Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 9:1

Nevertheless the dimness [shall] not [be] such as [was] in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict [her by] the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.

Isa 9:1 . Nevertheless vexation ] Lit. For ( there is) no gloom to her that ( is) in straitness. The sentence is an enigma. Duhm translates it as a question and regards it as the gloss of a reader who with difficulty had made up his mind that the “gloom” is metaphorical and justified his conclusion thus: “For is there not gloom to (a land) that is in straits?” It is a nice question whether the ancient scholiast or the modern commentator displays the greater subtlety here. If the words are retained in the text we must supply a different tense in the two members, as R.V. “But (for) there shall be no gloom to her that was in anguish.”

when at the first more grievously afflict her] Begin a new sentence and render as R.V. In the former time he brought into contempt but in the latter time hath he made it glorious, &c., or (since the words for “land” have the acc. termination), “brought contempt on the land brought honour to it.” The subject is Jehovah.

the land of Zebulun Naphtali ] Lower and Upper Galilee.

the way of the sea ] either “in the direction of the (Mediterranean) Sea,” or “the region along the West side of the Sea of Gennesareth.” In the time of the Crusades Via Maris was the name of the road leading from Acre to Damascus.

beyond Jordan ] the land of Gilead (2Ki 15:29).

in Galilee of the nations ] (omit “in”) the circuit of the nations. Although the Hebrew word ( Gll) is the origin of the later “Galilee,” the district to which it was applied in the O.T. was only the northernmost corner of what was afterwards Upper Galilee (see 1Ki 9:11; Jos 20:7; Jos 21:32; 2Ki 15:29).

These remote provinces are singled out for special mention because they were the first to be depopulated by Tiglath-pileser (2Ki 15:29), those parts of the land, therefore, on which the reproach of foreign dominion will have lain longest when the Deliverance comes. The prophecy acquired a new and surprising significance when the “good news of the Kingdom” began to be proclaimed by our Lord first in Galilee (Mat 4:13 ff.). But the following verses ( Isa 9:2-7) refer of course to the whole nation.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Nevertheless – Notwithstanding what is said in the previous chapter of the calamities that are coming upon Israel. Hengstenberg renders this whole verse: For darkness shall not be upon the land upon which there is distress; as the former time has dishonored the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; so shall the time come to honor it, the region on the border of the sea, by the side of the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

The dimness – The Hebrew word hero denotes obscurity, or darkness; and is used here, as the word darkness often is in the Scriptures, to denote calamity or affliction. The dimness, or calamity, here referred to, is that which is threatened, Isa 8:21-22.

Shall not be such – It shall not be unbroken darkness, and unalleviated calamity; but it shall be interrupted by the rising of the great light that shall shine on the dark land of Zebulun and Naphtali.

In her vexation – The word her refers to the whole land of Palestine, to the afflictions that came upon the whole region. The word vexation, mutsaq means oppression, calamity, or being straitened, or pressed.

When at the first – In the former time; on a former occasion.

He lightly afflicted – The word used here, qalal, means properly, to be, or make light, or small; and in Hiphil, the form which occurs here, it often means to esteem lightly, to despise, to hold in contempt; 2Sa 19:43; Eze 22:7. It probably has that sense here, as the design of the prophet is evidently to speak, not of a light affliction in the former time, but of a grievous, heavy calamity – a calamity which would be well denoted by the expression, he made them vile; he exposed them to contempt and derision. The time to which reference is made here, was probably the invasion of the land by Tiglath-pileser; 2Ki 15:29; 1Ch 5:26. In that invasion, the parts of Zebulun and Naphtali were particularly afflicted. Tiglath-pileser took Ijon, and Gilead, and Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria; 2Ki 15:29. This region had also been invaded by Benhadad two hundred years before the time of Isaiah; 1Ki 15:20, and there might have been a reference to these various invasions to which this northern part of the land of Palestine had been subjected.

The land of Zebulun – The region occupied by the tribe of Zebulun. This tribe was located between the sea of Tiberias, or the lake Gennesareth, and the Mediterranean. It extended entirely across from the one to the other, and as it was thus favored with a somewhat extended seacoast, the people were more given to commerce than the other tribes, and hence, mingled more with surrounding nations.

And the land of Naphtali – The region which was occupied by this tribe was directly north of Zebulun, and of the sea of Galilee, having that sea and the tribe of Zebulun on the south and southeast, Asher on the west, and a part of the tribe of Manasseh, on the east.

And afterward – That is, in subsequent times; meaning times that were to come after the prophecy here delivered. The previous part of the verse refers to the calamities that had come upon that region in former times. The expression here refers to what was seen by the prophet as yet to occur.

Did more grievously afflict – hk^ebbyd. This verb has very various significations. It properly means to be heavy, to be grievous, to lie or fall heavy on anyone, to be dull, obstinate; also, to be honored, respected; that is, of weight, or influence in society. It means, in Hiphil, the form which is used here, to make heavy, or grievous; 1Ki 12:10; Isa 47:6; to oppress, Neh 5:15; and it also means to cause to be honored, or distinguished, to favor. – Gesenius. The connection requires that it should have this sense here, and the passage means, that the land which he had made vile in former times, or had suffered to be despised, he had purposed to honor, or to render illustrious by the great light that should rise on it. So Lowth, Rosenmuller, and Gesenius, translate it; see a similar use of the word in Jer 30:19; 2Ch 25:19; 1Sa 2:30.

By the way of the sea – The sea of Galilee, or Gennesareth. All this region was in the vicinity of that sea. The word way here, derek, means toward, or in the vicinity of. The extensive dark region lying in the vicinity of that sea, Both those tribes bordered on the sea of Tiberias, or had that as a part of their boundary.

Beyond Jordan – This expression – eber hayar^edden – means in the vicinity of Jordan; the land by the side of the Jordan, or perhaps that large region through which the upper part of the Jordan passed. It does not mean strictly on the east of Jordan, but rather the northern portion of the land. It is such language as a man would use who was describing the upper and imperfectly known regions of the country – the dark, uncivilized region through which the upper part of the Jordan flowed, and the word eber, rendered here beyond, means side – by the side of the Jordan.

Galilee of the nations – This was sometimes called upper Galilee. It was called Galilee of the nations, or of the Gentiles, because it was surrounded by them, and because the pagan were extensively intermingled with the Jews. In this region, Solomon had given to Hiram, king of Tyre, twenty cities; 1Ki 9:2. Adjacent to this region were the countries of Phenicia, Tyre, and Sidon; and the people would naturally mingle much with them in commerce. The country abounded with hills and caverns, and, consequently, it was never possible completely to dislodge from the fastnesses the former inhabitants of the land. Strabo enumerates among the inhabitants of Galilee, Arabians and Phenicians. The inhabitants of this country are represented as having been bold and courageous, but as seditious, and prone to insolence and rebellion. If it be asked here, in what way this land had been made contemptible, or why it was regarded as an object of contempt? we may reply,

(1) The district in which these two tribes dwelt constituted the border-land toward the pagan nations.

(2) The Galileans not only dwelt in the vicinity of the pagan, but a large number of them had actually remained in the country, and it had been found impossible to expel them from it; Jdg 1:30-35.

(3) The Phenicians, with whom they held commercial contact, and with whom they dwelt intermingled, were among the most corrupt of the pagan nations. To this may be added,

(4) They were far from Jerusalem, and, consequently, the influence of religion may be supposed to have been less felt among them than among the other Jews. The true religion was, in a great measure, lost upon them, and ignorance and superstition took its place. Hence, in the New Testament, they are spoken of as almost proverbially rude and ignorant.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Isa 9:1-7

Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation

The prophecy explained

Let me venture to give what I conceive to be the true rendering of the prophecy–a rendering which at least in its main particulars has the support of the best modern interpreters–and the striking beauty and force and consistency of the whole will become evident.

The prophet has been speaking in the previous chapter of a time of terrible distress and perplexity which was close at hand. King and people had forsaken their God. Ahaz had refused the sign of deliverance offered him and was hoping, by an alliance with Assyria, to beat off his enemies. The people in their terror were resorting to wizards and to necromancers for guidance instead of resorting to God. And the prophet warns them that the national unbelief and apostasy shall bring its sure chastisement in national despair. They will look around them in vain for succour. The heavens above and the earth beneath shall be wrapt in the same awful gloom. Nothing can exceed the dramatic force of the picture; it is a night at noonday, the very sun blotted from the heavens; it is a darkness which might be felt. But even while the prophets gaze is fixed upon it he sees the light trembling on the skirts of the darkness. The sunrise is behind the cloud. The darkness, cries the prophet, is driven away. So I venture to render the last words of the eighth chapter. For there shall no more be gloom to her (i.e., to the land)

that was in anguish. In the former time He made light of (not lightly afflicted as our A.V. has it), poured contempt upon the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, but in the latter time He hath made it glorious by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee (the circuit) of the nations. Take this rendering and you have a perfectly exact end very striking prediction. It was not true that the land had first been lightly afflicted and afterwards was more grievously afflicted. But it was true that in the former time the land had been despised; Zebulun and Naphtali and Galilee of the nations had been a byword among the Jews; their territory had been trampled under foot by every invader who had ever entered Palestine. In the former time He did make light of it, He did abase it, but in the latter time He made it glorious with a glory far transcending the glory of any earthly kingdom. For it was here, amid this despised half heathen population, that the true Light shined down, here the Lord of Glory lived, it was here that He wrought His wonderful works and uttered His wonderful words, it was here that He gathered fishermen and tax gatherers to be His first disciples and missionaries to the world. This land was of a truth made glorious by the feet of Jesus of Nazareth. Well may the prophet continue, The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, on them hath the light shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation, Thou hast increased their joy. The insertion of the negative is an unfortunate mistake which, though found in our present Hebrew text, can be easily explained, and indeed has been corrected by the Hebrew scribes themselves. They joy before Thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men exult when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff upon his shoulder, the rod of his oppression Thou hast broken, as in the day of Midian. For the greaves of the greaved warrior and the battle tumult and the garments rolled in blood shall be for burning for fuel of fire. The A.V., by the insertion of the words but this, introduces an antithesis which destroys the whole force and beauty of the picture. Strike out those words and all becomes clear and consistent. The meaning is that at the advent of the Prince of Peace all wars shall cease. The soldiers sandals and the soldiers cloak and all the bloodstained gear of battle shall be gathered together and east into the fire to be burned. The heir of Davids throne is no earthly warrior; He does not win His kingdom by force of arms. For a Child is born unto us, a Son is given unto us, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; He shall wear the insignia of royalty. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with judgment and with righteousness, from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this. Such is the majestic vision of light and Peace that dawns upon the prophets soul in the midst of the national apostasy. (Bishop Perowne.)

Nevertheless

There is in this world mercifully a compensating balance to all Divine denunciations, a nevertheless to all Gods judgments, and a Gospel of grace appended to every message of doom. It is this that makes this world, amid all its tragic scenes, a world of mercy. (D. Davies.)

Clearest promises of Christ in darkest times

It is noteworthy that the clearer promises of the Messiah have been given in the darkest hour? of history. If the prophets had been silent upon the Coming One before, they always speak out in the cloudy and dark day; for well the Spirit made them know that the coming of God in human flesh is the lone star of the worlds night. It was so in the beginning, when our first parents had sinned, and were doomed to quit the paradise of delights. When Israel was in Egypt, when they were in the sorest bondage, and when many plagues had been wrought on Pharaoh, apparently without success; then Israel saw the Messiah set before her as the Paschal lamb, whose blood sprinkled on the lintel and the two side posts secured the chosen from the avenger of blood. The type is marvellously clear, and the times were marvellously dark. I will quote three cases from the prophetical books which now lie open before Isa 28:16, you read that glorious prophecy: Behold, I lay inZion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. When was that given? When the foundation of society in Israel was rotten with iniquity, and when its cornerstone was oppression. Read from Isa 28:14 : Wherefore hear the Word of the Lord, ye scornful men, etc. Thus, when lies and falsehoods ruled the hour, the Lord proclaims the blessed truth that the Messiah would come sad would be a sure foundation for believers. Next, look into Jer 23:5 : Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, etc. When was this clear testimony given! Read the former verses of the chapter, sad see that the pastors were destroying and scattering the sheep of Jehovahs pasture. When the people of the Lord thus found their worst enemies where they ought to have met with friendly care, then they were promised happier days through the coming of the Divine Son of David. Glance at Eze 34:23, where the Lord says, And I will set up one shepherd over them, sad he shall feed them, even My servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. When came this cheering promise concerning that great Shepherd of the sheep! It came when Israel is thus described: And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd, etc. Thus, in each case, when things were at their worst, the Lord Jesus was the one well of consolation in a desert of sorrows. In the worst times we are to preach Christ, and to look to Christ. In Jesus there is a remedy for the direst of diseases, and s rescue from the darkest of despairs. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Phases of Divine purpose

Let us look at some of the abiding doctrines and illustrations suggested by this noblest effort of the prophets imagination. Isaiahs wing never takes a higher flight than it does in this prevision of the centuries.

1. The Divine purpose has never been satisfied, if we may so say, with darkness, judgment, desolation. When God has judged a man He would seem to return to see what effect the judgment has had, if haply He may see some hope of returning feeling, of loyalty sad filial submission. Gods feeling has been always a feeling of solicitude to bless the nations. We shall do wrong if we suppose that pity comes in only with the historical Christ, that compassion was born on Christmas Day.

2. The Divine movement amongst the nations has always expressed itself under the contrast of light sad darkness (verse 2). No contrast can be more striking; therefore this is the one God has chosen whereby to represent the Divine movement. God is associated with light, and all evil with darkness. The fulfilment of Divine purpose has always been associated with incarnation, idealised Humanity.

3. Look at the Deliverer as seen by the prophet (verse 6). The Deliverer is to come as a child, a son, a governor, a name; He is to sit upon the throne of David, sad upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment sad with justice from henceforth even forever. Say there was a secondary application of the terms, there can be no objection to that; but no living man ever filled out in their uttermost spheral meaning all these names but one, and His name is Jesus.

4. Then comes rapture upon rapture. And the pledge of the fulfilment of all is, The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. (J. Parker, D. D.)

The remedy of the worlds misery

I. THE VIEW TAKEN BY THE PROPHET OF THE MORAL STATE OF THE WORLD PREVIOUS TO THE GLORIOUS CHANGE WHICH MAKES THE SUBJECT OF HIS PROPHECY.

1. The people are represented as walking in darkness. The prophet contemplates the world at large. Light is an emblem of knowledge; darkness of ignorance and error.

2. But darkness alone appears to the mind of the prophet only a faint emblem of the state of the heathen. He adds, therefore, the shadow of death. In Scripture this expression is used for death, the grave, the darkness of that subterranean mansion into which the Jews supposed the souls of men went after death. Figuratively, the expression is used for great distress; a state of danger and terror. It is an amplification, therefore, of the prophets thought. Experience has justified this representation of the prophet. The religion of the heathen has ever been gloomy and horrible.

II. THE BLESSED VISITATION (Isa 9:2).

1. As darkness is an emblem of the religious sorrows which had overcast the world, so light is an emblem of the truth of the Gospel The Gospel is light. This marks its origin from heaven. This notes its truth. It is light because of its penetrating and subtle nature. It is called light, a great light, because of the discoveries which it makes. It is life and health to the world. Where it prevails, spiritual life is inspired, and the moral disorders of the soul give place to health and vigour.

2. As in the vision light succeeds to darkness, so also joy succeeds to fear and misery.

III. SO VAST A CHANGE MUST BE PRODUCED BY CAUSES PROPORTIONABLY POWERFUL: and to the means by which this astonishing revolution is effected the prophet next directs attention (Isa 9:4-5). These words speak of resistance and a struggle. In the conduct of this battle two things are, however, to be remarked: the absolute weakness and insufficiency of the assailants, and their miraculous success. The weakness of the instruments used in breaking the rod and yoke of the oppressor is sufficiently marked by the allusion to the destruction of the host of Midian by Gideon and his three hundred men. But it may be said, Is not all this a splendid vision? You speak of weak instruments effecting a miraculous success; of the display and operation of a supernatural power, touching the hearts of men, and changing the moral state of the world; but what is the ground of this expectation? This natural and very proper question our text answers.

IV. FOR UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN, etc. (Isa 9:6-7). (R. Watson.)

Light out of darkness

We are not left in doubt as to what the end of this great prophecy was. In Mat 4:15-16, we have it expounded to us.

I. THE GREAT DARKNESS. The prophet first saw the people utterly overwhelmed by the ruthless hand of merciless war. It had been once a prosperous land, but now darkness dense had come over it till it was a veritable shadow of death. Turning from the immediate political significance of this to its spiritual import, we can easily see in it a picture of the spiritual condition of the world when Jesus came. The whole world was lying in the wicked one. The Jewish people, though they had the living Word of God, had in the darkness of their carnal ambition and lifeless formality lost all true vision of God. The Gentile world was no better. The best which they had was, on the one hand, a sensuous and godless Epicureanism, and on the other a cold and hopeless Stoicism. Turning to the condition of the unconverted people of our own day, we see also darkness and the shadow of death. What light for the soul has all our modern philosophical thinking and scientific research given?

II. THE GREAT LIGHT. The light which the prophet saw was the intervention of God for the deliverance of the people from political bondage and physical misery, with some spiritual return to God. That which it typified was the advent and work of Christ. How this light shone upon the darkened world when He came! Truly it was a great light. The light seen in the face of Jesus Christ is the glory of God, revealing His eternal purposes of grace to all sinful men. Christ lights the world by loving it, i.e., by revealing the love of God to sinners.

III. THE GREAT BLESSINGS. With the coming of the true light came wonderful blessings to the people. This is described in the language of the prophet under several figures of speech.

1. Thou hast multiplied the nation. If we look to the real fulfilment of this prophecy, what a vast increase in the people of God there has been!

2. And increased their joy. Of old the people of God rejoiced at their best periods in mere national prosperity. But under the spiritual reign of Jesus the people shall rejoice in better things. The joy of salvation.

3. According to the joy in harvest. The happiest festival of the Jews was the harvest feast, when the fruits of the earth were all gathered in, and the people blessed God and rejoiced in their riches. But now He gives us a new and better harvest, the ingathering of souls, the first fruits of which were gathered on the day of Pentecost. There is no such pure joy as that which arises in the heart when Gods salvation is being accepted by men and women, and His harvest is being gathered. What will it be in that day when the glad harvest home is accomplished?

4. And as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. This is a figure borrowed from the triumphant joy of the victorious warrior, who, having overthrown the enemy, and taken possession of his goods, divides them as spoil among the victors. Well, so shall, and so do, Gods people rejoice over the victories which the Gospel wins over the god of this world.

5. Thou hast broken the yoke . . . and the staff. Hitherto the people had boon under the iron yoke of their oppressors, and beaten by the rod of their taskmasters, as in the old slavery times of Egypt. How happy when that yoke shall be broken, and that cruel staff or rod done away! Under Messiahs reign the cruel bondage of Satans yoke is broken, and the taskmasters staff done away.

IV. HOW CHRIST DELIVERS. In earthly conflicts battles are fought with confused noise and garments rolled in blood. The captives were delivered of old by these terrible and sanguinary methods; but Christ delivers His captives by the power of the Spirit of God, with burning and fuel of fire. The fire is the Holy Ghost, and the fuel of fire is the Word of truth. (G. F. Pentecost, D. D.)

The nativity of our Lord

I. LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS.

II. JOY BECAUSE OF THE LIGHT.

1. Because Jesus was born.

2. Because in His incarnation God and man were united.

3. Because through His birth the yoke of mans burden has been broken (Isa 9:4), and the power of his oppressor destroyed.

III. THE GROUNDS OF THIS JOY (Isa 9:6-7). (Clergymans Magazine.)

Good things in the days of the great Messiah

If it be asked, What the great design of God is in the Scriptures? I answer, To bring a lost world to the knowledge of a Saviour all the prophecies, promises, histories, and doctrines of the Word, do point us to Him, as the needle in the mariners compass points to the pole star. To Him bore all the prophets witness. And when apostles under the New Testament were sent unto all nations, with the silver trumpet of the everlasting Gospel in their mouths, what was the great theme of their sermons! It was just to make Christ known among the nations All the lines of religion meet in Him as their centre. The prophet in the close of the preceding chapter, having spoken of dark and dismal days of trouble and distress, comes in the beginning of this, to comfort and encourage the hearts of true believers, with the good things which were coming in the days of the great Messiah.

I. There are THREE GREAT NEW TESTAMENT BLESSINGS he condescends upon.

1. Great light should spring up to a lost world (Isa 9:2).

2. Joy in the Lord (Isa 9:3).

3. Spiritual liberty (Isa 9:4-5).

II. It any should ask WHO IS HE, AND WHERE IS HE, THAT SHALL DO ALL THESE GREAT THINGS? You have an answer in the words, For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, etc. In the words we may notice these things following.

1. The incarnation of the great Messiah; for here the prophet speaks of His birth.

2. His donation. He is the gift of God to a lost world. Unto us a Son is given.

3. His advancement to the supreme rule and authority. The government shall be upon His shoulder.

4. His character and designation, in five names here given Him, which show that He has a name above every name, Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

5. The relation He stands in to lost sinners of Adams family. He is born to us, He is given to us, and not to the angels which fell.

6. The application and triumph of faith upon all this; for the Church here lays claim to Him, and triumphs in her claim; for the words are uttered in a way of holy boasting. Unto us this Child is born, unto us this Son is given. (E. Erskine.)

Fulness of Christ

There is that in Jesus Christ alone which may and can afford sufficient comfort and relief in the worst of times and conditions.

I. WE WILL INQUIRE INTO THE TRUTH OF IT (Col 2:9).

1. If you look into Scripture you shall find that the promises and prophecies of Christ are calculated and given out for the worst of times.

2. If there was enough in the types of Christ to comfort and relieve the people of God under the Old Testament in the worst of their times; then there must needs be enough in Christ to comfort the people of God now in the worst of our times. In the times of the Old Testament, in ease they had sinned, what relief had they? A sacrifice to make an atonement Lev 4:20), and so a type of Christ the great Sacrifice Heb 9:26). In case they were in the wilderness and wanted bread, what relief had they? Manna, a type of Christ, the true Bread that came down from heaven. In case they wanted water, what relief had they? The rock opened, and that rock was Christ. In ease they were stung wire the fiery serpents what relief had they? They had the brazen serpent, and that was a type of Christ (Joh 3:15).

3. If all the promises of good things made to us were originated in Christ, and if all the promises that were made unto Christ of good things to come, do descend upon us, then surely there is enough in Christ to succour in the worst of times. For what are the promises but Divine conveyances?

4. If all our want of comfort and satisfaction doth arise from the want of a sight of Christs fulness and excellency, and all our satisfaction and comfort doth arise from the sight of Christs fulness and excellency, then this doctrine must needs he true.

II. WHAT IS THAT IN CHRIST THAT MAY OR CAN COMFORT, SUCCOUR AND BELIEVE IN THE WORST OF TIMES AND CONDITIONS?

1. Look what that good thing is which the world can either give or take away, that is in Christ in great abundance; and if that be in Christ in great abundance which the world can neither give or take away, then there is that in Christ that may or can succour, comfort, and relieve in the worst of times. Can the world take away your estate, gold, or silver? Then read what is said in Pro 3:1-35, concerning wisdom, where Christ is called wisdom (verse 13). Can the world take away your liberty? Then you know what Christ says, Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. Can the world take away your life? You know what Christ saith, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. On the other side, what can the world give to you? Can the world give you peace, rest, quietness? Then you know what Christ saith (Mat 11:28; Joh 14:27). Can the world give you happiness? I am sure Christ can.

2. There is in Jesus Christ the greatest excellency under the best propriety, My Lord and my God.

3. There is in Jesus Christ the greatest fulness joined with the most communicativeness.

4. The sweetest love under the greatest engagement. Is not a brother engaged to help his brother? A father his children? A husband his wife! Now, suppose there were one person that could stand under all these relations–a brother, a father, a husband; how much would that person be engaged to help? Thus Christ doth; He stands under all these relations.

6. There is that in Jesus Christ that suiteth all conditions.

III. HOW FAR THIS CONCERNS US. (W. Bridge, M. A.)

Immanuel the Light of Life

I. There is to be a light breaking in upon the sons of men who sit in darkness, and this light is to be found only in the incarnate God. Let me ILLUSTRATE THIS FACT BY THE CONTEXT.

1. I must carry you back to Isa 7:14. The sign of coming light is Jesus.

2. Further on we see our Lord Jesus as the hold fast of the soul in time of darkness. See in Isa 8:8, the whole country overwhelmed by the fierce armies of the Assyrians, as when a land is submerged beneath a flood. Then you read–And he shall pea through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of Thy land, O Immanuel. The one hope that remained for Judah was that her country was Immanuels land. There would Immanuel be born, there would He labour, and there would He die. He was by eternal covenant the King of that land, and no Assyrian could keep Him from His throne. If you are a believer in Christ, you belong to Him, and you always were His by sovereign right, even when the enemy held you in possession. We might exultingly have gloried over you, Thy soul, O Immanuel. Herein lay your hope when all other hope was gone. Herein is your hope now.

3. Further on in the chapter we learn that Jesus is our star of hope as to the destruction of the enemy. The foes of Gods people shall be surely vanquished and destroyed because of Immanuel. Note well in Isa 8:9-10, how it is put twice over like an exultant taunt: Gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for Immanuel. Our version translates the word into God with us, but it is Immanuel. In Him, even in our Lord Jesus Christ, dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and He has brought all that Godhead to bear upon the overthrow of the foes of His people.

4. Further on we find the Lord Jesus as the morning light after a night of darkness, The last verses of the eighth chapter picture a horrible state of wretchedness and despair: And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: etc. But see what a change awaits them! Read the fine translation of the R.V. But there shall be no gloom to her that was in anguish. What a marvellous light from the midst of a dreadful darkness! It lean astounding change, such as only God with us could work. There am some here who have traversed that terrible wilderness You are being driven as captives into the land of despair, and for the last few months you have been tromping along a painful road, hardly bestead and hungry. You are sorely put to it, and your soul finds no food of comfort, but is ready to faint and die. You fret yourself: your heart is wearing away with care, and grief, and hopelessness. In the bitterness of your soul you are ready to curse the day of your birth. The captive Israelites cursed their king who had led them into their defeat and bondage; the fury of their agony, they even cursed God and longed to die, It may be that your heart is in such a ferment of grief that you know not what you think, but are like a man at his wits end. Those who led you into sin are bitterly remembered; and as you think upon God you am troubled. This is a dreadful ease for a soul to be in, and it involves a world of sin and misery. You look up, but the heavens are as brass above your head; your prayers appear to be shut out from Gods ear; you look around you upon the earth, and behold trouble and darkness, and dimness of anguish; your every hope is slain, and your heart is torn asunder with remorse and dread. Every hour you seem to be hurried by an irresistible power into greater darkness. In such a case none can give you comfort save Immanuel, God with us. Only God, espousing your cause, and bearing your sin, can possibly save you. See, He comes for your salvation!

5. Once more, we learn from that which follows our text, that the reign of Jesus is the star of the golden future. He came to Galilee of the Gentiles, and made that country glorious, which had been brought into contempt. That corner of Palestine had very often borne the brunt of invasion, and had felt more than any other region the edge of the keen Assyrian sword. It was a wretched land, with a mixed population, despised by the purer race of Jews; but that very country became glorious with the presence of the incarnate God. That first land to be invaded by the enemy was made the headquarters of the army of salvation. Even so at this day His gracious presence is the day dawn of our joy. Here read and interpret Isa 9:3.Then shall your enemy be defeated, as in the day of Midian. When Jesus comes you shall have eternal peace; for His battle is the end of battles. All the armour of the armed man in the tumult, and the garments rolled in blood, shall even be for burning, for fuel of fire. This is the rendering of the Revision; and it is good. The Prince of Peace wars against war, and destroys it. Now is it that the Lord Jesus becomes glorious in our eyes; and He whose name is Immanuel is now crowned in our heart with many crowns, and honoured with many titles. What a list of glories we have here! What a burst of song it makes when we sing of the Messiah (Isa 9:6). Each word sounds like a salvo of artillery.

II. I want to PRESS HOME CERTAIN TRUTHS CONNECTED WITH MY THEME. Immanuel is a grand word. God with us means more than tongue can tell It means enmity removed on our part, and justice vindicated on Gods part. It means the whole Godhead engaged on our side, resolved to bless us.

1. Jesus is Immanuel (Mat 1:21).

2. Perhaps you wish to know a little more of the incident in the text which exhibits Jesus as the great light. Our Lord made His home in the darkest parts. He looked about and saw no country so ignorant, no country so sorrowful, as Galilee of the Gentiles, and therefore He went there, and lifted it up to heaven by priceless privileges!

3. We will turn back to where we opened our Bibles at the first, and there we learn that, to be God with us, Jesus must be accepted by us. He cannot be with us if we will not have Him. Hear how the prophet words it: Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given. Be sure that you go on with the verse to the end–and the government shall be upon His shoulder. If Christ is your Saviour He must be your King. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Lux in tenebris

One evening last week I stood by the seashore when the storm was raging. The voice of the Lord was upon the waters; and who was I that I should tarry within doors, when my Masters voice was heard sounding along the water? I rose and stood to behold the flash of His lightnings, and listen to the glory of His thunders. The sea and the thunders were contesting with one another; the sea with infinite clamour striving to hush the deep-throated thunder, so that His voice should not be heard; yet over and above the roar of the billows might be heard that voice of God, as He spake with flames of fire, and divided the way for the waters. It was a dark night, and the sky was covered with thick clouds, and scarce a star could be seen through the rifts of the tempest; but at one particular time, I noticed far away on the horizon, as if miles across the water, a bright shining, like gold. It was the moon hidden behind the clouds, so that she could not shine upon us; but she was able to send her rays down upon the waters, far away, where no cloud happened to intervene. I thought as I read this chapter last evening, that the prophet seemed to have stood in a like position, when he wrote the words of my text. All round about him were clouds of darkness; he heard prophetic thunders roaring, and he saw flashes of the lightning of Divine vengeance; clouds and darkness, for many a league, were scattered through history; but he saw far away a bright spot–one place where the clear shining same down from heaven. And he eat down, and he penned these words: The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined; and though he looked through whole leagues of space, where he saw the battle of the warrior with confused noise and garments rolled in blood, yet he fixed his eye upon one bright spot in futurity, and he declared that there he saw hope of peace, prosperity, and blessedness; for said he, Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER IX

This chapter contains an illustrious prophecy of the Messiah.

He is represented under the glorious figure of the sun, or

light, rising on a benighted world, and diffusing joy and

gladness wherever he sheds his beams, 1-3.

His conquests are astonishing and miraculous, as in the day of

Midian; and the peace which they procure is to be permanent,

as denoted by the burning of all the implements of war, 4, 5.

The person and character of this great Deliverer are then set

forth in the most magnificent terms which the language of

mankind could furnish, 6.

The extent of his kingdom is declared to be universal, and the

duration of it eternal, 7.

The prophet foretells most awful calamities which were ready to

fall upon the Israelites on account of their manifold

impieties, 8-21.

NOTES ON CHAP. IX

Verse 1. Dimness – “Accumulated darkness”] Either menuddechah, fem. to agree with aphelah; or aphel hammenuddach, alluding perhaps to the palpable Egyptian darkness, Ex 10:21.

The land of Zebulun] Zebulun, Naphtali, Manasseh, that is, the country of Galilee all round the sea of Gennesareth, were the parts that principally suffered in the first Assyrian invasion under Tiglath-pileser; see 2Kg 15:29; 1Ch 5:26. And they were the first that enjoyed the blessings of Christ’s preaching the Gospel, and exhibiting his miraculous works among them. See Mede’s Works, p. 101, and 457. This, which makes the twenty-third verse of chap. viii. in the Hebrew, is the first verse in chap. ix. in our authorized version. Bishop Lowth follows the division in the Hebrew.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation: the words thus rendered contain a mitigation of the foregoing threatening; and so the sense of the verse may be this, The calamity of this land and its inhabitants shall be great, yet not such as that which was brought upon the kingdom of the ten tribes by the king of Assyria, who at first indeed dealt more gently with them, but afterwards quite rooted them out, and carried them away into a dreadful captivity, from whence they were not to return, no, not when the Messiah came into the world; for after this darkness of which I have now spoken, there shall come a glorious light, as it follows in the next verse. The Dutch interpreters take it in the same sense, and render the words thus, But the land that was distressed shall not be utterly darkened. To the same purpose they may be thus rendered, according to the Hebrew, But darkness shall not be (i.e. shall not abide or continue; for to be is sometimes put for to abide or continue to be, as 1Sa 12:14; Pro 23:5; Mat 17:4; Heb 8:4) unto her, (to wit, the land, which by the consent of interpreters is understood here, as it was Isa 8:21) to whom this distress is or shall be. She shall be distressed and darkened, as I said before, Isa 8:22, but not irrecoverably, nor for ever. Some understand the words to be an aggravation of the darkness or misery threatened Isa 8:22, rendering the words thus, for the dimness shall not be, &c. And so the sense is, This shall not be so slight an affliction as that which befell them by Pul, 2Ki 15:19, nor as that which succeeded it by Tiglathpileser, who, at the desire of Ahaz, did about this time make another invasion into the land of Israel, 2Ki 15:29, and was a heavier stroke than the former; but this shall be far heavier than either of them. But the former sense seems better to agree, both with the following verses, and with Mat 4:14-16, where these words are expounded as a promise, and said to be fulfilled by Christs preaching the gospel in these parts. At the first; in the first invasion which the king of Assyria made upon Israel. He, to wit, God, who is oft understood in such cases, and who is here supposed to be the author or inflicter of this judgment. Or it is an impersonal speech, he afflicted for was afflicted, than which nothing is more common in the Hebrew language. Lightly afflicted; either,

1. By Pul; or rather,

2. By Tiglath-pileser, who at this time invaded and subdued these parts, as it is expressed, 2Ki 15:29; the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali: these parts are particularly mentioned, because this storm fell most heavily upon them; but under them the other parts of the land are understood by a common figure called synecdoche. Did more grievously afflict her; either,

1. By Tiglath-pileser; or rather,

2. By Shalmaneser, who took Samaria, and carried Israel into captivity, 2Ki 17:5,6; of which calamity, though yet to come, the prophet speaks as if it were past, as the manner of the prophet is. By the way of the sea; in that part of the land which bordereth upon the sea, to wit, the lake of Gennesaret, which is very commonly called a sea, as Mat 4:18; Joh 21:1, &c., and upon which the portions of Zebulun and Naphtali bordered. Beyond Jordan; or, on this side Jordan; for this preposition is used both ways, and this land might be said to be either beyond or on this side Jordan, in divers respects. Galilee of the nations, or Galilee of the Gentiles, to wit, the Upper Galilee, so called because it bordered upon the Gentiles. But this last clause, and the two foregoing clauses, are otherwise rendered and interpreted by divers learned men, as a prophecy concerning the light of the gospel that should shine in those parts: As at the first time (to wit, in the former ages of the Israelitish church and commonwealth) he made the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali vile or contemptible; (as he might be said to have done, partly, by putting those people at so great a distance from his sanctuary; partly, by exposing them to some calamities which other tribes escaped; and partly, by denying them those honours and privileges which he afforded to other tribes, of which see Joh 7:52, Out of Galilee ariseth no prophet; and Joh 1:46, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? which was an eminent city of Galilee;) so in the latter or last time (to wit, in the days of the Messiah, or of the gospel, which are frequently so called in the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament) he made it (i.e. he will make it, for the prophet speaks of things to come as past, as he doth most commonly in this prophecy) glorious (to wit, by Christs first preaching the gospel in those parts) in or towards the way of the sea, (to wit, of Galilee or Gennesaret,) beyond or on this side Jordan, in Galilee of the Gentiles: which interpretation I thought fit to propose, as deserving further consideration.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1. Nevertheless, c.rather,”For darkness shall not (continually) be on it (that is,the land) on which there is (now) distress” [HENGSTENBERGand MAURER]. The “for”refers, not to the words immediately preceding, but to theconsolations in Isa 8:9 Isa 8:10;Isa 8:17; Isa 8:18.Do not despair, for, c.

when at the first,&c.rather, “as the former time has brought contempt onthe land of Zebulun and Naphtali (namely, the deportation of theirinhabitants under Tiglath-pileser, 2Ki15:29, a little before the giving of this prophecy) so shall theafter-coming time bring honor to the way of the sea (the districtaround the lake of Galilee), the land beyond (but HENGSTENBERG,”by the side of”) Jordan (Perea, east of Jordan,belonging to Reuben, Gad, and half-Manasseh), the circle (butHENGSTENBERG, “Galilee”)(that is, region) of the “Gentiles” [MAURER,HENGSTENBERG, c.]. Galilin Hebrew is a “circle,” “circuit,” andfrom it came the name Galilee. North of Naphtali, inhabited by amixed race of Jews and Gentiles of the bordering Phoelignician race(Jdg 1:30 1Ki 9:11).Besides the recent deportation by Tiglath-pileser, it had been sorelysmitten by Ben-hadad of Syria, two hundred years before (1Ki15:20). It was after the Assyrian deportation colonized withheathens, by Esar-haddon (2Ki17:24). Hence arose the contempt for it on the part of thesouthern Jews of purer blood (Joh 1:46;Joh 7:52). The same region whichwas so darkened once, shall be among the first to receive Messiah’slight (Mat 4:13; Mat 4:15;Mat 4:16). It was in despisedGalilee that He first and most publicly exercised His ministry; fromit were most of His apostles. Foretold in Deu 33:18;Deu 33:19; Act 2:7;Psa 68:27; Psa 68:28,Jerusalem, the theocratic capital, might readily have known Messiah;to compensate less favored Galilee, He ministered mostly there;Galilee’s very debasement made it feel its need of a Saviour, afeeling not known to the self-righteous Jews (Mt9:13). It was appropriate, too, that He who was both “theLight to lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory of His people Israel,”should minister chiefly on the border land of Israel, near theGentiles.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Nevertheless, the dimness [shall] not [be] such as [was] in her vexation,…. The words may be rendered, “for there shall be no weariness to him that straitens” or “afflicts” them f; so Jarchi, who interprets it of the king of Assyria; but it is better to understand it of Titus Vespasian, who would not be weary of, but indefatigable in carrying on the siege of Jerusalem, and in distressing the Jews in all parts: or thus, “for there shall be no fleeing from him that is oppressed in it” g; either that is besieged in Jerusalem, or distressed in Judea; and so the words are a reason of the former distress, and a continuation and amplification of it; though many interpreters think they are to be understood by way of comfort, and as a mitigation of it, which is the sense of our version:

when at first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; either by Pul king of Assyria, in the reign of Menahem king of Israel, 2Ki 15:19 or rather by Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, in the reign of Pekah king of Israel, since by him Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali, were carried captive, 2Ki 15:29 which at the time of this prophecy was past, and was but a light affliction in comparison of what followed:

and afterwards did more grievously afflict [her]: by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, in the reign of Hoshea king of Israel, who took Samaria, and carried Israel or the ten tribes into captivity, from whence they returned not; and yet it is suggested, that the tribulation and distress that should come upon the Jews by the Romans should be greater than the heaviest of these; there should be no fleeing, no escape, no, not of any, as at those times mentioned, but wrath should come upon them to the uttermost, and particularly in the places following:

by the way of the sea; which some understand of the Mediterranean sea, and of that part of the land of Israel which lay next it; but it seems rather to design the sea of Tiberias or Galilee, as Jarchi rightly interprets it:

beyond Jordan; a part of the land of Israel so called, known by the name of Peraea; [See comments on Mt 4:25]:

in Galilee of the nations; which was inhabited not only by Jews, but by persons of other nations, and therefore so called; now these places suffered much in the wars between the Jews and the Romans, by skirmishes, sieges, robberies, plunders, c. as appears from the history of Josephus. Some interpreters understand all this, as before observed, as an alleviation of those times of trouble, as if it would be less than in former times but it is certain that it was to be, and was, greater than ever was known, Mt 24:21 it is true, indeed, it may be considered as an alleviation of it, and as affording some comfort in a view of it, that in those very parts where there should be so much distress and misery, the Messiah, previous to it, would appear, and honour it with his presence, who is afterwards spoken of, and so, in connection with the following words, these may be rendered thus; as by De Dieu, “but obscurity shall not be brought to it” (the land) “to which distress is brought; as at the first time he caused reproach towards the land of Zebulun, and towards the land of Naphtali, so in the last” (time) “he will give glory by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, on the border of the nations”: and if it be asked what that glory should be, the answer is, “the people that walked in darkness”, c. and so the sense may be, that whereas the inhabitants of Zebulun and Naphtali, and all Galilee, were lightly esteemed of, being mean and illiterate, not famous for any arts or sciences, and having no prophet among them, should, in the days of the Messiah, be highly honoured, and made glorious by his presence, ministry, and miracles among them h. See Mt 14:13, where it is quoted, and applied to Christ’s being in those parts.

f “quia non defatigatio ei angustanti eos.” Quidam in Gataker so Jarchi. g “Et non poterit avolare de angustia sua”, Hieron. h See my book of the Prophecies of the Messiah, &c. p. 148.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

After the prophet has thus depicted the people as without morning dawn, he gives the reason for the assumption that a restoration of light is to be expected, although not for the existing generation. “For it does not remain dark where there is now distress: in the first time He brought into disgrace the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and in the last He brings to honour the road by the sea, the other side of Jordan, the circle of the Gentiles.” is neither to be taken as equivalent to the untranslatable recitativum (Knobel), nor is there any necessity to translate it “but” or “nevertheless,” and supply the clause, “it will not remain so.” The reason assigned for the fact that the unbelieving people of Judah had fallen into a night without morning, is, that there was a morning coming, whose light, however, would not rise upon the land of Judah first, but upon other parts of the land. Muap and m uzak are hophal nouns: a state of darkness and distress. The meaning is, There is not, i.e., there will not remain, a state of darkness over the land ( lah , like bah in Isa 8:21, refers to ‘eretz ), which is now in a state of distress; but those very districts which God has hitherto caused to suffer deep humiliation He will bring to honour by and by ( hekal = hekel , according to Ges. 67, Anm. 3, opp. hicbd , as in Isa 23:9). The height of the glorification would correspond to the depth of the disgrace. We cannot adopt Knobel’s rendering, “as at a former time,” etc., taking as an accusative of time and as equivalent to , for is never used conjunctionally in this way (see Psalter, i. 301, and ii. 514); and in the examples adduced by Knobel (viz., Isa 61:11 and Job 7:2), the verbal clauses after Caph are elliptical relative clauses. The rendering adopted by Rosenmller and others ( sicut tempus prius vilem reddidit , etc., “as a former time brought it into contempt”) is equally wrong. And Ewald, again, is not correct in taking the Vav in v’ha – acharon as the Vav of sequence used in the place of the Cen of comparison. and are both definitions of time. The prophet intentionally indicates the time of disgrace with , because this would extend over a lengthened period, in which the same fate would occur again and again. The time of glorification, on the other hand, is indicated by the accus. temporis, because it would occur but once, and then continue in perpetuity and without change. It is certainly possible that the prophet may have regarded ha – acharon as the subject; but this would destroy the harmony of the antithesis. By the land or territory of Naphtali ( ‘ artzah , poet. for ‘eretz , as in Job 34:13; Job 37:12, with a toneless ah ) we are to understand the upper Galilee of later times, and by the land of Zebulun lower Galilee. In the antithetical parallel clause, what is meant by the two lands is distinctly specified: (1.) “the road by the sea,” derek hayyam , the tract of land on the western shore of the sea of Chinnereth; (2.) “the other side of Jordan,” eber hayyarden , the country to the east of the Jordan; (3.) “the circle of the Gentiles,” gell haggoyim , the northernmost border-land of Palestine, only a portion of the so-called Galilaea of after times. Ever since the times of the judges, all these lands had been exposed, on account of the countries that joined them, to corruption from Gentile influence and subjugation by heathen foes. The northern tribes on this side, as well as those on the other side, suffered the most in the almost incessant war between Israel and the Syrians, and afterwards between Israel and the Assyrians; and the transportation of their inhabitants, which continued under Pul, Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmanassar, amounted at last to utter depopulation (Caspari, Beitr. 116-118). But these countries would be the very first that would be remembered when that morning dawn of glory should break. Matthew informs us (Mat 4:13.) in what way this was fulfilled at the commencement of the Christian times. On the ground of this prophecy of Isaiah, and not of a “somewhat mistaken exposition of it,” as Renan maintains in his Vie de Jsus (Chapter 13), the Messianic hopes of the Jewish nation were really directed towards Galilee.

(Note: The Zohar was not the first to teach that the Messiah would appear in Galilee, and that redemption would break forth from Tiberias; but this is found in the Talmud and Midrash (see Litteratur-blatt des Orients, 1843, Col. 776).)

It is true that, according to Jerome, in loc., the Nazarenes supposed Isa 9:1 to refer to the light of the gospel spread by the preaching of Paul in terminos gentium et viam universi maris . But “the sea” ( hayyam ) cannot possibly be understood as referring to the Mediterranean, as Meier and Hofmann suppose, for “the way of the sea” ( derek hayyam ) would in that case have been inhabited by the Philistines and Phoenicians; whereas the prophet’s intention was evidently to mention such Israelitish provinces as had suffered the greatest affliction and degradation.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Judgment and Mercy; The Promise of Gospel Grace; The Promise of Messiah; The Titles of Messiah.

B. C. 740.

      1 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.   2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.   3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.   4 For thou hast 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 battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.   6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.   7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

      The first words of this chapter plainly refer to the close of the foregoing chapter, where every thing looked black and melancholy: Behold, trouble, and darkness, and dimness–very bad, yet not so bad but that to the upright there shall arise light in the darkness (Ps. cxii. 4) and at evening time it shall be light, Zech. xiv. 7. Nevertheless it shall not be such dimness (either not such for kind or not such for degree) as sometimes there has been. Note, In the worst of times God’s people have a nevertheless to comfort themselves with, something to allay and balance their troubles; they are persecuted, but not forsaken (2 Cor. iv. 9), sorrowful yet always rejoicing, 2 Cor. vi. 10. And it is matter of comfort to us, when things are at the darkest, that he who forms the light and creates the darkness (ch. xlv. 7) has appointed to both their bounds and set the one over against the other, Gen. iv. 4. He can say, “Hitherto the dimness shall go, so long it shall last, and no further, no longer.”

      I. Three things are here promised, and they all point ultimately at the grace of the gospel, which the saints then were to comfort themselves with the hopes of in every cloudy and dark day, as we now are to comfort ourselves in time of trouble with the hopes of Christ’s second coming, though that be now, as his first coming then was, a thing at a great distance. The mercy likewise which God has in store for his church in the latter days may be a support to those that are mourning with her for her present calamities. We have here the promise,

      1. Of a glorious light, which shall so qualify, and by degrees dispel, the dimness, that it shall not be as it sometimes has been: Not such as was in her vexation; there shall not be such dark times as were formerly, when at first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and Naphtali (which lay remote and most exposed to the inroads of the neighbouring enemies), and afterwards he more grievously afflicted the land by the way of the sea and beyond Jordan (v. 1), referring probably to those days when God began to cut Israel short and to smite them in all their coasts, 2 Kings x. 32. Note, God tries what less judgments will do with a people before he brings greater; but if a light affliction do not do its work with us, to humble and reform us, we must expect to be afflicted more grievously; for when God judges he will overcome. Well, those were dark times with the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, and there was dimness of anguish in Galilee of the Gentiles, both in respect of ignorance (they did not speak according to the law and the testimony, and then there was no light in them, ch. viii. 20) and in respect of trouble, and the desperate posture of their outward affairs; we have both together, 2Ch 15:3; 2Ch 15:5. Israel has been without the true God and a teaching priest, and in those times there was no peace. But the dimness threatened (ch. viii. 22) shall not prevail to such a degree; for (v. 2) the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. (1.) At this time when the prophet lived, there were many prophets in Judah and Israel, whose prophecies were a great light both for direction and comfort to the people of God, who adhered to the law and the testimony. Besides the written word, they had prophecy; there were those that had shown them how long (Ps. lxxiv. 9), which was a great satisfaction to them, when in respect of their outward troubles they sat in darkness, and dwelt in the land of the shadow of death. (2.) This was to have its full accomplishment when our Lord Jesus began to appear as a prophet, and to preach the gospel in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, and in Galilee of the Gentiles. And the Old-Testament prophets, as they were witnesses to him, so they were types of him. When he came and dwelt in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali, then this prophecy is said to have been fulfilled, Matt. iv. 13-16. Note, [1.] Those that want the gospel walk in darkness, and know not what they do nor whither they go; and they dwell in the land of the shadow of death, in thick darkness, and in the utmost danger. [2.] When the gospel comes to any place, to any soul, light comes, a great light, a shining light, which will shine more and more. It should be welcome to us, as light is to those that sit in darkness, and we should readily entertain it, both because if is of such sovereign use to us and because it brings its own evidence with it. Truly this light is sweet.

      2. Of a glorious increase, and a universal joy arising from it, (v. 3) “Thou, O God! hast multiplied the nation, the Jewish nation which thou hast mercy in store for; though it has been diminished by one sore judgment after another, yet now thou hast begun to multiply it again.” The numbers of a nation are its strength and wealth if the numerous be industrious; and it is God that increases nations, Job xii. 23. Yet it follows, “Thou hast not increased the joy–the carnal joy and mirth, and those things that are commonly the matter and occasion thereof. But, notwithstanding that, they joy before thee; there is a great deal of serious spiritual joy among them, joy in the presence of God, with an eye to him.” This is very applicable to the times of gospel light, spoken of v. 2. Then God multiplied the nation, the gospel Israel. “And to him” (so the Masorites read it) “thou hast magnified the joy, to every one that receives the light.” The following words favour this reading: “They joy before thee; they come before thee in holy ordinances with great joy’; their mirth is not like that of Israel under their vines and fig-trees (thou hast not increased that joy), but it is in the favour of God and in the tokens of his grace.” Note, The gospel, when it comes in its light and power, brings joy along with it, and those who receive it aright do therein rejoice, yea, and will rejoice; therefore the conversion of the nations is prophesied of by this (Ps. lxvii. 4), Let the nations be glad, and sin for joy. See Ps. xcvi. 11. (1.) It is holy joy: They joy before thee; they rejoice in spirit (as Christ did, Luke x. 21), and that is before God. In the eye of the world they are always as sorrowful, and yet, in God’s sight, always rejoicing, 2 Cor. vi. 10. (2.) It is great joy; it is according to the joy in harvest, when those who sowed in tears, and have with long patience waited for the precious fruits of the earth, reap in joy; and as in war men rejoice when, after a hazardous battle, they divide the spoil. The gospel brings with it plenty and victory; but those that would have the joy of it must expect to go through a hard work, as the husbandman before he has the joy of harvest, and a hard conflict, as the soldier before he has the joy of dividing the spoil; but the joy, when it comes, will be an abundant recompence for the toil. See Act 8:8; Act 8:39.

