10 Again Yahweh spoke to Ahaz, 11 "Ask Yahweh your Elohim for a sign. It can be anything you want."
12 But Ahaz answered, "I won't ask; I wouldn't think of testing Yahweh."
13 "Listen now, descendants of David," Isaiah said. "Isn't it enough that you try the patience of mortals? Must you also try the patience of my Elohim ? 14 So Adonay himself will give you this sign: A virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and she will name him Immanuel [God Is With Us]. 15 He will eat cheese and honey until he knows how to reject evil and choose good. 16 Indeed, before the boy knows how to reject evil and choose good, the land of the two kings who terrify you will be deserted.
17 "Yahweh will bring on you, your people, and your ancestor's family a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria. 18 On that day Yahweh will whistle for the flies that are at the distant branches of the Nile River in Egypt and for the bees that are in Assyria. 19 All of them will come and settle in the deep valleys, in the cracks in the cliffs, on all the thornbushes, and at all the water holes.
20 "On that day Adonay will hire the king of Assyria from beyond the Euphrates River to be a razor to shave the hair on your head, the hair on your legs, and even your beard. 21 On that day a person will keep alive a young cow and two sheep. 22 That person will eat cheese, because they will produce so much milk. Everyone who is left in the land will eat cheese and honey. 23 On that day, in every place where there were 1,000 vines (worth 1,000 pieces of silver), there will be briars and thorns. 24 People will come there with bows and arrows to hunt because the whole land will be filled with briars and thorns. 25 And you will no longer be able to go to all the hills which used to be cultivated because they will be filled with briars and thorns. It will be a place for turning oxen loose and letting sheep run."
Isaiah's Child Is a Sign of the LORD'S Protection of Judah 8 1 Yahweh said to me, "Take a large writing tablet, and write on it with a pen: 'Maher Shalal Hash Baz' [The Looting Will Come Quickly; the Prey Will Be Easy]. 2 I will have these dependable witnesses testify: the priest Uriah and Zechariah (son of Jeberechiah)."
3 I slept with the prophet. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Yahweh told me, "Name him Maher Shalal Hash Baz. 4 Before the boy knows how to say 'Daddy' or 'Mommy,' the wealth of Damascus and the loot from Samaria will be carried away to the king of Assyria."
Assyria Will Invade, But It Will Not Conquer Judah 5 Yahweh spoke to me again. He said, 6 "These people have rejected the gently flowing water of Shiloah and find joy in Rezin and Remaliah's son."
7 That is why Adonay is going to bring against them the raging and powerful floodwaters of the Euphrates River- the king of Assyria with all his power.
It will overflow all its channels and go over all its banks.
8 It will sweep through Judah.
It will overflow and pass through; it will be neck-high.
Its outspread wings will extend over your whole country, O Immanuel.
9 Be broken, you people. Be terrified.
Listen, all you distant parts of the earth.
Prepare for battle, but be terrified.
Prepare for battle, but be terrified.
10 Make plans for battle, but they will never succeed.
Give orders, but they won't be carried out, because El is with us!
Some in Jerusalem Will Stumble Because They Do Not Trust the LORD 11 This is what Yahweh said with his powerful hand on me.
He warned me not to follow the ways of these people: 12 "Don't say that everything these people call a conspiracy is a conspiracy.
Don't fear what they fear.
Don't let it terrify you."
13 Remember that Yahweh Tsebaoth is holy.
He is the one you should fear and the one you should be terrified of.
14 He will be a place of safety for you.
But he will be a rock that makes people trip and a stumbling block for both kingdoms of Israel.
He will be a trap and a snare for those who live in Jerusalem.
15 Many will stumble.
They will fall and be broken.
They will be trapped and caught.
16 Tie up the written instructions.
Seal the teachings among my disciples.
17 I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the descendants of Jacob.
I will hope in him.
18 I am here with the children that Yahweh has given me.
We are signs and symbols in Israel from Yahweh Tsebaoth , who lives on Mount Zion.
19 People will say to you, "Ask for help from the mediums and the fortunetellers, who whisper and mutter."
Shouldn't people ask their Elohim for help instead?
Why should they ask the dead to help the living?
20 They should go to the teachings and to the written instructions.
If people don't speak these words, it is because it doesn't dawn on them.
21 They will pass through the land when they are hard-pressed and hungry.
When they are hungry, they will be furious.
Then they will look up, cursing their king and Elohim .
22 They will look at the earth and see only distress and gloom.
They will go in anguish and be forced into darkness.
9 1a But there will be no more gloom for the land that is in distress.
Elohim humbled the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali in earlier times.
But in the future he will bring glory to the road by the sea, to the land across the Jordan River, to Galilee, where foreigners live.
A Child Will Be Born as the Prince of Peace 2 The people who walk in darkness will see a bright light.
The light will shine on those who live in the land of death's shadow.
3 You will expand the nation and increase its happiness.
It will be happy in your presence like those who celebrate the harvest or rejoice when dividing loot.
