Isaiah Lesson 15

I wanna say good afternoon to the folks that are here in the sanctuary. It's great to see you. It's 2021, starting a new year. I guess the over-under will be when are we going to finish the book of Isaiah?

And I'm not even gonna try to predict that. I guess We're in no hurry. We are in no hurry. To those who are checking in on the video, welcome to us too. It's good to be in your family rooms or wherever it is that you're watching us.

Isaiah 9 and the Crescendo of Messianic Hope

We're in Isaiah chapter nine. And this passage, we're gonna look at the first seven verses. There's an amazing crescendo in verses six and seven. We probably could spend the entire time on those two verses.

We're gonna attempt to package it as this crescendo builds. We're coming from a prophecy that God has Isaiah give to the people of Judah, talking about their weakness of faith, talking about concerns.

And he keeps sprinkling these indications of hope and expectation of the Messiah to come. And so we come out of chapter eight with a picture of darkness and gloom. And it's, well, what do you expect when you're ignoring God into chapter nine?

And it says, but there will be no gloom. And it works its way down from there. So we're going to look the first seven chapters. Pastor Jeff, could you pray for us? Absolutely.

Our Father in heaven, on a day like this, there are many who feel the gloom. Lord, where it seems that the US Senate would also go to those who not only hate this country, but hate you and don't know you.

God, there would be reason for fear and for doubt, but not for those of us who know you, the one true and living God. So we look to you, there will be light. We know that we are awaiting the second coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

And it's to his advent we look, and our hope is fully set in you. Lord, we pray that this would be a time of purging for your church, that this would be a time of cleansing, that we would be made more like you, that we would rise up and keep our eyes set to you and not to the things of this earth.

So Lord, we do look to you now and ask for your blessing. We pray that this study today in Isaiah would be edifying as we look to your word and that you administer to us through it, through Pastor John, and especially through the very words of the scripture itself.

So thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen.

I got a lot of passages here. I don't know if we're gonna read all of them, but they lead the discussion that we need to have. Jeff, you are going to be my Isaiah 9 reader. And for starters, Bob, if you would have Isaiah 8, and I'm bringing Matthew 4, 14 to 17 into the first discussion, if you would have that ready.

But before we do that, this is one of the most amazing passages and comprehensive prophecies that we have of the coming Messiah. We're talking about a nation that is, at this point in time, not fully devoted to God.

We see that clearly in chapter one, and there are concerns and there are judgments proclaimed, but God, from before time, knew all of this to be. And from before time, ordained that he would send his son to die on the cross for our sins.

And this prophecy works a crescendo through this section, and we'll get to it. How can we trust that this is true? I wanna share one little story. It was in our study last night. We're in the book of Zechariah.

Now, the nation in the book of Zechariah has come out of captivity, and they are back in Jerusalem. King Cyrus wrote the decree, and they can rebuild the temple. But there was opposition, and so the work stopped after a period of time.

Haggai Zechariah, two prophets, encouraged the people back into the construction. But around them are these city nations. We have the Persian Empire, and around them are nine cities that have been standing up in opposition to them.

And so as we get into chapter nine of the book of Isaiah, these nine cities are identified for punishment. Now, there are books, there are prophecies in Jeremiah and Amos where some of this is also foretold, but it doesn't happen right away.

It doesn't happen right away. In fact, it's hundreds of years later where Alexander the Great, following the footsteps of his father Philip, comes into the Persian Empire and starts his conquest. He'll have his first battle in what we know as Asia Minor, and then work his way down the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea into Egypt, spend a couple of years there, come back up, partway up, and then take a right turn heading east into the final battle where the defeat is accomplished.

Those nine cities are destroyed by Alexander in fulfillment of the prophecies of Zechariah. But what's even more amazing is there's a 10th city that's kind of referred to in Zechariah chapter nine, and it's Jerusalem.

And at the end of the prophecy against these nine cities, he says, I will stand guard, and nobody's gonna march into my city. That's a little paraphrase, but that's what it says. And guess what? Alexander skipped Jerusalem on his march down, and he came up, and he skipped him on his march back out, and Jerusalem was untouched.

I bring that up because God's word is sure. His prophecies are sure. He knows the end from the beginning, the beginning from the end. And so as we read in this chapter nine, it sounds almost too good to be true.

If I'm sitting in Jerusalem or in Judah and seeing what's going on, and I'm hearing these prophecies, it's almost too good to be true. Although every book in the Bible talks about it, the reality is our God is going to make it happen.

And I also bring that up in light of Jeff's opening prayer. We don't know what 2021 is gonna bring, but God does, and let's just trust in him. Well, that is a huge background. Let's start out. Give me the full seven verses to set the stage.