      3. Of a glorious liberty and enlargement (Isa 9:4; Isa 9:5): “They shall rejoice before thee, and with good reason, for thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and made him easy, for he shall no longer be in servitude; and thou hast broken the staff of his shoulder and the rod of his oppressor, that rod of the wicked which rested long on the lot of the righteous,” as the Midianites’ yoke was broken from off the neck of Israel by the agency of Gideon. If God makes former deliverances his patterns in working for us, we ought to make them our encouragements to hope in him and to seek to him, Ps. lxxxiii. 9. Do unto them as to the Midianites. What temporal deliverance this refers to is not clear, probably the preventing of Sennacherib from making himself master of Jerusalem, which was done, as in the day of Midian, by the immediate hand of God; and, whereas other battles were usually won with a great deal of noise and by the expense of much blood, this shall be done silently and without noise. Under his glory God shall kindle a burning (ch. x. 16); a fire not blown shall consume him, Job xx. 26. But doubtless it looks further, to the blessed fruits and effects of that great light which should visit those that sat in darkness; it would bring liberty along with it, deliverance to the captives, Luke iv. 18. (1.) The design of the gospel, and the grace of it, is to break the yoke of sin and Satan, to remove the burden of guilt and corruption, and to free us from the rod of those oppressors, that we might be brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Christ broke the yoke of the ceremonial law (Act 15:10; Gal 5:1), and delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, that we might serve him without fear,Luk 1:74; Luk 1:75. (2.) This is done by the Spirit working like fire (Matt. iii. 11), not as the battle of the warrior is fought, with confused noise; no, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal; but it is done with the Spirit of judgment and the Spirit of burning, ch. iv. 4. It is done as in the day of Midian, by a work of God upon the hearts of men. Christ is our Gideon; it is his sword that doeth wonders.

      II. But who, where, is he that shall undertake and accomplish these great things for the church? The prophet tells us (Isa 9:6; Isa 9:7) they shall be done by the Messiah, Immanuel, that son of a virgin whose birth he had foretold (ch. vii. 14), and now speaks of, in the prophetic style, as a thing already done: the child is born, not only because it was as certain, and he was as certain of it as if it had been done already, but because the church before his incarnation reaped great benefit and advantage by his undertaking in virtue of that first promise concerning the seed of the woman, Gen. iii. 15. As he was the Lamb slain, so he was the child born, from the foundation of the world, Rev. xiii. 8. All the great things that God did for the Old-Testament church were done by him as the eternal Word, and for his sake as the Mediator. He was the Anointed, to whom God had respect (Ps. lxxxiv. 9), and it was for the Lord’s sake, for the Lord Christ’s sake, that God caused his face to shine upon his sanctuary, Dan. ix. 17. The Jewish nation, and particularly the house of David, were preserved many a time from imminent ruin only because that blessing was in them. What greater security therefore could be given to the church of God then that it should be preserved, and be the special care of the divine Providence, than this, that God had so great a mercy in reserve for it? The Chaldee paraphrast understands it of the man that shall endure for ever, even Christ. And it is an illustrious prophecy of him and of his kingdom, which doubtless those that waited for the consolation of Israel built much upon, often turned to, and read with pleasure.

      1. See him in his humiliation. The same that is the mighty God is a child born; the ancient of days becomes an infant of a span long; the everlasting Father is a Son given. Such was his condescension in taking our nature upon him; thus did he humble and empty himself, to exalt and fill us. He is born into our world. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. He is given, freely given, to be all that to us which our case, in our fallen state, calls for. God so loved the world that he gave him. He is born to us, he is given to us, us men, and not to the angels that sinned. It is spoken with an air of triumph, and the angel seems to refer to these words in the notice he gives to the shepherds of the Messiah’s having come (Luke ii. 11), Unto you is born, this day, a Saviour. Note, Christ’s being born and given to us is the great foundation of our hopes, and fountain of our joys, in times of greatest grief and fear.

      2. See him in his exaltation. This child, this son, this Son of God, this Son of man, that is given to us, is in a capacity to do us a great deal of kindness; for he is invested with the highest honour and power, so that we cannot but be happy if he be our friend.

      (1.) See the dignity he is advanced to, and the name he has above every name. He shall be called (and therefore we are sure he is and shall be) Wonderful, Counsellor, c. His people shall know him and worship him by these names and, as one that fully answers them, they shall submit to him and depend upon him. [1.] He is wonderful, counsellor. Justly is he called wonderful, for he is both God and man. His love is the wonder of angels and glorified saints; in his birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, he was wonderful. A constant series of wonders attended him, and, without controversy, great was the mystery of godliness concerning him. He is the counsellor, for he was intimately acquainted with the counsels of God from eternity, and he gives counsel to the children of men, in which he consults our welfare. It is by him that God has given us counsel,Psa 16:7; Rev 3:18. He is the wisdom of the Father, and is made of God to us wisdom. Some join these together: He is the wonderful counsellor, a wonder or miracle of a counsellor; in this, as in other things, he has the pre-eminence; none teaches like him. [2.] He is the mighty God–God, the mighty One. As he has wisdom, so he has strength, to go through with his undertaking: he is able to save to the utmost; and such is the work of the Mediator that no less a power than that of the mighty God could accomplish it. [3.] He is the everlasting Father, or the Father of eternity; he is God, one with the Father, who is from everlasting to everlasting. He is the author of everlasting life and happiness to them, and so is the Father of a blessed eternity to them. He is the Father of the world to come (so the LXX. reads it), the father of the gospel-state, which is put in subjection to him, not to the angels, Heb. ii. 5. He was, from eternity, Father of the great work of redemption: his heart was upon it; it was the product of his wisdom as the counsellor, of his love as the everlasting Father. [4.] He is the prince of peace. As a King, he preserves the peace, commands peace, nay, he creates peace, in his kingdom. He is our peace, and it is his peace that both keeps the hearts of his people and rules in them. He is not only a peaceable prince, and his reign peaceable, but he is the author and giver of all good, all that peace which is the present and future bliss of his subjects.

      (2.) See the dominion he is advanced to, and the throne he has above every throne (v. 6): The government shall be upon his shoulder–his only. He shall not only wear the badge of it upon his shoulder (the key of the house of David, ch. xxii. 22), but he shall bear the burden of it. The Father shall devolve it upon him, so that he shall have an incontestable right to govern; and he shall undertake it, so that no doubt can be made of his governing well, for he shall set his shoulder to it, and will never complain, as Moses did, of his being overcharged. I am not able to bear all this people,Num 11:11; Num 11:14. Glorious things are here spoken of Christ’s government, v. 7. [1.] That it shall be an increasing government. It shall be multiplied; the bounds of his kingdom shall be more and more enlarged, and many shall be added to it daily. The lustre of it shall increase, and it shall shine more and more brightly in the world. The monarchies of the earth were each less illustrious than the other, so that what began in gold ended in iron and clay, and every monarchy dwindled by degrees; but the kingdom of Christ is a growing kingdom, and will come to perfection at last. [2.] That it shall be a peaceable government, agreeable to his character as the prince of peace. He shall rule by love, shall rule in men’s hearts; so that wherever his government is there shall be peace, and as his government increases the peace shall increase. The more we are subject to Christ the more easy and safe we are. [3.] That it shall be a rightful government. He that is the Son of David shall reign upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, which he is entitled to. God shall give him the throne of his father David,Luk 1:32; Luk 1:33. The gospel church, in which Jew and Gentile are incorporated, is the holy hill of Zion, on which Christ reigns, Ps. ii. 6. [4.] That it shall be administered with prudence and equity, and so as to answer the great end of government, which is the establishment of the kingdom: He shall order it, and settle it, with justice and judgment. Every thing is, and shall be, well managed, in the kingdom of Christ, and none of his subjects shall ever have cause to complain. [5.] That it shall be an everlasting kingdom: There shall be no end of the increase of his government (it shall be still growing), no end of the increase of the peace of it, for the happiness of the subjects of this kingdom shall last to eternity and perhaps shall be progressive in infinitum–for ever. He shall reign henceforth even for ever; not only throughout all generations of time, but, even when the kingdom shall be delivered up to God even the Father, the glory both of the Redeemer and the redeemed shall continue eternally. [6.] That God himself has undertaken to bring all this about: “The Lord of hosts, who has all power in his hand and all creatures at his beck, shall perform this, shall preserve the throne of David till this prince of peace is settled in it; his zeal shall do it, his jealousy for his own honour, and the truth of his promise, and the good of his church.” Note, The heart of God is much upon the advancement of the kingdom of Christ among men, which is very comfortable to all those that wish well to it; the zeal of the Lord of hosts will overcome all opposition.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

ISAIAH – CHAPTER 9

DARKNESS BANISHED BY “THE LIGHT OF ISRAEL”

(A Message of Hope After Judgment)

Verse 1-7: LIGHT OUT OR DARKNESS,

1. Here is a far-reaching ray of hope: Israel’s gloom shall be forever banished.

2. In former times God brought the land of Zebulun and Naphtali into humiliation – a light affliction in comparison with their sin, (2Ki 15:20; 2Ch 16:4).

3. In the latter time, however, “Galilee of the nations” (from which the Canaanites were not exterminated, Jdg 1:30-33) is made glorious; upon those who walked in darkness, and dwelt in the very shadow of death, the “Light of the world” has shined, (Mat 4:12-16).

4. To walk “in the light of the Lord” is to know the joy of His presence – the joy of growth, prosperity and victory over one’s enemies, (Verse 3; Isa 2:5; 1Jn 1:7; Isa 26:15; Isa 35:10; Isa 65:14; Isa 65:18-19; 1Sa 30:16).

5. As obviously as the Lord gave victory to Gideon, in the day of Midian, so will He ultimately break the yoke of Israel’s burden, the staff of his shoulder and the rod of his oppressors, (Verse 4; Jdg 7:16-25; Isa 10:26-27; Isa 14:25; Isa 49:26; Isa 54:14).

6. Then shall warfare cease; the instruments of warfare shall be burned and a righteous government established such as this world has never known, (Verse 5; Isa 2:4; cf. Psa 46:9-10; Zec 9:9-10).

7. As a basis for such hope, the prophet forsees the birth of a unique man-child (who will be more than a man) with kingly authority, (Isa 11:1-2; Isa 53:2; Mic 5:2; Luk 2:4; Luk 2:11; Joh 1:1-2; Joh 1:14; Psa 2:6-12).

8. To the coming One is given a series of significant, divine titles:

a. “Wonderful Counsellor” – whose purposes are unfathomably deep, (Is 28:29; comp. 1Pe 1:12).

b. “Mighty God” – whose power enables Him to accomplish His purposes, (Isa 10:21; Deu 10:17; Neh 9:32; cf. Rom 1:4; Mat 28:18).

c. “Father of the Ages”‘- the Maker of all things, (Isa 63:16; Isa 64:8; comp. Joh 1:1-2; Col 1:16-18).

d. “Prince of Peace”, (Isa 26:3; Isa 26:12; Isa 53:5; Isa 54:10; Isa 66:12; Psa 72:3; Psa 72:7).

9. His shall be a peaceable rule, upheld by justice and righteousness, from the re-established throne of David (Isa 11:4-5; Isa 32:1; Isa 42:3-4; Isa 63:1; Isa 16:5); and of His universal kingdom there will be no end, (Dan 2:44; Dan 7:13-14; Dan 7:27; Mic 4:7; Rev 11:15).

10. This will be accomplished by “the zeal of the LORD of Hosts”, (comp. Isa 37:32; Isa 59:17; Isa 37:32).

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

1. Yet the darkness shall not be. He begins to comfort the wretched by the hope of alleviation, that they may not be swallowed up by the huge mass of distresses. Many take these words in quite an opposite meaning, that is, as a threatening which denounces against the Jews a heavier affliction than that with which Tiglath-pileser (2Kg 15:29) and Shalmanezer (2Kg 17:6) afflicted them. The former inflicted a heavy calamity, the latter inflicted one still heavier, for he carried the twelve tribes into captivity, and blotted out the name of the nation. Some think that he now foretells the heaviest calamity of all, for if it be compared with the former two, it exceeds both of them. Though I am not prepared to reject this view, for it does not want plausibility, yet I rather favor a different opinion. The other interpretation is indeed more plausible, that the Prophet intended to deprive hypocrites of every enjoyment, that they might not imagine that this calamity would quickly pass away like a storm as the others had done, for it would be utterly destructive; and so we shall take the particle כי ( ki) in its literal meaning. (138)

But in my opinion it is most appropriate to view it as a consolation, in which he begins to mitigate what he had said about that frightful darkness and driving, (Isa 8:22,) and, by allaying the bitterness of those punishments, encourages them to expect the favor of God. As if he had said, “ and yet, amidst that shocking calamity which the Jews shall endure, the darkness will not be such as when the land of Israel was afflicted, first, by Tiglath-pileser, (2Kg 15:29,) and afterwards more grievously by Shalmanezer,” (2Kg 17:6.) Amidst so great extremities believers might otherwise have fainted, if their hearts had not been cheered by some consolation. Isaiah therefore directs his discourse to them lest they should think that they were ruined, for he intimates that the chastisements which are now to be inflicted will be lighter than those which came before. That this is the natural interpretation will quickly appear from what immediately follows.

But why does the Prophet say that this calamity, which was far more dreadful, would be more mild and gentle? For Jerusalem was to be razed, the temple thrown down, and the sacrifices abolished, which had remained untouched during the former calamities. It might be thought that these were the severest of all, and that the former, in comparison of them, were light. But it ought to be observed, that while in the former instances there was no promise, an explicit promise was added to this threatening. By this alone can temptations be overcome and chastisements be rendered light. By this seasoning alone, I say, are our afflictions alleviated; and all who are destitute of it must despair. But if, by means of it, the Lord strengthen us by holding out the hope of assistance, there is no affliction so heavy that we shall not reckon it to be light.

This may be made plain by a comparison. A man may happen to be drowned in a small stream, and yet, though he had fallen into the open sea, if he had got hold of a plank he might have been rescued and brought on shore. In like manner the slightest calamities will overwhelm us if we are deprived of God’s favor; but if we relied on the word of God, we might come out of the heaviest calamity safe and uninjured.

As to the words, some take מועף ( mugnaph) for an adjective, as if the Prophet said, It shall not be darkened; but the feminine pronoun which immediately follows, בה ( bahh), in her, does not allow us to refer this to men. It is more accurately described by others to be a substantive noun; and, therefore, I have resolved to render it literally, there shall not be darkness in Judea according to the affliction of the time when, etc. Some explain הקל ( hekal) to mean that the land was relieved of a burden, in consequence of the people having been carried into captivity; but this is altogether at variance with the Prophet’s meaning, and does not agree with what follows; for it is immediately added that the seacoast has been more grievously afflicted by a second calamity. There can be no doubt, therefore, that this verb corresponds to the other verb הכביד, ( hikbid.) (139) Not more than a small part of the kingdom having been afflicted by Tiglath-pileser, the calamity which he brought upon it is said to be light as compared with the second which was inflicted by Shalmanezer.

By the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the Gentiles. He calls it the way of the sea, because Galilee was adjoining to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and on one side it was bounded by the course of the Jordan. It is called Galilee of the Gentiles, not only because it was contiguous to Tyre and Sidon, but because it contained a great multitude of Gentiles, who were mingled with the Jews; for from the time that Solomon granted this country to King Hiram, (1Kg 9:11,) it could never be subdued in such a manner as not to have some part of it possessed by the Gentiles

(138) The Hebrew particle כי, ( ki,) which is placed at the beginning of this verse, is rendered in the English version by Nevertheless; but Calvin says that he is willing to translate it for — Ed

(139) הקל ( hekal) signifies literally to make light, and in accordance with an English idiom, sometimes denotes figuratively, to make light of. Stock’s rendering is, he made vile, answering to Lowth’s, he debased. Both agree in rendering הכביד ( hikbid) he hath made it glorious. The English version concurs with Calvin in rendering הקל, ( hekal,) he lightly afflicted, and הבביד, ( hikbid,) he did more grievously afflict. — Ed

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CHAPTER NINE
C. PEACE BY IMMANUEL
1.

HIS PERSONALITY

TEXT: Isa. 9:1-7

1 But there shall be no gloom to her that 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 hath he made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
2

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

3

Thou hast multiplied the nation, thou hast increased their joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

4

For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, thou hast broken as in the day of Midian.

5

For all the armor of the armed man in the tumult, and the garments rolled in blood, shall be for burning, for fuel of fire.

6

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7

Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even forever. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.

QUERIES

a.

When is Galilee to be made glorious?

b.

Who is the oppressor that is broken?

c.

Who is the child that is born?

PARAPHRASE

But that time of darkness and despair will not be forever upon Gods covenant people. In fact, while the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali is being held in contempt by God because of the paganism of its people, in the day the Messiah comes He will make that territory glorious by His work therethat is the territory that will then be Gentile territory, Galilee and beyond the Jordan. These who walk in the darkness of ignorance and sin will see a Great Light. This Light will illuminate the way for those who live in the realms of deep darkness. You, Jehovah, will multiply your covenant people, you will increase their joy; your multiplying people will be filled with joy like that of reapers when the harvest time has come, and like that of men dividing up the treasures they have captured. When The Light comes God will break the bondage of oppression upon His people by a great miraculous Divine act of victory over their enemy. At that time God shall utterly destroy the weapons of those who oppress His people and give His people complete peace. For unto Gods people a child will be born; God will give His people a Son. And the government of God will be administered by this Son. These will be the royal titles indicating His nature and character: Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. His government will be one of continued growth and peace and it will never end. He will occupy the throne of His progenitor David and will rule in perfect justice and righteousness His kingdom forever. Gods zeal to vindicate His faithfulness and His zeal for His people will accomplish all this.

COMMENTS

Isa. 9:1-3 THE LIGHT DISPELLING DARKNESS: We must preface all comments on this section (Isa. 9:1-7) by confirming that the entire section is messianic. It is plainly declared to be so by Jesus Christ Himself (Cf. Mat. 4:13-17). The ultimate fulfillment of this section, then, is in the first advent of the Messiah. To those who by faith accept the sign of the almahs son and the sign of Isaiahs sons, gloom and despair will be dispelled. The Great Light will come at some future time and turn Gods contempt into Gods glory upon Gods people. This future glory of God will have its beginnings in Galilee, the region so abhorred by most of the people of Palestine. Of course, those people to whom Isaiah addresses these remarks, people of Isaiahs own day, would not themselves live to see the reality of this prediction. However, by faith they might appropriate it to themselves at that momenteven as we may appropriate now some of the blessings of the future predicted in the New Testament.

Jesus Christ, The Light of the World, began His public ministry in Galilee. He was reared there in the village of Nazareth He called most of His apostles from that territory. And, He gained His greatest acceptance and following from Galilee. This northern frontier of the Promised Land was the first to abdicate to paganizing inroads in the days of the Divided Kingdomit was the first to be overrun by the invading forces of Assyria and Babylonbut it was the area God chose to bless and glorify with the presence of His Beloved Son! The method of Divine grace is amazing.

The coming of the Messiah-Light brought atonement for Divine contempt. His coming also brought fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham that from his seed would all the nations of the earth be blessed. His coming brought about the multiplication of the covenant nation through the institution of the kingdom and the calling of the Gentiles into covenant kingdom-ship. The two figures of speech in Isa. 9:3 are favorite prophetic vehicles to express the way in which this future, new, kingdom of God will extend itself among the Gentiles. The preaching of the gospel and conversion of the Gentiles is spoken of, prophetically, as a harvest and as a conquest wherein the Gentiles become the booty of Gods war against His enemies (Cf. Oba. 1:17-21; Isa. ch. 6066, etc.).

Isa. 9:4-5 THE LORD DELIVERING FROM OPPRESSION: These. verses offer another favorite prophetic figure of speech. Oppression, whether physical or spiritual, is usually illustrated in the Old Testament by physical figures. Here we believe the oppression in its ultimate sense is the spiritual oppression of sin, its guilt and its estranging consequences. Of course, the immediate consequences of the sin of Israel and Judah were their captivities by foreign powers. However, even these captivities symbolized the greater oppression, the bondage to sin and Satan, to which Gods people had surrendered. Now God delivered His people from both the oppression of Babylonian captivity and from the oppression of sin. The deliverance from captivity became a type and prophecy of the mighty and miraculous deliverance from Satan and sin. Just as it was apparent that it was God delivering the people from the Midianites in the days of Gideon, so it would be apparent that it was God delivering from captivity and God delivering from Satan and sin. And when God delivers, the oppressor may as well burn his weapons for they will be of no use against Gods people any more.

Isa. 9:6-7 THE LAD-DIVINE DISPENSING PEACE: The word child occurs first in the sentence in Hebrew, indicating all the emphasis is put there. The Son of David, Son of God Most High, actually coming to us as a child. The humanity of the Messiah is pointed out here. Young believes there are only four names for the Child, the first of which should be translated, Wonderful Counsellor. Actually the Hebrew word is wonder not wonderful. The Child will not be merely wonderful, but He Himself will be a Wonder. To sit upon the throne of David as the Messianic King requires wisdom such as no mere man possesses. In this King there will be hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3). He will be the Word of God, the Logos (Joh. 1:14; Joh. 1:18). He will be the Wisdom of God (1Co. 1:24). (Cf. also Isa. 11:2). This King will have no need of being surrounded with human counsellors and advisors. He is pele yoetz, a Wonder of a Counsellor.

This Child is also called el gibbor, Mighty God. Literally God-Hero. One who overcomes, a victor, would be appropriate synonyms.

The third appellation is abi ad, Father-Eternal. The word Father pictorializes a quality of the Messiah toward His people. Eternal modifies Father, thus, Eternallya Father to His people!

The fourth name is sar shalom, Prince of Peace. Since the peace to be established is eternal, it is clear that this peace is something more than a temporary cessation of hostilities (which millennialists claim will be enforced during the so-called thousand year literal reign of Christ in Jerusalem.) among nations. The cessation of warfare in itself does not bring about a desired condition of existence. There must also be removed the cause of war, namely, human sin. When this cause of war is removed, then there can be true peace. For human sin to be removed, however, there must be a state of peace between God and man. Not only must man be at peace with God, but what is more important, God must be at peace with man. The enmity which had existed between God and man must be removed. It was human sin which had kept God at enmity with man. When that sin has been removed, then there can be everlasting peace (Cf. Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:11-22). The Prince of Peace was foreshadowed by Melchizedek, King of Salem (peace) and in Solomon, peaceful one. See also our comments on Isa. 2:4.

The nature of the reign of this Child will be in justice and righteousness. The two indispensable ingredients making for peace are justice and righteousness. There are two qualities so blatantly abused in the days of the prophets by the rulers and the people of Israel and Judah. Christ came and satisfied the justice of God teaching men to be just and imputed to men the righteousness of God teaching men to be righteous. And His kingdom has continued to reach out to all men everywhere, increasing in quantity and quality. Spiritual growth and development into the image of God is the very essence of the kingdom of God.
What will ever accomplish all this? The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do it. But zeal for what? There is one recurring phrase of great interest in the prophetic literature, God says, For my own sake, or For the sake of my name, I will do it. What could bring more blessedness or victory or safety or abundance to Gods people than the vindication of the wisdom, power and faithfulness of God Himself? If God is zealous for His own honor, then His people will surely find honor in that!

QUIZ

1.

What is the ultimate fulfillment of this section of prophecy?

2.

What is significant about the territory of Galilee in this prophecy?

3.

What is the darkness referred to in Isa. 9:2?

4.

How was the nation multiplied ?

5.

What figures of speech are used to depict deliverance from oppression?

6.

Give the meaning of the four names for the Child-Son,

7.

What is the peace to be brought by this Child-ruler? Where is it fulfilled in the N.T.?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

IX.

(1) Nevertheless the dimness . . .It is obvious, even in the English version, that the chapters are wrongly divided, and that what follows forms part of the same prophetic utterance as Isaiah 8. That version is, however, so obscure as to be almost unintelligible, and requires an entire remodelling:Surely there is no gloom to her that was afflicted. In the former time he brought shame on the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the latter he bringeth honour on the way by the sea, beyond Jordan, the circuit of the Gentiles.

The prophet had seen in the closing verses of Isaiah 8 the extreme point of misery. That picture, as it were, dissolves, and another takes its place. She that was afflicted, the whole land of Israel, should have no more affliction. The future should be in striking contrast with the past. The lands of Zebulun and Naphtali, the region afterwards known as the Upper and Lower Galilee, had been laid waste and spoiled by Tiglath-pilneser (2Ki. 15:29). That same region, described by the prophet in different terms (the former representing the tribal divisions, the latter the geographical) is hereafter to be the scene of a glory greater than Israel had ever known before.

The way of the sea . . .The context shows that the sea is that which appears in Bible history under the names of the sea of Chinnereth (Num. 34:11; Deu. 3:17), the Sea of Galilee, the Sea of Tiberias (Joh. 6:1), Gennesaret (Mar. 6:53). The high road thence to Damascus was known as Via Maris in the time of the Crusaders (Renan, quoted by Cheyne).

Beyond Jordan.This, the Pera of later geography, included the regions of Gilead and Bashan, the old kingdoms of Moab and Ammon, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. These also had suffered from the ravages of the Assyrian armies under Pul (1Ch. 5:26).

Galilee of the nations.The word Galilee, derived from the same root as Gilgal (Jos. 5:9), means strictly a circle, or circuit. It was applied to the border-lands of the Phnician frontier of the northern kingdom, inhabited by a mixed population, and therefore known as Galilee of the Gentiles (Mat. 4:15-16) what in mediaeval German would have been called the Heidenmark.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Divine judgments specially upon Israel, Isa 9:1-4.

Does this prophecy treat of judgments historically inflicted; or does it view events in space, not in time, as in chaps. iv and v? The latter is the more probable, if the apparent usage with Isaiah is to decide. The perspective peculiarity prevailingly attaches to his prophecies. The near future is seen in clear sketches, with a commingling of the present and the past in the entire picture. The more remote future shades away with diminishing features into increasing obscuration, but always with reference to the furthest and highest limit, namely, the complete fulness of Messiah’s kingdom. Here the picture is of successive judgments befalling Israel without improving it; some in the past, some in the present, and some in the future, but represented in single groups, with the time element little regarded.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

1. Nevertheless A transition word from the dark picture of Isa 8:5-22, describing the woes from Assyrian predominance to the bright dawn and consummation of the Messianic era.

The dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation It shall not always continue dark where there is now distress.

When at the first Literally, as the former time, namely, the time of the invasion by Assyria, under Tiglath-pileser, which had already taken place as described in 2Ki 15:29, where we are told that he took “Ijon and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.” Great contrast between Tiglath-pileser and the Messiah. See note on Mat 4:15.

He lightly afflicted Rather, he brought contempt upon those regions, Zebulun and Naphtali. These sections were in the pathway of all invasions, Syrian and Assyrian, and so suffered extremely.

Afterward That is, in the later times.

Did more grievously afflict The verb in Hebrew may mean this or the reverse, as brought, or brings honour upon; and the apodosis of the sentence certainly requires the latter. As the former time brought distress, so the later brings glory.

The way of the sea The sea of Galilee; upon the north of which Zebulun and Naphtali abut.

Beyond Jordan And upon the other side of Jordan, also formerly distressed and depopulated.

Galilee of the nations The circuit of the Gentiles, is better. The description here is of the northern parts of Israel bordering on the little sea; which country, after its depopulation by Tiglath-pileser, was colonized by foreigners, forming ever after a mixed people, partly Israelitish, partly heathen, despised by the purer Jews in Judah, but more ready, though imbued more or less with the heathenish spirit, to receive the Messiah when he should come. And this is the honour brought upon them in the aftertime. This mixed people received, for the most part, the Jewish religion; yet during all the ages they were more liberal in thought and more free from bigotry than were the southern Jews.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

The Rise of The Great King Immanuel ( Isa 9:2-7 ).

The rise of Immanuel is described in terms of great light and rejoicing, and is connected with the defeat of the enemies of God’s people. As a result the child promised in Isa 7:14 will be born and will gain worldwide dominion.

Analysis.

a The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, on them has the light shined (Isa 9:2).

b You have multiplied the nation, You have increased their joy. They rejoice before You, similarly to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil (Isa 9:3).

c For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, You have broken as in the day of Midian (Isa 9:4).

c All the armour of the armed man in the tumult, and the clothing rolled in blood, will even be for burning, for fuel for the fire (Isa 9:5).

b For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and the government will be on His shoulder, and His name will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, (or ‘a wonder of a counsellor’), Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6).

a Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David, and on His kingdom to establish it, and to uphold it with judgment and with righteousness from now on even for ever. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will perform this (Isa 9:7).

In ‘a’ we have the shining of God’s light on the people, and in the parallel the establishment of the everlasting throne of David. In ‘b’ we have the growth of the people and their great rejoicing as though of harvest, and in the parallel the rise of the chosen seed with the great joy that that will bring. And in ‘c’ we have the defeat of the great enemy, and in the parallel the destruction of his armour.

Isa 9:2

(Isa 9:1 in the Hebrew text)

‘The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.

Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, on them has the light shined.’

Galilee was yet to have a time when their darkness would be turned to light. There would, as it were, be a new creation when darkness became light (compare Gen 1:2-3). For although they were now seemingly cut off from Israel and Judah and walked in darkness, even severe, deathlike darkness, they were not to despair, for in the future they would yet enjoy glorious light which would shine on them, for the king was coming who would bring hope to all and would bring them a great light (compare Isa 42:6; Isa 49:6).

Isa 9:3-5

‘You have multiplied the nation,

You have increased their joy,

They rejoice before you, similarly to the joy in harvest,

As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

For the yoke of his burden,

And the staff of his shoulder,

The rod of his oppressor,

You have broken as in the day of Midian.

For all the armour of the armed man in the tumult,

And the clothing rolled in blood,

Will even be for burning,

For fuel for the fire.’

The picture is one of deliverance from all oppression. (Note that no specific oppressor is named). One day Galilee, it is promised, will be abounding in inhabitants, replacing those carried off into captivity, and will be full of joy, joy like the joy at harvest time when there has been a good harvest. Joy similar to that of victors when they divide up abundant loot. For God will have raised up His anointed king. The yoke of all oppressors will have been removed from them. The staff which struck them will have been broken, the rod destroyed, just as God once removed from them the unbearable yoke of Midian (Jdg 7:19-25; Psa 83:9). The armour (or footwear) of the enemy, and their clothing, sprinkled with the blood of those they have slain, will be thrown in the fire and burned. The conquerors will be conquered.

The picture is one of full deliverance from all oppression. And this became literally true. For Galilee did at one stage literally know release and freedom even prior to Jesus’ coming, and did find joy, and once again became part of Israel. But even more did they come to know great joy at the coming of Jesus when He went around teaching, healing the sick and proclaiming the Kingly Rule of God, shining as a light in the world, and offering to remove the greatest of all oppressions, the oppression of sin and death and Satan. And the joy continued when He took the yoke off many of their shoulders and they were redeemed, so that they might enter under the Kingly Rule of God, and so that one day they would be with Him in the greater Galilee, in the new heavens and the new earth.

Isa 9:6-7

‘For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and the government will be on his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, (or ‘a wonder of a counsellor’), 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 on his kingdom to establish it, and to uphold it with judgment and with righteousness from now on even for ever. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will perform this.’

Now we understand the full significance of the child born of a virginal young woman. For He is to be great David’s greater son. There is emphasis on the words ‘child’ and ‘son’, stressing that it is a unique child who is coming, and a unique son who will be given, and the previous prophecy stresses whose son He would be. The child is to be a miraculous gift of God, born of a virginal mother, and brought into being through God’s power (Isa 7:14). He is to be God’s final answer to Ahaz.

The son is also to be God’s gift to us, especially ‘given’ by God. The emphasis all through is on His unique status and unique origin. He is a special gift from God. Here we have the virgin birth, resulting from the activity of God on the womb of a chosen woman, made clear. And although born in lowly status in a captive land (Isa 8:8) the government will be placed on His shoulder, the place of strength, so that He reigns indeed. And He will be so supreme that He will be called by great titles, revealing His wonder, His wisdom, His power, His overall fatherly care and His establishing of peace.

‘His name will be called.’ This is how the world will see him and describe him in his very nature. He will be called ‘a wonder’, just as Yahweh had said that His own name was Wonderful (but a different Hebrew word – Jdg 13:18). Compare how the same word is used of God’s acts in Isa 25:1. He will be called the Counsellor (Determiner, Purposer), not needing the guidance of counsellors, just as it is Yahweh Who is the final Counsellor (Determiner, Purposer – see Isa 14:24; Isa 14:26-27; Isa 19:17; Isa 23:9; Isa 40:14; Psa 16:7; Psa 32:8 Jer 49:20; Jer 50:45). Or alternatively he will be called ‘a wonder of a counsellor’ with similar implications. (This would fit in with the remaining dual descriptions, but a fivefold name would link Him directly with the covenant, for five is the number of the covenant, and the fivefold name therefore seems more likely). He will be called ‘the Mighty God (El)’, a title later used of Yahweh (see Isa 10:21; Jer 32:18), demonstrating that at the least he will be seen as standing uniquely in the place of God and acting in His name (Psa 45:6), but in a far deeper sense than earlier Davidic kings. (There are no good grounds for making El merely mean ‘godlike’. El used in this way is always predominant).

He will also be called the Everlasting Father. The title ‘father’ is never applied to a king in the Old Testament. He may be seen as the shepherd of his people but never as their father. God is the father of Israel. Early on God is seen as adopting Israel, ‘Thus says Yahweh, Israel is My son, my firstborn’ (Exo 4:22). That is why Moses can say to the people of Israel, ‘is He not the Father who has bought you, who made you and established you?’ (Deu 32:6). So they had a genuine sense of their nation as being the ‘child of God’, with God as their Father.

That is why, when Isaiah saw that they were forsaken because of their sins, he remembered these promises and cried out to Him, ‘Look down from Heaven and behold from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory, where is your zeal and your mighty acts? The longings of your heart and of your mighty acts are restrained towards me. For you are our Father. Though Abraham does not know us, and Israel (i.e. the patriarch Jacob) does not acknowledge us, you, O Yahweh, are our Father, your name is our Redeemer from everlasting’ (Isa 63:15-16). Then he adds submissively ‘but now, O Yahweh, you are our Father, we are the clay and you are the potter, and we all are the work of your hand’ (Isa 64:8). He recognises that they have sinned so badly that even their ancestors will not recognise them, but he depends on the faithfulness of God as their Father.

The same concept is held by later prophets. God, in seeking to bring them back to Himself, is depicted as saying ‘will you not from this time cry to me, ‘My Father, you are the guide of my youth’?’ (Jer 3:4). To which is added, ‘A son honours his father, and a servant his master. If I then am your Father, where is my honour? And if I be a master, where is your fear?’ (Mal 1:6). This is why Malachi adds his remonstrance to that of God, ‘Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother?’ (Mal 2:10). So when the coming child and son is not only called Father, but Everlasting Father, He is genuinely being seen as acting very much in God’s place, especially as He is now seen as having everlastingness.

And finally He will be called the Prince (sar) of Peace, the establisher and overseer of peace. This rather unique idea in those violent days contrasts him with all the surrounding kings of Isaiah’s day. Each king when he came to the throne had to establish himself by bloodshed, removing any other claimants, but not so this prince. He will establish His throne in peace. And we should note inn this regard that in Isa 66:12 it is Yahweh Himself who is seen as extending peace to Jerusalem, and in Isa 45:7 it is Yahweh Himself who perpetually ‘makes peace’ (compare Psa 147:14).

So the coming king will be seen and described in terms directly associated with God in a way never known before. He will be seen, as it were, as a God-man. It is doubtful if Isaiah was actually thinking in terms of him being Yahweh, but it is difficult to see how he could have got closer to calling Him so without using the name. We might feel that God was revealing more than Isaiah could at that time accept or understand, that the king would not only be a superhuman figure (it is clear that he saw him as that) but was indeed Yahweh, or if we prefer to so express it, the supernatural Angel of Yahweh, Yahweh’s ‘other self’.

‘Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David, and on his kingdom to establish it, and to uphold it with judgment and with righteousness from now on even for ever. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will perform this.’ The superlatives continue. Continual and unending increase in both his authority, and in His establishing and maintenance of peace over the throne of David and over His kingdom, and the upholding of it with true justice and total righteousness from now until eternity. And all this the result of the zealous purpose of Yahweh Himself. The everlasting kingdom will thus be established in eternal justice and righteousness. The final triumph will have come.

The word for ‘zeal’ regularly means jealousy. There is thus emphasis here on God’s ‘jealous’ activity on behalf of His own. They are His and He is jealous over them and will therefore act on their behalf (compare Exo 20:5-6; Exo 34:14). The powerful feeling of Yahweh for His people, as well as His effectiveness, comes out here.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Darkness Awaits Those Who Turn From Yahweh But In The Latter Times Will Come Light in Galilee ( Isa 8:21 to Isa 9:1 ).

The offer having been made of light or darkness most of the people will choose darkness. A bleak future awaits them. But all is not despair. For there is the promise of Immanuel yet to come. And in the latter times light will come to Galilee, (and it will lead up to the triumph of the great coming King – Isa 9:6-7).

Analysis.

a And they will pass through it hardly pressed and hungry, and it will be that when they are hungry they will fret themselves and curse by their king and their God, and turn their faces upward (Isa 8:21).

b And they will look to the earth, and behold distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, and into thick darkness they will be driven away (Isa 8:22).

b But there will be no gloom to her who was in anguish (Isa 9:1 a).

a 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 it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nations (Isa 9:1 b).

In ‘a’ they will pass through it hardly pressed and hungry, and it will be that when they are hungry they will fret themselves and curse by their king and their God, and turn their faces upward and in the parallel this turning upward in their despair will finally result in Galilee of the nations being made glorious (filled with His glory). In ‘b’ they will look to the earth, and behold distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, and into thick darkness they will be driven away, and in the parallel there will be no gloom to her who was in anguish (those who suffered first will be blessed first).

Isa 8:21-22

‘And they will pass through it hardly pressed and hungry, and it will be that when they are hungry they will fret themselves and curse by their king and their God, and turn their faces upward, and they will look to the earth, and behold distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, and into thick darkness they will be driven away.’

The significance of ‘no morning’ is now explained. There is great stress on continuing darkness. They will be in despair and in great need, they will have nowhere to look, their king and God will be merely swear words, names by which to curse, whether they look upwards or to the earth they will be in desolation and thick darkness. Because for those who turn from God’s word there is only darkness.

‘They will pass through it.’ The ‘it’ is not defined. It could refer to their time of hopelessness, to the land through which they will pass into exile, or to the time of darkness which will never turn into morning. The verbs are in the singular. We could therefore translate, ‘each of them will –’, emphasising the personal effect for all.

The picture is one of total hopelessness and despair. They will be hard pressed and hungry. They will be under stress and fret themselves. The king, whom they at present see as the anointed of Yahweh, will be simply a name to curse by, or even curse at. God too will be the same. But then, in despair, some will turn their faces upwards.

But all most will see when they look to the earth (or the land) will be distress and darkness, gloom and anguish. And finally they will be driven away into thick darkness. The future without God must in the end be harsh.

Isa 9:1

(Isa 8:23 in the Hebrew text) ‘But there will be no gloom to 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 it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nations.’

For those who turn their face upwards there will be hope (Isa 8:2). Most of the verbs in this and the following verses are in the perfect tense. In Hebrew the perfect tense does not necessarily indicate the past, it indicates something which is completed. Thus the prophets used the tense to indicate that which, while future, was certain. Because God was going to do it, it was already seen as completed.

For, for one part of Israel and Judah, Galilee of the nations, there will be no such gloom. That will be because having already passed through their gloom in the earlier invasion they are under the Assyrian heel. They are not therefore in a position to make any choice with respect to present circumstances. They will not be involved in the present disobedience. Thus they need not fear, for when Immanuel comes he will bring them light in their darkness (see Isa 60:1-2). The next thing therefore that they await is for the light which will come to Galilee. But that will only be once they have passed through their ‘gloom of anguish’ (Isa 8:22). It is to them, walking as they are in darkness, that great light will come, so that their gloom will vanish.

Galilee were the first to suffer in any invasion from the north and had been seized in about 733 BC during the initial invasions (2Ki 15:29). So while their leaders were exiled in accordance with Assyrian policy (leaderless people were more easily controlled) it is probable that they escaped the worst kind of treatment, for at that stage of their capture there would still be hope in Assyria’s mind that Israel would submit and escape the final vengeance, which in fact under Hoshea they did, although being left that much smaller.

Thus when Hoshea later rebelled and Samaria was finally taken Galilee had already long since been in submission as part of Megiddo, one of the three Assyrian provinces which had been set up, and was therefore probably not settled by the foreigners brought into Israel by Esarhaddon (2Ki 17:24). Indeed being a land of mixture, with many ‘Gentiles’ settled there and surrounding it, something which brought them into contempt in Israel, they may well have been seen by Assyria as not fully Israel at all but as a subject people (there were no maps and no boundaries permanently laid down). It should be noted in this regard that they were never seen as part of the mixture who arose from the settling of foreign nations in Israel.

This prophecy may have first arisen at the time of their separation, which would explain why Galilee is selected out for mention, as an assurance to them not to despair in their plight because there was hope for their future in the latter times in the coming king. Or it may simply be pointing out that in their case they had no choice whether to obey or disobey, and did not therefore share the guilt of Israel and Judah. But God clearly had a greater purpose in this in that it was in Galilee that the King when He came would grow to mature years, and it was in Galilee where He would first widely proclaim the Kingly Rule of God as at hand (Mar 1:14-15). It was to be a chosen land. Light would arise first in Galilee. It was a clear indication that God’s light was to be shared with Gentiles.

The land of Naphtali lay on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee and extended northwards, Zebulun was west and south-west of Naphtali, in the centre of the northern part of the land. As we know these areas were where Jesus particularly ministered

‘In the latter time He has made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nations.’ The origin of the name Galilee is unknown, although it is very ancient. It is nowhere else described as ‘of the nations’ but its position made it susceptible to Gentile influence and penetration. Presumably the name had been given because Israel saw it jestingly, and contemptuously, as ‘half-Gentile’. The sea may be the Sea of Galilee beyond the part of Jordan familiar to Judah, or the ‘way of the sea’ may define territory on the way to the Great Sea (the Mediterranean) going from Jordan. The thought of Galilee being ‘made glorious’ would bring a smile to the faces of men of Judah, but here Isaiah declares that in the latter time it will indeed be so. As a prophet he spoke on behalf of the whole of God’s people. He wanted all to know that God had not finally forsaken them, even Galilee. Little did any realise at the time that Galilee would bring forth the Light of the world to the nations.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Isa 9:1-7 Messianic Prophecy Comments – Isa 9:1-7 contains a clear Messianic prophecy. Note how God sends Israel, especially Isaiah, words of great hope and comfort in the midst of a perverse generation. God promises Israel a future of mercy as He brings judgment upon Israel.

Isa 9:3  Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

Isa 9:3 Comments – The world can only know a joy from their circumstances in life. The Christian joy comes from the heart and can rejoice under any situation.

Isa 9:4  For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.

Isa 9:4 Comments – Isa 9:4 refers to “the day of Midian,” an event recorded in Jdg 7:1-25 when God raised Gideon up to deliver the children of Israel from the oppression of the Midianites.

Isa 9:5  For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.

Isa 9:5 “but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire” Comments – The reference to the burning of the weapons of those defeated by the Lord reflects that fact that ancient weapons consisted largely of wood. For example, their weapons of war consisted of wooden arrow and spear shafts, wooden shields, wooden catapults, etc.

Isa 9:6-7 Prediction of the Birth and Reign of the Lord Jesus Christ Isa 9:6-7 gives a prediction of the birth and reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. Very often when Old Testament prophecy speaks of the coming of the Messiah we find descriptions of Jesus Christ’s first and second comings placed side by side with no distinction between these two events, although they are separated by two thousand years of Church history. It is as if the prophet looks down a long tunnel and only sees one event. This is the reason we find in the Gospels the Jews looking for a Messiah that would immediately set up an earthly kingdom by throwing off the Roman rule over the Jewish people. They saw nothing in their Messianic prophecies that spoke of two returns. In contrast, the prophecies of the New Testament make this distinction very clear.

As we examine Isa 9:6-7 we clearly see references to Jesus’ first coming to earth by being born of a woman, and we see a prophecy of His triumphant eternal reign on earth. We understand that the phrase “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,” clearly speaks of Jesus Christ’s birth and earthly ministry up until His crucifixion. However, the rest of the prophecy in Isa 9:6-7 speaks clearly of Jesus’ second return at the end of the seven-year Tribulation period in which He sets up an earthly kingdom and reigns in Jerusalem as King of Kings forever.

This leads us to the question of why no reference is made to the two thousand years of Church history that takes place between these two Comings of the Lord Jesus Christ. The answer lies in the fact that Isaiah is prophesying primarily to the Jews and not to the Church. Although the Old Testament Scriptures are also for the Church to read and to understand, these prophecies were spoken to the Jewish people as the primary recipients and to the Church as secondary recipients. Thus, Isa 9:6-7 only addresses the role that Israel will play during Jesus’ first and second coming. Since Israel does not play a vital role in Church history for a period of two thousand years, the prophet leaves out such events.

Another example of this distinction in end-time prophecy can be found by comparing the books of Ezekiel and Revelation. The book of Ezekiel was written to the people of Israel to help them persevere through their time of persecutions during the Babylonian Captivity. But the book of Revelation was addressed to the Church, and not to the Jews, to help them persevere until the end. Therefore, Ezekiel speaks of three major events leading up to the ushering in of the Millennial Reign of Christ Jesus, which are the restoration of Israel (36-37), the great battle with Russia and its allies (38-39) and the rebuilding of the Temple with its institution of worship. These are the three important events that will involve Israel during these last days leading up to and through the seven-year Tribulation Period.

In contrast, the book of Revelation speaks of many other events that take place during this time from the perspective of someone who is standing in Heaven. This is because the Church is raptured at this time and is watching these events while in Heaven. The book of Revelation opens with a message to the seven churches in Asia Minor by telling them to sanctify themselves. This is a message of preparation for the Rapture, which takes place figuratively in Rev 4:1-2 with the catching up of John the apostle into Heaven. The rest of the events that unfold in this book are events that one would see if he was in Heaven after having been raptured. These events are not something that the Jewish people would see from their nation on earth while awaiting their Messiah, having rejected Jesus Christ as the Messiah. This explains why two different biblical writers tell the same story from two different perspectives to two different readers.

Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Isa 9:6 “For unto us” Comments – John Gill understands the phrase ( ) “unto us” to mean “for us,” or “for our good, for our profit and advantage.” [28]

[28] John Gill, Isaiah, in John Gill’s Expositor, in e-Sword, v. 7.7.7 [CD-ROM] (Franklin, Tennessee: e-Sword, 2000-2005), comments on Isaiah 9:6.

Isa 9:6 “a child is born, unto us a son is given” Comments – Isa 9:6 prophesies both the physical and divine birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. The phrase “unto us a child is born” seems to reflect Jesus’ human birth through His mother Mary. The phrase “unto us a son is given” may refer to the fact that God gave to us His only begotten Son through a miraculous conception, sending Him from His glory in heaven.

Isa 9:6 “and the government shall be upon his shoulder” Word Study on “government” – Gesenius and Holladay tell us that the Hebrew word “ misrah ” ( ) (H4951) means “dominion.” BDB says it means, “rule, dominion.” Strong says this word comes from the root word ( ) (H8280), meaning “to prevail, to have power (as a prince).” It is used two times in the Old Testament (Isa 9:6-7), being translated “government” in both uses.

Comments – “upon his shoulder” – Isaiah mentions in the preceding verse that the Messiah will break “the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor.” (Isa 9:4) We find a similar phrase of authority being placed upon the Messiah’s shoulders in Isa 22:22, “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.” Thus, the phrase “upon his shoulder” refers to the impartation of authority.

If the phrase “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given” speaks of the Messiah’s birth at His First Coming, then the phrase “and the government shall be upon his shoulder” could properly speak of Jesus’ Second Coming when He will return to Jerusalem and rule and reign over the nations during the Millennial Reign. However, Jesus received His authority, or dominion, at His Resurrection, when He said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” (Mat 28:18).

Isa 9:6 “and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” Comments – When Jesus Christ rules and reigns on earth, beginning during the Millennial Reign, His office will best be described with the following names, “Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

Wonderful His presence will cause us to wonder and marvel as we sense His Holy presence and the anointing surrounding His throne.

Counsellor His words will be full of wisdom and His counsel will exceed what man can devise.

The Mighty God His power will excel above all that is known upon the earth and His words will overcome all of His enemies. None can stand against Him.

The Everlasting Father He will be the image of the eternal God, being “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person.” (Heb 1:2) When we have seen Jesus Christ, we have seen the Father because they are one (Joh 10:30; Joh 14:9). Because He is eternal and everlasting, His reign shall be the same.

The Prince of Peace His reign will be described as a reign of peace that the world had never known.

Isa 9:7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Isa 9:7 “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end” Comments – If the previous verse refers to Jesus’ “government,” or dominion, being given to Him at His Resurrection, then the phrase “of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,” could refer to the growth of the church across the earth, culminating in Jesus’ Second Coming. Such growth and increase in the Kingdom of God is reflected in Daniel’s interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, “and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” (Dan 2:35) We see the idea of increase of Jesus’ dominion upon the earth in the Great Commission, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Mat 28:19-20)

“upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever” Comments – The throne of David is seated in Jerusalem. Jesus will return at His Second Coming and rule the nations from this Holy City. This rule will never end.

Isa 9:7 “The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” – Comments – This coming Messiah would carry many titles as described in Isa 9:6-7. Isaiah prophesies that it would be the zeal of the Lord that would bring this to pass. In other words, it would be a divine, miraculous intervention of God Almighty in the affairs of man to accomplish this prophecy.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Prophecies Against Israel Isa 1:2 to Isa 12:6 contains a collection of prophecies against the nation of Israel. The phrase, “for all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still,” is repeated five times within this passage of Scripture (Isa 5:25; Isa 9:12; Isa 9:17; Isa 9:21; Isa 10:4).

Also found within this first major section of Isaiah are three prophecies of the Messiah’s birth. These prophecies reflect three characteristics of the Messiah. He will be born of a virgin as the Son of God dwelling with mankind (Isa 7:14-15). He will rule over Israel in the Davidic lineage (Isa 9:6-7). He will come from the seed of David and be anointed as was David (Isa 11:1-5).

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Promise of the Messiah in the Midst of Spiritual Darkness.

