Isaiah 8:22

Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely

Isaiah 8:22

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22 And they shall look [nabat] unto the earth; ['erets] and behold trouble [tsarah] and darkness, [chashekah] dimness [ma`uwph] of anguish; [tsowq] and they shall be driven [nadach] to darkness. ['aphelah] KJV-Interlinear

22 Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness. NASB

In the previous verses, people who look not to God and truth, but look to their own ideas, to their own agendas, to their own philosophies, to their own desires, to their own pretenses, whatever they are, sooner or later utterly fail in their efforts.

They seek to impress people, to gain popularity or notoriety if even in their own mind, all the while never seeing their own dismal failure forming right before their own eyes.

They get frustrated, anxious, anger and so forth.  And then they look for someone to blame.

They blame people, and they blame God.  Neither of which had anything to do with their choices.

When you are hurting, and blame God, what should you really expect? 

And getting no satisfaction or answer or relief, these people, who lack truth in themselves, because they have ignored it probably for the most part of their lives, so they turn right back to the earth.  And this is a phrase that relates to the world and the worlds ideas, which got them into trouble in the first place.

And then Isaiah unleashes a list of descriptions, trouble, dimness, anguish, and the final descriptive word is, driven.

And the word for driven is the real key to the life of the spiritually negative person.  Driven to darkness, ‘nadach aphelah,’ really means, a darkness that is driven.

And so, anyone who is indifferent toward God or truth, drives themself deeper and deeper into the darkness of the unrealistic life they have chosen.

Whether is of some poor soul that chooses a philosophy to follow in life, or a poor soul that pretends they are something that they are not, or someone who is simply stubborn in their ways, it all comes down to their refusal to turn their life and their attention and their attitude, into a humble and selfless attitude toward changing their inner views of life and conforming to those things that God expects.

The Bible is clear as to what the spiritual life is, as to what God expects, and just how easy it is to utilize in ones life.  But people ignore those things with a passion and seek to make their lives more difficult with all of their efforts to think smarter than God.

What effort is there in salvation?  Believe in Christ.  That is a mere thought.

What effort is there in confession?  ‘Father I did this and that and this and that.’  That is simply acknowledging and listing your errors.

What effort is there in listening to or reading scripture that is being taught?  You just listen or read.

What effort is there in learning?  You can learn by default merely by the repetition of the last sentence.

How much effort is there in figuring it all out?  God the Holy Spirit, makes all truth clear and perspicuous.

What really do you have to do, in order to have a successful spiritual life and therefore a successful life?  Almost nothing, but listen and learn. 

And by default when you learn something, you begin using it in your daily life.  And using doctrine in your daily life becomes your spiritual production, which is the building and completion process of your own self.

Or, you could ignore all of this as nonsense and go right back to your own better ideas, which will get you where?

Isaiah 8:21

Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely

Isaiah 8:21

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21 And they shall pass [`abar] through it, hardly bestead [qashah] and hungry: [ra`eb] and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, [ra`eb] they shall fret [qatsaph] themselves, and curse [qalal] their king [melek] and their God, ['elohiym] and look [panah] upward. [ma`al]  KJV-Interlinear

21 And they will pass through the land hard-pressed and famished, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse their king and their God as they face upward.  NASB

They that pass through, is a reference to any and all people who look to false ideas, false beliefs, false philosophies and so forth, for the answers to their problems, for support for their beliefs, for justification of their lifestyle and so forth.

Hardly bestead, refers to being agitated, frustrated, unsatisfied as to the inadequacy of the results they get, from their pursuits in false directions.

Hungry, means unsatisfied, wanting more, never getting enough, dissatisfied, discontented.

Passing through it, refers to their daily lives.  They will continue day in and day out, doing and pursuing the same ideas and beliefs and attitudes, never changing, never learning, never seeing their own flaws.

Fret or enraged, is the result of the false pursuits of life.  Frustration is the only possible result of a flawed effort. When things are false, then the result will always be failure.  One can never find success in pursuing lies, deceit, or invented ideas that lack substance in reality.  And when things do not work out, then frustration, agitation, grief, anxiety, anger and so forth, are the result.

And when people get upset over their failures, or their lack of success in their efforts, then guess who they blame?

God, the one true God.

Now go figure.  They pursue false beliefs from the world, but blame God for their failure in the use of their flawed efforts.  Why would that be Gods fault?