John, I like how you do long introductions now, like me.

I like that. He critiqued my message on Sunday and said it was a nice long introduction.

So all eight verses? How about seven? Seven, okay. 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 shown. 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 his peace 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.

Darkness to Light in Zebulun and Naphtali

Beginning with this, he starts out with just a very quick statement and it really is our transition from the previous chapter. Give me eight, 19 to 22, please, Bob. In summary, what's going on there is an indictment against people.

And it says in verse 19, who do not consult God, who are actually seeking false gods. They're doing sorcery, spiritism. What happens to those people who eschew God and rather go toward these false teachings?

What happens to them? Read 22 again for me, please. What happens to people like that? With yes, they do. Yes, they do. And then that is undisputable. It's kind of like the answer to every Sunday school question has got to be God, right?

The immediate response to this though is that these people wanting answers and wanting guidance and wanting direction and wanting meaning to life look to the earth instead of looking to God. And instead of finding answers, instead of seeing what might be, all they get is gloom and despair and darkness.

That's what they experience. Though they may feel like they're in control of their own life, they don't even know. And so we start out in chapter nine, but there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish.

Transformation is gonna be made here. It's gonna go from gloom to what? To no gloom. May eventually light, but no gloom. That sounds pretty good to me. What's the region that's highlighted in this verse?

Naphtali and Zebulun. Where are they? So if you have this little sea, I'm trying to think of what it's been called. Anyway, if you have the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, and then you have the Sea of Galilee up here, next to that you've got Naphtali and Zebulun.

All right? In using these terms of Naphtali and Zebulun, the prophet is really expressing, using them as an example of the apostasy of the Northern Kingdom. That the Northern Kingdom has been godless, the Northern Kingdom has gone their own way, and the results, the benefits of what they've had has been gloomed.

And the, I think that the emotion starts in this, as I said, it's gonna crescendo through this passage. In that region there will be no gloom. There's a transformation that is going to take place. What is the, what's the cause, what's the impetus of this transformation?

How does it happen? Okay, Kimberly, read for me Matthew 4, 14 to 17. What is gonna transform gloom in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali into no gloom? Amen. We know that as we read the accounts in the Gospels, how much time does Jesus really spend what we call his Galilean ministry?

And he, in fulfillment of this prophecy, there is one that is going to come. We know that's the Messiah that's gonna go up there. Now, what we have here is listing a couple of them. One is called the Glorious Way.

This would have been the route that would have been used by the Babylonians to go towards the Mediterranean Sea. They called it the Glorious Way. Goes right through Naphtali and Zebulun and the Galilee of the nations.

That's really that portion that's been overtaken, that's gone apostate. There is gonna be a transformation in these two because they will have gone from apostasy, from not choosing God, from looking to the earth for the answers only to find despair and darkness and gloom.

There's gonna be a transformation to no gloom. And when we get into Matthew 14, the author inspired by the Holy Spirit takes us right back to this realization that land of Naphtali and Zebulun are going to see no gloom.

And it's gonna be because the Messiah is gonna walk through them. Give me verse three if you do, do, do. Okay, now verse two, that's verses one and two. The people that are there are going to go from darkness to light.

And the only way that happens at this point in time is the coming of Messiah who will bring them light. And so then verse two, give me verse two, that's a typo in there. Paragraph two should be nine, two.

Give me verse two again, please, Jeff.

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 light is going to come and we know it's gonna come. It's gonna come in the form of Messiah. What is this light that's gonna come upon the people? I'm sorry? The Lord Jesus. How do we know that? Okay, that's a good answer too.

Another answer, God. Give me John one, verses four, and then nine if you would, Lori. And up front here, Barbara, if you would get first John one, five, and then moving over, Bob, you've got John eight, 12.

What was I supposed to do, John? John chapter one. Oh, John chapter one. Verses four and then verse nine. So let's again put an understanding of what's going on in the Northern Kingdom. We've had this separation under Raibom, Jeroboam.

The Northern Kingdom goes away. The Southern Kingdom stays with, every now and then, a good king like King Asa. But the Northern Kingdom, absolutely not. They try to set up their own temple of worship.

They do all kinds of things. Seeking truth but never finding truth. And what the prophet here says that where there was gloom, there will no longer be gloom. And this transformation miraculously, wonderfully occurs.

Lori, give me verse four, please. Chapter one. Yes. Jesus is coming as a light so that men might see. Why light? What is light? Okay, yes, it is understanding. What is light? So we were getting ready to set this up and I was asking Jeff, which light switches should I turn on and he says, well, we probably don't need the stage.

