The Birth of the Prophet's Son (Isaiah 8:1-4).
As previously mentioned, one central point in this passage is the sign given to Israel in terms of the birth of three sons, two of whom were sons of Isaiah, and one of a virgin, in each case, at least partially, indicated by their names. Here we now have described the birth of Isaiah's second son.
Analysis.
a And Yahweh said to me, “Take for yourself a great tablet, and write on it with the pen (engraving tool) of a man, For maher-shalal-hash-baz” (Isaiah 8:1).
b And I will take to myself faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah (Isaiah 8:2).
b And I went in to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son (Isaiah 8:3 a).
a Then Yahweh said to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz”, for before the child will have sufficient knowledge to cry ‘my father' and ‘my mother', the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria (Isaiah 8:3-4).
In ‘a' and parallel the emphasis is on the name Maher-shalal-hash-baz. In ‘b' the faithful witnesses take note of his record of the name and in the parallel the prophetess produces a son of that name.
‘And Yahweh said to me, “Take for yourself a great tablet, and write on it with the pen (engraving tool) of a man, For maher-shalal-hash-baz.” '
God tells Isaiah to write a series of words on a large tablet, probably for public display, for it is to be witnessed by two witnesses. The words were maher-shalal-hash-baz and its meaning was ‘haste the spoil, speed the prey'. It would be a cryptic message to all in Jerusalem of what God was going to do. We are not specifically told timewise how this relates to chapter 7 apart from the fact that both occur before the desolating of Syria and Israel, but the inference is that it was after Ahaz's rejection. The public tablet would raise questions which Isaiah would be able to answer. At this stage it is not directly associated with the birth of his son. It is an enigma.
‘And I will take to myself faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.'
The tablet is to be witnessed by two prominent men. It was necessary that when the events took place no one would be able to deny the source or veracity of the words or the timing of the tablet. It should be noted that the element of sign here was in the tablet, not in the subsequent birth of the son. That merely confirmed the prophecy.
Month by month passed and the strange tablet, with its strange cryptic message, was on display. It was like an advertising board. And as men in Jerusalem saw it, it would make them wonder about what was coming.
‘And I went in to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then Yahweh said to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz”, for before the child will have sufficient knowledge to cry ‘my father' and ‘my mother', the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.” '
Isaiah now produces a son and is immediately informed that he must give him a name utilising the mysterious words on the tablet. If this was to be seen as the fulfilment of Isaiah 7:14 it is remarkably well concealed. The prophetess is not an ‘almah, and the child's name is in absolute contrast to that of Immanuel. There is no direct hint of connection, and instead of a triumphant cry it is a word of judgment. This is therefore, rather a third sign following that of Sheerjashub and Immanuel. The threefold sign confirms the completeness of the prophecies, the coming of judgment ‘with haste', the need for the return of a remnant, the appearance of Immanuel Whose promised birth has doomed the house of Ahaz.
‘The prophetess.' We do not know whether the prophetess was a prophetess in her own right, a prophetess because married to a prophet, or a ‘prophetess' because her period of childbearing proclaimed Yahweh's word. It was at least the second for the description is primarily in order to indicate that she was Isaiah's wife. But it may well be all three.
It should be noted that here the birth of the child is confirming, and making permanent, the previous sign of the publicised tablet and is therefore being used to indicate the nearness of its fulfilment. The child is not the prophecy. That was given on the tablet. This naming of the new born child with the same words rather confirms the prophecy already made, and demonstrates its soon fulfilment.
The inference seems to be that this was slightly closer in time to the event than chapter 7 because here it is before the child can say ‘Dada' and ‘Mama' that the events will happen, a shorter period than the period of growing up to discernment (Isaiah 7:16).
However while we do not see this as the fulfilment of Isaiah 7:14, it was certainly intended to be in parallel with it, and confirmation of Ahaz's rejection, although in this case in terms of the coming judgment. On the one hand ‘God is with us', but not with Ahaz, on the other ‘haste the spoil, speed the prey' which will directly affect Ahaz. It could not be a more emphatic choice. While not the son described in Isaiah 7:14, this was the birth of a son whose birth was indeed a kind of sign, even though of an inferior nature (as was the birth of Isaiah's first son). It confirmed the second part of the previous prophecy, and actually acted as a reminder to all of that previous prophecy. But this was not the one promised. They must continue to look for the rise of a greater, miraculously born, son of David.
The birth of this son would increase the apprehension in Ahaz's mind that he himself was shortly to be replaced by Immanuel, for he had no knowledge of when he would be born.