Maher Shalal Hash Baz & Immanuel - two sides of the same coin

Isaiah 8

Poor kid, being named “Quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil” just because your dad’s a prophet and God wanted to make a point to the Israelites 😅. But it may be that Maher Shalal Hash Baz is the same baby boy as Immanuel, as the NET footnote says:

The appearance of the name Immanuel (“God is with us”) is ironic at this point, for God is present with his people in judgment. Immanuel is addressed here as if he has already been born and will see the judgment occur. This makes excellent sense if his birth has just been recorded. There are several reasons for considering Immanuel and Maher Shalal Hash Baz one and the same. 8:3 is a birth account which could easily be understood as recording the fulfillment of the birth prophecy of 7:14. The presence of a formal record/witnesses (8:1-2) suggests a sign function for the child (cf. 7:14). As in 7:14-16, the removal of Judah’s enemies would take place before the child reached a specified age (cf. 8:4). Both 7:17-25 and 8:7-8 speak of an Assyrian invasion of Judah which would follow the defeat of Israel/Syria. The major objection to this view is the fact that different names appear, but such a phenomenon is not without parallel in the OT (cf. Gen 35:18). The name Immanuel may emphasize the basic fact of God’s presence, while the name Maher focuses on the specific nature of God’s involvement. In 7:14 the mother is viewed as naming the child, while in 8:3 Isaiah is instructed to give the child’s name, but one might again point to Gen 35:18 for a precedent. The sign of the child’s age appears to be different in 8:4 than in 7:15-16, but 7:15-16 pertains to the judgment on Judah, as well as the defeat of Israel/Syria (cf. vv. 17-25), while 8:4 deals only with the downfall of Israel/Syria. Some argue that the suffixed form “your land” in 8:8 points to a royal referent (a child of Ahaz or the Messiah), but usage elsewhere shows that the phrase does not need to be so restricted. While the suffix can refer to the king of a land (cf. Num 20:17; 21:22; Deut 2:27; Judg 11:17, 19; 2 Sam 24:13; 1 Kgs 11:22; Isa 14:20), it can also refer to one who is a native of a particular land (cf. Gen 12:1; 32:9; Jonah 1:8). (See also the use of “his land” in Isa 13:14 [where the suffix refers to a native of a land] and 37:7 [where it refers to a king].)

But interestingly enough, then the prophecy of judgment ends with:

Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted.
Issue your orders, but they will not be executed!
For God is with us!

That last bit “God is with us” being Immanuel.

So in the face of a bad time, Isaiah is still urging people to trust God. 

You must recognize the authority of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
He is the one you must respect;
he is the one you must fear.

So yes, it’s turbulent times. But instead of panicking, we rest in the assurance God is still in control, and we should trust Him. Quick the the plunder, swift to the spoil, but yet, God is with us.