ISAIAH 9: “Hope For The Nation Comes Through A Son To
Be Born”
By
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study we looked
at Isaiah’s ministry to King Ahaz, who was the son of Uzziah’s son Jotham, and
to the people of
1.1.1.
We saw that there were
tremendous pressures on Ahaz at this time
1.1.1.1.
1.1.1.2.In the south,
1.1.1.2.1.Ahaz wondered if he should rely upon Egypt and form an alliance with
them against the Israeli/Syria alliance and Assyria
1.1.2.
Isaiah’s message was
delivered in vain
1.1.2.1.Isaiah tried to get Ahaz to simply trust God and to avoid forming any
alliance with the kings of the earth, but rather to trust whole-heartedly in
the Lord for deliverance
1.1.2.1.1.Isaiah told Ahaz that judgment from the Lord would occur if he placed
his trust in any nation rather than upon the Lord
1.1.2.2.In chapter 8, we saw that Isaiah tried to get the people of
1.2.
In our study today we are
going to look at the hope of
1.2.1.
We will see that this son
has to be both fully God and fully man
1.2.2.
We will also follow Isaiah
in the second half of the chapter as he again takes up the judgment of the
nation of Israel which is to come because of her having turned away from
following the Lord
1.2.2.1.We will see that Isaiah portrays
2.
VS 9:1-2 - “1 But there will be no more
gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of
Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it
glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the
Gentiles. 2 The people who walk in
darkness Will see a great light; Those
who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.” - Isaiah tells us that though
Assyria would ravage the land he saw that hope lay in
2.1.
In chapter 8 and 9, Isaiah preached a message
of certain coming judgment to Judea and
2.1.1.
We saw that in both cases, Isaiah knew that
his message would not be received, and therefore judgment would come upon the
entire land through the hand of the Assyrians.
2.1.2.
Isaiah told us in the previous two chapters
that though Assyria would flood across the land, and the waters of it’s army
would come all the way up to the head of Judea, nonetheless Assyria would not
conquer and destroy
2.1.3.
It would be
2.2.
Even though Isaiah knew what lay ahead for
2.2.1.
This is the hope that Isaiah introduces us to
in chapter 9.
2.3.
Isaiah knew that Assyria was just a tool in
the Lord’s hand to discipline Judea, but after
2.4.
Though Isaiah had previously seen the
judgment that would fall on both houses of
2.5.
Isaiah tells us that the Messiah will come to
the northern kingdom, where the northernmost tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and
Zebulun dwelt. This was the area called
2.5.1.
In Matt. 4:16, when Jesus was ministering
mightily to the people in
3.
VS 9:3-5 - “3 Thou shalt multiply the
nation, Thou shalt increase their gladness;
They will be glad in Thy presence As with the gladness of harvest, As
men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4 For Thou shalt break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their
shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. 5 For every boot of the booted warrior in the
battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the
fire.” -
Isaiah tells us how that the Lord will multiply the nation of
3.1.
The nation of
3.1.1.
This will occur during the Millenial Reign of
Christ after all
3.2.
The Lord shall go to battle for the nation of
Israel before He returns to set up His Millennial kingdom, and this is foretold
in the breaking the ‘yoke of their burden,’ the ‘staff on their shoulders,’ and
the ‘rod of their oppressors.’
3.2.1.
The battle of Ezekiel 38 will be won not by
the might of
3.2.1.1.Many
believe that Ezekiel 38 and 39 will occur before the 7 year Tribulation of the
book of Revelation, and others believe that these chapters are just foretelling
the battle of Armageddon.
3.2.2.
During the battle of Armageddon, which is
foretold in the New Testament scriptures, the Lord will fight against and
destroy all the armies of the nations of the world who come together against
3.3.
Isaiah tells us that all the boots and the cloaks
of the warriors who will come up against Judea and
4.
VS 9:6 - “6 For a child will be born to
us, a son will be given to us; And the
government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal
Father, Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah tells us about the
divine son who would be born to the nation
4.1.
All of the hope of
4.2.
Again, we see the connection between this son
who was to be born of a virgin which Isaiah told us about in chapter 7, verse
14. His name was said there to be ‘Immanuel’,
which is tanslated “God with us.” This
is the One who would be a sign given to the nation from the Lord, the One who
would come not in power but obscurity, and thus He would be the stone which the
builders stumbled over, the chief corner-stone.