And I had these turned on and he says, probably put on these spotlights. Why? Yes, to illuminate. Why? Block out the darkness. All of this is true. As it turns out, these spotlights are gonna allow us to be seen better on the video, as it turns out.

But I was at a church service once and this pastor was talking. He had been to that church for many, many, many years and he knew the sanctuary like the back of his hand and he was in his office and to get from his office to the parking lot, he would walk through the front of the sanctuary to the side door and go out.

It was the quickest path. It was during that time of year where it gets dark and it was in the late hours and the building was just very, very dark and he left his office and the lights were out in the sanctuary but he knew that sanctuary like the back of his hand.

He didn't feel the need to turn the lights on and walked right into a table that wasn't always there. That's the light. It's the light. There's going to be things that occur that you're only gonna see if the light shines on it.

It says in John 1, 4, he comes as the life and the life was the light of men. What the people in Zebulun and Naphtali and everybody needs is this light because without it, we don't know where we're going.

We may have an idea where we're going but that table, we didn't know was gonna be there. Is there, give me verse nine, please. Why the adjective true? Why the adjective true? Go with that. What do you mean by that?

That's very well said. And what do you mean by false lights? Who's got 1 John 1, 5? Go ahead, Barb. I've used this illustration. So those of you who have heard it, too bad. Those of you who haven't heard it, I got something cool.

There's two different types of lights which are predominantly used now. We have LEDs and stuff like that but I'm talking about 40, 50 years ago, you had fluorescent lights and you had incandescent lights and fluorescent lights in essence are a cycle and it's on AC current and it goes one way, the other way, one way, the other way, one way, the other way, back and forth and in between the one way, the other way is darkness, one way, the other way but it goes so fast that you don't see it.

Incandescent light is just a filament that glows and it's light. In machinery spaces, fluorescent light, if it is, if the machinery is turning at a harmonic frequency of this fluorescent light, it looks like it's standing still.

And so people get hurt and so they transform it from the fluorescent to the incandescent. In God, there is no darkness. His light is absolutely pure. Why do we need pure light? What happens without pure light?

Into what? Good answer. Chaos is absolutely true. We may be deceived into a lot of things. We don't see the sin. We don't perceive the lie that's taking us down a path. You have to have pure light. If you really want to see, you need to have pure light.

John 8, 12, yeah. Ah, what do you think, John? Probably one of the most dangerous forms of false light is light that looks like it's good but has something missing. And so if you have somebody who stands up in the pulpit and preaches or you have somebody who takes the word of God and tries to exposit it and present it to somebody but does it on their own without the Holy Spirit, and it's a counterfeit because it's not fully true.

It can be complete darkness or it can just be enough darkness that, yeah, Bob. Mm-hmm, absolutely. That's absolutely true. Who's got John 8, 12? Please. Naphtalem and Zebulun, symbolic of the northern kingdom, absolutely symbolic of anybody who does not choose God as their guide will look to the earth and will find nothing but gloom, despair, and utter darkness but God has promised from beforehand that his son was gonna come and his son was going to walk.

And in fact, he was gonna walk in Zebulun and Naphtali with true light. And he says, if you just follow me, you'll be walking in that true light. I am the light of the world. Jesus is. There are no other options for us to go to for true light but to go to Jesus.

Joy, Deliverance, and the End of War

Once we understand that and once we accept that, the crescendo continues. Give me verses three to five, please.

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 tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. I'm not gonna spend a lot of time.

You could go through this. I'll just read them real quick. This is talking about taking life and experiencing life to its ultimate that God intended us to have it in the first place. He uses descriptions like the nation increase and experiencing joy.

There are examples of how it has the joy of harvest. Experiencing just the blessings of plenty that God gives you. Joy when you get to divide the spoils. Having victory, having victory through Christ and then being able to be rewarded and experiencing the rewards of that.

Removal of the yoke talks about taking that onus, that heavy service and toil that we have. By the way, who do we serve and toil? Without Christ, who are we serving and who are we toiling under? The enemy, Satan, the flesh.

One of Satan's great deceits is that if you're going to waste your time under the yoke of religion, I would rather be free to be my own. And it's absolutely backwards because without God, you are a prisoner.

And we know that from scripture. There might be temporary joy, but you are a prisoner. Of breaking the rod of oppression, that unjust, ungodly authority that has you convinced to go this way or to go that way.

And the elimination of the equipment of war, the end of conflict and the experiencing of peace. These are the joys that he talks about here. But I want to think about this concept of joy for a minute.

