A Child Is Born (PT 3)

Introduction

Open you Bible, if you are willing, to Isaiah Chapter 8, we will read Isaiah 8:22 - Isaiah 9:7 and focus in on verse Isaiah 9:6 today. We will start in Isaiah 8:22 this morning.

Up until now we have talked about the who, God’s people, and the what, they will be comforted. Tonight we will look at the cause of the comfort. There is a little pointer word in verse 6 that gives us a “causal clause,” this word pointer is saying to us, do you want to know why Gods people will have comfort? Well, its right here.

Lets Read Isaiah 8:22-9:7

Isaiah 8:22–9:7 ESV

And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness. 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. 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. 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. 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. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. 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. 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.

May God Bless the reading of his Unfailing and Infallible Word.

Lets Pray

Verse 6 starts out with a very important Hebrew word pointer ki, “with causal clause” often translated “for, because” [1] This is the key to understanding the change from verse 22 of chapter 8 to verse 1 of chapter 9.

First there is distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish

Next there is no more gloom

That naturally leads to the question, umm, what changed? Or maybe we could ask, what was the cause of this change?

The causal clause in verse 6 gives us the answer.

Because of this event in the first part of verse 6, “there will be no more gloom for her that was in anguish”

Because of this event, “the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations” has been made glorious.

Because of this event, “[t]he people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” Even those in the shadow of death itself, cannot be held back from joy because of this even.

John 8:12 ESV

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Pastor Gabe would point to verse 6 and say theirs your scripture sandwich. For me, I see chains in scripture, with all the unbreakable links linked to the center link, which is always teaching about God’s nature.

Illiterate chain idea.

Or, you might explain it as a thread, the unifying thing that links the text into a coherent message. Like the theme for our current Old Testament series, the golden thread. If you have the thread right, if you have done the sowing job right, when you pull it through the fabric it pulls all the pieces to gather. Without thread all you have is pieces of cloth, add thread and you have the whole garment.

There is not one literary device that perfectly works with the Bible, its the word of God. It is transcendent. Its tasty like a sandwich, unbreakable as a chain and unified like thread which takes cloth and makes clothes. Whatever device works best for you, sandwiches, chains, threads, once you see those connections, that’s when you know you are getting at the heart of what the text is saying.

Just for a little more practice lets pull on the chain here a little bit more.

Isaiah 9 Verse 3, the nation’s joy is increased, the harvest is in, and the battle is over, because of this event in verse 6.

Verse 4, the worst kind of oppression is broken because of this event in verse 6.

Verse 5, the war is over, boots we used to use to fight, the clothes from the battle, are now used to make a fire. They are no longer needed because of this event in verse 6.

Transition

What is this event? Lets look in verse 6.

Body

He Is Given (1)

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;” (Is 9:6, ESV)

Exposition

to us a child is born

Exposition

Another link in the chain

Verse 4, says “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.” (Is 9:4, ESV)

Gideon’s battle plan was ridiculous by human ideas.

God says, the nation is in darkness, there is death, there is a battle to be won. Lets send a baby and that baby is going to win the battle by growing up and being murdered.

No human came up with that idea.

Even to day people try to reinvent Jesus.

Very well the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Co 1:18, ESV)

Many have tried to say that Jesus is just like so many other gods, the Bible is just like many other religious books.

Application

The world looks at these events, and says what a dumb story. A baby saved the world by growing up and dying. We, God’s People, say, through the Holy Spirit, wow, what an amazing work God has done.

We loo at Gideon’s story and say, God did that.

We look at Christ and say thank you Lord.

We walk by faith and not by sight, not that our faith is blind, it is a well informed faith, but in that we do not need the story to be humanly possible because we know our God is inhumanly powerful.

Transition

What work is it that we are thankful for? God’ gave a son. Take a look a the next part there in Isaiah 9:6.

to us a son is given

Exposition

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only [The word begotten is not in the Greek. Its “τὸν υἱὸν τὸν μονογενῆ ἔδωκεν”[2]] Son, that whoever [whosoever, is not in the Greek either it’s “πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων”[2]] believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16, ESV)

Do you see the connection, the chain or thread here?

650 years before Jesus, Isaiah said, a son will be given. When Jesus came, he said, the son is given and all the believing will be saved by him.

For all those the believe on him the anguish is over, the darkness is gone, there is a lasting joy.

Application

Last time we talked about gritty joy, a joy that sticks with you no matter the circumstances. Where is that joy found and what is the foundation for it? This right here, word of God. (the problem with preaching out of an IPAD is I don’t have a bible to pick up and shake when I say that.