They look upward, to God, for success by means of their pursuit of lies or immoralities, or pretended moralities.

But God does not support or sponsor lies. God will not let your pursuits succeed, when your pursuits are false.

You want to work for salvation, work for your spiritual life, work for love, have things your way, when all the while you are not truthful or are deceitful in your agenda?  And you blame God for things that are your fault?

You want things your way, with total disregard to the things that God expects of you, and you blame God for that?

Unfaithful people never look to themselves for the answers as to their own failures, they want to blame someone else.  And of course God is easy to blame.  After all He is not going to talk back to, or argue with you, at least right now. 

But what God will do is stand by and allow you to have your tantrum, allow you to go your own way, all the while you do have truth available to you to figure things out, but indifference and stubbornness gets in your way, and whose fault is that?

Isaiah 8:20

Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely

Isaiah 8:20

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20 To the law [towrah] and to the testimony: [ta`uwdah] if they speak ['amar] not according to this word, [dabar] it is because there is no light [shachar] in them. KJV-Interlinear

20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. NASB

In this universe there are two opinions.  I believe that we have stated that before.  There is Gods opinion which is truth, and then there is everything else, which is not truth.

The law, ‘towtah,’ is a reference to the precepts and mandates and strict standards that are revealed within the scriptures. 

The testimony, ‘ta uwdah,’ means the evidence, the proof, the witness, the demonstration, the verification.

And so it is the word of God what sets the standard by which all things are compared, in order to see if they are the truth or the lie.

Without truth, there can be no standard.  Without a standard, there can be no means of determining where one is, relative to everything else.  Without a standard, then everything becomes relative and whatever is popular, then becomes the standard until something else comes along.  And when truth is absent from the social structure, then bias, then prejudice, then atrocities and so forth enter into the scope of human existence, and the rule of the jungle takes over.

There are many standards in life.  We have the compass, the map, many functions in science such as math or weights and scales, time and distance and so forth.  No building could be constructed without some form of standards in construction. No economy can survive without some standard of exchange, or money in other words.  No work could be accomplished without a pay scale for wages.

And you could create a list of standards in life that would run on for many pages, I’m sure.

But when it all comes down to it, Bible doctrine becomes the ultimate and permanent foundation standard for everything.

And whether it is the standards for social interaction, or the methods by which particles in string theory interact, there is always a purpose, a design, a basis and reason by which all things function in this life and in this creation.

The wizards and soothsayers and idolaters mentioned in the previous verse, are likewise compared with the standards of doctrine.  And if what they say is contrary to doctrine, then their words are lies.

And one does not have to be a wizard or seer to have flawed opinions.  Nearly everyone in life follows a set of beliefs of some sort, and those beliefs all have to be compared with the standard of truth in order to determine their validity.

The light that is not in them, ‘shachar,’ means the light of the morning, or the dawn, when everything dark begins to fade in the light, as light begins to advance across the day.

This is a picture of advancing knowledge or the learning process.  And when the morning dawn in not in them, then that means that they have no truth in them, no doctrine in them, no learning process, nothing.  They are unteachable or stuck in their ways.  They are so full of the dark or the lies of the world, that they will never see the light of truth, will never be able to figure out the truth, will never be objective, will always wallow in their invented views of life.

And of course, people like that will always fail.  But the unfortunate thing about that is, if they are leaders, politicians, teachers, parents, or anyone who has influence over others, then the harm of those lies is unleashed onto others, and others suffer.  Unless of course, they have some light of truth in their soul, and are able to avoid the repercussions of the lies of life.

Isaiah 8:19

Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely

Isaiah 8:19

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19 And when they shall say ['amar] unto you, Seek [darash] unto them that have familiar spirits, ['owb] and unto wizards [yidda`oniy] that peep, [tsaphaph] and that mutter: [hagah] should not a people [`am] seek [darash] unto their God ['elohiym]? for the living [chay] to the dead [muwth]? KJV-Interlinear

19 And when they say to you, "Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter," should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? NASB

When they say, is a reference to human opinion.

In this universe, there are only two opinions.  First there is Gods opinion, which is truth, and then there is mans opinion, which is not truth.

