A Thrill of Hope - Part 1 / Isaiah 9:1-5

Greeting/Directions: Good morning faith family, let’s open the Word of God together. If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to the book of Isaiah chapter 9. We are starting a new, Christmas series today called “A Thrill of Hope.” Originally, the title was super original, super creative, it was “Christmas in Isaiah.” I don’t know if this title is any more creative—I’m sure thousands of pastors over the years have preached Christmas series or Christmas sermons called “A Thrill of Hope.” You know the song—“O Holy Night”—and you know the line:

“A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks and new and glorious morn.”

I mean, that gives me chills and makes me want to go punch the Devil in the mouth, doesn’t it you?!

Did you know, that “O Holy Night” was originally written in French? It debuted in 1847 and just exploded with popularity, so an American writer in 1855 took it and translated it, and boy am I grateful he did.

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Problem: I need all the help being hopeful I can get. Especially around Christmas time.

As most of you know, my birthday is on Christmas day. For many years of my life, I was happy when Christmas rolled around, like any other kid. But, not gonna lie, I was a little frustrated with Santa and Jesus for stealing my thunder. I loved them both—Jesus more than Santa (of course), but I wasn’t particularly happy with having to share my birthday with them, and for every little boy and girl in the world to get gifts on MY birthday.

As a young adult, that frustration with Santa and Jesus translated into me being a bit of a Scrooge. I mean, we decorated for Christmas—but I wasn’t happy about it. My precious wife was so patient with me. I was Charlie Brown on his Christmas special, complaining about the “commercialization” of it all. You know the scene—Snoopy dives into the Christmas decorating contest and Charlie moans, “My own dog—gone commercial!”

Kids came along, and I am no longer a scrooge. I am a recovering member of the Ebenezer Scrooge fan club. I am a card-carrying graduate of Scrooge’s Anonymous. You can’t see a kid’s face light up with Christmas lights and NOT get pumped up about it all.

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Still, even if you are not tempted to be a scrooge and to be frustrated with Christmas, Christmas time is an especially dangerous season for cynicism.

Cynicism is the opposite of hope. A cynical person is the opposite of a hopeful person.

Hope is knowing everything is going to be okay, and having peace in the moment.

Cynicism is knowing everything is NOT going to be okay, and even if it is okay in the moment, “Well, it’s just a matter of time before it all blows up again!”

We all know cynical people. They’re not fun to be around. We all—from time to time—have been those cynical people. When that’s the case, we know we’re not fun to be around. I mean, we don’t even like being around ourselves when we’re being cynical.

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Christmastime is a dangerous time for cynicism.

Christmastime makes you think about the people you wish were still here—which is a good thing—it is a good thing to remember. Remembering the right way is a source of gratitude, and maybe even tears—but good tears because of the blessing that person was. But far too often, our remembering turns into regretting, and our regretting makes everything in the present moment taste bitter. So bitter that it keeps you from enjoying all the good things you still have. You become cynical because of what you don’t have, instead of thankful for what you do.

Or, Christmastime makes you worry about what the future holds. You’re looking around all your chickens are accounted for, but they’re all either growing up or growing old. And it fills you with fear, that makes it hard to enjoy the present for fear of the future. And you become cynical because of what you might lose, instead of hopeful for what you won’t.

Christmastime is a dangerous time for cynicism.

For some of us, sometimes, Christmas gets hijacked and instead of being the most wonderful time of the year, it is our most cynical time.

We need help.

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Glory to God, that is where these first seven verses of Isaiah chapter 9 come in to save the day. I switched the title of this series earlier this week when I started really digging into this text and its context, and realized that this passage is all about hope.

God’s purpose for this famous Christmas passage in Isaiah 9:1-7 is to give us “A Thrill of Hope.” His purpose for this passage is to rage against the cynicism that settles in, not just at Christmastime, but any time we lose sight of the good promises of God and our heritage as his children by the blood of Jesus.

What the Lord wants to teach us through these seven verses can be summed up like this:

No matter the trial or triumph, our heritage of unfading hope is as sure as the heart of God.

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Unfading hope is our heritage. Not cynicism.

