STUDY THEME: INVITATION TO MAXIMUM LIVING: ISAIAH SPEAKS. 11-12-06
“LIVE IN LIGHT, NOT DARKNESS. ISAIAH 8: 18-9: 7.
ISAIAH 8: 18-22; 9:1-5, 6-7.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO ISAIAH 8.
To really get into today’s lesson we need to look at Isaiah 7 at the historical situation.
In our day of revolution and rebellion, we are given to think that convulsive international conditions are a modern phenomenon. On the contrary, at almost any point in O. T. times, one will find similar things were taking place. This was surely true in Isaiah’s day.
Today in America crime and evil are rampant. The war on terror drags on. The daily news reminds us that we live each day under the clouds of threats to our families, our homes, and our futures. How can we find our way through all this trouble? God wants us to find light for living through His Word and ultimately through His Son. Only then can we be sure of what our future holds. We can triumph in Him!
The first 20 years of the prophet’s life may have seemed relatively quiet. Uzziah had stabilized
his kingdom by this time. But change was taking place elsewhere and was soon to be felt in Judah.
Isaiah 7: 1-2 is one of a few references in the book of Isaiah to a specific time in history. Assyria was the superpower of the day. Smaller nations wee swallowed up by that brutal nation. The kings of Syria and Israel wanted Judah to join an alliance against Assyria. Ahaz, king of Judah, pondered what to do. He was under pressure and even attack from Syria and Israel.
He thought he had two choices: to join the alliance or to yield to Assyria. God sent Isaiah to tell the king to do neither of these things. Isaiah predicted Assyrian victory ever the two smaller allies. Isaiah pleaded in Isaiah 7: 3-9 with the king to avoid foreign entanglements and to place his faith and hope in the Lord.
The Lord offered to give Ahaz a sign, but the hypocritical king said it was wrong to ask God for signs. Isaiah said the sign would be a son born to a virgin and that before the child could know right from wrong, the Syrians and the Israelites would be defeated.
God told Ahaz that He would bring judgment on Judah for her sins, and Assyria would be an instrument of His wrath. The Lord emphasized that He provided the only safe refuge in such a world, and Isaiah vowed to be one of the faithful remnant.
More dangerous and perhaps more agonizing to Isaiah than the alliance was the reversal of all the efforts of his father and grandfather to keep the nation true to God. Ahaz closed the temple to worship of God, first by stripping the temple itself of all that was of value. He did this to purchase favor with Assyria. Then, under his reintroduction of Baal worship, the temple doors were finally closed to all worship.
While these conditions deeply grieved Isaiah, his sorrow was deeper still when King Ahaz offered some of his own sons as sacrifices on heathen altars.
Assyria, the Nineveh of Jonah’s day, brought about the fall of Israel around 722 B.C., in about the 20th year of Isaiah’s ministry in Judah. How much the disaster and its causes, as Isaiah saw them, affected his ministry in Jerusalem thereafter can only be imagined. Surely Isaiah’s fear of God’s judgment on Judah must have been intensified by Ahaz’s wickedness and idol worship,
for he was leading Judah over the same road, which had led to Israel’s ruin. This would explain Isaiah’s warning to Ahaz against alliances with the kings Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Syria which were mentioned earlier.
PLEASE READ ISAIAH 8: 18-22.
Throughout the prophets, including Isaiah, are many expressions of God’s love for the Israelites. On the other hand, God expressed great displeasure regarding their sins; and He warned t hem of coming judgment, often at the hands of other nations. But God promised the Israelites He would not destroy them completely but would save and restore them in the end.
Despite the people’s sin and God’s right to judge them, He promised to spare them from the harm Pekah and Rezin intended.
Although Judah could expect judgment to fall on them in a future day, in the present threat God pledged to bring to them undeserved good. How gracious God is.
Who are we in America to fear above all? The people of Judah feared their enemies more than God. But God reminded them through Isaiah that they should “regard only the Lord of Hosts as holy,” that “only He should be feared.” God alone was able to protect Judah from attack. But also, God alone was the greatest threat to their well-being.
If God’s wrath came against Judah, they could not stand up to His judgment. This need to trust God to protect and to fear God’s judgment is the backdrop for Isaiah’s appeal to the people.
In vs. 18-20, Isaiah and his two sons were signs and wonders in Israel as was the virgin’s son mentioned in 7: 14. Sadly, the people rejected them and sought to know their future by consulting spirits of the dead and the spirits who chirp and mutter. The Hebrew word translated signs referred to someone or something that pointed to and was the pledge of something future. A wonder was something miraculous, out of the ordinary, striking, or something that stood out. A sign could be a person, a symbol, an action, or an occurrence that pointed to something beyond itself.
In the O.T. signs were things such as a celestial phenomena, a miraculous intervention, a memorial stone, the rainbow, circumcision, the Sabbath, and the wearing of phylacteries on the wrist and forehead. Signs were also used to prove that a prophet’s message was from God.
Isaiah affirmed that they should consult their God. They should turn to God and His Word---To the law and to the testimony! As the people heeded God’s revelation, the light would dawn for them. And if they failed to listen and learn, they could not expect God’s favor, only His judgment. Isaiah warned, “If they do not speak according to this word, there would be no dawn for them.”
