Isaiah 9:1-7

Preparation

Pray

Lord, more than anything, keep me aligned with your will for your people. Speak through me. Speak in spite of me. Remove me. Let Jesus preach the message. Guide my time. Guide my hands. Guide my thoughts. Guide my tongue. In the name of Jesus, amen.

Just Meditate

Questions for the passage / first illumination

Described as a woman in anguish / 1

Contemptuous places will become glorious / 1

It’s hard to walk in darkness / 2

The light is external and is searching for them / 2

A people / 3

His aim is joy / 3

A previous yoke and rod have been snapped in half

Verse 5 feels random and gory, what is the purpose?

huge, dramatic, build up

a child

the child is for “us”

given

this child will be a king

name

wonderful - what experiences seem wonderful today?

counselor? - not my first choice for a warrior king

God

Everlasting Father

Peace

Increase never ending

Fulfillment of promises

Forever

God’s zeal will accomplish this promise

Mood/Emotion of the Passage

Bright, reversal, answer

Word-studies

None for now

Cross References / Passages that illustrate

Matthew 4:13-17

Isaiah 12:1-6

Judges 6-7 Gideons victory

Romans 11:34-36 Who has been his counselor?

Commentary

Context / Overview

“Isaiah’s vision projects his thought out of the tragic present as if it were already past.” - esv study

“The northern tribes were the first to suffer from the Assyrian invasions, so in God’s mercy, they will be the first to see the light of the Messiah.” - Guzik

“The light, joy and peace of his era sharply contrasts with the war, distress, and darkness of Ahaz’s reign.” - NAC

Isaiah means God saves

Versus

1

“The gloom carries over from Isaiah 8, where Isaiah warned Judah about the coming invasion from Assyria. Isaiah 8:22 said, then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness.” - Guzik

““Her” refers to Israel as the people of God under his discipline.” - esv study

“the land of Zebulun and Naphtali As the two northernmost tribes in Israel, they would have been the first to fall in an invasion from Mesopotamia.” John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Is 9:1.

2

3

“The you here is God.” - PTW

4

“You and I are not the subject of any verbs.” - PTW

“The type of deliverance the pronouncement pictures seemed impossible. After all, Assyria was a world power and God’s people were weak and crushed.” Tremper Longman III, “Isaiah,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1056.

5

“signify a victory in holy war where spoils were dedicated to God and military equipment was set on fire.” Tremper Longman III, “Isaiah,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1056.

“means that the battle is over” - guzik

6

“God’s answer to everything that has ever terrorized us is a child” - PTW

“What amazing mystery! There is nothing weaker, more helpless, more dependent than a child. Theoretically, the Messiah could have come as a fully-grown man, created as an adult even as Adam was created.” - Guzik

“For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us.” The sentence is a double one, but it has in it no repetitiveness. It is not a distinction without a difference.” Spurgeon, The Spurgeon Study Bible: Notes (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 899.

“This tells us that Jesus had to be born as a child to come to us, but he is also the preexistent Son of God who was given to us.” Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible, 2019), 777.

“Wonderful Counselor combines the idea of doing something extraordinary, miraculous with the skill of giving wise advice.” - NAC

Government upon his shoulder - “Ultimately, this will be fulfilled in the Millennium, when Jesus Christ will rule the earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords” - Guzik

Wonderful counselor - “He is a ruler whose wisdom is beyond merely human capabilities, unlike the intelligent but foolish Ahaz.” - esv study

“Beloved, it was meet that the world should have a Counsellor to restore it, if it had a Counsellor to destroy it.” (Spurgeon)

Everlasting Father - “benevolent protector” not using the trinitarian title “Father” for the Messiah.” esv study

“He will be a sage characterized by extraordinary wisdom.” Tremper Longman III, “Isaiah,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1056.

7

“Isaiah focuses on the messianic hope on an heir of David who would extend his rule from Israel to include all the Gentiles, and thus finally to bring to them the blessing of knowing the true God.” esv study

“This promise implies that no one will be able to successfully oppose his authority or undermine the positive effects of his government.” - NAC

Application

Relational application (love your neighbor)

Thinking application (mind)

Feeling application (heart, soul)

“Living emotionally as if God were not really our savior is practical atheism.” - PTW

Action application (strength)

Illustration

Verbal Illustrations

What a friend we have in Jesus

Pearl harber being the place of first attack (what did they do on VE day?)

Winston Churchill war counsel

Visual Illustrations

Audience

pains/problems

passions/purposes

Questions/arguments they may have for the text

Pre outline

Main Ideas of the text

So what?

What would this look like lived out?

Title ideas

Potential Outlines

Your present reality vs. his promised plans

King Ahaz - the Child - accomplished by the wonderful counselor

When your present circumstances don’t match the promise - have faith.

The way of Ahaz. The way of wonder. Be firm in faith.