Isaiah 8 to 12
The people to whom Isaiah spoke knew from the psalms and other scriptures, that a mighty king was to come to conquer all enemies and rule in peace. In the visions, Isaiah saw that Holy One as first a child:
“Unto us a Child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder: His name shall be. called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isa, 9:6.
All those names taught how great that One would be. Isaiah was also shown of that One as king, called, the Rod, which means to correct and rule; He would have all wisdom, and then even the wild animals would be gentle; “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion together; and a little child shall lead them ... the sucking child shall play on the hole of asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den.” Isa. 11:1-9.
Such a happy time has not yet come; no one could trust a lamb or a child with a wolf or a lion, not leave a little child beside the hole of poisonous serpents. Yet there will surely be a time when those words will come true.
The people then who believed God’s words must have thought much of that One to come. But many did not want to hear of a holy King, because they were doing such wrong things, and worshiping idols. Because of that, God told Isaiah to take a great roll and write of trouble to come to all Israel; men of the temple were to sign this record, so it would be known to be true. The long hard name of this record meant “sold for spoil”; what is taken by the victors in war is called “spoil”; God said that the people should be sold for spoil; it was their sins which would “sell” them; the heathen kings they had made their friends, would turn against them to get their riches and make them their servants.
The words “sold for spoil”, came true some years later: a king of Assyria (a country east of Palestine) took the people of Damascus and the people of Israel in Samaria, and made them his servants, (Isa, 8:4; 2 Kings 16:9, and 17:6); a later king came frorn Babylon against Judah and Jerusalem, “as a river overflows its banks” and took their wealth and carried many of the people away captives (Isa, 8:7, 8; 2 Chiron, 36:15-20).
Yet God promised a few, “a remnant”, should return to Judah, and again in the tline of the Holy King there should be a remnant come from all lands (Isa.11:11, also Isa, 10:21, 22; Rom. 9:27).
When Jesus was born in the same land where Isaiah had lived, the angel told of Him, as of the promised holy child:
“Unto you is born this day ... a Saviour (One who saves), which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:8-14 (Read also Matt. 4:13-16).
But this holy One was refused as king, and people still wait the time of peace (Read Isa. 12).
ML 11/09/1941