Day By Day - Isaiah 8
By Jacob Muthsam
Personal Thoughts:
I write this with a near sense of anxiety. This passage has about six sermons (within the 18,000 words) that I can see, yet our Day By Day studies have an aim of 500 words.
Here’s the great part of doing Isaiah in our Day by Day studies: The 500 words give an entrée to the main food. The reader is responsible for seeking God through the scripture for meaning and understanding. The great news is that the Holy Spirit who writes the words you read, dwells in you and leads you into an understanding of the passage. But here are three thoughts to get you started.
Thought 1:
The passage opens with an outstanding learning for us. It says:
The Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.”
Now, as we read on, it tells us Isaiah went and made love to the prophetess - which resulted in a son being born. (The Bible talks about sex, and the church should not be afraid to stand and speak about right Godly sexual integrity.)
While this passage doesn’t say the prophetess is Isaiah's wife, this is his second child to the same prophetess and we can assume that it is his wife because God would not speak directing Isaiah towards sin.
But here is what is important: Before Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz was born, before he was conceived, God knew his name.
You are not an accident, you are not a surprise to God. You and I and every person are here in this world on purpose and for a purpose. God knows your name, He formed you before time. That’s a wonderful understanding to have.
Thought 2:
In this passage we read:
vs 11-12 '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.." '
I felt this is relevant for our day and our generation.
With social media, where everyone has an opinion and everyone is ‘researched’ on the ‘right way’ to do things, we see an uprising of groups and ways of life, leading and pushing their own agendas.
We have various groups in today’s world declaring coronavirus a conspiracy. We have various groups calling vaccinations a conspiracy. We have groups suggesting we no longer eat meat and groups suggesting Biblical patterns of life and living out-dated.
God says: Don’t follow the way of people!
So how do we make sure we “don’t follow the way of people” ?
We follow the way of God, through what Scripture and the Holy Spirit tells us.
Thought 3:
vs 19-20 "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? Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn."
This is a great learning for us. Who do we listen to… ?
Who’s speaking into your life?
Don’t take advice from people who are not connected to our God!
Final Thoughts:
As I read this chapter and, in fact, as I read Isaiah I’m encouraged and reminded I have a God who speaks and a God who controls this world. My life makes perfect sense when I’m listening to the scriptwriter of my story.
Personal Thoughts:
I write this with a near sense of anxiety. This passage has about six sermons (within the 18,000 words) that I can see, yet our Day By Day studies have an aim of 500 words.
Here’s the great part of doing Isaiah in our Day by Day studies: The 500 words give an entrée to the main food. The reader is responsible for seeking God through the scripture for meaning and understanding. The great news is that the Holy Spirit who writes the words you read, dwells in you and leads you into an understanding of the passage. But here are three thoughts to get you started.
Thought 1:
The passage opens with an outstanding learning for us. It says:
The Lord said to me, “Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.”
Now, as we read on, it tells us Isaiah went and made love to the prophetess - which resulted in a son being born. (The Bible talks about sex, and the church should not be afraid to stand and speak about right Godly sexual integrity.)
While this passage doesn’t say the prophetess is Isaiah's wife, this is his second child to the same prophetess and we can assume that it is his wife because God would not speak directing Isaiah towards sin.
But here is what is important: Before Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz was born, before he was conceived, God knew his name.
You are not an accident, you are not a surprise to God. You and I and every person are here in this world on purpose and for a purpose. God knows your name, He formed you before time. That’s a wonderful understanding to have.
Thought 2:
In this passage we read:
vs 11-12 '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.." '
I felt this is relevant for our day and our generation.
With social media, where everyone has an opinion and everyone is ‘researched’ on the ‘right way’ to do things, we see an uprising of groups and ways of life, leading and pushing their own agendas.
We have various groups in today’s world declaring coronavirus a conspiracy. We have various groups calling vaccinations a conspiracy. We have groups suggesting we no longer eat meat and groups suggesting Biblical patterns of life and living out-dated.
God says: Don’t follow the way of people!
So how do we make sure we “don’t follow the way of people” ?
We follow the way of God, through what Scripture and the Holy Spirit tells us.
Thought 3:
vs 19-20 "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? Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn."
This is a great learning for us. Who do we listen to… ?
Who’s speaking into your life?
Don’t take advice from people who are not connected to our God!
Final Thoughts:
As I read this chapter and, in fact, as I read Isaiah I’m encouraged and reminded I have a God who speaks and a God who controls this world. My life makes perfect sense when I’m listening to the scriptwriter of my story.
Posted in Isaiah