Isaiah 8:1-8 – Experiencing the reality of Immanuel

Let us do a recap. King Pekah of Israel and King Rezin of Syria joined forces to deal with the rising threat of Assyria. They wanted to rope King Ahaz of Judah to join them in dealing with the menacing Assyrians. But he resisted the initiative. So when he heard the news of the Syrian army camping in Israel, he and his people panic. But God through Isaiah told him to rely on Him and trust Him to see them through. Assuring Ahaz that both Israel and Syria were two spent forces and were no match for Him, God wanted Ahaz to place his faith in Him. But the king of Judah would not. He would rather trust his own resourcefulness. So through Isaiah and his two sons, God foretold Ahaz and Judah all that would happen to them. But Ahaz would not trust God. So he was told what would eventually happen to them.

However, we note that despite Ahaz’s rejection of God’s overtures, He was still holding out His grace to him and Judah. God challenged him to ask for a serious sign so that he could be convinced. But the king would not, so God gave him the sign of Immanuel. This sign we say has a double fulfillment. One has to do with the coming of Jesus the Messiah. The other has to do with the birth of Maher-shalal-hashbaz, Isaiah’s own son who is being described in Isaiah 8:1-4. The message of Isaiah’s son is “Immanuel” i.e. God is present with His people. The significance of this message for us is this: the enemy of our soul has no chance when God is with us.   

Because of Ahaz’s outright refusal, God then described how thorough the coming judgment would be in Isaiah 7:18-25. We have dealt with this in our last discussion. In Isaiah 8:1-8, in poetic language, God through Isaiah described how His judgment would affect Judah. Like the water of the Euphrates overflowing the bank, Assyria would sweep both Syria and Israel away. But in the process, the Assyrian waves would also affect Judah. Verse 8 described how Judah would be affected. The waves of Assyria would also “sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through…reach even to the neck.” The relentless waves of Assyria would also come upon Judah till she could scarcely survive. The joyful result in verse 8 is that despite the hard time Assyria would give to Judah, it would eventually be no more. But the land of Judah would remain God’s.

With what we have discovered, the lesson remains that God’s grace is available for us in every tough situation in life. He wants us to trust Him and not in our own cleverness. Each situation in life is an opportunity to trust God and experience His deliverance. In all these, the key lesson to take away is this: trusting God must be the first order of life. There is no way we can save ourselves by our own effort. More than anything, we need to save ourselves from ourselves. The call is for us to ensure that Immanuel is not just a name but a relationship to cultivate with God. It is taking time to make sure that His presence with us is a present reality. When this is true, we do not need to tip-toe through life. In fact, we will soar with Him gloriously. What a life to go for!