Isaiah 8:16

Bind up the testimony. This was to be Isaiah’s task. These words refer to the ancient custom of binding up a document and affixing a seal to it. Some of the Jewish Aramaic papyri of the 5th century B.C., discovered at Elephantine, in Egypt, were found still tied with string and the knot sealed with clay stamped with the impression of a carved seal (see Vol. III, opp. p. 80). Thus the contents of the document would be authenticated and kept inviolate. Thus it is to be with the words of God and the law of God. Isaiah had delivered a message of vital importance to the people, God’s message of life to the nation. That message must be diligently preserved. God had given Israel His holy law, and obedience to that law meant life to all mankind. It was of vital importance that the law be kept inviolate through all ages, that not one jot or tittle might be altered or otherwise made ineffective (see on Matt. 5:17, 18).