Isaiah  8:1-8

I have a prayer I have prayed to God that will lead us into this passage in Isaiah. Psalm 38:1 (NIV84): O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.

Did you know that your car mirror has a blind spot?  If you follow a car that is passing you on the interstate in your mirror, there is a point where the car disappears from your mirror, but you can’t see it out your side window unless you turn your head.  This blind spot is very dangerous.  If you are not paying attention and you look in your mirror to make a quick lane change, you can turn right into a car that is hidden in that blind spot.

We all have blind spots.  Spiritually the Bible says that we were dead in our trespasses and sins.  We were living in deception and the god of this world had blinded our eyes to the truth.  We were blinded to the truth about God.  We were blinded to the truth about Jesus.  And we were blinded to the truth about ourselves. 

Every one of us is in need of change.  When I say those words, some of us think, “Sure I do, but I’m not real sure what it is.  I don’t think I am that bad!”  Others will say, “I really do, but I struggle with making the changes that I know I need to make.”

Some of the areas we need to look for change concern our love for God, our humility, our willingness to serve, our love for family, our love for our neighbor, our love for our enemies.  We need to look in to our joy, our kindness, our patience, our longsuffering.  We many need to look into our speech, our priorities, or our meditations, the things we dwell on in our minds. 

Everyone is in need of change.  That is why we come here on Sundays.  We understand that we are in need of change and we want God to show us our blind spots and then help us become more like Christ.  The Holy Spirit of God searches our hearts and through the word of God looks at the thoughts and intents of our heart.

That is why I pray the prayer that I do: O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.  I want God to rebuke me and discipline me without resorting to anger or wrath.  I want to hear the still small voice of God, not the thunder that can come.  I want to be sensitive to God on the little things, not wait for my world to fall apart before I listen to him. 

In our text today, we see someone who has crossed the line.  They didn’t listen to the still small voice, so the thunder came down out of heaven.  It would have been much better for Israel if they had listened to the still small voice of God. But they didn’t.  We pick up the story in Isaiah 8:1.

Isaiah 8:1–8 (NIV84) 8 The Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.

I imagine that this is the first billboard, the first large screen television, the first advertising sign in the Bible.  Isaiah is to take a large scroll and write on it the name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.  This phrase is from the Hebrew and means, “quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil” according to the footnote in the NIV.

2 And I will call in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me.”  

These two men were not friends of Isaiah.  If he was looking for two of his greatest enemies, he couldn’t have chosen much better.  Uriah was one of Ahaz’s most trusted priests.  Zechariah, the son of Jeberekiah, was Ahaz’s father-in-law.  Ahaz was one of the evil kings of Judah who contributed to the downfall of Judah.  He was no friend of Isaiah.

3 Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son.

This is wonderful.  Isaiah is becoming a father.  What shall he name him?

And the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.

This young boy’s significance in life is the name given to him at birth.  From a young age, people would comment on this name.  It was not like Daniel or Moses.  It didn’t sound like Abraham or David.  This name in and of itself would bring attention to itself.  

People would understand the name, “quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil”

For the Lord tells Isaiah, 4 Before the boy knows how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”

Isaiah has this banner made with this strange name on it witnessed by two men.  Nine months later his son is born and given that same name.  Every time the king of Judah heard that name, he would be reminded that his neighbors to the north would go into captivity. 

 5 The Lord spoke to me again: 6 “Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, 7therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the River— the king of Assyria with all his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks  8and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through it and reaching up to the neck. Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land,  O Immanuel!”

God has a great command of the Hebrew language!  He also knows what will happen tomorrow and the next day.  The very basis of Biblical prophecy is the omniscience of God or the idea that God knows everything about the past, present and future.

As we do not live in Israel, some of the imagery escapes us at this point.  Shiloah, mentioned in verse 6, is also known as Siloam.  We hear of the pool of Siloam where healing took place in the New Testament.  Shiloah is the name of a tunnel built from a spring that allowed water to flow into Jerusalem.  Hezekiah built it to provide water in Jerusalem when they were surrounded by their enemies.  When they dug the tunnel, they started at both ends and met in the middle.  However, they had to dig more because they didn’t have the right pitch for water to flow downhill.  So this water that flowed through the tunnel came gently into the city of Jerusalem.

“the River” in verse 7 is the Euphrates River and is symbolic of the Assyrian Empire. 

Rezin is the commander of the Syrian forces. “the son of Remaliah” is Pekah, the king of the northern ten tribes which are called Israel. 

The situation is this.  Rezin and his Syrian troops had teamed up with Pekah and the Israeli forces to throw off Assyrian rule and also to attack Judah, the southern two tribes.  Judah had lost 120,000 soldiers in one day.  To make matters worse, while Syria and Israel are fighting Judah, the Philistines and Edomites are raiding villages in the Judean countryside.

What do you do when you are outnumbered?  What do you do when everything is against you?

You have two choices.  You can do what seems easiest, but goes against the teachings of God, or you can trust God and obey him.

With all that is going on, Judah chose to reject God and go elsewhere for help.  God had given a promise through Isaiah.  He had it placed on a banner, witnessed by two men whose testimony would be believed by the unbelievers, he had given Isaiah, a very visible prophet a son that carried the message of God.