As born again followers of Jesus, we are not just called to be a people of hope. Which, we are. But if that’s all there is. If we’re only called to be hopeful people, that just feels like a heavy burden. Because, I don’t know about you, but I do not always feel like being hopeful. Sometimes, If I am being honest, I feel like being cynical. And sometimes, if I am being honest, it feels good to my sinful heart to be a little cynical. We love throwing ourselves pity parties, don’t we?

But here’s the good news of the gospel. We are not just called to be a hopeful people in every circumstance—God has also equipped us with everything we need to be a hopeful people in every circumstance. And this text shows us the way.

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This main point comes from the first and last phrases in these seven verses.

Isaiah bookends this passage with the one-two punch of the main idea he wants us to walk away with.

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Let’s kick it off by reading all seven verses, and we’ll loop back to this main point. Take a moment with me, first, to be still and quiet and get our hearts ready to read God’s Word.

Then I’ll pray, and we will read together.

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STILLNESS

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PRAYER

Isaiah 9:1–7 (ESV)

Isaiah 9:1-7 1 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.

2 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.

3 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.

4 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.

5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.

6 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.

7 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.

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Look again at the first and last phrase in this passage:

Isaiah 9:1, 7 “But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. . . . The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”

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It starts out with a promise - “There will be no gloom for her who was in anguish.”

No gloom. No sadness. None of the pain and frustration that has dominated their experience up to this point. The subject of this sentence was “in anguish.” The promise the Lord leads with is an end to their situation of “anguish” that enables them to stop being “gloomy” all the time.

Do you want to know what it means to be gloomy? Eeyore. That character from Winnie the Pooh is a picture of gloom—which is one of two ways you can be cynical. When you are the opposite of hopeful, you are either:

. . . a bitter, hateful, person, who lives like you have a perpetual bur in your saddle. OR,

You are a gloomy person, who lives with a perpetual raincloud over your head.

Trials come and you say, “Well that’s just the way things are. Woe is me.” But then when triumph comes, you say, “Well, it’s just a matter of time.”

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To be a “gloomy” person is to live with a lose-lose attitude.

And the kind of things you and I have to walk through in this broken world, it honestly makes sense as to how people become cynical and “gloomy.” Bad things happen. Bad things had happened for the people Isaiah’s talking about there in verse 1. They were in “ANGUISH.”

But not any more.

“There will be NO gloom for her who was in anguish.” No gloom.

And if you’re looking for an expiration date in that promise, you won’t find it. The promise there is a perpetual reality of gloom-free, cynicism-proof living.

The “Thrill of Hope” God promises here in Isaiah 9 is no short-term, 2 minute-long roller-coaster ride kind of thrill. *Don’t you hate it when you wait in line 2 hours for a 2 minute ride? I can’t stand that. That’s not the way this promise works. The hope God points us to in Isaiah chapter 9 is surer than the Sun.

It is a promise of unfading hope. A kind of hopefulness that never gives way to cynicism.

And why is that?

Verse 7 tells us. It is because . . . “The zeal of the LORD of hosts” is what’s behind this thing.

“The zeal of the LORD of hosts” will do this.

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In other words,

No matter the trial or triumph, our heritage of unfading hope is as sure as the heart of God.

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His zeal is the driving force behind this thing. The One who threw a billion burning balls of fire into the universe, and upholds them by the Word of His power and keeps the cosmos spinning in perfect harmony, is the One we are told here in Isaiah chapter 9 is zealous to provide His people the ability to live with hope that never fades. in the here and now AND in the forevermore ever after.

If God is passionate about something, if something is on God’s heart—it is as good as done.

——Context:

Isaiah 9:1-7 is the last part of a section that runs from Chapter 7 to Chapter 9 verse 7.

Isaiah is sent to King Ahaz, who rules over the southern kingdom of Judah. At this point in Israel’s history, they have had their big breakup. They have divided into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

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Map *The Kingdom Divided*

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You see the map there of how it fell out, and how to the north, there was the kingdom of Syria.

At this point in Isaiah 7, the Kingdom of Israel has struck a deal with Syria. They have entered a partnership, they have formed a military alliance, as their best strategy for defending against a big bad kingdom to the East, that you don’t see on this Map—the kingdom of Assyria. And Assyria not just a Kingdom—it is an outright empire. And they are looking to expand.

