God Is Serious About Sin In Isaiah 7 & 8

God’s grace is quiet like a stream, but ignoring it can unleash a flood. That’s the unsettling picture Pastor Carl draws from Isaiah 7 and Isaiah 8 as Judah watches threats rise, leaders posture, and a nation drifts into faithless confidence. We’re forced to wrestle with a truth many of us try to soften: God is good and gracious, and God is serious about sin, because sin ruins what He loves.

We walk through the moment King Ahaz refuses God’s offer of a sign, then hear how the Lord gives a sign anyway, the promise of Immanuel, “God with us.” From there, Isaiah is told to write a prophecy on a large scroll, record it with reliable witnesses, and name a child Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, “swift is booty and speedy is prey.” It’s a timestamp on approaching judgment as Assyria rises, and it becomes a warning about what happens when people reject the gentle “waters of Shiloah” and put their trust in human power.

The message doesn’t stay in ancient history. We talk about fear, conspiracies, political pressure, and how easy it is to let threats disciple us. Isaiah’s command is bracing and practical: don’t fear the crowd, fear the Lord, and you’ll find sanctuary instead of anxiety. The same God becomes either a refuge or a stumbling stone, depending on whether we trust His Word or build a faith that simply blesses our preferences.

If you’ve felt pulled between panic and peace, this teaching offers a clear next step: hallow the Lord, bind up the testimony, and keep walking in Spirit-led obedience while you wait on God’s timing. 

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Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

Watch this. The Lord is serious. The Lord is good, he is gracious, he's willing to bring forgiveness to your sins and to make you a son and daughter of the king. But if you reject him and you go in your own ways, his own chosen people have been rejected by God. Give ear nations and watch this, and people, gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces. In case you didn't understand that, I'm gonna say it again. Gird yourselves but be broken in pieces.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

