Isaiah 8:21-22

Ahaz failed the test. So now his people are prisoners of a powerful enemy in a foreign country. Because they have left God out of their situation, their future is completely without hope. It is as if nothing but thick darkness surrounds them.

Lord ~ God’s name in the Bible. In the original language, God’s names mean ‘head over all’ and ‘God always’.
seize ~ to take a person’s possessions away from that person, either by law, or in a war. Or, to overcome a city or nation in order to rule it. Or, to take a person as a prisoner or a slave. Or, to hold something or someone firmly.
Assyrian ~ a person from the country called Assyria; or anything that has a relationship with the country called Assyria.
aqueduct ~ channel that men make to carry water.
Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, the capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.
Temple ~ special building in Jerusalem where Jews praised God and offered him prayers and gifts.
Jerusalem ~ at the time of David and Solomon, the capital of the country called Israel. During the time of Isaiah, Jerusalem was the capital of the country called Judah.
Jews ~ people who belong to the countries called Judah and Israel; people who belong to the 12 tribes of Israel.
tribe ~ a group of the later family of one father.

Isaiah: New *Heavens and a New Earth

King Ahaz

Isaiah Chapter s 7 to 12

Gordon Churchyard

The words in brackets, […], are not in the *Hebrew Bible. They make the book easier to understand in English. Isaiah wrote his book in the *Hebrew language.

Chapter 8

v1 And the *LORD said to me, ‘Get something on which to write. Then write on it so that everybody can understand it. [Write], “This is about [the name] Mahershalalhashbaz.” ’

v2 So I got [two] witnesses who would speak the truth. [One witness was] Uriah the priest (servant of God in the *temple). And [the other witness was] Zechariah, the son of Jeberechiah. They were my witnesses.

v3 Then I went in to the *prophetess. She became *pregnant and she had a son. And the *LORD said to me, ‘Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz.

v4 [Do that for] this reason. Before the child knows how to say “my father” or “my mother”, [this will happen]. The king of Assyria will carry off the wealth from Damascus. And [he will carry off] the valuable things from Samaria.’

Notes

Verse 1 ‘*LORD’ is a special name for God that his servants used. It probably means ‘always alive’. ‘Something on which to write’ was probably a flat stone. People could scratch words on it with something sharp. ‘Mahershalalhashbaz’ means this: ‘What [people] catch is coming quickly. What they kill is hurrying.’ In verse 4, Isaiah explains those strange words. In the *Hebrew Bible, Mahershalalhashbaz is 4 words, ‘Maher Shalal Hash Baz.’

Verse 2 In 2 Kings 16:10-16, the writer mentions Uriah the priest. The priests worked in the temple in Jerusalem. The ‘temple’ was God’s house, where people praised God. The Bible does not mention this particular Zechariah anywhere else.

Verse 3 This happened some time after verse 2. But we do not know how long a time it was. Neither do we know exactly what ‘prophetess’ means here. Clearly, the prophetess was Isaiah’s wife. But the word ‘prophetess’ may mean:

• the wife of a *prophet

• or a female *prophet.

In the Bible, we sometimes read that a man ‘went in to’ a woman. It means that he ‘had sex with’ her. ‘Pregnant’ means that she was expecting a baby.

Verse 4 ‘My father’ probably means ‘daddy’, and ‘my mother’ probably means ‘mummy’. Those words are usually the first words that a child speaks. The king of Assyria was called Tiglathpileser the Third (the third man called Tiglathpileser that became Assyria’s king). He would carry off (take away) to Assyria everything that was valuable in Damascus and Samaria. Damascus city was the capital of Syria. Samaria city was the capital of Israel. Those were the two countries of which Judah’s king (Ahaz) was afraid. This verse explains ‘Mahershalalhashbaz’, the name of Isaiah’s son. ‘What people catch’ is the wealth in Syria. Assyria’s army would take the wealth from Syria. ‘What they kill’ are the valuable things in Israel. The army from Assyria would kill the people in Israel. And they would take away those people’s valuable things.