Eventually, the Assyrian Empire will engulf just about the entire Near East. With that kind of threat on the horizon, you would think Israel and Syria would invite Judah to join their alliance—you know, “We need all the help we can get!”

But they don’t. And why is that? Simply put, they don’t like each other. They decide to do a little conquering themselves, and set up to attack Jerusalem, probably to increase their wealth and try to get stronger for the battle to come. Isaiah 7:1 . . . sets the scene:

Isaiah 7:1–2 “In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.” (ESV)

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Ahaz and all of Judah are shaking in their boots. They are terrified. Not only do they have Assyria looming on the horizon, their own kinfolk are out to get them!

So, verse 3 tells us that the LORD sent Isaiah to try to offer Ahaz some comfort:

Isaiah 7:3–4 (ESV)

And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah.

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You might be wondering, why the Lord told him to bring his kid along for the ride? Like, was it bring your kid to work day? No, God told Isaiah to bring his son because his son’s name was a message. “Shear-Jashub” means “A remnant shall return.” In other words, if Ahaz only half-hears half remembers what Isaiah said, here’s to hoping he’ll remember the kid’s face and name and at least hold on to the big picture.

In the long run, God is going to judge not only the northern kingdom of Israel, but also the southern kingdom of Judah, for their unfaithfulness to Him. There will only remain a remnant of their present status. But, despite that act of judgment—that remnant “shall return.” Isaiah’s whole message is a message of judgment and grace—which is a snapshot of how God works to accomplish his glory through sinful people—Judgment and grace. No sin goes unpunished—God is just. But—somehow, without compromising his justice—God extends grace.

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God goes on in Isaiah 7, promises that Syria and Israel’s plans to attack Jerusalem “shall not come to pass.” God declares it. God promises it. And the reason it shall not come to pass is ultimately, because—give it a just a little time—and Syria and Israel will themselves be overthrown and conquered by the Assyrians.

But to get a fuller story, we have to hop out of Isaiah and into the book of 2 Kings 16.

And the picture it paints of king Ahaz is not a pretty one. It says:

2 Kings 16:2–4 (ESV)

Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, . . . And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, . . . but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

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It goes on, describes the situation of Israel and Syria camping against Jerusalem, and do you know what it says Ahaz did?

It says he sent messengers to—wait for it—the king of Assyria.

2 Kings 16:7–9 (ESV)

7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.”

8 Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king’s house and sent a present to the king of Assyria.

9 And the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus and took it, carrying its people captive to Kir, and he killed Rezin.

So, Judah lives to fight another day. Their enemies are defeated—or, at least the ones who were presently attacking them. As for the Assyrians, well—now, they owe their lives to the big bad empire on the horizon. And they will pay a steep price. Like paying dues to the mafia, year after year, Juda will owe heavy tribute to the Assyrians.

Did you catch where that gold was from? It was from the Temple. And if you go on and read the rest of chapter 16, it doesn’t stop there. Ahaz will instruct his priests to build pagan altars, and completely dishonor and abandon the way God said He was to be worshiped in Jerusalem. Assyria will not conquer Judah—that will be the Babylonians job a little more than a century later.

But in the meantime, life under the Assyrian thumb will be a “gloomy” existence, filled with all kinds of “anguish.”

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Bacak to Isaiah 7.

When the Lord sent Isaiah to Ahaz, listen at the grace the Lord tried to extend to that joker. The Lord gives the promise that Israel and Syria will not succeed in conquering Judah, then, the Lord says to Ahaz:

Isaiah 7:11 (ESV)

“Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”

In other words, “If you want assurance—seek a sign.” Which is usually a bad thing to do. Rarely is seeking a sign from the Lord, as assurance for his promises, painted up as a good thing. It is usually a sign of weak faith.

But, here, God is like, “Go for it. No limits to what you can ask. Deep as Sheol; high as heaven—want me to write it in the stars, I’ll do it for you.”

And do you know what Ahaz said? “No, thank you.”

Isaiah 7:12 (ESV)

But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.”

