Isaiah 8 (HCSB)
The Coming Assyrian Invasion
1 Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large piece of parchment and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-shalal-hash-baz. 2 I have appointed trustworthy witnesses—Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah.”
3 I was then intimate with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz, 4 for before the boy knows how to call out father or mother, the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria.”
5 The Lord spoke to me again:
6 Because these people rejected the slowly flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoiced with Rezin and the son of Remaliah, 7 the Lord will certainly bring against them the mighty rushing waters of the Euphrates River—the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will overflow its channels and spill over all its banks. 8 It will pour into Judah, flood over it, and sweep through, reaching up to the neck; and its spreading streams will fill your entire land, Immanuel!
9 Band together, peoples, and be broken; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for war, and be broken; prepare for war, and be broken. 10 Devise a plan; it will fail. Make a prediction; it will not happen. For God is with us.
The Lord of Hosts, the Only Refuge
11 For this is what the Lord said to me with great power, to keep me from going the way of this people:
12 Do not call everything an alliance these people say is an alliance. Do not fear what they fear; do not be terrified. 13 You are to regard only the Lord of Hosts as holy. Only He should be feared; only He should be held in awe. 14 He will be a sanctuary; but for the two houses of Israel, He will be a stone to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 Many will stumble over these; they will fall and be broken; they will be snared and captured.
16 Bind up the testimony. Seal up the instruction among my disciples. 17 I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob. I will wait for Him.
18 Here I am with the children the Lord has given me to be signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of Hosts who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 When they say to you, “Consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who chirp and mutter,” shouldn’t a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them.
21 They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22 They will look toward the earth and see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness.
Isaiah 9 (HCSB)
Birth of the Prince of Peace
1 Nevertheless, the gloom of the distressed land will not be like that of the former times when He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the future He will bring honor to the Way of the Sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations.
2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness. 3 You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people have rejoiced before You as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils. 4 For You have shattered their oppressive yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as You did on the day of Midian. 5 For the trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire. 6 For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.
The Hand Raised against Israel
8 The Lord sent a message against Jacob; it came against Israel. 9 All the people—Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria—will know it. They will say with pride and arrogance:
10 “The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with cut stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.” 11 The Lord has raised up Rezin’s adversaries against him and stirred up his enemies. 12 Aram from the east and Philistia from the west have consumed Israel with open mouths. In all this, His anger is not removed, and His hand is still raised to strike.
13 The people did not turn to Him who struck them; they did not seek the Lord of Hosts. 14 So the Lord cut off Israel’s head and tail, palm branch and reed in a single day. 15 The head is the elder, the honored one; the tail is the prophet, the lying teacher. 16 The leaders of the people mislead them, and those they mislead are swallowed up. 17 Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over Israel’s young men and has no compassion on its fatherless and widows, for everyone is a godless evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. In all this, His anger is not removed, and His hand is still raised to strike.
18 For wickedness burns like a fire that consumes thorns and briers and kindles the forest thickets so that they go up in a column of smoke. 19 The land is scorched by the wrath of the Lord of Hosts, and the people are like fuel for the fire. No one has compassion on his brother. 20 They carve meat on the right, but they are still hungry; they have eaten on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one eats the flesh of his own arm. 21 Manasseh is with Ephraim,
and Ephraim with Manasseh; together, both are against Judah. In all this, His anger is not removed, and His hand is still raised to strike.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 8:13): Father, please forgive me for not always holding You in awe above all else. Forgive me for often losing focus on You and worshiping false idols. Help me to remind myself always that You and You alone are holy as everything on this earth is corrupt with sin and the selfish desires of the flesh.
PROMISE (verse 8:14): You promise us, Lord, that for Your believers and followers You are a sanctuary. For the unbelievers, You are a stone to stumble over, a rock to trip over, and a trap/snare that binds them. Thank You for the sanctuary You provide to us my God!
ATTITUDE (verse 9:3): I often have trouble seeking and embracing the joy You bring, Father. Help me to truly feel, love, rejoice, and increase in the joy that You offer me, Lord. Help me to change my sorrow-filled attitude so that I may not only internalize Your joy, but also increase the joy of others.
COMMAND (verses 8:19-20): You command us, Father, to be cautious of false prophets, false testimony, and false truths. You command us that Your people should always seek You, Your word, and Your truth because there is no light in the false prophets; only You reveal light!
EXAMPLE (verses 9:2-3): You give us a great example of the joy only You provide, Father. You show us that if we embrace Your joy that we will be so filled with joy that it will overflow out of us so that others will experience Your joy as well and celebrate it.
*DAILY NOTE: Father, thank you for speaking to me through this Scripture. Thank you for driving me to read both chapters instead of just the one today. Having the combination of the two chapters for my quiet time with You today definitely helped me more than I could imagine. I must get better at putting You above everything and embracing the fruits of the Spirit only Your light can provide. Help with, Father, so that I walk in Your path and Your ways; not my own and not the world's expectations of me.
*GENERAL NOTE: I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.
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