The Birth of the God-Man Promised.

v. 1. Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, literally, “Not is darkness to him to whom is affliction,” that is, the land now oppressed with darkness and afflictions will be delivered from its oppression, when at the first He lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, for this country west and northwest of the Sea of Galilee had from the earliest days suffered severely from various heathen invasions, and afterward did more grievously afflict her, rather, but at a later time He will bring honor, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The meaning of this somewhat involved sentence, then, is this, that the inhabitants of Upper and of Lower Galilee, including also the thickly settled sections on both sides of the Sea of Galilee, would first suffer severely from Assyrian and other invaders, the reference being especially to Tiglath-Pileser IV, 2Ki 15:29, but should later, in the time of the Messiah, be singled out for unusual honors in having the Savior devote so much time to its deliverance.

v. 2. The people that walked in darkness, namely, these same inhabitants of Galilee of the Gentiles, those who had been oppressed with spiritual darkness, have seen a great light, the prophet, speaking as the mouthpiece of the eternal and omniscient God, views the Messianic period as present even now, for so certain is the fulfillment of God’s promise; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, in the darkness of heathendom, upon them hath the light shined, namely, that of salvation, of the wonderful spiritual blessings of the Savior. As the evangelist shows, Mat 4:12-17, this prophecy was literally fulfilled during the Galilean ministry of Jesus, when He made Capernaum His headquarters and from there set forth on His journeys, not only throughout Galilee, but also into the country east of Jordan.

v. 3. Thou hast multiplied the nation, so the prophet addresses the Lord in a direct hymn of praise, since He, beginning with Galilee, extended the circle of believers in Him until His Church was spread over the whole world, and not increased the joy, or, “to whom Thou didst not magnify the joy,” the reference once more being to the time of great sorrow and distress under heathen conditions; they joy before Thee according to the joy in harvest, when the sacrificial feasts were eaten by grateful worshipers, Deu 12:7; Deu 14:26, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil, after a victorious campaign against their enemies.

v. 4. For Thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, the spiritual slavery with which the people were burdened, and the staff of his shoulder, the reference being to the cudgel of the overseer in striking the back of the slave, the rod of his oppressor, with which the people were kept in subjection, as in the day of Midian, Jdg 7:15-22. Even as the Lord, at the time of Gideon, had delivered Israel from the oppression of the Midianites in a miraculous manner, so He effected a deliverance from everlasting bondage, from spiritual slavery, so the Messiah overcame all the enemies of mankind and now divides the spoil among the believers everywhere.

v. 5. For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire, literally: “For every greave” (armor, especially to protect the feet and legs) “of him who girds on his armor with noise, and the soldier’s cloak rolled in blood, it shall become a burning, food for the fire. ” With the coming of the Messiah spiritual oppression and slavery, wrath, punishment, and judgment will be brought to an end, for His deliverance is a perfect, an everlasting salvation.

v. 6. For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, the eternal Word being made flesh for us, not only in our stead, but for our benefit, for the eternal salvation of all believers; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, the absolute and unlimited power, the divine authority in its fullest sense, rests upon Him, He is, from His birth, in complete possession of the eternal power and Godhead; and His name shall be called Wonderful, not only His birth, but His entire essence being a miracle, Counselor, for He not only knows the right and proper counsel in every difficulty of body and soul, He also carries out His plans for the benefit of men, The Mighty God, for the Messiah, true man as He is, is at the same time above all, God blessed forever, altogether identical with Jehovah, The Everlasting Father, Himself the living, eternal God, whose fatherly love and faithfulness surrounds all believers with a care far surpassing human understanding, The Prince of Peace, the true Shiloh, Gen 49:10, who has restored the right relation between God and man, making peace by abolishing in His flesh the enmity which existed since the fall of man, Eph 2:14-15.

v. 7. Of the Increase of His government, in extending the boundaries of His spiritual kingdom, and peace there shall be no end, that is, He brings about a condition of eternal peace between God and man, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, for the kingdom of Christ is the kingdom of David, continued and established in the spiritual sense, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever; for the fact that Christ endured the judgment, the punishment of sin, that He satisfied the justice of God, brought about the foundation of His kingdom, upon the fact of His atonement He builds up His Church. The zeal of the Lord of hosts, the eagerness of His love in seeking the salvation of mankind, will perform this. All this was fulfilled in the Son of Mary, of whom the angel says: “He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His Father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end. . That Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. ” Luk 1:32-35.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

Isa 9:1-7

THE TROUBLES OF ISRAEL SHALL END THROUGH THE BIRTH OF A MARVELOUS CHILD. The section of the prophecy commencing with Isa 7:1 terminates in this glorious burst of glad and gracious promise. The gist of the whole section is: “Israel shall not suffer from Pekah and Rezin; her oppressors shall be Assyria and Egypt, more especially the former; Assyria shall overwhelm her, crush her, lay her low; she shall remain awhile in gloom and darkness; but at length the darkness shall be dispelled; a ‘great light’ shall shine forth, first in the north, then over all the land; ‘the rod of the oppressor’ shall be broken; a Child shall be born, who shall bear marvelous names, and shall rule over the full kingdom of David in justice and righteousness forever.” God has spoken, and God will perform this.

Isa 9:1

Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when, etc. Our translators have misconceived the construction, and consequently missed the sense. The first two clauses, which they run together, are entirely separate and distinct. Translate, Nevertheless there shall be no (more) darkness to her who was in affliction. As at the former time he brought contempt upon the land of Zebulon, etc. Contempt was brought on the more northern part of the Holy Land, first when it was overrun and ravaged by the Syrians (1Ki 15:20) under Ben-hadad, and more recently when it bore the brunt of the Assyrian attack (2Ki 15:29) under Tiglath-Pileser. At the first and afterward; rather, at the former time in the latter time. The contrast is between two periods of Israel’s history, the existing period and the Messianic. And afterward did more grievously afflict her. This is altogether wrong. Translate, So in the latter time he hath brought honor on the way of the sea. The perfect is a “prophetic perfect,” and the reference is to the honor that would be done to the northern districts, “the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali,” by the Messiah dwelling there (comp. Mat 4:14-16). The way of the sea; i.e. the district about the sea of Tiberias, called “the sea of Kinnereth” (equivalent to “Gennesareth”) in Num 34:11, and “the sea of Galilee” in Joh 6:1. Beyond Jordan; i.e. the tract east of the sea and of the upper Jordan, where the five thousand were fed, and where our Lord was transfigured. Galilee of the nations. The name “Galilee” seems to have been given to the outlying circuit, or zone, on the north, which was debatable ground between the Israelites and their neighbors (see 1Ki 9:10; Jos 20:7; Jos 21:32). The word means “circuit,” or “ring.” Though claimed as theirs by the Israelites, it was largely peopled by “Gentiles.”

Isa 9:2

The people that walked in darkness (comp. Isa 8:22). All the world was “in darkness” when Christ came; but here the Jews especially seem to be intended. It was truly a dark time with them when Christ came. Have seen; rather, saw. The “prophetic” preterit is used throughout the whole passage. A great light. “The Light of the world,” “the Sun of righteousness,” “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, “first broke on man in that northern tract” by the way of the sea, “when Jesus came forward to teach and to preach in “Galilee of the Gentiles.” For thirty years he had dwelt at Nazareth, in Zebulon. There he had first come forward to teach in a synagogue (Luk 4:16-21); in Galilee he had done his first miracles (Joh 2:11; Joh 4:54); at Capernaum. “Upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim,” he commenced his preaching of repentance (Mat 4:13-17). The “light” first streamed forth in this quarter, glorifying the region on which contempt had long been poured.

Isa 9:3

Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy. Dr. Kay defends this reading, and supposes a contrast of time between this clause and the next; he renders, “Thou didst multiply the nation” (i.e. in the days of Solomon and again in those of Uzziah) “and not increase the joy; but now,” etc. The objection is that the verbs are all in the same tense, the simple preterit, and that there is nothing in the original corresponding to “but now.” Almost all other recent commentators accept the solution offered by the Masoretic reading ( for ), which makes the passage simple and easy: “Thou hast multiplied the nation; its joy thou hast increased; they joy before thee,” etc. According to the joy in harvest. “The joy in harvest” was to the Jews the joy of the Feast of Tabernacles, or in gathering (Exo 23:16), held when the last fruits were brought in. But the prophet is perhaps taking a wider view, and thinking of the many harvest festivals prevailing throughout Western Asia, all of them originating in gratitude to the Giver of all good, and many of them comprising manifestations of joy more jubilant than those habitual to his sedater countrymen.

Isa 9:4

Thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, etc. The coming of the Messiah sets the Israelites free, removes the yoke from off their neck, breaks the rod wherewith their shoulders were beaten, delivers them from bondage into the “glorious liberty of the children of God.” Not, however, in an earthly sense, since the Messiah’s kingdom was not of this world. The “yoke” is that of sin, the “oppressor” is that prince of darkness, who had well-nigh brought all mankind under his dominion when Christ came. His oppressor; literally, his task-masterthe same word which is used of the Egyptian taskmasters in Exo 5:6. As in the day of Midian. The “day of Midian” is probably the time of Israel’s deliverance from the Midianite oppression by Gideon (Jdg 7:19-25). The special characteristic of the deliverance was, as Dr. Kay well observes, “that it was accomplished without military prowess by a small body of men selected out of Israel, selected expressly in order that Israel might not vaunt itself against the Lord, saying, My own hand hath saved me (Jdg 7:2).”

Isa 9:5

For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise; rather, for all the armor of him that armeth noisily (Knobel, Vance Smith); or, perhaps, “every hoof of him that trampeth noisily” (Gesenius, Cheyne). The noun and participle, which are cognate words, occur only in this passage. And garments, etc. Translate, And every garment that is rolled in blood, shall be for burning, even fuel for fire. All military accoutrements shall be committed to the flames, that the reign of peace and justice may commence (comp. Isa 2:4; Psa 46:9).

Isa 9:6

Unto us a child is born (comp. Isa 7:14-16, where the promise of “a child,” “a son,” is first madea child who was, like this Child, to be “God with us”). The government shall be upon his shoulder. The word translated “government” (misrah) occurs only hero and in Isa 9:7. It is probably to be connected with sat, “prince,” and Israel. Government was regarded as a burden, to be born on the back or shoulders, and was sometimes symbolized by a key laid upon the shoulder (Isa 22:22). Vizier means “burdened.” The Latin writers often speak of the civil power as borne on the shoulders of magistrates (Cic; ‘Orat. pro Flacc,’ 95; Plin; ‘Paneg.,’ 10). As God, our Lord governed all things from the beginning; as man, he set up a “kingdom” which he still governsupon the earth. His name shall be called. It is perhaps not very important whether we view what follows as one name or several. Isaiah does not really mean that the “Child” should bear as a name, or names, any of the expressions, but only that they should be truly applicable to him. Wonderful, Counselor. It has been proposed to unite these two expressions and translate, “Wondrous Counselor” (compare “wonderful in counsel,” Isa 28:29). But Dr. Kay is probably right in saying that, if this had been the meaning, it would have been expressed differently. Gesenius, Rosenmller, Delitzsch, and Vance Smith agree with Dr. Kay in taking the words separately. Wonderful. The Messiah would be “wonderful” in his nature as God-Man; in his teaching, which “astonished” those who heard it (Mat 7:28); in his doings (Isa 25:1); in the circumstances of his birth and death; in his resurrection, and in his ascension. “Wonder” would be the first sentiment which his manifestation would provoke, and hence this descriptive epithet is placed first. As the Word, as Wisdom itself, as he who says, “Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am Understanding” (Pro 8:14), he is well named “Counselor.” None will ever seek his counsel in vain, much less repent of following it. The mighty God; rather, perhaps, Mighty God; but the difference is not great, since El, God, contains within itself the notion of singularity, which is given to ordinary nouns by the article. The term El, God, had been previously applied to the Messiah only in Psa 45:6. It denotes in Isaiah always (as Mr. Cheyne observes) “divinity in an absolute sense; it is never used hyperbolically or metaphorically.” The Everlasting Father; rather, Everlasting or Eternal Father. But here, again, there is a singularity in the idea, which makes the omission of the article unimportant; for how could there be more than one Everlasting Father, one Creator, Preserver, Protector of mankind who was absolutely eternal? If the term “Father,” applied to our Lord, grates on our ears, we must remember that the distinction of Persons in the Godhead had not yet been revealed. The Prince of Peace; literally, Prince of Peace. A “Prince of Peace” had been long shadowed forth, as in Melchizedek, “King of Salem,” i.e. “of Peace;” and again in Solomon, “the peaceful one;” and Isaiah himself had already prophesied the peacefulness of the Messiah’s kingdom (Isa 2:4). Compare the song of the angels at our Lord’s birth (Luk 2:14). If the peacefulness has not vet very clearly shown itself, the reason would seem to be that our Lord’s kingdom has yet to come into the hearts of most men.

Isa 9:7

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. The Messiah’s kingdom shall ever increase more and more; there shall be no limits to it; ultimately it shall fill the world (comp. Mat 28:18, Mat 28:19). The continual spread of Christianity tends to the accomplishment of this prophecy. Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom. That the Messiah is to sit on the throne of David, suggests, but does not absolutely imply, his Davidic descent. That descent is, however, announced with sufficient clearness in Isa 11:1, Isa 11:10. To order it, and to establish it. A gradual establishment of the kingdom would seem to be implied, such as is taught also in the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven. From henceforth even forever. The kingdom is to be both universal in respect of extent (see the first note on the verse), and in respect of duration eternal. The zeal; or, jealousy. God’s jealousy of his own honor, which is bound up with the prosperity and final triumph of his people over all their enemies, will assure the performance of all that is here prophesied.

Isa 9:8-21

THE PROPHET RETURNS TO THREATS AND WARNINGS, ADDRESSED CHIEFLY TO THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL. The remainder of this chapter, together with the first four verses of the next, seems to have formed originally a distinct and separate prophecy. The passage is a poem in four stanzas, with the same refrain at the end of each: “For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.” A somewhat early date has been assigned to the prophecy, as; for instance, “some period in the reign of Jotham” (Cheyne); but the internal evidence only proves that it was written before the destruction of Samaria by the Assyrians.

Isa 9:8

Jacob Israel. These words do not show that the prophecy is directed against the kingdom of Israel only. “Jacob” designates Judah rather than Israel in Isa 2:3, Isa 2:5, Isa 2:6; and the expression, “both the houses of Israel,” in Isa 8:14, shows that the term “Israel” embraces both kingdoms. Tim distinctive names by which Isaiah ordinarily designates the northern kingdom are “Ephraim” and “Samaria.”

Isa 9:9

Even Ephraim; rather, especially Ephraim. The prophecy is no doubt mainly directed against the northern kingdom. That say in the pride and stoutness of heart; rather, in the pride and stoutness of heart, wherein they say.

Isa 9:10

The bricks are fallen down, etc.; i.e. we have suffered a moderate damage, but we will more than make up for it; all our losses we will replace with something better. Bricks were the ordinary material for the poorer class of houses in Palestine; stone was reserved for the dwellings of the rich and great (Amo 5:11). Sycamore wood was the commonest sort of timber, cedar the scarcest and most precious, having to be imported from Phoenicia (1Ki 5:6; 2Ch 2:3; Ezr 3:7). Cut down. The Israelites probably alluded to damage done by Tiglath-Pileser in his first invasion. The Assyrians were in the habit of actually cutting down trees in foreign countries, in order to injure and weaken them; but the present passage is, perhaps, rather intended to be figurative.

Isa 9:11

Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him. “Against him” means “against Ephraim,” or the kingdom of Israel. “The adversaries of Rezin” could only be the Assyrians; but these seem precluded by the next verse, which mentions only “Syrians” and Philistines.” Hence many critics accept the variant reading of several manuscripts sarey for tsareywhich gives the sense of “the princes of Rezin” (so Lowth, Ewald, Houbigant, Weir, Cheyne).

Isa 9:12

The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; or, the Syrians from the east, and the Philistines from the west. The Semitic races regarded the world as looking to the rising sun, and used for the east the preposition signifying “in front,” for the west that signifying “behind.” Syria seems to have been hostile to Samaria until the league was formed between Rezin and Pekah, and may have become hostile again after Pekah’s death (2Ch 28:23). We read of a Philistine invasion of Judah in Chronicles (2Ch 28:18), but not of their attacking Israel. Still, it was as easy for them to attack the one as the other. They abutted on the territory of Israel towards the southwest, as Syria did towards the north-east. For all this his anger is not turned away; since Israel continued impenitent. It would have ceased had they repented and turned to God (see Isa 9:13). His hand is stretched out; not to save, but to smite.

Isa 9:13

The people. The people of Israel, as distinct from the people of Judah. The particular judgment announced in Isa 9:11, Isa 9:12 is clearly to fall on them. Neither do they seek the Lord of hosts. Israel had set itself to seek after Baal from the time of Ahab (1Ki 16:31). The reform of Jehu (2Ki 10:28) had gone but skin-deep. Baal was still “sought to,” rather than Jehovah, when the final judgment came (2Ki 17:16; Hos 2:13).

Isa 9:14

Head and tail, branch and rush; i.e. the whole nation, from the highest to the lowest. The “branch” intended is the “palm branch,” at once lofty in position and the most glorious form of vegetable life (Psa 92:12; So Psa 7:7, Psa 7:8, etc.); the “rush” is the simple “sedge” that grows, not only low on the ground, but in the “mire” (Job 8:11). The same expression occurs again in Isa 19:15.

Isa 9:15

Some suppose this verse to be a gloss, or marginal note, which has crept into the text; but it is too pointed and sarcastic for a mere gloss. There is no reason to doubt its being Isaiah’s. Having spoken of “the tail,” he takes the opportunity of lashing the false prophet, who claimed to be among the “honorable,” but was really the lowest of the low, worse than his dupes, the true “tail” (comp. Isa 28:7; Isa 29:10; Isa 30:10).

Isa 9:16

The leaders of this people cause them to err (comp. Isa 3:12). Both the peoples were led into idolatry by their rulers, but Israel especially. Jeroboam, the first king, introduced the calf-worship, and his successors from first to last persisted in his sin. Ahab added the still grosset idolatry of Baal. Those who held high position under the kings were equally bad examples to the people (see above, Isa 1:2 :3). Are destroyed. First, morally corrupted and debased, then physically given over to destructionslaughtered by Philistines, Syrians, and Assyrians.

Isa 9:17

The Lord shall have no joy in their young men. “The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy” (Psa 147:11). He can have no joy or delight in evil-doers, or idolaters, or in those whose speech is profanity. Neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows. The widow and the orphan are objects of God’s tenderest love and compassion (Exo 22:22; Deu 10:18; Deu 14:29; Isa 1:17, etc.); but when the wickedness of a land provokes him to send any one of his “four sore judgments” upon it, the widow and the fatherless must suffer with the other inhabitants. God pities them, doubtless, but his justice and his righteous anger force him to restrain his pity, and carry out his judgment in spite of it. Every one is an hypocrite; or, corrupt; compare, “They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one“ (Psa 14:3). A certain allowance must be made for the natural hyperbole of strong feeling. Every mouth speaketh folly. The word translated here (and generally) “folly“ is rendered “villany“ in Isa 32:6 and Jer 29:23. Its proper meaning seems to be “lewdness‘ or “profligacy.”

Isa 9:18

Wickedness burneth as the fire; i.e. the contagion of wickedness overspreads a whole nation in the same rapid way that fire spreads over a field of stubble or a forest. They shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke; rather, theyi.e; the forest thicketsshall be whirled upward with the uplifting of smoke. The burning thickets shall mount up with the volumes of smoke into the air, and hang there as a murky but lurid pall. The flames of wickedness give no light to a land, but lunge it in heavy, hopeless gloom.

Isa 9:19

Is the land darkened; rather, burst up (, LXX.). The root used occurs in Arabic in this sense. It is not used elsewhere in Scripture. The people shall be as the fuel of the fire. Though the general ravage, devastation, and desolation of the laud, with its buildings, its trees, and its other vegetable products, is included in the image of the fire devouring the thorny brakes and tangled thickets of a dense forest, yet the threat is intended still more against the Israelite people, who were the true “fuel of the fire,” since the ravage would go on until the land should be depopulated. No man shall spare his brother. We have here a new feature. Not only shall foreign enemiesSyrians and Philistinesdew, up Israel, but the plague of civil war will also be let loose upon them (comp. Isa 9:21, and see 2Ki 15:30, where we find that Pekah fell a victim to a conspiracy headed by Hoshea).

Isa 9:20

He shall snatch; rather, one shall devour. A man, i.e; shall plunder and ravage in one quarter, and yet not be satisfied; then he shall do the same in another, and still desire more. “Increase of appetite shall grow by what it feeds on.” There shall be no sense of satiety anywhere. The flesh of his own arm. In a civil war, or a time of anarchy, each man is always “eating the flesh of his own arm”i.e. injuring his neighbor, who is his own natural protector and defender.

Isa 9:21

Manasseh, Ephraim. These two are mentioned as the two principal tribes of the northern kingdom. It is not to be supposed that civil discord was confined to them. Probably there was a general disorganization. Still, all the tribes would at any time willingly unite “together against Judah” (see 2Ki 15:37; 2Ch 28:6-8).

HOMILETICS

Isa 9:6

The significancy of the names of Christ.

Five names of the Redeemer are here declared by Isaiah, in addition to the name given him in Isaiah 7-8; viz. Immanuel. Names of Christ are always worthy of the deepest and most attentive consideration, for each reveals some portion of his nature, each exhibits some aspect of him, so to speak, which is distinct from other aspects; and it is only by meditating upon all, that we approximate to a full and complete conception of his manifold excellences. Very specially worthy of consideration are the five names here put forth, which may be viewed either separately or in their connection. And first separately

I. THE NAME OF “WONDERFUL.”

1. Wonderful is the Son in his eternal relation to the Almighty Father, an unchanging relation of mutual love and tenderness, differenced by the fact of derivation, and the sense on the one hand of bestowal, and on the other of acceptance and dependence. Wonderful, wholly transcending our utmost reach of thought, is that eternity of pre-existence which he enjoyed with the Father and the Holy Spirit, not only before the world was, but before it had pleased the Divine Nature to bring into existence any other being besides itself.

2. Wonderful, again, is he in that repeated act of creation, so clearly assigned to him (Joh 1:31; Heb 1:2), whereby he brought out of nothing (Heb 11:3) the entire existing universeangels and archangels, principalities and powers, cherubim and seraphim; matter arranged and unarranged; sun, moon, stars, planets, satellites, nebulae; man, animals;all of them “the work of his hands,” created by him out of non-existence.

3. Even more wonderful is he in his dealings with the children of menin his patience with them, his regard for them, his mediatorial office towards them, his inward revelation of himself to them, his constant presence with them, his sacramental communication of himself to them, all unworthy as they are.

4. Wonderful is he in his life on earth, which even unbelievers cannot but admire; wonderful in his triumph over death and the grave; wonderful in his ascension into heaven in the sight of men; wonderful in his appearances to St. Paul and St. Stephen; wonderful in the might wherewith he still sustains his Church, so that even the very “gates of hell” cannot prevail against it.

II. THE NAME OF “COUNSELLOR” As the “Loges,” or “Reason,” no less than the “Word” of God, the Son was identified by the ancient Fathers with the “Wisdom” of the Book of Proverbs, of whom it is said, “I Wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge . Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding . The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was when he appointed the foundations of the earth, then I was by him, as one brought up with him; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him” (Pro 8:12-30). He was thus, in some sort, the Counselor of the Triune Synod which presided over the world and directed all its affairs. But, further, he was the Counselor of man. The Loges was “the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (Joh 1:9). Our natural reason and conscience come from him, for he has implanted them in us, to counsel us aright. All revealed light is also from him, for he is the Word and the Truth. He counsels us from within, by the inward monitor who tells us what is right; he counsels us from without, by his apostles, his evangelists, his Church, his living ministers. Do we lack wisdom generally? let us ask of him, and he will pour light into our souls. Do we need counsel on any special matter? Let us take it to him, and he will show us the wisest and best course.

III. THE NAME OF “MIGHTY GOD.” The Son of God is himself God, and if God, then certainly “mighty”nay, “almighty.” What the Messiah was to do, could be done by none less than God. He was to redeem mankind; he was to vanquish death and sin; he was to triumph over Satan; he was to be a meritorious Sacrifice. “God with us” had already been declared to be one of his names (Isa 7:14). Now he is announced as “God the Mighty One.” It is to the last degree uncritical to compare this assignment of so august a name, coming from the mouth of an intense theist, with the ascription of Divine titles to the Egyptian kings by themselves, or by their subjects, when both king and subjects were polytheists. Isaiah could not have intended to call a mere man “God;” he must have recognized, as David had done (Psa 45:6), that the Messiah would be more than man, would in some way or other be a partaker of the Divine nature. Jeremiah did the same when he announced the Messiah as “Jehovah our Righteousness.” The prophets may not have been aware of the doctrine of the Trinity, but they could conceive an incarnation of God. The name of “Mighty God” in Isaiah’s list must be accepted as a distinct announcement of the true Divinity of the Messiah, just as the words “child” and “son,” which had been previously applied to him (verse 6), were announcements of his true humanity.

IV. THE NAME OF “EVERLASTING FATHER.” When the Messiah is called a “Father,” we must understand the word as meaning primarily “Protector.” So Job was a “father to the poor” (Job 29:16), and Eliakim a “father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem” (Isa 22:11). The idea of protection, however, implied in “Father” does not exhaust the connotation of the word. It contains also the notions of “Creator” and “Preserver, “of one whom we are bound to love, honor, and obey. “Have we not all one father?” says Malachi. “Hath not one God created us?” “If I be a Father,” says Jehovah by his mouth, “where is my honor?“ The Messiah was to be “Father” in all these senses. As the Second Person in the Holy Trinity, he created man; as “God with us,” he preserves him; as the typical Man, the Head of the redeemed human race, he will ever keep and protect him. The prophet calls him “Everlasting Father,” first, to show that he is no mere human protector, like Job or Eliakim; but also, further, to indicate by an additional phrase his Divinity, since God alone is “everlasting,” or “eternal.” His people are assured by the epithet that he will never cease to be their Protector, will never desert them, or weary of interposing for them. No; “he ever liveth to make intercession for us” (Heb 7:25). He is “Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last” (Rev 1:8). He “will not fail us, nor forsake us” (Deu 31:6).

V. THE NAME OF “PRINCE OF PEACE.” So long as there is evil, there must be war between good and evil. The Messiah is “Prince of Peace,” “especially, because he comes to convert the world;” to “turn men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God;” to destroy sin, and “bring in everlasting righteousness” (Dan 9:24). When there is universal righteousness, there will be universal peace. Certainly, the time is not yet come. The Prince of a peaceful kingdom, whose servants may not seek to advance his kingdom by violence, has not annihilated evil, has not swept all the wicked from the world. And so the fight goes on; evil men still stir up wars and tumults, and good men are forced to resist them. But the “Prince of Peace” shows his power and justifies his name,

(1) in the peace that he introduces into the hearts that love him;

(2) in the peace found wherever the Spirit of Christ prevails, as in pious households, in brotherhoods and sisterhoods, in assemblies of Christian men like our convocations, etc.;

(3) in the comparative peace that obtains in Christian lands, the growing desire for peace and hatred of war, the readiness to resort to arbitration, and the like.

Taken in connection, the five names would seem to teach

(1) the mysteriousness of Christ’s nature, which lies at the very basis of Christianity, and upon which all else is built;

(2) the wisdom of his teaching, which makes him our only safe “Counselor;”

(3) the power which he has, as “Mighty God,” to accomplish all his designs in his own good time;

(4) the love which leads him to exert this power continually in the protection of his Church; and

(5) the peaceful condition to which he will in the end bring his Church, when its probation is accomplished and he comes to reign over it as its visible King. The names begin in the past, advance to the present, and end in the far future. They first bespeak our reverence and awe, the foundations of religious feeling. They then call forth our trust, showing Christ to us all-wise, almighty. They end by eliciting our love towards him as a protecting “Father,” who will at last conduct us to perfect peace.

Isa 9:8-21

Persistent impenitence brings repeated chastisements.

One would naturally expect that so weak a creature as man, when chastised by the Divine anger, would readily and at once “humble himself under the almighty hand of God,” accept the chastisement as deserved, and entreat for mercy and forgiveness. But, weak as he is, man is unwilling to acknowledge his weakness, and, faulty as he is, dislikes nothing so much as acknowledging his faults. God’s judgments he will net allow to be judgments, but attributes them to any cause but God; as, for instance,

(1) to his own mistakes;

(2) to accident or chance;

(3) to fate;

(4) to some combination of circumstances not likely to recur.

God brought upon Israel four great chastisements, placing intervals between them, so that after each they might have repented and turned to him, had they so willed. But they would not. These chastisements were

I. THE ASSYRIAN INVASION UNDER TIGLATH–PILESER. This was a comparatively “light affliction,” as God’s earlier judgments commonly are. It fell, not on the whole land, but only on a portion”the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali;” and it resulted in the loss, not of national life or national independence, but only of a province or two not very highly valued. “Galilee of the Gentiles” was overrun and annexed by Assyria; but Ephraim and Manasseh, the great tribes which formed the heart of the nation, were untouched. Still, the invasion was a warning which a wise nation would have taken to heart. When dismemberment begins, it is apt to be continued; each fresh act of spoliation is easier than the last. And the aggressor is encouraged by his success, and tempted to repeat his aggression. But Israel was not wise. She consoled herself by “pride and stoutness of heart,” making light of her losses, and boasting that she would easily repair them (verse 10). Her pride and impenitence provoked God to inflict a second chastisement.

II. THE COMBINED PHILISTINE AND SYRIAN ATTACK. Of this we know no more than what is told us in the present chapter. Attack was made “before” and “behind”from the east and from the west. Jehovah “joined the enemies of Israel together” (verse 11), and caused them to make a combined, or at any rate a simultaneous, invasion. Both enemies were formidable, and Israel was unable to meet either with her full force. Consequently they were successful, and “devoured Israel with open mouth.” Could not this second chastisement arouse the nation from its mistaken feeling of security, and bring it to cast itself down before God? Alas! no. The people “turned not to him that had smitten them, neither did they seek the Lord of hosts” (verse 13). The result was that a third chastisement fell.

III. THE INTERNAL ANARCHY AND DISTURBANCE. Hostility to the kindred tribe of Judah lay at the base of Israel’s existence as a nation, and was cherished by statesmen as a patriotic feeling. But it was impossible to keep the feeling as closely confined as statesmen would have wished. Within Israel itself one tribe grew jealous of another; and, under the diminished strength of the central authority caused by the external troubles of the time, jealousy led on to open conflict, “no man sparing his brother” (verse 19). As Rome perished by her own strength, when faction became arrayed against faction in the forum and the field, so it seems to have been with Israel. Internal quarrel supervened upon foreign attack; and the weakened state, when a fresh assault from without came, necessarily succumbed to it. Repentance, even at this advanced hour, might have caused God to avert the danger and turn the current of Assyrian conquest in some other direction; but once more, there was no submission, no sign of any change of heart. And at last the dread fiat went forth for Samaria’s final destruction. The fourth and last chastisement was

IV. THE CONQUEST OF SAMARIA, AND CARRYING AWAY OF ISRAEL INTO CAPTIVITY, BY THE ASSYRIANS UNDER SHALMANESER AND SARGON. The same instrument, Assyria, was employed for the first chastisement and the last. Shalmaneser, the successor of Tiglath-Pileser, towards the middle of his short reign, having “found conspiracy in Hoshea”who-had murdered Pekah and succeeded him”came up throughout all the land of Israel, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years” (2Ki 17:5). At the end of the three years the city fell, about the same time that Sargon, having murdered Shahnaneser at Nineveh, caused himself to be proclaimed supreme ruler of the Assyrian empire. Sargon, following a recognized Assyrian practice, deported the principal part of the population, and settled it partly in Upper Mesopotamia, partly in the cities of Media (2Ki 17:6). The life of the nation thus came to an end. God had borne with it for two centuries and a halftried it, tested it, sent it prophets and seers (2Ki 17:13), chastened it, corrected it; but all in vain. Notwithstanding all that he could do and did, “they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, and rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, and left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger” (2Ki 17:14-17). Nothing, therefore, remained but to “remove them out of his sight”to sweep them away with the besom of destruction.

The fate of Israel is a warning, primarily, to nations; but also, secondarily, to individuals. God lays his chastisements on them too, for the purpose of bringing them to repentance. If they resist and are impenitent, he follows up blow with blow. If they remain obdurate, he breaks their pride and crushes them.

HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON

Isa 9:1-7

Vision of future glory.

In bright contrast to the preceding gloomy outlook, bursts the enrapturing view of future glory on the prophet’s soul.

I. COMPENSATION FOR PAST SUFFERING. Not forever is the land to lie darkened. A great light of deliverance is to appear. The prophet’s glance rests on the northern and eastern portions of the kingdom of Ephraim. They had been conquered by Assyria, and the people carried away captive (2Ki 15:29). But “as the former time brought shame to Zebulon and Naphtali, the latter also bringeth honor towards the sea, beyond the Jordan, towards the heathen-march.” The depopulated land will bask in the sunshine of restored prosperity. Assembling “before Jehovah,” i.e. in his sacred place, they will rejoice as at a harvest ingathering, or at a division of spoil after victory. For the Assyrian yoke will be broken, and crushing will be the defeat of the foes of the nation, like that of Midian in days of yore. Every trace of war and barbarity will be placed under a ban, and be destroyed by firethe boot that had clanked on the heel of the foreign soldier, and the red battle-garment.

II. THE EVERLASTING KINGDOM OF PEACE. The pledge of its establishment is the promise of the wondrous Child.

1. His names. Not only Immanuel, God with us, is he to be called; but other names bespeak his attributes as a great Prince. Wonderful Counselor: against whose deep providence no plots can contend, and conspiracies of short-sighted craft will be in vain. Hero-God: invincible in battle. Everlasting Father: maintaining and fostering his people, educating them by law and by love. Prince of peace: who will cause wars to cease to the ends of the earth. “The empire is peace,” was the noted word of a potentate of one time, that charmed the ear for the moment, only to deceive men’s hopes. None but the Messiah can assure peace to the nations, as nothing but the fellowship of the truth and of justice can disincline the nations to war.

2. The nature of his government. It is for “endless wealth.” It is to resume, in the deepest and best sense, the well-remembered glories of David’s kingdom. It is to be supported, not by countless battalions (“The Lord delighteth not in the legs of a man”), but by “justice and righteousness henceforth and forever.” Its spread will include the spread of true religion. Hence it may be confidently expected that the “zeal of Jehovah,” the ever-burning energy of Divine love, will bring to pass these happy results.

“The great Shepherd reigns,
And his unsuffering kingdom yet will come.”
J.

Isa 10:4

Oracles concerning Samaria.

I. CONCERNING ITS INFATUATED PRIDE. (Isa 10:8-12.) The word of menace is to fall like a heavy weight upon the nation, a “burden” especially to be felt by the kingdom of the ten tribes (cf. Zec 9:1). It has been made tributary to the Assyrians, yet imagines it will recover its former power by violence and predatory raids. In their bravado they exclaim, “Though the bricks fall down, we will build with freestone; and though sycamores are felled, we will make cedars spring up instead!” To punish this insolence, Jehovah has armed its smaller enemies against itSyrians in the north-east, Philistines in the south-west; and severer judgments are to follow. The cup is not yet full; the avenging hand is still stretched out. The strophe gives us a picture of infatuation, leading to obstinate resistance and incurring accumulation of punishment. We may be reminded of that fine picture in Homer of Ate, the spirit of error or bewilderment, who with soft feet walks above men’s heads, and who would lead all astray to their ruin (‘Iliad,’ 19.91, sqq.). Yet neither the nation nor the individual falls a prey to such temptations without guilt, though where the guilt begins it may be difficult to trace. The temper of insolence and bravado is a symptom of this aberration creeping on. What need have we to pray that the “eyes of our mind may be opened,” that we may never have the light of discernment between the “spirit of truth and the spirit of error” put out in our bosom!

II. CONCERNING ITS OBSTINATE IMPENITENCE. The nation “turns not to him that smote it.” It hears not the rod and who hath appointed it. Suffering either changes the disposition and bends the will upon new objects, or it rouses the temper to determined perseverance in the evil course. Men must know the time to retreat and turn back no less than to go forward in a given course. For, as patient continuance in well-doing is blessed with highest promises, the harshness of the impenitent heart treasures up against itself a store of wrath. In this case a visible destruction has come upon Israel. A day of battle has taken place; “hexad and tail, palm and rush,” officers and privates in the army alike, have been cut off. For the leaders of Israel have proved misleaders, and their blind followers have perished. And the prophet represents Jehovah as looking sternly on, neither rejoicing in the youth of the nation, nor pitying its disasters. Suffering unrelieved by pity, woes over which Heaven frowns rather than expands with infinite smiles of hope,such things follow impenitence and willfulness.

III. CONCERNING ITS FLAGRANT INIQUITIES. We say flagrant, and this word exactly fits the prophet’s description: “Wrong burning like fire, devouring thorn and thistle, and kindling the thickets of the forest, so that they curl up in columns of smoke.” Covetousness devours and ravages like a famine or a pest. Every one begins to devour his own arm in insatiate greed; that is, one tribe its brother-tribe. Not content with mutual rapacity, Manasseh against Ephraim, and Ephraim against Manasseh, the two turn against Judah. And so again and again the deep warning reverberates: “His anger is not turned away; his hand is stretched out still.”

IV. CONCERNING JUDICIAL WICKEDNESS AND THE FINAL ISSUE. Here the prophet seems to turn to Judah. As one of Jehovah’s noblest attributes is that of Father of the fatherless, and as justice is his delight, so nothing can more darkly designate offense against him than the spoliation of the widow and the orphan. Here, then, the climax of denunciation is reached. And the prophet has now only to hint the future judgment and overthrow. What will they do in the day of visitation? What refuge will be open? What retreat in which a false glory may be hidden? They will cringe as prisoners, and as slain they will fall Better to have the troubled heart, which nevertheless finds its refuge in God, than the reckless self-confidence which invites his anger. Poverty of spiritagainst this no prophetic doom is hurled; and adversity with honesty is no real adversity, for the hand of Jehovah is here stretched out, not to smite, but to help.J.

HOMILIES BY W.M. STATHAM

Isa 9:2

The dawn of gospel day.

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” The glory which God revealed then through the prophet was but a prelude to that greater glory which the Incarnation made manifest. So much so that these words are used in Mat 4:16, and relate to Jesus leaving Nazareth and coming to Capernaum, upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim, that so the prophecy might be fulfilled.

I. THE GREAT DARKNESS. History attests that of which prophecy foretells. There was moral darkness. Look at Corinthso much so that to Corinthianize was to play the wanton. Look at Ephesus. Look at Rome, with its lust and license; its terrible realism in the cruel sports of the amphitheatre, stained with the massacre of beasts and with the gladiators’ blood. Think of the intellectual darkness, when even the city of philosophy, proud Athens, erected an altarwhich was a monument of its failure in the search after wisdom”to the unknown God.”

II. THE SOMBRE SHADOW. “The land of the shadow of death.” This language does not apply alone to the article of death itself. Every hopeless sorrow is a shadow of the grave. Death reigned supreme over human thought. There was no “looking forward” which could comfort the weary heart of man in its bereavements and griefs. Over city and throne, over the groves of philosophy and the gardens of pleasure, the same shadow brooded. So that the gloom came not alone when life drew near to its close, but the long dark shadow fell over all the pursuits and hopes of human life. As we think of all this we shall understand what the prophet means by a “great” light. For the wondrous glory of the Savior’s revelation of “life and immortality” none of us can overestimate. It changed the face of society, and turned the weeping eyes of a weary world to glory, honor, immortality, and eternal life.

III. THE WELCOME LIGHT. Light makes all things beautiful. And light from “above” transfigures the lot of man. It turns his afflictions into momentary tribulations, and makes him to look, not on’ the things which are seen and temporal, but on those which are unseen and eternal. It is related, therefore, to human life as well as spiritual life. Heaven is not only “the rest that remaineth;” its spirit pervades the entire sphere of our earthly history. Everywhere that blessed light shines; and whilst it makes us patient and hopeful in adversity, it gives cheerfulness to our pursuits and sacredness to our friendshipsinasmuch as we are his disciples who said, “Let not your heart be troubled I go to prepare a place for you.”W.M.S.

HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON

Isa 9:1, Isa 9:2

Great light in deep darkness.

In wrath God remembers mercy; be makes us to “sing of mercy and of judgment.” He “will not always chide, nor keep his anger forever.” Even unto disobedient and perverse Israel he will manifest his Divine pity, his redeeming power. Respecting this promise we may note

I. ITS HISTORICAL FULFILMENT. This, in the literal and primary sense, is involved in no slight obscurity (see Exposition). The difficulty in determining the period when these regions saw the light of liberty and plenty after the time of darkness and desolation is painfully suggestive of the fact that it is a very difficult thing to find any instances of a nation that has once lost its place and power recovering its position. Even those which have had the best opportunities of so doing have failed to use them; witness Egypt, Greece, Rome. It seems as if nations could “find no place of repentance.” The fact may well stir every patriotic feeling in our breasts, and make us resolute to infuse into all our laws, customs, institutions, the purifying and preserving influences of Christian truth.

II. ITS SUPREME ILLUSTRATION. (Mat 4:15, Mat 4:16.) Undoubtedly this passage finds its culminating fulfillment in the advent and the work of Christ. “That was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlighteneth every one.”

1. The era when Jesus was born was one of peculiar darkness. Ignorance, vice, superstition, violence, fanaticism, unbelief, despair,these abounded as never before.

2. He became the Light of the world.

(1) His truth illumined the dark valleys of error;

(2) his life shed a bright light on the life of man;

(3) his redeeming death opened and made clear to all mankind the way of return and restoration to God.

III. ITS REALIZATION IN THE CHRISTIAN ERA.

1. Among peoples. Many are the communities, larger or lesser, which, found in gross darkness, have been enlightened by the gospel of the grace of God. Beside the various European nations and our own islands, there are such places as Greenland, the islands of Polynesia, Madagascar, etc.

2. In individual men. Down into the human soul, into the mind dark with unbelief or crusted over with worldliness, or blinded by prejudice and consequent misconception, or beguiled and led astray by evil passion or some strong, spiritual hallucination, there has shone the light of Christian truth, a “healing ray from heaven;” and he that walked “in the shadow of death” now dwells in the light of God, and will dwell in his glory.

(1) We may all open our hearts to its shining;

(2) we have the fatal power of closing them if we choose;

(3) we are all invited to reflect and multiply its beams.C.

Isa 9:6

Spiritual empire.

“And the government shall be upon his shoulder.”

I. THE ACHIEVEMENT WHICH LAY OUTSIDE THE PURPOSE or THE SON OF GOD. For what end was that wondrous Child born, that holy Son given? He came not to restore a fallen human dynasty. The most ardent and eager hopes of his countrymen were directed to the overthrow of the Roman power and to the re-establishment of the kingdom of David in all, and more than all, its pristine glory. Jesus Christ distinctly disavowed any such purpose as this. His kingdom, he said, was not “of this world.”

II. THE SPIRITUAL EMPIRE WHICH HE CAME TO ESTABLISH. We shall see what and how truly great this was if we consider:

1. In what condition Christ found the world when he came. He found it

(1) with its mind full of fatal errorthe favored people having sunk into a dreary, withering formalism, and the whole Gentile world into idolatry or unbelief;

(2) with its heart full of pride, selfishness, and hatred;

(3) with its life full of unrighteousness and impurity.

2. What he came to accomplish in regard to it. He came to undo all this; to expel this blighting error; to uproot this pride, cruelty, and selfishness; to abolish this iniquity and enormity; to plant and nourish in the mind and heart and life of man the beautiful and admirable opposites of all thistruth, humility, love, righteousness; and so to exercise a beneficent and transcendent power, and so to take the government of the world upon his shoulder.

3. The only way by which he could gain his end. Christ knew that the one way to exert this renovating power, to wield this victorious influence, was by winning the world’s devotion to himself through his own dying love. Therefore he deliberately entered and determinately pursued the path which led to Gethsemane and to Calvary. Lifted up before the eyes of a wondering and believing world, he would draw all men unto himself, and thus to truth, to holiness, to God.

4. The extent to which he has succeeded. In spite of the miserable corruptions which have dishonored and enfeebled his Church, and in spite of the languor and inactivity by which large periods of its history have been marked, we find that

(1) error is dying and truth reviving under every sky; the heathen temple is being closed; the hoary systems of misbelief, pierced and penetrated by modern science and assailed by Christian truth, are shaking to their fall;

(2) pride is being humbled;

(3) philanthropya pitiful, generous, self-sacrificing regard for the unfortunate and the abandonedis taking the place of hard-hearted indifference;

(4) the Prince of Peace is being honored where the god of war was once worshipped.

(5) Righteousness and purity are returning to human life. Slavery, lust, drunkenness, profanity, are not yet dead, but their death-warrant has been signed and they are doomed to die.

The thought of Jesus Christ is taking possession of the human mind; his principles are reaching and regulating human life; his Spirit is changing the human world; the government is being laid upon his shoulder.

(1) Let us rejoice in the growing power of that Son that was born to our race. The empire of the Caesars, of the Pharaohs, of the Napoleons, is nothing but a memory, a history; the rule of Jesus Christ is a benign, a mighty, a growing power, an abiding, and extending influence. That is a fruitless, sapless stump; this is a tree of life, bearing all manner of fruits, “and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”

(2) Let us take care that we are among the subjects of his spiritual realm. His is the future of the world; to be separated from him is to lose the heritage, to forfeit the citizenship which will soon be the one thing worth possessing.

(3) Let us recognize the true wisdom; not to strive after outward grandeur In this attempt we may fall and be bruised or even broken, or we may succeed and be satiated and thirst again. The true wisdom is found in shedding a sweet and sanctifying influence over all whom we can reach and bless.C.

Isa 9:6

The wonderful Lord.

“His name shall be called Wonderful.” And well may he have been named Wonderful, whose words, whose works, and whose love were such as those of Jesus Christ. We look at

I. THE MARVEL OF HIS TEACHING.

1. It struck his contemporaries with awe and with astonishment (see Mat 5:28, Mat 5:29; Mat 13:54; Mat 22:22).

2. It strikes us with wonder still. That a Jew, brought up at Nazareth, receiving a very slight education, having no intercourse with men of other nations, acted upon by the narrowing and stiffening influences which were prevalent and powerful in his land and time, should teach as he taught about

(1) the fatherhood of God;

(2) the spirituality of Divine worship and sacred service;

(3) the openness of the outcast and the abandoned to return to the favor and likeness of God;

(4) the spiritual and universal character of the kingdom of God;

(5) the needfulness of the child-spirit and of humility for entrance into the kingdom of truth and righteousness;

(6) the attainment of life through death, etc.;all this is not only surprising, marvelous; it is positively unaccountable on any other theory than that God dwelt in him and he in God.

II. THE WONDER OF HIS POWER.

1. This also excited the astonishment of his contemporaries.

2. It calls forth our reverent admiration still. We wonder and adore as we realize that

(1) he compelled the earnest attention of his countrymen;

(2) he has commanded the attention of all the ages and of most of the peoples ever since;

(3) he has been, and is regarded as the Savior, the Lord, the Friend of millions of individual souls, and has brightened, comforted, transformed innumerable human lives;

(4) he has produced a manifest changeoften amounting to a revolutionin the sentiment, the principles, and the institutions of mankind.

III. HIS KNOWLEDGE–PASSING LOVE. (See Eph 3:19.)

1. On one occasion, at least, the people were powerfully impressed with the fervor of his love (Joh 11:36; see also Joh 13:1).

2. The love of Christ is far more astonishing to us who can better recognize its greatness. Now that the facts of the Incarnation and the purpose of his sufferings and his death have been illumined by the teaching of the Divine Spirit, we know how surpassingly great, how wonderful, were

(1) his sacrificial love to our racenot sparing himself, but delivering himself up for us all, and pursuing that path of sacrifice even to the very end;

(2) his distinguishing love to the individual soul. So that, with Paul, every one may say, “He loved me;” may, indeed, say, “He loves me”is seeking my salvation, has borne with my sin and shortcoming, extends to me his pardoning love, is dealing patiently and tenderly with me, is leading me by the right and wise way to the heavenly city.C.

Isa 9:6

Chief counsels of Christ.

“His name shall be called Counselor.” If we approach Jesus Christ as a Divine Counselor, i.e. as One that has unerring wisdom to impart to us respecting the chief good of human life, the secret of true success, the way to reach the goal and secure the prize, we shall find from him these principal counsels

I. THAT IF WE WOULD FIND THE TRUTH WE SEEK WE MUST COME AS A CHILD TO ITS SOURCE. Into the “kingdom of God, “which is the kingdom of truth and joy, he tells us emphatically and repeatedly we must enter as a little child, that has everything to learn, and is willing to be taught by its heavenly Father, by its one great Teacher.

II. THAT NOT HUMAN HONOR AND WORLDLY WEALTH, BUT THE LIKENESS AND THE FAVOR OF GOD ARE THE TRUE OBJECTS OF PURSUIT. (See Mat 5:45; Mat 6:19, Mat 6:20; Luk 12:15; Luk 4:4; Joh 5:44; Joh 14:23.)

III. THAT NOT BY SELF–ASSERTION, BUT BY SELF–RENUNCIATION ARE OUR REAL INTERESTS SECURED. (See Mat 10:37-39; Joh 12:25.)

IV. THAT IN CLOSE AND LIVING UNION WITH HIMSELF WE ATTAIN OUR HIGHEST HERITAGE. The chief counsel of Christ was that, with our sins, our sorrows, our struggles, our aspirations, we should come into intimate union with himself, the Savior, the Friend, the Master, the Leader, of mankind. In clearest, strongest, tenderest tones he says ever to us all, “Come unto me; abide in me; follow me; and ye shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of Life.”C.

Isa 9:6

Christ in relation to time.

“The Everlasting Father.” If we take the words in their literal rendering, “the Father of Eternity,” we gain a meaning which is more consonant with the scriptural teaching respecting the Messiah, the Son of man. He is One who has much to do with eternity; he is an (or the) Eternal One. This attribution to Jesus Christ suggests to us

I. THE BRIEF SPACE OF TIME WINCH HIS LIFE OCCUPIES AS A MATTER OF HISTORY. Only “a little while” had they the Light of the world with them. Parts of three years, a space of time to be counted by months,this was all the interval between his coming and his going; it was a lightning-flash between the long spaces of darkness.

II. ITS LONG BACKWARD LOOK. It looks back

(1) through all human history: for all the lines of national life (Hebrew, Roman, Grecian, etc.) converged and met at his birth; all that had existed had been leading up to, had been preparing for, his advent;

(2) to the remotest ages, even to the beginning. “Before Abraham was, I am;” “He was before all things;” “In the beginning was the Word.”

III. ITS LONG FORWARD LOOK. The scribes and Pharisees thought, when they saw him die on the cross, that his would be but an ephemeral career; that his influence would quickly die, and his name be soon forgotten. But we know that

(1) he has commanded the attention of the world for eighteen centuries;

(2) he has been by far the greatest Power therein;

(3) he is now recognized and honored by his Church as its living, reigning Lord;

(4) he will appear as its Judge;

(5) he will be forever the Object of our heavenly worship and service. He is the “Father of eternity.” Therefore:

1. Let us reverence him while we trust and love him. Our Friend with whom we have such happy fellowship is One in very closest connection with the Divine; he is the “Father of eternity, “though manifested in time, and with us for so brief a day.

2. Let us trust him while we work for him. We may be disappointed at the smallness of results, at the apparent distance of the goal; we may be impatient in spirit, and we may be hurried or even unchristian in the methods we adopt, in the weapons we employ. Let us be steadied, calmed, righted, as we remember that he whom we serve is not one who is shut up to a few years or decades, or even a few centuries, in which to work out his mission of love; he is the “Father of Eternity;” he is Lord of all future time; he will cause his Word to be fulfilled; we may patiently wait, while we earnestly and faithfully work.C.

Isa 9:6

Christian peace.

“The Prince of Peace.” Before considering what is the peace which is distinctively Christian, it may be well to remark:

1. That the first, incidental result of the coming of Christ is not peace, but discord (see Mat 10:34-36). The first consequence of the introduction or the revival of Christian truth is persecution. For this the Christian faith is not responsible; it is due to the fact that error is so blind, bigotry so pitiless, sin so cruel.

2. That everything is not gained for Christ when a superficial smoothness has been secured. It will take much more than a cessation of “war,” a dismantling of forts and a disbanding of troops, to arrive at the peace which is of Christ. It is a Christian poet who writes

“I love no peace which is not fellowship,
And which includes not mercy;
I would have, Rather, the raking of the guns across
The world.”

