Isaiah 8:16-22

THE PEDAGOGY Isaiah 8:16-22

TEXT: Isaiah 8:16-22

16

Bind thou up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

17

And I will wait for Jehovah, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.

18

Behold, I and the children whom Jehovah hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Jehovah of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Zion.

19

And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto the wizards, that chirp and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead?

20

To the law and to the testimony! if they speak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

21

And they shall pass through it, sore distressed and hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse by their king and by their God, and turn their faces upward:

22

and they shall look unto the earth, and behold, distress anddarkness, the gloom of anguish; and into thick darkness they shall be driven away.

QUERIES

a.

Who were Isaiah's or the Lord's disciples?

b.

How were the children of Isaiah signs in Israel?

c.

Why were the people seeking familiar spirits?

PARAPHRASE

Complete the written testimony which I have given you, authenticate and corroborate it among My faithful remnant, said the Lord to me. But, I will trust the Lord, who is presently withdrawing from this rebellious nation, but my hope is in Him because He has promised to be with us again. Behold, I and the children God has given me are signs that He keeps His word and fulfills His promises. Now when the unbelieving people shall advise you to try to find out the future by consulting mediums and witches, do not listen to their superstitions and jargon. Should not the people seek the truth from the God of all truth? How can they ever expect to find out about living from the dead? Seek for truth in the law and testimony of God! Check these so-called revelations of the witches and mediums and if they are different than God's testimony then you know they do not speak for Him; there is not even the slightest dawning of light in them. My people are going to be led away captive, stumbling, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, those who do not trust Me will rave and shake their fists at heaven and curse their king and their God. Wherever they look there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. And they will be thrust out into the darkness of captivity.

COMMENT

Isaiah 8:16-20 TRUE AND FALSE TEACHING: The real crisis in the nation was in its choice of its source for truth and light. Isaiah was commanded by the Lord to bind up (complete) the testimony (revelation from God) and seal (authenticate, prove, corroborate) it among God's disciples (followers, the faithful remnant). The testimony was all that God had revealed through Isaiah concerning the condition of Israel and Judah and how they might turn to God and be saved. The prophet and his children had even been named to symbolize God's promises. Isaiah means Jehovah will save (His people); Shear-jashub means A remnant shall return; Maher-shalal-hash-baz means Your enemies will soon be preyed upon and spoiled.

Isaiah and his sons, displaying the image of God in their lives, in the midst of an unbelieving society, were given for testimony of God's presence and protection for those who trust Him. Their testimony is where the nation is to seek for Jehovah, not in the obscure and ambiguous and false teachings of witches and mediums. It is nothing short of shocking that even Christians are sometimes seduced into seeking the answers to life in witchcraft and spiritism. Seeking to learn from such false and demonic sources is absolutely condemned in both the Old and New Testaments. Isaiah 8:18 is quoted in Hebrews 2:13 as messianic. Christ, the Great Prophet, the Divine Being coming into the world in the form of flesh, and His disciples, partaking of the divine nature through faith, both displaying the image of God in the midst of an unbelieving society, are given for a testimony of God's power, presence and protection. Thus Isaiah and his children are types of the Messiah-Prophet and His children.

To the law and to the testimony! There is no alternative if man wants light and truth. Every claim to light and truth must be measured by God's law and testimonyGod's revelation. If any teaching does not speak according to God's word there is no light in that teaching. It is darkness, falsehood and condemnation. Whatever it is or wherever it is found, if it is true it will agree in fact, principle and practice with God's revelation. Witchcraft and necromancy does not agree with God's word. Therefore, there is not even the dawning of light in it.

Isaiah 8:21-22 CONSEQUENCES OF CONSULTING FALSE TEACHING: When men choose ignorance falsehood and sin, deliberately, they lose the power to reason to relate and to understand. Nothing makes sense. Man suffers a dehumanizing, deranging, despairing experience. When calamity strikes, as it surely will do those who disobey God's moral principles of human social existence, chaos reigns. Distresses of many kinds are the consequences of casting away Divine truthboth physical and psychological. Such conditions are described in these versesdistress, famine, anxiety, cursing one's fellowman, cursing God, searching, darkness, gloom, anguish, being driven away. Such is a description of the chosen people at the time of their captivities.

QUIZ

1.

Where was the real crisis in the nations of Israel and Judah?

2.

What was the testimony that Isaiah was to bind up and seal?

3.

What does the word seal mean here?

4.

How did the prophet and his children become a testimony for Jehovah?

5.

How does Isaiah 8:18 apply to the New Testament?

6.

What are the consequences of false teaching?