Verse

Isaiah 8:10

ESV Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us.
NIV Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us.
NASB Devise a plan, but it will fail; State a proposal, but it will not stand, For God is with us.'
CSB Devise a plan; it will fail. Make a prediction; it will not happen. For God is with us.
NLT Call your councils of war, but they will be worthless. Develop your strategies, but they will not succeed. For God is with us! '
KJV Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.

What does Isaiah 8:10 mean?

The prophet Isaiah has been using painful metaphors for the destruction to come upon Judah at the hand of the Lord through the Assyrians (Isaiah 8:5–8). Now he looks past the near future into Israel's distant future victories over all their enemies.

In the form of poetry, he has taunted those future enemies to both prepare for war and to lose the battle. They should take on their armor before being decimated by the Lord through His people (Isaiah 8:9). Now he urges those enemy nations to make their plans in their war counsels and discuss their strategies to each other. This is a challenge bordering on sarcasm: in the end none of it will matter. None of their plans will be successful.

Why is this? Because, as Isaiah insists, God is with us. This is the meaning of the name used at the end of Isaiah 8:8, Immanuel. The Lord's people will never fully be wiped out because God is with them. Hard times may come, and enemies may seem to prevail, in the short term. Looking to the future, a Savior will come in a second fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14. The Messiah will be the final "Immanuel" of Israel (Matthew 1:20–22). Through Him, Israel will ultimately have victory over all her enemies, no matter how prepared or how strong they are. Because God is with her, she will not be defeated.
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