. . . which sounds holy at first glance, but we know Ahaz. This is not a holy dude. At this point in the story, Ahaz has either already sent the messengers to the king of Assyria, or he’s already made his mind up. He is going to try to handle this on his own. He does not need God.

Listen, God just wants Ahaz to trust Him. If Ahaz would have turned to God in faith, in this moment of crisis, there is no telling how God might have not only saved Judah from Israel and Syria, but how Ahaz himself could have been personally transformed and become a good king instead of a bad one.

Back in verse 9, just listen at God’s heart in this thing, how all he’s really after in his people is that they will be a people of faith. He says to Ahaz:

Isaiah 7:9 (ESV)

If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.’ ”

You want to be a “firm” person? A person who lives with hope, who does NOT tremble at every sign of trouble, be a person of faith. But, the opposite is also true, “If you are not firm in faith—if your life is not build upon and around a deep trust in the Lord—you will not be firm at all, in any area of your life.”

But we know how the story goes. Ahaz did NOT become a man of faith. He would NOT even respond to God’s gracious invitation to seek a sign. He went and tried to handle it himself.

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God gives him a sign anyway; it is an incredible sign, in fact, it is one of the most well-known, well-loved Christmas prophesies in the Bible. But still, it is not as good a sign for Ahaz, in his day, as it might have been.

Isaiah 7:14 (ESV)

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

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God zooms out and zooms way on up the timeline of redemptive history, to the birth of the Messiah.

He then proceeds to speak about the trials Ahaz was going through—Israel and Syria and Assyria—but in relation to this Immanuel’s birth.

He says, “long before the boy is old enough to know right from wrong, these two kings you dread will be long gone! And in the meantime, before this Immanuel child comes, you know what, Ahaz? I am also going to bring upon YOU and YOUR people such days of anguish as have not been seen in a long long time.”

God is saying to Ahaz, that he and his current trials and short-term triumph over his enemies are NOT the center of history. This child “Immanuel” who will be born to a virgin is the center of history.

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Chapter 8 of Isaiah goes on to paint up the picture of what the Assyrian invasion will be like.

Yes, they will drive out and conquer Israel and Syria . . . but that deliverance won’t come without a steep steep price. The image the Lord gives is a river coming out of the east, flooding and wiping out Israel and Syria, but also spilling over into Judah, up to their necks . . . so they only survive by tapping along on their tippy toes.

Which is a really good picture of what their existence was like under the Assyrian oppression.

A whole lot of anguish, producing a whole lot of gloom.

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But then chapter 9 comes along and declares:

Isaiah 9:1,7 “But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. . . . The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”

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No matter the trial or the triumph, [as God’s people] our heritage of unfading hope is as sure as the heart of God.

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For the people of Judah and Israel, in Isaiah’s time, this promise in Isaiah 9 would have sounded too good to be true. The most likely response to this promise would have been cynicism.

“Yeah, there might be no gloom . . . for a little while. But you just wait and see! Nothing is forever!”

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So, in between these two bookends—the first part of verse 1 and the last part of verse 7, what the Lord says is meant to prove to us that the hope he promises is indeed an unfading hope . . . that there is indeed no expiration date, and no exclusions that apply to the promise of “no gloom for those who were in anguish”

. . . that God’s people are not just called to be a people of hope in every circumstance. But that God has also given His people everything they need to be people of hope in every circumstance.

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The first thing God does is to simply describe the deliverance he will accomplish for his people—for Israel and Judah. In verses 1, 2, and 3, we see:

Hope Described (9:1b-3)

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These three verses do not explain the reason God’s people are able to have no more gloom (he will get there in verses 4 and 5). But for now, it simply describes what their new, non-gloomy, non-anguishing situation is like.

This hopeful situation first involves:

1. God saving those he judged. (1b-c)

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Remember the name of Isaiah’s son who tagged along on the visit to Ahaz— “A remnant shall return.” A name that conveys both the idea of judgment and of grace.

True grace only comes after judgment. If there is no judgment, it is not true grace. Why is that? Because, if there is no declaration that what we have done is bad, then there is no need for grace. Or, at the very least, there is no way for us to admit that we need grace.

Look at the way it played out in verse 1. It says:

Isaiah 9:1 (ESV)

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.

