The Book Of Isaiah. Day 37, A Messianic Prophecy, Part Two

The Lord has been foretelling a time of distress but He is also foretelling a time of rejoicing. The first part of this prophecy, which we studied yesterday, was fulfilled during the days of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. The remainder of this prophecy will be fulfilled when He returns to reign over the earth.

"You have enlarged the nation, and increased their joy; they rejoice before You as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian's defeat, You have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire." (Isaiah 9:3-5) Gideon and his men won a great victory over the enemy nation of Midian in Judges 7 and there was much rejoicing, but that victory pales in comparison to the victory of the Messiah. Under His eternal reign, war will cease to exist. Israel will have peace on every side. Death and conflict and disease and distress will be no more.

These things will be possible because the King of kings and Lord of lords, of the royal tribe of Judah, of the direct lineage of David, will be in charge. "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6) Isaiah says "to us", meaning the nation of Israel as a whole and to the tribe of Judah specifically; the Messiah will be of Jewish descent. But He will be the Savior of the Gentiles as well. He will be the Savior of all who place their trust in Him, Jews and Gentiles alike.

There can be no doubt that Isaiah is speaking of the Messiah. It would be blasphemy to refer to an ordinary man by the titles of "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace". This can only be the Lord who is reigning over the earth---the Lord in the person of God the Son. To call anyone else by these titles would be an abomination.

If this were not already made clear by what Isaiah says in verse 6, the concluding verses of Isaiah's prophecy will make it clear. No mere man can reign over every nation of the world, much less reign over the entire world forever and ever. "Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this." (Isaiah 9:7)

How can a human being born of the line of David live forever? How can the Lord be born as a man? This is something that can only be done by the Lord Himself, so Isaiah says, "The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this." Even the prophet Isaiah didn't know exactly how the Lord was going to fulfill this prophecy but he had faith that the Lord would accomplish it. 

We are blessed to be living in a time when we know how the Lord accomplished it! He accomplished it through the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ who is fully God and fully man. Because He has already fulfilled that portion of the prophecy, we can be absolutely confident that He will fulfill the second portion of the prophecy, which is that someday the Lord Jesus Christ will be King over all the earth, forever and ever, and that we who have placed our faith in Him will live forever and ever under His peaceful and glorious reign.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 36, A Messianic Prophecy, Part One

Chapter 8 ended on a note of warning and a plea to return to the living God. Very sore troubles are about to come upon the tribes of Israel: the northern kingdom will soon fall to Assyria and, although Assyria won't be able to take over the southern kingdom, its soldiers will plague Judah severely. In time even Judah will fall, but to the Neo-Babylonian Empire rather than to the Assyrian Empire.

In spite of these judgments that are going to come about because of the people's sin and idolatry, all is not lost. The Lord will still keep His promise to bless all nations through the seed of Abraham. The tribe of Judah will still be the royal tribe of Israel. The Messiah will still come from the line of David.

Chapter 9 opens on a positive note. "Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future He will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan." (Isaiah 9:1) The Lord speaks from a future standpoint here, as if He is looking back on things that have already happened, for anything the Lord says is going to happen is as good as done. There will be gloom and distress in the near future for Judah and Israel but there will be rejoicing in the far future.

The Assyrians will make more violent incursions upon the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali than on the other territories of Israel. They will "come up to the neck" of Judah, as the Lord previously predicted, but they won't be able to take the "head" (Jerusalem). But the area of Galilee, which lay within the area most devastated by the Assyrians, will be "honored" by the Lord. Of that time the Lord says, "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned." (Isaiah 9:2)

The light spoken of here is the light; or rather, we should say the Light, because this is a reference to the days of the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. This prophecy is fulfilled in the New Testament when Jesus begins His ministry in the regions that were so horribly devastated by the Assyrian Empire. Matthew's gospel account quotes from Isaiah 9 in the passage below in order to clearly link Isaiah 9 with Jesus' ministry.

"When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, He went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali---to fulfill what was said by the prophet Isaiah: 'Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles---the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.' From that time on Jesus began to preach, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." (Matthew 4:12-17) 

The Apostle John (not the John mentioned above by Matthew, which was a reference to John the Baptist) described many events and miracles that took place in the region of Galilee in his account of the gospel. Matthew doesn't go into as much detail regarding what Jesus did in that region but proclaims Him as the "light" of the world and indicates that Jesus' ministry began in the region of Galilee. This is where He first began preaching a message of repentance to all the land, as predicted by the prophet Isaiah. The "light" first began to dawn in that area and from there it shone into the uttermost parts of Judea: on Jews and Gentiles alike, for at that time the nation was under the control of the Roman Empire. 

