Read Isaiah 8 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
8:1-3a {s} Write, Speed the spoil, hasten the booty/ the prophetess conceived and bore a son
8:3b-4 {s} Name him Speed the Spoil Hasten the Booty/Assyria will take away spoil and booty of Damascus and Samaria
8:5-8 {s} The gentle fountain refused, therefore it will be the flood of strong Assyria
8:9-10 {s} The nations will be broken in pieces for God is with us (Immanuel)
8:11-15 {p} Fear not what men fear; YHVH fear/ a tabernacle and stumbling stone to both houses of Israel
8:16-18 {s} Bind and seal up the testimony and Torah among My disciples/ the children are for signs in Israel
8:19-9:7 {p} …
The Strong themes:
8:1-15 {sx4+p} Speed, hasten the spoil, booty for Assyria shall flood the land/ Immanuel the stumbling stone
The name Immanuel—meaning “God with us”—appears only twice in the Hebrew Bible, both in Isaiah (7:14, 8:8). This prophecy carries a double fulfillment, as so many do.
The first fulfillment came swiftly as a contemporary sign to King Ahaz that he would survive the threat from Aram and Samaria. The sign of the birth of a child unfolded when Isaiah’s wife, the prophetess, conceived and bore a son, named Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, meaning “Hasten to the Spoil, Hurry to the Prey.”.
“For before the boy knows how to call ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.” Isa 8:4
This part of the prophecy was fulfilled by the fall of Damascus to Assyria in 732 BC (2 Kin 16:9), and Samaria followed in 722 BC (2 Kin 17:6).
Then there is the future fulfillment in Messiah Yeshua. We know a fulfillment remained, because while Isaiah’s son was named Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, the prophecy yet waited for the child to be born who was called Immanuel (Isa 7:14, Mat 1:22-23).
Next the prophecy moves to the king of Assyria coming against Judah:
… the waters of the River, mighty and many—the king of Assyria and all his glory in full; and it will sweep into Judah, overflowing and passing through, reaching up to the neck. Isa 8:7-8
What a picture of imminent drowning! Up to the neck but not over the head. This prophecy, given during Ahaz’s reign (734 BC), found its fulfillment under King Hezekiah (716–687 BC). The Assyrian invasion came in 701 BC, when Sennacherib marched against Judah (the whole story is in 2 Kin 18–19). The waters were indeed up to the neck—Sennacherib captured Judah’s fortified cities and besieged Jerusalem, with terrifying words from the Rabshakeh: “Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in YHVH… Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?.” The Assyrians devised a plan (filling the breadth of your land) and spoke their words, but the plan was thwarted and the words did not stand. Hezekiah kept YHVH as his fear, spreading the Assyrian threats before Him in prayer. YHVH answered: “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard.” That night, the angel of YHVH struck 185,000 Assyrians, and Sennacherib fled. Jerusalem was delivered, proving “God is with us” and YHVH is our sanctuary.
Do you feel the water closing in around you? Do not fear; He will be your sanctuary!
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