Isaiah 8:1-22

Judgment is a reality that every man will face when he stands before God.  The Lord has always been a just Judge and has consistently judged His people throughout all of history.  God has always been very gracious to warn people of the coming judgment so that they might make preparations for the judgment by repenting and turning to Him in order to avoid the judgment that has been promised.  Isaiah has been given the task of alerting his people to the impending judgment that God will bring upon the nation in the form of the Assyrian nation that is coming to invade.  God will often use godless nations to be His instruments of judgment on His people in hopes that they will awaken to the reality of the sin in their lives and return to the Lord.

ISAIAH FOREWARNS ABOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL: God had revealed to Isaiah that the nation of Israel would be overthrown by the Assyrian army.  In the previous chapter Judah had been in fear of Israel invading Judah with the Syrian army, now we see that God has far different plans.  Isaiah fathers a child and prophesies that before the child will be able to speak the nation of Israel will have been destroyed.  God knows exactly what will happen in the nation of the world and is in complete control of all that goes on.  Israel had lived in rebellion against the Lord for many generations.  They thought that they were just fine in their disobedience; but they are about to find out very differently.  God will not be mocked.  He has warned us of the coming Day of Judgment and we would all be wise to prepare for that day by submitting to the will of the Lord.

ISAIAH FORETELLS ABOUT THE DELIVERANCE OF JUDAH: When Israel falls the Assyrians will also come like a flood of waters to Judah.  The land will seem helpless and hopeless before this massive army and the hearts of Judah will grow faint.  However, the Lord has a different plan for Judah at this time.  They have been more faithful than Israel so the Lord will be with them and deliver them from the seemingly sure captivity.  There are very clear benefits to obeying the Lord but we must also learn to trust Him in the face of difficulty.  God’s intention for Judah is to illustrate the consequences of His wrath in hopes of waking them up to the fact that they are not far behind the nation of Israel.  Their judgment looks like it is right on top of them and God intends for it to be this way so that their fear of judgment might lead them to repentance.


ISAIAH FORECASTS ABOUT THE DANGERS OF IDOLATRY: The problem with the nation looking like it is about to fall into captivity is that there are many false teachers and idols that have crept into the lives of the people.  Instead of the people running to the Lord in the face of their fear there are many who would seek out these false gods and false teachers.  Isaiah pleads with the people to put their trust in God and God alone and not turn to the false gods of their own making and superstitions.  Idolatry is what led Israel into its current state of condemnation and it will also be the demise of Judah unless they turn to the Lord instead of their idols.  We must be careful not to allow our trust to be taken off of the Lord and placed on our resources, our jobs or our family.  God alone must be the object of our worship or we will face condemnation when we stand before Him in judgment.

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