Isaiah's Great Light
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Many feel that we are living in a dark world today.
It is hard to disagree.
It is all around us.
From corruption in government, to war in the nations, to the mental health crisis in this country, to the lack of basic things that so many in this world don’t have.
We could go on and on about all of the things that remind us that this world is fallen.
It is not unlike the world of the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah began his ministry in 740 BC. Uzziah had been king over Judah and has just died after a long and prosperous reign.
And the years that followed were politically catastrophic in Israel
The Assyrian King, Tiglath Pileser III, was taking over the Middle East, including the nations around Israel.
They could feel the walls closing in.
The Assyrian Empire stretched from the Persian Gulf, down into Egypt.
They had more troops than anyone else
Better technology than anyone else
And they were more savage than anyone else
At this point in Israel’s history, there were two kingdoms. They split apart a couple hundred years before over some tax disagreement.
The Northern Kingdom was known as Israel.
The Southern Kingdom, which had been ruled by Uzziah, was known as Judah.
Around 735 BC, the king of Syria and the King of Israel came to Judah’s king—Ahaz.
They wanted Judah to ally with them to fight the Assyrians.
Judah said no and as a result, the Syrians and Israelites attacked Judah and besieged Jerusalem.
Ahaz was not a wise king like his grandfather, Uzziah. He was scared and instead of trusting the Lord, they made an alliance with the evil Assyrians.
He sent them all the money from the temple and his own treasury and he made Judah a servant-state of Assyria.
At first, Ahaz’s plan seemed to make sense. When the Assyrians took the North Kingdom into captivity in 722 BC, Judah was left untouched.
But Assyria demanded heavy tribute from Judah.
A totally unnecessary cost because in Isaiah 8, God had already promised to save Judah without asking for Assyrian help
Within thirty years, the Assyrians would turn their brutality on Judah.
That is the dark world that Isaiah was ministering in.
A world cast into fear by a terrifying global power
A world cast into darkness by the evil of a depraved empire
A world cast into turmoil by the deaths of good kings and the unwise decisions of bad ones
It is not a world unlike ours
But in the midst of that world, Isaiah tells us that deliverance will come by a child.
And that same message is our only hope in our world this morning.
Let’s read together:
But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
A LIGHT WILL COME (v. 1-5)
A LIGHT WILL COME (v. 1-5)
The passage begins with a statement of future fact:
There will be no gloom for her who was in anguish.
This is kind of a surprise considering how chapter 8 ended—with darkness.
They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.
Isaiah 8 shows us two ways of life.
There is the way of light
A life lived in God’s strong hand
A life that listens to God’s warnings and not the world’s panic
A life lived apart from the herd
A life of fearing God and not fearing the world
A life guided by God’s laws
A life lived in God’s rest
A life inquiring of God
A life of faith
But there is also a way of darkness
This is a life lived rejecting God’s help and strength
A life that stumbles over the truths of God and in ensnared by sin
A life of being spiritually guided by false teachers and worldly wisdom
A life of spiritual famine and wandering
A life of rage and turning your mouth against God
In the end, we are talking about a life of darkness
Darkness that is in itself a judgment for how God has been spurned and rejected
This is the spiritual state of Israel in Isaiah 8 and Isaiah 9...
This is why the opening words of chapter 9 are so surprising.
The “her” in Isaiah 9:1 is the the southern Kingdom of Judah
She has been in anguish under the Lord’s discipline, which has come in the form of unwise kings and oppressive foreign powers
She is feeling the consequences of her own sin—the weight of her spiritual rebellion against God
As verse 2 says, “The people have walked in darkness...”
The land itself has been brought into contempt (v. 1)
Zebulun and Naphtali are the Israelite territories that the Assyrian conquest began in
This area stretched from the Jezreel Valley to the north at the foot of Mount Hermon.
