Slices
Prepare
‘Do not fear, for I am with you’ (Isaiah 41:10). The Lord expects his presence to reduce your fear. Do you?
Bible passage
Isaiah and his children as signs
8 The Lord said to me, ‘Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.’ 2 So I called in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me. 3 Then I made love to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said to me, ‘Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. 4 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.’
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,
7 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
8 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!’
9 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!
10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted;
propose your plan, but it will not stand,
for God is with us.
11 This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people:
12 ‘Do not call conspiracy
everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
and do not dread it.
13 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.
14 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.
15 Many of them will stumble;
they will fall and be broken,
they will be snared and captured.’
16 Bind up this testimony of warning
and seal up God’s instruction among my disciples.
17 I will wait for the Lord,
who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob.
I will put my trust in him.
18 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.
Explore
Some friends of mine named their cat Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (‘Hash-Baz’ for short) because it meant ‘quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil’ (v 1). A dangerous predator for Isaiah’s Jerusalem was the kingdom of Assyria, which would soon invade and plunder Judah’s northern enemies. The Lord told Isaiah and his wife to name their new son Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, as a living sign to the people of Judah that they too would be pounced on, overwhelmed and plundered (vs 7,8).
The Lord then encourages his prophet. Don’t live in dread of disaster, of conspiracies or rumours (v 12). The nations of the world may launch unspeakably wicked wars, and they may or may not prosper. But God remains; he is still with us – Immanuel (vs 8,10). Fearsome as the threat may be, the Lord Almighty is the one to trust and fear, more than a powerful enemy, though this will be too much for some to swallow. It would be their downfall (vs 13–15).
The people were unresponsive, and the Lord was ‘hiding’ from them. So Isaiah withdrew a little to reinforce God’s instruction to his disciples. Isaiah himself would take the opportunity to renew his own trust in the Lord, and wait (vs 16,17).
Respond
Are you more inclined to exaggerate threats and problems or to be in denial of them? Perhaps Immanuel, God being with you, can help you bring them into a truer perspective.
Deeper Bible study
Lord, I have many fears in this world. Give me grace to trust and to wait, resting in all that you are and have promised.
Another child is born, another sign is given. It’s another word of warning, of judgement. Assyria is coming, having been given a role by God to overwhelm Judah’s opponents, Israel and Syria (v 4). However, the brutal Assyrians won’t stop there. Like a flood, they will submerge Judah too (v 8). When God’s people take pleasure in the Assyrian attacks on their enemies (v 6) they disregard their own lack of immunity from judgement. The child’s name, Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, says it clearly – judgement is coming and it’s coming soon.
The call on Immanuel (meaning ‘God with us’, v 8) follows a judgement of unbelief as well as an assurance of protection (v 10). This same tension of hope and judgement is reflected in the stone imagery of verse 14. God as a rock is both shelter and stumbling block. Complacency and judgementalism have no part in the thinking of the people of God.
The Assyrians are one example, but all human forces are under the command of God. In their pride, they must never assume independent authority. They may make deadly plans, but they will be thwarted (v 10). So, which is the greater fear – that of being in the hands of the Assyrians or the hands of the Lord Almighty? For Isaiah there’s no question – ‘he is the one you are to dread’ (v 13); ‘I will put my trust in him’ (v 17).
With enemies in the ascendancy and fear of what human power can do to us at its most fierce, where do we turn? What signs has God given us? In Isaiah, two children. We know that the cross and resurrection witness to human power trying to do away with the Christ of God but also to ‘God with us’ in salvation, in resurrection power, in the defeat of sin and death. He has overcome the world.
Isaiah is confident, but knows he has to ‘wait for the Lord’ (v 17). How are you getting on with waiting? Who can you encourage in a time of waiting?
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Nehemiah 11,12; Luke 9
Pray for Scripture Union
This summer, thousands of children will have the opportunity to explore faith and encounter Jesus through our holidays and missions. Please pray that each child who comes will be excited for the adventure ahead, and that any nervousness that they might have about going away to a new environment will be quickly overcome.
