Isaiah 9:1 - 7
Isaiah • Sermon • Submitted
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So tonight we enter into what is to me a real high point in all of scripture which is Isaiah Chapter 9.
The chapter is a continuation of the ending of Chapter 8. So lets begin at - 22
19 And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
21 They will pass through it hard-pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and curse their king and their God, and look upward. 22 Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness.
It’s a picture of a lost people, a people searching for meaning in everything but their God, YHWH.
Their are seeking mediums and even the dead. So notice they are hard pressed and hungry, and note what is said: when they are hungry, that they will be enraged and curse their king and their God, and look upward. 22 Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness.
It’s a bummer to be hungry. We do tend to get agitated when we are hungry. We can say some pretty awful things when we are really empty. Here I think Isaiah is speaking of physical hunger but more than that he is talking about a spiritual hunger. It’s an emptiness that can only be satisfied by one thing. Lots of things try to fill that void but none really do the trick.
Just this weekend a young man decided that he would fill his void by killing innocent people. Right now someone is shooting up heroine or maybe taking opioids or getting drunk.
It’s is interesting to me how Isaiah describes a hopeless person’s behavior - when they are hungry:
they become enraged, curse their king (Government) and ultimately their God. This is exactly what we see on the part of the Godless left and right today.
Because they have rejected Christ, they look at the gloomy situation around them and are driven into darkness.
Now, in the midst of this darkness and gloom, God gives us a message of light and hope:
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1 Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,
As when at first He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
2 The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.
Now here an understanding of the geography of Israel helps. He mentions the land of Zebulun and Naphtali. Look at your map and where is Zebulun and Naphtali? The north.
Now where did Jesus spend the majority of His time? Galilee Region which is in the North.
As an aside notice that that area was lightly esteemed. They were not the most outstanding of the tribes yet this where God chose to go.
He says:
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
2 The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.
now go to
12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles:
Galilee of the Gentiles:
16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has dawned.”[fn]
Light has dawned.”
Isaiah continues;
You have multiplied the nation
And increased its joy;[fn]
They rejoice before You
According to the joy of harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4 For You have 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 warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle,
And garments rolled in blood,
Will be used for burning and fuel of fire.
Sort of a picture of the joy that follows hard servitude to a harsh master and the benefits of peace.
And now he comes to a very familiar passage in verses 6 and 7. This is one of my favorite messianic passages and a great one to share with the JW at your door.
For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
This is all about a specific individual, the Messiah in Hebrew, the Christ in Greek. Its tells us details about Him:
A Child is born - Is 7:14
A Son given -
The government will be upon His shoulder - yet future
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
He will be known by 5 names;
Wonderful - When was Jesus ever called “wonderful”?
Counselor - - 14
Mighty God - John 1:1
Everlasting Father - better the Father or source of Eternity
Prince of Peace - He is the peace between God and man, 1 Tim 2:5
These passages and many others from Isaiah were put to music by Handle and first performed in Dublin Ireland in 1742. The whole musical is called “Handel’s Messiah”. The whole thing is more than two hours in total. He reported wrote it in about 3 weeks. I believe its was just one other way God has preserved His word for all to hear.
Handel Messiah, For unto us a Child is born 4:13 min
Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah 4:23 min
