Reading for March 6th

 Read Isaiah 8.5-22. In 8.5-22: Rejection of the prophet's message. In verses 5-8: The message of the names is refused. Isaiah becomes the bearer of a new message: Ahaz will indeed seek military help from Assyria (see 2 Kings 16.7-9), but it would open the flood gates to a torrent that would overwhelm the entire land, immersing Judah as well as the sister kingdom in the north. In verses 9-10: The prophet proclaims: God will establish justice upon earth (the book's overall message; compare 14.24-27; 17.12-14; and see chs. 13-27). In verses 11-22: The prophet retires from public activity  until the truth of his warning is established. Verse 16 refers to the testimony of the name inscribed on the tablet in 8.1, so the disciples are witnesses of 8.2. The prophet's written "memoir" would originally have ended at v. 18, reemphasizing the message of his children's names, the message the king rejected. In verses 12-15: Isiah, isolated and spurned, is accused of conspiracy, although it was the king who had committed conspiracy against God. in verses 19-22: Short prophecies warn of the folly of rejecting the true word of God. When, in despair, the people turn to seek assurance and knowledge of the future from forbidden practice of consulting sorcerers and spirits of the dead, they simply plunge themselves into deeper darkness. Comments or Questions..