The God of the Bible that we have come to know is truly full of grace and mercy. He is full of love, but is he only full of love, grace, and mercy? Today, Pastor Carl will remind all of us that God is very serious about the dangers of sin. You'll learn that forsaking God is sinning. Did you hear that, listener? God is very serious about sin. Now let's come full circle back to his love. Why is he serious about sin? Pastor Carl will help you understand that God is serious about sin because he loves us. And now, here's Pastor Carl.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Moreover, the Lord said to me, Take a large scroll and write on it with a man's pen concerning Meher Shall Al Hash Baz. And I will take it for myself to faithful witnesses to record Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of uh Jeberchiah. So in the previous chapter, we had a prophecy that talked about uh the Lord himself giving a sign to Ahaz. Well, Ahaz is the king of the southern kingdom of Judah and the king of the northern kingdom of Israel, along with the king of Syria, were joining forces to come against him and defeat him. And the Lord was telling him, You're not gonna be defeated, I'm gonna protect you. But look at these guys in the north. Uh, they have forsaken me, they have abandoned me, and judgment is coming upon them. And Ahaz, you're not doing so good in following me either. You you need to pay attention to these things. And so he said, Ask for a sign. And Ahaz said, I'm not gonna give a sign. I'm not gonna ask for a sign. I wouldn't, I wouldn't presume that upon you, acting pious as if he was really godly when he wasn't. And the Lord said, Are you going to you know stress me out this much? I'm gonna give you a sign, then, even if you don't ask for it. And the sign is, Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel, and curds and honey he will eat, that he may know to refuse evil and to choose good. For before the child shall know to refuse evil and to choose good, the land in the land that you you dread will be forsaken by both her kings. This sign of a a newborn king is coming. This is the king that we're looking for. This is the king that serves God and saves man. Not like you guys, not like your enemies in the north, and not like your heart attitude, Ahaz. But before he comes, you'll all be wiped out. And so with that, we get we move into chapter 8, and we we have a word from the Lord to Isaiah to write down uh the name of someone who's coming, and this would be Isaiah's second son, and his name is Mair Shal Al Hashbaz. If you're looking for a name for a son, you might want to skip that one. But he said, Okay, I want you to write this down with your hand, and almost it's hard to read the Hebrew in here when you when you take it back. The large scroll and a pen, it may mean a tablet and a chisel. The point is, I want you to write this down. I want you to write this down and register it with these folks. These are trustworthy men that so that when it happens, they will say, Yes, God said it would happen. Have you ever been given a name for somebody or something that was going to happen in the future? At least two of our children we were given the names of before they were even in existence. And that was an encouragement to us that that God is working and that we were to have more children. He's given us names, we got to have more children. So it happens, and as we go on in verse three, then I went to the prophetess and conceived and bore it, and she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said to me, Call his name Maer, Shal Al Hazbaz, for the child shall have knowledge to cry, my father and my mother, for before the child shall have knowledge to cry, my father and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria. His name, Mayr Shal Al Hajbaz, means swift is booty and speedy is prey. Great. That that's a picture of how fast the judgment of God would come using the enemies of God. Israel, Israel, the northern kingdom, and Syria, who had, you know, come together, made a coalition, and they were gonna fight against the southern kingdom, they would be destroyed by who? Assyria. Assyria is east of Syria and Israel. Um, and it would come from across the Euphrates river and destroy them before this child would be able to say Mama and Dada. That means it's imminent. So this is saying uh Isaiah went home, he knew his wife, and she bore and conceived a son, and his name would be called this. Now, a lot of commentators say this is a fulfillment of the prophecy we just saw in chapter seven. Now, what's different about the two? In chapter seven, it says a virgin will conceive. In chapter eight, this is her second son from Isaiah. So he's not a virgin, but some would argue the word prophetist has this little idea of virgin in it. I don't believe that's the case, but I do believe, you know, Ahaz, this prophecy in chapter seven is going to come true, but this prop prophecy in chapter eight is going to come true before that, and it's going to affect you. Are you listening? Are you watching, King Ahaz? Verse 5. The Lord also spoke to me again, saying, Inasmuch as these people refuse the waters of Shioah that flow softly, and and instead rejoice in resin in Ramallah's son, now therefore, behold, the Lord brings over them the waters of the rivers, strong and mighty, the king of Assyria and his glory, he will go up over all his channels and go over with his all his banks, and he will pass through Judah, he will overflow and pass over, and he will reach up to the neck and the stretching out of his wings and fill the breadth of your land, O Emmanuel. Now, this the name Emmanuel, which was from the prophecy in the last chapter. Emmanuel meaning what? God with us. This is another reason why the two prophecies are different. The the other prophecy is about a virgin that will conceive, and the son will be called Emmanuel, which is God with us. The second will be the second son of Isaiah and the prophetess, Mrs. Isaiah, and his name does not mean God with us, it means swift is booty and speed is prey. So these are two different things, but we're talking about the land of Emmanuel, which is very interesting. Uh, where did Jesus grow up? In the land of Galilee, in the region of Galilee, in Nazareth, and and he did most of his ministry in the region of the Sea of Galilee. And this would be called his land, his territory, the territory that's being rejected by God. Not one king in the north was ever deemed to be a good king before the Lord. They've all rejected the Lord, they all went their own way, they all worshipped idols