Better, in Christ’s name and in his cause, the stern and even the sanguinary struggle which seeks to establish righteousness than the hollow peace which is satisfied with slavery, serfdom, or servility.

3. That the peace which the Messiah came to bring was not that of the conquering sword, but the prevailing Spirit; that which is won, not on the battle-field, but in the depths of the human heartfirst in the heart of the Son of man himself, and then in the souls of all the children of men. Of this spiritual rest which the Prince of Peace imparts, we may say that it includes

I. PEACE WITH GOD. Sin separates between us and our Divine Father; it produces condemnation on his part, dread on our part; it ends in an unnatural and deplorable alienation. In Christ is mercy, restoration, peace. “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God,” etc. (Rom 5:1; see Rom 8:1).

II. INWARD REST. Sin is the great disturber, the constant troubler of the human heart. It is the source of all disorder, and therefore of all distress. It casts down that which should be uppermostconscience, reason, holy aspiration, etc.; it enthrones that which should be in subjectionpassion, self, temporal interests, etc. The Prince, of Peace secures to the human soul its right condition; he restores the true order; he redresses, re-establishes, revolutionizes; he “makes all things new” within. And when the spiritual nature is thus reset, all its powers taking their proper place and discharging their rightful functions, there is a “great calm” within; they who repair to the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, have “rest unto their souls” (Mat 11:28-30).

III. SOCIAL CONCORD. Christian love (Joh 13:34, Joh 13:35), Christian magnanimity (Mat 5:43-48; Rom 12:18-20); Christian reconciliation (Mat 5:25), Christian generosity (Rom 12:10; Eph 5:21; Php 2:3), Christian courtesy (1Pe 3:8; 1Pe 5:5), Christian patience (1Th 5:14),these are the conditions and the sources of true and abiding peace among men.C.

Isa 9:8-12

The evil spirit of defiance.

The spirit which is here rebuked is that of a guilty defiance of God. Jehovah had visited Israel with the signs of his displeasurehad humbled and impoverished her. What attitude should she now assume? That of humility and amendment? Nothing was further from her mind. She would contend in her own strength against her fate, against the Lord who had abased her; she would show to him the futility of his correction. The bricks might be fallen down; it was of no consequencethey would build with hewn stones. The sycamores were felled; it was all the betterthey would put cedars in their place (Isa 9:10). They would, in their proud independence, convert Divine chastisements into a national advantage. Thus they breathed the very spirit of defiance. Respecting this arrogant temper, we mark

I. ITS COMMON COURSE.

1. First comes some serious departure from God or from his service on the part of the nation, the Church, the family, or the individual man.

2. Then comes the Divine correction. This may be in the form of prophetic, or parental, or pastoral rebuke, or of some serious reverse in temporal affairs, or of bodily sickness, or of painful bereavement.

3. Then comes the resentment and revolt of the human will against the Divine. Instead of hearkening, heeding, and repenting, the nation (or the individual) determines to act in a spirit of defiance. In its (his) own strength, it will rise above its present circumstances; it will make good its position; it will brave the worst perils; it will endure extremest hardships, the greatest losses; it will turn its fallen bricks into massive stones that will not fall; it will exchange its feeble sycamores that are cut down for strong cedars which the wildest gales will spare.

II. ITS GUILT. The guilt of cherishing such a spirit is of a very aggravated character.

1. It goes beyond the ordinary sin of inattention. To be heedless when God is speaking, by whatever voice he may address us, is surely iniquitous enough; but to act in deliberate defiance of the Almighty is, by many degrees, worse.

2. It amounts to a positive rebelliousness on the part of the human will against that of the Divine. It is man resolving that, with his puny strength, he will match himself against his Maker and will prevail. It is sin which Contains the elements of insubmission, determined opposition, arrogance.

III. ITS FOLLY. In the case of Israel it was to be followed with fearful penalty. That guilty nation was

(1) to be pressed on every hand by its enemies (Isa 9:12);

(2) to be devoured by them (Isa 9:12);

(3) to be prepared for still impending miseries: “For all this,” etc. (Isa 9:12).

The nation (or the individual) that indulges in this evil spirit of defiance will find, in time, what a disastrous mistake it (he) has made. For the defiance of God

(1) shuts out immeasurable goodwhoso hearkens when God reproves, and, heeding his voice, returns in penitence to his side and his service, begins an upward path which leads to the heavenly hills; but it also

(2) shuts in to unimaginable woes. We may let the words of the text (Isa 9:12) suggest the form they take.

1. Inextricable difficulty. The being surrounded on every hand by enemies; for sin leads on and down to cruel captivities of many kinds, from which the soul struggles vainly to disengage itself.

2. Waste. The being devoured by adversaries; time lost; strength impaired; the soul ravaged; reputation despoiled.

3. Fear of the future. A dread of the outstretched hand of Divine retribution which has more strokes to deal.C.

Isa 9:14-17

Man in God’s view.

There are three classes among mankind in reference to whom we here learn the thought and feeling of God. We infer from what is stated in the text

I. HIS SPECIAL INTEREST IN THE YOUNG. Things had come to such a state, the natural order of things was so reversed, that “the Lord would have no joy in their young men” (Isa 9:17). Hence we may fairly argue that the common and normal condition is that in which God has joy in the young. It is a strange and unnatural thing to him, that which is altogether alien to his own disposition, to take no deep and Divine interest in them. God has the young people in his thought, in his affection; they are the objects of his peculiar regard and tender interest. He is seeking their true welfare; he is addressing himself to them in the terms and the tones of fatherly love. There is nothing more pleasing in his eyes than the response which the young heart makes to his inviting voice.

II. HIS PECULIAR TENDERNESS TOWARD THE AFFLICTED. It is a sign of the very extremity of the Divine displeasure that the Lord will not even “have mercy on the fatherless and widows.” The rebelliousness of Israel must have been great indeed, her iniquity heinous and aggravated indeed, to bring about a conclusion so startling and so strange as that. For it is the most wide departure from the constant thought and habit of the Most High. It is in his heart of pity to show peculiar kindness to his afflicted children. Those who are in sorrow commonly receive the precious sympathy of their fellow-men; this may fail, but it is certainly insufficient. Then the wounded spirit finds refuge in the sympathy of Christ; it has the strongest assurance of his presence, his pity, his succor (Psa 103:13; Heb 4:15, etc.).

III. HIS SEVERITY TOWARD THE FALSE. The prophet regarded himself as being at the head of the nation, and expected to be so regarded by others. But not so did the Lord regard him if he were false to his vocation. In the Divine view he was not the distinguished bough waving from the top of the palm tree; he was the coarse reed that grew in the rank marshes (see Isa 9:14, Isa 9:15).

1. Any and every dissembler is hateful to God. He denounces the hypocrite, wherever he is found (Isa 9:17).

2. But the false teacher is the object of especial Divine displeasure. “The prophet that teacheth lies is the tail.” Be it remembered that the prophet is now, what he was then, the man who professes to speak for God; that if, making this profession, we publish that which is error rather than truth, we do two things which are most deplorable. In the first place we draw down on ourselves the awful anger of the righteous Ruler; and in the Second place we slay those whom we pretend to heal: they “that are led (misled) of us are destroyed“ (Isa 9:16). To receive religious error into the soul is to be poisoned with a deadly drug; guilty indeed is the hand that administers it.C.

Isa 9:18-21

Sin suicidal.

From this declaration of judgment against a guilty nation we may gather some principles which are applicable to men as well as nations elsewhere, and indeed everywhere. We learn

I. THAT SIN IS A WASTING POWER. “Wickedness burneth as a fire” (Isa 9:18):, Where sin abounds there desolation abounds. The longer a man (or nation) has lived under its dominion the more has power withered and possession decreased, the more has heritage been wasted and lost.

1. Sin first destroys the less valuable. “The brier and the thorn it shall consume”the visible, the temporal, the pecuniary, the material, the fleshly.

2. Then the more valuable. “It shall kindle in the thickets of the grove.” The reputation, the intelligence, the character, the influence for good,these disappear under the consuming fires of sin.

3. Then it amounts to a conspicuous disaster. “They shall mount up in volumes of rising smoke.” The ruin is so striking that attention is commanded; all surrounding nations must observe it; all neighbors must remark it.

II. THAT IT TURNS ITS HAND UPON ITSELF. Of the fire of human sin humanity itself is the fuel (Isa 9:19). This is palpably and painfully true:

1. Of the individual. He that sins against God wrongs his own soul, first and most (Pro 8:36). It is not only the drunkard and the debauchee who injure themselves by their iniquities. Look on far enough, or look down deep enough, and you will find that every transgressor is putting his own most precious interests, as fuel, into the devouring flame; every such man “eats the flesh of his own arm” (Isa 9:20).

2. Of the community. It is sin, the departure from the Divine will, which brings about

(1) faction in the state;c

(2) contention in the Church;

(3) discord in the family.

Often, in its ultimate outworkings, it becomes remorseless and insatiable. “No man will spare his brother;” he “eats and is not satisfied” (Isa 9:19; see Gal 5:15).

III. THAT THE WASTE OF SIN IS ITS DIVINELY APPOINTED PENALTY. “Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened.” It seems to be in the very nature of things that sin, whether in the individual or the community, should consume and destroy; but so much has the Lord of hosts to do with the nature of things that those who thus suffer the consequences of their guilt may well feel that the punitive hand of God is laid upon them. And they will also do well to feel

IV. THAT GOD HAS SOMETHING MORE TO SAY THAN HE HAS YET SPOKEN. “For all this,” etc.C.

HOMILIES BY R. TUCK

Isa 9:2

Light in darkness.

Cheyne’s translation brings out the meaning and reference of this passage. “Surely there is (now) no (more) gloom to her whose lot was affliction. At the former time she brought shame on the land of Zebulun, and on the land of Naphtali, but in the latter he hath brought honor on the way by the sea, the other side of Jordan, the district of the nations.” The historical facts to which allusion is made are:

1. The despoiling of Upper and Lower Galilee by Tiglath-Pileser (2Ki 15:29; comp. Zec 10:10). This part of the country was attacked first, and it suffered most and longest.

2. The Messiah, the Savior, the great Light shining on the darkness, came in the part of Galilee belonging to Zebulun. It is here noted, as a characteristic of the Divine dealings, that those who suffer most are graciously considered first, and that Divine restorings come most tenderly where there have been Divine woundings and smitings.

I. THE DARKNESS OF BONDAGE MAKES BEAUTIFUL THE LIGHT OF LIBERTY. This district had been the first to fall under the yoke of Assyria. As the border country, its sufferings under bondage had been extreme. This may be taken to represent the bondage of men under sin. “Whosoever committeth sin is the bond-slave of sin.” Christ came to bring liberty for such captives. And the more bitterly the yoke of sin is felt, the more glorious seems that breaking of bonds and letting prisoners go free, which was the work of the spiritual Redeemer.

II. THE DARKNESS OF SUFFERING SHOWS UP THE LIGHT OF LIFE. The distress of the country resulted in prevailing diseases of singularly painful types, such as the demoniacal possessions. In view of these how gracious was his work who came healing all the diseases of the people, and casting out the evil spirits! Life for the stricken! Life for the maimed, blind, deaf, dumb, dead! Life even for those “dead in trespasses and sins.” “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

III. THE DARKNESS OF LONELINESS GLORIFIES THE LIGHT OF LOVE. Galilee was a despised, neglected region. “Can any good thing come out of Galilee?” Christ, the Lord of love, finds out the neglected one and comes first to it; honors it, brings to it the joy unspeakable of being cared for and loved. The sinner, in the sense of his sin, feels lonelynobody cares for him. It is light, hope, the dawn of bliss, when it comes right home to a sinner’s heart, “Jesus cares for me.” The light has risen on your dark Galilee; but the grave question isHave you seen the light? Have you welcomed the light? Are you walking in the light?R.T.

Isa 9:3

The joy of men in a Redeemer.

“They joy before thee,” in view of the Redeemer thou hast sent. There can be no joy like that men feel in the acceptance of God’s “unspeakable gift.” Illustrate by the song and chorus of the angels at Bethlehem: “Unto you is born a Savior;” “Glory to God in the highest.” And by the triumph-song of the redeemed ones in the glory: “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, “etc. There had been times of great rejoicing in the history of Israel, such as in the days of Solomon (2Ki 4:20; 2Ki 22:13); and of riotous feasting, as in days of Uzziah (Isa 5:11-14). But such joy was merely passing excitement; it was as the “crackling of thorns under a pot” compared with the deep, lasting joy of the time when Jesus, the Redeemer from sin and all its consequences, bowed the heavens, came down, and dwelt among men. We ask

(1) why men should chiefly rejoice in a Redeemer; and

(2) what kind of joy theirs should be who have proved how he can redeem.

I. WHY MEN SHOULD CHIEFLY REJOICE IN A REDEEMER.

1. Because the one thing man needs above all others is redemption; not science, not revelation, not civilization, not morality, not social elevation. Man is in one condition whose interests are, to him, supremehe is a sinner, and so his supreme need is a Savior. With the need and the supply the Word of God fully deals. It is the Divine message to man, the sinner. Its voice may be translated thus: “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thy help found.”

2. Because this one thing, redemption, is wholly beyond man’s attainment. We are amazed at what man ear, do, in overcoming material obstacles and yoking to his service the giant forces of nature. Bat at redemption from sin man is arrested; there his power ceases. “No man can redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him.” God is represented as saying, “I looked, and there was no man therefore mine own arm brought salvation.”

3. Because man had no reason to expect redemption, and could make no claim to Divine intervention. Redemption is a sovereign device, a display of infinite mercy, a work of unbought love. Its root is, “God is love.”

II. WHAT KIND OF JOY THEIRS SHOULD BE WHO HAVE PROVED HOW HE CAN REDEEM. There are two figures blended in the text. Joy of harvest. Joy of victors on dividing the spoil of battle-fields. They suggest

1. The joy of possessiona harvest of supply for coming needs, spoil from the tents of the foe.

2. The joy of triumph. To possess the enemy’s camp is proof that the foe is wholly vanquished. Jesus, as our Redeemer, has “led captivity captive, and received gifts for men.”R.T.

Isa 9:6

The fatherhood of God revealed in Messiah.

The word “Everlasting Father,” or “Father of Eternity,” is applied to Messiah as the Revealer of God to men. That the passage can only refer to Messiah is agreed by all devout students. God designed to reveal himself at last and fully to his creatures through a man‘s earthly life. God can only reveal himself to a creature in the lines of that nature which he has given to the creature. When God was dealing with man, he set forth the manhood of his Messiah most prominently; but when man comes to know his gift, he finds he has received his God, and learned the name by which he may be called. Arguing may not always convince of the Deity of Christ. It is rather like trying to prove to a man that it is the spring-time of the year. Spring is in the atmospherein the balmy breathing of the air, in the quickening power of the sunshine, in the lengthening days, and in the bursting life of leaf and flower everywhere around us. So the very atmosphere of Christ is the atmosphere of God. Everywhere, and in everything, we feel that he is God. Our text is striking in the contrasts it presentscontrasts which were realized in the human life of the Messiah. Everywhere in his story we find the blended God and man. He was the outcast babe for whom there was no room in the inn, and yet angels heralded his birth, and Magi offered to him the worship due to a king. He was a simple child of twelve years old, and yet the temple doctors were astonished at his understanding and answers. He submits to John’s baptism of water, and yet the Holy Ghost descends upon him, and the voice of “most exceeding peace” gives testimony to him as the Divine Son. He weeps the tears of human friendship at the grave of Lazarus, and yet he speaks the words which call the dead to life. He dies in agony and shame, as only a man could die; he rises in triumph and glory, as only a God could rise. So in this prophecy of Isaiah. The “coming One” is a child, but the “key of government is upon his shoulder.” He is a child, and yet he is “Wonder-Counselor, God-Mighty-One, Prince of Peace.” He is the Son, and yet it can be said of him that he is the” Everlasting Father.” This last assertion seems to be the most astonishing of them all. “The Son is the Father.” Christ sustained this view: “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” Every man’s work is to find the Father in Christ. No man has truly seen Christ who has not found in him the Father, and learned from him the fatherhood of God.

I. MAY WE THINK OF GOD AS FATHER? To show himself to man, God must come into man’s sphere, not as a cherub or as an angel, but as a man. “Verily, he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.” He must also show himself in some particular form of man. Men are kings, or prophets, or judges, or husbands, or fathers, or sons, or brothers, and God must make choice of the form that may most worthily represent him. Some say we must think of God chiefly as a King. But few of us are stirred at heart by the relations of a king. He is a person to be feared, obeyed, and served. If he is to be loved it is only with a patriotic, it is not with a personal, affection. In the pages of history we can scarcely find a king whose character and career help us to a worthy idea of God. Think of the kings of Eastern nations. Think of so-called Christian kings. There rise before the mind scenes of barbarity, Blood-guiltiness, tyranny, debauchery, and cruelty which make us ashamed to set the thought of God and of earthly kings together. On the other hand, there never has been age or nation in which the dearest thoughts and tenderest associations and most reverent feelings did not gather round the word “father.” Everywhere, even in benighted heathendom, fathers have been men’s ideals of the pure, the revered, and the good. God comes nearest to men if he can be shown to them as the “Everlasting Father.” Love is the supreme glory of fatherhood; but it is only primus inter pares, the equals of “authority,” “justice,” “holiness.” It would not be fair to say of any good earthly father, “He is all love, all indulgence; there is in him no justice, no reverence, no government.” We never want to bolster up the authority of our earthly father by deluding ourselves into the notion that he is a king; and we can yield our fullest allegiance to God as our “Everlasting Father.” We need not force ourselves to conceive of him as that mysterious thing, a moral Governor, for which we can find no human model. What is God to you when you can fully receive the revelation that he is the Father? Is there any less reverence for him? Is your sense of justice, righteousness, law, or authority weakened when you call him “Father?” Let Christ teach us the true God and the eternal life. He shows us a weeping prodigal child pressing his face into a father’s bosom, heart beating to heart, the one in all the anguish of penitence, the other in all the anguish of pitying, fatherly love. The father’s arms are round the restored boy; and who shall say that all highest law is not vindicated when that father wipes away the tears, and calls for music and dancing, the best robe, and the fatted calf? Who ever saw weeping rebels on kings’ bosoms? Who ever saw kings shedding tears over returning subjects? We must go deeper, far deeper, into the very heart of the truth about God when we say, “He is our Father.”

II. MESSIAH SHOWS GOD TO US AS “EVERLASTING FATHER.” The Epistle to the Hebrews opens with a very striking statement: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by Son.” God had spoken by creation of a Creator, by prophets of a God, by ambassadors of a King, and now by Son of a Father. Messiah is represented as Son, and Son of God, to enable us to conceive of God as Father. The very person of our Lord Jesus Christ is itself a revelation of the Father. The gospels show us that his supreme effort was to make men know and think well of the Father. He was a Jew, and yet his originality is nowhere felt more than in the word which he uses for God. We find very seldom, almost never, any of the recognized Hebrew termsEl, Elohim, Shaddai, or Jah; Jehovah or God; his word is always “Father.” On every page we find the term recurring. Illustrate from the sermon on mount; address on sending the disciples forth for their trial-mission, etc. Conclude by commending this view of God as the first and foundation-truth of the Messianic revelation. We need not be anxious to set it under limitations and restrictions. Christ never fenced it off. He never limited its applications. He never hesitated to preach it everywhere. He expected to waken a new spirit in men, the child-spirit, by telling them of their Father in heaven. If we simply follow Christ, we shall show men the Father-God everywhere in Messiah’s life and teaching, seen even in Messiah’s death and atonement and sacrifice.R.T.

Isa 9:7

The continuity of a kingdom founded on righteousness.

“A King shall reign in righteousness.” “Of the increase of his government and prosperity there shall be no end To establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever.” David’s reign, as that of the first and most faithful theocratic king, is the imperfect earthly type of the ideal kingdom, founded on righteousness, and ruled in righteousness. Whatever may have been the personal infirmities of David, officially he was thoroughly loyal and true to the Divine supremacy, and, speaking in human measures, it may be said of him, “Righteousness was the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” Messiah’s spiritual reign is the complete antitype and realization of the righteous kingdom. His people are, ideally, “all holy;” they are called to be holy, pledged to strive after holiness, and Messiah rules them in righteousness.

I. THE FOUNDATION OF THE RIGHTEOUS KINGDOM. That is, the vindication and manifestation of the Divine righteousness, in the obedience, submission, life, and death of the Lord Jesus. He “magnified the Law and made it honorable.” In him “righteousness and peace kissed each other.” The spiritual kingdom could have no other basis than God’s righteousness, and Jesus must clear that righteousness of all misapprehension, and show men how it lies as the corner-stone of the kingdom which he built up.

II. THE INCREASE OF THE RIGHTEOUS KINGDOM. It must be progressive, because it has vitality, which necessarily involves increase and growth; it must be aggressive, because there is a war-spirit in all righteousness; it cannot abide quietly beside evil, or rest until all evil is conquered and won. It is as light, and must conflict with darkness. It must be universal; for, being the kingdom of the one God, it is the kingdom of all men everywhere. There is no end to the labors of the servants of this kingdom, until the very utmost limits of the earth are reached. Men must know the name of God the Savior, from “the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same.”

III. THE STABILITY OF THE RIGHTEOUS KINGDOM. It is the kingdom of God, the good, the right; and it is kin with him, and stable as he is. “Who shall harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?” Evil can never become so strong as good. Good has always God “at the back of it.” And security means peace and prosperity. The first and essential work of all governments is to obtain perfect security for life and for property. Then commerce will flourish, and civilization will advance. Men can trust the government, and adventure their wealth in business enterprise. The righteous kingdom of Messiah gives absolute security to its members. No man in it ever wants to wrong his brother, so no disturbances come to shake its stability.

IV. THE PERPETUITY OF THE RIGHTEOUS KINGDOM. No forces can ever arise in any age to stop it. National sins bring on the destruction of nations. Right must be eternal. It can never be replaced by a better. “Against it the gates of hell cannot prevail.” It may, in conclusion, be shown that the rule of righteousness ensures peace, power, prosperity, universal piety towards God, and universal brotherhood amongst men.R.T.

Isa 9:12

The Divine anger.

“For all this his anger is not turned away.” The reference of the previous verses is to the calamities which are surely overtaking Rezin of Syria, and Pekah of Israel, as judgments on them, signs of Divine indignation, for their schemes against Judah. Rezin was threatened by Assyria; Pekah was threatened both by his former ally, Israel, and on the other side by the Philistines. As yet, however, these judgments had not proved effectual in humbling Rezin and Pekah, or in leading them to forsake their self-willed ways and seek the help and guidance of Jehovah; so yet more and heavier judgments must come on them, and they must not think, because there seemed a little lull in the storm, that Divine wrath was abated. Divine judgments were exhausted, or God’s outstretched hand drawn back.

I. DIVINE ANGER, BEING THAT OF AN INFINITE BEING, CAN NEVER BE AT A LOSS FOR MODES OF EXPRESSION. There are always fresh arrows in his quiver. This should check all carnal security. Clear heavens may but mean gathering storms. Hush in the evening air may but indicate approaching earthquake. The seemingly secure house of prosperity may be within a moment of the lightning-flash. God can always find out how best to smite.

II. DIVINE ANGER, BEING A REMEDIAL FORCE, WILL NOT CEASE UNTIL ITS PURPOSES ARE WROUGHT OUT. It proposed the humbling of Syria and Israel, and the conviction of the sin of their willfulness and ungodliness. Therefore, if Syria and Israel resisted one expression of the anger, another must be found. Since the anger works only towards good, we may well say, “Blessed be God, that he will never cease to be angry until he is enabled to forgive.”

III. DIVINE ANGER, BEING THE STERN SIDE OF LOVE, SPENDS ITSELF IN CORRECTIVE DISPENSATIONS. If we ask what Divine love would do for sinners, for rebellious, for persistent sinners, then the answer will tell us what Divine anger would do for them. To the resistant and willful God’s dealings take form as anger. To the submissive and humble God’s dealings take form as chastisement. The features prominent in Divine dealings we ourselves determine by the response which we make to those dealings.R.T.

Isa 9:16

The sin of leading others astray.

The point of the expression is, that the leaders of the nation are really misleaders. The persons referred to are described in Isa 9:15 as “the ancient and honorable, “and as “the prophet that teacheth lies, “evidently including those having influence by reason of their social status, and having influence by reason of their official positions. It is well for us to remember the responsibility of positions as well as of talents. Society is directly affected by the morality, the prevailing tone, the intelligence, and the religiousness of the upper and the learned classes. Leadership is also a talent or endowment, given by God to individual men and women, and so it is to be regarded as, and used as, a Divine trust. A man’s power of leadership among his fellow-men is to be laid on God’s altar, and used in God’s service.

I. EVERYBODY HAS SOME INFLUENCE ON OTHERS; by virtue of:

1. Relationship, as masters, husbands, fathers, etc.

2. Position, one class of society becoming ideals to the class below them.

3. Character, natural and trained.

4. Education, involving superior knowledge and mental control.

II. SOME HAVE VERY SPECIAL POWERS OF LEADERSHIP. Illustrate by the first Napoleon. Some men seem to master our wills, and compel us to do what they wish. We find such persons in all spheres of life. The Power is one of the secrets of success in business. It is often the genius of secretaries, and of teachers. Illustrate from T. Moore’s poem in ‘Lalla Rookh,’ “The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan.”

III. SUCH INFLUENCE MAY BE MADE A CURSE. Leadership may cover and excuse wrong-doing. Personal relations may disturb moral distinctions.

IV. SUCH INFLUENCE MAY BE MADE A BLESSING. Leadership may present the example of righteousness and obedience. Personal relations with others may be Christ-like, and so a leading towards goodness and God. Special Divine judgments come on those who determinedly lead others astray. The enticer and seducer who wile into the ways that lead down to the pit, God surely hateth and watcheth. His hand will be heavy on them some day.R.T.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Isa 9:1-2. Nevertheless the dimness, &c. The prophet having said, in the 20th verse of the preceding chapter, that they who directed not themselves according to the canon of the divine law should have no light; two things were involved in his discourse: The first, that there would be very many among the Jews, to whom the Messiah, arising with his new light, would be an offence; who would reject his salutary doctrine, and should therefore fall into the most grievous calamities, and thick darkness. And secondly, that there would be others to whom the Messiah would truly appear with the light of grace and consolation, and who would receive him with the greatest joy, as attaining the summit of their hope and desire. The two preceding verses contain the description of the former: see also Isa 9:15 of that chapter. The description of the latter is contained in the first seven verses of this chapter, where the prophet confirms and illustrates his consolatory doctrine, concerning the rising of the light, or the morning, (chap. Isa 8:20.) and the Messiah as the Jehovah, the future sanctuary, and illustrious teacher. See chap. Isa 8:14; Isa 8:16-18. This is the connection of the discourse, and of the particle ki lo, rendered nevertheless, which is to be referred to the 20th verse of the preceding chapter. With respect to this period, it is two-fold: The first part comprehends a prophesy, concerning the rising of this great teacher, and the place of his rising,in these two verses; the latter sets forth the consequence of this rising, the joy of the pious, with a new declaration of the benefit, Isa 9:3-7. The first verse is extremely difficult. Vitringa renders it thus: But thick darkness shall not be upon her that was in distress. In former times, he debased the land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali; but in after-times, he honoured her by the way of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. After the prophet had described the infelicity of those who should reject the Messiah, he here changes his style, to describe the felicity of those on whom the Sun of Righteousness should arise, setting forth their joy and the cause of it. He had before his eyes the illustrious teacher to be manifested in Judea; and, foreseeing that this light of the nation would arise in Galilee, he speaks thus in prophetic rapture, There shall not be thick darkness to that people who were in distress, beyond all the inhabitants of the land of Ephraim; for the Galileans, that is to say, the people of Zebulun, Naphtali, and Asher, were carried away by Tiglath-pileser before the other Ephraimites; and in all the wars which the Ephraimites waged with the Syrians, or northern enemies, they were always the first and most exposed to injuries. Of this land, therefore, so much distressed in former times, the prophet affirms that the darkness shall not be thick in future time, but that God, though he seemed heretofore to have neglected Zebulun and Naphtali, yet hereafter would remarkably honour this part of Canaan; since here that great light of instruction and salvation, expected for so many ages, should arise; and that great and illustrious teacher, whom the prophet accurately describes, should illuminate and relieve the oppressed part of the land. The quotation and application of this passage by St. Matthew evidently prove the propriety of this interpretation. See Mat 13:15, and Vitringa.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

b) The light of the future proceeding from a child that is to be born of the race of David

Isa 9:1-6. (Isa 9:2-7).

2 (1)

THE people that walked in darkness, have seen a great light:

They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
(2) 3Thou hast multiplied the nation,

And not increased the joy:

They joy before thee according to the joy in harvest,

And as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

(3) 4For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden,

And the staff of his shoulder,
The rod of his oppressor,
As in the day of Midian.

5 (4) Fora every battle of the warrior is with confused noise,

And garments rolled in blood;

bBut this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.

(5) 6For unto us a child is born,

Unto us a son is given:
And the government shall be upon his shoulder:
And his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God,
The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
(6) 7Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,

Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom;
To order it, and to establish it
With judgment and with justice, from henceforth even for ever.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this,

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL

On Isa 9:1. is regarded by almost all later authorities as modified from (root to be dark). But I rather side with BOETTCHER (De inferis, 190 sq., 285, and Neue exeg. Krit. Aehrenl. II., p. 124), who, referring to (name of a person, 2Sa 23:31; 1Ch 27:25, and of a place, Neh 7:28; Neh 12:29; Ezr 2:24; comp. Son 8:6) explains it as a superlative expression. The word often stands parallel with and other kindred expressions (Job 3:5; Job 10:21; Job 28:3; Psa 107:10; Psa 107:14, etc.). It is a poetic term and intensive of , being related to it as the night of death to common night. The word does not again occur in Isaiah. Kal. only here in Isaiah; Hiph. Isa 13:10.

On Isa 9:2. Had the Prophet meant the heathen, he would have written . is evidently a distinct and single people.In what follows, the most important inquiry is whether Kthibh or Kri presents the correct reading. Of the old versions TARG., JON. and SYRUS decidedly read ; the LXX., too, so expresses itself that this reading is detected. But JEROME and SYMMACHUS read . But many as have been the attempts, no one has yet been able to obtain a satisfactory sense from the latter. I therefore take for the correct reading (as do KNOBEL, DRECHSLER, DELITZSCH [J. A. ALEXANDER] among the later authorities). It stands in front as in Jer 7:7-9; Jer 7:14; Jer 7:33; Pro 24:8, because an emphasis rests on it.

On Isa 9:3. , the yoke of his burden. Of the noun only this form occurs, and that, in this verse, Isa 10:27; Isa 14:25. How the primary form is to be pointed is thus undecided. But we are justified in assuming ( = 1Ki 11:28) after analogy of (Psa 150:2) from (Isa 9:8; Isa 10:12, etc.) as with (Jer 4:7), (Lev 2:2; Lev 5:12; Lev 6:8). Eze 22:24. Comp. EWALD, 255 b.The goad of the neck is explained by the goad of the driver. and occur not seldom together in Isa 10:5; Isa 10:15; Isa 10:34; Isa 14:5; Isa 28:27; Isa 30:31 sq. is evidently an allusion to Exo 5:6, where Pharaohs task-masters are called . Only in these two passages does occur with (after analogy of verbs that mean a physical holding to, holding fast, penetrating into: , , ,, etc., comp. Isa 11:6).

On Isa 9:4. The at the beginning seems to me to be not co-ordinate with, but subordinated to the that begins ver 3.The words are very difficult. The ancient versions all vary, and it is evident the word was unknown to all. JOSEPH KIMCHI first cited the Syriac , , , = calceus, ocrea, caliga, as also to the like meaning Chaldaic and (comp. Aetheop. ). To this explanation assent, among modern authorities, ROSENMUELLER, GESENIUS. HENGSTENBERG, EWALD, DRECHSLER, BOETTCHER, DELITZSCH, DIESTEL. I side with these, and give to the meaning boot, and , as particip. of the verbi denom. to boot, to stride in boots. is understood by many of the noise of battle, according to Jer 10:22 (GESENIUS, DELITZSCH [J. A. ALEXANDER] etc.). But the expression is not too strong for the heavy tramp of the booted foot, as DELITZSCH says it is, since, Psa 72:16. it is even used of the rustling of the standing grain. Besides, the Prophet would depict here the wild noise of the impetuous advance, as afterwards the shocking look of the blood-stained garments. HOHEISEL has shown from PLIN. Hist. Nat. IX. 18, that soldiers boots were stuck with nails (clavi caligares). He also cites JOSEP. De bello jud. VI. 1, 8, where it is told of a centurion who had , and JUVEN. Sat. III. 247 sq., where one cast down in the tumult says: Planta mox undique magna calcor et in digito clavus mihi militis haerit. part. Pual, from , which Isaiah uses again only in the Niph. (Isa 34:4).The Vav before is that paratactic which we must render by a relative pronoun that, this.The phrase is found only here and Isa 64:10. only here and Isa 9:18.

On Isa 9:5. means both the new-born child (Exo 1:17; Exo 2:3; Exo 2:6), and also the grown boy (Gen 42:22, etc.). Isaiah uses the word pretty often: Isa 2:6; Isa 8:18; Isa 11:7; Isa 29:23; Isa 57:4-5. The following defines the sex. In 1Ch 22:9, where the birth of Solomon is promised to David, it is said: . It is not impossible that the source whence the chronicler drew suggested the Prophets words here is praeter. propheticum. For the Prophet sees the entire life of the Messiah child as actually before him.The noun , principatus, principatum, is found only here and Isa 9:6. The root , kindred to , whence . is not used in Hebrew in the sense of dominari, principatum tenere. , The shoulders are mentioned here as Isa 9:3; Isa 10:27, in as much as they bear and carry (Gen 49:15; Psa 81:7), the office bearer having the office, as it were, on his shoulders. HENGST. must be taken impersonally, as often: Gen 11:9; Gen 16:14; Num 11:34; Jos 7:26; Jdg 15:19. The TARGUM JONATHAN, translates on the assumption that only is the name of the child, and that all that precedes is the name of him that bestows the name, for it renders thus: et appellabitur nomen ab admirabili consilii, Deo forti, qui manet in aeternum, Messias, cujus diebus pax super nobis multiplicabitur. The most Rabbis follow this view, referring the predicates, everlasting Father, Prince of peace, to Hezekiah. Even the Masorets would have only these predicates just named regarded as the name of the child, as may be seen from the Sakeph over . But every one looks for the name of the one to be named after , and not for that of the one giving the name. As the expressions , , form pairs, symmetry requires that be regarded as a pair. If we construe it as two words, we have five names, which does not harmonize with the duality underlying the passage. Beside it has an analogy in (Gen 16:12) which is predicated of Ishmael. In this the man is properly subject and the notion wild ass is attribute. It might read : but the expression would not be so strong. Ishmael is not said to be a man that might be called a wild ass; but he is called directly a wild ass, that is at the same time a man accordingly, a human (two-legged) wild ass. So too is stronger than ; for the latter would be the counsellor of a wonderful thing, or, that is a wonder, whereas the former presents the subject as a personal wonder, i. e., a wonderful one that gives counsel. Comp. the expressions , , which are stronger than if the words were reversed. may be either St. constructus or absolutus, but the latter gives the more intensive sense. cannot be strong hero (GESEN., DE W., MAUR.) because (as KNOB. says) does not occur as an adjective and because it does not read . Like most words of this formation, is a substantive, but it is no abstract noun, and the boundary of nomina concreta substantiva and adjectiva is fluctuating (comp. 2Sa 5:14). So stands as attribute of in the midst of adjectives, Deu 10:17; Jer 32:18 : and Isa 10:21 is undoubted predicate of the absolute Godhead. . Names compounded of are frequent. In many it means pater meus (thus is properly pointed ), e. g. in , : for pater Dei, Jehovae is a dogmatic, and pater illius (for ) is a grammatical impossibility. In the names where is st. constructus, e. g., , , etc., it may be doubtful whether it is genitivus auctoris or attributivus. But in the genitive of the author is inconceivable: eternity has no author. We must take it then as genitive of the attribute = Father whose predicate is eternity.

On Isa 9:6. (formed like , ,), means multiplicatio, increase, and occurs again only Isa 33:23. ELIAS LEVITA conjectures that originally the text read (eis multiplicatur imperium), which is little probable. We might rather conjecture that it originally read , to which also the LXX. would agree, which ends Isa 9:5 with and begins Isa 9:6 with ; from which it may be inferred they read ( =) . The unusual construction would facilitate the change to . [On the clausum see J. A. ALEXANDER in loc.] vid. Isa 2:7. HENGSTENBERG would have depend on . Grammatically this is admissible. But then would be superfluous. One would only expect . Evidently corresponds to and stands in the same relation to as to . and relate to the subject and not to the object of the increase and peace-making.The infinitives and I hold to be gerundive infinitives: thus is avoided the tautological relation to , i. e., the repetition of the aim. is a two-edged word. It involves both the notion of the negative zeal consuming all that is opposed to it, and the notion of the positive zeal that provides and furthers all that serves the purpose. The same words occur again Isa 37:32. Beside that, is found Isa 11:13; Isa 26:11; Isa 42:13; Isa 59:17; Isa 63:15.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1. The progress at the close of Isaiah 8 to this first part of Isaiah 9 is like that from early dawn to sunrise. No dawn, Isa 8:20, No darkness, Isaiah 8:23 (Isa 9:1), Light is risen upon them, Isa 9:1, represent the stages in which the successive unfolding of the light contained in the Law and Testimony takes place. The light becomes not only clearer and brighter, but wider extended Isa 9:1-4 (25). All this blessing proceeds from a child, a son that is born to the people. It is a wonderful child; that is proved by his might and his names, that point to an origin above the earth. The child is a son of David, and will raise up the kingdom of David on the foundation of justice and righteousness. All this shall appear as accomplished by the zeal of Jehovah Isa 9:6 (7).

2. The peopledivide the spoil.

Isa 9:1-2. The people that walk in darkness is certainly the same as Isaiah 8:23 (Isa 9:1). So Mat 4:16 understands the passage. But if the great light first rises on this part of the Israelitish nation, it will still not be confined to them. How could such great salvation be the portion of one member and not of the whole organism? The imagery is like Isa 50:10; Isa 60:1 sq. The distresses referred to Isa 8:21 must necessarily have had a hurtful effect on the population numerically. Hence increase of the nation necessarily belongs to the new dawning day of happiness and prosperity. This benedictio vere theocratica is elsewhere, too, promised as the physical basis of the period of Messianic prosperity. Comp. Isa 49:18-21; Isa 54:1-3; Jer 3:16 (and my comment in loc.); Isa 23:3 sq. We assume that the people means Israel, not the heathen (see above, Text. and Gram.).

The nation, dwindled down to a remnant, is without joy; but, as no blessing comes singly, the nation, again become numerous, has great joy. This joy is so great because it is a joy before the Lord (Psa 42:3; Psa 95:2; Psa 100:2). For substance comp. Jdg 5:30; Psa 4:8; Psa 68:13; Psa 126:5 sq.; Isa 33:23.

3. For thou hast brokenfuel of fire.

Isa 9:3-4. These verses mention a twofold negative cause of joy: 1, the deliverance from the burden of oppression; 2, the cessation of war. The deliverance from oppression is mentioned first. But in order to give assurance that its recurrence is not to be apprehended, it is added that all arming for war, with its consequences, is for ever done away. Israel does not free itself by its own power from the yoke and goad of the driver. The Lord has done it like once He destroyed Midian by a little band that was not even armed (Judges 7, especially Isa 9:2). The overthrow of the Midianites is mentioned Isa 10:26 in the same sense as here. The deliverance from bondage is especially described as everlasting, in that, Isa 9:4, the absolute end of all warlike occupation is announced. For as long as there is war, there are the conquered and slaves. Only when there is no more war does slavery cease, to which no one submits except by compulsion. Comp. for substance Psa 46:9-10; Eze 39:9-10; Zec 9:10. ROSENMUELLER recalls the fact, that there exist coins of Vespasian and Domitian on which Peace is represented as kindling with a torch a heap of the implements of war.

4. For unto us a childwill perform this.

Isa 9:5-6. A third for refers the totality of all the blessings before named to a personal cause, to a child that is bestowed as a gift to Israel and all mankind. Herein lies the reason why the prophetic testament of Isaiah is inserted at this place. For, from Isaiah 7 on, the Prophet has represented the Messianic salvation as proceeding from the race of David in a genuine human way by means of conception, pregnancy and birth. Thus the statement fits this place very well, that one day there will be a birth, the fruit of which will be a child, which, fashioned wonderfully and infinitely higher than all other human children, will establish the kingdom of David, his ancestor, not only on the firmest foundations, but shall raise it up to the point of eternal power and peace.

There is no need of a definite subject for and one shall call, as the present has nothing to do with an actual name for use and calling. The name-giving is only ideal, not real, i. e., it is not the end, but means to the end, viz., the characteristic. The Prophet invents the names only in order by this means to characterize the child briefly, thus to say what he is, not how he shall actually be called by name. It is in this respect like . Jehovah our righteousness (Jer 23:6) and many other similar designations (comp. Isa 1:26; Isa 60:14; Jer 11:16; Eze 48:35, etc.). A wonder-counsellor is one ( 28:29) wonderful in counsel, who forms wonderful, unfathomably deep purposes, into which the angels desire to look (1Pe 1:12). Mighty God being added, intimates that He has the power to accomplish His purposes. In this expression God is the chief word, and mighty is the attribute (see above, Text. and Gram.). Therefore the child is expressly called , God, and that, too, God, who is at the same time Hero.

The question arises: can this name God be applied to a creature, and in what sense? Psa 82:1; Psa 82:6, comp. Joh 10:34 sq., are cited, where princes are called gods. When the Jews would have stoned Jesus for blasphemy and because, being a man, he made himself God, Jesus replied by referring to the Psalm: Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? Evidently He would say that it is not under all circumstances blasphemy to predicate divinity of a man, because otherwise the Psalm could not possibly have spoken so of men. He therefore does not deny that he had called Himself God, but He challenged the right of the Jews to charge Him on that account with blasphemy, because it was possible He may have called Himself God in that sense that was allowable from their standpoint. It appears therefore that the notion certainly can be used in various senses, and in some circumstances may be said of a creature, and without blasphemy. But there is a difference between and . For the former is never used in the wide sense in which we see the latter used. always means the Godhead in a specific or absolute sense, even in passages like Gen 31:29; Deu 28:32; Mic 2:1; Pro 3:27. In Eze 31:11=, comp. HAEVERNICKin loc. and Eze 32:21. We must, of course, admit that for the Prophet himself there hovered a certain obscurity about this expression. For it is impossible for us to ascribe to him the full, clear insight into the being of the person of Christ and of His Homoousia with the Father. It was the New Testament fulfilment, and especially the Resurrection of the Lord, that first brought full light in this respect. The term mighty God must be contemplated from a double standpoint. From that of the Old Testament the expression appears to be a term of indefinite extent. It is possible that it designates the absolute Godhead, but it is far from clear in what sense. But if we contemplate the expression from the New Testament point of view, and in the light of its fulfilment, i. e., in the light of the Resurrection and Ascension, then it is plain not only that it may be taken as the predicate of the absolute Godhead, but that it must be so taken. For there is no son of David that can be regarded as the fulfiller of this prophecy except Jesus of Nazareth. But He is declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Rom 1:4.

But in what sense is eternal fatherhood ( ) ascribed to the child () in our passage? From the fact that the Son is called Everlasting Father, we know at once that it does not mean the Father that from eternity begot the Son. But we must here, too, distinguish between the Old Testament and the New Testament points of view, and must say that from the former the entire comprehensiveness of the expression is not appreciable. When Isa 63:16; Isa 64:7 calls Jehovah the true Father of Israel, this passage may be taken as saying that the Son is the eternal Mediator of this love. But from 1 Corinthians 15 we learn that the Son will be the Second Adam, Mediator of incorruptibility and immortality (9:53) for His own. Finally the child is called Prince of Peace, because, according to Isa 9:6, He stands at the head of a kingdom to which is assured eternal peace. This assurance is founded on the fact that this King will be David and Solomon in one person: David in so far as He casts down every enemy; Solomon in so far as he reaps peace from this sowing of war (Psa 72:3; Psa 72:7; Jer 33:6; Mic 5:4, etc.).Of the increase,etc. The Prophet sees the promised Son enthroned with highly significant titles that He may be a true semper Augustus, ever an augmenter of the kingdom and institutor of eternal peace. To this end the child is set on Davids throne and over Davids kingdom. The expected Son is Davidic. It is the Son that is promised to David 2 Samuel 7, the real Solomon; for his kingdom of peace shall have no end. That quantitative and qualitative influence of the augmentatio and pacificatio is only possible by founding the kingdom on judgment and justice (comp. on Isa 1:21), and by carrying out every single act of administration in this spirit. And upon his kingdom to order it is taken from 2Sa 7:12, where it is said: I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish His kingdom ( ). Comp. Isa 9:13; Isa 9:16; 1Ch 17:11; 1Ch 22:10; 1Ch 28:7; Pro 20:28.

[J. A. ALEXANDER on Isa 9:6. The word , zeal, expresses the complex idea of strong affection comprehending or attended by a jealous preference of one above another. It is used to signify Gods disposition to protect and favor His people at the expense of others. Sometimes, moreover, it includes the idea of a jealous care of His own honor, or a readiness to take offence at anything opposed to it, and a determination to avenge it when insulted. The expressions are derived from the dialect of human passion, but describe something absolutely right on Gods part for the very reasons which demonstrate its absurdity and wickedness on mans. These two ideas of Gods jealous partiality for His own people and His jealous sensibility respecting His own honour are promiscuously blended in the usage of the word, and are perhaps both included in the case before us, or rather the two motives are identical; that is to say, the one includes the other. The mention of Gods jealousy or zeal as the procuring cause of this result affords a sure foundation for the hopes of all believers. His zeal is not a passion, but a principle of powerful and certain operation. The astonishing effects produced by feeble means in the promotion, preservation, and extension of Christs kingdom can only be explained upon the principle that the zeal of the Lord of Hosts effected it.

Is not this the reign of Christ? Does it not answer all the requisite conditions? The Evangelists take pains to prove by formal genealogies His lineal descent from David; and His reign, unlike all others, still continues and is constantly enlarging. HENDEWERK and other modern German writers have objected that this prophecy is not applied to Christ in the New Testament. But we have seen already that the first verse of the chapter and the one before it are interpreted by Matthew as a prophecy of Christs appearing as a public teacher first in Galilee, and, no one has denied that this is part of the same context. Nor is this all. The expressions of the verse before us were applied to Christ, before His birth, by Gabriel, when he said to Mary (Luk 1:32-34), He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end. The historical allusions in these words show clearly that the person spoken of was expected, or, in other words, a subject of prophecy; and though the terms are not precisely those used by Isaiah, they agree with them more closely than with any other passage. Indeed the variations may be perfectly accounted for upon the supposition that the angels message was intended to describe the birth of Christ as a fulfilment, not of this passage only, but of several others also which are parallel with this, and that the language was so framed as to suggest them all, but none of them so prominently as the one before us, and the earlier promise upon which it was founded. Comp. 2Sa 7:11-12; Dan 7:14; Dan 7:27; Mic 4:7, etc.]

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. On Isa 7:1. Hierosolyma oppugnatur, etc. Jerusalem is assaulted but not conquered. The church is pressed but not oppressed.Foerster.

2. On Isa 7:2. Quando ecclesia, etc. When the Church is assaulted and Christ crucified over again in His elect, Rezin and Pekah, Herod and Pilate are wont to form alliance and enter into friendly relations. There are, so to speak, the foxes of Samson, joined indeed by the tails, but their heads are disconnected.Foerster.He that believes flees not (Isa 28:16). The righteous is bold as a lion (Pro 28:1). Hypocrites and those that trust in works (work-saints) have neither reason nor faith. Therefore they cannot by any means quiet their heart. In prosperity they are, indeed, overweening, but in adversity they fall away (Jer 17:9). Cramer.

3. On Isa 7:9. (If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.) Insignis sententia, etc. A striking sentiment that may be adapted generally to all temptation, because all earnest endeavor after anything, as you know, beguiles us in temptation. But only faith in the word of promise makes us abide and makes sure whatever we would execute. He warns Ahaz, therefore, as if he said: I now promise you by the word, it shall be that those two kings shall not hurt you. Believe this word! For if you do not, whatever you afterwards devise will deceive you: because all confidence is vain which is not supported by the word of God.Luther.

4. On Isa 7:10-12. Wicked Ahaz pretends to great sanctity in abstaining from asking a sign through fear of God. Thus hypocrites are most conscientious where there is no need for it: on the other hand, when they ought to be humble, they are the most insolent. But where God commands to be bold, one must be bold. For to be obedient to the word is not tempting God. That is rather tempting God when one proposes something without having the word for it. It is, indeed, the greatest virtue to rest only in the word, and desire nothing more. But where God would add something more than the word, then it must not be thought a virtue to reject it as superfluous. We must therefore exercise such a faith in the word of God that we will not despise the helps that are given in addition to it as aids to faith. For example the Lord offers us in the gospel all that is necessary to salvation. Why then Baptism and the Lords Supper? Are they to be treated as superfluous? By no means. For if one believes the word he will at the same time exhibit an entire obedience toward God. We ought therefore to learn to join the sign with the word, for no man has the power to sever the two.

But do you ask: is it permitted to ask God for a sign? We have an example of this in Gideon. Answer: Although Gideon was not told of God to ask a sign, yet he did it by the impulse of the Holy Spirit, and not according to his own fancy. We must not therefore abuse his example, and must be content with the sign that is offered by the Lord. But there are extraordinary signs or miracles, like that of the text, and ordinary ones like Baptism and the Lords Supper. Yet both have the same object and use. For as Gideon was strengthened by that miraculous event, so, too, are we strengthened by Baptism and the Lords Supper, although no miracle appears before our eyes. Heim and Hoffmann after Luther. Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, also asked the Lord to show him the right wife for Isaac by means of a sign of His own choosing, (Gen 24:14).

It ought to be said that this asking a sign (opening the Bible at a venture, or any other book) does not suit Christian perfection (Heb 6:1). A Christian ought to be inwardly sensible of the divine will. He ought to content himself with the guarantees that God Himself offers. Only one must have open eyes and ears for them. This thing of demanding a sign, if it is not directly an effect of superstition (Mat 12:39; Mat 16:4; 1Co 1:22), is certainly childish, and, because it easily leads to superstitious abuses, it is dangerous.

5. On Isa 7:13. Non caret, etc. That the Prophet calls God his God is not without a peculiar emphasis. In Zec 2:12 it is said, that whoever touches the servants of God touches the pupil of Gods eye. Whoever opposes teacher and preacher will have to deal with God in heaven or with the Lord who has put them into office.Foerster.

6. On Isa 7:14. The name Immanuel is one of the most beautiful and richest in contents of all the Holy Scripture. God with us comprises Gods entire plan of salvation with sinful humanity. In a narrower sense it means God-man (Mat 1:23), and points to the personal union of divinity and humanity, in the double nature of the Son of God become man. Jesus Christ was a God-with-us, however, in this, that for about 33 years He dwelt among us sinners (Joh 1:11; Joh 1:14). In a deeper and wider sense still He was such by the Immanuels work of the atonement (2Co 5:19; 1Ti 2:3). He will also be such to every one that believes on Him by the work of regeneration and sanctification and the daily renewal of His holy and divine communion of the Spirit (Joh 17:23; Joh 17:26; Joh 14:19-21; Joh 14:23). He is such now by His high-priestly and royal administration and government for His whole Church (Mat 28:20; Heb 7:25). He will be snch in the present time of the Church in a still more glorious fashion (Joh 10:16). The entire and complete meaning of the name Immanuel, however, will only come to light in the new earth, and in the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev 21:3; Rev 21:23; Rev 22:5).Wilh. Fried. Roos.