4 You will break the yokeb that burdens them, the bar that is across their shoulders, and the stick used by their oppressor, as you did in the battle against Midian.
5 Every warrior's boot marching to the sound of battle and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel in the fire.
6 A child will be born for us.
A son will be given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
He will be named: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Sar Shalom.
7 His government and peace will have unlimited growth.
He will establish David's throne and kingdom.
He will uphold it with justice and righteousness now and forever.
Yahweh Tsebaoth is determined to do this!
The LORD'S Message against His People 8 Adonay sent a message against Jacob.
The message is against Israel.
9 All the people of Ephraim and the people who live in Samaria will know it.
With arrogant and conceited hearts they will say, 10 "Bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with hand-cut stones.
Fig trees have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars."
11 Yahweh will set Rezin's oppressors against Israel and will stir up its enemies- 12 the Arameans from the east and the Philistines from the west.
They will devour Israel with open mouths.
Even after all this, his anger will not disappear, and he is still ready to use his power.
13 But the people have not returned to the one who struck them, nor have they sought Yahweh Tsebaoth .
14 So in one day Yahweh will cut off from Israel both head and tail, both palm branches and cattails.
15 Respected and honored leaders are the head.
Prophets who teach lies are the tail.
16 Those who guide these people lead them astray.
Those who are guided by them will be destroyed.
17 That is why Adonay isn't happy with their young men, nor will he show compassion for their orphans and widows.
Every one of them is a godless evildoer, and every mouth speaks foolishness.
Even after all this, his anger will not disappear, and he is still ready to use his power.
18 Surely wickedness burns like fire.
It burns up briars and thorns.
It sets the underbrush in the forest on fire, and it whirls upward in clouds of smoke.
19 The land is scorched by the fury of Yahweh Tsebaoth , and the people are like fuel for the fire.
No one shows concern for others: 20 On the right, one gobbles up food and is still hungry.
On the left, another eats and is never full.
Each person eats the flesh from his own arm.
21 Manasseh is against Ephraim.
Ephraim is against Manasseh.
Together they attack Judah.
Even after all this, his anger will not disappear, and he is still ready to use his power.
SAR SHALOM.
PRINCE OF PEACE.
Who hasn't longed for peace, living in a world that is often so full of strife?The Hebrew word for peace, however, means much more than the absence of conflict or the end of turmoil. Shalom conveys not only a sense of tranquility but also of wholeness and completion. To enjoy shalom is to enjoy health, satisfaction, success, safety, well-being, and prosperity.
Though the New Testament does not directly call Jesus the Prince of Peace or Sar Shalom (SAR sha-LOME), this title from Isaiah has traditionally been associated with him as the one who brings peace to the world. Shortly after Christ was born, angels proclaimed, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those who have his good will" (Luke 2:14). Furthermore, Paul assured the Ephesian Christians, saying of Jesus, "He is our peace"(Ephesians 2:14).
In Greek the word for peace is eirene. Like the Hebrew concept of shalom, the New Testament portrays peace as much more than the absence of conflict. Mark's Gospel, for instance, links healing and peace by capturing Jesus' words to a woman he has just healed. He tells her to "go in peace"(Mark 5:34). The New Testament further develops our understanding of peace by revealing Jesus as the source of all peace. Though we were alienated from God because of our sins, Jesus reconciled us, making peace through his blood. Peace with God produces peace with others and peace within ourselves. When Christ's kingdom is fully established, all strife will cease, and those who belong to him will enjoy forever the fullness of peace-health, wholeness, well-being, tranquility, satisfaction, safety, prosperity, and perfect contentment.
Praying to Sar Shalom A friend of mine, Christine Anderson, recently traveled to some of the most troubled countries on earth-Rwanda, the Congo, Lebanon, and Israel. Everywhere she went she met people who were haunted by violence, longing for one thing-peace. During her time in Israel, she visited Bethlehem. Approaching the separation wall that divides the West Bank from Israel, she expected to see the Palestinian side covered with angry graffiti. She was right about the graffiti but not about the angry part. In fact, she was so startled by the expressions scrawled across the wall that she took several photographs. Here's what was written across various portions of the wall: Peace To Dream of Peace Give Peace a Chance Jesus Said Peace I Give You (John 14:27) Make Love, Not War End This Madness The most poignant image was that of a dove with an olive sprig in its mouth. Why so poignant? The dove was wearing a bulletproof vest!
Later Christine had a chance to meet with some professors at Bethlehem Bible College. For them, she points out, peace is inextricably linked to justice. They recoil at the way some Christians talk about peace, as though it is merely an interior experience or just about "Jesus and me."
"Peace," she says, "is something for which they work very hard and sacrifice a great deal in exceedingly concrete terms-dollars, careers, loved ones." Her travels in Africa and the Middle East were both fascinating and disturbing. "I was overwhelmed," she says, "with how very wrenching and difficult this thing of 'making peace' really is. It is not for the faint of heart."