The question in Vs. 21-22 is “How bad can it get for God to withdraw from the people His favor, blessing and gracious protection? Ch. 8 of Isaiah ends with a vivid description of the people’s despair and anguish that would result the consequent Assyrian invasion.
The people would wander through the land in search of food, but in all of their searching they would remain dejected and hungry.
Instead of repenting of their sins in order to enjoy God’s merciful favors, the people’s hunger would only lead them to look upward to heaven, become enraged, and curse their king and their God. With stubborn hearts they would look back toward he earth with self-determination
to overcome their enemies but see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction. They saw nothing good, for they had turned from God and what He could do for them. Already dejected and full of hopeless gloom, they entered into thick darkness.
God’s people need to turn from evil to God and His Word, to care more what God thinks than what anyone else thinks, and to turn from self-reliance to God-reliance. We should long to know God’s Word and seek to follow God’s ways instead of looking to the counsel of godless men and spirits. Let us desire God and put our trust in Him for all that matters to us.
The people of Judah simply did not fear and trust the Lord. Although God promised them deliverance from the armies of the kings of Israel and Syria, nevertheless He was not pleased with them. The Lord‘s judgment would fall in due course. Until then the people of Judah would remain under disfavor unless they repented and turned back to Him in trust and obedience.
People often reveal the true state of their spiritual condition in the directions they turn when faced with fearful threats or anxious uncertainties. Those who turn to God in such times demonstrate that He is the source of their true hope and confidence.
But those who are fearful and turn for help from every source except God betray their hardness of heart and invite God’s displeasure. God is fully trustworthy, and His Word gives us the only pathway of goodness and joy. May we learn from the example of the people of Judah and, unlike them, completely rely on the Lord and His divinely inspired Word—the law and …the testimony.
PLEASE READ ISAIAH 9: 1-5.
Isaiah’s message of light and hope in 9: 1-7 is for those of the faithful remnant and for those coming after them. Yet when the light dawns, God in His grace will offer it to all who have walked in darkness. They are also called those that dwell in the land of the shadow of death.
Zebulon and Naphtali were the northernmost tribal areas in Israel. When the Assyrians moved to attack Israel, they came into this area first.
Assyria’s policy with conquered people was to kill as many as possible and to scatter the rest into foreign lands. The Assyrians apparently conquered these northern areas before they captured the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Samaria. The survivors of the enemy victory went into deep darkness indeed.
The prophets took the long view of God’s dealings with sinful humanity. Notice the word nevertheless. Isaiah contrasted what God would do in the distant future in this part of the ravaged land.
Isaiah used tenses that made him appear to speak of these future events as if they had already happened. This shows his confidence in the fulfillment of what God said He would do in the future. The people as a whole would enter the deep darkness and death, but there is light and hope, for God’s people. He referred to the area beyond Jordan as Galilee of the nations.
Jesus, of course was, was from Galilee and spent a large part of His ministry there. Thus believers see the fulfillment of this passage in Jesus. When Jesus launched His ministry, in the areas mentioned in Isaiah 9: 1. Mathew quoted Isaiah 9: 1-2 in Matt. 4: 14-16. The nations were the Hebraic way of describing “the Gentiles” in Matt 4: 15. Although Jesus mostly confined His ministry to Jews, He made it clear that the apostles were to take the gospel message to all people.
All people without God’s presence walk in darkness. The Bible teaches that God is light and the source of all light. In Isaiah 9: 1-5 is the powerful image of the Lord breaking through the darkness of sin and bringing light. God offers light and hope to all, and people’s responses determine whether they come to the saving light or retreat further into the darkness as written in John 3: 18-21.
Those who trust in the Lord will experience new joy. The joy will be like that of harvesters who have gathered a great harvest. Hope, joy and peace are often found together in the Bible and in life.
Vs. 4-5 describe the peace that God promised to bring. The people are pictured as carrying the burden of the enemy’s yoke, but God has broken it. He has shattered the rod of the oppressor. Isaiah compared this to the victory over Midian in Gideon’s day. The other deliverance that Isaiah seems to have had as background was God’s deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage. The coming of peace is further signified in vs. 5 by burning “the bloodied garments of war.”
Looked at from the perspective of hope for the future, Isaiah 9: 1-5 is a crucial passage. The emphasis on light inspires hope. One of the purposes of light is to guide us into an unknown future. That is, none of us knows exactly what tomorrow holds. But we know that God’s light will guide us as we move forward into the future, and those who walk in the light know they are safe in the strong and loving hands of God.
PLEASE READ ISAIAH 9: 6-7.
Verse 6 provides the answer to how God’s promises in Isaiah 9: 1-5 would be accomplished. A child will be born…a son will be given. The verse provides the answer as to what the great light would be, how God would enlarge the nation, why joy would increase, who would defeat all oppressors, and how wars would become obsolete.
This is one of the great Messianic prophecies in the O.T, for it prophesies of the coming of Jesus Christ and the establishing of His kingdom This verse is a line to Isaiah 7: 14.