The Jordan River flows right through this area and into the Sea of Galilee
This was a rich region for agricultural and it was also the crossroads of major trade routes
You can see why the Assyrians are so eager to get their hands on it
But what we have here in chapter 9, is light breaking through the darkness and God promising that just as He has disciplined His people for choosing the way of darkness, He will graciously break through the darkness with His light (v. 2)
That light brings the multiplication of the nation (v. 3)
The increase of its joy (v. 3)
The joy of a full harvest (v. 3)
The joy of a victorious military conquest where the spoil is being divided (v. 3)
This is a picture of a future time when the nation is no longer under the threat of conquest
The crops are growing and they are living in peace
This is the picture of life in the land flowing with milk and honey that God promised them if they would be obedient
The yoke and the staff and the rod of Assyria will be broken (v. 4) as in the day of Midian
This is a reference to the victory Gideon experienced in Judges as he fought with the strength of the Lord
So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. When they blew the 300 trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.
So in Isaiah 9:4, Isaiah is consoling the people by speaking for the Lord and telling them that a Gideon-like victory will come that will free them from the darkness of their own sin and the threat of invading enemies
He takes it further in verse 5 by saying that the Assyrian trampling boots and the garments of war will be fuel for the fire of His judgment
THE SOURCE OF LIGHT (v. 6-7)
THE SOURCE OF LIGHT (v. 6-7)
All of this sounds great. Deliverance. Peace. Relief.
But how will they get it?
It all hinges on this light that is appearing in verse 3.
Is the light strong enough to push back the darkness?
Who or what is this light?
We get our answers in verses 6 and 7.
A child is to be born. A son is to be given (v. 6).
This is the third time in three chapters that Isaiah has attached the hope of Israel to the birth of this child
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz;
And then in Isaiah 9:6
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given...
Now, this is one of those Old Testament passages that we would say has double fulfillment.
We are obviously going to attach Jesus to this prophecy in just a moment and we will see why Scripturally, we are right to do that
But the immediate fulfillment of Isaiah’s words were not about Jesus, but Maher-shalal-hash-baz
This was not God’s Son, but Isaiah’s son.
This would be Isaiah’s second son and his birth was to be a sign to King Ahaz and the Kingdom of Judah
His name literally means “Speed, Spoil, Hasten, Plunder” OR “Swift to the spoil, quick to the plunder.”
In Isaiah 8:4 the prophet said, “for before the boy knows how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.””
Meaning, before the child can say “Mama” or “Dada,” Judah would be delivered
And this happened
Before the boy would have been old enough to say those words, the Assyrians came in and laid waste to the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Syrians—both of which had been threatening Judah
This is when Ahaz must have felt pretty good about making his unnecessary alliance with Assyria, but within thirty years the Assyrians would start turning the sword on Judah too
Nonetheless, the three prophecies about a child to be born in Isaiah 7, 8, 9… all point to the birth of Isaiah’s second boy
But it cannot be just that
I say that because the description of this child in verses 6 and 7 tell us that while there is initial fulfillment in Maher-shalal-hash-baz, there cannot be ultimate fulfillment in him.
He is not God. He is not a Father. He is not a Prince.
But the child in the prophecy is all of those things.
He is not able to reign forever and uphold David’s kingdom for eternity, but again—this is the profile we are being given
So we would say that this is partially fulfilled by Isaiah’s child, but we have to look beyond him for another
And there is only one who fits the billing
Let’s go back to the top of the chapter
In former times, God brought Zebulun and Naphtali into contempt
But now, He promises that this region will be glorious
And the close connection to verses 2 and 3 indicate to us that this great light that will take the people out of darkness, will come out of the glorious stretch from the Jezreel Valley to Mount Hermon
And this light will break through the darkness. It is a great light.
And on the first Sunday of Advent, we rejoice and declare that this is none other than our Lord, Jesus Christ.
He is the Great Light who has come out of Galilee preaching the Good News of the Kingdom.
He entered into the spiritual darkness of Israel and the depravity of this world and He shed light over the landscape.
Much in the same way that God created through the power of His Son to speak light into existence in Genesis 1, God has sent His Son to bring light to a dark and hopeless world.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
When we walk through the profile of the Anointed Child that is to come, we see that it can only be Jesus.
No one else is Wonderful Counselor.
This Messianic title pulls together two key aspects of who Jesus is. He is a Miracle-worker and He is the greatest Teacher the world has ever known.
Wonderful is meant to draw our attention back to Exodus 3:20
So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go.
Counselor reminds us of the wisdom of Ahithophel, the counsel to the king in 2 Samuel 16:23
Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed, both by David and by Absalom.
