Isa. 7:10-16; 9:2-7; 11:1-2

Introduction

We landed last week on the coming judgement of Yahweh and Isaiah asking “How Long?”:

Isaiah 6:11–12 “11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, 12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.”

And yet, God gives hope:

Isaiah 6:13 “13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.”

Picture walking through a burned out forest the following spring after the fire, and you see the charred black stump of an oak tree that had been cut down and harvested the spring before the fire came through. And out of the top of that burned stump you see a bunch of shoots bursting forth. You see life coming forth from death

Yahweh says: “Even if only one out of ten people is left, the land will be burned over again. But think of an oak tree that's been cut down — the burned stump is still there, and the stump still has life in it.

That surviving stump is My holy seed — the family line I'm protecting, because My promise is growing inside it."

But the BIG question of Chapter 6 comes from the first 5 verses:

Isaiah 6:1–5 “1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

If a man like Isaiah, a man of unclean lips can’t survive the presence of a thrice holy God, “How can this holy God ever dwell with an unclean people?”

The seraphim taking the live coal from the altar and touching his tongue is how Isaiah received forgiveness, cleansing and reconciliation..but what about the people?

The answer comes in Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Isaiah 7:1–9, simplest version:

Two enemy kings (Syria + northern Israel) gang up to attack Jerusalem and replace King Ahaz with their own puppet king.

Ahaz and the people panic — shaking "like trees in the wind" (v. 2).

God sends Isaiah to tell Ahaz: don't be afraid — these two kings are just "smoking firebrands," torches about to burn out (v. 4).

Their plan will fail. God says so (v. 7).

The warning: Isaiah 7:9 “9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.”

“if you won't stand firm in faith, you won't stand at all.”

Isaiah 7:10–13 KJV

10 Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, 11 Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. 12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. 13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

Isaiah tells Ahaz to ask for a sign; not because he doubts but, like Gideon asked, to be sure he was in the will of God. God was telling him to ask though. Asking for a sign isn't always right. But when God invites it, asking is faith — and refusing is unbelief.

Ahaz acts like he doesn’t want to tempt Yahweh. The truth is he doesn’t want to believe.

His refusal is the latest act in the entire house of David’s failure to live up to the covenant Yahweh mad with David. Vs 11 Yahweh was Ahaz and the House of David’s God. In vs 13 He’s now Isaiah’s God

Then in a prophecy that will be partially fulfilled immediately but signals a far greater promise, the answer to the question comes:

Isaiah 7:14 KJV

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

virgin here in Hebrew is עַלְמָה or young woman, a maiden. It’s not the technical term for a woman who hasn’t known a man

but we hear it right and Matthew proves it:

Matthew 1:23 “23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

Matthew uses παρθένος (parthénos): the techincal term for one who hasn’t known a man

Matthew isn’t changing Isaiah, he’s using virgin the same way greek speaking Jews always had

In Isaiah we see the immediate prophecy but in Matthew we see Jesus. The perfect, sinless, virgin born child that is the ONLY way a three times holy God can come and be with His people

The only way people can receive the forgiveness, cleansing and reconciliation Isaiah did

Isaiah 7:15–16 KJV

15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. 16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

The divine child will be born in the poverty of His people

Immanuel of Isaiah is born in the shadow of the immediate threat.

Emmanuel of Matthew is born with an undated future

Chapter 8

Isaiah 8, simplest version:

God gives another sign-child: Isaiah's own son, Maher-shalal-hash-baz ("speed the spoil, hurry the prey") — before this boy can say "daddy and mommy," Assyria will strip Syria and northern Israel bare (vv. 1–4).

But Judah rejected God's gentle help — "the waters of Shiloah that go softly" — so God will send the flood they chose: Assyria, a river overflowing its banks, rising "even to the neck" (vv. 5–8). Judah nearly drowns in the ally Ahaz hired.

Yet the flood stops at the neck — because the land belongs to Immanuel (v. 8). God with us is the reason Judah survives.

God tells Isaiah: don't fear what the people fear. "Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear" (vv. 12–13). Fear God, not headlines.

The LORD Himself will be either a sanctuary or a stumbling stone — same God, two outcomes, depending on faith (vv. 14–15). Peter puts this verse on Jesus (1 Peter 2:8 “8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.” ).

Don't consult the darkness — no mediums, no wizards. "To the law and to the testimony" — God's word is the only light (vv. 19–20).

The chapter ends in gloom and darkness (vv. 21–22)...

Chapter 9

Isaiah 9:1 “1 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.”

Isaiah 9:2–7 KJV

2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. 3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. 4 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. 5 For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. 6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Isa 9 2-7 is a poem

Galilee, the region that took the first and worst of every invasion, the land Assyria stripped first. Hope comes first to those who suffered most.

Matthew 4:13–16 “13 And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: 14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.”

Vs 4: the day of Midian: Gideon: 300 men, no swords drawn, God alone gets credit.

Isaiah is telling how deliverance works…God alone

Isaiah 9:6 “6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

is the how 3-4 happens. Not by what the child will do when He’s grown, but by the child being born. In his coming, all the promises are locked in

He is born as from human parents and given as from God

His shoulders will bare the burden of ruling; the yoke, the staff, the rod were on our shoulder; now the government is on His

Supernaturally wiser than any counsel ever given on earth

El-gibbor: The mighty warrior God who goes before and conquers all who oppose

Everlasting Father: the King who is a father to His people

protector, provider, sustainer; concern for the poor, disciplining His people — and He never dies, never abdicates, never fails

Bringing peace, shalom: not just lack of fighting but wholeness

Every name pairs the divine with government

During the contentious 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, 81-year-old Ben Franklin addressed George Washington, stating: "The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men."