Isa 8:7. On Isa 8:5 sqq. Like boastful swimmers despise small and quiet waters, and on the other hand, for the better display of their skill, boast of the great sea and master it, but often are lost in it,thus, too, did the hypocrites that despised the small kingdom of Judah, and bragged much and great things of the power and splendor of the kingdom of Israel and of the Syrians; such hypocrites are still to be found now-a-dayssuch that bear in their eye the admiranda Romae, the splendor, riches, power, ceremonies and pomp of the Romish church, and thereupon set their bushel by the bigger-heap. It is but the devils temptation over again: I will give all this to thee.Cramer.Fons Siloa, etc. The fountain of Siloam, near the temple, daily reminded the Jews that Christ was coming.Calvin on Joh 9:7.

8. On Isa 8:10. When the great Superlatives sit in their council chambers and have determined everything, how it ought to be, and especially how they will extinguish the gospel, then God sends the angel Gabriel to them, who must look through the window and say: nothing will come of it.Luther.Christ, who is our Immanuel, is with us by His becoming man, for us by His office of Mediator, in us by the work of His sanctification, by us by His personal, gracious presence.Cramer.

9. On Isa 8:14-15. Christ alone is set by God to be a stone by which we are raised up. That He is, however, an occasion of offence to many is because of their purpose, petulance and contempt (1Pe 2:8). Therefore we ought to fear lest we take offence at Him. For whoever falls on this stone will shatter to pieces (Mat 21:44). Cramer.

10. On Isa 8:16 sqq. He warns His disciples against heathenish superstition, and exhorts them to show respect themselves always to law and testimony. They must not think that God must answer them by visions and signs, therefore He refers them to the written word, that they may not become altogether too spiritual, like those now-a-days who cry: spirit! spirit! Christ says, Luke 16 : They have Moses and the prophets, and again Joh 5:39 : Search the Scriptures. So Paul says, 2Ti 3:16 : The Scripture is profitable for doctrine. So says Peter, 2Pe 1:9 : We have a sure word of prophecy. It is the word that changes hearts and moves them. But revelations puff people up and make them insolent. Heim and Hoffmann after Luther.

Chap. 911. On Isa 9:1 sqq. (2). Postrema pars, etc. The latter part of chap. 8 was (legal and threatening) so, on the other hand, the first and best part of chap. 9 is , (evangelical and comforting). Thus must ever law and gospel, preaching wrath and grace, words of reproof and words of comfort, a voice of alarm and a voice of peace follow one another in the church. Foerster.

12. On Isa 9:1 (2). Both in the Old Testament and New Testament Christ is often called light. Thus Isaiah calls Him a light to the gentiles, Isa 42:6; Isa 49:6. The same Prophet says: Arise, shine (make thyself light), for thy light is come, Isa 60:1. And again Isa 9:19 : The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light. In the New Testament it is principally John that makes use of this expression: The life was the light of men, Joh 1:4, and the light shined in the darkness, Joh 9:5. John was not that light, but bore testimony to the light, Joh 9:8. That was the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, Joh 9:9. And further: And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, Joh 3:19. I am the light of the world, (Joh 8:12; Joh 9:5; comp. Joh 12:35).

13. On Isa 9:1 (2). The people that sit in darkness may be understood to comprise three grades. First, the inhabitants of Zebulon and Naphtali are called so (Isaiah 8:23), for the Prophets gaze is fixed first on that region lying in the extreme end of Palestine, which was neighbor to the heathen and mixed with them, and on this account was held in low esteem by the dwellers in Judah. The night that spreads over Israel in general is darkest there. But all Israel partakes of this night, therefore all Israel, too, may be understood, as among the people sitting in darkness. Finally, no one can deny that this night extends over the borders of Israel to the whole human race. For far as men dwell extends the night which Christ, as light of the world, came to dispel, Luk 1:76 sqq.

14. On Isa 9:5 (6). Many lay stress on the notion child, inasmuch as they see in that the reason for the reign of peace spoken of afterwards. It is not said a man, a king, a giant is given to us. But this is erroneous. For the child does not remain a child. He becomes a man: and the six names that are ascribed to Him and also the things predicted of His kingdom apply to Him, not as a child, but as a man. That His birth as a child is made prominent, has its reason in this, that thereby His relation to human kind should be designated as an organic one. He does not enter into humanity as a man, i.e. as one whose origin was outside of it, but He was born from it, and especially from the race of David. He is Son of man and Son of David. He is a natural offshoot, but also the crowning bloom of both. Precisely because He was to be conceived, carried and born of a human mother, and indeed of a virgin, this prophecy belongs here as the completion and definition of the two prophetic pictures Isa 7:10 sqq.; Isa 8:1 sqq.He came down from heaven for the sake of us men, and for our bliss (1Ti 1:15; Luk 2:7). For our advantage: for He undertook not for the seed of angels, but for the seed of Abraham (Heb 2:16). Not sold to us by God out of great love, but given (Rom 5:15; Joh 3:16). Therefore every one ought to make an application of the word to us to himself, and to learn to say: this child was given to me, conceived for me, born to me.Cramer.Cur oportuit, etc. Why did it become the Redeemer of human kind to be not merely man nor merely God, but God and man conjoined or ? Anselm replies briefly, indeed, but pithily: Deum qui posset, hominem, qui deberet. Foerster.

15. On Isa 9:5 (6). You must not suppose here that He is to be named and called according to His person, as one usually calls another by his name; but these are names that one must preach, praise and celebrate on account of His act, works and office. Luther.

16. On Isa 9:6. Verba pauca, etc. A few words, but to be esteemed great, not for their number but for their weight. Augustine. Admirabilis in, etc. Wonderful in birth, counsellor in what He preaches, God in working, strong in suffering, father of the world to come in resurrection, Prince of peace in bliss perpetual. Bernard of Clairvaux. In reference to a child is born, and a son is given, Joh. Cocceius remarks in his Heb. Lex. s. v. : respectu, etc., in respect to His human nature He is said to be born, and in respect to His divine nature and eternal generation not indeed born, but given, as, Joh 3:16, it reads God gave His only begotten Son.

In the application of this language all depends on the words is born to us, is given to us. The angels are, in this matter, far from being as blessed as we are. They do not say: To us a Saviour is born this day, but; to you. As long as we do not regard Christ as ours, so long we shall have little joy in Him. But when we know Him as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, as a gift that our heavenly Father designed for us, we will appropriate Him to ourselves in humble faith, and take possession of all His redeeming effects that He has acquired. For giving and taking go together. The Son is given to us; we must in faith receive Him. J. J. Rambach, Betracht. ber das Ev. Esaj., Halle, 1724.

On Isa 9:6 (7). The government is on His shoulders. It is further shown how Christ differs in this respect from worldly kings. They remove from themselves the burden of government and lay it on the shoulders of the privy counsellors. But He does not lay His dominion as a burden on any other; He needs no prime minister and vicegerent to help Him bear the burden of administration, but He bears all by the word of His power as He to whom all things are given of the Father. Therefore He says to the house of Jacob (Isa 46:3 sq.): Hearken unto me ye who were laid on my shoulders from your mothers womb. I will carry you to old age. I will do it, I will lift, and carry and deliver,on the contrary the heathen must bear and lift up their idols, (Isa 46:1; Isa 46:7).Rambach. In the first place we must keep in mind His first name: He is called Wonderful. This name affects all the following. All is wonderful that belongs to this king: wonderfully does He counsel and comfort; wonderfully He helps to acquire and conquer, and all this in suffering and want of strength. (Luther, Jen. germ. Tom. III. Fol. 184 b.). He uses weakness as a means of subduing all things to Himself. A wretched reed, a crown of thorns and an infamous cross, are the weapons of this almighty God, by means of which He achieves such great things. In the second place, He was a hero and conqueror in that just by death, He robbed him of his might who had the power of death, i.e., the devil (Heb 2:14); in that He, like Samson, buried His enemies with Himself, yea, became poison to death itself, and a plague to hell (Hos 13:14) and more gloriously resumed His life so freely laid down, which none of the greatest heroes can emulate.Rambach.

17. On Isa 9:18 (19) sqq. True friendship can never exist among the wicked. For every one loves only himself. Therefore they are enemies one of another; and they are in any case friends to each other, only as long as it concerns making war on a third party.

Isaiah 10-18. On Isa 10:4. (Comp. the same expression in chap. 10). Gods quiver is well filled. If one arrow does not attain His object, He takes another, and so on, until the rights of God, and justice have conquered.

19. On Isa 10:5-7. God works through men in a threefold way. First, we all live, move and have our being in Him, in that all activity is an outflow of His power. Then, He uses the services of the wicked so that they mutually destroy each other, or He chastises His people by their hand. Of this sort the Prophet speaks here. In the third place, by governing His people by the Spirit of sanctification: and this takes place only in the elect.Heim and Hoffmann.

20. On Isa 10:5 sqq. Ad hunc, etc. Such places are to be turned to uses of comfort. Although the objects of temptation vary and enemies differ, yet the effects are the same, and the same spirit works in the pious. We are therefore to learn not to regard the power of the enemy nor our own weakness, but to look steadily and simply into the word, that will assuredly establish our minds that they despair not, but expect help of God. For God will not subdue our enemies, either spiritual or corporal, by might and power, but by weakness, as says the text: my strength is made perfect in weakness. (2Co 12:9).Luther.

21. On Isa 10:15. Efficacia agendi penes Deum est, homines ministerium tantum praebent. Quare nunc sibilo suo se illos evocaturum minabatur (cap. Isa 5:26; Isa 7:18); nunc instar sagenae sibi fore ad irretiendos, nunc mallei instar ad feriendos Israelitas. Sed praecipue tum declaravit, quod non sit otiosus in illis, dum Sennacherib securim vocat, quae ad secandum manu sua et destinata fuit et impacta. Non male alicubi Augustinus ita definit, quod ipsi peccant, eorum esse; quod peccando hoc vel illud agant, ex virtute Dei esse, tenebras prout visum est dividentis (De praedest Sanctt.).Calvin Inst. II. 4, 4.

22. On Isa 10:20-27. In time of need one ought to look back to the earlier great deliverances of the children of God, as to the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, or later, from the hand of the Midianites. Israel shall again grow out of the yoke.Diedrich.

Isaiah 11-23. On Isa 11:4. The staff of His mouth. Evidence that the kingdom of Christ will not be like an earthly kingdom, but consist in the power of the word and of the sacraments; not in leathern, golden or silver girdles, but in girdles of righteousness and faith.Cramer.

24. On Isa 11:10 sqq. If the Prophet honors the heathen in saying that they will come to Christ before Israel, he may be the more readily believed, when Isa 11:11 sqq., he gives the assurance that the return out of the first, the Egyptian exile, shall be succeeded by a return out of the second, the Assyrian exile, (taking this word in the wider sense of Isaiah). It is manifest that the return that took place under Zerubbabel and Ezra was only an imperfect beginning of that promised return. For according to our passage this second return can only take place after the Messiah has appeared. Farthermore, all Israelites that belong to the remnant of Israel, in whatever land they may dwell, shall take part in it. It will be, therefore, a universal, not a partial return. If now the Prophet paints this return too with the colors of the present (Isa 11:13 sqq.), still that is no reason for questioning the reality of the matter. Israel will certainly not disappear, but arise to view in the church of the new covenant. But if the nation is to be known among the nations as a whole, though no more as a hostile contrast, but in fraternal harmony, why then shall not the land, too, assume a like position among the lands? But the nation can neither assume its place among nations, nor the land its place among lands, if they are not both united: the people Israel in the land of their fathers.

25. On Isaiah 11 We may here recall briefly the older, so-called spiritual interpretation. Isa 11:1-5 were understood of Christs prophetic office that He exercised in the days of His flesh, then of the overthrow of the Roman Empire and of Antichrist, who was taken to be the Pope. But the most thorough-going of those old expositors must acknowledge, at Isa 11:4, that the Antichrist is not yet enough overthrown, and must be yet more overthrown. If such is the state of the case, then this interpretation is certainly false, for Isa 11:4 describes not a gradual judgment, but one accomplished at once. There have been many Antichrists, and among the Popes too, but the genuine Antichrist described 2 Thessalonians 2, is yet to be expected, and also the fulfillment of Isa 11:4 of our chapter. Thereby is proved at the same time that the peaceful state of things in the brute world and the return of the Jews to their native land are still things of the future, for they must happen in that period when the Antichristian world, and its head shall be judged by Christ. But then, too, the dwelling together of tame and wild beasts is not the entrance of the heathen into the church, to which they were heretofore hostile, and the return of the Jews is not the conversion of a small part of Israel that took place at Pentecost and after. The miracles and signs too, contained in Isa 11:15-16 did not take place then. We see just here how one must do violence to the word if he will not take it as it stands. But if we take it as we have done, then the whole chapter belongs to the doctrine of hope (Hoffnungslehre) of the Scripture, and constitutes an important member of it. The Lord procures right and room for His church. He overthrows the world-kingdom, together with Antichrist. He makes of the remnant of Israel a congregation of believers filled with the Spirit, to whom He is near in an unusual way, and from it causes His knowledge to go out into all the world. He creates peace in the restless creatures, and shows us here in advance what more glorious things we may look for in the new earth. He presents to the world a church which, united in itself, unmolested by neighbors, stands under Gods mighty protection. All these facts are parts of a chain of hope that must be valuable and dear to our hearts. The light of this future illumines the obscurity of the present; the comfort of that day makes the heart fresh. Weber, der Prophet Jesaja, 1875.

Chap. 1226. On Isa 12:4 sq. These will not be the works of the New Testament: sacrificing and slaying, and make pilgrimage to Jerusalem and to the Holy Sepulchre, but praising God and giving thanks, preaching and hearing, believing with the heart and confessing with the mouth. For to praise our God is good; such praise is pleasant and lovely (Psa 147:1). Cramer.

27. On Chap. 12 With these words conclude the prophetic discourses on Immanuel. Through what obscurity of history have we not had to go, until we came to the bright light of the kingdom of Christ! How Israel and the nations had to pass through the fire of judgment before the sun arises in Israel and the entire gentile world is illumined! It is the, same way that every Christian has to travel. In and through the fire we become blessed. Much must be burnt up in us, before we press to the full knowledge of God and of His Son, before we become entirely one with Him, entirely glad and joyful in Him. Israel was brought up and is still brought up for glory, and we too. O that our end too were such a psalm of praise as this psalm! Weber, Der Pr. Jes. 1875.

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

Here is another blessed prophecy, full of the Lord Jesus, and of gospel mercies, folded up in him. The prophet speaks of the joy of God’s people, when, in the midst of darkness, the light of Christ’s coming shall break in upon them. The chapter closeth with threatened judgments to the despisers of his word.

Isa 9:1

The opening of this chapter is a continuation of the same subject as the former. The Church was there said to be in darkness. And certainly before the coming of Christ, the darkness was uncommonly great: for from the last prophecy delivered by Malachi to the hour in which Zechariah ministered at the altar of incense, there had been no open visions a period of near 350 years; Luk 1:8-11 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

The Gift of Peace

Isa 9:6 ; Isa 5:21

What a contrast these two texts present! The wicked those living apart from God have no peace; but to those who know the Incarnate Son of God to be their Saviour, He is their Peace the Prince of Peace. Let us look at Him, and then at the great inward gift that He comes to convey to us.

I. Peace Inherent in Christ’s Nature. Whatever Christ is, He is by nature, not by circumstance. If He is a King, He is so by nature; if He is the Redeemer, it is because He has willed it with His Father and the Holy Spirit; if He is a Saviour, He is the only Saviour, none other can save us; and so when we speak of Him as ‘the Prince of Peace,’ we see that that peace is inherent in Himself. When He took our nature, He took it into union with His Godhead. We know that He was tempted in all points; we recognize His physical suffering, and, what is more, and much worse, the agony of mind and heart, the iron entering into the very soul. We cannot understand how that is consistent with His abiding in perfect peace, yet we know that it was so. He is the Prince of Peace because He possessed peace in Himself. Peace rests in the Christian’s heart just because it belongs to Jesus Christ. What Christ is in other natures that He conveys, and He conveys it by necessity.

II. The Gift of Peace. He brings, then, peace!

a. He has made you at peace with God. The punishment of our sins has been bought by His satisfaction of the justice of God.

b. He has given you His peace. You remember His own words that seem to sum up all He can possibly do. They are the last, and so, as is usual with Him, the best Listen to them: ‘Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you’. And He places His peace, if you will have it, right down in your inmost soul. In these last words He was careful to point out ‘Not as the world giveth, give I unto you’. When one of us gives some small pledge or present to a friend, a moment before it belonged to the giver, the next it has passed with affection to the receiver. It has ceased to be the property of the one, and has become the possession of the other. Not so Christ! He does not give in that way; His peace remains His own, not merely because He has parted with none of it, but for a deeper and better reason. The gift which passes between you and me marks our separateness, but the gift that is possessed by you and by Jesus Christ testifies to our union with Him. It is in Him that it is enjoyed, and in Him alone.

III. The Character of Peace. There is peace and peace! Some persons make a wilderness, burn the towns, sweep the crops, kill the men, and then set up an inscription that they have made peace! There is peace which is a name only. There is a peace which is an end, and there is a peace which is unworthy, and a peace which is crushing. It is not the peace of Jesus Christ. The peace He enjoys, and that He conveys, is the peace of God. It is consistent with the completest and most tremendous activity. No saint ever lived without peace as the rule of his life, but no saint ever found in peace his end. The more that the Prince of Peace dwells in our hearts the greater will be our desire and our capacity to serve Him.

References. IX. 6. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iv. No. 214; vol. iv. No. 215; vol. v. No. 258; vol. vi. No. 291; vol. xii. No. 724. F. W. Aveling, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 249. H. Hensley Henson, ibid. vol. lix. 1901, p. 6; see also ibid. vol. lxxi. 1907, p. 9. J. Morgan Gibbon, ibid. vol. lxv. 1904, p. 113. J. Bannerman, Sermons, pp. 108, 128. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Lessons for Daily Life, p. 52. C. J. Ridgeway, The King and His Kingdom, p. 40. W. H. Murray, The Fruits of the Spirit, p. 146. J. Leckie, Sermons Preached at Ibrox, p. 229. H. P. Liddon, Advent in St. Paul’s, p. 257; see also Outlines of Sermons on the Old Testament, p. 174. T. De Witt Talmage, Sermons, p. 52. C. E. Jefferson, The Character of Jesus, p. 339. Jesse Butt, The Soul’s Escape, p. 5. A. G. Mortimer, The Church’s Lessons for the Christian Year, part i. p. 59. J. Keble, Sermons for Christmas and Epiphany, pp. 49, 79. IX. 6, 7. J. Vickery, Ideals of Life, p. 295. V. S. S. Coles, Advent Meditations on Isaiah, I.-XII. p. 77. Stopford A. Brooke, The Old Testament and Modern Life, p. 303. C. Kingsley, Sermons on National Subjects, p. 346. IX. 7. J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons (9th Series), p. 232. J. Clifford, The Secret of Jesus, p. 171. J. B. Mozley, Sermons Parochial and Occasional, p. 244. IX. 13. C. H. Sharpe, Church, Times, vol. xlviii. 1902, p. 48. IX. 16, 17. C. F. Aked, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxi. 1902, p. 387. IX. 29. J. Percival, Sermons at Rugby, p. 127. X. 5-19. V. S. S. Coles, Advent Meditations on Isaiah, I.-XII. p. 81.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

Phases of Divine Purpose

Isa 9:1-7

This is confessedly a chapter most difficult of interpretation. It is evidently detached from some other chapter; the opening word suggests this; that opening word is “Nevertheless.” Let us read the last verse of the preceding chapter:

“And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness” ( Isa 8:22 ).

“Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.” ( Isa 9:1 )

The idea is that the whole land of Israel had seen the extreme point of distress and desolation, and that hereafter the gloom was to disappear, and the full light would shine upon the very land which had been clouded with despair. The ablest translation of the first verse would seem to be this: “Surely there was no gloom to her that was afflicted. In the former time he brought shame on the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the latter he bringeth honour on the way by the sea, beyond Jordan, the circuit of the Gentiles.” The Revised Version makes no substantial difference in the translation. “Zebulun” what association have we with that word? We have read it somewhere. Was it not in the Gospels, whilst we were perusing the record of the life of Christ upon the earth? Zebulun and the land of Naphtali were the parts afterwards known as Upper and Lower Galilee. Under this designation we seem to know both localities familiarly. Was not Nazareth in Zebulun? and was not our Lord called a Nazarene? Who shall say that there are not mysteries in Providence things we pass by at the time, but upon which we recur with larger delight, fuller intelligence, and greater capacity of spiritual understanding? This is always occurring in the history of the world. Again and again we come upon such expressions as, “Then remembered they.” For the time being the incident had lost recollection, it had quite departed from the memory; but some other incident arose which had a resurrectional effect upon the past: “When, therefore, he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them.” So history is the interpreter of history; we must take the present as a lamp to hold over the far past. Tomorrow will interpret a good deal of what has happened under the darkness of to-day. The land of Zebulun and of Naphtali was to be the focal point of divine wealth and blessing.

“The sea,” what sea? The Bible is often elliptical in its references. It says “the river,” as if every one knew what river was meant; as if there were but one great river rolling through the earth: it need not be named, surely some intelligence must be assumed on the part of the reader and the hearer. And now we read of “the sea”: a wonderful sea; not large, but full of association, full of history, the “sea” we have known from the beginning of our study, called the sea of Chinnereth in Num 34:11 , the sea of Galilee and the sea of Tiberias in John vi. i, and Gennesaret in Mar 6:53 . Names change, but the old waters roll in their old channels, not knowing that men are giving them fancy-names, battling about them, and determining great imperial and political rights by the banks within which they flow. Men have named the stars, and so singularly are we constituted that we find it sometimes difficult to dissociate the name from the planet; so we say, with a show of great learning and familiarity, That is Mars and that is Venus, and yonder solemn eye that seems to survey the whole field of night is Jupiter. We imagine that these stars will recognise their own names; whereas they would be as steady in their places, as faithful in their revolutions, if we took their names away and addressed them no more. The nightingale does not sing because we listen. A wondrous independence there is in nature, an independence that sometimes affrights us, for we are accustomed to think ourselves of importance, and that the sun rises to hear the song of chanticleer. It is not so. Have not many truths had fancy names given to them? If men have named rivers, and seas, and continents, and stars, may they not have named dogmas, principles, truths, philosophies, doctrines? and may we not have come to understand that the one is the other, and that if the name be interfered with, the planetary truth is disturbed on its throne? Oh that men were wise!

“As in the day of Midian” ( Isa 9:4 ). What day was that? We have read about it, and we ought to know the reference. The victory of Gideon over the Midianites was one of the most conspicuous instances of valour and military success in all Biblical history, the record of which is to be found in Jdg 8:24-27 . Great historical events should abide thus; old history should not be lost. Men make little phrases of this kind like refrains to a song “As in the day of Midian.” That is the right use of history. The God that enabled me to kill the lion and the bear will make this uncircumcised Philistine a child in my hands: the Lord that gave me victory in the day of Midian will enable me to set my foot upon the neck of every foe. Turn history into music; turn solemn memories into joyous inspirations, and thus make yesterday supply bread for to-day’s hunger.

In the fifth verse we read:

“For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.” ( Isa 9:5 )

It has been submitted that a better rendering is this: “Every boot of the warrior that tramps noisily and the cloak rolled in blood shall be for burning as fuel for fire.” The soldier wears his tall boot, and as his foot comes down on the earth he makes it ring again; and hearing an army pass by who would suppose that the earth will survive the cruel tramp? Religious inspiration lifts men so high as to enable them to despise the pomp and circumstance of war; every boot of the warrior that tramps noisily, and the cloak rolled in blood, which men would gather up and preserve in museums, and show to admiring ages, shall be gathered up by the hand of time and thrust into the middle of the hottest fire. All such relics were made for burning. In our patriotic folly, our exuberant and intoxicated zeal, we gather the boots of warriors, and the cloaks of conquerors, and the tattered banners of famous fields, and all but worship them: underneath the whole pile should be written, “These are for burning as fuel for fire.”

Let us now, advancing from these points of criticism, look at some of the abiding doctrines and illustrations suggested by this noblest effort of the prophet’s imagination. Isaiah’s wing never takes a higher flight than it does in this prevision of the centuries. Observe, the divine purpose has never been satisfied, if we may so say, with darkness, judgment, desolation; the Lord has never said, I have made an end of that wicked world, and now, having blotted it out of the firmament, I shall be at peace. Judgment is his strange work. He never turns aside from a crushed sinner, saying, There is the proof of my omnipotence; I will return to that place: the sinner withers under my curse. Nothing of the kind ever occurs in the record of what we may call the divine experience. When God has judged a man he would seem to return to see what effect the judgment has had, if haply he may find some sign of awakening feeling of loyalty and filial submission. When God cuts down a tree he says, Perhaps it may sprout again; the poor little offending shrub must have another chance. God delights not in judgment, destruction, punishment; he has no pleasure in death. What, then, has been God’s feeling? It has been always a feeling of solicitude and yearning to bless the nations, saying, How can I surprise them with fuller light? how can I amaze them with redundance of gladness? I will dig about the tree and do what in me lies, to nurture it, and strengthen it, and culture it; next year it may bear fruit. This is the spirit of the divine gospel; this is the meaning of the whole plan of Providence. We shall do wrong it we suppose that pity comes in only with the historical Christ, that compassion was born on Christmas Day. Every deed of God in relation to man holds within itself the Cross and priesthood of Christ; so far will we go in accepting all the mystery of evolution. Keeping within the circle which we know as the human circle, we are prepared to say that in every providence there is a Calvary, in every deed of love there is the beginning and pledge of an atonement, on the largest scale, involving the destiny of the race. Doth not the goodness of God lead you to repentance? Destruction was easy: restoration is the difficulty. It is nothing to perform a miracle of darkness. For that miracle God has but to withhold the sun. But how to keep the sun in his place; how to preserve the monotony of graciousness, the permanence of goodness; how to run the days into one another, so that at last they shall be a piece of tesselated mercy and compassion, a mosaic wrought by invisible fingers, and meant to impress the observer with a sense of design, wisdom, love, that is the infinite difficulty. God has persevered, so to say, in this course restoring men’s souls, keeping the universe together, avoiding all sensationalism of phenomenon and of action, and so continuing things that men of an evil spirit have said, Where is the promise of his coming? for all things continue as they were; we see the heavens as the fathers saw them, and the earth is still in her place. So the perverse mind has turned the very permanence of divine goodness into an objection to the fulfilment of divine promises. Let us seize the solemn, central, eternal truth, that whatever God does in relation to this earth he does with a view to its recovery, its restoration, its reinstatement in the household of the stars.

The divine movement amongst the nations has always expressed itself under the contrast of light and darkness:

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined” ( Isa 9:2 ).

No contrast can be more striking; therefore this is the one God has chosen whereby to represent the divine movement: God is associated with light, and all evil is associated with darkness. What is light? Only those who have been long in darkness know what the morning is. It is nothing to those who go to rest healthily, and passing through a dreamless sleep, open their eyes to find that nature has been busy all the time, and that all things are to-day as they were yesterday. Men who sleep and rise so know nothing about the light. Could a man, who has been ten years blind, receive his sight, he would go almost mad with grateful joy as he beheld the light: for the light is everywhere; it is in the flower, it is in the air, it is in every human face; it is the mystery that works itself into the whole economy and relation of being; it is the secret of most things, it is the interpreter of all: God is light. Only renewed men know what sin is. Whilst we are in the sin we do not know it; we have wrought ourselves into a shameful familiarity with it, so that even sin, which ought to be the miracle of all time, becomes the commonplace of history. Let a man once see what sin really is, and escape from it by the grace of God, and he will tell you what he has passed through in language that will appear to be an exaggeration to men who have not had similar experience. Only those who have been the servants of evil can read such a book as Bunyan’s “Grace Abounding,” and can understand many of the ancient spiritual writers. The elder brother could not understand the feasting, the music, and the dancing; he had always been at home; his monotony was broken in upon: here is a miracle of joy, and he is not in the atmosphere; he has no vital relation to all the process; it is to him noise, tumult, folly, an act of gross misconception on the part of his father. The prodigal understood it all; now he listened to the music with new attention; now he joined in the dance, not as in the revel of debauchery, but as in a religious exercise; the music might be the same, the whirl of the dance unchanged in any movement; it is the spirit that transforms and elevates all the actions of life. Did we really know the meaning of this blessing of spiritual light we should be touched into music, as in the ancient fable the rising sun made the stones sing and quiver as with joy. Isaiah feels that all this is coming upon the earth; he says in effect, This is the kingdom who is the king? The fulfilment of the divine purpose has ever been associated with incarnation, idealised humanity. There has always been some coming One. Sometimes we have almost seen him upon the historic page, “A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you,” and instantly imagination is fired, and the whole sphere of human sensibility is excited to a new sensitiveness, as if the prophet might be coming to-day. Who is this king-priest, bearded, solemn-eyed, calm, majestic? What is thy name, O thou father amongst men? “My name is Melchizedek.” Tell me thy name this dark night, thou wrestling angel! But the name was not given; only the suppliant’s name was changed into larger meaning. Still, there is the spectral, the Melchizedek-type of the true Melchizedek; a prophet that is coming, “like unto me,” yet unlike a larger self, an idealised Moses. And then in the Psalms he hath promised his Son. Is there a Son, Child? Then, again, “Kiss the Son.” Where is he? Is he born? Does he live? Has any man seen him? “Melchizedek,” “Prophet,” “Angel,” “Son,” the meaning is that there is yet to be a birth in history, to-morrow or a thousand ages hence; that all creation travails, groans, sighs, and in its sighing says, The right man has not yet come; he is coming. It was given to some men to see the day afar off. Isaiah said:

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” ( Isa 9:6 ).

It is not necessary to suppose that the prophet knew the literal meaning of his own words. He is but a poor preacher who knows all that he has said in his sermon. Had Isaiah done so, he would be no longer the contemporary of his own epoch. It is the glory of prophecy to “feel after.” It is the glory of science to say long before the planet is discovered, There is another world there: no telescope has seen it, no message of light has been received from it consciously, but keep your telescope in that direction, there must be a starry pulse just there. The botanist knows that if he finds a certain plant in a given locality there will be another plant of another name not a mile away. He judges from one plant to another; he submits himself to inferential logic: he has not seen that other plant, but he tells you in the morning that because yesternight he found this leaf growing not far from the house in which he resides he will find another leaf of a similar pattern, or a diverse pattern, not far away; and at night he comes home, radiant as the evening star, and says, Behold, I told you this morning what would be the case, and there it is. So with the larger astronomy, and the larger botany: there is another planet somewhere yonder; when it is discovered call it the Morning Star, and inasmuch as there is triacle, treacle, in Gilead a balm there there shall be found another plant not far away; when you find it call it by some sweet name, such as the Rose of Sharon, or the Lily of the Valley. It is the glory of the prophet to see signs which have infinite meanings to see the harvest in the seed, the noonday in the faintest tint of dawn, the mighty man in the helpless infant, the Socrates in the embryo. This prevision made the prophets seemingly mad. Their knowledge was to them but a prison, so small, so dark, yet now and again almost alive with a glory all but revealed. The horizon was loaded with gloom, yet here and there a rent showed that heaven was immediately behind, and might at any moment make the dark cold earth bright and warm with eternal summer. This hope has kept the world alive; this hope has kept off the languor and decrepitude of old age; this hope has shaken the prison-walls of the present, and filled the prospect with the image of good men, mighty to labour and to lead the world.

Look at the deliverer as seen by the prophet “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called—–” Now, the English punctuation seems to fritter away the dignity of the appellation. The compound name really falls into this classification: First, Wonderful-Counseller, as one word, as if, indeed, it were but one syllable; second, God-the-Mighty-One, not four words, but hyphened together; third, Father-of-Eternity, also hyphened and consolidated; fourth, Prince-of-Peace, that likewise an instance of the words run into one another, and in this fourfold classification we have the mysterious name of the deliverer. There is no evidence that Isaiah saw the birth of Christ as we understand that term; but what he did see was that the only deliverer who could accomplish the necessary work must fill out the whole measure of these terms; if he failed to fill out that outline, he was not the predicted Messiah. Let us see. He must fill the imagination “Wonderful.” Imagination cannot be safely left out of any religion; it is that wondrous faculty that flies to great heights, and is not afraid of infinite breadths; the faculty, so to say, that lies at the back of all other faculties, sums them up, and then adds an element of its own, using the consolidated mind for the highest purposes of vision and understanding. Is this name given for the first time? Where do we find the word “Wonderful” in the Scriptures? We may not, perhaps, find it in the English tongue, but it is really to be found in Jdg 13:18 : “The angel of the Lord said unto Manoah, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is “secret?” the same Hebrew word that is rendered in the text “Wonderful”; so we might read, “The angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is Wonderful.” Let us say again and again, there has always been a spectral presence in history, a ghost, an anonymous ministry; something that comes and goes in flashes of light, in frowns of darkness, in whispered blessings, in dreams that make the night glow above the brightness of a summer day.

Not only must he fill the imagination, he must satisfy the judgment. His name, therefore, is not only Wonderful, but “Counseller,” the fountain of wisdom and understanding, the mind that rules over all things with perfectness of mastery, that attests everything by the eternal meridian, and that looks for righteousness. Not only must he be Wonderful, and not only must he satisfy the judgment, he must also satisfy the religious instinct, so he is called “The Mighty God.” It is not enough to describe God without epithetic terms. Sometimes we say, Why utter such words as, Thou infinite, eternal, ever-blessed God? because we are so constituted in this infantile state of being that we need a ladder of adjectives to get up to our little conception of that which is inconceivable. You cannot limit “love” in its syntax. You can write grammars for pedants, but when the heart burns, when all love turns the heart to divinest uses, then we use redundance of words, because we require all possible multiplications of terms in order to give but a dim hint of the rapture which makes our souls ecstatic.

Not only so, there must be in this man a sense of brotherhood, so he is called “The Prince of Peace.” He will bring man to man, nation to nation; he will arbitrate amongst the empires of the earth and rule by the sabbatic spirit. Christianity is peace, and any man who resigns even the highest position in the nation, rather than show sympathy with unnecessary war, is a man who deserves the confidence and the honour of his countrymen by so much. If England would disarm herself she would go far towards disarming the earth. It is the heroic Christian nation that is needed to lead the empires of the world. Whilst men are making but a dozen guns fewer this year than they made last year they are but playing with the problem of peace, trifling with the problem of philanthropy. When a nation, crowded with altars and churches, a nation that has almost made the Cross into an ornament, shall disarm her soldiers she will go, we repeat, far towards completing the disarmament of the world. It is vain to profess Christ and to keep up standing armies. The lie is given to our prayers when we discharge our guns, and even negatively challenge and defy our enemies.

He is to be more still. He is to be “The everlasting Father,” otherwise translated, The Father of eternity; otherwise, and better translated, The Father of the age to come. Therein we have misinterpreted Christianity. We have been too anxious to understand the past. The pulpit has had a backward aspect most careful about what happened in the second century, dying to know what Tertullian thought and what Constantine did. Christ is the Father of the age to come. If he lived now he would handle the question of poverty; he would discuss the great uses of Parliament; he would address himself to every church, chapel, and sanctuary in the kingdom; he would come into our various buildings and turn us out to a man. Christianity is the prophetic religion. It deals with the science that is to be, with the politics yet to be developed, with the commerce that is yet to be the bread-producing action of civilised life.

The surrounding nations Egypt and Assyria gave great names to their gods. Look at the inscriptions on the pillars in the time of Sargon. One Assyrian king was called “The Great King, The King Unrivalled; The Protector of the Just; The Noble Warrior.” If Isaiah wrote in a time of great names he, by this conception of an appellation, threw all other cognomens into contempt. “The mighty God.” The word is not Elohim , a word under which a species of sub-divinity could be classified: “Said I not unto you, Ye are gods?” That word is El , a word which is never applied but to Jehovah, and which is never used but as connoting the innermost essence of ineffable deity.

This is Isaiah’s prophecy. The deliverer is to come as a child, a son, a governor, a name; he is to sit “upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.” Say there was a secondary application of the terms, there can be no objection to that; but no living man ever filled out in their uttermost spheral meaning all these names but one, and his name is JESUS.

Then comes rapture upon rapture. And the pledge of the fulfilment of all is, “The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” The word rendered “zeal” is the root-word out of which comes the term jealousy; zeal and jealousy mean the same thing in this connection The jealousy of the Lord of hosts will perform this. The Lord is jealous over the daughter of Zion; he is jealous over the integrity of his own oath. When he has declared that the whole earth shall be filled with a divine glory, not one iota of that promise can fail; the Lord’s jealousy or zeal is involved in the fulfilment of the terms. The Lord worketh. If the conversion of the world were dependent upon our mechanical agencies, that conversion would be long delayed, it might, indeed, be expunged from any record of the possibilities; but the battle is not ours, it is God’s; the banner that is to float from the heights of a conquered world is to be planted there by him whose name is King of kings, Lord of lords. Heaven takes a long time in its working, but its work is done for ever. We should wish to see the whole world at peace to-day, and we should love to run from tower to tower and tell the metal in every belfry to ring out the old and ring in the new, for the very Christ has come; but the matter is of greater consequence to Christ than it can be to us. It is well, therefore, for us if in faith and rest and love we can say, Lord, thy time is best: we will pray thine own prayer, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

The Knell of Doom

Isa 9:1 to Isa 10:4

There is a very striking expression in the Isa 9:11 : “The Lord shall set up the adversaries.” “Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?” Does God employ evil spirits, evil men? Is it true that he maketh the wrath of man to praise him, and that he restrains the remainder thereof, and keeps it back for use upon occasion? Does he use up the very hell which sin has made, turning its heat into uses intended for judgment and penalty, and through this process intended also for repentance and reclamation? It is a wonderful universe. “The Lord shall set up the adversaries.” This accounts for many oppositions which otherwise would be without explanation. We wonder why such and such people should be opposed to us; on the face of the occasion there is nothing to account for the hostility; in fact, there may be possibly something which ought to operate in another direction, making them rather friends and comrades than enemies; yet there they are, in battle array, looking upon us jealously, speaking of us falsely, endeavouring to ensnare our steps, to frustrate our purposes, and to make our life a misery. Attempt to conciliate them, and all your approaches do but add to the malignity of their detestation. We are not to look upon these things as merely human, coming and going by an uncalculated law, an operation of chance or fortuity; we are to ask for discerning eyes that look beneath surfaces, and find the spring of causes. The people themselves, too, are at a loss to explain their hostility: they cannot give reasons in regular numeration, gathering themselves up into a final and representative reason; yet they know that their hearts are simply set against us in a deadly attitude. Ask them questions about this opposition, and they will confess themselves bewildered; they daily look round for causes, and find none; yet they say they cannot restrain the dislike, and they must force it into forms of opposition about whose urgency and determinateness there can be no mistake. How is all this? Is it not the Lord reigning even here? God means to chasten us, to make us feel that there are other people in the world beside ourselves, and that we have no right to all the room, and no claim that can be maintained to all the property. Thus we teach one another by sometimes opposing one another. We are brought to chastening and sobriety and refinement by attritions and oppositions that are, from a human point of view, utterly unaccountable. The Bible never hesitates to trace the whole set and meaning of providence to the Lord himself: he sends the plague, the pestilence, the darkness, all the flies and frogs that desolated old Egypt; he still is the Author of gale, and flood, and famine, and pestilence. We have amused ourselves by deceiving ourselves, by discovering a thousand secondary causes, and seeking, piously or impiously, to relieve providence of the responsibility of the great epidemic. Within given limits all we say may be perfectly true; we are great in phenomena, we have a genius in the arrangement of detail; but, after all, above all, and beneath all, is the mysterious life, the omnipotence of God, the judgment between right and wrong that plays upon the universe as upon an obedient instrument, now evoking from it black frowning thunder, and now making it tremble with music that children love, and that sweetest mothers want all their babes to hear. Who can be so gentle, so condescending, so tender as the everlasting Father?

In this section we come upon a word which may be regarded as a refrain “For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still” ( Isa 9:12 ). In the seventeenth verse the refrain is repeated; in the twenty-first verse we find it again; and once more ( Isa 10:4 ) the solemn words roll in upon our attention: “For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.” There must be some cause for this. Is the cause concealed? On the contrary, it is written in boldest capitals, so that the dimmest eyes may see it all, in every palpitating, burning syllable. Let us make ourselves acquainted with the cause, lest we judge God harshly by wondering that his hand should be stretched out in judgment rather than stretched out that he may touch the nations with a sceptre of mercy.

“The people turneth not unto him that smiteth them” ( Isa 9:13 ). That is one element of the cause of this judgment. They do not kiss the rod: they see it to be a rod only; they do not understand that judgment is the severe aspect of mercy, and that without mercy there could be no real judgment. There might be condemnation, destruction, annihilation, but “judgment” is a combined or compound term, involving in all its rich music every possible utterance of law and grace and song and hope. Why do we not turn to him who smites us, and kiss the rod; yea, kiss the hand that wields it? Why do we not say, Thy judgments are true and righteous altogether, thou Lord most High: health gone, chairs vacated, fireside emptied; all is right, and all is hard to bear: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord? Yea, the submissive heart may go further, and say, I have no right to any tittle that has been taken from me; it was really not mine; the mistake was that I thought it belonged to me, and that I could establish a claim to its proprietorship and retention: whereas I see now that I have nothing that I have not received, that I never had anything that was not given to me or lent to me, or of which I was not put in trust and stewardship. Thou hast taken it all away; I know it is not because I have prayed too much, but because I have sinned beyond measure. When a man thus kisses the hand that wields the rod, the rod blossoms, and God’s judgment becomes God’s grace.

“The leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed” ( Isa 9:16 ).

That is another explanation of the cause. The displeasure is not superficial or incidental, involving only a few of the weaker sort of people; the displeasure has attacked the very centres of social dignity, social thought, and social influence. The leaders have fallen: what can the followers do? Howl, fir tree, for the cedar has fallen. In ancient times the people were accustomed to put the statues of their princes and leaders close to fountains and springing waters; they thought the association good, the alliance seemed to be natural and suggestive: for these men were fountains of pure water, springs of wisdom, and judgment, and righteousness; all their thought was clear as crystal, and the uprising of their life was as water that came from a rocky bed, untainted, refreshing. The idea was excellent. People who had such conceptions regarding their princes, leaders, and legislators were likely to yield themselves to whatever influence such mighty men exerted. When, therefore, the leader went astray, the whole procession followed him, because they had confidence in him. “I command, therefore,” said one who spoke with authority, “that prayer be made for all men” for princes, governors, rulers, magistrates, judges, ministers of state, conductors of the journals of the time; for all men who have the eloquent tongue, the facile pen, moral, intellectual, social, that leadership may be purified, and that under a sanctified directorate the whole nation may move on in the direction of righteousness, equity, love of truth, moral frankness, and abounding, yea boundless, charity.

“Every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly”( Isa 9:17 ).

This is a continuation of the explanation of the cause of the divine judgment. Mark the completeness of the statement: it is “every one.” We have read elsewhere, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” We are familiar with the expression that the Lord looked down from heaven to see if there were any that were righteous and that did good, and whose thoughts were towards himself in all the simplicity of trust and in all the ardour of prayer, and he himself, reporting upon the moral state of the world, said, They have all turned aside. In our high confessions, sometimes perhaps thoughtlessly, yet after a moment’s reflection most thoughtfully, we have said, “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way.” “Every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly.” Does not the word “folly” seem to be too weak a word with which to conclude that indictment? “Hypocrite,” “evildoer,” “folly” does not the series run in the wrong direction? So it may appear in the translation, but the word for “folly” should be “blasphemy.” “Every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh blasphemy:” the world has become brazen-faced in iniquity, shameless in sin; an oath shall now be uttered where once it would only have been whispered, and men shall speak openly of forbidden things as if they were talking the conventional language of the day. The devil drives his scholars fast; he does not keep school for nothing; he means to turn out experts; he listens to our profane rhetoric, and in proportion as we become eloquent in the utterance of his language does he give us prize, and certificate, and honour, and write down our names in the list of those who have taken high positions in the examinations of hell. “For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.” That is right. If his anger had been turned away, he would not have been God; if his hand had not been stretched out, even farther and farther still in presence of such wickedness, then he would have forfeited his right to sit upon the throne of the universe. God cannot yield; righteousness can never compound; there is no compromise in truth: the whole controversy must be settled upon principles that are fundamental, all-involving, and eternal, and then it will be for ever settled.

The Lord will show how the judgment will take effect “Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day” ( Isa 9:14 ). The explanation is given partly in Isa 9:15 , “The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.” “Branch and rush” the allusion is to the beauteous palm-tree: it shall be cut down notwithstanding its beauty; and the “rush” the common growths round about it, entangled roots, poor miserable shrubs that crowd and cumber the earth branch and rush cannot stand before God’s sword and fire: everything that is wrong goes down in a common destruction. Judgment obliterates our classifications. When judgment begins at the house of God, the meanest man and the loftiest go for nothing before the fire of that holy wrath. It is well that now and again all our classifications should be destroyed. We have made too much of them; we have designated this and that as reputable and respectable and good, whereas it was only relatively such, and not really. When God arises to shake terribly the earth, tower, and temple, and town, and meanest hut, all reel under the tremendous shock. “God is no respecter of persons.” He will not spare the corrupt judge and punish the meaner criminals; rather will he say, The greater the criminal’s advantages the meaner is the criminal himself: he ought to have known better; he had every opportunity of knowing better; he sinned away his advantages, and therefore his downfall could be none to mitigate or deplore.

“The Lord shall have no joy in their young men” ( Isa 9:17 ).

The meaning is full of suggestion. God delights in the young. God has made the young a ministry of instruction and comfort to old age. God keeps the world young by keeping children in it, and helpless ones. But God shall cease to see in young men any hope for the future. Once he would have done so, saying, The young men will keep the world right: they are strong, they are pure-minded, they are enthusiastic; their youthful, sometimes exuberant, zeal and influence will keep things as they ought to be kept. But henceforth God withdraws from the young, and they become old; he takes from them his all-vitalising and all-blessing smile, and they wither as flowers die when the sun turns away.

Sin was to be left to be its own punishment. Here we come upon a paragraph full of mournful interest. The whole work shall be left to sin itself. “No man shall spare his brother” ( Isa 9:19 ). How often have we seen when men have fallen into wrong relations to God they have fallen also into wrong relations to one another; all pledges are broken up, all covenants are destroyed, all understandings as to concession and compromise and give-and-take, all these things disappear, and man flies at the throat of man like wild beast at wild beast. How man can sink! Why can he sink so far? Because he has risen so high: the inverted tree we see in the calm lake indicates the height of that tree as it lifts itself up towards the welcoming and blessing sun. “He shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied” ( Isa 9:20 ). This is the mockery of God. This is how God taunts men. “They shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm.” A man shall play the cannibal upon himself. Literally, every man shall fly at every other man’s arm, and every man shall be eating human flesh, for there is nothing else to eat.

Then, too, there is to be internecine war: Manasseh shall fly at Ephraim, and Ephraim at Manasseh, and they who could agree upon nothing between themselves always agree in flying together against Judah. This is what wickedness will bring the world to to murder, to mutual hatred and distrust, to perdition. We do not understand the power of wickedness, because at present, owing to religious thinking and action and moral civilisation, there are so many mitigating circumstances, so many relieving lights; but wickedness in itself let loose upon the earth, and the earth is no longer the abode of green thing, of fair flower, or singing bird, of mutual trust and love: it becomes a pandemonium. If we could consider this deeply, it would make us solemn. We do not consider it; we are prepared to allow it as a theory or a conjecture, but the realisation of it is kept far from us. The wicked man kills himself; puts his teeth into the flesh of his own arm, and gnaws it with the hunger of a wild beast. That is what wickedness comes to! It is not an intellectual error, not a slight and passing mistake, not a lapse of judgment, or a momentarily lamentable act of misconduct which can easily be repaired: the essence of wickedness is destruction. Wickedness would no sooner hesitate to kill a little child than to snap a flower. The thing that keeps the world from suicide is the providence of God. Were God to take away the restraining influences which are keeping society together, society would fall into mutual enmity, and the controversy could only end in mutual death. “For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still” ( Isa 9:21 ). Do not blame the judgment, blame the sin; do not say, How harsh is God, say, How corrupt, how blasphemous is man!

“Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed” ( Isa 10:1 ).

The Lord’s voice is always for righteousness. What is it that is denounced? It is the very thing that is to be denounced evermore. There is nothing local or temporary in this cause of divine offence. The Lord is against all unrighteous decrees, unnatural alliances, and evil compacts. This is the very glory of the majesty of omnipotence, that it is enlisted against every form of evil and wrong. Then “Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed” scribes or registrars who preserve all the forms of the court, and keep their pens busy upon the court register, writing down every case, and appearing to do the business correctly and thoughtfully; and yet all the while these very registrars were themselves plotting “to take away the right from the poor, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless.” The court of law was turned into a means of robbery, as it is in nearly every country under the sun. The scribes who wrote down the law were men who secretly or overtly broke it; the judge used his ermine as a cloak, that under its concealment he might thrust his hand further into the property of those who had no helper. “For all this his anger is not turned away.” Blessed be his name! Oh, burn thou against us all; mighty, awful, holy God, burn more and more, until we learn by fire what we can never learn by pity. The Lord speaks evermore for the poor, for the widow, for the fatherless, for the helpless. Here we pause, as we have often done before in these readings, to say, How grand is the moral tone of the Bible; how sweetly does God speak for truth and righteousness; how condescendingly does he enlist omnipotence on the side of innocent helplessness.

Now we come upon an awful irony:

“What will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?” ( Isa 10:3 ).

This is more difficult to bear than was the fire of judgment this spectral tone, this irony from behind the clouds, this mockery that makes our marrow cold. “What will ye do?” What is your last resource? When it becomes your turn to play in this great game, what move will you take? That hour comes in all life. For a long time men can be moving to and fro, and changing their position, and trying their policy, and deceiving even the very elect by the agility of their movements; but there comes a time when the last step must be taken, the last hand must be shown, the last declaration must be made. You have sinned away so the impeachment would seem to say the day of judgment; you have mocked righteousness; you have turned the sanctuary into a school of blasphemy; you have robbed the poor, the widow, the fatherless; you have trodden down every thing of beauty that God planted upon the earth, and you would have blackened the stars with night if your evil hands could have reached them! Now there has come the critical moment of agony, and the question is, “What will ye do?” Now for genius, now for the fine intellectual stroke, now for the stroke that will settle everything your own way what is it? Open your right hand, and it contains emptiness; your left, and it is rich with nothingness. “What will ye do?” You have sworn every oath, and the very familiarity of your irreverence has turned your blasphemy stale. “What will ye do?” Bribe? You have nothing in the treasure-house, and your money is not current coin with this reckoning. “What will ye do?” Confess? Too late: that would be a coward’s trick. “What will ye do?” That same question occurs in the Christian books “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” That question is HOW?