There has never been another who works in perfect power and teaches in perfect wisdom, the way that Jesus did.
Certainly there is no record of Isaiah’s second son fitting this description
No one else is Mighty God.
The word GOD is being used to describe a child being born.
Not only does this clearly rule out Isaiah’s son—it forces us to turn our head toward Bethlehem and look to Christ being born and say—it can only be Him.
There is nothing cute happening in the original language here.
It is as plain as your English Bible reads—the word is God.
Translated from the Hebrew “El,” the most common word for God in the Hebrew Bible
The mighty reminds us of the warriors from the period of the Judges who fought for Israel against the surrounding nations
Judges 11:1 “Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior...”
As Judah trembled before her enemies, it would have brought her great comfort to know that our God is a Warrior.
And somehow, through this Child, Mighty God would fight for them.
As New Testament believers, we know this has happened in the Incarnation
Jesus Christ, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten and not made, came to Earth through the virgin’s womb.
Mighty God in human flesh.
No one else is Eternal Father.
If it wasn’t odd to refer to a child being born as God, it is certainly odd to call him a Father.
I have had the blessing of holding two little baby boys.
I thought of the lessons I would teach them. The games I would play with them. The discipline I would have to give them. The love required to raise them.
But I didn’t think about them becoming fathers one day.
I think about it now, but then I was thinking about me becoming a father.
And once you couple it with the word “everlasting,” we are once again reminded we are not just dealing with a human child coming from a human mom and a human dad.
Isaiah’s son, important as he might be to the prophecy about Judah being saved from the Northern Kingdom and the Syrians, was not everlasting. He was never going to be. He couldn’t be.
An everlasting Father would have to come from eternity past and live into eternity future as Malachi promised the Messiah would
Micah 5:2 “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”
It feels odd to refer to the Son of God as Father, but this is not about His place in the Trinity.
This is about His character and how He interacts with His people.
He is caring and nurturing toward us. He listens to us and responds to our requests with good gifts.
He is slow to anger and abounding in love toward us, even when we fail. He leads us to joy and holiness.
He is shepherding and providing and loving and strong and safe—all the things a good Father should be.
And even though Jesus had no marriage and no biological children on this earth, He spoke to His followers—even new converts-- as His children:
Matthew 9:2 “And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.””
Mark 5:34 “And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.””
No else is Prince of Peace.
Prince was a pretty common name for a government official.
Jesus is prince who rules with peace.
Unlike the Pilate we have seen in our study of Luke, who had a reputation for brutality and brashness for the sake of it, Jesus brings welfare and safety to the people who are under His authority.
This sets the promised Messiah apart from the Assyrians who went around demanding tribute and taxes and land and slaves from the people they conquered.
The Messiah conquers hearts with love and then those who have been brought into His Kingdom are not taxed and oppressed—they are given shalom.
Wholeness. Security. Certainty about the past, present and future. A life where “all is well.”
When you look at these four Messianic name, you have four couplets.
And in these four couplets you have this mixture of titles.
Some of them could be applied to a great man.
But some of them—like the name of God itself—can only be applied to someone who is Divine.
There’s been great men who loved God.
There’s been great men who served God.
But there is only one Great Man who is God.
And that is Jesus.
The One who came preaching out of Zebulun and Naphtali, bringing light to the darkness.
We also see something in verses 6 and 7 regarding the rule and reign of the Messiah. The Kingdom of the Messiah.
The government shall be upon his shoulder (v. 6)
There will be no end to the increase of his government (v. 7)
There will be no end to the increase of his peace (v. 7)
He will sit on the throne of David (v. 7)
He will establish and uphold his kingdom with justice and righteousness forever (v. 7)
We are talking about a vast kingdom. We are talking about a kingdom that prospers and that prosperity never ends. An eternal Kingdom of God for the glory of God ruled by the Messiah of God.
A key passage to set up next to this one is 2 Samuel 7.
He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”
This was a promise to David that a son from his line would sit on his throne forever.
Matthew 1:1 tells us, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”
Jesus is that Son from David’s line.
He will fulfill the promise that God made to David when Jesus returns in His 2nd coming and He sits on David’s throne and sets up His eternal Kingdom.
And He will reign from that throne in perfect fairness and righteousness forever.
