And Jehovah spoke again to me, saying,
God speaks to Isaiah again, right after the sign-child Maher-shalal-hash-baz. This new word turns from Israel's enemies to Judah's own heart, and explains how a people offered a quiet stream ended up under a flood.
God speaks again to a people who had already turned His words down. Compassion is why the word comes at all.
But the Lord God of their fathers had not yet passed the solemn sentence, "There was no remedy." He would not yet hold back His hand, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place, even though they had despised His words. And again He gives another sign, another symbolic child, whose name was Maher-shalal-hash-baz — "in making speed to the spoil he hastens the prey."
Shiloah was a small, quietly flowing stream by Jerusalem. In the message that follows this verse it carries a meaning: God's promise to David's line, which the people traded for a military alliance.
The people despised the promises to the house of David — despised the waters of Shiloah, and, trusting in human strength, cried out for a confederacy. The house of David itself, despising the promises, sought help by an alliance with the Assyrian, and removed the altar of Jehovah, putting a heathen altar in its place in the temple.
A gentle stream makes no show of strength. That is why the people turned from it.
This people had refused the softly flowing waters of Shiloah. They had despised the house of David, rejoicing in Rezin and Pekah, not in God's gentle way, which keeps the heart always dependent. If the flesh can have a support, it is in man, in what looks strong; it has no confidence if there is only God for tomorrow. From the moment we would rest tomorrow on a good thought of today, it is our own righteousness. God would have us be in appearance the most feeble, so that He should be our only strength.
Judah wanted the Assyrian as a helper. God gives him to them in another role.
They despised the waters of Shiloah, so the Lord brings on them the waters of the river, strong and many. He sends against them as their master the one they leaned on. Such is the end of man's wisdom.
God lets the flood rise, but it meets a limit. The land belongs to Immanuel, and the scene reaches past Isaiah's own day to the last days.
We are here looking at the scenes of the last days, whatever picture of them was given in the partial fulfilment near at hand. They despised the water of Shiloah. So the far different waters of the Assyrian must come, and these all but overwhelming, when He shall at length appear to vindicate His land. His incarnation had been announced to the unbelieving Ahaz as God's sign in mercy. The Assyrian fills the land in his pride, reaching even "to the neck." Yet he is not just checked and put to shame. He is utterly and for ever broken in Immanuel's land.
The same pool appears again in the New Testament, under the name Siloam. Its name carries a message.
A pool on the south of Jerusalem near the west slope of the Kidron valley... In Isaiah 8:6 the name SHILOAH is used as a symbol. The people refused its waters that went softly, preferring Syria and the king of Israel. The strong waters of Assyria would sweep them away. In the New Testament the man born blind had clay put on his eyes and was sent to wash at Siloam, which means "sent." Christ is the Sent One. So the picture teaches us that light comes when we know Christ in His humiliation as the Sent One of God.
- Again — God speaks once more while the sentence still waits. He had compassion on His people and His dwelling place, though they had despised His words.
- Shiloah — the quiet stream stands for God's promise to the house of David. The nation swapped it for human strength and an alliance.
- Gentleness — God's soft-flowing way keeps the heart dependent on Him. The flesh wants a support that looks strong, and will not have only God for tomorrow.
- Reversal — refuse the small stream and you get the great river. The power they leaned on comes back as their master, and there man's wisdom ends.
- Immanuel — the flood rises to the neck and no further, for the land is His. The pool they refused means "sent," pointing to Christ in humiliation as the One sent from God.
Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah which flow softly, and rejoiceth in Rezin and in the son of Remaliah,
Isaiah points to a small stream that runs quietly past Jerusalem, and to a people who wanted something stronger. Behind the picture is a real crisis: two enemy kings pressing on Judah, and a nation deciding whom to trust.
Rezin and the son of Remaliah were two kings who joined forces against Judah.
He was king of Syria. Together with Pekah king of Israel he attacked Ahaz, king of Judah. Isaiah was sent to comfort Ahaz, but Ahaz asked Assyria for help and sent its king silver and gold. Rezin was killed, Damascus was left in ruins, and its people were carried off into captivity.
Shiloah is a real place, the pool also called Siloam, and its name carries a meaning that reaches into the New Testament.
Siloam is a pool on the south side of Jerusalem, near the west slope of the Kidron valley. In Isaiah 8:6, under the name Shiloah, it stands as a picture. The people refused its gently flowing waters and preferred Syria and the king of Israel, so the strong waters of Assyria would sweep them away. In the New Testament the man born blind had clay put on his eyes and was sent to wash at Siloam, a name that means "sent." Christ is the Sent One. So the picture teaches us that light comes when we know Christ in His humiliation as the One God sent.