Note

“The whole passage, from the fifth verse of chap. x. to the end of chap, xii., should be read together, beginning with the solemn denunciation, as the title to the whole, of ‘Woe to Asshur!’ Assyria, in all its pride, was but a rod in the hands of Jehovah, and when the appointed work of judgment was done, the instrument of that judgment, worthless in itself, would be cast away and destroyed…. Then follows a description of the Assyrian’s march upon Jerusalem, which, says Delitzsch, ‘aesthetically considered, is one of the most magnificent that human poetry has ever produced.’ It is also very interesting to the reader of modern days, inasmuch as it clears up a difficulty which most earlier expositors had felt, and enables us by means of the Assyrian monuments to add another to the ‘undesigned’ confirmations of Scripture. It has been usual to refer the account of this march to the history of Sennacherib, in Hezekiah’s later days, after the capture of Lachish [2Ki 18:13-17 ; Isa 36:1-2 ]. But then, it has been remarked, Sennacherib advanced from the south-west, i.e. from the road leading to Egypt; while the route so vividly described by the prophet is from the north-east. Expositors therefore have generally contented themselves with calling the description ‘ideal.’ It depicts such an approach as the Assyrian king might have made, had he come from that quarter! But now we know that there was another invasion before that of Sennacherib.” Rev. S. G. Green, D.P.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

XXVII

THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST IN ISAIAH

The relation between the New Testament Christ and prophecy is that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. To him give all the prophets witness. All the scriptures, the law, the prophets, and the psalms, testify of him. And we are fools, and slow of heart to credit adequate testimony when we distrust any part of the inspired evidence.

Of the ancient prophets Isaiah was perhaps the most notable witness of the coming Messiah. An orderly combination of his many messianic utterances amounts to more than a mere sketch, indeed, rather to a series of almost life-sized portraits. As a striking background for these successive portraits the prophet discloses the world’s need of a Saviour, and across this horrible background of gloom the prophet sketches in startling strokes of light the image of a coming Redeemer.

In Isa 2:2-4 we have the first picture of him in Isaiah, that of the effect of his work, rather than of the Messiah himself. This is the establishment of the mountain of the Lord’s house on the top of the mountains, the coming of the nations to it and the resultant millennial glory.

In Isa 4:2-6 is another gleam from the messianic age in which the person of the Messiah comes more into view in the figure of a branch of Jehovah, beautiful and glorious. In sketching the effects of his work here the prophet adds a few strokes of millennial glory as a consummation of his ministry.

In Isa 7:14 he delineates him as a little child born of a virgin, whose coming is the light of the world. He is outlined on the canvas in lowest humanity and highest divinity, “God with us.” In this incarnation he is the seed of the woman and not of the man.

The prophet sees him as a child upon whom the government shall rest and whose name is “Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6 ). This passage shows the divinity of Christ and the universal peace he is to bring to the world. In these names we have the divine wisdom, the divine power, the divine fatherhood, and the divine peace.

In Isa 11:1-9 the prophet sees the Messiah as a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, i.e., of lowly origin, but possessing the Holy Spirit without measure who equips him for his work, and his administration wrought with skill and justice, the result of which is the introduction of universal and perfect peace. Here the child is presented as a teacher. And such a teacher! On him rests the seven spirits of God. The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. He judges not according to appearances and reproves not according to rumors. With righteousness he judges the poor and reproves with equality in behalf of the meek. His words smite a guilty world like thunderbolts and his very breath slays iniquity. Righteousness and faithfulness are his girdle. He uplifts an infallible standard of morals.

In Isa 40:3-8 appears John the Baptist, whom Isaiah saw as a voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way for the coming King.

In Isa 11:2 ; Isa 42:1 ; Isa 61:1-3 the prophet saw the Messiah as a worker in the power of the Spirit, in whom he was anointed at his baptism. This was the beginning of his ministry which was wrought through the power of the Holy Spirit. At no time in his ministry did our Lord claim that he wrought except in the power of the Holy Spirit who was given to him without measure.

In Isa 35:1-10 the Messiah is described as a miracle worker. In his presence the desert blossoms as a rose and springs burst out of dry ground. The banks of the Jordan rejoice. The lame man leaps like a hart, the dumb sing and the blind behold visions. The New Testament abounds in illustrations of fulfilment. These signs Christ presented to John the Baptist as his messianic credentials (Mat 11:1-4 ).

The passage (Isa 42:1-4 ) gives us a flashlight on the character of the Messiah. In the New Testament it is expressly applied to Christ whom the prophet sees as the meek and lowly Saviour, dealing gently with the blacksliding child of his grace. In Isa 22:22 we have him presented as bearing the key of the house of David, with full power to open and shut. This refers to his authority over all things in heaven and upon earth. By this authority he gave the keys of the kingdom to Peter one for the Jews and the other for the Gentiles who used one on the day of Pentecost and the other at the house of Cornelius, declaring in each case the terms of entrance into the kingdom of God. This authority of the Messiah is referred to again in Revelation:

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying. Fear not: I am the first and the last, and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Rev 7:17

And to the angel of the church in Philadelphis write: These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and none shall shut, and shutteth and none openeth. Rev 3:7

In Isa 32:1-8 we have a great messianic passage portraying the work of Christ as a king ruling in righteousness, in whom men find a hiding place from the wind and the tempest. He is a stream in a dry place and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

In Isa 28:14-18 the Messiah is presented to w as a foundation stone in a threefold idea:

1. A tried foundation stone. This is the work of the master mason and indicates the preparation of the atone for its particular function.

2. An elect or precious foundation stone. This indicates that the stone was selected and appointed. It was not self-appointed but divinely appointed and is therefore safe.

3. A cornerstone, or sure foundation stone. Here it is a foundation of salvation, as presented in Mat 16:18 . It is Christ the Rock, and not Peter. See Paul’s foundation in 1 Corinthians:

According to the grace of God which was given unto me; as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1Co 3:10-11 .

In Isa 49:1-6 he is presented as a polished shaft, kept close in the quiver. The idea is that he is a mighty sword. In Revelation, Christ is presented to John as having a sharp, twoedged sword proceeding out of his mouth.

In Isa 50:2 ; Isa 52:9 f.; Isa 59:16-21 ; Isa 62:11 we have the idea of the salvation of Jehovah. The idea is that salvation originated with God and that man in his impotency could neither devise the plan of salvation nor aid in securing it. These passages are expressions of the pity with which God looks down on a lost world. The redemption, or salvation, here means both temporal and spiritual salvation salvation from enemies and salvation from sin.

In Isa 9:1 f. we have him presented as a great light to the people of Zebulun and Naphtali. In Isa 49:6 we have him presented as a light to the Gentiles and salvation to the end of the earth: “Yea, he saith, It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”

In Isa 8:14-15 Isaiah presents him as a stone of stumbling: “And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble thereon, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.”

The prophet’s vision of his maltreatment and rejection are found in Isa 50:4-9 ; Isa 52:13-53:12 . In this we have the vision of him giving his “back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair.” We see a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. His visage is so marred it startled all nations. He is a vicarious sacrifice. The chastisement of the peace of others is on him. The iniquity of others is put on him. It pleases the Father to bruise him until he has poured out his soul unto death as an offering for sin.

The teaching of Isaiah on the election of the Jews is his teaching concerning the “holy remnant,” a favorite expression of the prophet. See Isa 1:9 ; Isa 10:20-22 ; Isa 11:11 ; Isa 11:16 ; Isa 37:4 ; Isa 37:31-32 ; Isa 46:3 . This coincides with Paul’s teaching in Romans 9-11.

In Isa 32:15 we find Isaiah’s teaching on the pouring out of the Holy Spirit: “Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest,” and in Isa 44:3 : “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.”

In Isa 11:10 he is said to be the ensign of the nations: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, that standeth for an ensign of the peoples unto him shall the nations seek; and his resting place shall be glorious.”

Isa 19:18-25 ; Isa 54:1-3 ; Isa 60:1-22 teach the enlargement of the church. The great invitation and promise are found in Isa 55 .

The Messiah in judgments is found in Isa 63:1-6 . Here we behold an avenger. He comes up out of Edom with dyed garments from Bozra. All his raiment is stained with the blood of his enemies whom he has trampled in his vengeance as grapes are crushed in the winevat and the restoration of the Jews is set forth in Isa 11:11-12 ; Isa 60:9-15 ; Isa 66:20 . Under the prophet’s graphic pencil or glowing brush we behold the establishment and growth of his kingdom unlike all other kingdoms, a kingdom within men, a kingdom whose principles are justice, righteousness, and equity and whose graces are faith, hope, love, and joy, an undying and ever-growing kingdom. Its prevalence is like the rising waters of Noah’s flood; “And the waters prevailed and increased mightily upon the earth. And the water prevailed mightily, mightily upon the earth; and all the high mountains, that are under the whole heavens, were covered.”

So this kingdom grows under the brush of the prophetic limner until its shores are illimitable. War ceases. Gannenta rolled in the blood of battle become fuel for fire. Conflagration is quenched. Famine outlawed. Pestilence banished. None are left to molest or make afraid. Peace flows like a river. The wolf dwells with the lamb. The leopard lies down with the kid. The calf and the young lion walk forth together and a little child is leading them. The cow and the bear feed in one pasture and their young ones are bedfellows. The sucking child safely plays over the hole of the asp, and weaned children put their hands in the adder’s den. In all the holy realms none hurt nor destroy, because the earth is as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the fathomless ocean is full of water. Rapturous vision! Sublime and ineffable consummation! Was it only a dream?

In many passages the prophet turns in the gleams from the millennial age, but one of the clearest and best on the millennium, which is in line with the preceding paragraph, Isa 11:6-9 : “And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together: and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.”

The prophet’s vision of the destruction of death is given in Isa 25:8 : “He hath swallowed up death for ever; and the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of his people will he take away from all the earth: for Jehovah hath spoken it,” and in Isa 26:19 : “Thy dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead.”

The clearest outlines of the prophet’s vision of “Paradise Regained” are to be found in Isa 25:8 , and in two passages in chapter Isa 66 : Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn over her; that ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream: and ye shall suck thereof; ye shall be borne upon the side, and shall be dandled upon the knees, as one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And ye shall see it, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like the tender grass: and the hands of Jehovah shall be known toward his servants ; and he will have indignation against his enemies. Isa 66:10-14

For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make shall remain before me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Jehovah. Isa 66:22-23

QUESTIONS

1. What is the relation between the New Testament Christ and prophecy?

2. What can you say of Isaiah as a witness of the Messiah?

3. What can you say of Isaiah’s pictures of the Messiah and their background?

4. Following in the order of Christ’s manifestation, what is the first picture of him in Isaiah?

5. What is the second messianic glimpse in Isaiah?

6. What is Isaiah’s picture of the incarnation?

7. What is Isaiah’s picture of the divine child?

8. What is Isaiah’s vision of his descent, his relation to the Holy Spirit, his administration of justice, and the results of his reign?

9. What is Isaiah’s vision of the Messiah’s herald?

10. What is the prophet’s vision of his anointing?

11. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a miracle worker?

12. What is the prophet’s vision of the character of the Messiah?

13. What is the prophet’s vision of him as the key bearer?

14. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a king and a hiding place?

15. What is the prophet’s vision of the Messiah as a foundation stone?

16. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a polished shaft?

17. In what passages do we find the idea of the salvation of Jehovah, and what the significance of the idea?

18. What is Isaiah’s vision of the Messiah as a light?

19. Where does Isaiah present him as a stone of stumbling?

20. What is the prophet’s vision of his maltreatment and rejection?

21. What is the teaching of Isaiah on the election of the Jews?

22. Where do we find Isaiah’s teaching on the pouring out of the Holy Spirit?

23. Where is he said to be the ensign of the nations?

24. What passages teach the enlargement of the church?

25. Where is the great invitation and promise?

26. Where is the Messiah in judgment?

27. What passages show the restoration of the Jews?

28. What is the prophet’s vision of the Messiah’s kingdom?

29. What is the prophet’s vision of the millennium?

30. What is the prophet’s vision of the destruction of death?

31. What is the prophet’s vision of “Paradise Regained?”

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

XII

THE BOOK OF ISAIAH PART 4

Isa 7:1-10:14

In the outline the section, Isaiah 7-13, is called the book of Immanuel, because the name, “Immanuel,” occurs in it twice and it is largely messianic. There are four main divisions of this section preceded by a historical introduction, as follows: Historical introduction (Isa 7:1-2 )

I. Two interviews with Ahaz and their messages (Isa 7:3-25 )

II. Desolating judgments followed by salvation (Isa 8:1-9:7 )

III. Jehovah’s hand of judgments (Isa 9:8-10:4 )

IV. The debasement of the Assyrians and the salvation of true Israel (Isa 10:5-12:6 )

There are certain items of information in the historical introduction, as follows:

1. That the date of this section is the “days of Ahaz,” king of Judah.

2. That, during this reign, Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, attempted to take Jerusalem but failed.

3. That the confederacy between Syria and Ephraim caused great fear in Judah on the part of both the king and the people. By the command of Jehovah Isaiah, with his son, Shearjashub, went forth to meet Ahaz, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway of the fuller’s field to quiet his fear respecting the confederacy of Rezin and Pekah, assuring him that their proposed capture of Jerusalem and enthronement of Tabeel, an Assyrian, should not come to pass because Damascus and Samaria had only human heads, while Jerusalem had a divine head who was able to and would destroy their confederacy within sixty-five years, which included the work of Tiglath-pileser III, Shalmaneser IV, Sargon, Sennacherib, and Esarhaddon. The last named completed the destruction of the power of the ten tribes by placing heathen colonists in the cities of Samaria (2Ki 17:24 ; Eze 4:2 ). Then the prophet rested Ahaz’s case on his faith in Jehovah’s word and promise. This challenge of faith to Ahaz is beautifully expressed by the poet, thus: Happiest they of human race To whom our God has granted grace To read, to fear, to hope, to pray; To lift the latch and force the way.

It seems that Ahaz silently rejected Jehovah’s proposition of faith. So Jehovah, to give him another chance and to leave him without excuse, offers, through his prophet, to strengthen Ahaz’s faith by means of a sign, allowing him to name the sign to be given. But Ahaz made “a pious dodge” because of his contemplated alliance with Assyria, saying that he would not tempt Jehovah. Then the prophet upbraids the house of David for trying the patience of Jehovah and announces that Jehovah will give a sign anyway, which was the child to be born of a virgin, after which he goes on to show that the whole land shall be made desolate. Jehovah will summons the nations to devastate the land. Then he gives four pictures of its desolation as follows: (1) Flies and bees; (2) the hired razor; (3) one cow and two sheep; (4) briers and thorns.

Signs were of various kinds. They might be actual miracles performed to attest a divine commission (Exo 4:3-9 ), or judgments of God, significant of his power of justice (Exo 10:2 ), or memorials of something in the past (Exo 13:9 ; Exo 13:16 ), or pledges of something still future, such as are found in Jdg 6:36-40 ; 2Ki 20:8-11 et al. The sign here was a pledge of God’s promise to Ahaz of the destruction of Damascus, and Samaria and comes under the last named class. But as to its fulfilment there is much discussion, the most of which we may brush aside as altogether unprofitable. The radical critics contend that Isaiah expected a remarkable deliverer to arise in connection with the Assyrian war and deny that this refers at all to our Lord Jesus Christ. There seems to be no certain or common ground for mediating and conservative critics themselves. There are two main views held: (1) That a child was to be born in the days of Isaiah who was to be a type of the great Immanuel. They say that verses 15-16 favor this view. Now if the birth was to be natural, it seems to have a double sense, or else a very poor type. If there were a miraculous conception of a type of Christ in those days all records have been lost. At least, it is impossible to locate definitely the wonderful person who was to prefigure the real Immanuel. (2) That the reference is solely to the birth of Jesus Christ. But how could this be a sign unto Ahaz? Here we note the fact that this language respecting the sign is addressed to the “house of David” and therefore becomes a sign to the nation rather than to Ahaz alone. The time element of the prophecy hinges on the word, “before.” It is literally true that before this child grew to discern good and evil, the land of Damascus and the land of Israel had been laid waste. The text does not say how long before but the word, “before,” is used to express the order of events, rather than time immediately before. A good paraphrase of the prophecy would be, “O house of David, I will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel, but before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, Syria and Israel shall be forsaken and Jehovah will bring upon thee, and upon thy people, days unlike any that have come since Ephraim rebelled in the days of Jeroboam.” All this took place before the child was born who was to be the sign unto all people, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the idea of Gen 3:15 : “The seed of the woman [not of the man] shall bruise the serpent’s head,” and forecasts the doctrine of the incarnation, a doctrine essential to the redemption of the world. Of one thing we may be assured, viz: Never was this prophecy fulfilled until Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary. Of him old Simeon said, “He shall be set for a sign which is spoken against.” So we can plant ourselves squarely on Mat 1:23 and say, “Here is the fulfilment of Isa 7:14 .”

The significance of “the fly,” “the bee,” “the razor,” “the cow and two sheep,” and “briers and thorns” is important. The fly is here used to designate the Egyptian army which was loosely organized, something like the looseness with which flies swarm. The bee refers to Assyria whose armies were much better and more compactly organized than the Egyptian army, something like the order with which bees work. The hired razor refers to the king of Assyria, who had been hired, as it were, by Samaria to help them, meaning that this was to be the power by which Jehovah was going to accomplish his work of destruction upon Samaria and Damascus. The “cow and two sheep” signifies the scanty supply of animals left in the land after this desolation which was so clearly foretold. The “briers and thorns” represent the deserted condition of the country, in which the lands that were once tilled and valuable, would then become overgrown with briers and thorns.

There are three subdivisions of the section, Isa 8:1-9:7 , as follows:

1. The twofold sign of the punishment about to fall upon Damascus and Samaria.

2. The invasion of Judah.

3. Jehovah’s light dispels the darkness.

The twofold sign was the sign of the great tablet and the child’s name, which was intended especially for the doubters and unbelievers in the nation, as the sign, in the preceding chapter, of Immanuel, “God with us,” was sufficient for the reassurance of the faithful. This was a sign that would be verified in two or three years and at once placed the king and people on probation, forcing them to raise the question, “Shall we continue to look to Assyria for help, or shall we trust the prophet’s word about Assyria, Rezin, and Pekah?” The writing on the tablet and the child’s name were identical, meaning “Plunder speedeth, spoil hasteth,” from which sign and the obligations involved in its verification there was no escape. It was fulfilled in three or four years when Pekah was assassinated and Rezin slain by the king of Assyria.

The prophet describes this invasion as the waters of the Euphrates coming first against Damascus and Samaria because they looked to Rezin and Pekah rather than to Jehovah’s resources for relief, and bursting through them, who had been the breakwater for Judah against this flood, it would sweep on into Judah and overflow it.

Then the prophet (Isa 8:9-10 ) invites the people of the East to make an uproar and to devise all means possible for the destruction of Judah, but it would all come to nought, for God was with his people. Immanuel was their hope and is our hope. As Paul says in Rom 8:31 , “If God is for us, who is against us?”

As shown in Isa 8:11-15 , their real danger was not in invading armies, but in unbelief. Jehovah was to be their dread. He would be their sanctuary, their refuge, if they only believed on him. If not, he became a stone of stumbling or a snare unto them. This thought is amplified in the New Testament in many places (see Luk 2:34 ; Rom 9:33 ; 1Pe 2:8 , et al). The meaning of Isa 8:16-18 , “Bind thou up the testimony, etc.,” is Jehovah’s order to Israel to write the prophecy and to tie it up in the roll for the generations of his people to follow. Isaiah then expresses his abiding confidence in his and his children’s mission in being signs in Israel, looking to him for his favor.

The warning and exhortation (Isa 8:19-22 ) were given them in view of their coming troublous times when they would be tempted to turn to other sources of information rather than God’s revelations, which would lead them into greater darkness and confusion. A case of its violation is that of King Saul. When God refused to hear him because of his sin, he sought the witch of Endor, which in the light of this passage illustrates the operations of modern spiritualists.

Across the horrible background of Isa 8 the prophet sketches, in startling strokes of light, the image of a coming Redeemer, who brought light, liberty, peace, and joy to his subjects. The New Testament in Mat 4:15-16 , tells us that the light, liberty, peace, and joy of the prophecy were fulfilled in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali when Jesus and his disciples came among the people dwelling around the Sea of Galilee and preached his gospel and healed their sick and delivered their demoniacs. That his gospel was light, a great light. All knowledge is light. Whatsoever maketh manifest is light. And this gospel brought the knowledge of salvation in the remission of their sins. It revealed their relations toward God. It revealed God himself in the face of Jesus Christ. It discovered their sins and brought contrition and repentance. It revealed a sin-cleansing and sin-pardoning Saviour. Its reception brought peace by justification and brought liberty by dispossession of Satan. And with light, liberty, and peace came joy unspeakable.

The central text of this passage is, “For unto us a child is born and unto us a son is given.” The “for” refers to the preceding context, which tells us that she who was under gloom shall have no more anguish. That the people who walk in darkness behold a great light. That the land of Zebulun and Naphtali on which divine contempt had been poured is now overflowed with blessings. That with light has come liberty, and with liberty peace, and with peace joy and the joy of harvest and of victory, for this child is born. The coming of this child is assigned as the reason or cause for all this light, this liberty, this peace, this joy. Marvelous child to be the author of such blessings. Humanity is unquestionably here. It is a child, born of an earthly mother. But mere humanity cannot account for such glorious and eternal results. A mere child could not bear up under the government of the world and establish a kingdom of whose increase there should be no end.

The names ascribed to our Lord in Isa 9:6 cannot be Alexander, Caesar, or Bonaparte. Their kingdoms were not of peace, light, joy, and liberty. Their kingdoms perished with themselves. But what is this child’s name? It staggers us to call it: His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace! If this be not divinity, words cannot express it. And if it be divinity as certainly as a “child born” expresses humanity, then well may his name be “Wonderful,” for he is God-man. Earth, indeed, furnished his mother, but heaven furnished the sire. And if doubt inquire, how can these things be, it must be literally true as revealed and fulfilled later: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore, also the Holy One who shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”

In particular these names give us the following ideas of him:

1. “Wonderful, Counsellor” indicates the matchless wisdom with which he taught and lived among men. In all that concerns the glory of Jehovah and the welfare of his people, we may rely implicitly on the purposes and plans of this Deliverer.

2. “Mighty God” means the living and true God and refers to his omnipotence in carrying out his plans and purposes. He is not only God, but he is Almighty God, at whose command were the powers of the universe, “head over all things unto the church,” making “all things work together for good to them that love God.”

3. “Everlasting Father” means “Father of eternity” and refers to his divinity, whose “goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.”

4. “Prince of Peace” refers to his mission in the nature of his kingdom. He is not only a mighty hero but his kingdom is a kingdom of peace.

The promise here concerning his kingdom is that it is to be an everlasting kingdom, administered in peace and righteousness (Isa 9:6 ).

The title of section Isa 9:8-10:4 is “Jehovah’s hand of judgment,” and is suggested from the fact that this section is divided into four paragraphs, or strophes, each one ending with the sad refrain, “For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still,” i.e., for further chastisement. The special themes of these four paragraphs, respectively, are as follows:

1.Isa 9:8-12 , The loss of wealth, followed by repeated invasion.

2.Isa 9:13-17 , The loss of rulers.

3.Isa 9:18-21 , The devouring fire of their own sinfulness.

4.Isa 10:1-4 , A woe unto perverters and their utter helplessness.

The loss of wealth is described in Isa 9:8-12 . The prophet introduces this section by saying that the Lord had sent word to Jacob and it had lighted up Israel, i.e., this message of destruction was mainly for Israel, who were standing stoutly in the face of God’s chastisements, by substituting one thing for another destroyed by Jehovah. The prophet assures them that God has not exhausted all his means and that he will use Syria and Philistia to complete the work of desolation.

Then the loss of their rulers is described in Isa 9:13-17 . The prophet introduces this strophe with a complaint that Jehovah’s chastisements had been ineffective in turning Samaria to himself. Then he goes on to show that Jehovah would cut off from Israel the head, i.e., the elder, and the tail, i.e., the lying prophet; that he would destroy all without mercy because they were all profane.

The devouring fire of their own sinfulness follows in Isa 9:18-21 . The prophet here likens wickedness unto a devouring fire, which devours briers and thorns, then breaks out in the forests and rolls up its column of smoke. A very impressive picture of the course and penalty of wickedness, as it goes on to full fruitage in its destruction of those who practice it, until without discrimination it devours alike the neighbor and the kinsman.

In Isa 10:1-4 the prophet brings a heavy charge against this class, that they rob the poor and needy, and devour widows’ houses, making them their prey. What a picture of perverted justice! Because of this awful corruption there will be no hope for them before the enemy in the day of Jehovah’s visitation and desolation. They shall bow down under the prisoners and fall under the slain. A graphic description of their humiliation is this, yet, “For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.” A sad wail and a gloomy picture from which we joyfully turn to another section of the book, in which we have the enemies of Jehovah’s people brought low and the true Israel of God exalted. But this will follow in the next chapter.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the title of Isaiah 7-12 in the outline and why is it so called?

2. What is the outline of this division?

3. What is the items of information in the historical introduction?

4. Give an account of the first meeting with Ahaz and the message of the prophet in connection with it.

5. Give an account of the second meeting with Ahaz and the message of the prophet in connection with it.

6. What is the meaning of Jehovah’s sign to Ahaz and when was the prophecy of this sign fulfilled?

7. What is the significance of “the fly,” “the bee,” “the razor,” “the cow and two sheep,” and “briers and thorns”?

8. What are the three subdivisions of Isa 8:1-9:7 ?

9. What is the twofold sign of the punishment about to fall upon Damascus and Samaria and what the significance of it?

10. Describe the picture of the Assyrian invasion as given here by the prophet in Isa 8:5-8 .

11. What hope of defense against this invading power does the prophet hold out to Judah in Isa 8:9-10 ?

12. In what was their real danger as shown in Isa 8:11-15 ?

13. What was the meaning of Isa 8:16-18 , “Bind thou up the testimony, etc.”?

14. What is the special pertinency of the exhortation of’ Isaiah respecting familiar spirits in Isa 8:19-22 and what Old Testament example of the violation of its teaching?

15. What is the fulfilment and interpretation of the great messianic prophecy in Isa 9:1-7 ?

16. What are the names ascribed to our Lord in Isa 9:6 and what the significance of them in general and in particular?

17. What promise here concerning his kingdom?

18. What is the title of section Isa 9:8-10:4 and what suggests it?

19. What are the special themes of each of these four paragraphs?

20. How is the loss of wealth in Isa 9:8-12 described?

21. How is the loss of their rulers in Isa 9:13-17 described?

22. How is the devouring fire of their own sinfulness in Isa 9:18-21 described?

23. How is the woe against perverters of righteousness in Isa 10:1-4 here described?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Isa 9:1 Nevertheless the dimness [shall] not [be] such as [was] in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict [her by] the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.

Ver. 1. Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such. ] Dimness of anguish had been forethreatened. Isa 8:22 Now this is added for an allay, as being a promise of a mitigation of their misery, and yet further of Christ’s incarnation, which is the sum of all the good news in the world. Evangelistam hic agit Isaias, non prophetam, saith one, a i.e., Isaiah here acteth the part of an evangelist rather than of a prophet. He foretelleth, saith another interpreter, b that as the Assyrians preyed upon Samaria and Galilee, so shall the Lord Christ also prey upon them spiritually, and for their greatest good. Isa 9:2 And as Tiglathpileser first carried away a few out of Galilee, lightly afflicting the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali, and then Shalmaneser, more grievously afflicting her, carried captive those and all the rest of the ten tribes; similarily Christ, first preaching in Galilee, converted and called from there various of his disciples, and afterwards, when he was lifted up from the earth, he drew all men unto him. Joh 12:32 He rode upon his white horse, the apostles, conquering the world, and to conquer. Rev 6:2 And hence that sincere joy in the hearts of his servants, far exceeding that of harvest, which is not without great toil, or that of soldiers dividing the spoil, which is not achieved without confused noise and garments rolled in blood. Isa 9:2-3 ; Isa 9:5 c

By the way of the sea. ] The sea of Tiberias, Joh 21:1 or lake of Genesareth. Luk 5:1

Beyond Jordan. ] Or, Beside Jordan.

In Galilee of the Gentiles. ] See Trapp on “ Mat 4:15 “

a Scult.

b A Lap.

c Oecolamp.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Isaiah Chapter 9

“For the gloom [is] not [to be] to her that was in anguish. At first he degraded the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but later he honoured, the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nations.* The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them the light hath shone” (vv. 1, 2). The citation of this in Mat 4:14-16 gives much insight. There the fulfilment applies to the presence and ministry of the Lord in that region so despised, as far as the people are concerned. Let the hand of oppression be yet more grievous than had ever pressed upon them; yet would there be this difference (and how verified during our Lord’s first appearing in their midst!), that among the darkest and most despised in the land should spring up a great light. It was in Galilee, not Jerusalem, that the grace of Jesus shone. And so in the last days: the Galilean character attaches to the future remnant. Jerusalem will be the prey of the worst delusions and deadliest error. But the darkest and coldest night precedes a dawn of joy and glory. And so it will be for Israel when He Who was despised and their stumbling-block, but withal Jehovah the shield and sanctuary of the weak yet godly remnant, shall rise and shine in all His effulgence on His people.

*Dr. W. Kay thus translates it, “For no gloom is there to her that was distressed. At the former time He brought contempt on the land of Zebulun, and on the land of Naphtali; but in the latter time He brought honour, the way of the sea.

“Thou hast multiplied the nation, thou hast* increased their joy: they joy before thee as with the joy of harvest, as they rejoice when they divide the spoil. For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. For every boot of him that is shod for the tumult, and the garment rolled in blood, shall be for burning, fuel for fire. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name is called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Father of eternity (or the coming age), Prince of Peace. To the increase of the government and to peace [there shall be] no end upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with judgement and with righteousness from henceforth even for ever. The jealousy of Jehovah of hosts will perform this” (vv. 3-7).

*It is plain that “not increased the joy” is erroneous, The margin is right, substantially, as the next clause might prove to any reader.

The efforts of Jews and rationalists to shake this striking prophecy of the Messiah are not violent merely but pitiable. Thus some of them turn it: He Whose name is Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,* Father of eternity, shall call him (Hezekiah) Prince of peace. Even here the witnesses do not agree: for the Talmud, which applies it in the same way, boldly gives all eight titles to the son of Ahaz. But the construction is also, as Dr. McCaul pointed out, contrary to Hebrew idiom, which requires that “shemen(?)”, referring to the person named, should be placed between the name and the person or thing named (see Gen 16:15 ; Gen 21:3 ; Gen 22:14 ; Exo 2:22 ; Rth 4:17 ; 1Sa 1:20 ; 2Sa 12:25 ). The Talmudical application of all to Hezekiah is too exaggerated if not impious for some modern Jews who follow Rashi. But even their attribute of Prince of peace to that pious king is in the face of all the scriptural account of his troubled reign. Others, like Mr. Leeser, translate it “Counsellor of the mighty God, of the everlasting Father, prince of peace,” and think it important to note that it alludes to a child already born, contrary to his own version of Isa 7:14 , and forgetful of the habit of the prophets to speak of things that are not as though they were (realising them in prophetic vision, but giving enough in the context to prove that they are future).

*Gesenius would like to translate this title “the mighty hero,” In order to get rid of “God” here. But “el” is never used as an adjective; and even so, if it were here only, it should follow, not precede, “gibbor”, as has been noticed.

But the Targum supports the proper Messianic reference, and proves that among the ancient Jews no doubt was entertained that the prophet spoke only of the Messiah. The desolation of the land of old by the Assyrian will be renewed by the last representative of the great northern and eastern power, to whom the prophets really look onward. How vain then for Ahaz to seek confederacy with the Assyrian of his day! Confederacies were of old, confederacies will be pre-eminently in the last days; but the people of God must not trust and need not fear them. Let Jehovah be their refuge and their sanctuary; the godly remnant, His disciples, will need it for the awful and unexampled troubles at the end of this age. Yet the light of Galilee will appear for them. Immanuel, because of Whose rejection Jehovah had so long hidden His face from the house of Jacob (what a comment on Jewish history since Titus took Jerusalem, yea, since the cross!), will cause light to spring up among the despised but godly ones of the people, as at Christ’s first coming. In that day, when the climax of trial is reached, and the righteous seem hopelessly broken by the pride and blasphemy of the apostate mass of the Jews in confederacy with the apostate head of the western powers to hold off the Assyrian, Jehovah of Israel will display Himself their deliverer, but prove no other than their own crucified Messiah now to reign over them in power and glory and peace for ever. The reader will find abundant confirmation of all this in the context, and by a careful study of Isa 10 , Isa 11 , where he will find the Assyrian once more, and his destruction followed by the reign of the victorious Messiah. Many who love the truth are, grievous to say, to be censured for a too eager conversion of these scriptures to their own relationship with the Lord. Now the Old Testament gives us but common divine principles for all saints; in the New should we look for, as there only can we find, specific direction and instruction in what is properly Christian. Such an evident bias, and the plain perversion which results, do incalculable mischief to the Jews, as well as afford ready occasion of attack to unbelief where mind is exercised on scripture. In such interpretations they can easily prove the popular views of Christendom erroneous, and hence harden themselves in their own deadly error against the truth which the least enlightened Christian knows he has from God.

Now the Messiah rejected by the Jews sits on the throne of God His Father, in contrast with His own throne, which He is to take another day. Neither David nor any other sat on the Father’s throne. The very notion is not only ignorance but profanity. At His coming again He will sit upon the throne of David according to the prophecy before us and many more. Then will be fulfilled the latter part of Psa 2 . The nations will be shattered, not converted (whatever mercy may follow), and Zion rejoice with gladness everlasting. The transition here is plain and immediate from the first advent in grace and humiliation to the second in power and glory. The heavenly exaltation of Christ, and of the church in union with Him, is passed over.

The hour of freedom and victory for Israel is come; and Jehovah it is Who has done all. But it is not as in ordinary war: the noise of human conflict and bloodshed shall end, greave and war-cloak be for burning and fuel of fire. And no wonder, when He stands out their Kinsman-Redeemer, the true but once rejected Son of David, Who is their boast now, with every name of power and peace and blessing, with an endless reign before Him, established with righteousness and judgement from hence forth and for ever. Truly “the zeal (or jealousy) of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.”

The prophet now resumes the dirge of judgement on the nation in general, begun in Isa 5 , and interrupted by the two-fold episode of Isa 6 , and of chaps. Isa 7 ; Isa 8 ; Isa 9:1-7 . This last gave us the special development of Jehovah’s ways with His people: the revelation of His glory in Christ, with its effects in judgement and mercy; the Incarnation, or Immanuel, the virgin’s Son, the stay of David’s house and hope of Israel, spite of the land desolated by the Assyrian; then the reappearance of the Assyrian, now that it is Immanuel’s land, and the overthrow of all the Gentiles associated with him, whatever his great but temporary successes even in the pleasant land. Next, is an inner moral view of the people when (strange to say) Jehovah should be for a stone of stumbling to both the houses of Israel, but a sure sanctuary for a godly remnant, “My disciples,” who would be for signs and wonders in Israel at the very time Jehovah hides His face, as He is clearly doing now, from the house of Jacob. All closes in darkness and trouble such as never was for the mass, and yet with light for the despised Galileans, as at the Lord’s first advent. So just before the nation is multiplied, the oppression is broken, the victory won not by human sword but by burning and fuel of fire; and He Who is not more surely the virgin’s Son, the woman’s Seed, than the mighty God, the Prince of peace, establishes His blessed kingdom from henceforth even for ever.

Here we take up again (compare Isa 5:25 ) the general strain, but with allusion to some of the instruction, as for instance to Rezin and the Assyrian, in the parenthetical part. Vers. 8-12 contain the renewed announcement of divine displeasure, which began with the sin of Jerusalem and Judah, as was fitting; now it passes to Ephraim and Samaria. “The Lord sent a word unto Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will replace [them] with cedars. And Jehovah will set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and stir up his enemies, the Syrians before and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth.” It is clear that as yet the ten rebellious tribes are the object of judgement, and emphatically their pride of heart in despising Jehovah’s rebuke and confiding in their own powers. For this is their fond hope and vainglorious arrogance, turning their breach into an occasion of greater strength and display than ever. “The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will replace [them] with cedars.” But here came the retributive dealing of God. Had Syria’s king, Rezin, joined them in unholy league against Judah? “Therefore Jehovah shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together; the Syrians before and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth.” So it ever is. The unfaithful people seek the world’s alliance against those with whom God’s testimony is, but prove ere long that the friendship of the world is not only enmity against God but destruction to themselves. “For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.”

The next view of their judgement (vv. 13-17) is not so much judicial retribution from without, but, because His chastening was slighted, Jehovah’s giving up Israel to utter internal demoralization. “But the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek Jehovah of hosts. And Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day. The elder and honourable, he [is] the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he [is] the tail. For the leaders of this people mislead [them]; and [they that are] led by them are swallowed up.” The ruin is universal in one day on all classes, from the highest to the lowest of Israel, “palm-branch and rush”: all plunged into common destruction, leaders and led. What a picture! and how much more dismal and hopeless, when the righteous Lord, indignant at the abounding falsehood and wrong under the highest pretensions to sanctity alike shuts up His affections, and even His compassion! “Therefore the Lord will not rejoice in their young men, neither will he have mercy on the fatherless and widows.” Neither youth and vigour are pleasant to Him, nor can orphanage or widowhood touch His heart longer in a people so depraved. “For everyone [is] a hypocrite and an evil-doer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still.”

Then follows a most vivid picture of wickedness burning like fire; of Jehovah’s wrath consuming the land; and of the reckless unsparing violence of brother against brother. “For wickedness burneth as the fire; it devoureth the briars and thorns: yea, it kindleth in the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in thick clouds of smoke. Through the wrath of Jehovah of hosts is the land burnt up: the people also are as the fuel of fire; no man spareth his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; [and] they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still” (vv. 18-21). The nearest of the ten should devour each other, and both Judah. Nevertheless, it is the earthly judgement of God. We must look elsewhere to find the still more awful eternal judgement which awaits the impenitent and unbelieving in the resurrection of judgement. For the full revelation of this, however, we must turn to the New Testament, where the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men that hold the truth in unrighteousness (Rom 1:18 ); as indeed the Lord in Mar 9:43-48 had solemnly shown in giving an everlasting force to language drawn from the earthly judgement of Isa 66:24 .

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 9:1-7

1But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

2The people who walk in darkness

Will see a great light;

Those who live in a dark land,

The light will shine on them.

3You shall multiply the nation,

You shall increase their gladness;

They will be glad in Your presence

As with the gladness of harvest,

As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

4For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,

The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.

5For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult,

And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.

6For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;

And the government will rest on His shoulders;

And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

7There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,

On the throne of David and over his kingdom,

To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness

From then on and forevermore.

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

Isa 9:1 no more gloom The MT has twenty three verses in Isaiah 8, but the LXX shows Isa. 8:23 as Isa 9:1.

The term gloom (BDB 734) appears in Isa 8:22 and Isa. 8:23 (Isa 9:1) only. It links these contexts together. It is hard to know where prophecies start and stop. Be careful of letting modern chapter, verse, capitalization, and paragraphing cause you to miss related themes. An editor (or Isaiah himself or one of his disciples) complied his sermons, oracles, and poems into an anthology. Often the only connections are word plays, historical setting, or eschatological contexts.

The term no can be understood (1) in a negative sense (if so, this verse concludes the previous context) or (2) if one adds more (NASB), then it is positive and starts the next context.

for her who was in anguish The PRONOUN her probably refers to land (BDB 75, ). Because two of the northern tribes of Israel are mentioned specifically, this must refer to (1) the northern tribes or (2) the covenant people as a whole.

Isa 9:1; Isa 9:3 He. . .He. . .You. . .You The translators of the NASB capitalize these PRONOUNS because they see them as referring to God’s activity.

the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali There is a strong contrast between Isa 8:19-22; Isa 9:1 ff. Apparently, these northern two tribal allocations had suffered greatly in 732 B.C. under Tiglath-Pileser III (i.e., Pul, cf. 2Ki 15:29). No one thought that anything good could come out of this region. This sets the stage for the fulfillment in Jesus’ day of His Galilean ministry (but later He shall make it glorious, cf. Mat 4:12-17).

Because of the desert between Mesopotamia and Canaan, the armies had to follow the Euphrates River to its source and then drop down the coastal plain. That means they invaded from the north. Zebulun and Naphtali (along with the city of Dan) would be the first to suffer.

Galilee of the Gentiles This literally means circle of the nations (BDB 165 II CONSTRUCT BDB 156). Assyria resettled many conquered people in this area. The term for Gentiles here is the normal term for the nations, goy (BDB 156, cf. Isa 9:3). Sometimes it is used of Israel herself (cf. Gen 12:2; Gen 18:18; Exo 19:6; Isa 1:4).

In Jesus’ day this refers to (1) Galilean Jewry or (2) the Gentiles, which shows the universal nature of the coming ministry of the Messiah, which fits Isaiah’s emphasis on the inclusion of the nations.

Isa 9:2 Will see a great light Light is metaphorical for YHWH’s presence (cf. Deu 33:2; Hab 3:3; Rev 21:22-24). Here, light (BDB 21) is metaphorical of the gospel (cf. Isa 42:6; Isa 49:6; Isa 51:4; Isa 60:1; Isa 60:3). No one expected the Messiah to minister to the not-so-kosher Galileans. This verse is a surprising prophecy of the specific area of Jesus’ ministry! No one expected Galilee of the Gentiles to become the initial out-bursting of good news!

Isa 9:3 You shall multiply the nation This (VERB, BDB 915, KB 1176, Hiphil PERFECT) may refer to YHWH’s original promise to the Patriarchs to increase Abraham’s seed.

1. stars of the sky (cf. Gen 15:5; Gen 26:4; Deu 10:22; Deu 28:62)

2. sand of the seashore (cf. Gen 22:17; Gen 32:12)

3. dust of the earth (cf. Gen 13:16; Gen 28:14; Num 23:10)

You shall increase their gladness The Hebrew MT (Kethiv) has the word not (BDB 518), but NASB translates it as their. The MT editors suggested in the margin (Qere) it be changed to him (they do this fourteen other places also). The LXX also has him.

The NOUN gladness (BDB 970) appears twice in the verse (also possibly in Isa 9:17), as does the related VERB rejoice (BDB 162, KB 189, Qal IMPERFECT). The VERB form of gladness (BDB 970, KB 1333, Qal PERFECT) occurs in the verse. Obviously Isaiah is emphasizing this concept!

They are glad because of YHWH’s presence. The covenant God is with His people (i.e., Immanuel). Their gladness is described in two metaphorical expressions.

1. the harvest

2. dividing spoil

Isa 9:4-5 Because YHWH is present (Isa 9:3), He fights on their behalf (i.e., Holy War).

1. break the yoke of their burden (i.e., release from foreign domination, cf. Jer 28:2; Eze 34:27)

2. break the staff on their shoulders

3. break the rod of their oppressor (staff and rod are symbols of foreign kings and their control, cf. Isa 10:27)

The same VERB, break, is to be applied to all three, BDB 369, KB 365, Hiphil PERFECT, cf. Isa 7:8; Isa 8:9 (thrice).

As a God-empowered representative (i.e., Gideon) defeated the Midianites, so now God’s chosen instrument, Babylon, will destroy the Assyrian domination of Canaan. God is in control of world history and is particularly conscious of Canaan because of the seed of Abraham (i.e., the coming Messiah).

Isa 9:4 as at the battle of Midian See Isa 10:26 and Judges 6-8.

Isa 9:5 The covenant people’s enemies will be defeated and their clothing (i.e., shoes and cloaks) used for fuel for the fire. This is metaphorical of a complete and total victory. Several texts speak of the destruction of the military weaponry of the foreign armies because His people’s trust and security must be in Him and His covenant promises, not their captured military weaponry (cf. Psa 46:9; Psa 76:3; Hos 2:18).

The Divine Warrior of the conquest is again fighting for His people. Isa 9:4 is the perfect example!

Isa 9:6-7 The NKJV marks these two verses off as a separate paragraph.

Isa 9:6 describes the special child, Immanuel.

1. government will rest on His shoulders; the special child, the hope of a righteous Davidic seed (cf. 2 Samuel 7) returns into view

2. His name (the character of His God)

a. Wonderful Counselor, this denotes a divine plan, cf. Isa 14:26-27; Isa 19:17

b. Mighty God, cf. Isa 10:21

c. Eternal Father

d. Prince of Peace, Mic 5:5

The first name could be two separate titles, but the other three are two word combinations. The fivefold names may reflect current practice in Egypt, where the new Pharaoh was given five new throne names at his coronation.

There are four compound titles. These are probably the child’s new names when coronated king. The term Immanuel in Isa 7:14; Isa 8:8-10, as well as the term Mighty God in Isa 9:6, does not automatically imply Deity, but reflects the ideal king. The names reflect God’s character which hopefully characterized the Davidic King. It must be remembered that these titles deal with (1) the area of administration, (2) military power, (3) pastoral care, and (4) the quality of the reign. The Deity of the Messiah is also implied, though not specifically, in Dan 7:14; Jer 32:18. It must be remembered that the Jews were not expecting the Messiah to be the physical incarnation of YHWH because of Israel’s unique emphasis on monotheism! The Deity of Jesus and the personality of the Spirit are real problems for monotheism (i.e., Exo 8:10; Exo 9:14; Deu 4:35; Deu 4:39; Isa 40:18; Isa 40:25; Isa 46:5). Only Progressive Revelation teaches this truth (cf. Joh 1:1-14; Php 2:6; Heb 1:2-3). If the NT is true then OT monotheism must be nuanced (i.e., one divine essence with three eternal personal manifestations). The hyperbolic OT language has become literal! But the literal fulfillment of OT prophecies about geographical and national Israel have been universalized to include the nations. See Special Topic at Isa 1:3. Gen 3:15 is realized and summarized in Joh 3:16; Joh 4:42; 1Ti 2:4; Tit 2:11; 2Pe 3:9; 1Jn 2:1; 1Jn 4:14).

Isa 9:7 describes His reign.

1. eternal and universal government (cf. Mic 5:4)

2. eternal and universal peace (cf. Mic 5:5 a)

3. reigns on Davidic throne (cf. Isa 16:5; 2 Samuel 7)

4. establishes justice and righteousness forever (these two NOUNS often used together, cf. Isa 32:16; Isa 33:5; Isa 59:14)

5. the zeal of YHWH is the guarantee of its reality

Isa 9:7 certainly sounds like an eternal reign (cf. Dan 2:44; Dan 4:3; Dan 4:34; Dan 6:26; Dan 7:13-14; Dan 7:27; Eze 37:25; Mic 4:7; Mic 5:4; 2Pe 1:11), not a limited millennial reign (see my notes in the Revelation Commentary, Crucial Introduction and Introduction to chapter 20 at www.freebiblecommentary.org ). This promise is the essence of the concept of a new age of the Spirit! The total and complete reversal of the Fall. The reinstatement of God’s ideal (i.e., the fellowship of the Garden of Eden).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

Nevertheless = For, This member (Isa 9:1-7) relates to Messiah, the Son, referring back to Isa 8:9, Isa 8:10; and carries Isa 7:14 on to its future fulfilment, See App-102.

dimness. vexation. Almost the same two words as dimness. anguish (Isa 8:22).

at the first. When Ben-hadad, in the reign of Baasha, “smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-beth-maachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali” (1Ki 15:20)

the land, &c. Quoted in Luk 1:79.

afterward. Referring to the heavier scourge when Hazael “smote all the coasts of Israel from Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead” (2Ki 10:32, 2Ki 10:33). This land was the first to be afflicted by the armies of Assyria (2Ki 15:29, and was the first to see the promised light in the person of the Messiah.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Chapter 9

Now as we get into chapter 9, he said,

Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her that was by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in the Galilee of the nations ( Isa 9:1 ).

Now the invasion, of course, began with the north and the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali wherein the northern part, the upper Galilee regions. There’s where the invasion began. When they began to move into there, you would think that the people would repent and turn to God and really seek the Lord, but they didn’t.

Now, again, he leaves the immediate scene and prophecy flashes to the future. And here is where you come into prophecy.

The people that walked in darkness [that is, the Gentile world] have seen a great light: and they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and the men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, and the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and the garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with the burning and a fuel of fire ( Isa 9:2-5 ).

And now the fabulous prophecy concerning the birth of Jesus Christ and His ministry:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this ( Isa 9:6-7 ).

So the beautiful flash of inspiration, prophetic inspiration, as Isaiah again looks beyond the immediate turmoil. This confederacy with Syria and Samaria, it’s not going to stand. It’s going to fall. Assyria’s going to move in and take that territory. Assyria’s going to come down into this area, but they won’t take this area. But on down into the future, the hope of the future isn’t in man. The hope of the future is in a child that would be born of a virgin. “For unto us a child is born.” That is looking at the birth of Jesus Christ from the human side. A child is born in Bethlehem. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord” ( Luk 2:11 ). A child is born.

Looking at it from the divine side, a Son is given. The two aspects. From the human side a child is born. From the divine side, it’s more than just a child born; a Son is given. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” ( Joh 3:16 ). Humanly, a child is born; divinely, a Son is given. “And the government shall be upon His shoulder.” Now that portion of the prophecy is not yet fulfilled. That portion of the prophecy is yet to be fulfilled.

Now this is why, and please, let’s have mercy and understanding for the disciples. They were completely confused with Jesus. They were looking for their Messiah. They were waiting for the Messiah, anticipating the Messiah, for they knew these prophecies. And whenever Jesus would start to talk about His death, they would get bugged because they didn’t want to talk about His death; they wanted to talk about Him sitting upon the throne of David. They wanted to talk about the kingdom and the reigning over the world. And so every time He would bring up the fact that He was going to be crucified, Peter said, “Lord, be that far from Thee.” Peter began to rebuke Him for talking about His crucifixion. And in turn got rebuked. They didn’t understand. And they were always saying, “Well, Lord, when are You going to set up Your kingdom? When is that aspect going to come?” Jesus said, “Hey, there’s a job to be done in the meantime. Don’t you know that a point in His time He’s going to do that. But in the meantime, there’s a job to be done.”

Now the kingdom shall be established. This portion of the prophecy is yet unfulfilled. The child was born; the Son was given. Given in a way that they didn’t anticipate. His life was given as a ransom for our sins. But now we await the day when the government will be upon His shoulder. But that day will come very soon. I’m convinced of that. When Jesus returns to set up the kingdom, the government will be upon His shoulder, and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God. Whose name is going to be The mighty God? The child that was born, the Son that was given. Oh, how that bugs the Jehovah Witnesses.

Even more, The everlasting Father. And the Prince of Peace. His name. “And of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end.” And He shall reign forever and ever. “Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end.” Thinking of Micah’s prophecy, “And thou, Bethlehem of Judea, though thou be little among the provinces of Judah, yet out of thee shall come He who is to rule my people Israel; whose going forth is from henceforth, even forever” ( Mic 5:2 ). Ruler on the throne of David, “and upon His kingdom, to order it, to establish it with judgment and with justice from now on even forever. For the zeal of the Lord of hosts.”

So fabulous prophecy of that yet future time when Jesus comes and establishes the kingdom. Coming again in power and in great glory. Not coming as a child, as a servant to die. He died once and for all. He’s coming now to reign, to establish His eternal kingdom.

