Isaiah 8 - Bible Study in 5 Minutes
Isaiah 8 Short Summary:
God provided another sign that Syria and Israel will not concur Judah. Isaiah prophesied that the power of Syria and Israel would be extinguished before a son, who was not yet born to Isaiah, came of age. God reassured Judah but also warned them not to seek further signs from sorcerers and mediums.
Isaiah 8 Bible Study
TIMELINE:
As mentioned previously, the prophetic ministry of Isaiah spanned the reigns of King Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
The events of Isaiah 8 took place during the reign of King Ahaz.
KEY CHARACTERS:
Isaiah – The son of Amoz (1:1). God commissioned Isaiah as His prophet to Judah.
Ahaz – King of Judah. He was the grandson of Uzziah. Ahaz did not love the Lord, and he was a wicked king (2 Kings 16:1-4).
Rezin – King of Syria.
Pekah – King of Israel.
DEFINITIONS:
Waters of Shiloah (8:6) – Most scholars think this refers to a stream that flowed gently by the city of Jerusalem. These gentle waters represented the peace of God, and they are contrasted with terrifying flood of an Assyrian invasion.
Necromancer (8:19) – A magician who practices magic related to the dead. Their work could span from communicating with the dead to reanimating dead people’s bodies and spirits.
OUTLINE:
THE SIGN OF MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ (8:1-10):
Isaiah was told by God to write down a prophecy that related to a son not yet born to him.
God promised that before this son came of age, the Syrians and Israelites who threatened Judah, would be defeated by the Assyrians.
The prophecy was written down, and Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah were selected to be witnesses to the truth of the prophecy.
Some time later, Isaiah had relations with his wife (“the prophetess”) and she conceived a son.
God instructed Isaiah to name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz, which means hasten to the spoil. Assyria was going to hasten to destroy Syria and Israel and plunder their possessions.
The Assyrian Empire would also threaten Judah, but God would preserve them.
A SANCTUARY AND A STUMBLING STONE (8:11-22):
God told Isaiah not to fear what the people of Judah feared. Israel and Syria would not destroy Jerusalem.
Instead of fearing Syria and Israel, the people of Judah should have feared God.
To those who trusted in God, God would be a sanctuary. To those who rejected Him, of which there were many in Israel and Judah, He would be a stone on which they would stumble and be broken.
Isaiah resolved to put his trust in God and “wait for the Lord.” He and his children would be signs of God’s faithfulness to God’s true followers.
The people of Judah would be tempted to look for other signs, signs from necromancers and sorcerers, but those were a waste of time.
Those who put their trust in those methods would find themselves lost, hopeless, and distressed.
APPLICATION:
There has never been and is not currently any truth to be found in sorcery, fortune telling, or other magical practices.
God never encouraged anyone to familiarize themselves with magic in order to get-in-touch with the spiritual realm or to discover spiritual truths.
In recent months I’ve seen several people promoting a synthesis between Christianity and paganism. It takes Christian truths and intertwines practices from eastern religions, sorcery, and neo-paganism.
It presents a new more “open-minded” and enlightened Christianity and presents God as encouraging these accessory pathways to know Him.
But this new form of “Christianity” is contradictory to what the Bible tells us about what God thinks of practices associated with paganism and magic.
God never talks about them as beneficial to our knowledge of Him, but always as things that detract from truly knowing Him.