v5 The *LORD spoke to me again. He said this.

v6 ‘These people have refused the waters called Shiloah that flow in a gentle manner. And [they have said that they] are happy about Rezin and about Remaliah’s son.’

v7 Therefore, see [what will happen]. The *Lord will bring the waters of the [Euphrates] river against them. [Those waters will be] strong and powerful. [Really, those waters mean] the king of Assyria. And [they mean] his powerful [armies]. [They will come] like a great river that rises. It will flow over its sides.

v8 Then the river will pass quickly into Judah. It will flow over its sides and it will spread over [the country]. It will even reach the neck! But his (God’s) wings will spread out and they will cover all your country, Immanu El (which means “God is with us”).’

Notes

Verse 5 This verse reminds us that God is speaking by means of the *prophet Isaiah.

Verse 6 We do not know where ‘the waters called Shiloah’ were. Some Bible students think that they were the same as the pool called Siloam in John 9:7. Other Bible students are not sure. Maybe those waters were a quiet river that moved slowly. The important thing about them is this. Those waters did not make a noise, and they were quiet. They describe God, who helps us to live quietly and peacefully.

However, some people in Judah wanted to make an agreement with Rezin (Syria’s king) and Remaliah’s son Pekah (Israel’s king). Those people thought that those kings would then help them. Those people did not want God to help them.

Verse 7 However, the *LORD is master of history! He decides what will happen. Instead of the quiet waters called Shiloah (or Siloam), there will be noisy waters. These will be the Euphrates river, which was an important river in Assyria. But here, it is a special description. It actually means an army that will come from Assyria. ‘Them’ means Rezin and the son of Remaliah (that is, the kings of Syria and Israel). And ‘them’ also means their countries, Syria and Israel. The army from Assyria will attack them. The army will be like a great river that is flowing over them. You cannot stop a river that floods over its sides. Neither could anyone stop the soldiers from Assyria when they attacked people.

Verse 8 From Syria and Israel, the ‘river’ will flow quickly into Judah. That is a description of Assyria’s army as it will first attack Syria and Israel. Then the army will attack Judah. But the ‘river’ will only reach up to the neck. It will not drown Judah! In other words, the army will not overcome Judah. That is because ‘his wings’ will protect Judah. Here, ‘his’ probably means ‘God’s’. Here the country called Judah is also called ‘Immanu El’, because ‘God was with its people’. ‘Immanu El’ means ‘God is with us’. It also means ‘God was with us’ or ‘God will be with us’.

v9 ‘You people, understand [me] and be afraid. Listen carefully [to me], all you [people in] distant countries. Get ready for war, but be afraid. Get ready to fight, but be afraid.

v10 Make plans together, but they will fail! Talk about what you will do. But it will not happen. [Your plans will fail] because God is with us!’

Notes

Verse 9 ‘You people’ probably means the enemies of the people in Judah. ‘Me’ means the *LORD (verse 5). The people in distant countries are the enemies of the people in Judah. Three times the *LORD says (by means of Isaiah) ‘be afraid’. Some Bible students think that the *Hebrew for ‘understand’ really means ‘be weak’.

Verse 10 The enemy’s plans will fail because God is with his people. The language that Isaiah spoke was *Hebrew. In that language, ‘Immanu El’ means ‘God is with us (his people)’.

v11 Now the *LORD spoke to me. [He said this] while his strong hand was on me. He warned me not to do what this nation (the people in Judah) was doing. He said this.

v12 ‘Not everything that this nation calls a secret plan is [really] a secret plan. Also, do not be afraid of what they are afraid of. And do not let it frighten you.

v13 Instead, be afraid of the *LORD of Everything! You should think about him as *holy. He is the [God] of whom you should be afraid.

v14 He (the *LORD) will become [like] these things:

• a safe place [for the *remnant].

• a stone that offends (causes trouble for) the people that live in Israel and Judah.

• a rock that [the people in Israel and Judah] will fall over.

• a net and a trap to catch the people that live in Jerusalem.

v15 Many people will trip over. They will fall and they will be broken. A net or a trap will catch them!’

