This is my chapter breakdown for Isaiah 8:
1-8 Prophecy regarding Maher-shalal-hash-baz: Damascus and Samaria will fall by the Assyrian invasion soon
9-15 Fear the Lord, not what the people fear
16-18 Being a testimony to God
19-22 Look to God and live, not to spiritists and the dead
What do you fear? The coronavirus taking your life? Government conspiracies against you? The nation’s financial collapse (or your own)? The erosion of your freedoms?
Just before 722 B.C., the Jews in the divided kingdom feared danger because of the oncoming civil war, especially since northern Israel made an alliance with a foreign power, Rezin king of Aram, against southern Israel.
God’s instruction to His holy ones then are the same to us who hold fast to Him today. “do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread” (Isaiah 8:12 ESV). What then should we fear?
“But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread” (Isaiah 8:13). If we are fearing something more than the Savior, then we have overlooked the greatness of His power. We’ve put man’s know-how above the omniscience of God. We’ve put man’s ability above the power of Him who created the worlds out of nothing–and created us to have fellowship with Him.
Whether we use “fear” or “love” or “trust” in this context makes no difference. If our dependence is not in God, then we have placed an idol on the throne of the heart.
The Lord makes this an either-or proposition. We fear Him or something else. God made us to fear or serve something and put it on a pedestal. When God is out of the picture, then we are truly trapped by our circumstances. We are helpless with no place to go. We are at the breaking point.
We worry because we don’t know enough about the problem. It’s hard to go on because we feel too weak against the powers out there.
So what would happen if we feared God more, the kind of fear that drives us to take His Word seriously and follow it? He who cannot lie promises, “And he will become a sanctuary” (Isaiah 8:14). He will be our safe place.
He will open our blinded eyes, and we will have the right perspective of life. Paul the apostle put it this way. “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).
Sin blinds our eyes and turns us from the Savior of the world. Sin is shown by unbelief and disobedience (Hebrews 3:18-19). We sin because of our own desires, the world, or the devil turning us from God to something else.
Jesus came to save us from our sins (John 3:16-17). From its power over us (Romans 6:6). From its punishment to come (1 Corinthians 15:51-58). From its perversion of the soul (Galatians 5:19-24). From its slavery to sin and idols (Romans 6:15-20).
When we turn to Christ for salvation from our present distress, a shift takes place, though we don’t feel anything. The old you moves into the grave and the new you, the new creation, rises in Christ to the high places (Romans 6:5).
From that position in Christ you have access to all the benefits of being in Christ. You are forgiven. Accepted by God. Redeemed to Himself. When you pursue the Word from this vantage point, He makes known to you the mystery of His will. All these spiritual blessings are found in Ephesians 1.
I don’t write these messages because I’m such a smart guy. I merely convey what the Lord chooses to reveal to me as I pray and study, as I love and fear Him more. All these blessings are of His grace; my prayers and studying the Word are merely putting me in the position to obtain the blessings He promises to give to His children. This is for all His children.
I am merely putting my soul under the faucet that pours out His blessing. What well are you drinking from? What fountain can satisfy your soul? The world makes you fearful. God makes you peaceful.
I do not belittle our trials and tribulations. In Christ’s resurrection from the dead, though, He showed us His mastery over death. He will raise up His followers, the faithful, joyful, and triumphant.
Christ’s resurrection has flipped the tables on our sufferings. Satan and others mean to harm us; but God means them for good (Genesis 50:20). Far from destroying the wise child of God, our trials test our faith to see if we are continuing with the Lord, making us perfect and complete, lacking nothing (James 1:2-4). Take these to heart, or the enemy will steer your mind to unprofitable things.
Let our anxieties show us that we are far from trusting the Son of God who came to save us from our sins. Return to the Lord. Return to the Word of truth which transforms us into people of peace; a people at rest in His everlasting arms.
Earlier in the chapter, the Lord ordered Isaiah to have a child and name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. The name was a sign that the Assyrians will come and take away the rebellious northern kingdom of Israel before the child could speak.
For this reason Isaiah could say of his family, “we are for signs and wonders” (Isaiah 8:18). Are not the present people of God a sign as well? Rather than fear what other men fear, let our transformed lives be a sign that Jesus is risen, and working through His people.
We will not fear what others fear when we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). They set their eyes on personal pursuits; let us seek that “your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
If we do this, we will be among those who rejoice in a great salvation. We will not call this our home; we are only passing through. The flesh and the devil can’t use it to trip us up. We look for an enduring reward that can’t rust or fade away. We expect a resurrection from the dead, forever to dwell in a new earth without harm or worry.
But we who believe in Jesus Christ are in that kingdom now. Now we can borrow from that heavenly vision, and, like Abraham did, rejoice in the promise though it’s not yet fulfilled (Romans 4:13-22). We can live in the peace of God now. Drinking deeply of His promises and provision, we can let Him wipe away our tears now.
These are signs that God is at work among us. These are wonders proclaiming that His kingdom has come. As He is holy, so you be holy, and represent Him faithfully.
