Chapter 8

8:1-10

8:11-17

8:18-22

Recap

Summary

Conclusion

A. Find Out:

1. What was Isaiah told to write? v.1 (see note at bottom of your page)

2. What would the Lord then do? v.2

3. What then happened? v.3

4. What did the Lord say would then happen? v.4

5. What was the Lord about to do and why? v.7,6

6. How far would it go? v.8

7. Yet what could Isaiah say to whom? v.9,10

B. Think:

1. What are the two lots of judgement mentioned in this passage?

2. What indication is given of the timing of either of them?

3. What indication is given of the extent of either of them?

C. Comment:

     Still the Lord is wanting the clear message He has spoken in chapter 7 to be held onto more firmly. He wants His warning to be heeded, and so He instructs Isaiah to write the summary of what will happen, in the form of a name which means “quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil”, obviously referring to the invader from the north that the Lord is bringing. Then when Immanuel is born, the Lord tells Isaiah to give him that name. “God with us” (Immanuel) isn't always good news, it also means discipline and judgement where it is required.

     The reason for the coming invader is twofold. First it is to deal quickly with Aram and Israel , as the Lord has previously said, but it is also to deal with the unbelief of Judah as well. The reason given for Assyria coming to Judah is that Judah have been looking to man and not to God. They will come like a flooding river into the land and will spread all over it but will not completely drown it (NB. ‘Up to the neck' in v.8 meaning Jerusalem will survive).

     Yet, even at the end, Isaiah is to warn such nations that God is still with Israel . It is as if he says God will allow you so far but don't think you can take liberties with us, you can't! That is security!

D. Application:

1. Behind history is the Lord moving to fulfil His will

2. We need to look to the Lord for the meaning of current history.

Chapter: Isaiah 8

Passage: Isaiah 8:11-17

A. Find Out:    

1. What did the Lord warn Isaiah in general about? v.11

2. What specifically was he not to do? v.12

3. Why? v.13

4. What would the Lord be to Isaiah , Judah and Israel ? v.14

5. What would happen to Judah and Israel ? v.13

6. So what does Isaiah do? v.16,17

B. Think:

1. What reason was given for Isaiah being different?

2. How was he to be different?

3. How did this affect his attitude to what was happening?

C. Comment:

     From prophecies about Judah and the invaders we now come to an almost intimate passage where the Lord instructs Isaiah on how he should think. His general instruction is don't think like everyone else in Jerusalem thinks. Look, says the Lord, don't look at what is going on and assume it is the machinations of men, don't fear what they will do, but instead realise that I am the Lord God Almighty and I am the one who is behind everything, I am the one to be feared, not men with their petty scheming. I will be a place of refuge for you, He continues, but for Israel and Judah I will be a cause of stumbling, they will fall because of me.

     The effect of this upon Isaiah is to cause him to have a sense of security. OK, he says to his young disciples, hold onto all our testimonies, the stories that have been passed down to us about our experiences with the Lord, hold onto the law that has come down to us from Moses, these are all still valid, but we are just going to have to wait a while for the Lord to move again; He is holding back from us at the moment but He will be seen again.

     What a testimony! Can we say such things when the Lord seems far from us, I'll hold onto what I know and wait patiently.

D. Application:

1. We are called to think differently and be different from the world.

2. We are called to wait and trust.

Chapter: Isaiah 8 

Passage: Isaiah 8:18-22     

A. Find Out:

1. How does Isaiah see himself and his children? v.18

2. What was obviously a practice in Israel ? v.19a

3. What should have happened instead? v.19b

4. What did Isaiah say was the answer to this wrong? v.20a

5. What is the state of such people who go that way? v.20b, 21

6. What will be their end? v.22

B. Think:

1. What does a sign do? How did Isaiah and his children do that?

2. What need were people seeking to satisfy by seeking mediums?

3. What is their end as clearly portrayed by Isaiah?

C. Comment:

      The Lord had just warned Isaiah not to be like the people around him and Isaiah sees himself and his family as a signpost that stands out in the nation, pointing all who will look, towards the Lord. Then he addresses a practice that was obviously common in those days, of consulting mediums and spiritists about the future or about contact with their loved ones who had already died.

      This was a practice clearly forbidden by God in the Law - Lev 19:31, 20:6, Deut 18:10 -12 - and so Isaiah says, if you have any queries about anything, turn to God and ask Him. Look to the Law, he says, look to the testimony of Israel , that is where you should seek your guidance, not by turning to the works of darkness. Then, very graphically, Isaiah paints a picture of these people who look away from God. First of all they will have no hope; there will be no sign of light coming on the horizon from such practices.

     There will be (spiritual) hunger and they will simply wander around in distress getting no satisfaction, indeed things will get worse and worse until in their distress they will turn back and curse God who they have so far ignored. As they look at the world around them, all they will find is darkness and fear, and they will find themselves going deeper and deeper into a darkness that is all-pervading.

D. Application:

1. Seeking knowledge through occult means is strictly forbidden.

2. It simply leads into ever increasing spiritual darkness.

RECAP - "A Flood & Fear" - Isaiah 8

SUMMARY :  

In this final group of 3 studies we have seen :

- the Lord instructing Isaiah to write a warning

- Isaiah having a second son to be named as a sign

- the Lord warning of Assyria coming as a flood on the land

- the Lord instructing Isaiah not to be like the other people

- Isaiah acknowledging that he and his family are a sign

- Isaiah warning not to turn to mediums

COMMENT :

     As we come to the end of this set of studies in the opening chapters of Isaiah, we find the Lord warning yet again of His discipline coming in the form of the army of Assyria that will come and envelope the land. Isaiah is like a sign post in the midst of this people, constantly pointing them to the truth of what WILL come unless they turn to the Lord. They are a people who will turn to anything but the Lord and when judgement comes, they will never be able to say they were not warned.

     Perhaps we may think that we are isolated from this sort of thing happening, but are we alert to what is happening and what God is saying to our own nation? Are we signposts to our own nation, pointing them towards God all the time? When people see us or hear us, are they turned in their thinking towards God? What was true of Judah in Isaiah's time may be true for our nation at this time, and certainly is true of each individual in all times: God calls them to repent and forsake their godless ways and return to Him.

LESSONS?

1. The Lord's hand is behind all history

2. We need to seek Him for our future

3. When He speaks He may take time to fulfil His word

4. The occult as a means of guidance is strictly forbidden

5. Christians are called to be sign posts to the rest of the nation.

PRAY :

     Ask the Lord to help you be a sign post that directs others to God, that they may repent and turn to Him.

SECTION SUMMARY

             In these first eight chapters of Isaiah we have seen:

CONCLUSION

1. The State of the Nation

2. The Future of the Nation

3. The Greatness of God

4. And Us?