650 years before Jesus, Isaiah said there would be a son and he came. Humans cannot do that, other gods cannot do that. Only the living God that decreed the end from the beginning can do that.

There is something that Dr Voddie Baucham taught me, I think every believer should know this by heart. I shared it to the church Facebook group earlier today. There will be many people that compare the Bible to other Religious books. To which Dr. Baucham would reply, “The bible is a collection of historically reliable texts, written by eye witnesses in the life time of other eye witnesses, that make supernatural claims, which fulfill specific prophecies.” There is so much packed into that one sentence I cannot unpack it all here. The point is that no other book, no other god, no other religion can make that claim. Only the Bible and only the real living God.

Illustration

Imagine for a moment a man lost at sea. floating adrift with nothing but a slippery board to hang on to. He sees a shore in the distance and swimming to it he finds land. Hard ground and there is no more tyranny of the waves trying to snatch the board and drown him. No matter how hard the survival might be on this land he has ground for joy.

Jesus said that the house built on the rock, on him, can weather any storm.

The believer that knows the word, knows what God has done, Through the word they have seen the given son, and this produces in them this gritty joy that sticks. Just like the man lost at sea who found the land. In the word the believer finds access to the rock himself who is a solid foundation.

Transition

What does the son do that, removes gloom, breaks darkness, brings in the harvest, and ends the battle? What does his birth bring about, a new Government that rest on him. Look to verse 6 again.

The Baby Rules (2)

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder,” (Is 9:6, ESV)

Exposition

“the government shall be upon his shoulder”

Exposition

Calvin comments here, “He therefore shows that the Messiah will be different from indolent kings, who leave off business and cares, and live at their ease; for he will be able to bear the burden. Thus he asserts the superiority and grandeur of his government, because by his own power Christ will obtain homage to himself, and he will discharge his office, not only with the tips of his fingers, but with his full strength.[3]

The prophet tells the people, look you see the kings of Assyria and Babylon come to oppress and destroy. You have seen that even your own kings like Solomon build up wealth for themselves by taxing the people and making the people do the work while they sit in the palace and have 1000 wives. But..

The Messiah’s government is not like those kings. He is not an oppressor and he has the strength to bare the government himself.

Application

What is the kingly claim of Christ, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Mt 11:28, ESV).

Christ is the king of rest. That firm ground that the man at sea found, is the believer’s new birth right in Christ today. A firm rest in Christ, a firm rock that weathers any storm, the source of joy does not dim in trial, the gritty joy is found in knowing Christ, through his word.

Illustration

Imagine that man at sea again, he sees the land and instead of swimming to it, says, the sea is better and swims in the other direction. Death awaits that man, as the storms come, and the sea rises, that flimsy plank of wood will be ripped from his hands and he will drown. So, it is with those of the world that find folly in the baby that rules. Those who do not see the glory of God in the manger, the mercy of God in the cross, the rest of God found in the government of the son, those are the houses built on the sand. The waves will come, the doubts will creep in, the joy will fly from them and in the end there will be nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Luke 13:28, ESV).

Conclusion

In conclusion tonight, Christian, do you call yourself that? A christian. If you say yes than the question falls to you, where is your house built? Do you have the firm ground under your feet, do you have a foundation that can weather any storm, do you have the everlasting rest of the everlasting king? Does your joy stick even when satan the self exalted false the king of this world comes to kill, steal, and destroy? Are your feet planted in a city who foundations and builder is God? If you have doubt, if you have fear, if you have worry, open your bibles and come to his rest; open the word and gaze on the great king of rest that come in a manger. For to us a child is born.

Those of us the know our king, say with Charles Haddon Spurgeon “I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me up against the Rock of Ages.” [4] Indeed friends for those who know the king of rest, even the trials become blessings.

We will follow the thread further and see what the prophet tells us about his government next time.

Benediction

“Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Php 4:5–7, ESV) All God’s people say, Amen.

Go in peace or stay and fellowship, both are good.

References

[1] David J. A. Clines, ed., The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press; Sheffield Phoenix Press, 1993–2011), 384.

[2] Kurt Aland et al., Novum Testamentum Graece, 28th Edition. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012), Jn 3:16. ] Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16, ESV)

[3] John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 308.

[4] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1199735-i-have-learned-to-kiss-the-waves-that-throw-me

Bibliography

Calvin, John, and William Pringle. Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010.

Clines, David J. A., ed. The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press; Sheffield Phoenix Press, 1993–2011.

Kurt Aland et al., Novum Testamentum Graece, 28th Edition. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012), Jn 3:16. ] Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16, ESV)