And in this world, people will come up with more opinions than you can shake a stick at.  The ideas, the plans, the motives, the intentions, and so on, are more attempts to duplicate or to better, that which God has already prepared and gives to us freely, but most folks reject.

Necromancers, wizards, familiar spirits, idolatry, and such are all false concepts and false attempts to see into the future, or to communicate with the life beyond this one.  They are a dead action, attempting to communicate with a dead or non-existent target.

God is a living God, and we are living people.  Why then should a living person seek counsel with that which does not exist or that which is dead?

The seeking of knowledge or information from the dead through false mechanisms, is like speaking or listening to those who peep or mutter.  Peeping and muttering, ‘tsaphaph,’ ‘hagah,’ means to chirp like a bird, to murmur, to imagine, to talk unsteadily, to babble senselessly.  Therefore all attempts and actions in this type of activity are a senseless and useless activity, that will never produce or accomplish anything.

Looking back at the previous verse, regarding the mention of Zion, and now compared with this verse which mentions the seeking of knowledge through false means.  Now we have the contrast of absolute truth versus absolute absurdity.

And yet people reject truth with their eyes wide open, and pursue the ridiculous with those same wide open eyes.

The question was asked, why is Jerusalem called the city of peace, when it has virtually never known peace, but is a historical city of violence and conflict?

And that answer is that Jerusalem was formerly known as Salem and was the domain of Melchizedek, the king-priest that brought bread and wine to Abraham.  He is the representation of the king of righteousness and a symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ who as the most high God, was worshipped in Salem.

The source of truth is symbolized by the mountain called Zion, where God lives.  That is, He lives in truth.  And truth is vast.  Jerusalem is the symbolism for living a life within that body of truth to the maximum, or to the point of spiritual maturity, thus resulting in inner peace.  Zion is the mountain that is inside of the city boundaries of Jerusalem.  Thus truth inside that produces spiritual completeness.

Living outside of the city represents life in truth but limited as with believers who lack extensive knowledge in truth.  And living outside of the country, makes one a foreigner, or stranger, which represent the unbelievers of the world who reject God, salvation, and truth.

The nation of Israel represents Gods people, which are all people symbolically who have believed in the Savior, who we know as Jesus Christ.

So, you can live within the nation when you are saved, you are thus a member of the nation of God.  The nation and family of God are two references of the same people.  To live within the city represents those who pursue doctrine and grow up to spiritual maturity, thus attaining inner peace and strength through doctrine.

These symbols are teaching aids or mechanisms of instruction to teach spiritual principles.

But this is the devils world and his fight is against all that represents truth, thus the nation of Israel, the city of Jerusalem and the mountain of Zion are all under attack as though destroying these geographical regions will somehow destroy God or truth.  But truth is not a thing that is contained or confined by geography.

Truth is not a thing that may be substituted with false ideas or mechanisms, and still have the same result.

Truth is doctrine.  Truth is made available to anyone who pursues it by means of Gods mandated method of learning.  Which is the daily study while in fellowship as a believer in Christ.  Which is pretty simple when you think about it.

This then opens up your eyes to truth giving you orientation to self, to God, to life and so forth.

But when Gods mandates and methods are rejected, when truth is ignored, then the lies and false ideas of this world filter into the soul and bring with them the confusion and disorientation of life and everything in it.

And so the absurd seems reasonable and mans ideas all seem practical.

Only when false ideas are matched and compared with truth, can they be discovered as false ideas and lies, but only when there is truth in the soul that allows one to clearly see their false fabrication.  Without truth, there is nothing to reveal the nature of the lie.

And so, pursuing or consulting the dead seems reasonable.  Even more reasonable than pursuing and consulting the living.

Find a dead thing, any dead thing, and ask it a question.  Find a bug and step on it to squash it.  Now seek its counsel.  Does that seem reasonable?

And yet that is exactly what people do all of the time when they reject God and doctrine.

Isaiah 8:18

Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely

Isaiah 8:18

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18 Behold, I and the children [yeled] whom the LORD [Yahovah] hath given [nathan] me are for signs ['owth] and for wonders [mowpheth] in Israel [Yisra'el] from the LORD [Yahovah] of hosts, [tsaba'] which dwelleth [shakan] in mount [har] Zion. [Tsiyown] KJV-Interlinear

18 Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. NASB

Both Isaiah, which means the salvation of Jehovah, and the children thus far mentioned, Immanuel, 'God with us,' Isa 7:14; and Shear-jashub, 'the remnant shall return,' Isa 7:3, all have special meanings that point to God as the one and only savior and deliverer of the people and the nation.  Not outsider nations, not foreigners, and certainly not strangers.

