Westhill Church - Auburn & Federal Way, WA

The WEekly Word

A Blog of Encouragement from our Pastors

weekly word – 11/06/2025

Isaiah 8:19-22 - Darkness and Light

In Isaiah 8:9-18, Isaiah described his life as a prophet. He had to maintain the fear of God while surrounded by false conspiracies. He had to preserve God’s law while others found God offensive. Even Isaiah’s children were enlisted as part of God’s prophetic work. All of his life had to be different from the sinful Judeans around him.

In our next section, God tells Isaiah how to withstand worldly influence. First by discerning satanic deception (8:19-22) and second, by delighting in Messianic deliverance (9:1-7).

Today, we’ll look at the first part: how to discern the deception of the Evil One:

"Now when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. And they will pass through the land hard-pressed and hungry, and it will be that when they are hungry, they will be angry and curse their king and their God as they face upward. Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be banished into thick darkness."

We might have an idea of Old Testament Israel as a country oriented around God and His Law. But in Isaiah’s time, the land of Israel was filled with mediums and spiritists, whom the people of Israel sought out for advice. Hebrew lexicographers define mediums as those who claim to speak on behalf of the dead while spiritists are those who claim to speak on behalf of demons.

In verse 19, God makes a point to Isaiah that the dead are not good guides for the living. Death is the consequence for sin, so dead people, like demons, have lost all credibility as guides because they are guilty of sin against a holy God. Even if they could give advice, it wouldn’t be any more helpful than the advice of the living.

Rather than turning to fallible guides, we should seek the perfect Word of God, which is why verse 20 states, “If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn." God is clarifying that those who depend on anything other than His Word have no clarity in their lives and no hope for the future.

The outcome of such hopelessness is stated in verse 21: “when they are hungry, they will be angry and curse their king and their God as they face upward.” Turning to false spiritual leaders breeds bitter anger that blames all one’s troubles on God and the human rulers He appoints. But that anger can never be satisfied. So, in despair, as verse 22 says, these people turn back to the earth in the gloom of anguish, soon to be banished into thick darkness.

From this section, we discern a key mark of Satanic deceptions: they arouse a kind of bitter anger in us. In this case, it comes from spiritists or mediums, but those aren’t the only deceivers. Any other human source that becomes the primary focus of our hope will have the same effect. This includes religious, political, scientific, or even personal sources of guidance.

Human beings simply cannot depend primarily on one another since our perspectives are limited by ignorance, distorted by error, and corrupted by sin. If you see a professing Christian show signs of long-term bitterness or anger, this is your opportunity to prayerfully engage with them. Ask them what's bothering them. Learn about their bitterness. Most of all, open the Bible with them, to study, to encourage them, or to challenge any misconceptions they've accepted from the world.

We need the light of God’s perfect, certain, and enduring Word. It alone is pure enough to keep our minds grounded in reality. Its promises are totally reliable, giving us hope. By keeping our minds fixed on His Word, we become the light-bearers God calls us to be in our dark and dying world.

Pastor David

10/30/2025 – God's Attributes: The Holiness of God – Bryan

10/23/2025 – "A Light on Maple Street" – Ed

10/16/2025 – Isaiah 8:9-18 – David

10/09/2025 – God's Attributes: The Immutability of God – Bryan

10/02/2025 – "A Porch Conversation" – Ed

9/25/2025 – Isaiah 8:5-8 – David

9/18/2025 – God's Attributes: The Sovereignty of God – Bryan

9/11/2025 – Are You a Follower of Christ? – Ed

9/04/2025 – Isaiah 8:1-4 – David

8/28/2025 – The Supremacy of God – Bryan

8/21/2025 – Are you connected to God? – Ed