Jesus began His public ministry in the territories named by Isaiah. This was the territory over which Herod was tetrarch and Herod was the one who had put John the Baptist in prison. John's ministry was effectively put to an end at that point; he was beheaded soon after being imprisoned. But John laid the important groundwork for Jesus' ministry and then was content to step to the side, saying of Jesus, "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:13) Jesus started preaching to the nation, in the very region where Isaiah said the light would first dawn, as soon as John's ministry was completed.

In our next study session we will look at the next segment of Isaiah 9, which is also a Messianic prophecy and contains perhaps the most famous quotation from the book of Isaiah in regard to Christ.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 35, Avoiding The Occult And The Practices Of Divination

The Lord is speaking to His people very clearly through Isaiah and through the other prophets of Isaiah's day. He could not make His instructions any plainer than He's already made them, yet many of the people prefer to practice divination---to consult mediums, to consult fortune tellers, and to use various other occult methods in order to obtain an answer from the spiritual realm. 

We find the Lord accusing them of doing such things as we near the end of Chapter 8. "When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?" (Isaiah 8:19) 

We know that King Ahaz, to whom Isaiah was sent in Chapter 7, is an idolatrous man. A number of the people of Judah in Isaiah's day are either dabbling in idolatry or have forsaken the Lord in favor of it. I would suggest that the person who mixes idolatry with their worship of the Lord is actually the most dangerous. Why is that? For one thing, they know better. This makes them a danger to themselves because they know that the Lord forbids participating in such things but they are deliberating choosing to disobey Him in this matter. Because they know better, they are more responsible for their sins than a heathen who has never heard of the God of Israel. 

Another reason they are a danger to themselves (and to others) is that they have one foot in the church and one foot in the occult. This puts them in a position to fall very far from the Lord and to influence others to fall from the Lord. A person who mixes their worship of the Lord with occult practices is a "lukewarm" believer, and we know that in Revelation 3:16 the Lord said lukewarm religion makes Him sick. He compared His distaste for lukewarm faith to the sensation of taking a big gulp of water, expecting it to be refreshing, but finding it to be at a disgusting temperature that makes a person want to spit it out. Cold water is refreshing. Hot water can be pleasant as well, for it is soothing to a dry and scratchy throat. But lukewarm water feels disgusting in the mouth, making a person want to spit it out rather than swallow it. 

Lukewarm believers think they are alright. They think that because they have knowledge of the Lord, they are free to dabble a bit in things they shouldn't. This is a dangerous state to be in. It's a state where a person tells himself or herself, "The Lord understands. He will forgive me if this isn't something He wants me to do." But the Lord isn't an irresponsible Father; He must step in and take action when a person fools around with occult practices. That person is hurting himself or herself and will usually end up being a bad influence on those close to them as well. 

The Lord asks the people of Judah something like, "Why would you forsake the living God in favor of having a medium call upon the dead? How can the dead help you? While they were still alive, they didn't possess the power to deliver you from your enemies. How does being dead imbue them with a power they didn't have while on the earth? It doesn't! Only the living God can help you! Only the living God has the power to deliver you from your enemies!"

The vast majority of people who claim to be able to contact the spirit world are charlatans. They are in the business of taking advantage of people. At best, a person will waste their money consulting them. t worst, they will be drawn into something spiritually dark and dangerous. In the small percentage of cases where a person is in contact with the unseen realm, I believe they are in contact with demons, not with our dead relatives. I do not believe the Bible supports the idea that mediums are actually talking to the souls of departed humans. For example, the medium in Acts 16 was possessed by a demon. She was a slave girl whose owners were taking advantage of her demon-possessed state by having her tell fortunes for money. The Apostle Paul cast the demon out, at which point the young lady could no longer perform this service for her masters, causing them to have Paul and his friend Silas beaten and arrested. Anyone who consulted this young woman for the purpose of divination was receiving a message from a demon, not from their deceased loved ones. 

Even in the case of the medium consulted by King Saul in 1 Samuel 28, when Saul asked her to call upon the spirit of the prophet Samuel, there is no proof that the woman actually saw Samuel. She claimed to see a man dressed in a prophet's robes and she passed along a dire message to Saul---the type of message we would expect Samuel to speak to him because of Saul's sinful ways---but we cannot be certain the woman actually saw or heard anything. The Bible does not say that Saul saw the man and we don't know whether the woman saw anything either. Even if she did, the Lord forbids His people to attempt to contact the spirit world, and that commandment should be enough to prevent us from doing it. Supposing we really could speak to the dead (or that a medium could do it for us), the Lord has said not to do it and that should be the end of the matter. There is no way we could be certain whether we were speaking to our departed loved one or whether a demon was masquerading as that person. There is never a good reason to open ourselves up to a demonic influence.

