Assyria prepares to crush Israel and Judah

ISAIAH CHAPTER 8

Again the Lord told Isaiah to make a large sign and write the name: Maher-shalal-hash-baz on it. Then Isaiah asked Uriah the priest and Zechariah, both honest men, to testify that Isaiah wrote it long before the child was conceived. Then Isaiah slept with his wife and she became pregnant and had a son and the Lord said to call him Maher-Shalal-hash-baz. The name prophesied that within a couple of years, before the child was old enough to say Mama or Papa, the king of Assyria would invade both Damascus and Samaria and carry away their riches.

Then the Lord spoke to Isaiah again and told him that the people of Judah had rejected the Lord's gentle care and were rejoicing over what would happen to King Rezin and King Pekah. So the Lord would overwhelm the king of Assyria and his mighty armies with a mighty flood from the Euphrates River and it would flood into the channels and sweep into Judah and submerge Immanuel's land from one end to the other.

The Assyrians, said the Lord, will cry to Judah that they could try to defend themselves, but would be shattered.

The Lord told Isaiah in the strongest terms to not think like everybody else and to not be afraid some plan made behind closed doors would be the end for Isaiah and his people. He asked that Isaiah not fear anything except the Lord who would keep him safe. But Israel and Judah will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.

Isaiah promised to write down all these things as a testimony of what the Lord would do and it would get passed down to future generations. And Isaiah would wait for the Lord to help his people. His only hope was in the Lord. He called to the people to not consult mediums and psychics or listen to whisperings and ask instead - their God! The Lord said to check their predictions against his own and realize that his people would be led away as captives, weary and hungry. And they would rage and shake their fists at heaven and curse their king and their God.

BIBLE NOTES SHOW: Isaiah, along with most prophets, was viewed as a traitor because he did not support Judah's national policies. He predicted the overthrow of the government. The name Maher-shalal-hash-baz means "swift to plunder and quick to spoil".

HOW DOES THIS CHAPTER RELATE TO US TODAY? Because Isaiah wrote everything down, his people faithfully passed on these words from generation to generation, so that we have this information today. Each of us needs to accept responsibility to pass on God's Word to our children and grandchildren and encourage them to love the Bible and read it, and learn from it and then pass it on to their children.

Many of Isaiah's and God's prophecies would not come true for 700 years, but others were fulfilled. These are the times when we must be willing to accept the Lord's timing and not our own.

People in those days consulted mediums and psychics to seek answers from the dead. Only God knows the future and we must trust God to guide us. Many of us continually blame God for their own self-induced problems. How do you respond to unpleasant results of your own choices? Instead of blaming God, look for ways to grow through your failures.

Yours in Christ,
Mary

Prayer Requests are needed for:
HEALTH: Pray for Gabe.
Pray for Janice Long’s parents, especially her mother who faces another round of chemotherapy and her father with Alzheimer’s and now her mother in law also with Alzheimer’s. Their family is feeling the strain both emotionally and financially. Pray for them. Update on this family: Her mother-in-law is being taken to Oklahoma to live with an aunt who will care for her.
Pray for Arlene’s nephew David and for my neighbor Al who is nearing the end of his life.
Pray for Carolyn’s brother Ronald who has cancer and for her sister Wanda’s soul which went to heaven.
Pray for our friend Michelle who was diagnosed with MS.
UPDATE on Barb who went in for back surgery and had a heart attack and stroke, she has her speech back and is home , but continues to have a problem with one arm and hand. Thanks to your prayers, she is able to hobble without a cane and has been granted disability. She still has surgery scheduled on her hand, but I saw her recently and her attitude is fantastic.
Pray for Robert Sargent who is quite ill with lung cancer.
Pray for Gary Summers, my friend from church, who has cancer.
Pray for Judy’s husband who was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. Pray for her too, that she can deal with the side effects of his illness.
Pray too for Charly’s husband Robert who is undergoing chemo for his prostate cancer. Update on Robert: he has one more treatment and then three months of waiting for his psat test to come back clean.
Pray for John’s recovery from a heart attack and for the doctors who have difficulty diagnosing his other symptoms.
Pray for James’s sister Cynthia whose chemo has lost its effect as the cancer grows powerful.
Pray for another friend named Carolyn whose faith remains strong, but is lost and confused about where and how to spend her elder years.
SPIRITUAL UPLIFTING: Gail, Mary
RESTORATION OF FAITH: Al, John
LOVE AND SUPPORT: Claire, Hunter, Brian
SUPPORT: Haiti, Chile, survivors of Japan’s earthquake, survivors of the devastating tornadoes in our southernmost states and Joplin, Missouri. Pray too, for our country’s leaders and our military people who die each day for our freedom.