And yet the people look to strangers, rather than their own family, to those that they are unfamiliar with, rather than to Him of whom they are more than familiar.

And so it is throughout history, people will look to the world and the many uncertainties of the many tomorrows, rather than to God of whom everyone knows something of the scriptures.  For all have heard the stories of Adam and Eve, of Noah and the Ark, of Jonah and the whale, of Jesus and the Cross, and of many, many more stories beyond that.  While virtually no one knows the stories portrayed in Islam, in Buddhism, in Hinduism, or any other religion you care to name.

And yet that which is familiar is disregarded, and that which is not known is embraced.

Zion is the representation of Gods vast mountain of truth.  Truth resides in Jerusalem, which means the city of peace.  And that peace comes from the resident body of truth maintained inside the soul, which attains inner peace, by learning and understanding and possessing truth by means of the daily study process, by means of the daily residence in fellowship, residence within the confining walls of the city portrayed as flooded with truth and the circulation of truth, and the daily activities of truth.

From the name of infants and prophets, to the vastness of the universe, to the unfathomable and extreme miniscule details and composition of creation, all things point to God and to His magnificent plan and purpose.

Isaiah 8:17

Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely

Isaiah 8:17

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17 And I will wait [chakah] upon the LORD, [Yahovah] that hideth [cathar] his face [paniym] from the house [bayith] of Jacob, [Ya`aqob] and I will look [qavah] for him. KJV-Interlinear

17 And I will wait for the Lord who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him. NASB

Isaiah has written this message and has given it over to Ahaz, to a couple of notable public figures as witnesses, and to the people in general.

The response, to Isaiah and the words given by God, was less than enthusiastic, if at all.  The general consensus was to reject Gods offer, and to accept of the Assyrian offer.

A bad choice.

The house of Jacob, is a reference to differentiate the one true God in all of creation, as opposed to all other gods or philosophies that man has invented throughout the ages.

The house of Jacob likewise differentiates the people of God as genetic descendants from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or the Israelites, as opposed to the people that are not of God, also described as foreigners and strangers.

The house of Jacob finally also describes those who have believed in the Messiah and Savior, who we also know as Jesus Christ, as opposed to those who reject Christ, also known as unbelievers.

So, just because you are born of Abraham, does not mean that you are going to believe in Christ.

Just because you are a believer in Christ does not mean that you are positive toward God or Christ or doctrine.

Judah was full of Jews who had not believed in the Savior to whom they so religiously and regularly offered sacrifices.  Judah was also full of Jews who did not adhere to the principles taught by the scriptures and sacrifices.

Judah was full of unbelieving Jews, and spiritually negative believers.

God, offers much favor to those who treasure truth and His counsel for righteousness.

But to those who reject God and doctrine, He withdraws His favor.  And the turning His head away, or the hiding of His face, is a phrase that describes God as withholding his favor, and letting the people go in the direction of their choice.

God controls history.  He can control history directly, indirectly, or by permission.  And here the third method is in view.

God only answers prayer requests that are in compliance with His divine plan.  God only answers prayers from positive advancing believers.

But there is a situation when God will not only answer, but grant the wishes of those who are outside of that realm.

And when negative believers reject God, when unbelievers reject God, then they are in effect asking to be left alone and to be able to go their own way, even if that way, unknowingly to them, is the wrong way.  And so God lets them have their request.

Unfortunately unbelievers end up in the Lake of Fire, and believers end up in eternity without reward.  And in this world, everyone ends up with many varying degrees of problems or worldly benefits in life, as the case may be.  This was what they wanted, or what they pursue.  And ultimately in the end, God gives them what they want, even though it will not be good.

And as for Isaiah, and all who take life seriously and as God has intended life to be, he and they will wait, knowing full well that trouble is coming, but they intend to trust in God, regardless of what occurs.

In Isaiah’s day, he knew that an invasion was coming and that it would not be good.  Yet, in either life or in death, Isaiah and believers of the time, would trust in God to do with them which was best for them, whether they survived or not.

