Isaiah 8:1-8 – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/…
Have you ever been up to the neck? In deep water where you couldn’t swim, standing on the tips of your toes just trying to keep your head above water? That is where Isaiah predicted the Israelites would be before long. The kings of Israel and Syria which now appeared so threatening would soon be swept away but that same river would flood the land of Judah all the way up to the neck. Isaiah even named his son “Maher-shalal-hash-baz” which means something like “swift is the booty and speedy is the prey.” Before, God says, this child will even know how to say “my Father” or “my mother” the Assyrians will come down like a wolf on the fold, and the sheen of their spears will be like stars on the sea. They will flood into the land, they will surround Jerusalem (the head of Judah, Immanuel’s land, hence “up to the neck”) and it will seem like there is no hope for God’s people, no ground to stand on.
But remember, these are God’s people, this is Immanuel’s land and He will deliver them as Isaiah records in chapters 36-37. He will do it because it is Immanuel’s land and they are Immanuel’s people. He has just pointed Ahaz to that sign and remember that sign cannot possibly fail. Immanuel will come and on the cross it will be He who has the water come up to His neck, indeed He will drown in the flood of the sins of all time. It was what should have happened to you and me. Because we like Ahaz and the people Isaiah spoke to then are far too easily impressed by the things and people of this world and far too easily distracted from loving and serving and trusting the True God. But Jesus drowned under those sins for you so that you might be raised up to stand on solid ground in the forgiveness of your sins!
In Christ
Pastor Ude