4.3.
The Jews and others have tried to say that
this son was someone who was living at the time of Isaiah, or one who would
come along shortly. Many suggested that
it must be Hezekiah who would come and be the righteous king. There are some problems with believing that
these verses refer to Hezekiah however:
4.3.1.
Hezekiah was probably at least three or four
years old at this time.
4.3.2.
Hezekiah was a good king for the most part,
the last good king of Judea for that matter, however he was not one who would
ever be called ‘Mighty God’, ‘Eternal Father’, or ‘Prince of Peace’.
4.3.3.
This son who was promised to come had to be
very God of very God. However, since He
would be born of the seed of the woman (Gen. 3), the one who was prophesied to
be a virgin (Is. 7:14), this son also had to be man. Thus, this One whom Isaiah prophesied would
come and be the hope of
4.3.3.1.Only
the Lord Jesus Christ could be such a man.
4.4.
The titles which Isaiah gave to this Son to
be born to the nation are revealing:
4.4.1.
Wonderful
4.4.1.1.When
we look at the works which Jesus did in healing, raising the dead, casting out
demons, freeing the captives, etc., we have to say that everything that Jesus
did was ‘wonderful’.
4.4.2.
Wonderful Counselor
4.4.2.1.Jesus
said to His disciples before He went to be with the Father that He would send
to them another ‘counselor’ (parakletos in the Greek), one who performed that
function just as He had done while He was with them. He would send them the Holy Spirit.
4.4.2.2.As
the disciples’ counselor, Jesus gave them guidance and wisdom and led them in
the ways in which they were to go. After
His resurrection they were led by the Holy Spirit.
4.4.3.
Mighty God
4.4.3.1.I
suppose that at this point we could rule out any man, no matter how great a
prophet he might be, from being able to fill the shoes of this Son who was to
be born.
4.4.3.2.Jesus
did the things that no other man did, proving that He was God. Everything about His life should that He was
divine, from His virgin birth, to the miracles He performed, to the fact that
He personally forgave men and women of their sins, to His resurrection from the
dead.
4.4.4.
Eternal Father
4.4.4.1.Jesus
was the One who created everything that exists (see Col. 1:17 for instance), He
also told the Jews in His day that before Abraham was ‘I am’, indicating that
He was Jehovah God of the Old Testament who told Moses to tell the people that
‘I am’ was sending him.
4.4.4.2.Though
Jesus was technically the Son of God, the third person of the Trinity, from all
eternity, He was God and thus the Eternal Father.
4.4.5.
Prince Of Peace
4.4.5.1.The
angels who came to the shepherds in the field in order to announce to them the
birth of Jesus proclaimed, “Peace on earth and good will to men”.
4.4.5.2.Every
life that Jesus touched He brought His peace to, for He gave the peace of God
to men.
4.4.5.3.The
only true peace that men will ever have is the peace that will come when Jesus
sets up His kingdom. He alone brings
true peace to people of all different cultures and backgrounds.
5.
VS 9:7 - “7 There will be no end to the
increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his
kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From
then on and forevermore. The zeal of the
Lord of hosts will accomplish this.” - Isaiah tells us that the Messiah’s reign
shall be forever upon the throne of David
5.1.
It was to be no transitory kingdom which the
Messiah was to set up over the earth, but rather one which would last forever,
and thus the hope of the nation of
5.2.
Isaiah tells us that the Messiah’s government
would be characterized forevermore by:
5.2.1.
Peace
5.2.2.
Justice
5.2.3.
Righteousness
5.3.
God in His zeal would be sure to ‘accomplish
this’ Isaiah tells us.
6.
VS 9:8-12 - “8 The Lord sends a message against
Jacob, And it falls on
6.1.
Isaiah sees that this message of judgment
from the Lord deals with both houses of
6.2.
Ephraim and
6.3.
The judgment from the Lord upon the
6.3.1.
These kings would ‘devour
6.4.
It has been pointed out by Barry Webb that there is a progression that Isaiah is
noting in the rest of this chapter concerning the overthrow of
7.
VS 9:13-16 - “13 Yet the people do not turn
back to Him who struck them, Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts. 14 So the Lord
cuts off head and tail from
7.1.
