Isaiah 8:1-4 Isaiah’s Family and Prophetic Implications
Isaiah 8:1 Then the LORD said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and write on it in ordinary letters: Swift is the booty, speedy is the prey (Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz).
Isaiah 8:2 “And I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”
God has witnesses to what he is saying. He chose Isaiah, Uriah, Zechariah. Look at the character of the men He chose to be witnesses. He selected a priest and two prophets (Isaiah included). All three are men of God.
Look at the names of the people and their meaning. According to Strong’s Concordance, Uriah means “Jehovah is my light (flame)”. Zechariah means “Jehovah remembers”. Jeberechiah means “Jehovah blesses”. We cannot forget Isaiah, his name means “Jehovah has saved”. Here is the message in the witnesses to God’s word. He saves, remembers, blesses, and illuminates.
God wants this written down and he wants human witnesses to His word.
Isaiah 8:3 So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz;
Yes, there is sex in the Bible. Isaiah had sexual relations with his wife and she became pregnant. God did tell Isaiah to give the child a specific name. He was married to an unnamed prophetess. Isaiah and his wife had two sons, Shear-jashub (meaning the remnant shall return, Isaiah 7:3) and Maher-shalal-hash-baz (meaning speed the spoil, hasten the prey). Jewish tradition notes that Isaiah may have been a relative to Jewish nobility, a nephew to King Amaziah. His cousin would have been King Uzziah in Chapter 6.
Isaiah 8:4 for before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”
According to Ryrie Study Notes, the child was approximately two years old when Tiglath-Pileser III tore through Damascus and Samaria in 732 BC.
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