The believer is to consult the word of God when making decisions. The believer is also allowed to seek counsel from people who are demonstrably living godly lives, but with the caveat that those people's advice must be tested against the word of God. If their advice conflicts with His word on any point, it must be disregarded. No matter how much a person may love the Lord and how much they strive to be obedient to Him, all human beings make mistakes. A person could give bad advice without intending to lead anyone astray. "Consult God's instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn." (Isaiah 8:20) 

The one who consults the powers of darkness for direction will end up in disastrous circumstances. The one who eschews the Lord in favor of worldly advice will also miss out on what is best for them. They will stumble aimlessly through life like a person lost in the desert. Sadly, many will miss the Lord altogether because they prefer darkness to light. "Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness." (Isaiah 8:21-22)

The concluding verses of Chapter 8 remind me of these words of King Solomon: "A person's own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the Lord." (Proverbs 19:3) Solomon lived centuries before the prophet Isaiah but he had observed the same attitude in his time that Isaiah observed in his day: people were making foolish choices (choices that went against the word of God), then they were blaming God when their bad choices led to unhappy circumstances. It's not too late for any of the people of Judah to turn away from the practices that led them to make foolish choices. It's not too late for them to turn back to the living God and see what He says in His holy and perfect word. Most of them will not do this, but the Lord is offering the opportunity.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 34, Signs And Symbols

The final verses of the first segment of Chapter 8 involve Isaiah's sons being signs and symbols to the nation and they involve a prophecy that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

After faithfully relaying the Lord's warning regarding falling into a spirit of fear and regarding placing their trust in Assyria (or in anyone or anything except Him), Isaiah says to the people, "Bind up this testimony of warning and seal up God's instruction among my disciples." (Isaiah 8:16) The word of God is true. Everything He has foretold will take place exactly as He said it would.

However, not everyone will heed this warning. In fact, most of the people won't heed this warning. But Isaiah purposes in his heart to believe that the Lord is true to His word. Isaiah intends to keep his trust in Him. "I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding His face from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my trust in Him." (Isaiah 8:17)

Isaiah is waiting for the Lord to prove the message true. Isaiah told the people exactly what the Lord said to tell them. They can either accept or reject the message, but the message won't change. Many people scoffed at the Lord's prophets but Isaiah will be proven as a prophet of the Lord when the things he's predicted come true.

Two of the things he's predicted are reflected in the names of his sons, to whom he makes reference next. "Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion." (Isaiah 8:18) 

The name of Isaiah's son Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz means "hurry to the plunder". This is a reference to how the nation of Assyria, in whom Judah has put her trust, will attack and plunder Judah's enemies Israel and Aram, and it is also a reference to how Assyria will attack and plunder Judah. Israel and Aram will fall to Assyria, whereas the Lord will allow Assyria to plague Judah but not take the city of Jerusalem. The Lord had said that before Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz is old enough to say "mama" or "dada", this prophecy will come true.

The name of Isaiah's firstborn son, Shear-Jashub, means "a remnant shall return". This is a promise that although Israel will fall to Assyria and most of her citizens will be deported, and that although Judah will eventually fall to an enemy (Babylon) and most of her citizens will be deported, this is not the end of the descendants of Jacob. A number of them will return and rebuild after a time. The sign that this will really happen is that, as the Lord said, before Shear-Jashub is old enough to know right from wrong, Judah's enemies Israel and Aram will no longer be a threat. 

These prophecies both came true within about three years: Israel and Aram fell to Assyria; Assyria began plaguing Judah. But the fact that these prophecies came true is the proof that all of Isaiah's other prophecies are going to come true. The people will return. The people will rebuild. The Promised One will be born of the line of David. 

The Apostle Paul, who is believed to have been the author of the book of Hebrews, ascribed verse 18 to the Promised One when he used the words "Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me" in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ and His church in Hebrews 2:13. So we see that Isaiah's prophecy was twofold: it regarded the prophecies symbolized by the names of his own sons and it also regarded the prophecy of God's own Son. Because the prophecies symbolized by Isaiah's sons came true, the prophecies about the advent of the Promised One were also going to come true---and indeed they have come true!

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 33, The Solid Rock

In Tuesday's study we found the Lord urging the people, through the prophet Isaiah, not to panic because the kings of Israel and Aram are planning to come up against Jerusalem. He cautioned them not to fall for conspiracies or to believe rumors, for He will not allow Jerusalem to fall to these enemy kings. 

