The Way of this People Isaiah 8:11-22 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

The Lord has a way [Ps 139:23-24; Jn 14:6] and the people have a way [v.11] and the Lord said to Isaiah that he “should not walk in the way of this people.”

v.12 – Their way was a “confederacy” – Judah got together with Assyria to protect against Syria and Israel – 1 Ki 16:5-9; 2 Ki 17:6-7 – but, as is the case with most of these alliances, Assyria eventually turned against Judah – 2 Ki 18:13. Judah’s “fear” was other gods – 2 Ki 17:7-9.

v.13 – the Lord’s way was for Judah to depend upon him – Ps 56:3-4, 11.

v.14 – The Lord would be their sanctuary – Ps 18:1-3 – he was all the protection they would ever need.  But in their own way, when they rejected him as their sanctuary, he became a stumbling stone – 1 Pet 2:6-8.

v.14-15 – As a result, in their way, they were snared, they stumbled, they fell, etc.

v.16-17 – So, do you know what the Lord did?  He bound up the testimony, sealed the law, and hid [Deut 31:17-18].  The only ones who get it are his disciples [Matt 13:10-16].  Note: this is the only place in the Old Testament that the word “disciple” appears.

v.18 – As a matter of fact, his way was revealed to Isaiah, whose children were named as a sign to Judah.  Isaiah understood the signs but the rest of Judah didn’t – Is 7:3-7 Shearjashub “the remnant shall return” – Is 8:1-4 Mahershalalhashbaz “haste ye, haste ye to the spoil” – these signs indicate the sudden destruction of Judah, which took place under Nebuchadnezzar who foreshadows the antichrist, and the eventual salvation of the nation through a remnant at the Second Coming of Jesus.

v.19 –Judah’s way was to seek unto familiar spirits – 2 Ki 23:24– though this practice was forbidden in Deut 18:10-12.

v.20 – God’s way was to speak according to his word – and when the evil spirits did not line up with his words, it was proof that they had no light in them – God’s words have light, Ps 119:105, 130.

v.21 –Judah’s way is to fret in their hunger and curse their king and their God [blasphemy].

v.22 – Thus they end up in darkness – contrast Jn 8:12 and Jn 6:35 – see Jn 3:18-19.