Notes

Verse 11 ‘His strong hand was on me’ means this: ‘He spoke to me in a powerful manner.’ Here, God was comforting Isaiah.

Verse 12 ‘This nation’, as it is in verse 11, is Judah. We do not know what the secret plan was. Perhaps Judah’s King Ahaz was plotting to work together with Syria’s and Ephraim’s armies. Perhaps Ahaz was afraid of Isaiah’s words and Ahaz called them a secret plan. The *LORD tells Isaiah not to be afraid of ‘what they are afraid of’. He means that Judah’s people are afraid of armies from Assyria.

Verse 13 People should not be afraid of Assyria’s armies. Instead, people should be afraid of God. He is holy (very, very good). He is so good that people are afraid to be near him.

Verse 14 Here the writer is ‘playing with words’. He uses similar words but they have different meanings. The words for ‘*holy’ (verse 13) and ‘safe’ (verse 14) are similar in *Hebrew. Remember that Isaiah wrote his book in the *Hebrew language. People that love the *LORD will be safe. But people that do not love him will not be safe. He (the *LORD) will offend them so that they will ‘fall over’. It means that an enemy will overcome them. The enemy is probably the army from Assyria. Judah’s people will be like an animal that someone has caught in a net or a trap. ‘Stone’ and ‘rock’ are names for Jesus! (See Something to do number 2, at the end of this chapter.)

Verse 15 The ‘many people’ will be those people that do not love the *LORD. He will use Assyria’s armies to punish them.

v16 Roll up what I have said [in a *scroll]. Fasten [in a book] what I have taught to my disciples (students that follow me as their teacher).

v17 And I will wait for the *LORD. He is hiding his face from Jacob’s family. But I will trust that he (the *LORD) [will do something].

v18 Here am I. And [here are] the children that the *LORD has given to me. We are [people] that show proof [of something]. And [we are like] messages to Israel’s [people]. [The proof and the messages come] from the *LORD of Everything. He lives on the mountain [called] Zion.

Notes

Verse 16 When Isaiah wrote his book, he wrote on a ‘scroll’. That was a very long piece of paper. People would roll it up in order to carry it more easily. And they could also store it more easily in that way. They would fasten it so that it would stay closed. ‘Disciples’ are students that learn from a great teacher.

Verse 17 ‘Wait for the *LORD’ means this. It means ‘hope that God will do something’. And ‘trust that he [will do something]’ means the same thing. That same God is ‘hiding his face’ from Jacob’s family. In other words, he is doing nothing for them. The *Hebrew words here for ‘Jacob’s family’ mean ‘the house of Jacob’. That probably refers to the northern country, called Israel. But Isaiah hopes that God will do something for Judah too. However, verse 14 shows us that many people in Judah will die. So, the ‘house (family) of Jacob’ may mean both Israel and Judah.

Verse 18 Isaiah and his children had names that were messages:

• Isaiah means: ‘The *LORD makes [people] safe.’

• Shearjashub (Isaiah 7:3) means: ‘Some people will return [from the *exile].’

• Mahershalalhashbaz (Isaiah 8:3) means: ‘What [people] catch is coming quickly. What they kill is hurrying.’

Those messages mean that God will save some of the people from Judah and Israel. But Assyria’s armies will destroy the country called Israel. The *exile was when Assyria’s army took the people in Israel from their homes. The army forced those people to live in Assyria. ‘*LORD of Everything’ is a special name for God.

v19 And they (people) will say this to you. ‘Ask the *mediums and the wizards (men that use magic) to tell you what to do.’ [Mediums and wizards] make noises [like birds]. They make a low, angry noise [like animals]! People should ask their God what to do. People that are alive should not talk to dead people.

v20 [Listen again] to what I have said [to you]. And [remember] what I have taught [to you. If you listen to] their (the mediums’ and wizards’) words, really there will be no dawn!

v21 Then people will go through [their] country and they will be very unhappy. And they will starve. They will become angry because they are starving. People will look upwards. And they will say bad things about their king and [about] their God.

v22 And people will look to the Earth. But they will see darkness. And they will see [people that are] very unhappy. The darkness [will make people] miserable. It will move [people] into even greater darkness.

