I still would like you to tell me how you arrive at the conclusion that the confederacy in Isaiah 8 is a global one.
Isa 8:1-9:1
1 Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Maher-shalal-hashbaz.
Maher-shalal-hashbaz means 'swift to the booty, speedy to the prey'. It's a symbol for what the historical Assyrian would do upon the northern ten tribe kingdom at Samaria, and Damascus joined with them against the house of Judah at Jerusalem. The idea is about a portion of God's people (ten tribed kingdom in this case) joining with Rezin against Jerusalem (back at Isa.7).
2 And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.
3 And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hashbaz.
4 For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, 'My father, and my mother', the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.
That of course was history.
5 The LORD spake also unto me again, saying,
6 Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;
7 Now therefore, behold,
the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:
The history continues, but in a different way of explaining; this time with metaphorical speech comparing the king of Assyria coming to destroy like strong rivers of an overflowing flood...
Isa 17:10-14
10 Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the Rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips:
11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.
(KJV)
What's to occur towards the end of this world involving nations gathering around Jerusalem (Zeph.3; Luke 21:20)?
Isa 59:19
19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun.
When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
(KJV)
Jer 46:6-10
6 Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.
7
Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?
8 Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, 'I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.'
9 Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.
10
For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that He may avenge Him of His adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
(KJV)
God has a planned sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates on "the day of the Lord GOD"? Yes. It's covered in Ezekiel 38 & 39, and in Revelation 16. It's about the idea of the joining of nations against Jerusalem, which Samaria and Rezin set off the pattern per the previous verses. Per 1 Thess.5, Christ's second coming is on "the day of The Lord". Although that Jer.46 Scripture was historically about the king of Babylon coming upon Jerusalem, it also has some specific endtime markers that never happened in Jeremiah's day.
Amos 8:7-14
7 The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein?
and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
9
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.
13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.
14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, 'Thy god, O Dan, liveth'; and, 'The manner of Beersheba liveth'; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.
(KJV)
The sun going down at noon, and the clear day darkened is an endtime metaphor, as that famine is also, especially in the sense of it being a famine upon many of not being able to understand God's Word in the last days. Note how the sin of Samaria, the false gods that caused the fall of Dan are referred to as being destroyed, never to rise up again; a definite end time metaphor.
Nahum 1:7-8
7 The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him.
8 But with an overrunning flood He will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue His enemies.
(KJV)
Rev 12:15
15 And
the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
(KJV)
Rev 17:15
15 And he saith unto me,
The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth,
are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
(KJV)
Rev 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
(KJV)
The idea of the Assyrian coming in as a flood of waters is about the coming of the final antichrist in the last days.
Isaiah 8:8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.
Who is Immanuel? It's Christ Jesus. His land? Jerusalem. The kings of Asssyria pressed Jerusalem, but did not destroy it. The king of Babylon did. But for the last days, how would this also apply to Jerusalem involving the nations that are to come upon Israel to destroy? God is giving us a 'pattern' here in this Isaiah 8 chapter.
9 Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear,
all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.
I thought God was only giving a Message about Samaria and Syria joined being destroyed by the king of Assyria at the start of this chapter? Why now all of sudden, God includes "far countries" (far away lands)? And He also gives endtime metaphors with it?
It's because this is covering both historical events and future prophetic events at the same time. It's about a confederacy of nations against Israel for the last days. But historically about Damascus and Samaria (ten tribes) who joined to go up against Judah at Jerusalem, and God brought the king of Assyria upon Samaria and Syria.
10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.
11 For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,
12 "Say ye not, 'A confederacy'", to all them to whom this people shall say, 'A confederacy'; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.
13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.
14 And He shall be for a sanctuary;
but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Wait a minute. What's these "stone of stumbling" and "rock of offense" metaphors doing here concerning this 'confederacy' warning? And why is it now also... upon the "inhabitants of Jerusalem" too, even to 'both' houses of Israel? (house of Israel = ten tribes; house of Judah = two tribes at Jerusalem). It's pointing to events for the end of this world involving the stumbling of many from both houses of God's people. Apostles Paul and Peter mentioned this stumbling at Christ. But for what time, since Christ had not yet come at this time?
15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
There's two where one is 'taken', and the other left, during the last days tribulation metaphor Christ gave in Luke 17. God also gave this metaphor in Isaiah 28 about those who refuse His Word line upon line.
16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among My disciples.
17 And I will wait upon the LORD, That hideth His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him.
18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.
19 And when they shall say unto you, 'Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter:' should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.
22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.
(KJV)
Waiting upon The LORD is what we are to do during the tribulation, waiting faithfully for Christ's coming, sober and watching. We are to have the Testimony of Jesus Christ. And that in a time when others will instead seek to the wizards that peep and mutter, who will be driven to darkness.
