah admonished the people for not looking to God, but seeking wisdom from mediums and wizards who claimed to conjure up the spirits of the dead in order to influence events. They used ventriliquism to utter low sounds, whispers and muttering, as if the dead were speaking to them from the grave. Isaiah asked rhetorically, "Should not a people seek their God?" or "Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?"
Isaiah questioned the rationality of God's people when they sought answers from those that were dead who could no longer communicate with the living, instead of looking to the living God Who had all the answers, and Who repeatedly proved Himself through the Law, (Scripture) and the testimony of His prophets, (Isa 8:19).
Isaiah answered his own rhetorical questions by indicating that the people should seek the Law, (Scripture), and the testimony (of God's prophets). He declared that the people, when they did not speak according to the word of the living God, there was no light - no truth - no godliness - in them, (cf. Isa 2:5; 5:20) [Isa 8:20]
The last two verses of chapter 8 point to future Assyrian invasions which would bring hardship to Judah, especially hunger due to an acute food shortage, (cf. 3:1; 7:23-25). The Judahites would react with anger and blame; they would curse not only their apostate king, but God Himself! They would look upward to the LORD for help without faith - hence in vain. Then their gaze would turn downward to the earth. They would see nothing but trouble and darkness coming at them. The gloom of anguish would drive them into further darkness. They had rejected the light of the righteousess of the LORD and would suffer the darkness of His judgment through Assyrian oppression, (Isa 8:21-22).
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[Compare Isa 7:17-25]: .....
(Isa 7:17 NASB) ''''The LORD will bring on you, on your people, and on your father's house such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim separated [lit., departed] from Judah, the king of Assyria.
(Isa 7:18 NKJV) In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the rivers, [lit., waterways] of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
(Isa 7:19 NKJV) They will come, and all of them will rest In the desolate valleys and in the clefts of the rocks, And on all thorns and in all pastures.
(Isa 7:20 NKJV) '''In the same day the Lord will shave with a hired razor, With those from beyond the River, with the king of Assyria, The head and the hair of the legs, And will also remove the beard.
(Isa 7:21 NKJV) It shall be in that day That a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep;
(Isa 7:22 NKJV) So it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give, That he will eat curds; For curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land.
(Isa 7:23 NKJV) It shall happen in that day, That wherever there could be a thousand vines Worth a thousand shekels of silver, It will be for briers and thorns.
(Isa 7:24 NKJV) With arrows and bows men will come there, Because all the land will become briers and thorns.
(Isa 7:25 NKJV) And to any hill which could be dug with the hoe, You will not go there for fear of briers and thorns; But it will become a range for oxen And a place for sheep to roam.'''
Note that Isaiah chapter 9 continues the context of chapter 8 to such an extent that the Masoretic Text has the first verse of chapter 9 as the last verse of chapter 8.