Isaiah 8: 1 – 22
The Two Witnesses
1 Moreover the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll, and write on it with a man’s pen concerning Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 2 And I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”3 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; 4 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.” 5 The LORD also spoke to me again, saying: 6 “ Inasmuch as these people refused the waters of Shiloah that flow softly, and rejoice in Rezin and in Remaliah’s son; 7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them the waters of the River, strong and mighty— The king of Assyria and all his glory; He will go up over all his channels and go over all his banks. 8 He will pass through Judah, he will overflow and pass over, he will reach up to the neck; And the stretching out of his wings will fill the breadth of Your land, O Immanuel. 9 “ 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. 10 Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; Speak the word, but it will not stand, for God is with us.” 11 For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “ Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’ concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. 13 The LORD of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. 14 He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many among them shall stumble; They shall fall and be broken, be snared and taken.” 16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17 And I will wait on the LORD, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob; And I will hope in Him. 18 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. 19 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? 20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. 21 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. 22 Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness.
Aha, got you. You biblical scholars were thinking that somehow the Two Witnesses listed in the book of Revelation are somehow referenced here. They aren’t. I was just getting your attention. We will talk about those two witnesses in another study. But for now, we want to continue our study of the Prophet Isaiah.
1 Moreover the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll, and write on it with a man’s pen concerning Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 2 And I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”
It use to be when a couple got married they had to have two witnesses to verify that their marriage vows were performed. This is how we got our Best Man and Maid of Honor. Didn’t know that useless fact before, did you? Why do we need two witnesses? I can hear you, ‘Because God said so.’ You are right. You get a cookie. In fact in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 19 we read this, “15 “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.”
It shall be established. This is why our Precious Lord instructed Isaiah to obtain two witnesses. In front of these two guys please notice that he was to pull out a large poster board to write down the information the Lord gave him. He told him to use a ‘man’s pen’ not just some sissy pretty designer pen but a man’s pen, one that works, not like the kind you find in banks and post offices.
Isaiah was to record the name of his unborn child. The child would be a sign or clear description of the Lord’s future Judgment on the nations of Israel and Judah. Like a marriage, the Lord’s message was to be publically declared and displayed. Please note at this time though, there is no mention that this name would be given to Isaiah’s son.
Like a billboard, you can picture Isaiah hanging this sign outside his house. For all that walked by saw the message, ‘haste the spoil, speed the prey’
3 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; 4 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.”
Now, the description of Isaiah’s wife is new. The prophet had a son already born by the name of She-ar-jash-ub which means ‘a remnant shall return’. Please note that Isaiah’s wife is called a ‘prophetess’. There can be a few possibilities why she was so called this. For one thing, she could have been a prophet like Isaiah, or she is called this because she is the wife of a prophet, and the last reason which I believe is the correct position, is that, she is called a prophetess, because her child will be the first part of the Lord’s prophecy of the near fulfillment of Judgment and Hope.
As a strong message to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem the word of the Lord declared that before this child can say mommy or daddy, the two troublemaker kings of Israel and Syria will be taken out of the picture.
5 The LORD also spoke to me again, saying: 6 “ Inasmuch as these people refused the waters of Shiloah that flow softly, and rejoice in Rezin and in Remaliah’s son; 7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them the waters of the River, strong and mighty— The king of Assyria and all his glory; He will go up over all his channels and go over all his banks. 8 He will pass through Judah, he will overflow and pass over, he will reach up to the neck; And the stretching out of his wings will fill the breadth of Your land, O Immanuel.
In these verses our Holy Loving and Righteous God declares a comparison of His Love compared to the way of the world. Right away I see something that is extremely important and can be missed. Please note the Lord’s words – ‘Inasmuch as these people’. These people are not only the Syrians but also Israelites. Also, please see the significance of the Lord’s remarks ‘Remaliah’s son’. This guy who is the king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, is not even the Lord’s recognition of the guys name. Our Lord has at this point made a decision that these Jews were no longer even recognized as His ‘Elect’. They are just thrown into the pot with others.
