Isaiah 9:1-11
Isa 9:1
Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such
as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land
of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict
her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.
This verse concludes the previous chapter.
The calamities which will strike Judah shall not be as severe as the time
when Zebulun and Naphtali were afflicted.
This came in 734 B.C. when Assyria invaded that part of Canaan.
Tiglath-Pileser III also took Gilead east of Jordan and occupied the
plain of Sharon by the Mediterranean Sea.
Beyond Jordan which was known as Peraea which was east of the Jordan
River. Galilee of the nations which
means Gentiles, was so-called because not only Jews lived there but people of
many different nations. Galilee
where God first humbled his people would be honored in the future because that
is the place where Jesus chose his first disciples.
Isa 9:2
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great
light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the
light shined.
Galilee was in the throes of darkness when Isaiah gave
this prophecy about 732 B.C. when Assyria had just ravaged the land for two
years. Isaiah connects this verse
with verse 6 and the promise of the Messiah who would bring the light of
salvation to the people who were in darkness because of their situation.
Jesus would do much of his ministry in Galilee.
Jesus would be the light that would shine upon them.
Isa 9:3
Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not
increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and
as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
Multiplying the nation refers to the fact that Galilee
had enlarged itself by adding the people of other nations but their joy did not
increase because they all still walked in darkness not having the light of the
gospel yet. Their joy was the joy
which the world produces making it temporary.
When victors divide the spoils of their conquered people, it only lasts
for a short while and may be bring elation but it does not yield everlasting
joy.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (Galatians 5:22)
Joy comes as a fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Even a great harvest only yields earthly elation and when the harvest is
done, they have to start planning next year’s crops in hopes of another great
harvest.
Isa 9:4
For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the
staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.
The yoke of the burden will be broken because when
Christ comes on the scene he will defeat the powers of Satan and those people
whom he saves will have the burden of sin removed from their souls.
The staff also refers to the same freeing as the staff could be used a
weapon to hit someone with. The rod
of his oppressor would be the Assyrian army who would oppress the people under
their authority. The day of Midian
refers to the time Gideon defeated the Midianites in Judges 7 when his army was
reduced from 32,000 to 300 making it impossible for the people to claim victory
when it was the LORD who gave them the victory.
Here all the spiritual darkness would be broken by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Isa 9:5
For every battle of the warrior is with confused
noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning
and fuel of fire.
The trumpets, the drums, the sound of the chariots which
were all supposed to work in harmony will now be at odds with each other thus
throwing confusion into the mix.
The garments rolled in blood refers to those who were slain in the battle on the
Assyrian side. The burning with the
fuel and fire may be referring back to the time of the Midianites or is
referring to the fast victory Christ will have over sin.
It will be conquered in 6 hours when he goes to the cross.
This also points to the enemies of God who will be destroyed with fire
and they will be made to be the fuel that stokes the fire.
Isa 9:6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and
the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of
Peace.
For unto us a
child is born – Messiah would not be coming the form of a fully grown person
but would come in the person of a baby.
This would be in connection with Isaiah 7:14 where the baby would be born
of a virgin. He will come through
the birth channel and he will be seen in his humiliation.
Notice the Scripture states “For unto us...” which means he will not be
the Savior for everyone but for the believers only.
unto us a son is
given – He will come in form of a male baby and then he will grow up to be a
man. Isaiah 7:15 states that he
would eat butter and honey which means that he will be fully God and fully man.
But when the fulness of the time
was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
(Galatians 4:4) The fullness of
time would be about 700 years later.
and the
government shall be upon his shoulder: - This is not the government of the
world’s kingdoms such as Rome or Assyria but it is the government of the kingdom
of God which will rule over all the true believers that Christ came to save.
Kingship was symbolized by the scepter being on the king’s shoulder.
The sceptre shall not depart from
Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him
shall the gathering of the
people be. (Genesis 49:10)
The Lord Jesus Christ came from the tribe of Judah.
Wonderful –
he is called Wonderful because he is both God and man.
His works which he will do will also be called wonderful works.
Oh that
men would praise the LORD
for his goodness, and
for his wonderful works to the
children of men! (Psalm 107:8)
He will heal the sick, raise the dead, feed the people, and die for the sins of
the Elect.
Counseller -
This also cometh forth from the LORD of
hosts, which is wonderful in
counsel, and excellent in
working. (Isaiah 28:29) He will
give counsel to his people through both the written word and the spoken word by
means of the prophets and the body of Christ as they counsel according to the
word of God.
The mighty God
– Isaiah 7:14 states that he will be called “Immanuel” which is “God with us.”
