Whispers in the Wilderness

What are you trusting in? This is not a question that is talked about most days - especially during the holiday season. This is not something that we sit around and discuss while we eat breakfast and prepare to go off to work and school. Most days we live in a relatively comfortable and normal bubble that allows us to eat our food, drive our car, watch tv and do so without trusting in anything. This is an incredible dangerous position to live in, church. Every moment of our lives we are trusting in something! If you are facing a situation that you face often then you might be quick to trust in your own IQ or experience. Often in life we trust in ourselves. Not only do we do this at work and school, but we do this in our spiritual lives as well. Sometimes it can be difficult for you to know what you are trusting in. Possibly you are going throughout your day and you face a situation that you’ve faced before and you instinctively react to it as you always have. Did you trust in yourself or did you trust in God to provide as He has in the past? Sometimes this can be hard to tell, but one of the easier times it is to tell where your trust/hope is placed in is when you are facing a crisis… Whenever we face a crisis, we have options. Trust in ourselves, or trust in God.

One of the tendencies for many people is to place their trust in either themselves or in others. For Americans, we know that we are blessed to live in a great nation and we can be quick to place our trust in our government. Throughout human history, though, we have seen the issues with placing trust in human leaders. The Egyptians enslaved tens of thousands of innocent people to build their massive pyramids. The Romans provided great technological advancement and helped bring about peace and prosperity to much of Europe, but they did so upon the backs of slaves and the Roman Legion. The American Revolution attempted to break apart from the British Crown and establish a democratic republic for the people… but we know that our form of government even has its shortcomings and is corrupted by this tiny thing called sin. Even though representative democracy is likely the greatest form of government on the planet at the moment, it is the best of bad options. Scripture points to a time in which the perfect government system will be brought about: a Theocracy - a dictatorship with Jesus Christ being the ruler and the government being placed upon His shoulders.

Our text today is in Isaiah as the prophet gives a prophesy about a coming child - clearly a promise of the coming Messiah. Let’s see what these whispers in the wilderness have to say about this coming Child.

Isaiah 7:10–16 NASB95

10 Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!” 13 Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well? 14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. 15 “He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. 16 “For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.

Isaiah 9:1–3 NASB95

Isaiah 9:1–7 NASB95

1 But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. 2 The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. 3 You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. 4 For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. 5 For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. 6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9:4–5 NASB95

4 For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. 5 For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.

Isaiah 9:6–7 NASB95

6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9:

The sign of Immanuel (7:10-16)

Whenever we read a Christmas text such as and 9, we must be quick to acknowledge the fact that Scripture is progressive and that these types of texts certainly apply to the coming savior, Christ, but they also meant something to the people of Isaiah’s day and age. They carried with them dual meanings both of immediate meaning and long lasting hope. The reason that is so important for us to note before we study these two texts is that many people will make the point that and 9:1-7 are just talking about Jesus Christ. To say this, though, is to only tell part of the story. In order to truly exegete the text, we must be faithful to study the context by which Isaiah was writing and to do that means that we must understand what this message would have meant to his Jewish audience.

A couple weeks ago we looked at and examined Isaiah’s call to ministry as he caught a glimpse into the heavenly throne room and saw the Lord being worshipped on His exalted throne by the seraphim who cried out that God is “Holy, holy, holy.” This was a man who had seen the glory and holiness of God and lived to tell the tale because his sins were atoned for by God. Now, in , we see that the people of Judah are in a state of panic. The Israelites (Northern Kingdom) and the Arameans have united together to destroy Jerusalem. The king of Judah at this time was Ahaz - who was a bad king. Yet, God tells Isaiah in that these enemies will not prevail against Jerusalem. He declares that these people will not be able to conquer Judah.

Isn’t it amazing that whatever side God sides with will prevail? We know this to be true in history as the Assyrians and Babylonians conquered Israel/Judah. Did this transpire because their gods were stronger than Yahweh? Of course not! He used foreign powers who worshipped false gods to bring in His divine justice and judgment upon His people. Whatever side God chooses will win, friends. shows this to be true

Proverbs 19:21 NASB95

21 Many plans are in a man’s heart, But the counsel of the Lord will stand.

Just because this is the case, though, there exists a warning for the king: If you do not believe, you will not last. As tells us:

Hebrews 2:4 NASB95

4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.