Now God is going to bring His judgment upon these people, and he comes back now to the immediate.

The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. And all the people shall know, even Ephraim [that is, the Northern Kingdom] and the inhabitant of Samaria [the capital of the Northern Kingdom], that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones ( Isa 9:8-10 ):

In other words, they’ve attacked us and they’ve knocked down our bricks, but we will build with stones.

the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join the enemies together; The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with an open mouth. For all of this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still ( Isa 9:10-12 ).

In other words, God is going to start bringing Samaria, even the confederacy that they’ve made with Rezin, Syria is going to come against Samaria and they will be joined by the Philistines in the attack. But even that the people’s hearts are stiffened and hardened against God. And thus, God continues His judgment. His hand is stretched out still, because this isn’t going to change them and bring them revival.

For the people turns not [they turn not] unto him that smites them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts ( Isa 9:13 ).

Now God oftentimes brings judgment into our lives or chastisement into our lives, or judgment in the life of a sinner in order to turn that sinner unto God. And if you don’t respond, it will get worse and worse and worse, until you’ll finally be destroyed. And so the nation, His hand is stretched out still. For all of this they will not turn to God. They will not hearken.

Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel the head and the tail, the branch and the rush, in one day. The ancient and the honorable men, [the older men or] the head; and the lying prophets or the tail ( Isa 9:14-15 ).

God’s going to wipe them out.

For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed ( Isa 9:16 ).

That’s a tragic thing when the leaders and supposed spiritual leaders are leading the people into error. Jesus said, “If the blind lead the blind, they’re both going to fall in the ditch” ( Luk 6:39 ). That makes sense. And if people are following blind leaders, false prophets who are leading them into error, then the people will be destroyed. I think of Jim Jones and that tragedy of Guyana which never needed to be. Except that he began to put himself and his word above the Bible. He began to be the god unto the people. The people were left without a true authority of God’s Word. They were led to challenge and to doubt the Word of God as authority and they began to accept the word of man as an authority.

There are a lot of people today who are being led by false prophets. There are so many hypes in the world today. So many of these big-named ministers, evangelists and all, who are using totally worldly practices in order to try to gain support for their ministries. Sending out these letters in which they are begging for funds. But there is such a total inconsistency in it all. If anybody has eyes, surely they can see the inconsistency in these letters that are being sent out.

They used to have a radio station down in Del Rio, Texas that used to broadcast every wild evangelist in the country. And the gimmicks that these guys would offer you can’t believe. There was one fellow who was offering miracle wallets. You could send in for this miracle wallet and he guaranteed that you’d never be broke as long as you kept this miracle wallet. Blessed of God, a miracle wallet, and it will always have something in it. And he would, you know, ten-dollar donation and all, you get this miracle wallet. But then he’d say, “Now friends, I want to talk to you about the program. We’re needing your support and if you don’t send your support right away, we’re going to have to go off the air, friends. So please now, send in your tithes and your offerings so that we don’t have to go off the air. And if you give a generous offering, I’ll send you the miracle wallet, you know.” Man, is that inconsistent! Why doesn’t he use one of the wallets himself and stay on the air?

And so they send these poor-mouth letters where, “Our ministry is being threatened. We’re not going to be able to carry on this great program of God.” Or, they usually don’t say the great program, “our great ministry. We won’t be able to carry it on unless we hear from you. And if we hear from you, we will send you our free book on how to be healthy, wealthy, and wise. How to have more faith.” Why don’t they exercise their faith as far as the funding of their program? Or their possibility thinker, why don’t they use that for themselves? Why do they have to send out letters begging people for the funds? And why in the letters do they say, “We are trusting in you.” That’s why. Because they are trusting in you and not trusting in God, and that’s why they’re having financial problems. If they were trusting in the Lord, they wouldn’t be going through the financial problems. But you can read the inconsistencies right into the letters. And those that follow them are being led astray. The blind are leading the blind.

“The leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.” It’s tragic. Tragic indeed. All of the spiritual hype that is going on in the country today. All of these computerized letters that these people are receiving.

We received a letter the other day with a check enclosed. Person said, “We really enjoy your program. We wanted to send in some support. But please don’t put us on a mailing list, because this is all we’re going to send, you know.” And I wrote back and I said, “Thank you for your check. Rest at ease, we don’t have a mailing list. We don’t need a mailing list. I don’t read of Paul the apostle or of Jesus using mailing lists to support their missionary endeavors. They trusted in the Father.”

It was neat. I was up in Napa Friday night at a special service. The auditorium was just packed. People standing around on the outside. And it was so glorious that I could stand before those people and say, “I’m not here tonight because I had nothing else to do. Probably have a lot that I could be doing this evening. I’m not here tonight because I need an offering, because I’m not going to receive one penny of the offering that you gave tonight. Not one penny comes to me. In fact,” I said, “we spent more money coming up here and putting Future Survival on your television than what the offering will even cover. It won’t even cover expenses. But that’s not why we’re here. Because I have a very wealthy Father who takes care of my own needs and my expenses wherever I go. So we’re not up here depending on you.”

And it’s so glorious to be able to say that. To go into a community and not say, “Well, we’re going to have to have ten thousand dollars in order… ” But just to go in and say, “Hey, we’re here for one reason. Because we believe that Jesus Christ is coming soon and He sent us out to warn you.” And to just be able to go out and freely preach the gospel and not have to beg the people for money or anything else, because that always makes, to me, the whole issue suspect if you get up and spend the first hour in taking up an offering and telling the people the great needs. You really wonder, “Why did they try and get me out here tonight?” Well.

Therefore the LORD shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall he have mercy on the fatherless or the widows: for every one is a hypocrite, an evildoer, every mouth speaks folly. For all of this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still ( Isa 9:17 ).

Even in all of this, when they have become desolate, still they’re not turning.

For wickedness burns as the fire: and it shall devour the briers and the thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all of this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still ( Isa 9:18-21 ).

The stretched out hand of God in judgment, but still the people are not turning but staying up obdurate in their ways. “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

The last verses of the eighth chapter picture a horrible state of wretchedness and despair: And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. And they shall look unto the earth, and behold trouble and darkness dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness. But see what a change awaits them !

Isa 9:1. Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vacation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.

Read the fine translation of the Revised Version: But there shall be no gloom to her that was in anguish. What a marvelous light from the midst of a dreadful darkness! It is an astounding change, such as only God with us could work. Many of you know nothing about the miseries described in those verses, but there are some who have traversed that terrible wilderness; and I am going to speak to them. I know where you are: you are being driven as captives into the land of despair, and for the last few months you have been tramping along a painful road, hardly bestead and hungry. You are surely put to it, and your soul finds no food of comfort, but is ready to faint and die. You fret yourself: your heart is wearing away with care, and grief, and hopelessness. In the bitterness of your soul you are ready to curse the day of your birth. The captive Israelites cursed their king who had led them into their defeat and bondage; in the fury of their agony, they even cursed God and longed to die. It may be that your heart is in such a ferment of grief that you know not what you think, but are like a man at his wits end. For such as you there shines this star of the first magnitude. Jesus has appeared to save, and he is God and man in one person: man that he may feel our woes, God that he may help us out of them. No minister can save you, no priest can save you you know this right well; but here is one who is able to save to the uttermost, for he is God as well as man. The great God is good at a dead lift; when everything else has failed, the lever of omnipotence can lift a world of sin. Jesus is almighty to save! That which in itself is impossibility is possible with God. Sin which nothing else can remove is blotted out by the blood of Immanuel. Immanuel, our Saviour, is God with us; and God with us means difficulty removed, and a perfect work accomplished.

Isa 9:2. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

Jesus came to Galilee of the Gentiles, and made that country glorious, which had been brought into contempt. That corner of Palestine had very often borne the brunt of invasion, and had felt more than any other region the edge of the keen Assyrian sword. They were at first troubled when the Assyrian was bought off with a thousand talent of silver; but they were more heavily afflicted when Tiglath-pileser carried them all away to Assyria, for which see the fifteenth chapter of the second book of the kings. It was a wretched land, with a mixed population, despised by the purer race of Jews; but that very country became glorious with the presence of the incarnate God. Even so, at this day his gracious presence is the day-dawn of our joy.

Isa 9:3. Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

The Revised Version reads, Thou hast increased their joy. If Christ comes to you, my dear hearer, as God with us, then shall your joy be great; for you shall joy as with the joy of harvest, and as those rejoice that divide the spoil. Is it not so? Many of us can bear our witness that there is no joy like that which Jesus brings.

Isa 9:4. For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.

Your enemy shall be defeated, as in the day of Midian. Gideon was, in his dream, likened to a barley-cake, which struck the tent of Midian, so that it lay along. He and his few heroes, with their pitchers and their trumpets, stood and shouted, The sword of the Lord and of Gideon! and Midian melted away before them. So shall it be with our sins, and doubts, and fears, if we believe in Jesus, the incarnate God; they shall vanish like the mists of the morning. The Lord Jesus will break the yoke of our burden, and the rod of our oppressor, as in the day of Midian. Be of good courage, ye that are in bondage to fierce and cruel adversaries; for in the name of Jesus, who is God with us, you shall destroy them.

Isa 9:5. For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.

When Jesus comes, you shall have eternal peace, for his battle is the end of battles. All the armor of the armed man in the tumult, and the garments rolled in blood, shall even be for burning, for fuel of fire. This is the rendering of the Revision; and it is good. The Prince of peace wars against war, and destroys it. What a glorious day is that in which the Lord breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear in sunder, and burneth the chariot in the fire! I think I see it now. My sins, which were the weapons of my foes, the Lord pile in heaps. What mountains of prey! But see! He brings the fire-brand of his love from the altar of his sacrifice, and he sets fire to the gigantic pile. See how they blaze! They are utterly consumed for ever.

Isa 9:6. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

How is it that the Lord Jesus becomes glorious in our eyes; And he whose name is Immanuel is now crowned in our heart with many crowns, and honoured with many titles. What a list of glories we have here! What a burst of song it makes when we sing of the Messiah: His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace! Each work sounds like a salvo of artillery. It is all very well to hear players on instruments and sweet singers rehearse these words but to believe them, and realize them in your own soul, is better far. When every fear and every hope, and every power and every passion of our nature fill the orchestra of our heart, and all unite in one inward song unto the glorious Immanuel, what music it is!

Isa 9:7. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. If Christ is your Saviour he must be your King.

But know, nor of the terms complain,

Where Jesus comes he comes to reign:

To reign, and with no partial sway;

Lusts must be slain that disobey.

The moment we really believe in Jesus as our salvation we fall before him, and call him Master and Lord. We serve when he saves. He has redeemed us unto himself, and we own that we are his. A generous man once bought a slave-girl. She was put upon the brook for auction, and he pitied her and purchased her; but when he had bought her he said to her, I have bought you to set you free. There are your papers, you are a free woman. The grateful creature fell at his feet and cried, I will never leave you; if you have made me free I will be your servant as long as you live, and serve you better than any slave could do. This is how we feel towards Jesus. He sets us free from the dominion of Satan, and then, as we need a ruler, we say, And the government shall be upon his shoulder. We are glad to be ruled by Immanuel, God with us. This also is a door of hope to us That Jesus shall be the monarch of our hearts is our exceeding joy. To us he shall be always Wonderful. When we think of him, or speak about him, it shall be with reverent awe. When we need advice and comfort, we will fly to him, for he shall be our Counselor. When we need strength, we will look to him as our Mighty God. Born again by his Spirit, we will be his children, and he shall be the everlasting Father. Full of joy and rest, we will call him Prince of Peace. Are you willing to have Christ to govern you? Will you spend your lives in praising him? You are willing to have Christ to pardon you, but we cannot divide him, and therefore you must also have him to sanctify you. You must not take the crown from his head; but accept him as the monarch of your soul. If you would have his hand to help you, you must obey the scepter which it grasps. Blessed Immanuel, we are right glad to obey thee I In thee our darkness ends, and from the shadow of death we rise to the light of life. It is salvation to be obedient to thee. It is the end of gloom to her that was in anguish to bow herself before thee. May God the Holy Spirit tell of the things of Christ and show them unto us, and then we shall all cry

Go worship at Immanuels feet!

See in his face what wonders meet!

Earth is too narrow to express His worth, his grace, his righteousness.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Isa 9:1-7

Isa 9:1-7

One of the marvelous characteristics of the sacred writings is their strange intermixture of prophecies for darkness and disaster, followed by the most extravagant promises of blessing, victory and salvation. The chapter before us is an example.

Beginning back in Isaiah 8, there is a terrible prophecy of doom and destruction for Ephraim, especially, and involving Judah also, but not as extensively. Then there suddenly appears right here the promise of joy, light, gladness, victory and success in the most glowing terms possible. Of course, a case like this always sends the critical scholars in a frenzy looking for glosses, misplaced chapters, various authors, or multiple authors, or anything else as an excuse for denying the authenticity of the passage. We could cite a hundred such examples, but one is enough. Peake resorted to the old critical standby, that of giving different dates to such passages, “This passage on the Messianic King is now by several regarded as late.

Peake’s observation here has no importance whatever; but the reason behind his remark should be noticed. That reason lies solely in the rules followed by many seminarians, the particular rule responsible here is the inaccurate and unreasonable dictum that glorious promises cannot come from an author who is also delivering terrible prophecies of doom! Well, where does a canard like that originate? and the answer is: “only in the minds of Biblical enemies.” To demonstrate how evil this false rule actually is, turn to Hos 13:14, where in the midst of terrible warnings of evil things to come, the prophet suddenly declared, “I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from death; O Death, where are thy plagues? O Sheol, where is thy destruction?” Now, that this is indeed a glorious promise of resurrection from the dead is proved, absolutely, by Paul’s quotation of the passage as just such a glorious promise (1Co 15:55).

But now watch the critical enemies start to work on the passage. Henry McKeating stated that, “Modern scholarship is virtually unanimous in taking this verse as a threat.” And how do the all-wise “modern scholars” render the place? Here it is: “I will not save this people from the world of the dead or rescue them from the power of death. Bring on your plagues, Death! Bring on your destruction, world of the dead. They even had the gall to name the corrupt translation that carries this perversion of God’s Word, THE GOOD NEWS BIBLE! May God deliver all men from this kind of “good news.”

DARK AND HAPPY PROPHECIES MINGLED

A few more words are appropriate concerning that silly and ridiculous “role” so dear to the critics that they will repudiate a quotation by the apostle Paul in order to honor their crooked “role.” Their role is contrary to everything in the Bible. One would think that the critics who invented such rules have never read the Sermon on the Mount, or anything else in the Holy Bible. Christ himself spoke of heaven and hell in the same passage, of the strait gate and the wide gate in the same verse, and of such contrasts as the wheat and the chaff, the sheep and the goats, the foolish builders and the wise builders, the wise virgins and the foolish virgins, the saving of the good fishes and the casting away of the bad, and the bliss of heaven and the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone – all of these diametrically opposed entitles, he spoke of jointly and together in literally hundreds of passages in the New Testament. Furthermore, in the very prophecy we are studying, Isaiah, like all of the other prophets mingled predictions of terror and defeat with those of joy in salvation. Our only marvel is the profound ignorance of this basic truth so widespread among critical scholars. This is such a fundamental thing in the Bible that we would be extremely suspicious if a prophet did not mingle the tragic predictions with the happy ones.

The outline of this chapter is: the troubles of Israel shall end through the birth of a marvelous Child (Isa 9:1-7); more threats and warnings addressed chiefly to the Northern Israel (Isa 9:8-21).

Isa 9:1-7

“But there shall be no gloom to her that 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 hath he made it glorious, by the way pf the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation, thou hast increased their joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, thou has broken as in the day of Midian. For all the armor of the armed man in the tumult, and the garments rolled in blood, shall be for burning, for fuel of fire. For unto us a child is born, unto 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 shall be no end, upon the throne of David, upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.”

This was not a prophecy of the immediate future when Isaiah delivered it; but it is predictive prophecy of the “latter” times, and therefore, invariably in the Old Testament related to the times of the Messiah. The anguish that came upon Zebulun and Naphtali in the pre-Christian era was due partially to their physical location on the northern border of the Promised land. They were the first to reap the bitter fruit of repeated invasions; and Isaiah’s prophecy here shows that the treatment of the lands of these tribes was worse than that of some of the others, and that they would also be the first to enjoy the benefits of Christ’s kingdom. Look at this passage from Mat 4:12-16 –

When Jesus heard that John was delivered up he withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying:

The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

Toward the sea, beyond the Jordan,

Galilee of the Gentiles.

The people that sat in Darkness

Saw a great light.

And to them that sat in the region and shadow of death,

To them did light spring up.

Thus it was in those very places of Israel which had formerly suffered the most that Christ first came forward to teach in a synagogue, and there he did his first miracle in Cana of Galilee. See Luke 4 and John 2. “Thus the light began to shine in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali where the gloom had first settled centuries earlier.

The present tense in this marvelous passage should not be confusing. “These tenses are factitive, or prophetic tenses, or, as McGuiggan stated it, “The language is in the present or the past because of the certainty of the prophecy.

“As in the day of Midian …” This brings up a question as to why that particular deliverance was the one selected for mention here. Rawlinson has the best explanation of this we have seen. The great deliverance promised under the reign of Messiah in this passage would not be accomplished by military power. The Prince of Peace would have no use for the weapons of military might but would rely upon spiritual weapons; and the deliverance from the Midianites accomplished by Gideon was the most effective illustration for the peace that would be won under the Messiah. “Gideon’s deliverance was accomplished without military prowess by a small group selected out of Israel expressly for the purpose, so that Israel might not vaunt itself against the Lord, saying, My own hand hath saved me (Jdg 7:2).

“All the armor of the armed men … and the garments rolled in blood … shall be for burning (Isa 9:5) …” The first of these words, armor, could also bear the rendition “boots” as in some versions. We would then have the meaning of rough military boots and bloody clothes.

The burning of military weapons, clothing, and equipment are spoken of here as being abolished so as to prepare our minds for the New Era under Messiah; but instead of the glorious New Age being foretold as the work of some new Joshua or Gideon, “It is the Child already foretold as Immanuel in Isa 7:14. who suddenly appears as the hope of the whole world.

“And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace …” Thus the world’s Deliverer is hailed as a child, a son, given by God Himself and destined to achieve eternal redemption for all of the sons of Adam willing to accept it upon the terms under which it became a gift to mankind.

The five names given here are understood in various ways; but as Rawlinson suggested, “Perhaps it is not very important” just how we construe these names, whether four, or five or, as including certain compounds such as “Wonderful Counselor.” Cheyne pointed out that when the angel refused to give God’s name to Manoah, he said, “Wherefore askest thou after my name, seeing it is wonderful”? (Jdg 13:18). From this it is clear that the Angel of Jehovah described his name as “wonderful,” but that was not his name. It may be, therefore, that these are descriptions of Immanuel’s name and not actually the name itself. “The royal titles of Rameses II took up six lines on a monument; and any number of the recent kings of England have had as many as a half dozen names or more. The suggestion of McGuiggan appears to have merit. He wrote, “The expression, `His name shall be called,’ is probably idiomatic for, `This will be his character and nature.’

However, these names are of such interest that we shall devote some study to each of them.

WONDERFUL

This name has sometimes been given as “Wonder,” and sometimes combined as an adjective as in “Wonderful Counselor.” We prefer the view that there are five of these names and that the first one is “Wonderful.” We still remember reading Spurgeon’s magnificent sermon on this name many years ago. Christ is indeed Wonderful in whatever dimension one views him.

He is wonderful in his pre-existence, in his Virgin birth, in his role as executive in Creation and in the “upholding” of our universe. He is indeed wonderful in his mighty miracles, his unsurpassed teaching, his sufferings, his prophecies, his death, burial, and resurrection. He is wonderful in the great Christophanies of the Old Testament and his appearance as “The Angel of Jehovah!” He is wonderful in the establishment of his kingdom, the Church, and in his providential protection and blessing of his Holy Bride throughout history. He is wonderful in what he will yet accomplish when he appears the Second Time, apart from sin, and shall judge the living and the dead, and assign to every man who ever lived his eternal destiny.

COUNSELOR

When God said, “Let us make man in our own image,” the most logical view places Christ in that Council as a member of the Godhead. What a Counselor! that even the Father in heaven would discuss with the Son the creation of mankind! He is the only Counselor who ever had “the words of eternal life” (Joh 6:68); his counsel alone is truthfully described as “The Light of the World.” His counsel only will judge men at the last day (Joh 12:48). The counsel of the Son of God is eternal. “Heaven and earth shall pass away,” but Christ’s word abideth forever. A single line of teaching from this Counselor is more valuable than libraries stacked full of the books of human wisdom. His counsel is the one and only authentic Handbook and Guide to the Christian religion. No other authority exists, except through the devices of sinful men. When at the Last Day all the nations of earth have been summonsed to appear before the Great Assize, the word of this Counselor will be enforced as the final and ultimate determiner of the fate of every man ever born.

MIGHTY GOD

Many Christians and practically all commentators have trouble with the application of words like these to Christ, and yet they are surely appropriate.

In the New Testament, the following texts refer to Jesus Christ Our Lord as “God.”

Joh 1:1 : “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Joh 1:18 : “No man hath seen God at any time; God only begotten (from the margin of the ASV), who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” Without any reasonable doubt this is the correct rendition in this verse.

Joh 20:28 : “Thomas (the apostle) answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.”

Act 20:28 : “Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops to feed the church of God which he purchased with his own blood.

Rom 9:5 : “Of whom (the Israelites) is Christ as concerning the flesh, WHO IS OVER ALL, GOD, BLESSED FOREVER. AMEN. The noted Charles Hodge stated that the rendition given here is the only correct rendition, pointing out specifically, that “over all” actually means “over all things.” “It is supremacy over the universe that is here expressed.

“Great is the mystery of godliness:

He (God) who was manifested in the flesh,

Justified in the Spirit,

Seen of angels,

Preached among the Gentiles,

Believed on in the world,

Received up in glory.” (1Ti 3:16)

The use of the pronoun for the first word is very misleading, because it obscures the identity of just who was “manifested in the flesh.” The antecedent of “who” in this passage is God and cannot be anyone else. The KJV is correct here.

Tit 2:13 – “Looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” The margin (American Standard Version) here gives the alternate reading, “Our Great God and Saviour,” which is doubtless correct, as honored in the NIV. Also, see Tit 2:10.

Php 2:5-6 – “Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped.”

Heb 1:8 – “Of the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; and the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of thy kingdom.”

Jas 1:1 – “James a Servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” James had heard the Master say that no man can serve two masters; and could he have meant here that he was indeed serving “two masters”? Did he not rather mean that Christ and God were one?

2Pe 1:1 – “A like precious faith with us with the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.” Here we took out the italics word “the,” the italics indicating that it is not in the Greek, leaving the correct reading here as, “Our God and Saviour.”

1Jn 5:20 – “And we know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding that we know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.”

EVERLASTING FATHER

In the Bible, especially the New Testament, it is frequently said that God, the Holy Spirit, or the Son of God did certain things that in other passages may be attributed to a different member of the Godhead; and while it is true that the New Testament nowhere says that Christ begot us through the gospel, it is stated that God did so (Jas 1:18; 1Pe 2:3); and since the “gospel” delivered to mankind is the word of Christ delivered through him and his apostles, it is no violation of the scriptures to say that Christ indeed is the “father” of all who believe in him through his word. It may be that “Everlasting Father” includes something of this meaning. Kidner also pointed out that, “Father signifies the paternal benevolence of the Perfect Ruler over the people whom he loves.

Christ is called the “Author and Finisher” of our faith (KJV), and the author and protector of our faith (ASV) in Heb 12:2. In the same sense, therefore, that Abraham is called “The Father of the Faithful,” Jesus Christ is entitled to be called the “Everlasting Father.”

PRINCE OF PEACE

Jesus Christ is the only true Prince of Peace the world ever knew, and the only one that shall ever be. When the angels announced his birth over the hills of Judaea, their first word was, “Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased (Luk 2:14).” Implicit in this verse, is the declaration that the promise of peace is not given to all men on earth, but only to those with whom God is pleased. Only the obedient and faithful shall know the blessedness of that peace which only the Lord can give.

Alas, the rebellious majority of mankind shall continue to travel in the broad way that leads to destruction (Mat 7:13). The prophecy of Revelation also reveals in the visions that attended the opening of the seals that wars and desolations shall continue to the end of time. “Wars and rumors of wars … but the end is not yet” (Mat 24:6). Furthermore, the peace which the Lord gives is a glorious inner tranquillity that has no relation whatever to any turbulence on earth, whether general or personal. It comes from a oneness with God that securely rests in the confidence that no matter what may happen to one’s person, his health, his property, his country, his family, or anything else, absolutely nothing can happen to him, because he is the Lord’s; and as Paul stated it, “For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom 14:8).

Isa 9:1-3 THE LIGHT DISPELLING DARKNESS: We must preface all comments on this section (Isa 9:1-7) by confirming that the entire section is messianic. It is plainly declared to be so by Jesus Christ Himself (Cf. Mat 4:13-17). The ultimate fulfillment of this section, then, is in the first advent of the Messiah. To those who by faith accept the sign of the almahs son and the sign of Isaiahs sons, gloom and despair will be dispelled. The Great Light will come at some future time and turn Gods contempt into Gods glory upon Gods people. This future glory of God will have its beginnings in Galilee, the region so abhorred by most of the people of Palestine. Of course, those people to whom Isaiah addresses these remarks, people of Isaiahs own day, would not themselves live to see the reality of this prediction. However, by faith they might appropriate it to themselves at that moment-even as we may appropriate now some of the blessings of the future predicted in the New Testament.

Jesus Christ, The Light of the World, began His public ministry in Galilee. He was reared there in the village of Nazareth He called most of His apostles from that territory. And, He gained His greatest acceptance and following from Galilee. This northern frontier of the Promised Land was the first to abdicate to paganizing inroads in the days of the Divided Kingdom-it was the first to be overrun by the invading forces of Assyria and Babylon-but it was the area God chose to bless and glorify with the presence of His Beloved Son! The method of Divine grace is amazing.

The coming of the Messiah-Light brought atonement for Divine contempt. His coming also brought fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham that from his seed would all the nations of the earth be blessed. His coming brought about the multiplication of the covenant nation through the institution of the kingdom and the calling of the Gentiles into covenant kingdom-ship. The two figures of speech in Isa 9:3 are favorite prophetic vehicles to express the way in which this future, new, kingdom of God will extend itself among the Gentiles. The preaching of the gospel and conversion of the Gentiles is spoken of, prophetically, as a harvest and as a conquest wherein the Gentiles become the booty of Gods war against His enemies (Cf. Oba 1:17-21; Isa. ch. 60-66, etc.).

Isa 9:4-5 THE LORD DELIVERING FROM OPPRESSION: These. verses offer another favorite prophetic figure of speech. Oppression, whether physical or spiritual, is usually illustrated in the Old Testament by physical figures. Here we believe the oppression in its ultimate sense is the spiritual oppression of sin, its guilt and its estranging consequences. Of course, the immediate consequences of the sin of Israel and Judah were their captivities by foreign powers. However, even these captivities symbolized the greater oppression, the bondage to sin and Satan, to which Gods people had surrendered. Now God delivered His people from both the oppression of Babylonian captivity and from the oppression of sin. The deliverance from captivity became a type and prophecy of the mighty and miraculous deliverance from Satan and sin. Just as it was apparent that it was God delivering the people from the Midianites in the days of Gideon, so it would be apparent that it was God delivering from captivity and God delivering from Satan and sin. And when God delivers, the oppressor may as well burn his weapons for they will be of no use against Gods people any more.

Isa 9:6-7 THE LAD-DIVINE DISPENSING PEACE: The word child occurs first in the sentence in Hebrew, indicating all the emphasis is put there. The Son of David, Son of God Most High, actually coming to us as a child. The humanity of the Messiah is pointed out here. Young believes there are only four names for the Child, the first of which should be translated, Wonderful Counsellor. Actually the Hebrew word is wonder not wonderful. The Child will not be merely wonderful, but He Himself will be a Wonder. To sit upon the throne of David as the Messianic King requires wisdom such as no mere man possesses. In this King there will be hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:3). He will be the Word of God, the Logos (Joh 1:14; Joh 1:18). He will be the Wisdom of God (1Co 1:24). (Cf. also Isa 11:2). This King will have no need of being surrounded with human counsellors and advisors. He is pele yoetz, a Wonder of a Counsellor.

This Child is also called el gibbor, Mighty God. Literally God-Hero. One who overcomes, a victor, would be appropriate synonyms.

The third appellation is abi ad, Father-Eternal. The word Father pictorializes a quality of the Messiah toward His people. Eternal modifies Father, thus, Eternally-a Father to His people!

The fourth name is sar shalom, Prince of Peace. Since the peace to be established is eternal, it is clear that this peace is something more than a temporary cessation of hostilities (which millennialists claim will be enforced during the so-called thousand year literal reign of Christ in Jerusalem.) among nations. The cessation of warfare in itself does not bring about a desired condition of existence. There must also be removed the cause of war, namely, human sin. When this cause of war is removed, then there can be true peace. For human sin to be removed, however, there must be a state of peace between God and man. Not only must man be at peace with God, but what is more important, God must be at peace with man. The enmity which had existed between God and man must be removed. It was human sin which had kept God at enmity with man. When that sin has been removed, then there can be everlasting peace (Cf. Rom 5:1; Eph 2:11-22). The Prince of Peace was foreshadowed by Melchizedek, King of Salem (peace) and in Solomon, peaceful one. See also our comments on Isa 2:4.

The nature of the reign of this Child will be in justice and righteousness. The two indispensable ingredients making for peace are justice and righteousness. There are two qualities so blatantly abused in the days of the prophets by the rulers and the people of Israel and Judah. Christ came and satisfied the justice of God teaching men to be just and imputed to men the righteousness of God teaching men to be righteous. And His kingdom has continued to reach out to all men everywhere, increasing in quantity and quality. Spiritual growth and development into the image of God is the very essence of the kingdom of God.

What will ever accomplish all this? The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do it. But zeal for what? There is one recurring phrase of great interest in the prophetic literature, God says, For my own sake, or For the sake of my name, I will do it. What could bring more blessedness or victory or safety or abundance to Gods people than the vindication of the wisdom, power and faithfulness of God Himself? If God is zealous for His own honor, then His people will surely find honor in that!

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

Here we have the message of hope (verses Isa 9:1-7) in the glorious picture of the Coming Deliverer, with the equally glorious record of the results of His Coming. It is one of the greatest Messianic passages in the Old Testament.

This is followed immediately by a prophecy of judgment on Israel, which falls into four distinct parts, each ending with the words, “For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.” For this reason we have included in our reading the first four verses of chapter

In the first he rebukes their pride, and declares that in consequence of it Jehovah will send against them the Syrians and the Philistines. In the second, he announces and denounces their stubbornness of heart, and declares that on account of it Jehovah will destroy their own leaders, and thus visit them with punishment. In the third he describes the prevalence and fierceness of their wickedness, and announces the judgment of civil strife, by which they will consume each other. In the fourth he describes the corruption of the judges and rulers of the people, and declares that they shall be overwhelmed and destroyed by the people.

Through all these measures of judgment the afflicted people manifest stubbornness of heart and persistence in wickedness, so that the anger of Jehovah cannot be turned away, although His afflicting hand continues to be outstretched.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

the Prince of Peace

Isa 8:19-22; Isa 9:1-7

When men cease to trust in God and rely on the help of man, they often turn to necromancy and spirit-rapping. The medium takes the place of the Mediator. The sance is sought after instead of the Law and the Testimony. What have Gods children to do with back-stair gossip, when their Fathers presence-chamber is open to them? What He does not tell us is not worth our knowing.

The land of Galilee was destined to suffer sorely, but better days would dawn on its mountains and lakes. The joy that was in store is compared to the daybreak, Isa 8:2; to the joy of harvest, Isa 8:3; and to the gladness of the harried tribes when Gideon broke the power of Midian, Isa 8:4. The implements of battle would become fuel for the peasants cottage-fires. What titles are these for our Lord! They befit no human babe! Let us place the government of our lives on His shoulders; and as it extends so shall our peace. Ask Gods zeal to do this for thee! In the power of His grace, put the government of all on the wonderful Son of God.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

EXPOSITORY NOTES ON

THE PROPHET ISAIAH

By

Harry A. Ironside, Litt.D.

Copyright @ 1952

edited for 3BSB by Baptist Bible Believer in the spirit of the Colportage ministry of a century ago

ISAIAH CHAPTER NINE

THE PROMISED DELIVERER

AS WE STUDY this ninth chapter it is well to note how definitely it links with the promise given to Ahaz in chapter seven, for here we read once more of the One who is the fulfillment of all GOD’s ways with men, the Man of His counsel who came in grace to reveal the Father, to bring in everlasting righteousness.

“Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire” (verses 1-5).

The opening verses of the chapter form a continuation of what has just gone before in chapter eight. When darkness had spread over the land of Palestine and men were groping for the light, CHRIST came in infinite grace, the Light of the World, by the way of the sea beyond Jordan in Galilee of the Gentiles. Prophetically, Isaiah seemed to behold Him moving about among men declaring the counsel of GOD and manifesting His grace toward those that walked in darkness, so that they beheld a great light dwelling in the shadow of death; upon them the light shone.

It is as though Isaiah could look down through the ages and see the Lord JESUS full of grace and truth making known the wonders of GOD’s redeeming love to those who heard Him gladly and found Him the Light of Life. This is the passage quoted by Matthew (4:15, 16), the differences in rendering arising from the fact that in the New Testament the quotation is taken from the Septuagint instead of the Hebrew.

But for the moment the prophet passes over His rejection and the long years that followed during

which the people of Israel, themselves, are rejected. In verse 3 he looks on to the day when once more the nation will be recognized by GOD as in covenant relation with Himself. The passage looks forward to the future blessing of the favored nation when they shall be restored to the Lord and to their land, and will have learned to know JESUS as their Messiah – the one whom their fathers rejected but in whom all blessing is to be found.

Verses 4 and 5 contemplate the conditions that were to prevail in the world through the long centuries of the dispersion of Israel. While they had a local application to the destruction of the Assyrian army besieging Jerusalem, there will be a complete fulfillment when CHRIST returns to deliver the people from all their enemies. “Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood.”

Undoubtedly, the prophet describes the sad conditions destined to be the portion of the nations until CHRIST comes again to bring peace. This agrees with the words of our Lord JESUS as recorded in Mat 24:6, 7, “Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” Such are the conditions that have prevailed during all the centuries since CHRIST was rejected. He who was once offered to the world as the Prince of Peace was rejected by both Israel and the nations, and therefore, He said ere He left this scene, “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division.”

In the next two verses we have one of the most complete prophecies concerning our Lord that is to be found in the Old Testament.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (verses 6, 7).

“Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” In these two expressions we see the humanity and the deity of our Saviour. The child born refers to His humanity. As we have already seen, He was to come into the world as the virgin’s Son. He was a true Man, spirit, soul, and body, as born of Mary, but without a human father.

He was also the eternal Son of the Father who had come from the glory that He had with the Father from all the past eternity, given in grace for our redemption, who linked His deity with our humanity apart from its sin, and, thus was GOD and Man in one blessed adorable Person.

“The government shall be upon his shoulder.” He is destined to exercise supreme rule over all the universe. It has often been noticed that when the Good Shepherd finds the lost sheep He puts it upon His shoulders, but here the government of the entire world is said to rest upon His shoulder. There is surely a beautiful suggestion in this plural in Luke 15 of the security of those who have put their trust in Him.

“His name shall be called Wonderful.” It may be that we should link together the two words Wonderful and Counsellor, but if we separate them we may see in this first word a suggestion of the mystery of His Sonship, which no man can apprehend, as He tells us in Mat 11:27, and as we also learn from Rev 19:12. Under this name Wonderful He appeared of old to the parents of Samson [secret] (Jdg 13:18).

Only the Father understands this mystery of godliness (1Ti 3:16). It is beyond human comprehension. Nevertheless, as we read the divinely inspired records of His lowly birth, His sinless life, His vicarious death and His glorious resurrection, we find our hearts exclaiming again and again, Is He not wonderful! He stands supreme, above all the sons of men, the blessed, adorable Son of GOD, His heart touched with the feeling of our infirmities; His grace manifested in a thousand WHYS; His loving kindness reaching down to the utterly lost and depraved. His name is Wonderful because He Himself is wonderful and also because of the work which He accomplished.

He is called Counsellor because He comes to us as the Revealer of the Father’s will. That is what is implied in His divine title, “The Word.” It is by the Word that GOD makes known His mind; and the Lord JESUS, who was with the Father from the beginning – that is, when everything that ever had beginning, began – came into this scene to make GOD known, and so in Him the Father has spoken out all that is in His heart.

His words make known to us the path of life and show us the only safe way for a pilgrim people to travel through a world of sin. As the eternal Word He is the Revealer of the mind and heart of GOD, come to earth not only to show us the way to the Father, but also to empower us that we may walk In a manner well pleasing to the One who has redeemed us.

Notice that also He is called the “mighty God.” Some would seek to tone this down in order to make Him less than the words imply, but He is so called in Rom 9:5 and in 1Jn 5:20. Even when here on earth He was just as truly GOD as He was Man, and as truly Man as He was GOD. He could not have made atonement for sin otherwise. He had to be who He was in order to do what He did.

“The everlasting Father.” He is the “Father of Eternity,” or, “The Father of the Coming Age.” The Son is not to be confounded with the Father, though He and the Father are one (Joh 10:30). But He is the One in whom all the ages meet (Heb 1:2, margin), therefore, He is rightfully designated, “The Father of the Ages,” or “The Father of Eternity.”

“The Prince of Peace.” As such He was presented to the world and heralded by angels (Luk 2:14); but because of His rejection there can be no lasting peace for Israel or the nations until He comes again. Then He will be manifested as the One who will speak peace to all peoples (Isa 32:1-18). Meantime, having made peace by the blood of His Cross, all who put their trust in Him have peace with GOD; and as we learn to commit all that would naturally trouble or distress to GOD in prayer, peace fills our hearts and controls our lives.

In verse 7 we are told that “Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no

end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” GOD made a covenant with David that his Son should sit upon his throne and reign in righteousness forever. This has not yet been fulfilled. When the forerunner of our Lord was born, his father, Zacharias, declared that GOD had raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David (Luk 1:69).

These prophetic declarations make clear that David’s throne was to be established forever, and that he should never be without a man to sit upon that throne. Our Lord, on His mother’s side, was from the line of David, as we know, and because of her marriage to Joseph, who was heir to the throne, the throne-rights passed to JESUS. But He has never taken His seat upon the throne of David: this awaits His Second Coming. Even as He declared through His servant, John, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne” (Rev 3:21).

He is sitting now At the right hand of the Majesty on high, on the throne of Deity. Soon He will return in glory and will take His own throne, which is really the throne of David, and will reign in righteousness over all the earth. This seventh verse will have its fulfillment literally, for the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform it.

“The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against Him, and join his enemies together; the Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. for all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still” (verses 8-12).

The prophet now turns back to local conditions. Those of the north kingdom were vaunting themselves. In spite of the calamities that were befalling them, they would rise above them and become once more a strong and secure people, but the Lord declared that He would raise up adversaries from among the Syrians who had been their allies, and the Philistines, the ancient enemies of His people who should devour Israel with open mouth; this because His anger was toward them only on account of their sins, and His hand stretched out in judgment. There had been no return to Him even when affliction came, as we see from the prophet’s next words:

“For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts. Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed. Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still” (verses 13-17).

In the Epistle to the Hebrews we are told, “No chastening for the present seemeth to be

joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (12:11,12). On Israel’s part there had been no exercise because of the chastening hand of GOD upon them; rather, was there resentful pride. They dared to boast themselves even against GOD and against His servants who came to instruct them in His truth. The leaders of the sheep were terribly guilty in that they misled those who were subject to them, causing them to err, and so lead them to destruction because of their unrepentant condition. The Lord could not find His joy in them; nor were His compassions free to flow out toward them. Their continual waywardness called for further judgment. This is next emphasized:

“For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still” (verses 18-21).

“Wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns.” Men may think lightly of sin and pay little or no attention to the solemn warnings that GOD gives concerning its evil effects, but if they persist in rebellion against GOD they will find that wickedness does indeed burn as a fire and that those who refuse to turn to GOD in repentance will have to endure the judgment that they have brought upon themselves. GOD’s holy nature will not permit Him to condone iniquity. So, “Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire.”

Famine and pestilence added to their wretchedness and misery. Yet, instead of turning to Him and confessing their sin and seeking forgiveness, they blamed one another for the troubles that had come upon them. Manasseh turned upon Ephraim and Ephraim upon Manasseh, and both together turned upon Judah. All this was the sad result of forsaking the way of the Lord.

The chapter closes with the solemn refrain repeated for the third time: “For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.”

~ end of chapter 9 ~

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Isa 9:2

I. One almost invariable sight revealed to us in the shadow of death is the imperishableness of the past. There is good in this revision of the past. (1) It is good to know that the past as much as the present is real; that our deeds lie there, imperishable, dormant, but not dead; that we cannot hide from them when they awake, nor put them away from our lives. (2) The remaining hours of our time here are more likely to be encountered and occupied with serious hearts. (3) Nothing more disposes us to listen to the offers of Divine mercy, than a clear unambiguous view of the actual past of our lives.

II. Another and more important sight vouchsafed to us in serious illness is the sight of the world we live in dwarfed to its true proportions. This is a great sight. It is gain to a man’s soul, even when no bodily betterness can take place. It is actual light to him in the land of the shadow. For if the cares and anxieties of our daily duties be disproportionate, if the great mass of them be nothing more real than shadows, it is better that we should know it here, than that we should pass deceived and deluded into the presence of Him from whose face all shadows flee away.

III. A third experience in serious illness is, that away from the resurrection of Christ there is no light for the world to come. We are bereft of human light. Our friendships do not help us here; our books wave farewell to us. The light they once brought to us twinkles behind us like street lights on a gradually receding shore; and the conviction comes nearer and clearer to our heart that the one light for the shadow, the light which alone can reveal the future, is the light which burns without consuming in the resurrection of our Lord.

IV. The next experience is the loneliness of suffering. This loneliness is the shadow sent to bring us home. God is our home. In Him, now and here, we live and move. The shadow separates us from our earthly home-puts friend and companion far from us; but it is, eventually, to bring us closer to our home in Him.

V. To the children of God affliction is in every way a good. Its shadow is a retirement for renewed and deeper insight into the character and purposes of their Father.

A. Macleod, Days of Heaven upon Earth, p. 262.

References: Isa 9:3.-F. J. Austin, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxviii., p. 137; J. Pulsford, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. vii., p. 233; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. v., p. 155; H. Thompson, Concionalia: Outlines for Parochial Use, 2nd series, p. 14; T. C. Finlayson, Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 523. Isa 9:4.-E. H. Plumptre, Expositor, 2nd series, vol. ii., p. 63; S. Cox, Ibid., vol. vi., p. 410. Isa 9:5.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 184.

Isa 9:6

I. There is no such thing as an insignificant birth. All births are intense with meaning. Each has in it the splendour of immortal powers, and each of them is luminous with the unquenchable spark whose flames will burn with increasing brilliancy through the eternities. No birth is insignificant, but births differ in the quality and degree of their emphasis. There are births which are like the introduction of new forces and energies into human society, which pour the current of their power down through the ages with ever-widening and deepening volume.

II. Our commemoration today is of the birth of a man, not the promulgation of a system, or the inauguration of a faith in a mere religion. Religions there were before the Christ was born. Systems of truth there were, out of which governments and civilisations sprang. But up to the time that Christ was born, up to the time that Divinity became incarnate, and the amiable elements of the Divine disposition entered into and animated flesh and blood, the world had lacked a man perfect in holiness, distinguished in the wisdom which inherent righteousness can alone bring to human ability, and pre-eminent in those affections and amiable instincts which in themselves are a revelation of the fatherhood of God. Humanity did not need a new religion; it needed a Divine presence.

III. We must remember (1) that Christ was greater than any truth He ever uttered. We must study Him through His words and His deeds, if we would receive the glorious impression which his purity and virtue and goodness are calculated to make upon us. (2) That we celebrate the birth of a man with universal connections. His little family did not absorb Him. He was not the Son of Mary and Joseph, He was the Son of humanity.

IV. At the birth of Christ the world began to live a new life, because the saving grace of perfect conduct of a saintly spirit and of an atoning death had been given it. Religions were translated out of words into life, out of speech into spirit, out of books into manhood, out of the intellect into the untaught and the unteachable impulses of the soul.

W. H. Murray, The Fruits of the Spirit, p. 146.

Isa 9:6

The Incarnation and the secret of believing it.

I. Our nature shrinks from the imagination of Deity existing in solitude. Suppose that self-manifestation is a property of the Divine nature, as essential to its perfection as wisdom or love, then He in whom that manifestation is made, to whom God communicates His nature as the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, must be co-eternal with Him. From the beginning the Word was with God.

II. There is nothing absurd in the idea of such a union of two natures in the person of our Lord. Each of us also is possessed of two natures-a corporeal and a spiritual. There is as much inexplicable mystery in the union of these two natures in the humblest human being, as there is in the union of a Divine and a human nature in the person of Christ.

III. Suppose that at some meeting of citizens, publicly convened for deliberation, an individual, abject in mien and poor in apparel, should present himself for our notice; and that, when he proceeded to address us in language of serious admonition, we resented what we reckoned his presumption, repressed him, and turned him out with abuse,-our conduct would be not a little censurable, as a breach of the great law of the fraternity of all men, and a violation of the rights of citizenship. Well, we have expelled him from our assembly; but there he is back, with the crown of Britain on his head. How much more criminal it would be to treat him with indignity now. His flesh is now the flesh of a king; it is sacred: touch it not for harm; protect it with loyal care. The Divine nature of Christ was a crown to His human nature; not changing that human, so as to render it essentially different from ours, but giving it official preeminence-royalising it. (1) What must sin be in the judgment of Heaven, that, when He who was crowned with the diadem of Godhead presented Himself on our behalf, His substitution was not refused as if it had been exorbitant to ask so much? (2) Does the kingly crown save the king from feeling like other men? The crown which Jesus wore saved Him no pain, no pang, by which His brethren are afflicted. He felt as keenly as we feel-even more keenly; for in mental suffering, at least, the nature, being more refined, is necessarily more sensitive, in proportion as it is sinless.

W. Anderson, Discourses, p. 33.

I. We have here the great mystery of the Incarnation. “Unto us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given.” “Unto us a Child is born” relates, we may safely say, to the humanity of Christ. “To us a Son is given” relates to the Divine nature of Christ. He was a Son when born, even the Eternal Son of God.

II. “The government shall be upon His shoulder.” He is a King then; born for kingly office, and with kingly power. For one who shrinks from Christ, through dislike of the cross, there are hundreds who shrink from Him through dislike of the throne. The hard sentence to flesh and blood is not “The world’s iniquity was laid upon His head,” but “The world’s government is laid upon His shoulder.” Christ is King, and He reigns, whether to reward the loyal, or to punish the rebellious.

III. “Wonderful.” This is the first title which the prophetic herald assigns to the newborn Prince. Wonderful in His actions, for look at His miracles; wonderful in His endurances, for contemplate His sufferings; wonderful in life, for who shall declare His generation? wonderful in death, for He saw no corruption; wonderful in His resurrection, for He raised Himself; wonderful in ascension, for He carried our fallen nature into heavenly places; wonderful in the love which moved Him to do and to suffer for sinful beings like ourselves.

IV. Next He is called “Counsellor.” Not our Counsellor, as though the office were one limited to the children of men, but Counsellor in the abstract; denoting, it may be, His intimate union in the Divine essence, as a Person in the Godhead, and as such concerned in all the counsels of eternity.

V. “The Everlasting Father.” The Septuagint Version renders this title, “The Father of the world to come.” “The world to come” was an expression, under the old dispensation, for the new dispensation that was promised and expected. We may consider this title as indicating in Christ the Source or Author of those eternal blessings, which are now proffered to and provided for the believing.

VI. “The Prince of Peace.” “On earth peace, goodwill toward men” was the chorus with which the hosts of heaven rang in the birthday morn. Christ came to give peace to troubled consciences. “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2282.

I. Consider, first, who is the Son given, and what is His purpose. It is our Lord Jesus Christ. The verse begins with His humanity; and, mounting upwards, it rises to the height of His divinity. The prophet conducts us to Bethlehem and its stable, to the desert and its hunger, to the well and its thirst, to the workshop and its daily toil, to the sea and its midnight storm, to Gethsemane and its bloody sweat, to Calvary and its ignominious death, and all along that thorny path that stretched from the manger to the cross; for in announcing the birth and coming of this Son and Child, he included in that announcement the noble purposes for which He was born-His work, His sufferings, His life, His death, all the grand ends for which the Son was given and the Child was born.

II. By whom was this Son given? By His Father. Man has his remedies, but they are always behindhand. The disease antedates the cure. But before the occasion came God was ready. Redemption was planned in the councils of eternity, and Satan’s defeat secured before his first victory was won. The Son gave Himself, but the Father gave Him; and there is no greater mistake than to regard God as looking on at redemption as a mere spectator, to approve the sacrifice and applaud the actor. God’s love was the root, Christ’s death the fruit.

III. To whom was He given? He was given to us. “Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given.” “God commendeth His love to us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”

T. Guthrie, Penny Pulpit, No. 174.

I. Look first at some of the characteristics of Christ’s wonderfulness. (1) It must be evident that this wonderfulness is essential to His being and continuing the centre of interest for men. If He is to be the great world-power, He must be always the unquestionable world-wonder. He must arrest and compel attention. Whatever novelties appear He must eclipse them. He must always make the freshest appeal to the heart and soul of man. For wonder is that which rouses men. It is the token in us of the boundlessness of the universe and the infinitude of God. Wonder is the presage of endless progress and its stimulus. It throws a glory and freshness over existence. It makes all things new. Therefore He who is to dominate the world, save it, and fill it with heavenly life through all the ages must be the enduring unapproachable wonder. (2) No one can at all appreciate the wonderfulness of Christ who does not consider its freedom from the merely marvellous. It has a meaning and a power prior to that and above it. It is not simply this notable absence that impresses us, but the positive atmosphere of soberness. There is everywhere an air of sagacity, prudence, balance, insight, common sense. (3) The different wonders of Christ’s nature and work form together a unity. Each fits into the others, and the very things which, taken apart, give rise to the greatest perplexity, are found to be the main uniting elements. We accept each because of the all, and the all because of each, and cry out, My Lord and my God.

II. The wonderfulness of Christ in its bearing on the wonderfulness of man and of God. (1) The wonderfulness of man. Man viewed in his nature and present condition is a transcendent and most painful wonder. The great objection that many in our time have to Christ is, that He is too wonderful. To this mood we present the marvel, the perplexing, terrible marvel, of man. Christ exactly meets this terrible marvel of man’s condition. The one wonder stands over against the other, and fits into it. (2) The wonderfulness of God. It is the wonderfulness of Christ which alone answers to the wonderfulness of God. God is infinite in all His attributes,-power, justice, wisdom, holiness. Christ is the splendour of love that irradiates all. His wonderfulness vindicates God and wins man.

