Isaiah 8
About IsaiahWritten by AI
Isaiah is the first of the major prophets and one of the books the New Testament quotes most often. Isaiah son of Amoz preached in Jerusalem from about 740 to 700 BC, during the reigns of four kings of Judah, while the Assyrian empire threatened the land. Many scholars think chapters 40 to 66 come from later writers in the time of the exile and return. Many Christians hold that Isaiah wrote the whole book, noting that the New Testament quotes both halves under his name.
The book moves from judgment to comfort. Chapters 1 to 39 confront Judah's sin and the proud nations, with the history of King Hezekiah at the center. From chapter 40 the tone changes: “Comfort, comfort My people.” God promises to bring His people home, and the book ends with new heavens and a new earth.
Watch for God's title, the Holy One of Israel, and for the promised King from David's line and the Servant of the LORD who suffers for others. Christians see both fulfilled in Jesus, though some prophecies are read differently among believers.
Before you read Isaiah 8Written by AI
Isaiah's own son is given a long name meaning the plunder will come quickly, a sign that Assyria will soon strike. The people should not fear what others fear, but fear the LORD, who will be a sanctuary for some and a stumbling stone for others. The chapter ends in darkness for those who turn from God's word.
Assyrian Invasion Prophesied
Then the LORD said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary stylus: Maher-shalal-hash-baz. And I will appoint for Myself trustworthy witnesses—Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.”
And I had relations with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. For before the boy knows how to cry ‘Father’ or ‘Mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
And the LORD spoke to me further:
“Because this people has rejected
the gently flowing waters of Shiloah
and rejoiced in Rezin
and the son of Remaliah,
the Lord will surely bring against them
the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—
the king of Assyria and all his pomp.
It will overflow its channels
and overrun its banks.
It will pour into Judah,
swirling and sweeping over it,
reaching up to the neck;
its spreading streams will cover
your entire land, O Immanuel!
Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered;
pay attention, all you distant lands;
prepare for battle, and be shattered;
prepare for battle, and be shattered!
Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted;
state a proposal, but it will not happen.
For God is with us.”
A Call to Fear God
For this is what the LORD has spoken to me with a strong hand, instructing me not to walk in the way of this people:
“Do not call conspiracy
everything these people regard as conspiracy.
Do not fear what they fear;
do not live in dread.
The LORD of Hosts is the One
you shall regard as holy.
Only He should be feared;
only He should be dreaded.
And He will be a sanctuary—
but to both houses of Israel
a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,
to the dwellers of Jerusalem
a trap and a snare.
Many will stumble over these;
they will fall and be broken;
they will be ensnared and captured.”
Bind up the testimony
and seal the law among my disciples.
I will wait for the LORD,
who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob.
I will put my trust in Him.
Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
Darkness and Light
When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God. Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.