and they all did these things, you know, in their pride, thinking that they were holy and godly, but they went their own way and said, Don't tell me how to do things. So going back to verse 5 and 6, the Lord is saying, They've rejected me, they've rejected my kindness, they've rejected my offer. This waters of Shiloh, there's a spring that comes off of Mount Moriah, and it it gathers in the pool of Siloam. Do you remember that pool? Do you remember uh a story in the New Testament where Jesus put mud on a guy's eyes and told him to rinse in the pool? In the future, when when the city of Jerusalem comes down from heaven and the throne of God, with Jesus on the throne is ruling and reigning forever and ever in the new heavens and the new earth. What flows from underneath the throne? A river of water, a river of life that waters the whole nations, all the nations. Jesus, when when he spoke to the woman at the well, what did he say? I have water where you drink of it, you're never gonna thirst again. I've got a river of life. I won't break into that song. I've got a river of life flowing out of me. That's the Holy Spirit. This is what he's talking about. My grace, my water, my power, my forgiveness, you've rejected. And instead, you like Rezin, the king of Syria, and the son of Romalia, who was Pekka, the northern kingdom, they put all their effort and all their trust into these kings that would soon be destroyed. And in this poetic way, uh Isaiah is saying, we got this still calm stream of living water that you that you refuse. And instead of that, you're you're going to have this flood of water, this flood of judgment that comes from your enemy, Assyria, that will take you all out. And it would come all the way down to Judah. It wouldn't, it wouldn't capture Jerusalem, but it would wipe out the northern kingdom. The southern kingdom would later be taken away captive by by Babylon, who would have taken Assyria captive. And that was about a hundred years later when that happened. But the Lord is saying, look, the northern kingdom, every king has rejected me, has forsaken me, has gone his own way, and judgment is coming. But Ahaz, listen, you're not walking in my ways. You need to be repenting too. Because judgment is coming as well to Judah. But isn't it interesting? Emmanuel, his land would be called the northern kingdom, the kingdom that God has cursed, the kingdom that God that had forsaken God and was taken captive. That's the kingdom where our Lord would come and be a light to the nations, right? Be shattered, oh you peoples, and be broken in pieces. Give ear, all you from far countries. Uh, and that he's talking to us today, too. Are we not a far country? Watch this. The Lord is serious, the Lord is good, he is He is gracious, He's willing to bring forgiveness to your sins and to make you a son and daughter of the king. But if you reject him and you go in your own ways, his own chosen people have been rejected by God. Give ear nations and watch this. And people, gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces. In case you didn't understand that, I'm gonna say it again: gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing. Speak the word, but it will not stand, for God is with us, not you. Why is God with us? And it's as Isaiah talking, and those that that follow what he's saying, those that trust in the Lord and his word, the Lord is with us because we trust him. The Lord is with us because we believe him. The Lord is with us because we obey him. When you forsake the Lord in his truth, and you go in your own way and you build your own religion, you're not walking in in the faith of the Lord. You're not trusting him, and you're not you're not walking in his grace. And you're in danger of the judgment of the Lord. No matter how much you counsel together and work things up, no matter how you you speak the word, you could even use the Bible to make a case for yourself. But it's not mixed with faith, it's not mixed with grace because you're making the word say what you want it to say. Verse 11 for the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people. Isaiah is saying, The Lord made it abundantly clear to me. This is a serious business. When we forsake the Lord, we put ourselves in danger. Don't be like the other people. Even if they have more power and prestige and influence in the world today, they won't forever. Don't do the things they do, like uh don't say a conspiracy concerning all that the people call a conspiracy, nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. A conspiracy, another word for that, is a confederacy. It's saying that it's a treasonous conspiracy, an unlawful alliance. They're gathering together to fight against God ultimately. And even though that might seem like a powerful, mighty thing to do, and and and a lot of people will love it because it's like we're standing up for what we believe and what we think is right and what we want to do, you're fighting against God. Don't be afraid of their threats, don't be troubled. That's hard when we when we look at what's going on in our national government, and we scratch our heads and we go, This is unbelievable what these people are saying and doing, forsaking God, and and and and I feel threatened. Our religious freedoms are threatened. The freedom for you to raise your family as God directs you as being threatened. But God says, Don't worry about how strong they are. You stand firm in me. Find your peace in me. Don't be motivated by their threats. That doesn't mean we ignore it, right? We still stand firm, we stand for righteousness, we say some, especially in our country, because we the people are the government, right? We the people have something to say about how our representatives are representing us and the Lord for that matter. But we're not to be afraid of them, we're to have fear of the Lord and and declare his goodness and his grace and uh have wisdom on what to say and what to do. Amen. Verse 13. The Lord of hosts, him you shall hollow. He's the one that's holy, he's the one you should set apart in your hearts. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. He will be as a sanctuary. Our God is so faithful and just, he really loves us. He doesn't remember our sins when we come to him and and apply what he's done for us to our own lives. He's forgiven us, he's made us new creations. So we can run to him for safety, we can run to him to to hear from him, to be ministered to by him, because he loves us. When we hollow him, when we fear him, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, not only will the northern kingdom be taken away because they've forsaken the Lord, they have not feared the Lord, they've gone in their own way. But the southern kingdom is doing the same thing, and it's going to be taken away. These are heavy words from Isaiah. As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and many among them shall be shall stumble, and they shall fall and be broken, be snared and taken. If we are deceived, if we start believing a lie, or if we're motivated by fear, to do the things that our godless leaders call us to do, instead of standing firm in the truth of the gospel, and standing firm in who we are as a people, and what direction our nation needs to take, we will be trapped and snared. We will be caused to stumble, we will fall and be broken, snared and taken. No longer will we have the freedom the Lord has given us. The big question here is: are we building our own kingdom or are we seeking after the Lord, forsaking all others? And Isaiah is saying it's very simple. When we serve the Lord and we surrender to Him, we find sanctuary, we find help in the time of need, we find life, we find hope. Verse 16 bind up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples. Nobody's listening anyway. Let's bind this up, and the those that are serious about studying, we're gonna study it together. We're going to uh we're gonna submit ourselves to it. We're going to discipline ourselves by it. Disciples, the root word for disciple is discipline. What kind of discipline do we have? My discipline is I'm going to deny myself, pick up my cross, and follow after the Lord. And I can only do that in the Spirit of the Lord. So in His strength and His grace, I'm able to do these things that He calls us to do. If I try to please God in my own strength, in my own wisdom, I'm going to do things that are not glorifying to Him that He didn't want me to do. And I'm going to think that He ought to bless me for them. And Isaiah is saying, Be careful. I will wait on the Lord, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. Jacob is the name that was Jacob had before he was given the name Israel, and he's referring to the northern kingdom here. And who was Jacob? He was a conniver, he was a schemer, he always figured out how to get his own way. But here the house of Israel in the northern kingdom is being described as the house of Jacob because they've gone their own way. The God that is has rejected Jacob is the God that I am going to serve. The only reason he rejected Jacob is because Jacob has rejected him. Isaiah says, I'm not going to be in that number. I will wait on the Lord. Are you waiting on the Lord? Waiting on the Lord means continuing to do the last thing he told you to do until he told you to do something else. Waiting the Lord on the Lord means his time is not the same as our timing, right? His time is perfect. We think our time is perfect. We need him to move now. But when he moves, hold on. Here I am and the children whom the Lord has given me. We are for signs and wonders in Israel, from the Lord of hosts who dwells in Mount Zion. Now there's a whole lot there. He dwells in Mount Zion because that's where the temple is. That's what was the place that was set up for God to meet with men. And of course, just breaking up between when the northern kingdom separated. From the southern kingdom. They already separated themselves from the Lord because they set up their own place to meet with God. But at this point, God was meeting with man in Jerusalem in the temple. In Isaiah. And the people that were following him were seeking after the Lord. Where the Lord is. Now the same lady remembered that Jesus was ministering to at the w at the well, the woman at the well. They had this discussion about, well, you know, you guys say God dwells in in Jerusalem. And the Samaritans, they're kind of a half-breed. They're part Jew and and other Gentiles nations that were mixed in. They were a mixed breed. And the Jews from the south looked looked bad upon them. And this is this is hundreds of years after what the prophecies that we're talking about here. But it's in that same area in the in the north. And the stigma is still there. And Jesus said, the time is coming, it is here now. That men will worship on this mountain or there. But the key will be that they worship in spirit and the truth. Because God is not just in the temple, but your whole your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. When you come to faith in Jesus Christ, God dwells in you. And now you can meet with Him wherever you are, whenever. And with that, you are one of these that God will use to be signs and wonders throughout Israel and the world. Grab a hold of that. Those that follow after the Lord are usually a small number. It doesn't fit what the groups are doing. It doesn't fit what the northern tribes were doing. It doesn't fit what Ahaz and his followers were doing.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Thanks for joining us for Come On Up. We've been hearing from Pastor Carl, the pastor at the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina, as he teaches us about the book of Isaiah. Toward the beginning of this book, the prophet Isaiah receives a vision of God's glory, and he is certain that he and the entire nation of Israel will be destroyed in the presence of a perfect creator. But God chose mercy on Isaiah and purifies him of his sin. This is an illustration of how God had mercy on us by sending his son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. We don't have to be afraid to enter into the Lord's presence because the blood of Jesus has already paid the debt of our sin. We are made righteous and holy because of his sacrifice, which was prophesied to us all the way back in the book of Genesis and reaffirmed in the book of Isaiah. We're called to spread this message of hope to all who will hear it. And that is why this program that you're listening to is on the air. If you'd like to hear more from Pastor Carl, you can do so by visiting us online at themountaincross.com. If you're local to Waynesville, we'd also love to invite you to join us in person at the Mountain Cross. We meet every Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Smoky Mountain Cinema. You'll find more information about our services and our monthly faith film nights on our website. Pastor Carl has plenty more to share from the book of Isaiah, so be sure to come on up to the mountain with us again next time as we seek to learn more from the Lord through his word. Come on up is sponsored by the Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.