Romans 1:17 NASB95

17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

Romans 1

Ahaz must trust completely in Yahweh, God, he must be a man of faith! As if this request were not enough, God essentially gives him a blank check in verse 10-11 as he tells Ahaz to ask for a sign and God will give it to him regardless of how significant the sign is. Imagine how you would respond in such a situation… God tells you to simply ask for a sign, how would you answer? Perhaps you would say that you’d want to be given riches or a special ability. Possibly you would ask for a special Christmas gift or a relationship to improve. We would ask for a great many things in this situation, yet Ahaz is silent! He refuses in verse 12. Because of Ahaz’s refusal, God will give the people a sign, according to Isaiah in verse 14. The sign will be the son of a virgin, called Immanuel.

The questions that we must faithfully ask this morning are:

Was there an immediate sign in Ahaz’s day?

What does this verse teach about the virgin birth?

What is significant about the word, “Immanuel”?

Christian prophecy often has a type and a fulfillment, a shadow and the reality. Something was acted out imperfectly in space and time illustrating some aspect of Christ’s future coming. Christ then perfectly fulfills that shadow with the bright light of his life and ministry. During Ahaz’s day there had to have been a child named Immanuel. This would have been a “normal” child.

Does verse 14 tell us that there will be a virgin birth? Of course! uses and ascribes this as a prophecy fulfilled by Jesus Christ. The Hebrew word in is “halmah” which means “young woman” or “woman of marrying age.” It can refer to a virgin, but it does not emphasize her virginity. The individual in Isaiah’s day would have been born like every single baby boy, the normal way. However, this shadow points to the messiah who will be born of a true virgin, Mary.

Christian prophecy often has a type and a fulfillment, a shadow and the reality. Something was acted out imperfectly in space and time illustrating some aspect of Christ’s future coming. Christ then per- fectly fulfills that shadow with the bright light of his life and ministry.

Immanuel is a significant word for Christians and it means “God with us.” In Isaiah’s day, this word was significant because it symbolized the fact that God was with the people of Judah - He was their protector. As Christians know, though, the term Immanuel takes on even greater meaning in the person of Jesus Christ because the Son of God came to the earth, put on human flesh and is the Savior of mankind. With that said, this would have meant something to Isaiah’s context and we have to at least acknowledge that fact.

This coming light of sorts will not only come, but even in Isaiah’s day His coming is being prophesied about. tells us what His name will be and how He will be born of a virgin. Let’s continue looking at what Isaiah prophesies about the coming King in .

Look for the Light (9:1-2)

shows us that this king will bring light and peace to God’s people. The promise from the Lord in the opening verses of is that there will be no more gloom in Galilee, but that it shall be made glorious. The two regions listed in this verse (Zebulun and Naphtali) are located in the far northern part of Galilee. This region, arguably more than any other, was influenced by foreign cultures and religions. This was the place that had turned their backs on God time after time, yet God will make this region glorious. If you were thinking of a place that God would reward and make glorious, you’d think that it would be a place like Jerusalem because they were more obedient and more significant in this timeframe, yet that’s not how God works. He uses crooked sticks and insignificant people to bring about His plan and He gets 100% of the glory. God will bless this region and honor them whenever He sends a “new light” to them in the future.

Not only will these people see a light, but the light will shine on them. The light will be in their very midst! The hope in verses 1-2 of is that God has not given up on His people. There will be hope and light in the coming days, even in the midst of the darkness. Church, there are times where we might be going through the middle of a rough patch in life and we might feel as though we are in the darkness with no light in sight. We must remember texts like that show us that hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth, Isaiah prophesied that the light would come. Think of the hope that this would have given to the people of his day! It would have inspired them to return to the Lord and eagerly expect the coming of this light. As Christians with the benefit of existing thousands of years after the fact, we should have this same hope because we know that the light has come! We must look for Him and share that light with those around us.

