Isaiah 9:6-7 " An Ever-Increasing Kingdom"

Introduction

We saw on the first Sunday of Advent that God gave a prophetic declaration through Jacob over His son Judah that the divine right of rule would be established in the line of Judah.

Then we saw last Sunday that Israel’s first King was Saul and he was from the tribe of Benjamin. Therefore he did not fulfill this prophecy and his rule was only temporary.

Saul was more concerned with himself than the the things of God. And because of God’s displeasure with Saul the Kingdom was taken away from him.

God gave the Kingdom to King David, who was of the tribe and line of Judah, and eventually the Lord made a covenant with David in regards to his line being on the throne of Israel forever.

David’s son Solomon ruled after David and the Kingdom became corrupted with false religion, excessive power and sexual perversion. The Kings following Solomon were mostly corrupt and contributed to the demise of the Nation.

The Kingdom split in two and eventually God brought judgement upon Israel and Judah by raising up the Assyrians to overthrow Israel and the Babylonians to overthrow Judah.

Prior to the Assyrian overthrow the prophet Isaiah is called on the scene by God. The two nations of Israel and Judah are in conflict with one another.

This is a very dark time in Israel’s history but as our text this morning reveals there are better times ahead because God speaks to His people of coming covenant fulfillment.

And this covenant fulfillment will come through the Identity of one to come and assert divine authority over the nations. Look at this covenant identity revealed in verse 6:

I. The Covenant Identity (6).

A “child is born” is referring the physical birth of the Messiah of God. But the son being given denotes the pre-existence of His covenant identity.

The government shall be on His shoulders because He will be preeminent.

This doesn’t mean that He will literally carry the government systems of the world around on his shoulders in the physical sense.

The picture is one of symbolism. And it is like a royal robe on the shoulders of a King which denotes His authority, the governments of the nations will drape on His shoulders as a sign of His absolute sovereignty over the nations.

This means He will surpass all others in authority and power. The rule of the nations is under His authority.

Therefore it should not be surprise us when we see the names that He shall be called by, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

I read this and I can just hear the tune of Handel’s Messiah going through my head.

Never has one ever existed on planet earth that would match this identity.

And that is a great thing! Because at this time in history God’s covenant people have seen nothing but colossal failure from the line of David.

But this was not just the fault of the Kings in David’s line. The people of Israel and Judah participated in the sinful indulgence of the nations. But the kings enabled it to flourish in the land because it is what the people wanted.

But the covenant Identity of the coming Messiah of God would be like any other. And He would do what no other King was able to do.

And as we know because of that original Christmas the Messiah King would be the eternal Son of God made flesh. And this would change everything when it came to the implications of the covenant. Look back at your text to verse 7:

II. The Covenant Implications (7).

The Kingdom will be ever-expanding in scope because there will be no end to its increase and peace (7a).

It will conquer the hearts of men one heart at a time. And it will not advance as the Kingdoms of the earth do. It will be a spiritual Kingdom that is not of this world.

In Daniel 2:31-45 The Babylonian King, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and the prophet Daniel was brought in to interpret it. Judah was overthrown and was in captivity in Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was about a statue made up of different materials representing 4 earthly Kingdoms: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome.

And he saw in his dream a small stone that was cut out of a mountain. But the stone was not cut out by human hands.

This small stone began to conquer the super-powers of the nations and as it conquered through the ages the stone grew until it filled the whole earth.

Listen to the words of Daniel as he summarizes before Nebuchadnezzar the interpretation of the dream in Daniel 2:44-45: “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.””

And then as we see in the second half of Isaiah 9:7b: 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.

So here we see the link from Genesis 49 to 2 Samuel 7 to Isaiah 9:7. Prophecies given hundreds of years apart and recorded for us in the OT.

And we see that this Kingdom that will conquer the nations will be characterized as a Kingdom of justice and righteousness. Christian to this very day, whenever you see justice and righteousness exposing the kingdoms of men and the governmental systems of men, just say to yourself: this is the Kingdom of God bringing the nations into compliance with the Lordship of Christ.

And remember such things may appear to be judgement first but in the end is the benevolent mercy and grace of God to the nations. Nations must be corrected by God because there is far too much corruption in government because the hearts of men are corrupt.

Thank God for God fearing Christians in politics! We need to lift them up in prayer consistently.

Those who believe that Jesus is not a political figure don’t know their Bibles. He is the most dominate political figure in the history of civilization and beyond.

Human systems of government are temporal but the Kingdom of God is eternal. Human systems of government are flawed but God’s Kingdom is flawless. The government systems of men are powerless to transform the hearts of men but God’s Kingdom specializes in heart transformation.

That was exactly why the child was born and the Son was given, to establish the Kingdom of God.

And that last line of verse 7: The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this

Remember Christian, that stone carved out of that mountain that conquered the world powers of the nations in Daniel 2:44-45 was not carved out by human hands.

The covenant people of the Old Testament would have taken note here. Because during the time of the Exodus God on Mount Sinai carved out two tablets with His law on them. The 10 commandments were a moral summary of the law of God.

This stone in Daniel 2 would be the Kingdom manifestation of the righteousness and justice of God. It would be the means by which the law of God would be upheld in rule over the nations of the world.

Conclusion:

If I look to self all I see is hopelessness. Because in my heart I am no different than ancient Israel and ancient Judah. I am incapable of self-rule in my nature my heart is utterly deceitful.

Oh I know we put our best foot forward especially on Sunday morning and definitely during advent if not for any other reason than sentimentality. I usually refer to this as Norman Rockwell Christianity.

King Jesus didn’t come into the world to decorate the outside with the glory of Christmas; He came to decorate the inside first.

That is why the path of establishing the Kingdom went from a stable in Bethlehem to Mount Calvary and on to the resurrection of King Jesus from the dead.

And unbeliever King Jesus is here to conquer the deadness of your heart this morning and to make you alive in His Kingdom. You must be born again.

Christian, You are in this Kingdom and you and I are held firm by God. We are kept by Christmas. In the Kingdom of God the tree stays up year round. I think I like that.

Because we need the grace and mercy and love that the reality of Christmas brings to us under the Lordship of King Jesus.

Come to Him today and confess your sin and know He is faithful! Let’s Pray!