The quiet stream stood for God's promises to David's family. Turning from it meant leaning on human strength instead.
But they refused the gently flowing waters of Shiloah. Those waters stood for the promises made to the house of David, given to cheer the heart of the faithful one until Shiloh would come. Instead they took their joy in human strength, in Rezin and Remaliah's son. So the Lord Jehovah Himself would step in. In place of the refreshing streams of Shiloah He would bring on them a fierce flood, reaching up to the neck, overflowing its channels and its banks — the King of Assyria and all his glory.
A gentle stream gives no visible guarantee for tomorrow. That is the problem, and that is the point.
This people had refused the gently flowing waters of Shiloah. They had despised the house of David and taken their joy in Rezin and Pekah, not in God's quiet way, which keeps the heart always dependent. If the flesh can find a support, it finds it in man, in what looks strong. It has no confidence when there is only God for tomorrow... God would have us look the weakest of all, so that He alone is our strength.
The failure ran through the whole nation, top to bottom.
The people here had no faith, any more than the king in the scene before. Both of them despised the ways and the promises of God. Man was their confidence, just as man was their fear... Their punishment would be just. The raging river, the Assyrian, would rise and overflow, and would almost swallow the land.
The judgment matches the sin. They wanted stronger water, and stronger water is what they get.
Because they despised the waters of Shiloah, the Lord brings on them the waters of the river, strong and many. He sends against them, as their master, the very one they leaned on. Such is the end of man's wisdom.
The nation had refused to stay under God's hand, and the result was inevitable.
Because the nation would not remain in subjection, they must be given up to the enemy.
The flood is real, but it has a limit, and the limit is a Person.
Once Immanuel is brought in, everything changes; the land is His. The Assyrian reaches up to the neck, because the waters of Shiloah had been despised. But Immanuel secured it all. So the prophetic Spirit moves on to the events of the last days, and Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, was only a picture of them. He shows all the plans and alliances of the nations brought to nothing because of Immanuel — God with us... And what course should the remnant follow? They are not to be shaken by the fear of the people, and they are not to join their alliances. Instead they are to set apart the Lord of hosts Himself as holy.
The refusal is not the last word on Israel's story.
Then as the Shepherd of Israel He will feed His flock, for they will no longer refuse "the waters of Shiloah that flow gently."
- Refused — the gentle stream stood for God's promises to David's house. Refusing it meant taking joy in human strength instead, in Rezin and Pekah.
- Reason — God's quiet way keeps the heart dependent, and the flesh has no confidence when there is only God for tomorrow.
- Retribution — He sends against them, as their master, the very power they leaned on; that is where human wisdom ends.
- Restraint — the Assyrian flood rises to the neck and no further, because the land belongs to Immanuel, God with us.
- Return — one day the flock will no longer refuse the gently flowing waters. Until then the faithful are not to join the world's alliances, but to set apart the Lord of hosts Himself as holy.
therefore behold, the Lord will bring up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory; and he shall mount up over all his channels, and go over all his banks
God's people refused a quiet stream He had given them and leaned on human strength instead. Isaiah answers that the power they leaned on will flood their land, rising over its banks.
The previous verse names a quiet stream the people turned down. What that water stood for explains why God answers with a flood.
They refused the soft-flowing waters of Shiloah — those promises to the house of David, given to cheer the heart of the faithful one until Shiloh would come. They rejoiced instead in human strength, in Rezin and Remaliah's son. So the Lord Jehovah Himself would step in. Instead of the refreshing streams of Shiloah, He would bring on them the fierce torrent that would reach to the neck, overflowing its channels and its banks — the king of Assyria and all his glory.
Why would anyone prefer the strong current? Because something in us cannot rest on God alone for tomorrow.
This people had refused the softly flowing waters of Shiloah. They had despised the house of David and rejoiced in Rezin and Pekah. They did not rejoice in God's gentle way, which keeps the heart always dependent. If the flesh can have a support, it is in man, in what looks strong; it has no confidence if there is only God for tomorrow... God would have us be in appearance the most feeble, so that He should be our only strength.
Notice who brings the river. The Lord does it, and He shapes the punishment to fit the choice.
They despised the waters of Shiloah. So the Lord brings on them the waters of the river, strong and many. He sends against them as their master the one on whom they leaned. Such is the end of man's wisdom.
The "waters of the River, mighty and many" are not about weather. Rising, overflowing water is a standard picture in the prophets, and this verse names what it means: a king and his army.
