8:11 Isaiah now passed along instruction that Yahweh had powerfully given him warning him against following the popular reliance on human strength.
8:12-13 The Lord told him not to fear the armies of Judah's enemies, but God Himself, Yahweh of armies. He should not become paranoid and think that the enemy's conspiracy against the people of Judah would succeed, as the people of Judah did. Instead, he should make God the most significant fact in his thinking and thus sanctify Him as holy (cf. Matt. 10:28).
8:14-15 This procedure would make God a refuge and a holy place of peace for the prophet. The Israelites generally, however, would not trust God and would, consequently, find that He tripped them up by bringing judgment on them (cf. Matt. 21:44; Luke 2:34; Rom. 9:33; 1 Pet. 2:8). He would trap them, eventually leading them into captivity.
8:16 Isaiah's audience needed to return to God's revelation and recommit themselves to it, which the prophet led the way in doing (cf. Josh. 24:14-15). Those who followed his lead became his disciples and disciples of the Lord.
8:17 Isaiah committed himself to waiting expectantly for the Lord to act in harmony with His word rather than turning to another source for strength and courage (cf. 40:31; Heb. 2:13). Presently God was not doing anything that indicated that He was working.
8:18 Nevertheless the prophet's own name and the names of his two sons were signs from Yahweh of armies that He would do what those names signified. Judah's enemies would descend on her soon, a remnant would return, and Yahweh would save. Even though He was presently silent, God was still on His throne.
8:19 Loss of faith in God results in an increase in superstition. The unfaithful in Judah were encouraging their brethren to seek advice about the future from mediums, wizards, and spiritists instead of from their God (cf. Lev. 19:31; 20:2; Deut. 18:11). Their unusual speech, used to call up spirits, portends unreliable statements. How ironic it is to consult the dead for information about the living (cf. 1 Sam. 28:6-8)!
8:20 Back to the Bible, Isaiah preached. If the predictions of the false prognosticators did not harmonize with written revelation, their counsel was darkness rather than light.
"More than anything else today there is need that all our thinking be based upon and in conformity with the Holy Scriptures."116
8:21-22 The end of such occult advisers is difficulty, hunger, frustration, distress, darkness, gloom, and anguish. They will look up to their leaders and curse both their king and their God because things did not turn out as they foretold (cf. v. 17). They will look down to their fellows and find no help. Frustration meets them wherever they turn.
9:1 In contrast to the gloom of the false counselors, the residents of Galilee in Israel, who would experience the Lord's chastening, would enjoy glory. God would bring light when His people had lost all hope. Galilee was the first region in Israel to feel the lash of the Assyrian invaders. It was a melting pot and home to many Gentiles as well as Jews because the international highway between Mesopotamia and Egypt passed through it. Glory came to this region later when Jesus lived and ministered there (cf. Matt. 4:13-16). But it will enjoy even greater glory during Messiah's earthly reign, as will all of the Promised Land.
