Isaiah: For Unto Us

Isaiah 9:2-7

The longest night

Dec 21st, the dark and dreariness of the season can really set in. Where do we find hope?

We surround ourselves with light and sound, but they are only pale glimmers that often deepen the longing rather than satisfy it.

Turning to the Gospel: Finding the light of truth in the promise of God: God does not call His people to escape the darkness by their own strength, but gives them a Savior whose light breaks their bondage and establishes everlasting peace.

Dwelling in the Dark

Darkness as a metaphor in Scripture. In 2 Cor 3, Paul tells us that apart from Christ there is a veil over the heart. We can read the words, hear the truth, even know the stories, and still be in the dark.

Lack of wisdom and direction

Prov. 4:19 “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.”

Darkness is what it looks like to live without God’s truth, stumbling forward, unsure of the way.

For sin, wickedness and judgment

In Eph 5, Paul writes about immorality and impurity as works of darkness, which should not even be named among the saints and lead to the wrath of God.

For grief, loss, and hopelessness

Darkness is not always rebellion, sometimes it is sorrow that cannot see the morning yet.

In his grief, Job wished that the day he was born would be left in darkness, forgotten forever (Job 3:4).

Isaiah says they were dwelling in deep darkness, not passing through it, but living there.

What does it mean to dwell in a land of darkness?

The people of Isaiah’s day were in darkness.

They were oppressed by war. A cycle of rebellion, judgment, and subjugation.

Their spiritual leaders did not proclaim the word, but were driven by idolatry; the sheep were without a shepherd.

How we are still in the dark?

A land and time where wickedness reigns.

Sin is celebrated, and those who pursue righteousness are called judgmental, old-fashioned, and hypocritical.

When we call sinners to repent and know salvation, we are called “haters,” when our deepest motive is love for the lost, love for the truth, love for God. This is living in a land of darkness.

A time of ignorance of God’s word and living in lies.

The world is blind to the truth of God, and are left to blindly grope after Him, creating idols in their ignorance.

Christians don’t know the Word of God and are prone to deception and being drawn away from faithfulness.

Darkness is not just something we are in, it is something we cannot get out of on our own. And Can it Be: “Long my imprisoned spirit lay fast bound in sin and nature's night…”

The Power of the Light

Isaiah declares, “They have seen a great light.” In literary terms this is called the prophetic perfect, where a prophet uses the past tense to describe future events that are so certain to happen they are spoken of as already completed, emphasizing divine certainty.

What does the light do?

Multiplies, brings growth. Isn’t this what the light does? In the Spring, when the days are lighter and warmer, life begins to emerge after the long dark.

God brings growth: building his people into community rather than the isolation and separation of hostility and sin.

Light brings Joy. Not just prosperity, but a joy that flows from peace and wholeness

The Light breaks the yoke of burden, the staff of the shoulder, the rod of oppression. All symbols of tyranny, slavery, and bondage. The light breaks the power of these domains.

How does the light do this?

As in the days of Midian… Judges 7 - About Midian and the story of Gideon and his army.

Gideon was an unlikely leader. He was called by God to go in the strength that God would give. Gideon eventually raised and army of 32,000 men, but God reduced it to 300 men.

They went into battle with trumpets and torches, no swords. The Lord went before them, turning the Midianites on each other, and delivered His people, setting them free from oppression.

This is the gospel pattern: God saves his people not through human strength, but through what the world calls weakness, so that no one mistakes who delivers them. This is the work of God. The people do not move toward the light, the light moves toward them. The verbs all belong to God.

Isaiah is pointing us to Christ, this work of God, the coming light that delivers God’s people from darkness, shines in Him.

What’s in a Name?

The way Isaiah directs us to Christ shows us how he saves. These names are not decorations; they are promises. They tell us what kind of Savior God has given to people who walk in darkness. As Calvin says, “Isaiah doesn’t give us titles to admire, he gives us names to cling to.” Each of these names answers a different darkness, and together they tell us that Christ is sufficient for the whole of our need.

A Child is Born, A Son is Given.

He came the natural way; born of a woman, born under the law so that in every way he might stand where we stand and obey where we have failed.

And yet he came by divine intervention; the eternal Word made flesh, to reveal the grace and glory of God in its fullness.

Fully man, so he could represent us. Fully God, so he could save us. Anything less, and we are still in darkness.

Wonderful Counselor - פֶּ֠לֶא יוֹעֵץ֙ (pe-le yo-es)

He is the light of the world, the way, the truth, and the life.

He is not simply wise; he is wisdom for people who do not know which way to go. When our judgment is clouded, when our hearts mislead us, when we cannot see clearly, he speaks light into the darkness.

Mighty God - אֵ֣ל גִּבּ֔וֹר (el gibbor)

He does not merely advise us how to escape; he delivers us. He is strong enough to overcome enemies we cannot defeat; sin, death, Satan, and the tyranny of our own hearts.

He is the strong deliverer.

Everlasting Father - אֲבִיעַ֖ד (abi-ad)

Not confusing the persons of the Trinity. “Father” here means author and source. He is the author of life that does not run out, the protector of a people who would not survive on their own, the King whose care does not expire.

Prince of peace - שַׂר־שָׁלֽוֹם (sar-salom)

He does not bring peace by force, but by sacrifice. He makes peace not by crushing his enemies, but by bearing their guilt. He first brings us peace with God, then peace with one another.

The Government is placed upon His shoulders

The burden that crushed us is placed on him. The yoke is lifted because he shoulders the rule. And because his strength does not fail, his kingdom will never collapse.

If we remain in darkness, it will not be because God failed to give us a sufficient Savior.

How, then, do we walk in this light?

Turn

Because the Light has come into the world, there is now only one faithful response: repent and believe.

That is exactly how Jesus begins his ministry. Preaching in the region of Zebulon and Naphtali, to a people dwelling in the land of darkness, Jesus says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

See your sin for what it is and cast it off (Rom 13).

To repent is not simply to feel bad, but to lay aside the works of darkness; to stop protecting, excusing, and redefining what God has already named as sin.

We cannot cast off the works of darkness by willpower alone. This requires Christ in us, the Light dwelling in his people by the Spirit.

This requires Christ in you, the Light dwelling in his people by the Spirit, producing submission to his Word, humility in confession, and grace toward others.

Walk

To walk in the light is to walk in truth, love, and obedience; to live in a way that reflects the victory Christ has already won.

Walk in the deeds of light: doing what is righteous and godly, loving God supremely as you love your brother, your neighbor, your enemy.

We do not walk in the light in order to become God’s people. We walk in the light because the Light has already come to us. Grace is not opposed to effort, but it is opposed to earning.

Rejoice

Isaiah says the result of God’s deliverance is joy, like the joy of harvest, not because the people made the crops grow, but because God gave the increase.

When your sins are forgiven, rejoice.

When your standing before God is secure, rejoice.

When you see real growth, real fruit, real change that you know did not come from you, rejoice.

The Zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

It is not up to us, salvation belongs to our God.

The hope of this passage is not the strength of our resolve, but the zeal of the Lord of hosts. He is not lukewarm about your salvation. He is all on flame with love for his people.

Salvation belongs to our God, and therefore, the light will not fail.