What was the message? Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, “quick to plunder, swift to the spoil.”  What did the message mean? , 4 Before the boy knows how to say ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.”  God promised that Syria, as shown by it’s capital of Damascus and Samaria, representative of the northern ten tribes would be attacked and defeated by Assyria.

So what did Judah do?  They had the promise of God on a banner posted in Jerusalem, but their city is surrounded by four enemies who are successfully winning the war.  What Judah did was to reject God’s promise, to reject God, and to ask Assyria for help.

They got help.  But the help was not what they expected.  Instead of the peaceful stream of Shiloah, they got the Euphrates overflowing its banks.  What Assyria did was to defeat Syria and Israel and then come to Judah.  They entered Jerusalem, took their wealth and raised their taxes.  Ahaz even erected idols to the Assyrian gods to appease their friends.

God would have none of it.  If Judah had turned to God for help, Assyria still would have attacked Syria and northern Israel, but would have left Judah alone.  Now Judah is under the Assyrian’s thumb and God’s anger at their rejection.

We have heard the story.  Now we come to our situation.

Why not trust God from the first?  Why do we hear God’s word and then go out and live totally different lives?

I don’t know how many people have given in to pressure to find other solutions to their problems than the ones God has for them.

I know people who were not married, who couldn’t find a Christian husband, so they felt trapped when they were not married and all their friends were, to compromise their spiritual convictions and marry someone who did not know or follow Jesus.

I know people who claim to be Christians who know that they ought to seek first the kingdom of God, but allow seeking an education or a job or a relationship to take over their lives.  I wonder why people, who have heard it said from the Bible not to forsake the assembling of yourselves together, who will go weeks without fellowship.  They say, “We work Sunday mornings.”  Yes, but if fellowship is important to you, you would be here Sunday evenings, Wednesday nights or in a small group. But you say, “It’s not the same.”  I ask you, “What’s not the same?  The command of God to stress the importance of fellowship?  Has that changed?” 

Or there may be Christians who claim to love Jesus on Sunday, but are breaking laws in order to make more money at work on Mondays. 

Or, there may be Christians who hear that they are to love their wives, to forgive their enemies, to do good to those who despitefully use you, who ignore the clear teachings of Jesus, who don’t care what their wives think or feel, hate their enemies and get back those who use them bad.

Now here is the issue at hand.  Those things that seem so right now bring on a flood of trouble later on.  When we say “yes” to sex outside of marriage, or to letting our anger out, or to accumulating unnecessary debt, it feels good in the short run, but if we don’t listen to God in the calmness of our Jerusalem, the world will overflow its banks and flood our lives.

So what is the solution?   The solution is simple.  Listen to God today.  Hebrews tells us that “today is the day of salvation.”  If you have been listening and thinking about the decision to trust Christ, do it today.  If the Holy Spirit has been working on you to make some change in your life that will save you from doing what is wrong, make that change today.

God has a pattern. At first, God instructs.  Second, he rebukes.  Third, he lets us find out for ourselves the error of our ways.

We may need to start with Psalm 38:1 (NIV84): O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.

The best time to turn around is right now.  While the waters are calm, while you are in Jerusalem, while you are where you are, to follow Jesus, to do what is right, to forsake what is wrong is the best thing to do right now.

God has spoken to you.  Are you listening?  He has given you a gentle rebuke.  Will you respond?

If not, God will increase the pressure.  He created you to live better than you are and he loves you enough to pressure you towards doing what is best. 

If you do not accept the gentle rebuke, if you do not pray, O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath, then you may experience the rebuke or discipline that comes from a God who is angry because he has given you chance after chance to change and you have said “no!”

 You have a chance to avoid or to turn around the pain that comes from rejecting God’s path.  Let me read Psalm 38 to show you David’s testimony.

Psalm 38 (NIV84)

A psalm of David. A petition.

1       O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger

or discipline me in your wrath.

2       For your arrows have pierced me,

and your hand has come down upon me.

3       Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;

my bones have no soundness because of my sin.

4       My guilt has overwhelmed me

like a burden too heavy to bear.

5       My wounds fester and are loathsome

because of my sinful folly.

6       I am bowed down and brought very low;

all day long I go about mourning.

7       My back is filled with searing pain;

there is no health in my body.

8       I am feeble and utterly crushed;

I groan in anguish of heart.

9       All my longings lie open before you, O Lord;

my sighing is not hidden from you.

10      My heart pounds, my strength fails me;

even the light has gone from my eyes.

11      My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;

my neighbors stay far away.

12      Those who seek my life set their traps,

those who would harm me talk of my ruin;

all day long they plot deception.

13      I am like a deaf man, who cannot hear,

like a mute, who cannot open his mouth;

14      I have become like a man who does not hear,

whose mouth can offer no reply.

15      I wait for you, O Lord;

you will answer, O Lord my God.

16      For I said, “Do not let them gloat

or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips.”

17      For I am about to fall,

and my pain is ever with me.

18      I confess my iniquity;

I am troubled by my sin.

19      Many are those who are my vigorous enemies;

those who hate me without reason are numerous.

20      Those who repay my good with evil

slander me when I pursue what is good.

21      O Lord, do not forsake me;

be not far from me, O my God.

22      Come quickly to help me,

O Lord my Savior.

The pain David felt can be avoided.  It can be avoided if we act today. 

It’s now in your hands.