Chapter 8 of Isaiah starts with a rather strange set of circumstances. God gives Isaiah a word and tells him to write it in “indelible ink”. That is a word for eternity. And the word was that Assyria would plunder the land before his son – check out this name – “Maher-shalal-hash-baz” would ever say daddy or mamma. How’s that for a name for a baby, or anyone for that matter. God tells Isaiah of the coming doom. He says that they can prepare all they want, “plot and plot all you want” – but doom is coming. But check out this truth – here is the essence of reality: “when all is said and done, the last word is Immanuel–God-With-Us”. God has the last word. He is the last word. After we do everything we can, after we try and make things happen, after we give it our best shot – when we are finished trying – what God says is what happens. That is reality. That is truth.
Another truth is brought out here that is important to consider. Isaiah writes that “The Holy can be either a Hiding Place or a Boulder blocking your way”. God can be our refuge or roadblock. It depends on how we live. If we are walking with Him, he is a place of refuge and a source of strength. If we are doing our own thing our own way on our own timeline, it may be that He is a big rock on the road. We need to make sure we are lined up with what God is doing and wants to do through our lives. We are told to “preserve the teaching” and to make sure we “stand my ground and hope”. We have a role to play in teaching those who follow us about the Father and a relationship with Him. How will people know if we don’t stand firm and proclaim the truth. Our world is under attack and the truth is being watered down day after day. We need to preserve it – we need to stand firm in God’s truth which is His Scriptures. Isaiah warns that people will try and get direction in other ways – fortunetellers, spiritualists, the dead. But he gives us the answer to how we know truth: “we’re going to study the Scriptures”. Studying is not a real cool thing to do anymore. Too slow and takes too much time and work….but it is critical if we want to know God and the truth. We have to “study to show yourself approved” as Timothy writes. We have to spend time learning and teaching. We have to be doing both in our life. “People who try other ways get nowhere” is what Isaiah tells us. God is the only source of truth. There is no other. Are you digging into the truth? Are you spending time learning and then teaching so we preserve it?
Posted by asorensen 