Isaiah called him a child who will be born for us. He would be a human being, born as a baby and growing to manhood. He would be a son who will be given to us by God. These two statements seem to be parallel in form and content. The word child is in a position of emphasis in this verse. God’s deliver would come as a child, not as a military warrior. The N.T. in Luke 1: 31-33 affirms this child to be Jesus Christ.
Some who deny that this verse is a Messianic prophecy have suggested that the person was Hezekiah. Others have said that he was one of Isaiah’s children. Jesus Christ is the only one in all the knowledge of man to whom this title can properly and fully apply.
The people of Isaiah’s day might not have understood clearly who the child would be. Surely some hoped that the promised Messiah would come in their day. The N.T. clarifies assuredly that God was speaking of the coming Messiah and the Messiah was Jesus—both man, Mary’s child, and God’s Son—the God/man. He is Immanuel, God with us in human form.
Isaiah’s prophecy declared that God would give this special person for us to do something needed by mankind that no one else could do.
We come to experience a God-blessed life through faith in this child who is the Messiah. The child would grow to adulthood, and the government would rest upon His shoulders. Shoulders refers to the shoulders of a ruler upon which his golden chain, signifying his authority rested. This child would become king of a kingdom. We come to experience maximum living through the life God gives through faith in the child who He has sent as the Messiah Christ.
The prophet Isaiah gave various names by which this person would be known. A person’s name implies the basic character of that individual. He would be called these names because He actually would be this kind of person. In these names we learn significant facts about the character of the Promised One.
He will be named Wonderful Counselor. Wonderful means “miracle” or “marvelous thing.” The child would be extraordinary and surpassing all others. Counselor refers to one who “advises,” “counsels,” or “consults.” Some translations indicate that this is two different names: Wonderful and Counselor. Most translations have Wonderful Counselor, which understands all four names in the verse as compound names and parallel in form. He would have a plan of action that would be the greatest work ever accomplished. He would be the ideal ruler, and His advice would be the truth of God.
This person would also be called Mighty God for He would be God among us and have all the power of God to accomplish His work on earth. He would have more power than any earthly ruler or power. The Hebrew name translated God means “the strong-one,” which doubles the emphasis upon the power of the coming one. Mighty God is clearly a title for deity.
His third name would be Eternal Father. This name reveals that the Coming One would establish a father-child relationship with God and those who believe on Him. Also, that relationship would begin upon accepting Him and would continue throughout eternity.
The term Father suggests benevolence and protection. Those who come to God through this Promised One will never need to look for another. He would be a father like that of Psalm 103: 13: “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.” This promised One will have all the love of a loving God for His children.
The last name listed is Prince of Peace. The Hebrew word for peace here refers to more than the end of war. It suggests a condition of rich harmonious and positive well being.
When Jesus truly becomes one’s Lord and Savior, this kind of peace, not only becomes his personal possession but also his pursuit in his relationship with others.
After the Counselor carries out His marvelous, redemptive plans in the power of Almighty God, He will be Father-like to His own. He will rule over them as Prince in a kingdom of peace. Citizens in His kingdom will be people of peace. They will live their lives peacefully with each other and with the Prince of Peace. Someday, according to Isa. 2: 4 He will bring peace to a strife-torn world.
This coming King’s dominion or rule will be vast. He would not reign over just Israel but over all who bow in submission to His lordship. That would include a great number of people from many nations. Under his rule, His people would experience an ever-increasing prosperity. No more would conditions be as those described in Isa. 8: 21-22.
Further, this coming King would be the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise in His covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7: 12. When “your time comes and you rest with your father, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish His kingdom.”
Jesus Christ was a descendant of David. As David built and ruled over the earthly kingdom of Israel, this coming King will establish and sustain His kingdom. That kingdom will be characterized with justice and righteousness both now and forever. Justice will characterize the official announcements and decisions this King will make concerning His work.
Righteousness indicates that all of His doings will be based on a sound ethical basis. His rule will reflect the holiness of God. None of the kings of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and only a few in the southern Kingdom of Judah ever ruled with justice and righteousness. Their injustices and unrighteousness were the reason for their downfalls. They did not live in the light.
What kind of assurance did Isaiah give Ahaz and Judah that these promises would be fulfilled? His answer: “The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.” The Hebrew word for zeal can mean, “glowing fire.” God is a fire of love and jealousy concerning His people. He is a fire of wrath against those who come against His people. In the end, His zeal will produce the circumstances promised in these verses. This promise is not based on any human strength and power. Its fulfillment is based on what God alone can do. Nothing or no one can defeat the Sovereign God of the Lord Jesus Christ. His promises are secure.
Isaiah 9: 1-5 focuses on the coming of light into a sin-darkened world. Jesus is the Light of the world. We should open our hearts to Him, and we should reflect His light to others. Jesus said to His followers in Mat. 5: 14, 16 “Ye are the light of the world…Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Isaiah 9: 6-7 focuses on the Son who will establish a kingdom of peace, justice, and righteousness. By faith we become citizens of His kingdom, and we should be living by heaven’s standards.
NEXT SUNDAY WE WILL SEEK THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION, “WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD—THE GOD OF THE BIBLE?