Daniel 4:17 “17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.”

Yahweh God rules and rules forever:

Luke 1:32–33 “32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

“The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”: The whole promise hangs on God's own jealous determination, not on Judah or our faithfulness (Good thing, because we see in Judah AND ourselves how that works out!)

Chapter 10

Isaiah 10, simplest version

Woe to unjust lawmakers (vv. 1–4). Judah's leaders write laws that rob the poor, widows, and fatherless. God asks the question that ends every corrupt career: what will you do "in the day of visitation"? Where will you leave your glory?

Assyria: the rod in God's hand (vv. 5–11). Assyria is "the rod of mine anger" — God's own instrument to punish a hypocritical nation. The empire Ahaz hired for protection is actually God's tool of judgment.

But the axe boasts against the axeman (vv. 12–15). Assyria doesn't know it's a tool — "shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?" It thinks its own strength conquers ("by the strength of my hand I have done it"). So when God is finished using Assyria, He will punish Assyria's pride too.

The forest burned (vv. 16–19). God will consume Assyria's glory like a fire through a forest — so few trees left "that a child may write them." (Note the forest imagery loading up again.)

A remnant shall return (vv. 20–23). שְׁאָר יָשׁוּב — Shear-jashub, the name of the boy standing at the aqueduct in chapter 7. The walking sermon comes true: the survivors will lean no more on Assyria but "upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth."

Isaiah 10:20–21 “20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.”

An interesting note.

The same mighty God (El-gibbor) from; if you walk a Jehovah’s Witness through Isa. 9:6 in the NWT they will say mighty God is actually “mighty warrior”. That’s what Jesus is.

You take them to Isa. 10:20-21 in the NWT and it says:

20  In that day those remaining of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer support themselves on the one who struck them;

But they will support themselves on Jehovah, The Holy One of Israel, with faithfulness.

21  Only a remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God.

Their own bible draws the line from Jesus to Jehovah.

A trained Witness has a rehearsed comeback: "Jesus is Mighty God, but only Jehovah is Almighty God." That's their official position — they'll grant "mighty god" as a lesser divine title (same move as "a god" in their John 1:1).

Two counters, in order of strength:

Jeremiah 32:18 calls Jehovah "the Great, the Mighty God" — הָאֵל הַגָּדוֹל הַגִּבּוֹר, the same gibbor title. In the NWT it reads "the true God, the great and mighty one, whose name is Jehovah" (again, verify wording). So "Mighty God" is not a second-tier title reserved for lesser beings; Scripture applies it to Jehovah directly. The Mighty/Almighty distinction is a category their theology invented, not one the Hebrew Bible draws.

Isaiah's own monotheism forbids the loophole. Isaiah 43:10 — "before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me" — and 44:6, 8: "beside me there is no God." If Jesus is "a mighty god" who is not Jehovah, then Isaiah's God has a rival deity, which Isaiah spends chapters 40–48 declaring impossible. Within this very book, "Mighty God" either means the one true God or it means nothing.

The sequence: NWT 9:6 (Jesus = Mighty God) → NWT 10:20–21 (Mighty God = Jehovah) → anticipate the Mighty/Almighty dodge → Jeremiah 32:18 closes it → Isaiah 43–44 locks the door.

The reason El-gibbor matters isn't winning arguments at the door, it's that Isaiah looked at a child in a manger's direction and called Him what chapter 6 called the King on the throne.

Therefore, don't fear Assyria (vv. 24–27). The yoke will be destroyed "because of the anointing" — deliverance echoing Midian (Gideon again, v. 26) and Egypt.

The invader's march (vv. 28–32). Town by town, Assyria advances toward Jerusalem — Isaiah names the route like a war correspondent — until it "shakes its fist" at Zion... and stops.

God fells the forest (vv. 33–34). The LORD lops the boughs, hews down the high ones; Lebanon's mighty cedars fall by the Mighty One.

And after God chops down Assyria….remember that stump with the shoot out of it from Chapter 7?

Isaiah 11:1–2 KJV

1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

The image is a felled tree that all the life has gone out of it but the life in the root remains.

Isaiah is taking seriously his own prediction that ‘the holy seed is its stump’ (Isa. 6:13)

In Isa.9:1 the emphasis rested on the Messiah’s birth; here it rests on the fruit of his adult life and character.

spirit of the Lord:

In much of the OT the Holy Spirit comes upon individuals and prepares and equips them for special tasks

Moses, Joshua, David, and maybe Elijah and Elisha may have had a permanent in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit

In Isaiah, the Messiah IS the spirit endowed One!

He is the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding

He is the Spirit of counsel and of power

He is the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD

Conclusion

Isaiah 11:1 “1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:”

Isaiah 11:10 “10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.”

Jesus is both the shoot (1) and the root (10) of Jesse.

When Jesse produces a shoot it must be David. But to call the expected king the Root of Jesse means that Jesse sprang from him; he is the root support and origin of the Messianic family in which he would be born.

The Messiah is the root cause of his own family tree pending the day when, within that family, he will shoot forth.

Jesus is Messiah!