Isaiah sees how tragic it is when a people
turn away from the Lord, and then He judges them and allows them to fall at the
hands of their own devices. Then, when
they have fallen to the lowest possible point, they still will not turn back to
the Lord in repentence.
7.1.1.
In America today, it was just a little over
two months ago when a group of terrorists attacked our nation hijacking jets
and crashing them into the World Trade Center, destroying both buildings, and
then into the Pentegon. Those attacks
caused many people to wake up and begin to realize that they need to listen to
and live for the Lord, for God’s hand had so obviously been taken off of
7.1.1.1.Today
in fact, I read an editorial in the New York Times that incensed me. It said in effect that what the world and all
of the religions of the world need to do is for every religion to admit that
ever other way to God is equally viable as their’s. Every religion needed to get rid of
fundamentalism. This editorial of course
will not be challenged in this most powerful and influential of newspapers,
however I would like to challenge this article and idea. The only Christianity that is truly Christian
is that which is true to it’s fundamentals.
If Christ was wrong when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the
life, and no one comes to the Father but through Me,” then there is no point in
anyone being a Christian. If fact, if He
was wrong we Christians who are trying to deny and humble ourselves and live
for the things that are eternal rather than temporal, or most to be
pitied. This editorial came from the pit
of hell itself, and from the identical unbelief of a world that was already
destroyed by a universal flood when the Lord saw that the thoughts of every man
upon the earth was only evil continually.
7.2.
Isaiah tells us that the Lord is going to
remove the head and the tail from
7.2.1.
God’s anger towards men who continue on in
sin is greatest towards those who ought to be leading His people to the light,
being leaders of His people, and yet instead are blocking the people from being
able to even see the light.
8.
VS 9:17-19 - “17 Therefore the Lord does not
take pleasure in their young men, Nor does He have pity on their orphans or
their widows; For every one of them is
godless and an evildoer, And every mouth
is speaking foolishness. In spite of all
this His anger does not turn away, And His hand is still stretched out. 18 For wickedness burns like a fire; It consumes briars and thorns; It even sets the thickets of the forest
aflame, And they roll upward in a column of smoke. 19 By the fury of the Lord of hosts the land
is burned up, And the people are like fuel for the fire; No man spares his brother.” - Isaiah tells us that the Lord
has turned towards the nation of
8.1.
Normally, the Lord has great pity upon
people, and He charges His angels with protecting them, however eventually even
the Lord’s patience runs out, and then when He determines to judge a person who
has determined to reject Him, He does so with ferocity, taking no pity.
8.2.
Isaiah tells us that the Lord does not even
‘take pleasure in their young men’, for the people as a whole are given over to
evil. Therefore, the Lord will not even
taken into account the tender age of the youth when He judges the nation. He even turns away from orphans and widows
when He judges the nation.
8.3.
Isaiah tells us that the people are completely
given over to wickedness, for ‘every one of them is godless and an evildoer’
and ‘every mouth is speaking foolishness’.
8.4.
Isaiah portrays the Lord as being relentless
in judging the people, saying that ‘His anger does not turn away’.
8.5.
Isaiah portrays the Lord’s judging of the
people as being furious, and the people are like the fuel for the fire, and
they are actually burning each other up in the fury of His wrath also.
8.6.
It is the people’s wickedness that causes
them to burn up in God’s judgment, and that judgment consumes briars and thorns
and sets the thickets of the forest aflame.
9.
VS 9:20-21 - “20 And they slice off what is on
the right hand but still are hungry, And they eat what is on the left hand but
they are not satisfied; Each of them
eats the flesh of his own arm. 21
Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, And together they are against
9.1.
The people are seen having tremendous
appetites, for they are slicing off their hand or arm and eating it, and yet
still not satisfied. Likewise, they are
devouring one another and yet still remaining hungry. It seems to me that what Isaiah is portraying
is that the lusts of our flesh will never be satisfied by sin, no matter how
much we try to live in sin. The lusts of
the flesh are insatiable and the more we sin the more we lust for more, for
living in sin will never produce any kind of lasting satisfaction. Rather, fulfilling the lusts of our flesh
produces only momentary gratification.
9.2.
It is also the lusting of the flesh,
symbolized by the eating and devouring themselves and their neighbors, which
just continues to fuel the fire of God’s judgment.
9.2.1.
Sin just produces an endless cycle of events
which only the Lord can free a person from when he turns in faith and cries out
to the Lord for salvation.