Single lesson
Isaiah's Family as a Sign
Isaiah 8:1–10
Children will follow Isaiah 8:1–10 step by step, hearing the unusual name God gave, noticing the people’s response, and seeing how the passage ends with God’s word standing over human plans.
Before you teach
In Isaiah 8:1–4, Yahweh tells Isaiah to write a name on a large tablet, calls faithful witnesses, and then tells him to give that same name to his son. Before the child can say simple family words, Damascus and Samaria will lose their riches. Then Yahweh explains the people’s refusal and uses water and battle pictures to describe what is coming.
Students will be able to retell Isaiah 8:1–10 in order and identify the people’s choice, God’s warning, and the truth that human plans will not stand against God.
Welcome: say the name and listen for its purpose
5 minWrite or say the name Maher Shalal Hash Baz together. Explain that God told Isaiah to put this name on a large tablet using ordinary writing, and that faithful witnesses were named as well. Tell the class to listen for how the written name later becomes part of Isaiah’s family story.
Isaiah 8:1, Isaiah 8:2
Read and explain: from tablet to child
7 minRead Isaiah 8:1–4 aloud. Point out that the same name written first is later given to Isaiah’s son. Then notice the timing marker: before the child can say, “My father” and “My mother,” the riches of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria.
Isaiah 8:1, Isaiah 8:3, Isaiah 8:4
Discuss: what the people refused and what would come
6 minRead verses 5–8. Help children hear the contrast between “the waters of Shiloah that go softly” and the mighty flood waters of the River. The passage says the people refused the softly flowing waters and rejoiced in Rezin and Remaliah’s son, so Assyria is pictured as a river overflowing far into Judah.
Isaiah 8:6, Isaiah 8:7, Isaiah 8:8
Make and respond: order the passage
7 minGive children simple cards to draw or label with the main parts of the passage: tablet, witnesses, son, family words, soft waters, flood waters, battle plans, broken plans. In pairs, they place the cards in order, then check each step by reading the matching verses together.
Isaiah 8:1, Isaiah 8:2, Isaiah 8:3, Isaiah 8:4, Isaiah 8:6, Isaiah 8:7, Isaiah 8:9, Isaiah 8:10
Closing: God’s word stands
5 minFinish by reading verses 9–10 with the repeated battle commands and the final statement. The peoples may prepare for battle and take counsel together, yet their plans will fail. End by reminding children that the passage closes with the reason given in the text: “for God is with us.”
Isaiah 8:9, Isaiah 8:10
Questions to explore
What did God tell Isaiah to write first, and where do we hear that same name again later in the passage?
Compare the large tablet in verse 1 with the naming of Isaiah’s son in verse 3.
Isaiah 8:1, Isaiah 8:3
What had the people refused, and what picture did God use for the king of Assyria?
Look for the softly flowing waters in verse 6, then the overflowing river in verses 7–8.
Isaiah 8:6, Isaiah 8:7, Isaiah 8:8
Why does the passage say the peoples’ plans will not stand?
Read the ending carefully and listen for the reason given after the words about counsel and speaking.
Isaiah 8:10
Make, think or respond
Maher Shalal Hash Baz Sequence Cards
What you’ll need
- Plain paper or scrap card
- Pencils or markers
- Scissors
- Bible
Try it together
- Make eight cards with words or simple drawings for these parts of the passage: tablet, witnesses, son, “my father/my mother”, soft waters, flood river, battle, plans fail.
- Mix the cards and let children work in pairs to place them in order from Isaiah 8:1–10.
- Read the passage again and ask pairs to match each card with the verse that supports it.
- Invite each pair to explain one card by saying what happened before it and after it in the passage.
The cards help children see the sequence of the passage and connect the written name, the child, the people’s refusal, and the outcome described by God.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, use four larger cards only: name on tablet, baby son, flood waters, plans fail. Say the long name together and let them point to each picture as the passage is read.
- For older or confident readers, ask them to write the exact verse number on each card and explain one image from the text, such as the softly flowing waters or the overflowing river.
An optional closing prayer
You might pray: “Lord God, thank you for speaking clearly in this passage. Help us listen carefully to your word and remember that your plans stand.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Isaiah 8
1 Yahweh said to me, “Take a large tablet, and write on it with a man’s pen, ‘For Maher Shalal Hash Baz’;
2 and I will take for myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”
3 I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. Then Yahweh said to me, “Call his name ‘Maher Shalal Hash Baz.’
4 For before the child knows how to say, ‘My father’ and ‘My mother,’ the riches of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria.”
5 Yahweh spoke to me yet again, saying,
6 “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;
7 now therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon them the mighty flood waters of the River: the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks.
8 It will sweep onward into Judah. It will overflow and pass through. It will reach even to the neck. The stretching out of its wings will fill the width of your land, O Immanuel.
9 Make an uproar, you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Listen, all you from far countries: dress for battle, and be shattered! Dress for battle, and be shattered!
10 Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand, for God is with us.”
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.