Zebulun and Naphtali were the very first regions in Israel to fall to the Assyrians. God is saying here that, though the Assyrians were the invaders, that he is the one behind it who let it happen. It says, “HE brought [them] into contempt . . .”

But that was the former days. Now, in the latter days, “he has made [it] glorious.” “The way of the sea,” that whole phrase, is another way of God referring to that same region, which was around the sea of Galilee.

But here, Isaiah describes it as “Galilee of the nations,” which would have been curious for his original readers. There was not a massive population of non-Jewish people in Galilee at that time.

What is the Lord doing here? The best conclusion is that it is a foreshadowing clue to the global mission of God that will come to fruition through the ministry of the Messiah, whose stomping grounds will be the region of Galilee.

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Unfading hope for God’s people is delivered to us in the package of God saving those he judged.

Which is hard for us to wrap our minds around—our judge and our savior as the same person?

But this mystery foreshadowed by God’s judging and saving work with Israel becomes crystal clear in the person of Jesus Christ, who, in his death, judged our sins to be worthy of eternal death, while also accomplishing, in his death, the work necessary for us to be saved.

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Next, as we move to verse 2, we read how the hopeful situation of God’s people involves:

2. God shining on those who were lost. (2)

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The themes of darkness and light are all around us at Christmastime. We wrap trees in lights, and put them all over our houses. Oftentimes it is at best a sentimental gesture, or at worst, meaningless. But if you stop and think for a moment, why we’re draw to see the beauty in it all, and it has to be that there is something deep in our hearts that is drawn to the image of light breaking through the darkness.

It is a picture of hope!

Verse 2, is one of the most famous Christmas texts.

Isaiah 9:2 (ESV)

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.

For the people in Isaiah’s day, they might have read this as a description of what it would feel like when their descendants returned from exile. Or, what it would feel like, to experience the momentary relief of Israel and Syria backing off.

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The hope we live with as God’s people is like light shining into darkness. God breaking into our dark, gloomy situations. Lighting our way, where we used to “walk in darkness,” and showing the reality of our situation, where once “dwelt in darkness.”

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Verse 3 goes on with describing what a hopeful situation is like, and that it involves:

3. God strengthening those who were weakened. (3)

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Have you ever been so hungry that you could barely walk or think or move? You were weak. and you were probably grumpy about it. Verse 3 describes what it will be like when he restores his people’s strength:

Isaiah 9:3 (ESV)

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.

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They were weakened—by God’s direct judgment, AND by what they’d brought upon their own heads as natural consequences. Yes, God was behind it all, but God didn’t have to make it bad for Judah to owe the Assyrians their lives, it was just bad.

But, now, God has restored and strengthened them. And this newfound strength, gives joy. It says, the “nation is multiplied.” That is, they are advancing and improving and thriving again. To be alive is to grow.

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That is what it feels like to live with hope.

To be hopeful is to feel like you are fully alive and nothing is going to come your way that can change that.

That is “Hope Described.” Then, in verses 4 and 5 we see:

Hope Explained (9:4-5)

It is one thing to describe something that is good. It is another thing to explain how it is all going to happen.

You have heard that kind of talk I am sure. Someone has a great idea, they paint the picture up as vivid as a field of sunflowers in the sunshine. You reply, “That sounds awesome. How do you plan on making it happen?” And they say, “Oh, I have no clue about that.”

Description without Explanation may help you daydream, but it is NOT a recipe for unfading hope.

All description and not explantation may actually have the opposite effect.

But God does not do that. No, he explains—this hope he has just described is possible because:

1. God has defeated the oppressor. (4)

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As you read this passage, you may recognize a bit of strangeness in how Isaiah talks of future events in the past tense, as if they have already happened. I love the way one of my commentaries explained that. It said Isaiah used past tense language to talk about future events to show the absolute certainty of it happening.

When God plans something, there is no stopping it.

Verse 4, is spoken through Isaiah, while the people of Judah and Israel are still being oppressed by Assyria. But that does not stop God from saying:

Isaiah 9:4 (ESV)

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.

