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Fundamentals of Dispensational Truth.
(Second Series).
ISAIAH.
#6.
Children of Sign and Wonder (7: 1 - 10: 34).
pp. 19 - 26
We have now passed in review four out of the seven sections of the first great
divisions of Isaiah's prophecy (Isa. 1:-12:), and we must next consider the remaining
sections: 5, 6, and 7--Isa. 7:-12:). Just as we found the first three sections linked
together as a structural whole, so we shall find the last three also closely associated by
corresponding parts. For the structure of Isa. 1:-5:, the reader is referred to
Volume XXX, page 131. Our present quest is the analysis of chapters 7:-12: The
subject-matter here falls into three sections:
(1)
THE VIRGIN'S SON. IMMANUEL (Isa. 7: 1 - 9: 7).
(2)
THE REMNANT SHALL RETURN (Isa. 9: 8 - 10: 34).
(3)
THE ROOT AND OFFSPRING OF DAVID (Isa. 11:-12:).
For our present purpose, we must pass by a great deal of detail, but we believe the
accompanying structures will be of service in drawing attention to the outstanding
features of each section.
In the first of these sections (Isa. 7: 1 - 9: 7) we are struck by the recurrence of the
children who are said to be given for "signs", and the importance of the typical meaning
of their names.
SHEAR-JASHUB.--"The remnant shall return" (Isa. 7: 3).
IMMANUEL.--"God with us" (Isa. 7: 14).
MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ.--"Haste, spoil, speed, prey" (Isa. 8: 1-4).
In addition we have the words of the prophet concerning himself and his children:
"Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for
wonders in Israel from the Lord of Hosts which dwelleth in mount Zion" (Isa. 8: 18).
And then finally, in chapter 9:, we have the glorious prophecy that sums up all these
signs:
"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be
upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" (Isa. 9: 6).
Intertwined with these wonderful signs, we have references to the political
atmosphere of the times, driving the people through unbelief into confederacies, and so
bringing upon them the invasion of the Assyrian, which forms the centre of the book
(Isa. 36: - 39:).