He will perform miracles of creation like at the wedding at Cana in John
2. He will raise the dead and heal
people. These things only a mighty
God can do. This is in contrast to
the false gods which can do absolutely nothing because they are just the
figments of man’s imagination.
Jesus was involved in creation of the world.
He will save his people and keep them through his power.
He will have all the attributes of Deity.
The everlasting
Father - All things were made by him;
and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:3)
This verse will trip up those who are Modalists, that is, those who
believe that there is one God in three manifestations.
It is also called the Oneness doctrine and it is heresy.
His saved ones are called “children” denoting a father status for Jesus.
Little children, yet a little
while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I
go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. (John 13:33)
Unlike our earthly fathers who have a beginning and an end, the Lord
Jesus Christ will be a father to his children throughout all eternity making him
an everlasting Father. The fathers
were the patriarchs of their families such as Abraham Isaac, Jacob, Moses, etc.
Jesus is the patriarch for the family of God.
The Prince of
Peace – He will bring about peace among those he has saved.
Even if they are of different races or cultures, the Lord Jesus Christ is
the binding power behind them. When
people were enemies they become brethren by means of salvation.
The greatest peace that was ever created was the fact that because of
Calvary, the believer, who was at war with God before salvation is now at peace
with God because of their new everlasting relationship of love.
1
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2)
Before salvation we were the enemies of God and had no standing before him.
After salvation we have the right to come into the presence of God the
Father.
For through him we both have access by
one Spirit unto the Father. (Ephesians 2:18)
Isa 9:7
Of the increase of his government and peace
there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to
order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth
even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
The increase or greatness of his government and the
peace it shall bring, remember we now have peace with God and that is an eternal
relationship, which means there will be no end to either the greatness or the
peace. I guess you could call it
“Pax Coelum” the “Peace of Heaven.”
Jesus will be the inheritor of the throne of David and that does not mean he
will rule physical Israel because they didn’t want him but it is symbolic of
ruling the entire body of believers containing both Jews and Gentiles.
He shall be great, and shall be
called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne
of his father David: (Luke 1:32)
He will order the kingdom according to his own dictates and there will be
no confusion as there are in earthly kingdoms.
Justice and Judgment will be the way the kingdom is ruled and not with
any type of oppression or cruelty.
In fact, it was Christ who faced both judgment and justice for the true
believer. He stood before the bar
of God’s justice and was found guilty and faced the judgment of God on Calvary
for all the believers. When he was
raised from the dead, he was no longer guilty and now the believers could go
into Heaven without any sin attached to their souls.
For he hath made him
to be sin for us, who knew no
sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
The word zeal carries with it the meaning of “jealousy or envy.”
For the LORD thy God
is a consuming fire,
even a jealous God.
(Deuteronomy 4:24) God is
jealous over his new creation, that is, those who are saved in Christ and his
jealousy is a holy jealousy which is set upon the body of believers.
Whatever he does, he does it for our benefit since he is the one who has
redeemed us and therefore we owe our praise and worship to him and no one or
nothing else. God forms the body of
believers through the death of his son which was a major sacrifice and that is
why all allegiance is owed to him.
Isa 9:8
The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted
upon Israel.
The Lord sent a warning to Jacob by Amos and Hosea as
well as the prophet Isaiah and the word will be accomplished in Israel or the
ten northern tribes. The word
“lighted” means it will be fully accomplished as the Lord has spoken through his
prophets. This warning was also a
warning to Judah which in time they did not heed and suffered a similar fate as
Ephraim.
Isa 9:9
And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and
the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
Ephraim and the those who dwelled in the city of Samaria
were very arrogant and believed that nothing was going to happen to them.
They were filled with pride and had a defiant attitude toward God.
Much like the people of the world have today.
The Lord tells them that people shall know which means they can have all
the arrogance they want but their attitude will never stop the coming judgment
of God. Just like in modern times
man believes there is no God and tries to remove him from every vestige of
society but their arrogance will never stop the coming of Judgment day.
Isa 9:10
The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn
stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.
Then they basically raise a challenge to God by stating
let him do whatever he wants but after it is over we will build with hewn
stones, that is, they will rebuild with better quality stones and will make the
buildings much better than the old buildings.
Taking the sycamores and turning them into Cedars is the same thing that
they will build with the cedars of Lebanon making their homes and buildings more
beautiful. They disbelieved that
God would bring a judgment upon them and thought that it would just be an easy
chastisement and that they could endure it and then rebuild gloriously.
They never realized they would be carried away to Assyria and would never
return to the land.
Isa 9:11
Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin
against him, and join his enemies together;