Who is the source of real joy and how will it be increased in our lives? Thank you, this is the old Sunday school question, God. He is going to be the only and the actual, how is it that we would ever experience joy?

Through the Holy Spirit, great answer. Walking with Christ. He is the spirit of joy. Isaiah, one of the books that has the most frequent reference to this concept of joy. It is, it's through, I did a study of it and it's like, we'd be here till next week if we looked at them all.

In Isaiah, joy is actually pursued from the reality of trying to pursue your own joy and what that brings. And resting in God for his joy and what that brings. Isaiah's got both of them. Isaiah 1, four to five.

Rich, if you would read that for me, please. The nation of Israel wanted to appease God and so they had an understanding of things that they needed to do, thinking that by doing them, they could feel good about themselves.

I'm sure nobody here has ever felt this way that it's been a really bad week, I'd rather sleep in, but I'll make myself get up and go to church Sunday and I'll feel better about myself. I'm sure none of us have ever, ever done that.

The joy of the flesh is not real joy. Joy of the spirit is real joy. Israel, Judah, have been practicing the artificial joy. Give me verses four and five, please.

Isaiah 1, four and five. Yeah, okay, that's probably good.

That's probably good. Not a lot of joy in that passage and it's intentionally not a lot of joy in this passage because it's taking the reality of being attempting to appease God, thinking that by appeasing God, you will satisfy yourself, but the reality is that even within the heart, there is no joy involved with it.

In fact, in verse 13, I think is where it says, even when you pray, I'm not gonna listen because it's not real. 1, 18 to 20. Carol, if you would get that. Dave, if you would get 12, one through four ready, please.

Go ahead. To have this understanding that my life, which has sin, red as crimson can be made white as wool. There's a source of joy. There's a source of joy. Give me 12, one to four, Dave. Excellent, thank you.

Neva, you didn't read yet, did you? Give me 61, Isaiah 61. While she's getting that, Ezra chapter six, it's the story that's going on while the book of Zechariah, while that prophecy occurs, and the people are able to come out of exile and to return to Jerusalem with the edict from Cyrus to rebuild the temple.

And at the beginning, things work well until the opposition from people around them. And in chapter six, verses 21, the people having returned from exile celebrate the Passover. And those verses express the joy and the peace of heart that those people had because they were able to worship God and celebrate and experience the Passover.

Isaiah 61? Yes, 10, 11. When does this transformation occur in your hearts? What has to happen for this? Salvation, absolutely. The grace of God, the cleansing blood of Christ, the propitiation for the penalty that was due to me, and it was placed on Christ on the cross.

All of this gets rid of all of that other baggage. In Romans six, five to seven, it talks about that we are united in his death and that our flesh, our old self, is actually crucified with him. That has to be put to death.

That has to be put away. And that once that occurs, we are no longer slaves to sin. And this lie that Satan has, religion is going to be a burden upon you. It's gonna be a constraint to your fulfilling and finding all your satisfaction, is such a lie because with that going on, we are a slave to sin.

But we have an escape clause. And that escape clause is salvation. And through that salvation, we do find true joy. Jeff, what do you think? Amen. No, no. Yes. I'm looking at the clock. Oh, keep it going.

Keep it going. All right, give me verses six and seven, please.

The Child Born and the Son Given: Christ’s Two Natures

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 his 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.

I've got this divided into six different topics that the depth of this passage really deserves a ton. But let's go ahead and get started on it. And if we need to stop and reload, we will. The first thing I wanted to pick out is that it describes the one to come.

How does it describe the one to come? Child and as a son. There are two important truths in that one phrase there. Thank you. There are three amazing truths in that one little phrase there. Who is the Messiah?

Okay, good answer, Jesus. The Son of God, good answer. Who else is the Messiah? The Son of God and the Son of David. What's the great seminary word for this, Jeff?

Oh, the hypostatic union. The hypostatic union.

I saw the look on his face as I got no idea where you're going on this one. Yeah. I will say, having spent the last hour and a half with him in his office, he's off of vacation. I just threw a curve ball at him.

It's fun to do that once in a while, you know? Psalm 2 -7, let's go over there. John in the back, if you would get that. And then Hebrew 1 -5, John Carr, if you could get to Hebrews 1 -5. If not, I can just speak.

Give me John 2 -7. I will tell of God the Father, Yahweh, speaking of the one that was to come, his Son. The reality that he's not made, he's begotten, he's with God ever eternal. You were going through that the other day.

This element, this manifestation, the triune God, his Son is the one that comes as the Messiah. In Matthew 3 -17, Jesus goes to the water, to John the Baptist, and as he goes into the water, a dove descends upon him, the Holy Spirit, if you would, and a voice comes from heaven.