Our study concluded with this wise advice: "The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, He is the one you are to fear, He is the one you are to dread." (Isaiah 8:13) This type of "fear" means a holy and reverent awe, holding the Lord in the highest esteem and looking to Him for help. 

But we know, from our study of the kings, that although Judah experienced several spiritual revivals during her declining years, she eventually fell into as much sin and idolatry as did her sister Israel. If either of these nations had heeded the warnings of the prophets to regard the Lord as holy and to worship only Him, He would have been a source of comfort and protection and provision. But whenever anyone refuses to regard Him as Lord of their life, their hearts tend to grow ever harder against Him as time goes on. 

He will be the "Rock of Ages"---a firm and unshakable and unchanging foundation---for the one who trusts in Him. But for the one who "stumbles" over this Rock of Ages, (trying to bypass it and reject it rather than choosing to stand upon it), He will be the judge of their iniquity. This is the point Isaiah is making when he says: "He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah He will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem He will be a trap and a snare. Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured." (Isaiah 8:14-15)

It's not that the Lord wants them to stumble and fall. He doesn't want that at all. But He knows they are going to stumble and fall while trying every way possible to get around Him instead of basing their lives on Him. To paint a picture of this in our minds, let's imagine we need to travel across an area of ground but there is a large rock in the middle of it. The rock is easily climbable and offers safe footholds and a firm place to stand, but instead we decide to squeeze around it, getting ourselves scratched and entangled in briers, stumbling on the uneven ground around its base, stumbling and falling, getting bruised and cut. In this same manner, the Lord (the Rock) is the safe place to stand but many of the people of Isaiah's day were attempting to get through life without ever trusting Him, choosing instead to squeeze past Him at significant cost to themselves. 

Isaiah intends to trust the Rock of Ages, no matter what anyone else does. He warns those who have heard the word of God and rejected it; to them the Lord is the Rock upon which they will stumble. His words assure those in the minority who have decided to trust the Rock of Ages that to them the Lord is a firm foundation. "Bind up this testimony of warning and seal up God's instruction among my disciples. I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding His face from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my trust in Him." (Isaiah 8:16-17) The remainder of this particular passage from Chapter 8 is a twofold prophecy and time does not permit us to study it fully today, so tomorrow we will take a look at it and discuss how it pertains to Isaiah and his two sons and also to Christ and His church.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 32, Do Not Fear What They Fear

In today's text the Lord cautions Isaiah and other godly people not to fall prey to panic. The people of the Lord must keep their focus on Him, not on the state of the world, not on rumors, not on conspiracy theories. Fixating on such things only brings fear into the heart. In contrast, this is what the Lord will do for the one who keeps their eyes on Him: "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You." (Isaiah 26:3)

The people of Isaiah's nation of Judah have been thrown into a panic by the news that the kings of Israel and Aram have banded together to come and lay siege to Jerusalem. Isaiah is not to give way to such panic and the Lord has made that very clear to him. The prophet states, "This is what the Lord says to me with His strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people: 'Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.'" (Isaiah 8:11-12)

I am about to turn fifty-four years old and I have never seen such a time as the one in which we are currently living: a time in which so many citizens of the world have fallen prey to hundreds of conspiracy theories. People are panicking over things that are discussed online by people who are living in as much fear as they are. The more they immerse themselves in such panic-filled discussion boards, the more their own fear grows. Lately I've Googled some of the current conspiracy theories going around and was astonished to learn just how many people have lost everything they have by buying into various theories. I was astonished to learn how many people have cut off relationships with their loved ones because their loved ones aren't interested in doomsday prepping with them. What are all these things doing for anybody? I think the main purpose of it is Satanic: to get people's minds off the Lord and to isolate them from those who might try to direct their focus back to the Lord. 

We don't have to fear what the world fears. The child of God is never commanded to live in fear. In fact, over and over in the Scriptures we find the Lord saying to those who trust in Him: "Do not fear." 

