Isaiah’s Booty Call
“His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” Luke 3:17
“I came to send fire on the Land, and how I wish it were already kindled!”
Luke 12:49
Feasts in Isaiah 8:1-18
Creation
Moreover the LORD said to me (Transcendence – Creation)
…..“Take a large scroll, (Hierarchy – Division – Firmament)
……….and write on it with a man’s pen (Ascension – Land and Man-Face)
……………concerning Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. (Ethics – Testing)
……….“And I will take for Myself faithful witnesses to record,
……….(Maturity – 2 witnesses)
…..Uriah the priest (Mediator Man – Conquest)
and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah (Covenant succession/offspring – Glorification)
This is just the first stanza of seven, being the Creation-Word. In the second, the prophet goes on his mission (delegation or “exodus”), and the Lawsuit “Word” becomes flesh.
Division
Then I went to the prophetess,
…..and she conceived and bore a son.
……….Then the LORD said to me,
……….“Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz;
……………“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.”
It seems there is no line seven in stanza 2. The prophets do this to show generations will be cut off. (We see the same thing after the 666 in Revelation: the entire 7th stanza of that structure is missing.) More likely, however, is that the last line is around the other way in Hebrew, (“he that is before the king of Assyria shall take away the riches”) so that the “he” is the Mediator (Redeemer/Avenger) and the “taken away” is an ironic Ingathering.
Notice that the child’s name, Speed the Spoil, Hasten the Booty, is double-barreled. It is matched in the chiasm by the double-barreled riches and spoil at Maturity. And in the centre is the child’s ability to Divide, to judge, between dad and mum. This boy was the Law in a sign.
Ascension
Then stanza three is about the Land being submerged up to the neck. It is the king of Assyria who ascends, but he will not be the head. The Land is washed, Firstfruits (Head) of Jerusalem is spared. When judgment finally comes, God makes a short work in the Land. So, “Speed the Spoil, Hasten the Booty” makes sense as a word from the Lord. Sometimes the merciful Lord gets impatient to judge between the wheat and the chaff.
The mention of the Euphrates is ironic. It is the river Abraham crossed to enter the Land. Israel refused the gentle river of God and would be submerged under wild Gentile waters instead. Chiastically, we have the soft, healing waters of Siloam at Pass-over, and the hard waters of the Euphrates at Pass-Through (Atonement).
The king of Assyria seems to be the ruling light at the centre of the structure, and the “multitude” at Maturity is an abundance of water. The Lord would lift Assyria up and push Israel (the Land) down. Notice the “pass through” at Conquest, and the filling of the Land at Glorification. The rivers of Assyria were a judgment flowing out of the true Eden, the heavenly mountain of God. The mention of wings is an ironic reference to the four tassels on an Israelite’s garment, picturing the four rivers of Eden. [1] The mention of Immanuel is also ironic. Glorification is the shekinah, the unity of heaven and earth, the Tabernacle filled with the presence of God. Like Babylon in later history, the king of Assyria was God’s servant.
The LORD also spoke to me again, saying:
…..Inasmuch as these people refused
…..The waters of Shiloah that flow softly,
…..And rejoice in Rezin and in Remaliah’s son;
……….Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them
……….The waters of the River, [the Euphrates] strong and mighty—
……………The king of Assyria and all his glory;
……….He will go up over all his channels
……….And go over all his banks.
…..He will pass through Judah,
…..He will overflow and pass over,
…..He will reach up to the neck;
And the stretching out of his wings
Will fill the breadth of Your land, O Immanuel.
Testing
The false Law is opened and exposed as futile. Immanuel is mentioned again, this time in a positive way. It is fitting that this stanza is made up of commands.
“Be shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces!
…..Give ear, all you from far countries.
……….Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces;
……….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.”
Maturity
Instead of the fear of God at the centre, it is a command not to fear the armies of men.
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, saying:
……….“Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’
……….Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy,
……………Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.
……….The LORD of hosts (armies), Him you shall hallow;
…..Let Him be your fear,
…..And let Him be your dread.
He will be as a sanctuary,
Conquest
The Mediators fall.
But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense (Tablets of Law)
…..To both the houses of Israel, (House divided)
……….As a trap [Altar] and a snare [Table] (Ps. 69:22)
……………to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (Rulers – Kings)
……….And many among them shall stumble; (Elders – Priests)
…..They shall fall and be broken, (Mediators)
Be snared and taken.” (Ingathering!)
Glorification
Bind up the testimony, (Light)
…..Seal the law among my disciples. (Delegates)
……….And I will wait on the LORD, (Altar)
……….Who hides His face from the house of Jacob; (Facebread unseen)
……………And I will hope in Him. (Lampstand)
……….Here am I and the children whom the LORD has given me!
……….We are for signs and wonders in Israel (Incense)
……….(Two witnesses, head and body, Heb. 2:13)
…..From the LORD of hosts [armies], (Mediator)
Who dwells in Mount Zion. (Rest)
This leads into the next 7 x 7 cycle [2]. It’s looking like the entire book of Isaiah is structured in this way. In that case, stepping out a level (fractally), perhaps this 7×7 above is Maturity (plunder and plagues) and the next 7×7 is Conquest.
____________________________________________
[1] See Healing in His… Tassels?
[2] See Wizards that Peep and Mutter.