This is a figure well known in the prophets, used to signify overwhelming destruction by invading hostile armies. See, for example, Isaiah 10:22; Isaiah 28:2; Jer. 47:2; Dan. 11:22. It may also allude to the flood of Noah's day, when the overflowing waters swept away the corrupt and the ungodly.
Others read the picture in a related way — rivers standing for peoples in motion, driven by the principles that rule them.
The rivers represent the activity of the people under certain principles; Isa. 8:5-8. The waters of the river (v. 7) are the king of Assyria and all his glory.
The flood rises high, but it does not drown the land. Kelly reads the picture as pointing past Isaiah's own day to the last days, and past the invader to the One who owns the land.
We are here looking at the scenes of the last days, whatever foreshadowing there may be in the partial fulfilment near at hand. The water of Shiloah was despised, so the far different waters of the Assyrian must come, and these are all but overwhelming. Then He shall at length appear to vindicate His land — the One whose coming as a man God had announced to the unbelieving Ahaz as His sign in mercy. The Assyrian fills the land in pride, reaching even "to the neck". Yet he is not simply checked and put to shame. He is broken utterly and for ever in Immanuel's land.
The chapter does not leave the godly to be swept along with the nation. They are given a different fear, and a shelter.
This overwhelming disaster would come on the nation as a whole. But God would keep a faithful and godly remnant safe. The pledge of that deliverance was that the virgin's Son, Immanuel, is with them (v. 10). The land is Immanuel's, and He will be in the midst of His people... The godly are therefore urged not to fear what the ungodly fear, but to "sanctify the LORD of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. And He shall be for a sanctuary" (Isa. 8:12-14).
- Refused — The people turned down God's quiet stream — the promises tied to David's house. They cheered for human strength instead.
- Preferred — God's gentle way keeps the heart dependent day by day. The flesh reaches for what looks strong. So God leaves His people looking weak, that He alone may be their strength.
- Repaid — The Lord Himself brings the river up: He sends back the power they leaned on, now as their master. That is where human cleverness ends.
- Restrained — The flood is an invading army, and it rises only to the neck. The land is Immanuel's, and there the invader is broken for ever.
- Refuge — In the rising water the faithful do not join the panic. They treat the LORD of hosts as holy, and He becomes their sanctuary.
and he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow it and go further, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel!
Isaiah has warned that Assyria will pour over the land like a river bursting its banks. Here the flood sweeps south into Judah — and the verse names the trampled land as Immanuel's, the child promised in the chapter before.
Shiloah was a small stream whose water flowed softly. The prophet uses it as a picture of God's gentle way with His people. Judah preferred the visible strength of neighbouring kings. One writer shows how the punishment matched the sin:
The people here had no faith, any more than the king in the earlier scene. Both of them despised the ways and the promises of God. Both their trust and their fear rested on man. Ahaz cowered before the two kings of Israel and Syria, whose fierce anger the Lord scornfully called two tails of smoking, burnt-out sticks. The people refused the softly flowing streams of Shiloah. Their punishment would be just. The violent river, the Assyrian, would rise and overflow and almost overwhelm the land.
Rezin and Pekah were the kings of Israel and Syria. Leaning on them instead of God exposes a habit of the human heart:
They had despised the house of David. They rejoiced in Rezin and Pekah instead of God's gentle way, which keeps the heart always dependent. If human nature can find support, it is in man, in whatever looks strong. It has no confidence when God alone is there for tomorrow.
The flood rises, but it stops at a line God draws. "To the neck" means the head is still above water. Assyria ravaged Judah, but Jerusalem stood.
Judah would not go unpunished. But the king of Assyria's power against Judah would be limited, for God would not allow him to take Jerusalem. This took place in the days of Hezekiah. Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, took Samaria and carried Israel into captivity. Some years later, "Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them" (2 Kings 18:13). But when Sennacherib sent his general Rab-shakeh against Jerusalem, the Lord stepped in, saying, "I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David" (2 Kings 19:34).
The invader's wings spread from border to border. Yet the verse names the true owner of the land: Immanuel.
Assyria did not know then, and the nations have not known since, that the land belongs primarily to Immanuel and only secondarily to the Jew.
Later the Owner came in person:
When Immanuel came into it, though it was His land, He had no place to lay His head in it. And who was to blame for that? The people who had sold the land and themselves into bondage, and did not recognise the Kinsman-Redeemer when He lived among them.
One writer reads the verse on two levels: the Assyrian of Isaiah's day, and a later invader he foreshadows.
