Isaiah 8:18

The names of Isaiah’s children were Shear-jashub (see my note on 7:3) and Maher-shalal-hash-baz (see my note on 8:3-4). Isaiah’s own name means ‘the *Lord is the one who saves’.

• If king Ahaz trusts the *Lord, only a few of the enemy will remain alive to return to Assyria.

• If Ahaz refuses to trust the *Lord, only a few of the people in Judah will remain alive.

A time of great trouble

v21-22 People will wander about the land. They are hopeless and hungry. Because they are so hungry, they will curse (insult) their king and their God. The people will stare at the sky. They will stare at the ground. They will see nothing anywhere except great trouble ahead. It is as if terrible darkness surrounds them. They are greatly afraid.