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The fact that verses 4 and 5 start with “for” is how we know they are an explanation of the three verses that came before. It’s a “because” statement. “You will live in this awesome state of hope . . . FOR/BECAUSE . . . I have defeated your oppressors.” “You who were in anguish will have no more gloom, BECAUSE I have defeated your enemies.”

“As on the day of Midian” is an echo back to the book of Judges where God delivers Israel from oppression at the hands of Midian through the surprising work of a man named Gideon. Don’t you love it when God is poetic?

What is significant about God’s deliverance from Midian through Gideon is that the whole thing did not make sense from the perspective of human strength.

Gideon was a coward. Gideon lacked faith. God told him to whittle down his army to just three hundred people. God told him to take torches and put them in jars and stand on top of a mountain and break the jars and shout like a bunch of madmen—that was God’s battle strategy! But you know what? It worked.

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Why can we live with hope? Because God defeats our oppressors.

Even as we presently wrestle against all those “principalities, powers, cosmic powers over this present darkness, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” that Paul lists in Ephesians 6:12, God’s final and ultimate victory over them is guaranteed. So guaranteed that we can speak of it in the past tense.

Which is exactly how the Bible speaks of the victory Christ has won, in Colossians 2:15 where it says:

Colossians 2:15 (ESV)

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Past tense.

The victory is won.

Yes, we are living in the messy in-between, the already-but-not yet reality of God’s kingdom. And though the enemy is real and sometimes wreaks havoc in our lives by stealing, and killing, and destroying, the one thing in the here and the now that he absolutely cannot steal, kill, or destroy, is our hope. Death itself does not destroy our hope. By the gospel we say with Paul, “O death, where is your victory. O death, where is your sting?”

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If the enemy takes away your hope, it is because you let him do it.

Unfading hope is your heritage as God’s child.

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And this promise of unfading hope is so sure, that the Lord goes on in verse 5 to double down on the defeat he has won. It says:

Isaiah 9:5 (ESV)

For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.

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Now, with this point, I wish I could go back and re-work the way it is in the handout. Because the line that I have in the handout is not the best way to phrase it.

Isaiah shifts here, in verse 5, from the past to the present.

“Every boot . . . and every blood-stained garment . . . WILL be burned . . .”

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This speaks to our cynical souls, as we feel the weight of oppression and the reality of anguish in this broken world, and we look around and see the evidence of our enemy’s oppression alive and well.

Christ may have triumphed over our enemies, and one day that victory will be full and final. But here in the middle, the pain is real.

So, here in verse 5, the unfading hope we can live with (in the here and now) is explained as possible, because:

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2. God will destroy even the oppressor’s tools. (5)

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If you have a handout, do me a favor and change the language of that line to what you see on the screen.

God has not yet destroyed all the tools of our enemy. We live, as it were, in a shrapnel field of the great cosmic battle. But one, day, he will. One day, Revelation says he will even wipe away the tears from our eyes.

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MUSICIANS, come on forward.

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The other night, I was putting our 9 year old to bed when he asked me, “Daddy, if Jesus rising from the dead defeated death, then why do people still die?”

Talk about a good question.

I hope my answer gave peace to his heart. I think I answered it okay.

But, in thinking about it, I realized my goal in answering his question was wrong. I went in to my answer, hoping to help him feel settled and satisfied with the Bible’s explanation for why God is waiting to make everything perfect again.

But, even with the right answer—fully understood—there is no guarantee that his heart will be settled. As if, it makes the pain of the present and the possibility of more pain in the future a non-factor that you can just ignore and skip through like a field of daisies.

No. That is NOT what the gospel does for us. Christ himself wept profusely over his friend’s death moments before he raised him from the dead.

Christianity does not make us stoic, incapable of feeling pain.

No. Christianity makes us HOPEFUL, capable of being full of joy despite the pain.

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My answer to that question now will be an echo of verses 4 and 5 of Isaiah 9 . . .

“Son, I do not know why God is waiting and letting bad things happen. But here is what I do know:

He has defeated the Enemy.

And he WILL one day destroy even the evidence of the tools the Enemy once used,

and because of that . . . no matter what happens, we can live with hope.”

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No matter the trial or the triumph, our heritage of unfading hope is as sure as the heart of God.

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“There will be no gloom for her who was in anguish . . . the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

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