We first learned in Chapter 7 that Isaiah has a young son named Shear-Jashub, a name that means "A Remnant Shall Return". His name was intended as a sign that although the Lord was going to allow a majority of the citizens of Judah to go into captivity later on (due to their sin and idolatry), He was not going to make an end of the nation. We know from our study of the kings that it will be the Neo-Babylonian Empire that conquers Judah but we also know that, after the Medo-Persian Empire rises to power and conquers Babylon, the people will be given permission to return and rebuild Jerusalem and Judah. That will fulfill the prophecy made when the Lord commanded Isaiah to name his firstborn son Shear-Jashub.
As we begin Chapter 8 we find Isaiah fathering a second son whose name is also intended to be a sign to the people. "The Lord said to me: "Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz." (Isaiah 8:1) The meaning of this is: "Quick To The Plunder". Isaiah doesn't yet know it, but this is the name the Lord will command him to give to a child he will soon have. The symbolism is that Judah will be plundered, though not by the nations it currently fears, but by a nation it considers a friend at this time.
Many scholars think that when the Lord tells Isaiah to write this phrase with an "ordinary pen", He means for him to write it in a plain, easily-readable script so that everyone who sees it will have no trouble deciphering it. The message is for all the citizens of Judah, not just the most highly-educated ones.
When the Lord tells Isaiah to write the phrase on a large scroll, Isaiah knows the message is intended for public consumption; it's not something he's to write down privately for his own use. He calls in two witnesses because a public notice is a legal document. "So I called in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me." (Isaiah 8:2)
These are two men whose testimony can be trusted. Although in the study of the kings we found Uriah humoring King Ahaz's request to place a heathen altar in the temple, at this time the priest's character is still a good example of godliness---or at least of truthfulness. We probably all know people who don't have much of a relationship with the Lord but who would never dream of lying under oath. This may have been the case with Uriah as well; he was willing to compromise spiritually but he was not willing to commit perjury if anyone ever asked him whether he witnessed Isaiah signing the scroll.
I was unable in my background research to determine exactly who the other witness was. There are several Zechariahs in the Bible but this is the only time one with a father called "Jeberekiah" is named. He cannot be the prophet Zechariah, son of "Berekiah", because that prophet's ministry took place after the people's release from Babylon. Whoever he was, his reputation for being truthful must have been well known.
After these men witness Isaiah writing down the phrase "Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz", the prophet goes home. We don't know whether he fathered his second son on the same day or if that took place shortly thereafter, but Isaiah is a married man and he has relations with his wife, resulting in the conception of another child. "Then I made love to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son." (Isaiah 8:3a)
We are never told the name of Isaiah's wife; he simply refers to her as "the prophetess". The majority of the Bible scholars whose works I regularly consult feel that she was one of several named and unnamed female prophets in the Bible. Some scholars, however, believe the term was being used for her because she was the wife of a prophet. In other words, it was a way of referring to her as "Mrs. Isaiah". But I like to think she was one of the female prophets of the Bible and that she and her husband had that in common---that the Lord put the two of them together because He had called each of them to the same type of ministry. If so, I can imagine that having a prophetess for a wife was a great source of encouragement for Isaiah as he carried out the very public and the oftentimes very dangerous duties of a prophet whom the Lord called to speak to kings and priests.
Now the reason for writing the phrase on the scroll becomes clear. "And the Lord said to me, 'Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. For 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 8:3b-4) Isaiah has witnesses that he wrote this name on a scroll before he ever fathered and named his son. When the prophecy comes to pass very soon after his son is born, the witnesses can attest to the fact that he predicted the fall of Damascus and Samaria. This was proof that he was speaking for the Lord and it should have been all the proof they needed to trust all the other prophecies he would make.
At this point in the book of Isaiah, the combined forces of Israel and Aram are planning to come up and take Jerusalem and wrest the crown away from Ahaz to give it to a man of their choosing. This man is known only as "the son of Tabeel" in the Bible. Nothing else is known about him but it is safe to assume that he will do anything and everything the kings of Israel and Aram say. They will not be successful in taking hold of Jerusalem because the Lord has already determined to allow Samaria, the capitol of Israel, to fall to Assyria. Damascus, the capitol of Aram (Syria), will meet the same fate. This will happen before Isaiah's son is old enough to say "mama" and "dada".
If only King Ahaz had listened to these words of Isaiah! But instead of trusting the Lord, he will take matters into his own hands and give a fortune in gold and silver to the king of Assyria to come to his aid---gold and silver which he will take from the temple and from his own palace. He need not have done that; Assyria has its sights set on Israel and Aram already. Assyria would have attacked their capitols soon without Ahaz's request for help.
Besides that, Ahaz's alliance with King Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria will tempt him to commit more idolatrous acts than he's already committed, because when he goes up to Damascus to thank Tiglath-Pileser after he has seized control of that city, he will see a pagan altar there that he likes. The Bible doesn't provide us with any details about the altar, such as its appearance or size or even which god it represented, but it seems reasonable to assume it was an altar to a god that Tiglath-Pileser worshiped and that he brought it to Damascus with him so he could worship his god while there. I can hardly imagine that, after thanking Tiglath-Pileser for taking the city of Damascus, Ahaz would erect an altar to a god of the Arameans, considering the Arameans had been defeated. I think it was an altar to an Assyrian god and that the reason he will have it set up in the very temple of God at Jerusalem is to show his appreciation for Assyrian aid and to give thanks to the god he thinks turned the forces of Israel and Aram away from him.
The next segment we study from Chapter 8 will deal with the judgment that is going to fall on Judah because of trusting in other gods and other nations. The very nation Judah thinks is its friend will almost destroy it.
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