Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Isaiah 9:8-12
The pride of Ephraim 9:8-12Isaiah explained that because the Northern Kingdom had not turned to Him for safety but to an alliance with Syria, He would not defend her from her enemy. [Note: See Kemper Fullerton, "Isaiah’s Earliest Prophecy against Ephraim," The American Journal of Semitic Languages 3:3 (1916):9-39.] ". . . the sin for Isaiah, the source of all other sin, is the pride which exalts humanity above God, which makes God but a tool for the achievement of our plans and dreams." [Note:... read more
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Isaiah 9:8
The prophet announced that God had pronounced a message (Heb. dabar, word) of judgment against the Northern Kingdom. It had all the force of Yahweh’s sovereign power behind it, but it would come subject to Ephraim continuing on the course it presently pursued. Prophetic announcements of judgment usually allowed for the possibility of repentance. If the people under God’s promised judgment repented, the judgment would not fall (cf. Jeremiah 18:7-10; Jonah 3:4-10). read more