Read Isa. 8:1-13
Isaiah's wife is about to have her baby and the Lord has some words he wants Isaiah to write down concerning this child. God wanted Isaiah to write his name on a big scroll with witnesses because his name would signify what God was about to do. His name will be Mahershalalhashbaz ( surely he had a nick name) which means "the enemy is close to the prey" because before the baby will be able to talk, the king of Assyria will attack and take the spoils of Damascus and Samaria. True to his prophesy two years later Israel and Syria fell to the Assyrians. Not only them but Judah had also rejected "the soft waters of Shiloah" which were God's gentle ways of dealing with his people and chosen the might of man. So the king of Assyria will take them like a tsunami overflowing their banks. He will not only take Judah but its surrounding territories. Isaiah warns them to brace themselves for the battle. Even in the midst of their discipline, God promises to be with them. Then he warns Isaiah not to join the people in their idea of a confederacy. No alliance is going to keep them from the judgment doled out to them. Instead of fearing the future they need only to fear God who has the power alone to deliver them.
This is such a word to us in the middle of a nation that seems to be making all the wrong decisions and straying further and further from God. We need to fear God alone who is able to deliver us and prosper us in every way during a very volatile time in history. Lord, may we be strong, like Isaiah and not be afraid of what man can do to us but only fear you and your great power that can deliver us.
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