Isaiah 8:11
11 For the LORD [Yahovah] spake ['amar] thus to me with a strong [chezqah] hand, [yad] and instructed [yacar] me that I should not walk [yalak] in the way [derek] of this
people, [`am] saying, ['amar] KJV-Interlinear
11 For
thus the Lord spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in
the way of this people, saying, NASB
That nation of Judah and
its leader, Ahaz, despite all of these things that God had communicated through
Isaiah, were about to enter into an alliance with the Assyrians, placing their
trust and safety in such an alliance against the two nations, Syria and
Samaria, that were plotting an invasion against Judah.
Gods has given his
promise of their safety. God has already
offered signs and proofs that they will be safe. God even went so far as to give Ahaz the
opportunity to name his own sign, anything he wanted, and it would have been
granted.
But Ahaz refused the
offer, refused the promises, refused the signs, and along with him, the people did
likewise.
If you look to the leadership
of a nation, you can generally see the collective attitude of its people. And here the people of Judah certainly fit
that picture of a negative attitude toward God.
And here it is stated
clearly. Not walk in the way of this
people.
Ahaz was negative, and
that is well documented. The people followed
in that same pattern of anti-God attitudes.
They collectively looked
to a foreign nation, a godless nation, one who pursued nearly everything that
was false in life.
And so when you look to the false, then what should
you expect to gain?
God spokes to Isaiah with
a strong hand, which simply means that Gods words were authoritative and convincing.
Isaiah heard the words
and believed them. Ahaz heard the same
words and did not. The people heard the
same words and rejected them.
And so it is throughout
history even in our present day. People
look to their own devices to determine their own beliefs. If things do not go badly at first or
instantaneously then they believe their own invented beliefs. If things generally go well then that only
reinforces their false beliefs.
And people will do
whatever seems right in their own minds, working for and justifying, their chosen
pattern of thought and life.
And subtle resistance becomes
stubborn resistance, and stubborn resistance becomes the foundation for an
eventually failed life forever.