The significance of the light coming to Galilee and much of Jesus’ ministry beginning in Galilee cannot go lost on us. This was the region that was most mixed up with the cultic religions during the time of the prophets (such as Isaiah, Hosea and others). Yet, even though these people were confused, God would send them a light. God is the light, friends. tells us

Psalm 27:1 NASB95

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?

The coming verses help to explain the significance of this light.

Trust in the Lord (9:3-5)

This light will come to the darkness and bring about joy and rejoicing. The nation is enlarged, the people rejoice with abundant plunder for everyone. The two illustrations are used to compare the people’s future happiness. They will jump for joy like people do whenever they have a massive harvest or whenever they experience a massive military victory. Sometimes the only response to what God has done is to jump for joy!

Many of you jumped for joy (or at least you did in your head) this spring/summer/fall whenever you were balling hay as many people were able to bail a good amount of hay this year especially compared to years in the past. This is a blessing that causes us to simply thank God. Whenever a solider returns home from war or whenever we have the ability to gather with our family we leap for joy and rejoice because of our thankful hearts. The joy in is compared to God’s victory over the Midianites (all the way back from ) in which Gideon and 300 Israelites defeated an army of over 100,000 without using a sword - this showcased the mighty power of Yahweh, God. Israel was powerless to save themselves, yet God caused terror to come upon the Midianites whenever the light of Gideon and his 300 split the darkness. The Midianites turned upon one another and destroyed themselves.

Again, it would have been easy for Gideon to trust in the 22,000 Israelites who came forward in and to think that they could defeat the enemy army - but God wanted to ensure that the people would know full and well who won the battle. Church, there are times in which we genuinely tell ourselves that we can do something or that we deserve something, but we must be quick to acknowledge that everything we have is a gift from above. Whenever we live with this in mind, our entire lives change because we give with generosity knowing that God has richly blessed us and we should richly bless others.

Just as these people rejoiced during the days of the defeat of the Midianites, the people will rejoice in the day of this light that will pierce through the darkness. We know that we face a foe that is even mightier than that of the Midianite hoard. We face an enemy that is stronger than we are on our own and we are powerless before him. Yet, we know that Christ has defeated his power over us- Trust in Him! Satan’s kingdom of darkness has been routed, and has imploded because Satan used his greatest weapon upon Christ - death - yet, Christ used death to bring about life. For those who but trust in the Lord will experience hope and life because powers like sin and death no longer have the final word.

Hebrews 2:14 NASB95

14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,

shares that Christ rendered powerless the devil. For those who trust in the Lord, there is no need to be worried of the outcome - Christ wins!

For the people of Isaiah’s day, this hope would have caused them to be excited. They would have surely known about the story of God defeating the Midianites. They wouldn’t have known exactly when this coming victory would come, but they would have surely been looking forward to the day in which the Savior came. We should live with that same expectancy today, friends. We know that our savior has come and we rejoice because of it. So, are we rejoicing today? Are we telling that news to others? We certainly should be trusting in the Lord and sharing that news to the ends of the earth that the Lord has won for us the victory.

Believe in the Son (9:6-7)

The climactic end of this passage comes in the final 2 verses. Again, we have the benefit of knowing how all of these names fit with Christ, but to Isaiah’s audience these names and titles would have provided them with a good amount of information about His birth, role, name, peace and eternal rule that is promised by God. While there is not a specific date in mind in Isaiah’s prophecy, we know that it will come sometime in the future.

This single verse includes both the deity of Christ and the humanity of Him all tied together. This doctrine of the incarnation is a stumbling block for the Jews as they simply could not understand how the Son of God could be born like a man. This conquerer who won the people the victory as verses 1-5 describe is revealed in verse 6 to be a son. The sign that Ahaz was promised in will be a baby boy. For a “child” will be born for us, a “son” will be given. He has come for us and to benefit us. The mighty Messiah is like a lamb born as a baby yet as mighty as a Lion as describes. This is the mystery of the incarnation. The government will rest upon His shoulders and as Jesus declared in

Matthew 28:18 NASB95

18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

The names mentioned in carry with them extreme significance.