As for our day, we know, or you should know by now, that the world is pretty much anti-God and anti-Christ, and certainly anti-doctrine.  So, you know that trouble will be on the horizon sooner or later.  That trouble could be due to many little problems that come along such as bad weather, or poor economic times, or any number of other problems that can occur in ones life.

Also, we know that the Bible has given us certain signs of the end of times, such as any of the many increases of occurrences of activities in the world, including the great apostasy that will clearly be present at the end of our dispensation.

And even though we know that these things may occur over the course of several generations, our objective is not to spend our time worrying over this event or that event trying to figure out Gods calendar, but our responsibility is to our individual spiritual growth to maturity.

With that growth, you will be prepared no matter what comes along.

The objective of life in this world is not to be successful from this world, but to be spiritually prepared for eternity.  And even though many spiritual preparations, call for responsibility in the activities in this world, we are to not grow indifferent toward, but to make time for, our spiritual side of life.

The world will drift along in its fog and God will withhold His favor as He sees fit.  But as for those who remain obedient and positive toward Gods will, then favor will always be there regardless of the circumstances that will exist in the world.

You just have to figure out on which side of favor you are going to live your life.

Hab 2:3:

For the vision is yet for an appointed time,

But at the end it shall speak, and not lie:

Though it tarry, wait for it;

Because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Isaiah 8:16

Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely

Isaiah 8:16

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16 Bind up [tsarar] the testimony, [ta`uwdah] seal [chatham] the law [towrah] among my disciples. [limmuwd] KJV-Interlinear

16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. NASB

And what more is there to be said?  Most people have already made up their minds, and all the words in the world, even phenomenal proofs, will not be enough to convince people to change their minds.

This was true in Isaiah’s day.  It was true in Jesus’ day.  After all, Jesus performed more miracles and wonders than the world has ever seen, ever, and still people rejected Him.

And so it is even true in our current day.  People have made up their minds.  Even massive difficulties in a persons life or in world events, will not be enough to change the minds of most people.

However, there are still those who are positive, and always have been positive toward Gods word.  There are even people on the edge, as it were, who can still tilt their life towards God and truth.

But Isaiah is ordered to bind up the words just given to him.  In other words, the scroll or material that he has been writing on, or has been reading from, is to be rolled up, as a book is closed and put away.

And it should be obvious that when a book is closed, there is no further reading.  When it is put away, then it is generally forgotten or disregarded.

To seal the document, is something that is done when a legal document is closed or sealed as with a bit of melted wax, such that it is not opened again and its contents made known, except on special occasions. A legal document is generally prepared, then sealed, and then opened only when there is some legal matter to be addressed.

And here, the words are disregarded and of no use to those who are indifferent.

But in the case of Bible doctrine, the words are not only seal within the context of the written scriptures, but they are sealed in the souls of those who have read, or heard, or have received instruction, and have a genuine desire to know their meaning and purpose. It is then that Gods word is sealed within the souls of positive believers.

As to unbelievers or negative believers, the words are of no importance.  Even if they open up the Bible, and read or hear them, they cannot figure them out.

Only people who obey Gods process for spiritual inculcation, can come to know and understand spiritual things.

Isaiah 8:15

Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely

Isaiah 8:15

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15 And many [rab] among them shall stumble, [kashal] and fall, [naphal] and be broken, [shabar] and be snared, [yaqosh] and be taken. [lakad] KJV-Interlinear

15 "And many will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken; They will even be snared and caught." NASB

Many, ‘rab,’ means an abundance or great numbers.

When the Assyrian invasion occurs, the Assyrians will not be the sanctuary they had believed in, but would be a trap of horror and terror and atrocities as had never before been seen by anyone.

God was supposed to have been the sanctuary, but was rejected. 

Assyria was to have been the substituted sanctuary or place of safety, but turned into a double cross.

And when this prophecy is finally fulfilled in the final days, in the Tribulation, then the magnitude of its message will be experienced by those who have taken their rejection of Christ to the extreme.  Looking to the anti-christ, as their sanctuary of the future, they will receive the full force of the ultimate double cross in all of human history.

The stones, the rocks, the snares of the previous verse will come into full view.

The stumbling and falling and being broken, indicate the reality and magnitude of the injuries and torture and violence and death that will occur, on a scale that has no equal in history.

