Unbelief Deserves God's Judgment

1 Then the Lord said to me, “Make a large signboard and clearly write this name on it: Maher-shalal-hash-baz.” 2 I asked Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, both known as honest men, to witness my doing this.

3 Then I slept with my wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said, “Call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 4 For before this child is old enough to say ‘Papa’ or ‘Mama,’ the king of Assyria will carry away both the abundance of Damascus and the riches of Samaria.”

5 Then the Lord spoke to me again and said, 6 “My care for the people of Judah is like the gently flowing waters of Shiloah, but they have rejected it. They are rejoicing over what will happen to King Rezin and King Pekah. 7 Therefore, the Lord will overwhelm them with a mighty flood from the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria and all his glory. This flood will overflow all its channels 8 and sweep into Judah until it is chin deep. It will spread its wings, submerging your land from one end to the other, O Immanuel.

9 “Huddle together, you nations, and be terrified.
Listen, all you distant lands.
Prepare for battle, but you will be crushed!
Yes, prepare for battle, but you will be crushed!
10 Call your councils of war, but they will be worthless.
Develop your strategies, but they will not succeed.
For God is with us!”

Ahaz king of Judah refused to be persuaded by God’s word or by God’s sign. So Isaiah prophesied that what Ahaz feared would come to pass. God’s judgment would fall on Israel, and this would happen through the terrible fist of the Assyrian army (see Isaiah 7:17-24). The prophecy also accelerated judgment on Damascus and Samaria. A new sign was prophesied. A child named Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz would be born to Isaiah and his wife. “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.”

Oddly, all of this has to do with the confession that ends verse 10 of our reading. The last word in verse 10 is literally “Immanuel”—“God with us.” No human plans can thwart God’s plans. It matters not whether those plans are devised by Ahaz or by the mighty warlords of Assyria. The truth of Immanuel turns to dust all plans that are empty of God’s intentions.

God has devised an invincible plan of blessing that will bring good news to all the nations of the earth through the one who bears the name “Immanuel.”

As we make our personal plans, wisdom demands that we take God’s intentions seriously. Whose game plan do we live by? Our own pathetic strategies—or God’s unfailing purposes?

Father, have mercy on us. We do believe your Word. Thank you for the blessing that comes through your beloved Son, who took on himself the judgment for our sins. Amen.