‘The rivers of Shiloah that flow softly’ sounds sweet but whose message is one of rejection. The waters of Siloam ran from the spring Gihon into Jerusalem. This place was the lifeblood of the city of Jerusalem and was a place where the kings of Jerusalem were coroneted as we read in the book of 1 Kings chapter 1, “28 Then King David answered and said, “Call Bathsheba to me.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before the king. 29 And the king took an oath and said, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from every distress, 30 just as I swore to you by the LORD God of Israel, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ so I certainly will do this day.” 31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and paid homage to the king, and said, “Let my lord King David live forever!” 32 And King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” So they came before the king. 33 The king also said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord, and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and take him down to Gihon. 34 There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel; and blow the horn, and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ 35 Then you shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.” 36 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, “Amen! May the LORD God of my lord the king say so too. 37 As the LORD has been with my lord the king, even so may He be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David.” 38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and took him to Gihon. 39 Then Zadok the priest took a horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the horn, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!” 40 And all the people went up after him; and the people played the flutes and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth seemed to split with their sound.”
Our Holy Father has cared for His people in an amazing way. He protected them. He blessed them with success. He gave them wisdom and insight to create new implements to make their lives easier and He let the other countries of the world, that if you mess with the apple of His eye, you mess with Him and you will be severely dealt with. So, how does He get thanked. He gets rejected. Amazing.
In these verses He informs the Jews that since they rejected the peaceful river of His Love then they will receive the flood waters of foreign nations running over them.
Please also take note of the last portion of verse 8, ‘And the stretching out of his wings will fill the breadth of Your land, O Immanuel.’
Now, who is Immanuel? You might say, ‘Well, it is referring to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’. In a way it does because in truth it is His Land. However, what have we been talking about all this time? We have been talking about Isaiah’s son. I have always had the problem that Isaiah’s son and the future prophecy of the Messiah did not match up right. We see that Isaiah’s son was called Maher-shalal-hash-baz and the future son is called Immanuel. Are you ready to be blown away. Isaiah’s son is also called Immanuel. Let’s see how.
So, how does this fit in? Remember in prophecy there are usually two applications. One will happen in the near future and another will occur later on. Our Lord Is Perfect again. The first virgin is a young married woman [Alma] which is referring to Isaiah’s wife. Her son will be a sign. The future virgin [Bethula] will be the woman referred to in Genesis chapter 3.
You might be saying, ‘Now I am really confused’ How can a child of Isaiah or a future child be a sign to Ahaz?
God has offered to be with Ahaz. The name Immanuel means ‘God with us’ The name of Isaiah’s son is Maher-shalal-hash-baz which means ‘haste the spoil, speed the prey’ So, what do they both have to do. They do not match. So, how can both boys be an answer to Ahaz and a sign for us.
Again, May God be Glorified. He Is Amazing how He Is able to accomplish the impossible. You see Isaiah’s son was also called ‘Immanuel’ or ‘God Is with us’ This son of Isaiah is being referred to by the Lord in chapter 8 and it says this, “ 1 Moreover the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll, and write on it with a man’s pen concerning Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 2 And I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”3 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; 4 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.” 5 The LORD also spoke to me again, saying: 6 “ Inasmuch as these people refused the waters of Shiloah that flow softly, and rejoice in Rezin and in Remaliah’s son; 7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them the waters of the River, strong and mighty— The king of Assyria and all his glory; he will go up over all his channels and go over all his banks. 8 He will pass through Judah, he will overflow and pass over, he will reach up to the neck; And the stretching out of his wings will fill the breadth of Your land, O Immanuel.
9 “ 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. 10 Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing. Speak the word, but it will not stand, for God is with us.”
Everyone puts the emphasis on just the Messiah. We overlook the fact that our Holy Supreme God is calling the son of Isaiah ‘Immanuel’ also. This child will be a sign to Ahaz and to the people of Jerusalem that even though war rages against them, ‘God is with them’ still. The future Immanuel will not be born for hundred of years. The Immanuel or ‘God with Us’ we read here is a child who is going through the war with Assyria. We read here that our Majestic Holy One is speaking both about the son of Isaiah and the future Messiah our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The answer is that because Ahaz refused God, Our Holy Ruler rejected him. The scheme that Ahaz thought would be successful alternative to defeat Israel and Syria in making a deal with Assyria will not work. The city of Jerusalem will be attacked as described. The boy as an infant will be a sign to Ahaz that God Is with them, the remnant of faithful believers in Jerusalem, not Ahaz and his cronies, for Isaiah’s son will go through all the bitter end results of a war, that is why we have read in chapter 7 the verses of eating war rations ‘churds’ and ‘honey’. Our Lord Is also able to show or point out that Isaiah’s son will be a sign of Judgment because if Ahaz would not accept Immanuel – God with us, then he will get Maher-shalal-hash-baz or a call to the nations to haste to take the spoil, and take speed to prey on the nation of Judah.