And many, indicates that this will not be a hit or miss event, but a massive slaughter that will boggle the mind, sending the entire population of Israel, and the world, into total terror.

Isaiah 8:14

Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely

Isaiah 8:14

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14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; [miqdash] but for a stone ['eben] of stumbling [negeph] and for a rock [tsuwr] of offence [mikshowl] to both [shanayim] the houses [bayith] of Israel, [Yisra'el] for a gin [pach] and for a snare [mowqesh] to the inhabitants [yashab] of Jerusalem. [Yaruwshalaim] KJV-Interlinear

14 "Then He shall become a sanctuary; But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.  NASB

A sanctuary, ‘miqdash,’ is a holy place, a palace, a chapel, a place that is set apart, a consecrated thing, and is thus a place of security and safety as well as a private place for interaction with oneself, but especially with God.

A sanctuary is used in the Bible to designate a place for interaction with God.  And, while on this earth most people look to churches of synagogues, or such buildings or private rooms, there is one and only one real and permanent place which is a sanctuary, and that is the fellowship sphere which you enter into when you confess your sins.

The fellowship sphere is the one and only place designated and designed by God which is always there with you, and easily accessible, regardless of who you are, or where you are in life or in this world.  Everyone has equal opportunity and equal access to Gods sanctuary by merely confessing their sins and entering into fellowship, or the fellowship sphere as we call it.  No one is denied access, and no one can prevent you from entering into Gods sanctuary.

And this of course applies only to believers, never to unbelievers.  All access to God is through Christ.  And entrance into the spiritual life is naturally through Christ.  Refusal to enter Gods palace by means of His defined entrance, means that you do not get in at all.  So faith in Christ is the pre-requisite for a spiritual life.  Doctrine is the pre-requisite for a functional and fulfilling relationship with God

Now in our verse, most folks look to the things of this world, for their sanctuary, their place of security, their holy place of comfort, and the things of this world, regardless of what they are whether social or possessions or entertainment or passions or whatever, are not and never will be a place of security or contentment, and certainly they are never permanent.

And that is the stumbling block, which is a stone that they trip over but keep on going as they have been.  They notice it, but do not pay attention to it, and keep on stumbling.

A rock of offence, which is a rock over which they fall or an obstacle which they cannot get around. The world will never be an answer to your wants or problems.  Salvation is the only answer and doorway into a permanent solution.

To both houses of Israel, namely Judah and Samaria, which includes all people, unbelieving, and believing but negative believers, and anyone who ignores or rejects, or is indifferent toward Gods will and all inclusive plan.

For a gin and a snare, which are traps for catching birds.

And so, birds seem to think that they can come and go as they please, but sooner or later they get caught, and in this trap, they will never get free.

For the inhabitants of Jerusalam.  And this last phrase is in reference to the one and only God, the only legitimate and living God, namely Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ controls history.  There is no other god, no other force, no other philosophy or karma or arrangement of things or feng-shui, no nation or empire, no one and nothing that you can look to for safety or contentment, and nothing that can control or secure your life, except God and God alone.

There is nothing for unbelievers, regardless of who or what they think, believe, or do.

For both houses of Israel, for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the security and safety and prosperity of God applies to believers only, to those who are in the nation and family or God, and even to those who have advanced to high levels of spiritual maturity, lest anyone get to thinking that they have arrived and have no further need of God or doctrine.

In every case concerning believers, Gods will and Gods plan and Gods method for the spiritual life, must be followed, and never mans own invented method or design for spirituality.

You cannot be sincere, you cannot reason your own path, you cannot disregard Gods will and create your own version of spirituality, just because it is convenient or palatable for you.

You cannot present yourself before people and expect that God will accept your spiritual front.

The spiritual life must be done Gods way, not your way.  And Gods way is very clear.  No person is an authority to themselves.

You are mandated to study by means of instruction, daily, and learn so that you can come to an understanding of spiritual phenomena by means of that learning.  You are to study and function in your spiritual life while in fellowship, or within Gods sanctuary. This then leads to the application of divine viewpoint to your daily life, which in turn leads to wisdom, which in turn leads to spiritual muscle and spiritual orientation to life, and that all leads to faith, a real and legitimate faith, which is based on the actual substance of spiritual thought.

If you are not doing this, then you are not even close to having a legitimate spiritual life.