Isaiah 8:8 foretells that the wing of the king of Assyria would fill the breadth of the land — the land of Immanuel. This happened soon after. Yet it is also a picture of the Assyrian's attacks in the last days.
For those who trusted God while the water rose, the name at the end of the verse was the whole answer.
This overwhelming disaster would come on the nation as a whole. But God would deliver a faithful and godly remnant. And the pledge of this deliverance was that the virgin's Son, Immanuel, is with them (v. 10). The land is Immanuel's. He will be among His people, as He was with the three young Hebrew men in the fiery furnace, and as Jesus was with His disciples on the sea.
- Refusal. Judah refused the quiet stream of God's way and leaned on stronger-looking men. So God sent the river they admired.
- Flood. God brought the Assyrian over Judah like a river bursting its banks, overflowing the land from border to border.
- Limit. "To the neck" is mercy inside judgment. The water rose high, but God fixed where it stopped and would not let Assyria take Jerusalem.
- Deed. Even at the flood's height God names the land Immanuel's. The nations occupy it, but they have never owned it.
- Presence. The name over the land is also the remnant's safety: Immanuel is with them, standing with His own inside the trouble, not only after it.
Rage, ye peoples, and be broken in pieces! And give ear, all ye distant parts of the earth Gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and be broken in pieces!
An invading army is about to flood the land. The prophet turns from Judah to address the nations themselves — not with a plea, but with a dare. Why is their defeat settled before they even start?
The verse reads like a command, but it is really a verdict already passed. The nations may organise all they please. The land they invade belongs to Immanuel.
But is it not "your land, O Immanuel"? Certainly. The king may be what he is, the people what they are, and both may badly need humbling. But will not God avenge the insult to Him who, when reviled, did not revile in return? He is not deaf to the cry of His elect: how does He feel for Immanuel and Immanuel's land? Did the people associate themselves? They might spare themselves the trouble; they shall be broken. Did all those of far countries strap on their armor? If they have no fear, let them hear their sentence from the LORD.
The invasion was not random. Judah had turned from the quiet stream of God's own provision and leaned on a foreign power for safety — so God sent that very power against them.
They despised the waters of Shiloah. So the Lord brings on them the waters of the river, strong and many. He sends against them, as their master, the very one they leaned on. Such is the end of man's wisdom… How busy human prudence is, and how vain! God teaches us not to start this. The nations will do all this, but their plans come to nothing, "for God is with us." The one counsel for the faithful is Immanuel… What good is a confederacy against Him?
The command repeats: strap on your armor, and be shattered. That is not anxiety. It is mockery. And the prophet can mock because God stands with the few, not with the majority who joined the alliance. (Some older translations open the verse "Associate yourselves, O you peoples," and that is the wording these writers use.)
The people — the bulk of the nation — are in league with the pagan nations. But He is with the little remnant. Because they can say "God is with us," the prophet challenges the confederacy of the wicked with scorn. "Associate yourselves," let Israel and the Gentile join hand in hand — still, "you shall be broken."
Commentators read the Assyrian invasion of Isaiah's own day as a preview of a far larger assault still to come. Sennacherib was the Assyrian king who overran the land.
Immanuel secured everything. So the prophetic Spirit moves on to the events of the last days, of which Sennacherib was only a type. He shows all the designs and confederacies of the nations brought to nothing because of Immanuel — God is with us. It is the complete deliverance of Israel in the last days. Notice that the Assyrian appears twice. In chapter 7 he is the Lord's instrument to chastise Israel; he does his own will, and there is no question of his being broken. In chapter 8 he fills the land, but the gathering of the nations against Israel is broken and brought to nothing.
Another writer applies the verse to the nations of our own day:
The peoples may associate themselves in competing leagues to lay hands on the land, but they will be broken in pieces, "for God is with us" — literally, "for Immanuel." Among the nations today the idea of a confederacy is strong, but this will be the end of it.
One writer traces the same principle back to Babel, where humanity's first attempt at unity ended in scattered languages.
God divided their tongues and scattered them abroad. Those divided tongues were His judgment on this first great human association. An association without God, whatever its object, is really nothing but a mass of flesh, based on pride and ending in hopeless confusion. "Associate yourselves, O you peoples, and you shall be broken in pieces." So much for all human associations. May we learn to keep clear of them! May we hold instead to that one divine association — the Church of the living God. A risen Christ in glory is its living Head, the Holy Spirit its living Guide, and the Word of God its living Charter!
If alliances shatter, why not build a better one? The prophet points the faithful elsewhere.