Notes

Verse 19 This is a new section, so ‘they’ does not mean Isaiah’s children or disciples (students that learned from him as a great teacher). It probably means the people that do not agree with Isaiah. ‘Mediums and wizards’ are people that use magic. ‘Mediums’ say that they can talk to dead people. So Isaiah says this. People that are alive ‘should not talk to dead people’. See Deuteronomy 18:10-12. The mediums made a strange low noise as they tried to contact dead people. It was like the sound that some animals make. That sound shows that those animals are angry.

Verse 20 Here Isaiah uses some words from verse 16. He uses the words ‘What I have said’. And he uses the words ‘what I have taught’. People should listen to Isaiah. They should not listen to *mediums and wizards (men that use magic) (verse 19). Isaiah is telling the people what God is saying. If people listen to the mediums and wizards, there will be no dawn. In other words, Isaiah is saying ‘there will be no tomorrow’.

Verse 21 Bible students are not sure what the *Hebrew words mean in this verse. Probably they mean this. People will blame their king for the war with Assyria. And they will also blame their God for it. They will blame both! ‘They will look upwards’ probably means this. ‘They will blame everything that they can see!’

Verse 22 The darkness in this verse is a special description. It is not the opposite of light as we usually mean it. It is what depresses people. Then they feel despair. They think that there is no hope. But there is hope, in chapter 9!

Something to do

1. Study verses in the Bible where we learn about God’s ‘wings’ (verse 8). Here are some examples of them.

• Exodus 19:4

• Deuteronomy 32:11

• Ruth 2:12

• Psalms 17:8; Psalms 18:10; Psalms 36:7

• Isaiah 40:31

• Matthew 23:37.

2. Study these verses in the Bible. They describe God (or Jesus) as a stone or a rock (verse 14).

• Psalms 118:22 (Matthew 21:42 repeats that verse)

• Psalms 28:1; Psalms 31:3; Psalms 62:2

• Isaiah 26:4

• Isaiah 28:16 (1 Peter 2:6 repeats that verse)

• 1 Corinthians 10:4

• Revelation 2:17.

3. Learn more about what a ‘disciple’ means (a student that learns from a great teacher). Read about Jesus’ disciples in these verses:

• Matthew 10:1-23

• Luke 14:26-27

• John 15:1-8

• Acts 11:26.

heavens ~ another word for ‘skies’. It can also mean the place where God lives and the skies above us.
Hebrew ~ the language that Isaiah spoke.'Lord/lord ~ lord means master; Lord is a name for God. It is not the same as LORD.

Lord/lord ~ lord means master; Lord is a name for God. It is not the same as LORD.
LORD ~ LORD is a special name of God. In the Hebrew language it is YHWH. It may mean ‘always alive’. So LORD is a sign that the Hebrew word is YHWH.
Hebrew ~ the language that Isaiah spoke.
temple ~ the house of God in Jerusalem. False gods also had temples.
prophetess ~ either (1) the wife of a prophet, or (2) a woman-prophet, or (3) both.
prophet ~ a man who tells people what God has told him.
pregnant ~ when a woman has a baby inside her.
prophet ~ a man who tells people what God has told him.'Lord/lord ~ lord means master; Lord is a name for God. It is not the same as LORD.

Lord/lord ~ lord means master; Lord is a name for God. It is not the same as LORD.
LORD ~ LORD is a special name of God. In the Hebrew language it is YHWH. It may mean ‘always alive’. So LORD is a sign that the Hebrew word is YHWH.
Hebrew ~ the language that Isaiah spoke.
holy ~ very, very good. Only God is really holy.
remnant ~ a small part of something that is larger. In Isaiah, it often means the few people that still obeyed God.
scroll ~ a very long piece of paper.
exile ~ away from your own country or people.
medium ~ someone that says that they can talk to dead people.