After the warning to Ahaz, the Lord continues to operate in mercy according to His promise to King David. A short time later, the Lord directed Isaiah to write on an official document, witnessed before the High Priest and another ranking priest. On this scroll was the name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz -- "Speed to spoil, hasten to prey." Then, Isaiah impregnated his wife and a second son was born, named according to that document. The whole point was, before it happened, there was a witnessed scroll and a child born to indicate the prophecy of Assyria's destruction of Damascus and Samaria, which would come before the boy was three. No one could mistake this as anything other than God's doing.
However, this was hardly a cause for celebrating over the deaths of Pekah and Rezin. Calling on Assyria for assistance was begging for a flood. Unlike the gentle trickle flowing out of the hillside just outside the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem, this flooding Euphrates, a symbol of Assyrian invasion, would all but wash away Jerusalem -- reaching the neck, but not drowning the head of Judah. Isaiah pronounces this prophecy in the name of the coming Redeemer, Immanuel. Furthermore, every other nation in the area will be crushed along with Judah. Their fates would be worse, because they did not have a Messiah who must surely come. Thus, the only thing keeping what's left of Israel alive at all is the promise of the Messiah coming out of her.
Things had been completely turned upside during Ahaz's reign. Because official policy was paganism, as well as negotiations with pagan nations, any attempt to stand for the Law drew hisses of "conspiracy, treason!" What does it say when the leaders in the city of Solomon's Temple thought it criminal to pray in that Temple for their national God's help -- help which had never failed in the past? Isaiah was directed to be faithful in the face of this persecution. God could handle them just fine, and in due time they would be led away in chains.
We aren't told what level of support Isaiah had in Jerusalem. Surely there must have been some who stood with him, so as to be called a conspiracy against the king. Isaiah shows it clearly didn't matter if his household was alone in standing with God, in teaching the Law to whomever would listen. Isaiah speaks of his two sons, the children whom God had given him, but they symbolize anyone who heard and remained faithful. Again, the number was surely substantial. At any rate, those two sons of Isaiah would, by the repetition of their names, present a nagging reminder of things the smug elites would rather forget.
It had become altogether fashionable to consult with the demon-possessed cult wizards and mediums. Indeed, we can envision an obsession by which the elite considered it a threat if anyone didn't consult the pagan soothsayers. Does Israel not have a God, Jehovah? Do they need to inquire of the gods of other nations? Does anyone suppose the dead can help the living? The Lord enunciates clearly the principle: If people do not speak of the Covenant, they are spiritually blind. The same God who promised this land, who made it prosper when they obeyed, will become the God of wrath in eyes of the blind. Instead of promise, blessing and redemption, they will be able to see only hunger, anger, depression, fear. Because they will not look to God, they will be driven even farther into that darkness.
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By Ed Hurst
08 July 2008
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