Isaiah 8:13

Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely

Isaiah 8:13

http://www.dailybiblestudy.org

13 Sanctify [qadash] the LORD [Yahovah] of hosts [tsaba'] himself; and let him be your fear, [mowra'] and let him be your dread. [`arats] KJV-Interlinear

13 "It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread. NASB

That which you fear most is that which controls your life.

And so most people fear the many attributes of this world, more than they fear God. 

The fear losing business.  They fear losing a job or a position.  They fear losing out on a promotion.  They fear the loss of income or the loss of social activities.  They fear the loss of their status among friends or people. They fear failure in life. They fear not having things or not as much as the next person.

They fear public opinion going against them.  They fear not having popularity or appearance or beauty or the physical attributes that others might have.

And so people in general terms will spend the vast majority of their time, if not all of their time, keeping themselves in sync with society, keeping up with society, chasing happiness from this world as they have defined it for themselves.

People in effect worship their worldly environment.  Their lifestyle is their religion.  Their public standards are the substance of their faith.  That is what they honor, that is what they sanctify or set apart as the priority of their life.

To be rejected by man, or to fail in public life becomes the disgrace beyond the unbearable.

However, who can provide more?  Who can guarantee more?  Who can make things far worse and take away far more?  Is it the world or is it God?

And the answer is of course, God.  God is the source of all things.  And this includes every aspect of your worldly life.

While peer pressure or office politics or social gossip can inflict damage on you, it is God who is far greater than any of these things and can turn any of them into a blessing far greater than you could otherwise do for yourself.

All things work together for good, and that simply means that God can take anything and make it end up successful.

The world cannot do that.  The world never forgives and never forgets.  God can do both.

People will always remind you of your failures while they casually forget about their own failures.  God can move you beyond your failures, into successes that are otherwise unreachable.

God gives all things, including life.  God can take away all things, including life.  The world has no such control or power.

To spend your time keeping up with the neighbors, pleasing others in order to get ahead, brown nosing as the saying goes, doing all things for your own promotion in life, is a fools pursuit.

With absolutely nothing, God can promote.  He can likewise demote.  So unless God is behind your promotion in anything in life, you don’t really have it.

And in all things, the best promotion comes from within the spiritual life and within the spiritual attributes of your soul.

Anything else in this world amounts to nothing more than details of life, all of which vanish from your life, when you leave this life.

Therefore, if you say you fear God, but do not back that up with a genuine pursuit of a daily Bible study, then you are only fooling yourself.

One day, your fear will be tested, and then you will know what God already knows about your spiritual strength or lack of it.

Isaiah 8:12

Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely

Isaiah 8:12

http://www.dailybiblestudy.org

12 Say ['amar] ye not, A confederacy, [qesher] to all them to whom this people [`am] shall say, ['amar] A confederacy; [qesher] neither fear [yare'] ye their fear, [mowra'] nor be afraid. [`arats] KJV-Interlinear

12 "You are not to say, 'It is a conspiracy!' In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.  NASB

People look on the outward in all things.  The people of Judah were looking at the massing of the armies of Syria and Samaria, and they were in fear of the invasion they were certain was coming.

They did not look to God, instead they looked to Assyria as their protector, and that is addressed here in this verse.

When a number of people work together for a common purpose, then that constitutes a conspiracy.  In this case, the conspiracy was a common plan and a common public opinion as to what was going on in the region.

The people were united against God, or better explained, they were united by means of their negative attitude toward God.

When a single person is anti-God, then the problems that occur in their life are limited to that single person.  But when a nation is anti-God, then the problems are multiplied on the magnitude of the entire nation.

And here the entire nation was maintaining is anti-God direction, and that means certain judgment sooner or later.

God was warning Isaiah and everyone else through Isaiah, that they should not participate, and not adopt the national view of this common threat.  They were to rely on God, and not man, but of course that advice was being rejected.

When a person lacks divine knowledge, then they will fear nearly everything.  Life in itself becomes fearful.  When anything goes wrong, then fear takes over and that multiplies into anger and rage and blame, even anxiety or terror.  But fear is the underlying emotion that drives an unstable and empty soul.

An empty soul is filled easily with fear, and fear drives bad analysis, and that leads to bad decisions.

People will turn to blaming others, they will turn to things that alleviate their stress like drugs or alcohol or even eating disorders, and it is all due to their lack of doctrine, which by the way, they chose to ignore throughout their life.