How do we keep from becoming overly concerned about things that are going on in this world or when we see those around us going about their lives in a spirit of fear? We are to do what Isaiah, on the authority of Almighty God, says we are to do: "The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, He is the one you are to fear, He is the one you are to dread." (Isaiah 8:13) The "fear" of which Isaiah speaks is a holy and reverent awe. He's not saying we are to be living in constant dread that the Lord is going to smite us down; he's saying that if we put God first in our lives, everything else will fall into its proper place. He's saying that if we revere and serve the Lord, we will have a sense of calmness and peace that the world can't give us, which is why the Lord Jesus spoke these comforting words: "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27)

The peace the world gives is shallow and temporary. It depends on everything going the way we think it should. But the peace the Lord gives is a deep and abiding peace. It's the kind of peace that holds firm even when, by man's standards, it looks like the world is falling down around us.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 31, Prepare For Battle

King Ahaz of Judah thinks he's going to have to fight a battle against King Pekah of Israel and King Rezin of Aram. But the Lord has promised him, through the prophet Isaiah, that this threat will be overcome within a short time. He need not worry about this allied army; he needs to trust in the Lord and revere Him. If he does this, no army can stand against him. But as we learned from our study of the kings, Ahaz will pay the king of Assyria a great deal of money in order to "buy" him as an ally. He will even commission the construction of an altar to an Assyrian god and order it to be placed in the temple, with the Lord's altar relegated to an out-of-the-way place, and he will command all of his own sacrifices and offerings to be made upon that altar. He will even command all of the people's sacrifices and offerings to be made upon that altar, whether the people want this or not.

The nation that is currently Judah's friend will soon make itself a foe. The Lord is going to allow Judah to be plagued by Assyria because the king and so many of the people are placing their trust in Assyria (and in pagan gods) instead of trusting in the Lord. The nation must brace itself for battle---not a battle against Israel and Aram but a battle against Assyria. 

Isaiah says, "The Lord spoke to me again: 'Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates---the king of Assyria with all his pomp.'" (Isaiah 8:5-7a) This passage is generally believed to indicate that there was a growing political group in Judah whose members wanted to submit to the allied forces of Israel and Aram. The Lord says people of Judah are "rejoicing over Rezin" (the king of Aram) and "the son of Remaliah" (Pekah, king of Israel). This indicates that a not-insignificant number of people in Judah are dissatisfied with King Ahaz and are putting their support behind these two other kings. Perhaps they believe Judah should join with Israel and Aram to form the largest coalition of nations and armies of the era, thereby relieving all three nations of the threat of invasion from Assyria, Egypt, or any other country on earth.

The Lord refers to the stream of Shiloah which lay just outside of Jerusalem because it is a vital source of water for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The Lord refers to this gently flowing stream as a symbol of Himself---Himself as the source of their provision. So we see that some of the people are not only rejecting Ahaz, their earthly king, but are rejecting the Lord, the King of kings. The Lord promised the tribes of Israel before He ever brought them into the promised land that if they remained faithful to Him, He would protect them from every enemy. It wouldn't have mattered how many nations banded together to come against them; the Lord would have given them victory. They would never have had to worry about the size of anyone's army, even if they themselves were desperately outnumbered, because the Lord would have been on their side. But they have been dabbling in idolatry for a long time. They have not yet fallen as far into it as the citizens of the northern kingdom of Israel, but they eventually will. Therefore, in saying that they have rejected Shiloah, the Lord is saying they have rejected Him. They are instead calling upon the king of Assyria, whose nation was founded along the Euphrates River, and just as a large river can rush in and inundate the plains, the Assyrian army to rush in and inundate much of Judah's territory.

We will reread verse 7b and go on from there. "Therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates---the king of Assyria with all his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks, and 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, Immanuel." (Isaiah 8:7-8) It's only by the mercy of the Lord that the Assyrians will not be able to take Jerusalem, which is why the prophecy says that the enemy will come "up to the neck". The "head" of the nation is Jerusalem and the Lord will prevent it from falling to the Assyrian army. 

Although Judah will not be conquered by the Assyrian Empire, as Israel and several other countries will be, Assyria will be a continual threat to Judah and will cause much distress and destruction upon Judah. "Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered! Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, and be shattered! Prepare for battle, and be shattered! Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted.; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us." (Isaiah 8:9-10) The Lord has determined that some nations will fall to Assyria. The Lord has determined to discipline Judah by Assyria but not to allow Jerusalem to fall to this enemy. Therefore, the concluding verses of our text today are both a warning and a word of comfort. The warning is that the same thing can happen to Judah that will happen to other nations if the people don't turn back wholeheartedly to the Lord. During the days when the Assyrian army comes to lay siege to Jerusalem, a better man than Ahaz will be occupying the throne and he will be a godly influence on the people. Because of this, the Lord will have mercy on Jerusalem and will repel the enemy. If the people had remained in their revived spiritual state, the Neo-Babylonian Empire would never have been a threat to them, but eventually they will fall farther from the Lord than they ever have been before.

Sometimes the enemy is not who we think it is. We can actually be our own worst enemy---a far greater enemy to ourselves than anyone or anything else can ever be---when we drift away from the Lord and place our trust elsewhere.