In the 7th and 8th chapter of Isaiah is one of the first prophesies of the Savior (about 734 B.C.). Jerusalem has always been a sought after place (see entire Old Testament and read a current newspaper). Besides it being a place that everyone thinks was promised to them by God, it is a port city and so if you wanted to travel to or from Europe, Africa or the middle east, you probably had to stop in Jerusalem. At this time Jerusalem was being threatened by Syria and Israel and the only alliance they had, and a shaky one at that, was with Assyria.
Ahaz, king of Judah, was troubled about the impending war upon his people and at the time the LORD sent Isaiah to comfort him (Isaiah 7:4). Isaiah tries to tell Ahaz that the LORD will intervene and that he has nothing to worry about other that the faith and righteousness of his people. In verses 10-13 Isaiah attempts to get Ahaz to ask for a sign (this does not seem like the type of sign that the Savior condemned in Matt 12:29 but rather it was a test of Ahaz's faith to see if he was confident in the LORD's promise and ablity to deliver his people) but Ahaz is very relectant to follow this council. Regardless of Ahaz's willingness to ask the LORD gives an incredible prophesy!
1) a young woman/virgin would conceive - vs. 14
2) she will have a son - vs. 14
3) she will call him Immanuel (God is with us) - vs. 14
4) before her son is able to tell right from wrong the land of Syria/Israel will be 'laid waste' - vs. 15-16
If you are thinking to yourself, "these verses sound familiar", then you would be correct. Not only did Nephi choose to quote these two chapters but Matthew uses some similar language when he is describing the prophesy of Christ to Joseph in Matt 1:21-23. The rest of shapter 7 talks about the specific destruction and humiliation the Judah's enemies would face in the coming years.
In the begining of chapter 8 we are told about a son that Isaiah has names Maher-shalal-hash-baz. This name has significance. In Hebrew it is translated to mean 'to speed to the spoil, he hasteneth the prey', this basically means that trouble is coming and coming fast. This phrase would be written on a large tablet to warn the people of Judah that an Assyrian attack was imminent! In verse 9 the LORD is further warning them of putting their trust in the arm of flesh (the Assyrians) and telling them to trust in God (2 Nephi 4:34). He says, 'gird yourselves and and ye shall be broken in peices', or in another translation, 'prepare for battle and be shattered'. The LORD didn't want Judah to even prepare for battle! He told them through Isaiah that he would intervene for them and he wanted them to believe that! Verses 12-13 teaches us to not fear what men can do to us but that we should fear God! People in the New Testament as a whole really seemed to never understand this concept very well. They were always looking out for their immediate needs and not looking forward to eternity. I guess if you boil it down that is our problem too. A lot of sins we commit and probably be traced back to us wanting something now and not having an eternal perspective (2 Nephi 9:39, Doc&Cov 101:37). The LORD then tells us what will happen to us if we don't put our trust in Him. It is a 5 step downward spiralin verse 15: stumble - falter on their faith; fall - commit sin; are broken - suffer the consequences of their sins; snared - enticed by Satan's temptations; and captured - turned over to Satan's buffetings.
One of my favorite parts of this prophesy is the smbolism behind the names. It's not fully understood if Maher-shalal-hash-baz's name was separate from Immanuel's or if it was the same person and they were just called by two different names. Maher-shalal-hash-baz is the promise of invasion. This should have a personal meaning to us all. With the fall of Adam and Eve we were assured that trails and temptations would come and we deal with them everyday of our lives. There are a few different ways that we can react to this fact. One way is to panic. To feel afraid and to run away from everything because we feel like we don't stand a chance. Another way is to just give in to the temptations that are guaranteed to come our way. The correct response is to look forward to the promise that we have all been given that a savior would come. I bet you can't find a place in The Book of Mormon that it talks about the fall and then doesn't, almost immediately, talk about our redemption. We will be redeemed! Immanuel! God is with us!
I imagine us in the place of Ahaz being told to not worry because the LORD will intervene. It seemed like Ahaz was skeptical of that the whole time, and how often do we fail to put our total faith and trust in God to guide us on the right path? Too often. I'd like to imagine that I would have great faith if I had Isaiah whispering Immanuel (God is with us) in my ear all of the time. It makes me almost jealous that Ahaz had that constant reminder to have faith. But do we not have that same promise!? The Book of Mormon is riddled with the phrase, ' if you keep the commandments you shall prosper in the land', and more recently/importantly we have our prophet and the apostles making specific promises to us each conference! If we feel like we need a constant reminder like Ahaz had in Isaiah then read the scriptures and the conference reports! We will find incredible promises for us in the words of God.
We will be tempted and tried and then we will be redeemed. Maher-shalal-hash-baz then Immanuel.
-janson
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