Isaiah's child (Isaiah 8)

The kingdom of Judah is a smoldering ruin. The armies of the northern Israelite kingdom and the Arameans are allied against Jerusalem. Isaiah gives King Ahaz, the child-killer, a sign of God's deliverance of Jerusalem. The sign is that a child will be born of a virgin mother. Before the child grows up, both the Arameans and the northern Israelite kingdom will be destroyed.

Isaiah leaves the kings audience and God has him write down a name, Maher-Tahal-Hasz-Baz. The name means "swift to the spoil".

Isaiah then turns on the Isaac Hayes music and has sex. In fact, he has sex with the prophetess who bears him a son. (v. 3). Who said that the book of Isaiah was boring?

We don't see a lot of prophetesses in the Bible. They do seem to have key roles. The last notable one was Miriam, the sister of Moses. Here, it appears that Isaiah's wife was also a prophetess. It is unstated whether she had to have her lips cleansed by a coal from the altar like Isaiah did.

Isaiah gives his son the name that God had him write down. For before this child grows up, the nations of the Arameans and the northern Israelite kingdom will be destroyed.

Why do this? What is going on? In the prior chapter, we had the first crystal clear prophecy about Christ, specifically that a child will be born to a virgin mother. In history, we know that Samaria was sacked by the Assyrians in 720 BC. So, 720 years or so must pass between the time of Isaiah and the birth of Christ. The text of Isaiah 6 seemed to make a connection between the destruction of Samaria and the birth of Christ, in fact that the destruction of Samaria will occur before Christ comes of age. From history, that was actually over 700 years. But Isaiah did not tell Ahaz that there will be over 700 years.

So why not? I think the absence of a date or a specific child was partly because Ahaz was a child killer. The sign of Emmanuel focused on the importance of an unborn child. At the very least, Isaiah was telling Ahaz of the importance of children and not to kill them, even though there really is little chronological connection (i.e., 700+ years) between the birth of Christ and the destruction of Samaria.

By contrast, Isaiah 8 provides a more precise chronological connection between the birth of a child (born of Isaiah and the prophetess) and the destruction of Samaria and hence, the northern kingdom of Israel. This would have been a higher concern for the people of Judah since they were losing a war against the northern kingdom. However, Isaiah is saying that before his own child learns to speak, Samaria will be a smoldering ruin.

Likewise, this event would give confirmation to Isaiah as prophet. Thus, if this event comes true and Samaria is destroyed, then the prophecy about a child being born to a virgin mother will be true as well.

The end of Isaiah 8 warns people to not consult the dead for advice. Rather, instead look to God. Of course, such warnings are all over Deuteronomy, but such advice would have had its own meaning to the people of Judah at this time. They are losing a war and here a prophet of God has emerged (actually, several if we include Amos, Micah, Isaiah's wife, and perhaps even Jonah).

We saw King Saul turn to a necromancer when he was losing a war against the Philistines, so there is some Biblical precedent that is what people did during times of strife. Here, Isaiah reminds them not to do it. Rather, they should consult God and hence, people who could consult God (I.e., Isaiah).

These are very bold words for Isaiah. These are also his first recorded words making prophecies on a public level. So, despite the coal to his lips, he has not been proven to people as a prophet of God.

If he is wrong, he would be stoned to death as a false prophet. A lot hinges on his boy and the destruction of Samaria.