Sermon Tone Analysis

9  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.

During this advent season we’ve been following the clues to Christ as he is revealed in the Old Testament, particularly through some of the major types that point us to someone like them but greater.

We saw how God gave hope to Adam and Eve after their fall in the garden through the promise of the seed of the woman that would one day crush the head of the serpent.

We saw how this seed of the woman was also a son of promise, pointing to a miraculous birth, the great love of the Father, and a resurrection from the dead.

We saw how he would be the great servant of the Lord who deliver God’s Word and radiate the glory of God.

Last week Jonathan showed you how King David was a type of Christ, fighting to prove God’s honor and deliver His people.

David typified the work of Christ as conquering king.

This week we consider the Son that was promised to David.

He would be a prince of peace.

Introduction

It amazes me how common depression is during the Christmas season.

It is reported that calls to helplines to report depression increase by 10% during this time of year.

As many as 1 in 3 people experience an episode of depression at some time in their life.

How might you know if you are depressed?

Experts tell us the symptoms are:

depressed mood

mood

loss of interest in life, even in favourite hobbies or sports

loss of pleasure - getting no feelings of enjoyment, even from things most people would greatly enjoy

tiredness and fatigue

impaired concentration

thoughts of suicide

changes in appetite, either increased or decreased, including either weight gain or weight loss

changes in sleeping patterns, either never getting out of bed or roaming around all night and day

agitation and tetchiness or, alternatively, extreme placidity, which may go as far as physical slowing down

constant physical problems with no return to feeling well despite treatment

If you look up depression in the medical journals there is not a lot on the specific causes of depression.

They focus more on the various kinds of treatment.

The causes that are mentioned are believable but not terribly enlightening.

They mention such things as heightened awareness of loneliness for Singles; close quarters of family members that may not get along that well.

Etc.

Christmas doesn’t cause these problems but rather brings back to the surface that fact that unresolved problems already exist in our lives.

Christmas forces us to face them.

We lack peace and Christmas seems to be that pricking reminder that answers are missing.

Isaiah paints a picture in chapters 8 and 9 of circumstances in Israel that will heighten their awareness that they also lack answers and lack peace.

In the text before us, Isaiah gives us the answer to the anguish.

He tells us of the coming of a child to be born and who he will be.

This child is the answer.

Let’s look at the various names he’s given to understand how.

Wonderful Counselor

Isaiah spoke his words to a nation that had lost its excitement of being God’s people.

They practiced their religion but it had become little more than going through the motions.

When God brought difficult circumstances to bear on the nation, He was pushing the object of their true faith to the surface.

He was exposing what they truly trusted in to save them.

The temptation for King Ahaz and the people of Israel was to turn to the powerful nations of Egypt or Assyria to come to their aid as they stood on the brink of destruction at the hands of Syria and Ephraim (the Northern kingdom of Israel).

While this may seem to be an act of prudence on the part of Ahaz, it was not.

Ahaz was given specific instruction to trust in the Lord for deliverance and not in the nations around them.

In chapter 8 verse 6 we read that Israel had “rejected the gentle waters of Shiloh.”

The waters of Shiloh was a picture of God’s promised Davidic line of kings and ultimately the Son of David that would have a permanent kingdom established.

So a rejection of the waters of Shiloh was a rejection of the provision of God.

As a result of that rejection Isaiah declares, “bind up the teaching and the testimony!”

The unique flow of revelation from God to Israel would cease as judgment for their disbelief.

They would grow so desperate that they would demand Isaiah seek word from the necromancers and mediums.

The decimated land (the Northern kingdom was wiped out and taken into exile by the Assyrian army) is described as a land in darkness because they would have no answers.

Living without God’s Word is to live in deep darkness.

But Isaiah says a child will be born, a son given who will be called Wonderful Counselor.

A counselor is someone who gives answers.

When he comes, verse 1 and 2 describe his work as Wonderful Counselor.

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.

This son will deliver them from their deep darkness.

Literally, this son will be the revelation of God.

John opens up his gospel with the words,

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The writer of Hebrews opens his book with the words,

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature