Isaiah 8

"Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz;" v.3

Read chapter 8.
Isaiah's wife is this prophetess who he has sex with to bear a son for this sign from the Lord.  This was known of Uriah the priest and Zechariah before the child was conceived and born.  She is called a prophetess possibly just by being a wife of a prophet or perhaps mediated by God as well that we don't have recorded words.  This son to be born is different from Immanuel who we read of in chapter 7:14.  Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz means literally "haste-spoil-speed-booty" but order and form of word may be different (ex. "hasten to the spoil, speed to the booty" or "spoil hasteneth, booty speedeth" etc).  This name was written for the common person to easily read (verse 1).  This name proved true in the quickness of the prophesy fulfilled of giving Syria and Israel as prey to the Assyrians.  What has been a clear or easy to read sign or statement concerning a matter that may not be what you want to hear?

Isaiah 7

"Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying,  “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”  Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also?  Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good."  vv.10-15

Read chapter 7.

At first glance of this passage, one immediately thinks of Jesus being born of a virgin and this is the prophesy foretold many years before.  Yet as I read this chapter this time a question popped in my head:  how is Christ being born hundreds of years (some 700 years) later be a sign for Ahaz when he was dead by then?  What other child could have been called Immanuel?  Did Jesus ever have to learn to refuse evil and choose good or was that just natural, Him being God?  Was this Jesus' diet: curds and honey?  Perhaps this was a dual prophesy.  Ahaz is given a chance to ask for whatever sign from God that Syria would not prevail in war over them, but he says he doesn't want a sign to not put the Lord to the test.  So the Lord then provides a sign saying the virgin will give birth to a son and call his name Immanuel.  This is indeed fulfilled to the full in Jesus Christ, yet perhaps a child born during the time of Ahaz filled this prophesy in part as a sign to Ahaz during this time to show God's word come true during the captivity, and it did.  Confusing? Thoughts?

Isaiah 6

"Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar.  And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”  vv.6-7

Read chapter 6.

What would happen to you if a live coal touched your lips?  They'd burn of course.  This did in fact happen to Isaiah and was not a metaphor, yet one we can apply to us.  As the seraphim took the hot coal from the altar, which showed the sin and need for purification, and touched Isaiah's lips taking his sin away, so Christ's death took our sins away by not even a touch of our bodies yet our need to be made pure.  The Holy Spirit in us makes us clean and purged from sin.  "this is a sign that the guilt of thy sin is removed by pardoning mercy, and thy corrupt disposition and inclination to sin, by renewing grace; and, therefore, nothing can hinder thee from being accepted of God, as a worshipper, in concert with the holy angels; or from being employed for God, as a messenger to the children of men. Those only, who are thus purged from an evil conscience, are prepared to serve the living God,"  (Benson Commentary).  As we continue to read in this chapter we see that once Isaiah's made clean he has this God given desire to serve.  When have you been shown grace or mercy that has then resulted in your desire to serve God through others or another area of life?

Isaiah 5

"Woe to those who join house to house;
They add field to field,
Till there is no place
Where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land!...Woe to those who rise early in the morning,
That they may follow intoxicating drink;
Who continue until night, till wine inflames them!"  vv.8,11

Read chapter 5.

There are seven woes in this song of the Lord and one result concerning His beloved vineyard Israel.  Each woe is a sin and the recompense that has followed.  Here in verse eight we see the coveting of homes and land.  This wasn't just buying a place to live, but coveting property and "land-grabbing" to accumulate wealth.  This put out small proprieties and made poor their brethren.  The practice of the jubilee was never done where land would be returned and rested in the 50th year.  This accumulation of wealth lead to loneliness and loneliness led to drunkenness.  With all this wealth and accumulation of property for unjust gain or reason left the person empty inside and would fill that void by drinking early in the morning till late at night.  Oh how this is still common today.  Of people filing the void inside them with alcohol.  They let drunkenness numb their hurt inside and the moral they know from God.  How have you seen alcohol be used for this in your life or lives around you?  How have you seen coveting hurt others

Isaiah 4

"then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering."  v.5

Read chapter 4.
This sounds a little familiar doesn't it? Where else in scripture do you remember the Lord in a cloud by day and fire by night?  Exodus 13!  When then Lord was leading the Israelites out of Egypt to guide their way and show that He was with and leading them.  Here in Isaiah it is referring to a future time when the cloud and smoke and fire are not only over the tabernacle as in past but over "every dwelling place of Mount Zion." As in Exodus it was a sign of presence and Divine favor, so in the time to come God will be dwelling in Jerusalem as the seat of His government and being with His people, not just in one place but on all those who worship the Lord.  The Hebrew word for covering is referring to a marriage canopy that was held over the bride and bridegroom.  God's glory is His marriage with His people He loves.  Do you desire this marriage with the Lord?

Isaiah 3

" And so it shall be:

Instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench;
Instead of a sash, a rope;
Instead of well-set hair, baldness;
Instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth;
And branding instead of beauty." v.24

Read chapter 3.

Continued judgement on Judah and Jerusalem for their pride is going on here in this chapter.  We see that women are ruling over men (v.12) and seems to be a chapter calling out the haughtiness of these women rulers and to the men that have let that happen.  Verses 18-23 describe the materialism, vanity and the focus on outward adornment that women were so focused.  They cared more about their appearance and spent more time on themselves than in prayer and seeking God's will, being oblivious to the judgment that was to come.  So here in verse 24 Isaiah prophesies of what is to happen to them.  Instead of smells of perfumes they'll smell like rottenness, perhaps from death and decomposition around them and perfumes being taken from them.  We see in Esther that the women bathed in perfumes for 6 months getting ready to go before the king (Esther 2:12).  A rope instead of a sash, was a sign of poverty in dress of no girdles and fancy belts.  No longer would they braid or do their hair, wear fancy clothes and adorn themselves, but from poverty it'd no longer be just inward but show outward.  How have you covered up your inward ugliness by outward beauty?  Do you spend more time on your appearance than you do with the Lord (makeup, dress, dieting, exercising, shopping,etc)?

Isaiah 2

"For the day of the Lord of hosts
Shall come upon everything proud and lofty,
Upon everything lifted up—
And it shall be brought low—...The loftiness of man shall be bowed down,
And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low;
The Lord alone will be exalted in that day,
18 But the idols He shall utterly abolish."vv.12,17-18

Read chapter 2.

"Day of the Lord" this is the first of 20 occurrences of this phrase in the book of Isaiah.  "It is the day when everything done will be to abase man and exalt Jehovah" (E.W. Bullinger).  The day is described in many different ways through its occurrences in all of scripture.  Here in Isaiah chapter two we see it as a time when idols are abolished, when pride is no more, when exalted beings and things are brought low.  Things like governments and rulers  will be brought low, maybe not destroyed but humbled and will bow down to God, no longer to rule in its pride but to follow God's government, His kingdom in all the earth.  What do you imagine a world without idols would be like?  It's more than just no statues of buddha, but our hearts that create even good things to become idols will be changed.  What haughtiness or pride can you humble today instead of waiting till God makes it happen?