What does that voice say, Jeff?

You are my Son. Today I have begotten you. No, in whom I am well pleased. In whom I am well pleased, thank you.

Not today I have, you are my Son. This Jesus that is coming, this Messiah that's coming, is none other than the very Son of God, God, total God. Do you have Hebrews 1 there, John? Hebrews 1 -5. There is a relationship between Jesus, the Son of God, Yahweh, God the Father, the Holy Spirit, that is so amazingly deep.

But in the economy of God, you have Father, Son, Holy Spirit, all completely and totally God. And so this one that was to come is the Son. For unto us a Son is given, very God, the second person of the Trinity given.

But this also says to us a child is born. John 1 -14, Gene, if you would get that. Gus, go ahead and get Acts 2. I'm gonna comment to that and we'll look at those two. John 1 -14, when you have it, one of the foundational truths to the gospel message has to be that God loves so the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not die, but have life everlasting.

And we need to understand that this Messiah who comes not only comes as God, but had to come in flesh. Why? It's a good answer. Only a man. I'm sorry? To live a righteous life. And there's another great answer, to live a righteous life so that we would have on a goal to attain to.

And he would teach us. Yeah, Bob? No. As an example, absolutely. John 1 -14, do you have that one? God, from before time, ordained that his very, very Son would come. We know from Philippians how Jesus willingly submitted himself to the flesh, even to death on the cross.

This is the one that comes. This is the child who was born. Acts 2, do you have that one, Gus? Chapter 2, verses 22 and 23. I'm sorry, Acts. Chapter 2, 22 and 23. While he's getting that in Romans 5 -15, we do read that through one man, Adam, what comes?

Sin. Through one man, Christ, what comes? Salvation. Now, this is all God. This is miracle. This is Jesus, who is fully God and fully man. He comes to us as fully God, but he also comes to us fully man in flesh so that he could experience tempted in every way that we are yet without sin, and that he could experience the agony.

Jeff, I think it was you that said that Jesus detested the cross.

Why did you say that? Because Hebrews 12 -1 taught me that. He despised the cross, scorning its shame.

The cross was the most cruel form of death that the Romans had ever invented, and his was gonna be even crueler than that because they were gonna nail his very arms and hands. But beyond that, what made the cross so cruel was that for an instant, all of my sins were with him on that cross.

God turned his back on his son. And for that instant in time, did Jesus know that he was going to go through the crown of thorns and have his flesh torn apart by whips and spit on? Yes, he knew that, and did he know...

I have difficulty when my mind goes there because it just hurts me so bad to think of nails being pounded into somebody's arm. A previous church, we used to do an Easter program of some sort, and this one particular time, we were getting towards the crucifixion, and behind a curtain, somebody had a large hammer and a spike, and you couldn't see it, but you could hear it.

You know, he despised all of that, but he was separated from his father because he... Go ahead and read that if you... Two, 22 and 23. Now, the reason I bring this up is to reemphasize what we believe to be true in scripture about Jesus not only being God, but also being man is validated over and over and over again, and the records of this person, Jesus of Nazareth, being hung on a cross and crucified, the records bear it out.

This is true. Jesus is fully man and fully God, and so when we read in here in the beginning of verse six, for unto us a child is born. There will be a man-child born by the Virgin Mary without a human father, but unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given, and God is going to combine his very essence into very humanity in this union that we call Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

We're gonna stop there, and we're gonna learn more about the wonders of this Messiah next week. Jeff, close us in prayer. Okay.

So God, it just blows our minds to think that you would send your one and only son to be a child, a baby, laid in the manger, then to grow up and to live a perfect life, as John totally said, that he would obey the law perfectly, to have righteousness, an active righteousness by obedience to the law, which is part of what he then would impute to us, that we would be counted righteous and declared righteous on account of the righteousness of Christ, this child.

So we confess, Lord, again this afternoon, Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus is the son of the living God, the Christ, fully God and fully man. We thank you, God, for sending your one and only son to be that mediator, for you are holy and we are not.

We thank you that he has bridged us to you. He has mediated on our behalf. We thank you for his passive obedience as well, laying down on the cross, giving his life willingly, no one took his life, he gave it willingly.

So as we read Isaiah so many hundreds of years before Christ came, we are reminded of Christ. For Isaiah spoke of him and we turn our eyes to Jesus again. Thank you, Father, for that indescribable gift and it is our hope and it turns all of our gloom and darkness into joy and freedom.

Thank you for the freedom, the joy, the peace that we have because of Christ and it's in his name we pray, amen.