The destruction of them will be complete, like chaff driven away from the summer threshing floor. And the Israel of God behave themselves here as Isaiah instructs them. They do not trust in a counter-confederacy, but sanctify the Lord in their hearts, and make Him their object.
- Cause. Judah despised the gentle waters of Shiloah and leaned on a foreign power. God sent that same power against them as their master.
- Verdict. God tells the nations to arm, and in the same breath tells them the result. They may spare themselves the trouble; they will be broken.
- Reason. The land is Immanuel's, and everything hangs on that one word — God is with us.
- Reach. Commentators read Sennacherib's invasion as a preview. The confederacies of the last days come to nothing on the same ground.
- Response. Faith does not answer one alliance with another, but sanctifies the Lord in the heart and makes Him its object.
Settle a plan, and it shall come to nought; speak a word, and it shall not stand for God is with us.
Isaiah 8:10 closes a taunt thrown at massed enemies: let them plan and speak, it will collapse. The reason given is not Israel's strength but a short phrase that is also a name — "God is with us," Immanuel.
The verse is the last line of a challenge thrown at enemy nations. One writer asks why their effort is wasted, and points to whose land they are attacking:
But is it not "Your land, O Immanuel"? Certainly. The king may be what he is, and the people what they are; both may need humbling. Even so, will God not avenge the insult done to Him who, when reviled, did not revile in return? He is not deaf to the cry of His elect: how does He feel for Immanuel and Immanuel's land? Did the people band together? They might spare themselves the trouble; they will be broken.
There is a history behind the taunt. Judah looked to Assyria for protection and got a master instead.
They despised the waters of Shiloah, so the Lord brings on them the waters of the river, strong and many. He sends against them as their master the one on whom they leaned. Such is the end of man's wisdom… How busy human prudence is, and how vain! We are taught by God not to start it. The nations will do all this, but their counsels come to nothing, "for God is with us." The one counsel for the faithful is Immanuel.
"God is with us" is not a general reassurance. The words are a name — Immanuel. The enemy's failure is certain because it rests on a Person.
Verses 9 and 10 no doubt had an application to the day when Isaiah wrote, but their force remains. Palestine holds a very central position, and it is becoming more and more clear that its potential riches are great. The peoples may band together in rival leagues to lay hands on it. But they will be broken in pieces, "for God is with us" — literally, "for Immanuel." Christ is God. When He shows Himself in His glory, the nations will be as nothing before Him.
Commentators read the passage as reaching past Isaiah's own century. They take the Assyrian invasion of his day as a picture of a far greater one still to come. The same name settles the outcome.
Immanuel once brought in, all is changed; the land is His. The Assyrian reaches even to the neck, because the waters of Shiloah had been despised. But Immanuel secured everything. So the prophetic Spirit moves on to the events of the last days, of which Sennacherib was only a type. He shows all the designs and confederacies of the nations brought to nothing because of Immanuel — God is with us.
Note who the "us" is. The mass of the nation had already chosen the alliance; the promise belongs to the small group who trusted God.
The people — the bulk of the nation — are in league with the nations, but He is with the little remnant. Because they can say "God is with us," the prophet challenges the confederacy of the wicked with scorn.
So what should a believer do while the plotting goes on? The answer is not a better plan.
What about these conspiracies and intrigues? It will not stand, for God is with us. This is exactly the wisdom of the Christian, I may say, whatever plots and intrigues may be going on. Never mind it; God is with us… Do not go plotting and planning to counter-plot their enemies. Sanctify the Lord God — that is, give Him His own right place in your hearts.
Another writer turns the same warning on the instinct to trust in numbers.
Some seem to think there is safety in numbers… God's ancient people were warned, in view of the passing through and overflowing of the Assyrian… So those now who keep His word and do not deny His name may be sure of that sanctuary. It is His presence with them — few though they are — who "call on the Lord from a pure heart."
- Immanuel decides. The verse ends with a name, not an argument. "For God is with us" means "for Immanuel" — and every plan fails because He is there.
- Immanuel owns. The land under threat is Immanuel's land; an attack on it is an insult He Himself will answer.
- Immanuel reaches. The Assyrian of Isaiah's day pictures a wider confederacy of the last days, and it meets the same end.
- Immanuel is enough. Judah leaned on Assyria, and Assyria flooded them. Leaning on human strength is where man's wisdom always ends.
- Immanuel is with the few. He stands with the small faithful group, not the majority. So the answer is not counter-plotting or numbers. It is giving Him His right place in the heart.