I believe our ‘Trust’ in God is one of our biggest obstacles to growth. Our God Is a God of Love. He allows things to come against us so He can deliver us. Look at these Scriptures that king Ahaz should have memorized from his grandfather David;
Psalm 31: 15 “My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, And from those who persecute me.
Psalm 34: 17 “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles
Psalm 37: 40 “And the LORD shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, Because they trust in Him.
Psalm 50: 15 “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
Psalm 54:7 “For He has delivered me out of all trouble; And my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies.
I can go on and on and list tremendous verses encouraging us to stand fast and trust our Holy Savior. This is the same instructions that we see given to the people of Jerusalem.
11 For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 “ Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’ concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.
We should not buy into the words of those who would lead us away from our total commitment to our Precious Holy Father. He Is please when we are not intimidated by these evil people or give into any compromise. We only need to realize that we have God on our side. We heard the old saying ‘that my dad can beat up your dad’ Well, our Dad Is beyond comparison. He Is The Greatest of All.
13 The LORD of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.
I remember on 9/11 when people realized that the Towers were coming down they started to run for the lives. I was drawn to one video of this store owner. He was in his deli and filming people running down the street to escape. A few realized that they might find safety in running into his store. As you watch this happening you then see the debris of the towers pursuing those who were still running. You could see the cloud of the crumpled building engulf them. The smart ones got out of the street.
We see here also the same possibility. Our Lord has offered Himself as a Sanctuary to all who might enter in to His Presence. Yet, the king and people refused. So, our Lord informs the people of the consequences of their wrong choices.
14 He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many among them shall stumble; They shall fall and be broken, be snared and taken.”
In the book of Leviticus way back the Lord had warned His people what would happen if they turned away from Him. Look at these promises and warnings in chapter 26. “ 3 ‘If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, 4 then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5 Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing;you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. 6 I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through your land. 7 You will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you. 8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you. 9 ‘For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you. 10 You shall eat the old harvest, and clear out the old because of the new. 11 I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you. 12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. 13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright. 14 ‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, 15 and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant, 16 I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you. 18 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. 19 I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit. 21 ‘Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins. 22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate. 23 ‘And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me, 24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins. 25 And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 26 When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied. 27 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me, 28 then I also will walk contrary to you in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. 29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you. 31 I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas. 32 I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. 33 I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. 34 Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate it shall rest—for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it. 36 ‘And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; the sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee; they shall flee as though fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall when no one pursues. 37 They shall stumble over one another, as it were before a sword, when no one pursues; and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. 38 You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 39 And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; also in their fathers’ iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away. 40 ‘But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, 41 and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt— 42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land. 43 The land also shall be left empty by them, and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them; they will accept their guilt, because they despised My judgments and because their soul abhorred My statutes. 44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God. 45 But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.’” 46 These are the statutes and judgments and laws which the LORD made between Himself and the children of Israel on Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.
Have you ever heard people state, ‘Why doesn’t God just leave us alone, so we won’t have all these problems?’ This is exactly the point, if the Lord leaves humans alone, there will not be anyone left alive on the planet. We will kill ourselves off.
The prophet now interrupts the progress of this prophecy and instructs that the words that are given to him need to be recorded for future reference. He also reminds the people again that his two sons who were given life to serve as ‘signs’ to the people of Judah are with him.
16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17 And I will wait on the LORD, Who hides His face from the house of Jacob; And I will hope in Him. 18 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.
The purposes of God should be clear to all of us. Obey Him and be Blessed by Him. Refuse His Word and suffer the consequences. God’s enemy is Satan who helped contribute to the mess that we are in today . If something goes wrong, our sinful tendency is to blame God. Hey, after all, isn’t He the One Who Is in charge of everything. We will curse or turn away from Him. Since we are mad and not talking to Him anymore, we then turn to the wrong sources for counsel.
19 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? 20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. 21 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. 22 Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness.
Hey, who turned out the lights? The answer, you did!’