It does take time to learn knowledge.  You cannot simply read a few verses and obtain peace in just a few minutes. When in life have you become an expert on something by reading just a few paragraphs?

In order to have a soul filed with muscle and the capacity to handle life, you need a life's worth of study and development.

That does not mean that you need fifty years of study under your belt, but it does mean that you have an opportunity every day, to study and learn and to grow up spiritually.  And in so doing, your life will develop spiritual resources that will enable you to handle life, no matter what circumstances you will face.

But to procrastinate, day in and day out, means that when those circumstances strike, you will not be prepared, and fear and the stresses that accompany it, will be your companion rather than poise and confidence and the means to get through your ordeal.

If you are twenty or forty or eighty or whatever age you are, and you have not been committed to a daily study, but you are still alive and breathing, then you have time and you need to get your act together and begin your daily study.  Which by the way, is not that difficult to do. Simply confess your sins to get into fellowship, crack open your Bible, go to the internet and open up a study page, and read. Then do that every day.   Your inner spiritual growth will develop.

You do not need to start in any particular place, because God does all of the work related to your inner spiritual growth.  You just need to be dedicated to your daily studies.  And sooner or later, all of your questions will be answered.

And in that way, you will not be like everyone else, who pursue their anti-God conspiracy and will end up a total mess and failure.

Isaiah 8:11

Copyright Ó 2013 J. Neely

Isaiah 8:11

http://www.dailybiblestudy.org

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.

Isaiah 8:10

Copyright Ó 2012 J. Neely

Isaiah 8:10

http://www.dailybiblestudy.org

10 Take [`uwts] counsel [`etsah] together, [`uwts] and it shall come to nought; [parar] speak [dabar] the word, [dabar] and it shall not stand: [quwm] for God ['el] is with us. KJV-Interlinear

10 "Devise a plan but it will be thwarted; State a proposal, but it will not stand, For God is with us." NASB

There are only two possible positions that you can have in life.  You are either for God or you are against God.

There is no third or modified position possible.

Truth is pure.  You either adhere to truth or you do not.

A lie is a lie by any standard.

A lie mixed with truth is still a lie.  You cannot compromise or modify truth and retain its purity.

Truth mixed with a lie is a lie.  You cannot take a truth and then tilt it just a little bit.  It becomes a lie.

Only truth holds up when it is pure truth, with no compromise, with no suggestions of convenience, with no good intentions, or sincerity.

The only way to possess truth is to study, and learn and do this while in fellowship, and then gain an understanding, and repeat this process over and over, again and again, until you develop wisdom.  This whole process then builds up your faith, or the muscle of your soul, and that equates to your spiritual power.

To take counsel, means to devise, discuss, make plans with disregard to Gods truth.  Anything against Gods plan, meaning that promoting some alternative history timeline, namely yours instead of Gods, is a faulty and defeated effort.

To speak the word, which too is against Gods will, is taking your plans and putting them into action.

All foreign nations that oppose Judah, as is in this case, are taking counsel against Gods plan not only for Judah and Israel, but for history overall.

God has established the dispensations or era’s of time.  Each dispensation has certain and specific attributes that must occur during that era, and this has been true since the time of Adam all the way through to our current dispensation.

But humanity has tried many times to circumvent Gods plan, and establish many empires.  All have failed.

Back in Isaiah’s day, the countries to the north will try to destroy Judah.  And even with some semblance of military success, Judah and the people of Judah, will not be destroyed.

Likewise, in the final days of history, the entire world will rise up against Israel, and especially the ultimate target, Jerusalem, and try to destroy it completely.  In this attempt, much of Israel will be destroyed, but in the final minutes and hours, Gods plan will win the battle and the day, and all the counsel and planning of history will fail completely.

This same principle is applicable to your individual life.  You can be stubborn throughout your life, you can do things your way, you can pursue that which you see fit, but in the final analysis your efforts, regardless of how you feel about them, will end in failure.  And that end comes dramatically when God removes you from this world and allows you to see what you refused to see during your life, namely your stupidity.

So what is it that you need to be doing?  Well we already stated it just a few paragraphs above, study and learn and so forth. 

The most prevalent false counsel that is pursued in this world and in all of history, is the exact opposite of this process.