Immanuel Loves You

Read Isaiah 7:17-8:4
 
Isaiah 8:1-4 The Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.  2 And I will call in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me.” 3 Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 4 Before the boy knows how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”
 
IN today’s reading there is the four-times repeated phrase “in that day”. This declares Judah’s judgment is coming. The LORD is unrelenting in correcting his people’s sins. At the same time, he is also purposefully gracious to give people in Judah a time to repent. A loving Father corrects and protects his children.
    These first verses of Isaiah 8 describe God helping his people. A son will be born to Isaiah and his wife the prophetess, either a prophet, a reference to her marriage to Isaiah. The son’s name are the words of a soldier’s victorious war cry, “Quick to the plunder. Swift to the spoil.” The witnesses knew Isaiah was prophesying destruction to Judah’s most aggressive foes at that time - Israel and Aram, also called Samaria and Damascus, respectively. Judah’s reprieve from these two countries occurred in a little over a year as the son was born and before he could speak.
    But then came more turmoil. Judah would suffer for years under Assyria’s harassment. The nation Ahaz looked to for help would threaten Judah’s destruction. These following verses prophesy Assyria’s assaults on Judah, while reminding the faithful that Immanuel – God with us – would protect his people to defeat Judah’s current enemies.
    Isaiah 8:5 The Lord spoke to me again: 6 “Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah (a river supplying water to Jerusalem and a symbol of God’s provision) and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah (king of Assyria), 7 therefore, the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the River — the king of Assyria with all his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks 8 and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through it and reaching up to the neck. Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land, O Immanuel!” Isaiah declares much trouble from Assyria, then names Judah as “God among us”. They are God’s chosen people.
    Still the Lord protects: Isaiah 8:9 Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered! Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, and be shattered! Prepare for battle, and be shattered! 10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us. Even in their unbelief of God’s protection, Judah would receive the Lord’s benevolent care – for a time.
 
From a Pastor in Kenya:
“Because God is with us, then why should we fear the enemy?”
 
Then he offers this prayer:  
 
“God, you are all sovereign and all knowing, you have the situation and circumstances completely in your control. I pray, to absolutely trust you and stand to defend my faith against heresies, without fear and intimidation. Amen.”