And as the Wonderful Counselor, His Kingdom will be filled with powerful wisdom.
As Mighty God, His Kingdom will be filled with the weight of His glory.
As Eternal Father, His Kingdom will be filled with love and provision.
And as Prince of Peace, His Kingdom will have no conflict.
So the picture that we have here is:
A perfect King sitting on His promised and prophesied throne
He loves what is good and hates what is evil and He is seeing to it that nothing evil will be in His Kingdom and it will only be filled with His goodness and the fruit of His goodness.
As the poor and needy who have been rescued by the Messiah on His mission, we will live under His reign—feasting on His mercy and grace, worshipping and serving Him forever
In other words, God’s people will live under the reign of God’s Messiah and experience the reality of Hebrews 1:8-9 forever:
“But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.””
HOW DO WE KNOW THIS IS ALL REAL?
HOW DO WE KNOW THIS IS ALL REAL?
When Christ came to earth in His first advent, He established His Kingdom. This is why when He starts His teaching ministry, He says, “The Kingdom is at hand.”
Then the baby born in Bethlehem grew up.
And as He grew, He increased in wisdom and stature, but never in sin.
He was holy, holy, holy at birth.
He was holy, holy, holy at 12.
And He was holy, holy, holy on His way up Calvary’s mountain.
A sinless life dying a criminal’s death
And then He rose from the grave and proved His identity as the Messiah:
And He proved that He had died in the place of sinners and the Father had accepted the work—otherwise, He would have been resurrected in the power of God.
And then He ascended to heaven
Until one day, when the trumpet sounds and Jesus returns to rescue His church and judge the living and the dead
And then—He will set up His Kingdom on earth forever
And what was established in His first coming, will be fulfilled in His second coming
I don’t know how 2022 has been for you. For me personally, this has been a decent year.
But even in decency, I am realizing that a lot of us are really just picking up the pieces from COVID.
ILLUSTRATION: Living on the Peninsula, you know that when a storm is really bad, you have to go out in the morning and assess the damage. At the very least, you are seeing how many limbs are down in the yard.
Well, COVID was a bad storm and a lot of us are just now assessing all the damage.
And for some of you, it is tough business.
You might have lost a friend. 25% of your 401k. You might have lost a marriage.
You might have gained a new anxiety prescription. You might have gained some bitterness and anger. You might have gained some new fears.
All that and more happened to people and a lot of folks are just now walking around in the yard and picking up the fallen debris.
Maybe that is you. And maybe you look at the destruction from the storm and you think, “This is just darkness.”
Financially, physically, spiritually, emotionally—just darkness
And you have a guy like me saying, “Open your Bibles because that is where the light is.”
Saying, “Read Isaiah and see the promises regarding the Messiah and see how Christ has fulfilled them.”
And you are there saying, “Brother—how do I know those promises are true? How do I know Jesus is really going to come back and make all this right?”
I hear you. The darkness can bring some doubts.
But I want to direct your attention to the final words we see in this passage:
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
The God of the armies of heaven. The God over the angel legions. God Almighty.
He is seeing to it that these things come to pass.
In fact, Isaiah prophesies that the Lord’s ZEAL is seeing to it.
It is the same Hebrew word that translates to jealous when we read that God is a “jealous” God.
It is a word that expresses the passion of God to us.
God is passionate about making all things right for His people through the power of His Son, the Messiah, for the glory of His name.
And you are a part of that.
Your life and your redemption and a part of it because He sent the Messiah to redeem you that God would be glorified in your life.
So however passionate God is about His own glory (which we would say He is perfectly passionate)—that is how passionate He is about your redemption and your ultimate peace through the reign of the Messiah, Jesus.
This isn’t Ahaz. This isn’t David. This isn’t a politician running for office making a thousand promises about a great America or building back better.
This is Jesus Messiah.
And that which human kings have failed to do for their subjects for thousands of years, Jesus will not fail to do.
A perfect Kingdom ruled by a perfect King for all of eternity to the glory of the name of GOd.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will see to it.
Therefore, hold on.
Do not give up. Do not mourn the darkness as if it will be here forever.
Part of celebrating Christmas is rejoicing that the Light has come and one day, it will just be Light forever.
PRAY THEN GOSPEL INVITATION