Devotionary

By the time God is done delivering and transforming them, they will know that it has all happened according to His power and in keeping with His promises to them. He will have done great things and they will gladly give Him glory.

God has promised that there will be a ruler to sit on the throne of David. He has also promised a remnant of God’s people will one day rule alongside the Son of David is a restored Kingdom of Israel. And what God promises, He always brings about.

God’s overarching agenda for mankind goes far beyond any ethnic, regional, or historical confines. He has the big picture in mind. And right when circumstances seem to indicate that God is done, He surprises us with His eternal plan.

It is amazing to think that God is going to keep every single one of His promises to Israel. They had violated their covenant relationship with Him time and time again, but He will remain true to His word – until a full end to His promises has come about.

Assyria besieged Jerusalem, according to God’s sovereign plan. Then God turns warns that He is going to punish them for doing what He had ordained them to do. Is God capricious and fickle? Or sovereign and holy, and completely right in all He does?

God doesn’t excuse our sinfulness or take it lightly. His holiness will not allow Him to do so. He must punish sin. He must deal justly and righteously with rebellious men and women. Because sin, if left unaccounted for, will spread like cancer.

From the politicians to the priests, corruption and immorality filled their ranks and trickled down to the people under their care. Spiritual darkness filled the land and there were going to be even more lightless days in the foreseeable future.

God was going to shine a bright light into the darkened corners and hidden recesses of His chosen people, exposing their true spiritual condition and providing them with a means of being restored to a right relationship with Him.

We face opposition in this life. We come under threats for our faith. So did Isaiah, and that is why, in Isaiah 8:11-22, God told the prophet to fear Him and not men. He was to stay faithful, even when tempted to compromise and cave in.

In the face of the coming judgment, even the birth of this baby boy was meant to be a sign of God’s good fortune and future blessing. He would live to see the fall of Judah, but his name was an assurance that God would be with them no matter what happened.

God promised to send someone to assist the people of Israel. It would be Immanuel, whose name means, “God with us.” God was letting Ahaz and the people of Judah know that His coming judgment of them would not be a sign that He was no longer with them.

King Ahaz was going to be faced with the task of taking God at His word, or allowing the circumstances surrounding him to dictate his decision-making. Would He trust God, in spite of what was going on around him, or would he allow his fear to overwhelm his faith in God.

Judah would be spiritually deaf and blind – incapable of hearing and heeding the message of the prophet. And it would all be the sovereign work of God. The only thing they would find themselves free to do would be to continue in sin.

In spite of his awareness of his own unworthiness, Isaiah displays a remarkable enthusiasm to be used by God, saying, “Here I am, send me!” He wanted to serve Yahweh by offering his life in faithful service.

Discontentment is a disease that is communicable. It can spread from one person to the next, infecting the entire family of God. Which is why God, like a surgeon, was going to extract it from their midst.