Wonderful Counselor

Mighty God

Eternal Father

Prince of Peace

Wonderful Counselor: This title carries with it the idea of doing something wonderful or miraculous with the skill of giving wise advice/counsel. This means that the Son’s life will exhibit miraculous acts of God in the sphere of wise counsel. Jesus certainly came to do the miraculous while giving wisdom through His teachings. The Jews might have been expecting a mighty military leader, but they got the best of both worlds: the Messiah!

The second term is “Mighty God.” and give us a good picture about this term,

Deuteronomy 10:17 NASB95

17 “For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.

Psalm 24:8 NASB95

8 Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle.

Jesus’ name was unique and divine. He was a human baby who was called “Mighty God.” Mighty was a word that was common for powerful men, warriors and rulers, but the word God (el in Hebrew) was divine. These words showcase the power of Jesus Christ, our savior, who is a mighty warrior who might not have done what the Jews wanted Him to do during His 1st coming, but make no mistake about it, during His 2nd coming He will be this mighty warrior who will slay His enemies and vanquish the foe for eternity as shows.

The third title is “Eternal Father.” This idea is that God is the Father from eternity past as tell us. He will continue to be Father forever. We usually ascribe Fatherhood to God the Father, not God the Son (Jesus), but He does play a Fatherly role towards His followers as we see in the Gospel accounts such as and .

The fourth and final title in verse 6 is “Prince of Peace.” Most kings want to bring about peace to His subjects - however that peace is usually forged through war. Jesus reigns as a prince who will be characterized by peace. Most kings fail to bring about true, genuine peace, but this title is descriptive to what Jesus offers His people. He offers them peace that is unlike anything offered by this world. tells us that this peace is an eternal peace

Romans 5:1 NASB95

1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Verse 7 gives us a couple of final points about this coming King. His influence will increase without end - this speaks of multiplication. Christ’s kingdom will be characterized by the never-ending multiplication of its prosperity. Though the population might not multiply, our love and understanding of Jesus will multiply and increase and never stop increasing!

This ruler will sit on the throne of David and over his kingdom - this is a reference back to the Davidic Covenant from

2 Samuel 7:13 NASB95

13 “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

2 Samuel 7:16 NASB95

16 “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”

Jesus fulfills the Davidic Covenant and is Himself the better David as He will sit on this throne forever and be the perfect ruler as God’s Word says that He will uphold the kingdom with justice and righteousness. He will not be corrupt like our leadership is today and He will reign forever unlike the rulers of the day like Ahaz, Hezekiah or Josiah. He will do this with His own power as the end of verse 7 points out that it will be His zeal that accomplishes this deed. Isaiah’s listeners have absolute confidence that this child will come because the sovereign God will bring about this wonderful plan!

Conclusion

While the people of Isaiah’s day might not have fully understood what this message meant, we have the luxury of knowing full and well that Christ came and was victorious over sin and death, just as Isaiah prophesied that He would be. He did it alone - He did not require mankind’s assistance along the way - so that He would receive every ounce of glory. Just as God received all of the credit for the Israelites victory over the Midianites, Jesus Christ get all of the credit for bankrupting sin and death for eternity. Not only did He destroy Satan’s temple, but He gave the plunder to us: eternal life, peace, righteousness, good counsel. So, rejoice greatly in this! Be certain that you are restoring your joy in Christ’s victory over sin and death every single day. Say to your soul, “Why, my soul, are you so dejected? Why are you in such turmoil? Rejoice in the victory Christ has won for you!”

Meditate on the titles of Jesus Christ during this Christmas season! Remember that He is a ruler who has saved sinners from rebelling against His rule. We must submit fully to His authority and we must look forward to His return one day in the future.

Finally, we should share this message so that the Kingdom might increase before the end comes.

Above all else, know that God is in control. God’s promises will come about in His timing - Trust in Him fully today. Let’s pray

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