Monday, December 17, 2012

Isaiah 8:7


Copyright Ó 2012 J. Neely
Isaiah 8:7

7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord ['Adonay] bringeth up [`alah] upon them the waters [mayim] of the river, [nahar] strong [`atsuwm] and many, [rab] even the king [melek] of Assyria, ['Ashshuwr] and all his glory: [kabowd] and he shall come up [`alah] over all his channels, ['aphiyq] and go over [halak] all his banks: [gadah] KJV-Interlinear

7 "Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates, Even the king of Assyria and all his glory; And it will rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks.  NASB

The invasion of Assyria is compared to a mighty flood.  Typically the Euphrates River is used as the example, since it is the largest and longest river in the region of Assyria or the ancient region known as Mesopotamia, paralleling the Tigris River.  Beginning in the mountains of Armenia and fed by many tributaries in Turkey the river continues for a length of over 1700 miles southward through Syria and Iraq and empties into the Persian Gulf.

When its waters are low, it is not a very wide river, but when it is at flood stage in ancient times, then its waters spread out over a huge region.

And in ancient times, due to its length, there would be no warning that the flood was coming.  People would simply wake up to find the river rising rapidly and overflowing its banks, where there would be nothing that they could do to stop it.

And this analogy is used to describe the invasion of Assyria, which was coming.

It would be by surprise, for the greater population. 

It would be rapid, they would have no time to prepare or even get out of the way to safety, and it would be massive.  The flood would be so vast that no matter what direction you might try to go to escape, you would only run into more of the flood, and you would get caught up in it.

The invasion would be mighty and intimidating and it would strike terror in the hearts of those being invaded.

Death and destruction, torture and enslavement, brutality and humiliation would be the result.

And this, all because the nation, which by the way is only the collective expression of the many people that lived in the nation, but the nation, its people, were not interested in truth, in God, in the Messiah, or anything of a legitimate spiritual nature.

They were too busy pursuing the more important things of their daily lives, which did not include truth, but did include subscribing to the many lies and religions and philosophies and beliefs that were popular of their day.

They invested their livelihood in the world and what it had to offer, and disregarded Gods promises and what God has to offer.  And they lost everything that they had, including their lives.