J. Leckie, Sermons Preached at Ibrox, p. 229.

References: Isa 9:6.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iv., Nos. 214, 215, vol. v., No. 258, vol. vi., No. 291, vol. xii., No. 724; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. ix., p. 279; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., pp. 275, 373; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 71; J. Keble, Sermons from Christmas to Epiphany, pp. 49, 79; Bishop Moorhouse, The Expectation of the Christ, p. 49; J. Edmond, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ix., p. 145; W. Anderson, Ibid., vol. x., p. 392; A. Mursell, Ibid., vol. xxii., p. 299; D. Davies, Ibid., vol. xxvi., p. 273; H. P. Liddon, Old Testament Outlines, p. 174; Bishop Walsham How, Plain Words, 2nd series, p. 20.

Isa 9:6-7

In the time when the prophet Isaiah wrote this prophecy, everything round him was exactly opposite to his words. The king of Judea, his country, was not reigning in righteousness. He was an unrighteous and wicked governor. The weak and poor and needy had no one to right them, no one to take their part.

I. But Isaiah had God’s Spirit with him; the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of holiness, righteousness, justice. And that Holy Spirit convinced him of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, as he convinces every man who gives himself up humbly to God’s teaching. God’s Spirit in his heart made him feel sure that, in some way or other, some day or other, the Lord God would come to judgment, to judge the wicked princes and rulers of this world, and cast them out. It must be so. God was a righteous God. He was not lazy or careless about this poor sinful world, and about all the sinful, downtrodden, ignorant men and women and children in it. He would take the matter into His own hands. If kings would not reign in righteousness, He would come and reign in righteousness Himself.

II. Isaiah saw all this but dimly, afar off. He perhaps thought at times that the good young prince Hezekiah-the might of God, as his name means-who was growing up in his day to be a deliverer, and a righteous king over the Jews, was to set the world right. Hezekiah failed to save the nation of the Jews. But still Isaiah’s prophecy was true. “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given;” even the Babe of Bethlehem, Jesus Christ the Lord. The government shall indeed be upon His shoulder; for it has been there always. His name is indeed Wonderful; for what more wondrous thing was ever seen in heaven or in earth than that great love with which He loved us? He is not merely the might of God, as Hezekiah was, for a sign and a prophecy; for He is the mighty God Himself. He is indeed the Counsellor; for He is the light that lighteth every man who comes into the world. He is the “Father of an everlasting age.” He gives eternal peace to all who will accept it; peace which this world can neither give nor take away.

C. Kingsley, Sermons on National Subjects, 2nd series, p. 140.

Isa 9:7

When Isaiah lived, that part of the world in which Judea was geographically situated, that is to say the eastern world, which was then the seat of civilisation, exhibited certain grand, imposing, and ancient kingdoms. How did Isaiah feel towards these kingdoms? and what was the place which they occupied in that scheme of things which he had in his mind by Divine teaching and inspiration? The answer to this question is given in almost every page of his prophetical writings. He regarded them as mere passing, temporary governments, destined to vanish and give way to a glorious kingdom which was one day to appear, founded upon totally different principles from those on which they were erected; a kingdom of peace under a Prince of Peace, or the Messiah, who was to collect all the nations of the earth round one centre, and bind them in bonds of harmony and love.

I. The great kingdoms then existing in the world were doubtless serviceable, under God’s providence, in keeping up something like law and order amongst men. But they did this in the worst possible way in which it could be done, and only because, even for their own selfish purposes, it was necessary to do this. It was inflated and infatuated pride, combined with oppression, rapacity, and injustice, and total indifference to the rights of the weak and helpless, that Isaiah saw when he cast his eyes upon the great governments of the world of that day, upon the kingdoms of the East, to which he so constantly refers; and with all this the kingdom of prophecy, that great future kingdom which forms the goal of prophetic vision, was to be in complete, marked, and utter contrast.

II. To a certain and very limited extent, we may allow that this prophecy of Isaiah has been fulfilled, and is fulfilled now. Under Christendom, certainly a great change has taken place in the government of the world, a great change has taken place in human society. There is a justice, a public spirit, a consideration for the mass of the people which was not known under these old governments. But no prophecy of the regeneration of human society is fulfilled in this world. The Christian Church does but foreshadow the real communion and society of the prophet’s vision. The Gospel tells us when and where this kingdom will be; that it will be in another world when this has passed away.

J. B. Mozley, Sermons Parochial and Occasional, p. 244.

Isa 9:7

I. Government comes before peace. First, authority must be established, and then quietude will follow; for tranquillity is the child of order. Christ is setting up government that He may establish peace. It is the secret of everything. If you look out on the wide area of the world, here is the cause of all the strange and painful processes,-the conflicts, the distress, the judgments, which you see around you-all to make government, absolute universal government. And then, and not till then, will come the peace of the whole earth.

II. To those who have learnt thus to connect government with peace, and who are jealous over their own hearts’ outbreaks, it will be a pleasant thought that the government, if only you will let it, must increase. He who was born for this very end, to be the King of your heart, will not leave it till He has made that little province quite His own. There is “no end.” That sweet subduing, that blessed ruling, will continue till there is not an affection that strays, nor a will that rebels,-and then the “peace.”

J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 9th series, p. 232.

References: Isa 9:10.-A. Scott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvii., p. 230.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

CHAPTER 9

The Message of Hope Concerning Israels Future and the Impending Judgments

1. The Messiah, His Name, His rule, His kingdom (Isa 9:1-7) 2. Judgment upon Israel (Isa 9:8-12) 3. The impenitent nation (Isa 9:13-17) 4. The wrath of Jehovah (Isa 9:18-21) 5. Unrighteous judges and three questions (Isa 10:1-4 Mat 4:12-25 quotes the opening verses of this chapter. This applies to His double advent. The first and second coming of the Lord are wonderfully blended together in Isa 9:6-7. The nation in impenitence and Gods wrath against them has had its past and present fulfillment. It is not yet exhausted. It looks forward to the coming day of wrath.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

am 3264, bc 740

the dimness: Isa 8:22

when: 1Ki 15:19, 1Ki 15:20, 2Ki 15:29, 2Ch 16:4

afterward: Lev 26:24, Lev 26:28, 2Ki 17:5, 2Ki 17:6, 1Ch 5:26

by the way: Mat 4:15

Galilee of the nations: or, Galilee the populous

Reciprocal: Deu 33:23 – O Jos 12:23 – the nations 2Ki 15:19 – Pul Mat 4:14 – saying Mat 15:29 – unto Luk 4:44 – Galilee Joh 7:52 – Search

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Isa 9:1. Nevertheless, &c. In the Hebrew, this verse is joined to the preceding chapter, as it is also in Bishop Lowths translation; and if it be considered as connected therewith, and the connecting particle, , be translated for, (which is its usual meaning,) instead of nevertheless, the words may be understood to express an aggravation of the darkness, or misery, threatened in the two former verses, as the punishment of those who should reject the Messiah: thus, For the dimness Or darkness; shall not be such as was in her vexation, &c. That is, this shall not be so slight an affliction as that which befell these parts of the country by Pul, 2Ki 15:19; nor as that which succeeded it, by Tiglath-pileser, 2Ki 15:29; which was a heavier stroke than the former; but this shall be far heavier than either of them. Subsequent events, supposed to be here predicted, seem to confirm this interpretation, the calamities which, by the just judgment of God, befell the Jews for rejecting and crucifying the Messiah, being incomparably greater than those brought on the land by Zebulun and Naphtali by any, or all, of the Assyrian invasions. Our translation, however, and most commentators, consider this verse as containing a mitigation of the foregoing threatening, and that the sense of it is this: The calamity of this land and its inhabitants shall be great, yet not so great as that which was brought upon Zebulun and Naphtali by the king of Assyria, because then the Israelites were not only quite rooted out, and carried away into a dreadful captivity, out of which they were not to return; but their calamity was not alleviated by the coming of the Messiah and the gospel light; whereas, before and amidst this darkness, of which I have now spoken, shall a glorious light arise to cheer all who open their eyes to behold it. Thus interpreted, this verse is rather connected with the following than the foregoing verses, and is introductory to them, in which light Bishop Lowth considers it; although, as has been observed, following the Hebrew, he joins it to the preceding chapter. His translation of it, nearly the same with that of Dr. Waterland, is worthy of the readers attention, as it casts a new light on the words. It is as follows: But there shall not hereafter be darkness in the land which was distressed: In the former time he debased the land of Zebulun, and the land, of Naphtali; but in the latter time he hath made it glorious: Even the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the nation. The reader must observe, that Zebulun, Naphtali, and Manasseh, that is, the country of Galilee, all around the sea of Genesareth, were the parts that principally suffered in the Assyrian invasion under Tiglath-pileser; and they were the first that enjoyed the blessing of Christs preaching the gospel, and exhibiting his miraculous works among them.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Isa 9:1. The dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation. Dr. Lightfoot infers from this, that there was much greater affliction in the first days of her vexation. All the Versions differ very widely here, a proof of the difficulty arising from the brevity and consequent obscurity of the text. Joseph Mede refers the words to the close of the preseding chapter. When at first he lightly debased the land of Zebulon and of Naphthali, as recorded in 2Ki 15:29; and afterwards did more grievously afflict her. But in the latter day he shall make them glorious; they shall first be visited with the beams of the gospel. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.

Isa 9:3. Thou hast multiplied the nation. Since they came under the Roman government, as is noticed by Josephus, the population had become very great.Thou hast encreased their joy; they rejoice before thee, as with the joy of harvest. LOWTH. The English reads, and not encreased the joy. So is our present Hebrew text. lo, not; but the margin reads lo; that is, joy to him. Kennicott has eleven manuscripts, and two of them ancient, which read, says Lowth, according to the Masoretic corrections of the Hebrew text, without the particle of negation.

Isa 9:5. Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning. Such is the difference between the wars of the Messiah, and those of belligerent kings. The people of this mighty God, like the three hundred with Gideon, or the men of Hezekiah, shall only have to go out, and burn the armour of their idolatrous foes. Thus Joshua burned the chariots of the Canaanites, Jos 11:6; and so in the latter day, for seven months they shall burn the armour of Gog and Magog. Eze 39:8-10. The weapons of our warfare are mighty through God; truth here fights against error, and virtue conquers vice. Love melts away the enmity of the human heart, turning the battle to the gate, and all the strong fortresses of the enemy are overcome.

Isa 9:6. Unto us a child is born, Jesus the son of Mary. Unto us a son is given, Christ the Son of God. So the holy fathers speak of the Lords nativity. The names of this Son are numerous as the plenitude of Deity. He is called Jehovah, Jer 23:6; Jer 33:16. Elohim, Psa 110:1. Adonai, Psa 45:7. And in this text, His name shall be called Wonderful. pala, or pele, as in Montanus,wonderful, admirable, hidden, or, it is a secret, as in Jdg 13:18. This would denote the mysterious glory of the person of Christthe Eternal born in time! The Lord of glory lying in a manger! In offices the source of all wisdom, of all sanctity, all power; yet growing in stature, and in favour with God and man. Oh adorable mysterious name.

Counsellor. yoaits. The masoretic Jews have done what they could by punctuation to disfigure this whole passage, but the word Counsellor stands as a distinct title or name in several places; and so it is pointed in LOWTH. In this character, Christ is the wisdom of God, forming and comprehending the glorious plan of redemption, laying a counsel sure for the conversion of sinners, preparing thrones of glory for his saints, and making all the evils of life work together for good. This title is always understood of one who gives, not of one who receives counsel.

The mighty God. El-gibbor, the strong, the prevalent, the invincible God. The word is repeatedly applied to men of gigantic strength. The Lord applies to himself a Greek name of equal force. I am Alpha and Omega the Almighty. Rev 1:8.

The everlasting Father. Abi d, the Father of the everlasting age. The LXX, , the Father of the world to come. The Chaldaic reads, vir permanens in ternum Christus. Christ the prince established for ever. In rabbinical theology, the Messiahs time, and the world to come, are synonymous phrases. It is to Christ, says the apostle, and not to angels, that God hath put in subjection the world to come. Heb 2:5. So far the Arians agree with us. But if the Messiah be the Sire of the ages to come, he is equally the Sire of ages past; for his goings forth were from [lam] everlasting. Mic 5:2. From the womb of the morning. Psa 110:3. Pro 8:22. Every rabbi accounted orthodox, expected the Messiah, the Messiah from heaven; and such indeed is the expectation at this day, of the whole oriental world. Their prayer is, Oh that thou wouldst rent the heavens and come down Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion. The shekinah, or glory on the mercyseat, was to them the Messiah. Being encouraged by the promise, Psa 85:9; Psa 85:11, truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven; their cry in the Spirit was, Drop down ye heavens from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, (the gentile world) and let them bring forth salvation. Isa 45:8.

The Prince of peace. The literal reading is Sar Shalom. St. Paul understands the mediatorial glory of Christ in the sublimest sense, as on the cross reconciling all things to himself, both in heaven and in earth. The prophets regard the Messiah as contending with the rebellious gentiles, solely with a view to the introduction of universal peace, by restoring man to the image of God, and by imparting peace to the conscience, which passeth all understanding. See more on Zec 9:10.

Isa 9:7. Of the encrease of his government and peace there shall be no end. This is the current language of all the prophets, and of the whole of the new testament. He shall bruise the serpents head. His kingdom, the living stone cut out of the mountain without hands, shall fill the whole earth. The isles shall wait for his law, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. He will complete our redemption, vanquish our foes, restore righteousness and hope to fallen man. His love is an ever-burning flame;why then should our love be cold to him?

Isa 9:8. The Lord sent a word to Jacob. Here a new chapter should begin. The words that follow contain a strong remonstrance against the ten tribes for their presumption and pride, though their attempts against Jerusalem had failed. The prophets of that age held the sentences of nations in their hands; and their words were bold, as became the heralds of heaven.

Isa 9:11. The Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him. Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, hired by Ahaz, came to Damascus and slew Rezin, and justly too, for making war on his unoffending neighbour. 2Ki 16:9.

Isa 9:12. The Syrians before, and the Philistines behindshall devour Israel. Thus the Lord continued his strokes till Samaria was cut short, and the people few in number, as the prophet had said.

Isa 9:20. They shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm. The flesh of his children and friends, when pressed with the horrors of famine in the siege, and all as rebels expecting to be put to the sword. Jer 19:9.

REFLECTIONS.

The birth of a prince designed to fill the throne, has ever excited the liveliest joy of a nation. They see in this infant a rising sun, a brilliant day of affluence and peace, and all that can augment the glory of the land. They see justice reigning on the bench, and truth established in society. The birth of a prince is in fact the birth of a son and heir in every house. What then must have been the joy of angels and of saints, to see the Son of God manifested in the flesh. Rejoice, ye heavens; be glad, oh earth; for the Lord hath visited and redeemed his people. Kings and prophets have waited to hail the day.

But this joy is greater, this day is brighter, because it has always opened anew in the day of trouble. It is a joy that gladdens all hearts, and disperses the darkest gloom from the church. It is the best wine to comfort Zion when sick and afflicted, the balm of Gilead that never fails to cure. When Adam was hiding in the garden, that word revived his soul, already dead with sinthe seed of the woman shall bruise the serpents head.

In like manner, when Abraham was walking in darkness, having no child, that one voice chased it all away;Sarah shall have a son.

So to David, grieving that the pious efforts of his life, and the breathings of his soul to build a temple for the Lord, were not accepted, how cheering was the promise: I will raise up of thy seed [the Messiah] to reign as long as the sun and moon shall endure, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. This is the promise also to the church, I will give you the sure mercies of David.

To the same effect was the healing balm applied to king Hezekiah, when told that all his treasures should go to Babylon. The prophet in the next words cries out, Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith the Lord. Say to Zion, her warfare is accomplished, her Messiah is born, for faith realizes futurity. Hark! his herald is crying in the desert, prepare ye the way of the Lord. See his messengers running on the mountains, and saying to the cities of Judah, Behold your God. His strong arm shall rule for him; he shall feed his flock like a shepherd.

The prophet Micah also, swallowed up of grief to foresee the Assyrians devour the land, destroy the people, and burn the temple; yea, to see the Judge of Israel, (for he delicately avoids a painful word) smitten with a rod on the cheek-bone, was consoled, that a prince should be born in Bethlehem, whose goings forth were of old from everlasting; a prince who should ultimately banish ills, and restore to Zion the golden age of pristine innocence, glory, and joy.

And what else at this tremendous crisis could comfort Judah, when her army was slaughtered, her people captured, her cities burned, her rulers in a state of torpor. Oh daughter of Zion, wipe thine eyes, hear the prophets song: Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Look, for thou shalt weep no more.

Now, if this first, this last, this best promise has ever cheered the church in her deepest gloom, let it be an ever-flowing fountain of joy in every heart. Let us look at troubles no more; but look to the Saviour, and walk upon the waves till we gain the peaceful shore.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Isa 8:19 to Isa 9:1. Some Fragmentary Utterances.These fragments are of uncertain date and authorship, corrupt in text and obscure in sense. The first, Isa 8:19 f., is a warning against necromancers. Probably the words of those who advocate consulting them continue to the end of Isa 8:19. We should render Isa 8:19 b, should not a people seek unto their elohim? on behalf of the living should they not seek unto the dead? The elohim are the spirits of the dead, so described in 1Sa 28:13. Possibly Isa 8:20 gives the reply which is to be made. They must bring the sorcerers to the test of the teaching and testimony (Isa 8:16); if they do not conform to this, no morning will dawn after their night of distress. But the translation and sense are quite uncertain. The revival of necromancy was due to the circumstances of the time. When the small states were falling before the irresistible power of a great empire, the national deities seemed powerless in face of the new foe. In such a collapse of faith some would resort for help to other powers, especially occult powers such as the spirits of the dead. In a well-ordered State of antiquity such practices were sternly repressed as inimical to the welfare of the State which had a religion of its own. But when this religion received these severe blows, old superstitions which had maintained an underground life came once more to the surface.

In Isa 8:21 f. we have the picture of a man (the pronouns are singular) driven by distress and famine to desperate straits. He goes through it, i.e. the land, which was no doubt mentioned in the context from which this was taken, vainly seeking relief. In his agony he curses God (mg.) because He will not, and the king because he cannot, help (Rev 16:9; Rev 16:11; Rev 16:21)a blasphemy punishable with death (1Ki 21:9-13). He looks up to heaven, then down to earth, but wherever he looks there is nought but trouble. Isa 9:1 is a connecting link with what follows. The first sentence is obscure. The next affirms that the parts which bore the brunt of invasion will in the latter time be made glorious. For the way of the sea cf. p. 29.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

9:1 Nevertheless {a} the dimness [shall] not [be] such as [was] in her distress, {b} when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict [her by] the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of {c} the nations.

(a) He comforts the Church again after these great threatenings promising to restore them to great glory in Messiah.

(b) With which Israel was punished, first by Tiglath-pilesar, which was a light scourge in respect to that which they suffered afterward by Shalmaneser, who carried the Israelites away captive.

(c) While the Jews and Gentiles dwelt together by reason of those twenty cites, which Solomon gave to Hiram.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

In contrast to the gloom of the false counselors, the residents of Galilee in Israel, who would experience the Lord’s chastening, would enjoy glory. God would bring light when His people had lost all hope. Galilee, in northern Israel, was the first region in Israel to feel the lash of the Assyrian invaders. It was a melting pot and home to many Gentiles, as well as Jews, because the international highway between Mesopotamia and Egypt passed through it. Glory came to this region later when Jesus lived and ministered there (cf. Mat 4:13-16). But it will enjoy even greater glory during Messiah’s earthly reign, as will all of the Promised Land.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

5

CHAPTER VI

KING AND MESSIAH; PEOPLE AND CHURCH

735-732 B.C.

Isaiah 7, 8, 9:1-8

THIS section of the book of Isaiah (chapters 7-9:7) consists of a number of separate prophecies uttered during a period of at least three years: 735-732 B.C. By 735 Ahaz had ascended the throne; Tiglath-pileser had been occupied in the far east for two years. Taking advantage of the weakness of the former and the distance of the later, Rezin, king of Damascus, and Pekah, king of Samaria, planned an invasion of Judah. It was a venture they would not have dared had Uzziah been alive. While Rezin marched down the east of the Jordan and overturned the Jewish supremacy in Edom, Pekah threw himself into Judah, defeated the armies of Ahaz in one great battle, and besieged Jerusalem, with the object of deposing Ahaz and setting a Syrian, Ben-Tabeel, in his stead. Simultaneously the Philistines attacked Judah from the southwest. The motive of the confederates was in all probability anger with Ahaz for refusing to enter with them into a Pan-Syrian alliance against Assyria. In his distress Ahaz appealed to Tiglath-pileser, and the Assyrian swiftly responded. In 734-it must have been less than a year since Ahaz was attacked-the hosts of the north had overrun Samaria and swept as far south as the cities of the Philistines. Then, withdrawing his troops again, Tiglath-pileser left Hoshea as his vassal on Pekahs throne, and sending the population of Israel east of the Jordan into distant captivity, completed a two years siege of Damascus (734-732) by its capture. At Damascus Ahaz met the conqueror, and having paid him tribute, took out a further policy of insurance in the altar-pattern, which he brought back with him to Jerusalem. Such were the three years, whose rapid changes unfolded themselves in parallel with these prophecies of Isaiah. The details are not given by the prophet, but we must keep in touch with them while we listen to him. Especially must we remember their central point, the decision of Ahaz to call in the help of Assyria, a decision which affected the whole course of politics for the next thirty years. Some of the oracles of this section were plainly delivered by Isaiah before that event, and simply seek to inspire Ahaz with a courage which should feel Assyrian help to be needless; others, again, imply that Ahaz has already called in the Assyrian: they taunt him with hankering after foreign strength, and depict the woes which the Assyrian will bring upon the land; while others {for example, the passage Isa 9:1-7} mean that the Assyrian has already come, and that the Galilean provinces of Israel have been depopulated, and promise a Deliverer. If we do not keep in mind the decision of Ahaz, we shall not understand these seemingly contradictory utterances, which it thoroughly explains. Let us now begin at the beginning of chapter 7. It opens with a bare statement, by way of title, of the invasion of Judah and the futile result; and then proceeds to tell us how Isaiah acted from the first rumour of the confederacy onward.

I. THE KING

(chapter 7)

“And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.” This is a summary of the whole adventure and issue of the war, given by way of introduction. The narrative proper begins in Isa 7:2, with the effect of the first news of the league upon Ahaz and his people. Their hearts were moved like the trees of the forest before the wind. The league was aimed so evidently against the two things most essential to the national existence and the honour of Jehovah; the dynasty of David, namely, and the inviolability of Jerusalem. Judah had frequently before suffered the loss of her territory; never till now were the throne and city of David in actual peril. But that, which bent both king and people by its novel terror, was the test Isaiah expected for the prophecies he had already uttered. Taking with him, as a summary of them, his boy with the name Shear-Jashub-“A-remnant-shall-return”-Isaiah faced Ahaz and his court in the midst of their preparation for the siege. They were examining-but more in panic than in prudence-the water supply of the city, when Isaiah delivered to them a message from the Lord, which may be paraphrased as follows: “Take heed and be quiet,” keep your eyes open and your heart still; “fear not, neither be fainthearted, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Remaliahs son.” They have no power to set you on fire. They are “but stumps of expiring firebrands,” almost burnt out. While you wisely look after your water supply, do so in hope. This purpose of deposing, you is vain. “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.” Of whom are you afraid? Look those foes of yours in the face. “The head of Syria is Damascus, and Damascus head is Rezin”: is he worth fearing? “The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and Samarias head is Reinallahs son”: is he worth fearing? Within a few years they will certainly be destroyed. But whatever estimate you make of your foes, whatever their future may be, for yourself have faith in God; for you that is the essential thing. “If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.”

This paraphrase seeks to bring out the meaning of a passage confessedly obscure. It seems as if we had only bits of Isaiahs speech to Ahaz and must supply the gaps. No one need hesitate, however, to recognise the conspicuous personal qualities-the combination of political sagacity with religious fear, of common-sense and courage rooted in faith. In a word, this is what Isaiah will say to the king, clever in his alliances, religious and secular, and busy about his material defences: “Take unto you the shield of faith. You have lost your head among all these things. Hold it up like a man behind that shield; take a rational view of affairs. Rate your enemies at their proper value. But for this you must believe in God. Faith in Him is the essential condition of a calm mind and a rational appreciation of affairs.”

It is, no doubt, difficult for us to realise that the truth which Isaiah thus enforced, on King Ahaz-the government of the world and human history by one supreme God-was ever a truth of which the race stood in ignorance. A generation like ours cannot be expected to put its mind in the attitude of those of Isaiahs contemporaries who believed in the real existence of many gods with limited sovereignties. To us, who are full of the instincts of Divine Providence and of the presence in history of law and progress, it is extremely hard even to admit the fact-far less fully to realise what it means-that our race had ever to receive these truths as fresh additions to their stock of intellectual ideas. Yet, without prejudice to the claims of earlier prophets, this may be confidently affirmed: that Isaiah where we now meet him stood on one side believing in one supreme God, Lord of heaven and earth, and his generation stood on the other side, believing that there were many gods. Isaiah, however, does not pose as the discoverer of the truth he preaches; he does not present it as a new revelation, nor put it in a formula. He takes it for granted, and proceeds to bring its moral influence to bear. He will infect men with his own utter conviction of it, in order that he may strengthen their character and guide them by paths of safety. His speech to Ahaz is an exhibition of the moral and rational effects of believing in Providence. Ahaz is a sample of the character polytheism produced; the state of mind and heart to which Isaiah exhorts him is that induced by belief in one righteous and almighty God. We can make the contrast clear to ourselves by a very definite figure.

The difference, which is made to the character and habits of men if the country they live in has a powerful government or not, is well-known. If there be no such central authority, it is a case of every mans hand against his neighbour. Men walk armed to the teeth. A constant attitude of fear and suspicion warps the whole nature. The passions are excited and magnified; the intelligence and judgment are dwarfed. Just the same after its kind is life to the man or tribe, who believe that the world in which they dwell and the life they share with others have no central authority. They walk armed with prejudices, superstitions, and selfishnesses. They create, like Ahaz, their own providences, and still, like him, feel insecure. Everything is exaggerated by them; in each evil there lurks to their imagination unlimited hostility. They are without breadth of view or length of patience. But let men believe that life has a central authority, that God is supreme, and they will fling their prejudices and superstitions to the winds, now no more needed than the antiquated fortresses and weapons by which our forefathers, in days when the government was weak, were forced to defend their private interests. When we know that God reigns, how quiet and free it makes us! When things and men are part of His scheme and working out His ends, when we understand that they are not monsters but ministers, how reasonably we can look at them! Were we afraid of Syria and Ephraim? Why, the head of Syria is this fellow Rezin, the head of Ephraim this son of Remaliah! They cannot last long; Gods engine stands behind to smite them. By the reasonable government of God, let us be reasonable! Let us take heed and be quiet. Have faith in God, and to faith will come her proper consequent of common sense.

For the higher a man looks, the farther he sees: to us that is the practical lesson of these first nine verses of the seventh chapter. The very gesture of faith bestows upon the mind a breadth of view. The man, who lifts his face to God in heaven, is he whose eyes sweep simultaneously the farthest prospect of earth, and bring to him a sense of the proportion of things. Ahaz, facing his nearest enemies, does not see over their heads, and in his consternation at their appearance prepares to embark upon any policy that suggests itself, even though it be so rash as the summoning of the Assyrian. Isaiah, on the other hand, with his vision fixed on God as the Governor of the world, is enabled to overlook the dust that darkens Judahs frontier, to see behind it the inevitable advance of the Assyrians, and to be assured that, whether Ahaz calls them to his quarrel or no, they will very soon of their own motion overwhelm both of his enemies. From these “two smoking firebrands” there is then no real danger. But from the Assyrian, if once Judah entangle herself in his toils, there is the most extreme danger.

Isaiahs advice is therefore not mere religious quietism; it is prudent policy. It is the best political advice that could have been offered at that crisis, as we have already been able to gather from a survey of the geographical and political dispositions of Western Asia, apart altogether from religious considerations. But to Isaiah the calmness requisite for this sagacity sprang from his faith. Mr. Bagehot might have appealed to Isaiahs whole policy in illustration of what he has so well described as the military and political benefits of religion. Monotheism is of advantage to men not only by reason of “the high concentration of steady feeling” which it produces, but also for the mental calmness and sagacity which surely spring from a pure and vivid conviction that the Lord reigneth.

One other thing it is well we should emphasise, before we pass from Isaiahs speech to Ahaz. Nothing can be plainer than that Isaiah, though advocating so absolutely a quiescent belief in God, is no fatalist. Now other prophets there have been, insisting just as absolutely as Isaiah upon resignation to God the supreme, and the evident practical effect of their doctrine of the Divine sovereignty has been to make their followers, not shrewd political observers, but blind and apathetic fatalists. The difference between them and Isaiah has lain in the kind of character, which they and he have respectively attributed to the Deity, before exalting Him to the throne of absolute power and resigning themselves to His will. Isaiah, though as disciplined a believer in Gods sovereignty and mans duty of obedience as any prophet that ever preached these doctrines, was preserved from the fatalism to which they so often lead by the conviction he had previously received of Gods righteousness. Fatalism means resignation to fate, and fate means an omnipotence either without character, or (which is the same thing) of whose character we are ignorant. Fate is God minus character, and fatalism is the characterless condition to which belief in such a God reduces man. History presents it to our view amid the most diverse surroundings. The Greek mind, so free and sunny, was bewildered and benumbed by belief in an inscrutable Nemesis: In the East how frequently is a temper of apathy or despair bred in men, to whom God is nothing but a despot! Even within Christianity we have had fanatics, so inordinately possessed with belief in Gods sovereignty of election, to the exclusion of all other Divine truths, as to profess themselves, with impious audacity, willing to be damned for His glory. Such instances are enough to prove to us the extreme danger of making the sovereignty of God the first article of our creed. It is not safe for men to exalt a deity to the throne of the supreme providence, till they are certified of his character. The vision of mere power intoxicates and brutalises, no less when it is hallowed by the name of religion, than when, as in modern materialism, it is blindly interpreted as physical force. Only the people who have first learned to know their Deity intimately in the private matters of life, where heart touches heart, and the delicate arguments of conscience are not overborne by the presence of vast natural forces or the intricate movements of the worlds history, can be trusted afterwards to enter these larger theatres of religion, without risk of losing their faith, their sensibility, or their conscience.

The whole course of revelation has been bent upon this: to render men familiarly and experimentally acquainted with the character of God, before laying upon them the duty of homage to His creative power or submission to His will. In the Old Testament God is the Friend, the Guide, the Redeemer of men, or ever He is their Monarch and Lawgiver. The Divine name which the Hebrew sees “excellent through all the earth” is the name that he has learned to know at home as “Jehovah, our Lord”. {Psa 8:1-9} Jehovah trains His people to trust His personal truth and lovingkindness within their own courts, before He tests their allegiance and discipline upon the high places of the world. And when, amid the strange terrors of these and the novel magnitudes with which Israel, facing the world, had to reckon, the people lost their presence Of mind, His elegy over them was, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Even when their temple is full and their sacrifices of homage to His power most frequent, it is still their want of moral acquaintance with Himself of which He complains: “Israel doth not know; My people doth not consider.” What else was the tragedy in which Jewish history closed, than just the failure to perceive this lesson: that to have and to communicate the knowledge of the Almightys character is of infinitely more value than the attempt to vindicate in any outward fashion Jehovahs supremacy over the world? This latter, this forlorn, hope was what Israel exhausted the evening of their day in attempting. The former-to communicate to the lives and philosophies of mankind a knowledge of the Divine heart and will, gained throughout a history of unique grace and miracle-was the destiny which they resigned to the followers of the crucified Messiah.

For under the New Testament this also is the method of revelation. What our King desires before He ascends the throne of the world is that the world should know Him; and so He comes down among us, to be heard, and seen, and handled of us, that our hearts may learn His heart and know His love, unbewildered by His majesty. And for our part, when we ascribe to our King the glory and the dominion, it is as unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His blood. For the chief thing for individuals, as for nations, is not to believe that God reigneth so much as to know what kind of God He is who reigneth.

But Ahaz would not be persuaded. He had a policy of his own, and was determined to pursue it. He insisted on appealing to Assyria. Before he did so, Isaiah made one more attempt on his obduracy. With a vehemence, which reveals how critical he felt the kings decision to be, the prophet returned as if this time the very voice of Jehovah. “And Jehovah spake to Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of Jehovah thy God; ask it either in Sheol below or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.”

Isaiahs offer of a sign was one which the prophets of Israel used to make when some crisis demanded the immediate acceptance of. their word by men, and men were more than usually hard to convince-a miracle such as the thunder that Samuel called out of a clear sky to impress Israel with Gods opinion of their folly in asking for a king; {1Sa 12:17} or as the rending of the altar which the man of God brought to pass to convict the sullen Jeroboam; {1Ki 13:3} or as the regress of the shadow on the sun-dial, which Isaiah himself gave in assurance of recovery to the sick Hezekiah. (chapter 38) Such signs are offered only to weak or prejudiced persons. The most real faith, as Isaiah himself tells us, is unforced, the purest natures those which need no signs and wonders. But there are certain crises at which faith must be immediately forced, and Ahaz stood now at such a crisis; and there are certain characters who, unable to read a writ from the court of conscience and reason, must be served with one from a court-even though it be inferior-whose language they understand; and Ahaz was such a character. Isaiah knew his man, and prepared a pretty dilemma for him. By offering him whatever sign he chose to ask, Isaiah knew that the king would be committed before his own honour and the public conscience to refrain from calling in the Assyrians, and so Judah would be saved; or if the king refused the sign, the refusal would unmask him. Ahaz refused, and at once Isaiah denounced him and all his house. They were mere shufflers, playing fast and loose with God as well as men. “Hear ye now, O house of David. Is it a small thing for you to weary men, that ye must weary my God also?” You have evaded God; therefore God Himself will take you in hand: “the Lord Himself shall give you a sign.” In order to follow intelligently the rest of Isaiahs address, we must clearly understand how the sign which he now promises differs in nature from the sign he had implored Ahaz to select, of whatever sort he may have expected that selection to be. The kings determination to call in Assyria has come between. Therefore, while the sign Isaiah first offered upon the spot was intended for an immediate pledge that God would establish Ahaz, if only he did not appeal to the foreigner, the sign Isaiah now offers shall come as a future proof of how criminal and disastrous the appeal to the foreigner has been. The first sign would have been an earnest of salvation; the second is to be an exposure of the fatal evil of Ahazs choice. The first would have given some assurance of the swift overthrow of Ephraim and Syria; the second shall be some painful illustration of the fact that not only Syria and Ephraim, but Judah herself, shall be overwhelmed by the advance of the northern power. This second sign is one, therefore, which only time can bring round. Isaiah identifies it with a life not yet born.

A Child, he says, shall shortly be born to whom his mother shall give the name Immanu-El-“God-with-us.” By the time this Child comes to years of discretion, “he shall eat butter and honey.” Isaiah then explains the riddle. He does not, however, explain who the mother is, having described her vaguely as “a”-or “the young woman of marriageable age”; for that is not necessary to the sign, which is to consist in the Childs own experience. To this latter he limits his explanation. Butter and honey are the food of privation, the food of a people, whose land, depopulated by the enemy, has been turned into pasture. Before this Child shall arrive at years of discretion not only shall Syria and Ephraim be laid waste, but the Lord Himself will have laid waste Judah. “Jehovah shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people and upon thy fathers house days, that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.” Nothing more is said of Immanuel, but the rest of the chapter is taken up with the details of Judahs devastation.

Now this sign and its explanation would have presented little difficulty but for the name of the Child-Immanuel. Erase that, and the passage reads forcibly enough. Before a certain Child, whose birth is vaguely but solemnly intimated in the near future, shall have come to years of discretion, the results of the choice of Ahaz shall be manifest. Judah shall be devastated, and her people have sunk to the most rudimentary means of living. All this is plain. It is a form which Isaiah used more than once to measure the near future. And in other literatures, too, we have felt the pathos of realising the future results of crime and the length to which disaster lingers, by their effect upon the lives of another generation:-

“The child that is unborn shall rue

The hunting of that day!”

But why call the Child Immanuel? The name is evidently part of the sign, and has to be explained in connection with it. Why call a Child “God-with-us” who is not going to act greatly or to be highly honoured, who is only going to suffer, for whom to come to years of intelligence shall only be to come to a sense of his countrys disaster and his peoples poverty. This Child who is used so pathetically to measure the flow of time and the return of its revenges, about whom we are told neither how he shall behave himself in the period of privation, nor whether he shall survive it-why is he called Immanuel? or why, being called Immanuel, has he so sordid a fate to contrast with so splendid a name?

It seems to the present expositor quite impossible to dissociate so solemn an announcement by Jehovah to the house of David of the birth of a Child, so highly named, from that expectation of the coming of a glorious Prince which was current in this royal family since the days of its founder. Mysterious and abrupt as the intimation of Immanuels birth may seem to us at this juncture, we cannot forget that it fell from Isaiahs lips on hearts which cherished as their dearest hope the appearance of a glorious descendant of David, and were just now the more sensitive to this hope that both Davids city and Davids dynasty were in peril. Could Ahaz possibly understand by Immanuel any other child than that Prince whose coming was the inalienable hope of his house? But if we are right in supposing that Ahaz made this identification, or had even the dimmest presage of it, then we understand the full force of the sign. Ahaz by his unbelief had not only disestablished himself (Isa 7:9): he had mortgaged the hope of Israel. In the flood of disaster, which his fatal resolution would bring upon the land, it mattered little what was to happen to himself. Isaiah does not trouble now to mention any penalty for Ahaz. But his resolves exceeding pregnancy of peril is borne home to the king by the assurance that it will devastate all the golden future, and must disinherit the promised King. The Child, who is Israels hope, is born; he receives the Divine name, and that is all of salvation or glory suggested. He grows up not to a throne or the majesty which the seventy-second Psalm pictures the offerings of Shebas and Sebas kings, the corn of his land shaking like the fruit of Lebanon, while they of the city flourish like the grass of the earth-but to the food of privation, to the sight of his country razed by his enemies into one vast common fit only for pasture, to loneliness and suffering. Amid the general desolation his figure vanishes from our sight, and only his name remains to haunt, with its infinite melancholy of what might have been, the thorn-choked vineyards and grass-grown courts of Judah.

But even if it were to prove too fine a point, to identify Immanuel with the promised Messiah of Davids house, and we had to fall back on some vaguer theory of him, finding him to be a personification, -either a representative of the coming generation of Gods people, or a type of the promised tomorrow, -the moral effect of the sign would remain the same; and it is with this alone that we have here to do. Be this an individual, or a generation, or an age, -by the Name bestowed upon it, it was to have been a glorious, God-inhabited age, generation, or individual, and Ahaz has prematurely spoiled everything about it but the Name. The future shall be like a boy cursed by his fathers, brought into the world with glorious rights that are stamped in his title, but only to find his kingdom and estates no longer in existence, and all the circumstances dissipated in which he might have realised the glorious meaning of his name. Type of innocent suffering, he is born to an empty title, his name the vestige of a great opportunity, the ironical monument of an irreparable crime.

If Ahaz had any conscience left, we can imagine the effect of this upon him. To be punished for sin in ones own body and fortune, this is sore enough; but to see heaven itself blackened and all the gracious future frustrate, this is unspeakably terrible.

Ahaz is thus the Judas of the Old Testament, if that conception of Judas character be the right one which makes his wilful desire to bring about the kingdom of God in his own violent fashion the motive of his betrayal of Jesus. Of his own obduracy Ahaz has betrayed the Messiah and Deliverer of his people. The assurance of this betrayal is the sign of his obduracy, a signal and terrible proof of his irretrievable sin in calling upon the Assyrians. The king has been found wanting.

II. THE PEOPLE

(chapter 8)

The king has been found wanting; but Isaiah will appeal to the people. Chapter 8 is a collection of addresses to them, as chapter 7 was an expostulation with their sovereign. The two chapters are contemporary. In Isa 8:1, the narrative goes back upon itself, and returns to the situation as it was before Ahaz made his final resolution of reliance on Assyria. Isa 8:1-4 imply that the Assyrian has not yet been summoned by Ahaz to his assistance, and therefore run parallel to Isa 7:3-9; but Isa 8:5 and following verses sketch the evils that are to come upon Judah and Israel, consequent upon the arrival of the Assyrians in Palestine, in answer to the appeal of Ahaz. These evils for land and nation are threatened as absolutely to the people as they had been to the king. And then the people are thrown over, {Isa 8:14} as the king had been; and Isaiah limits himself to his disciples (Isa 8:16)-the remnant that was foretold in chapter 6.

This appeal from monarch to people is one of the most characteristic features of Isaiahs ministry. Whatever be the matter committed to him, Isaiah is not allowed to rest till he has brought it home to the popular conscience; and however much he may be able to charge national disaster upon the folly of politicians or the obduracy of a king, it is the people whom he holds ultimately responsible. The statesman, according to Isaiah, cannot rise far above the level of his generation; the people set the fashion to their most autocratic rulers. This instinct for the popular conscience, this belief in the moral solidarity of a nation and their governors, was the motive of the most picturesque passages in Isaiahs career, and inspired some of the keenest epigrams in which he conveyed the Divine truth. We have here a case in illustration. Isaiah had met Ahaz and his court “at the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway of the fullers field,” preparing for the expected siege of the city, and had delivered to them the Lords message not to fear, for that Syria-Ephraim would certainly be destroyed. But that was not enough. It was now laid upon the prophet to make public and popular advertisement of the same truth.

Isaiah was told to take a large, smooth board, and write thereon in the character used by the common people-“with the pen of a man”-as if it were the title to a prophecy, the compound word “Maher-shalal-hash-baz.” This was not only an intelligibly written, but a significantly sonorous, word-one of those popular cries in which the liveliest sensations are struck forth by the crowded, clashing letters, full to the dullest ears of rumours of war: “speed-spoil-hurry-prey.” The interpretation of it was postponed, the prophet meantime taking two faithful witnesses to its publication. In a little a son was born to Isaiah, and to this child he transferred the noisy name. Then its explanation was given. The double word was the alarm of a couple of invasions. “Before the boy shall have knowledge to cry, My father, my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away before the king of Assyria.” So far nothing was told the people that had not been told their king; only the time of the overthrow of their two enemies was fixed with greater precision. At the most in a year, Damascus and Samaria would have fallen. The ground was already vibrating to the footfall of the northern hosts.

The rapid political changes, which ensued in Palestine, are reflected on the broken surface of this eighth chapter. We shall not understand these abrupt and dislocated oracles, uttered at short intervals during the two years of the Assyrian campaign, unless we realise that northern shadow passing and repassing over Judah and Israel, and the quick alternations of pride and penitence in the peoples beneath it. We need not try to thread the verses on any line of thought. Logical connection among them there is none. Let us at once get down into the currents of popular feeling, in which Isaiah, having left Ahaz, is now labouring, and casting forth these cries.

It is a period of powerful currents, a people wholly in drift, and the strongest man of them arrested only by a firm pressure of the Lords hand. “For Jehovah spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me, that I should not walk in the way of this people.” The character of the popular movement, “the way of this people,” which nearly lifted Isaiah off his feet, is evident. It is that into which every nation drifts, who have just been loosened from a primitive faith in God, and by fear or ambition have been brought under the fascination of the great world. On the one hand, such a generation is apt to seek the security of its outward life in things materially large and splendid, to despise as paltry its old religious forms, national aspirations and achievements, and be very desirous to follow foreign fashion and rival foreign wealth. On the other hand, the religious spirit of such an age, withdrawn from its legitimate objects, seeks satisfaction in petty and puerile practices, demeaning itself spiritually, in a way that absurdly contrasts with the grandeur of its material ambitions. Such a stage in the life of a people has its analogy in the growth of the individual, when the boy, new to the world, by affecting the grandest companions and models, assumes an ambitious manner, with contempt for his former circumstances, yet inwardly remains credulous, timid, and liable to panic. Isaiah reveals that it was such a stage which both the kingdoms of Israel had now reached. “This people hath refused the waters of Shiloah, that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliahs son.”

It was natural, that when the people of Judah contrasted their own estate with that of Assyria, or even of Damascus, they should despise themselves. For what was Judah? A petty principality, no larger than three of our own counties. And what was Jerusalem? A mere mountain village, some sixty or seventy acres of barren rock, cut into tongues by three insignificant valleys, down which there sometimes struggled tiny threads of water, though the beds were oftener dry, giving the town a withered and squalid look-no great river to nourish, ennoble, or protect. What were such a country and capital to compare with the empire of Assyria?-the empire of the two rivers, whose powerful streams washed the ramparts, wharves, and palace stairs of mighty cities! What was Jerusalem even to the capital of Rezin? Were not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel, let alone these waterless wadys, whose bleached beds made the Jewish capital so squalid? It was the Assyrians vast water system – canals, embankments, sluices, and the wealth of water moving through them-that most impressed the poor Jew, whose streams failed him in summer, and who had to treasure up his scanty stores of rainwater in the cisterns, with which the rocky surface of his territory is still so thickly indented. There had, indeed, been at Jerusalem some attempt to conduct water. It was called “The Shiloah-conduit or aqueduct,” or literally “emissary” in the old sense of the word-a rough, narrow tunnel of some thousand feet in length, hewn through the living rock from the only considerable spring on the east side of Jerusalem, to a reservoir within the walls. To this day “The Shiloah” presents itself as not by any means a first-class piece of engineering. Ahaz had either just made the tunnel or repaired it; but if the water went no faster than it travels now, the results were indeed ridiculous. Well might “this people despise the waters of the Shiloah, that go trickling,” when they thought upon the rivers of Damascus or the broad streams of Mesopotamia. Certainly it was enough to dry up the patriotism of the Judean, if he was capable of appreciating only material value, to look upon this bare, riverless capital, with its bungled aqueduct and trickling water supply. On merely material grounds, Judah was about the last country at that time in which her inhabitants might be expected to show pride or confidence.

But woe to the people whose attachment to their land is based upon its material advantages, who have lost their sense for those spiritual presences, from an appreciation of which springs all true love of country, with warriors courage in her defence and statesmans faith in her destiny!, The greatest calamity, which can befall any people, is to forfeit their enthusiasm for the soil, on which their history has been achieved and their hearths and altars lie, by suffering their faith in the presence of God, of which these are but the tokens, to pass away. With this loss Isaiah now reproaches Judah. The people are utterly materialised; their delights have been in gold and silver, chariots and horses, fenced cities and broad streams, and their faith has now followed their delights. But these things to which they flee will only prove their destruction. The great foreign river, whose waters they covet, will overflow them: “even the king of Assyria and all his glory, and he shall come up over all his channels and go over all his banks; and he shall sweep onward into Judah; he shall overflow and pass through; he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel,” thou who art “God-with-us.” At the sound of the Name, which floats in upon the floods of invasion like the Ark on the waters of old, Isaiah pulls together his distraught faith in his country, and forgetting her faults, flings defiance at her foes. “Associate yourselves, ye peoples, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far-off countries, gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, it shall be brought to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for Immanu-El”-“With us is God.” The challenge was made good. The prophets faith prevailed over the peoples materialism, and Jerusalem remained inviolable till Isaiahs death.

Meantime the Assyrian came on. But the infatuated people of Judah continued to tremble rather before the doomed conspirators, Rezin and Pekah. It must have been a time of huge excitement. The prophet tells us how he was steadied by the pressure of the Lords hand, and how, being steadied, the meaning of the word “Immanuel” was opened out to him. “God-with-us” is the one great fact of life. Amid all the possible alliances and all the possible fears of a complex political situation, He remains the one certain alliance, the one real fear: “Say ye not, A conspiracy, concerning all whereof this people say, A conspiracy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be in dread thereof. Jehovah of hosts, Him shall ye sanctify; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.” God is the one great fact of life, but what a double-edged fact-“a sanctuary to all who put their trust in Him, but a rock of offence to both houses of Israel!” The figure is very picturesque. An altar, a common stone on steps, one of those which covered the land in large numbers-it is easy to see what a double purpose that might serve. What a joy the sight would be to the weary wanderer or refugee who sought it, what a comfort as he leant his weariness upon it, and knew he was safe! But those who were flying over the land, not seeking Jehovah, not knowing indeed what they sought, blind and panic-stricken-for them what could that altar do but trip them up like any other common rock in their way? “In fact, Divine justice is something which is either, observed, desired, or attained, and is then mens weal, or, on the other hand, is overlooked. rejected, or sought after in a wild, unintelligent spirit, and only in the hour of need, and is then their lasting ruin.”

The Assyrian came on, and the temper of the Jews grew worse. Samaria was indeed doomed from the first, but for some time Isaiah had been excepting Judah from a judgment for which the guilt of Northern Israel was certainly riper. He foresaw, of course, that the impetus of invasion might sweep the Assyrians into Judah, but he had triumphed in this: that Judah was Immanuels land, and that all who arrayed themselves against her must certainly come to naught. But now his ideas have changed, as Judah has persisted in evil. He knows now that God is for a stumbling-block to both houses of Israel; nay, that upon Jerusalem herself He will fall as a gin and a snare. Only for a little group of individuals, separate from both States, and gathered round the prophet and the word of God given to him, is salvation certain. People, as well as king, have been found wanting. There remains only this remnant.

Isaiah then at last sees his remnant. But the point we have reached is significant for more than the fulfilment of his expectations. This is the first appearance in history of a religious community, apart from the forms of domestic or national life. “Till then no one had dreamed of a fellowship of faith dissociated from all national forms, bound together by faith in the Divine word alone. It was the birth of a new era in religion, for it was the birth of the conception of the Church, the first step in the emancipation of spiritual religion from the forms of political life.”

The plan of the seventh and eighth chapters is now fully disclosed. As the king for his unworthiness has to give place to the Messiah, so the nation for theirs have to give place to the Church. In the seventh chapter the king was found wanting, and the Messiah promised. In the eighth chapter the people are found wanting; and the prophet, turning from them, proceeds to form the Church among those who accept the Word, which king and people have refused. “Bind thou up the testimony, and seal the teaching among my disciples. And I will wait on Jehovah, who hideth His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him. Behold, I and the children Jehovah hath given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from Jehovah of hosts, Him that dwelleth in Mount Zion.”

This, then, is the situation: revelation concluded, the Church formed upon it, and the nation abandoned. But is that situation final? The words just quoted betray the prophets hope that it is not. He says: “I will wait.” He says again: The Lord is only “hiding His face from the house of Jacob.” I will expect again the shining of His countenance. I will hope for Divine grace and the nation being once more conterminous. The rest of the section {to Isa 9:7} is the development of this hope, which stirs in the prophets heart after he has closed the record of revelation.

The darkness deepened across Israel. The Assyrian had come. The northern floods kept surging among the little states of Palestine, and none knew what might be left standing. We can well understand Isaiah pausing, as he did, in face of such rapid and incontrollable movements. When Tiglath-pileser swept over the plain of Esdraelon, casting down the king of Samaria and the Philistine cities, and then swept back again, carrying off upon his ebb the populations east of the Jordan, it looked very like as if both the houses of Israel should fall. In their panic, the people betook themselves to morbid forms of religion; and at first Isaiah was obliged to quench the hope and pity he had betrayed for them in indignation at the utter contrariety of their religious practices to the word of God. There can be no Divine grace for the people as long as they “seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto the wizards that chirp and that mutter.” For such a disposition the prophet has nothing but scorn, “Should not a people seek unto their God? On behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead?” They must come back to the prophets own word before hope may dawn. “To the revelation and the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.”

The night, however, grew too awful for scorn. There had been no part of the land so given to the idolatrous practices, which the prophet scathed, as “the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali, by the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.” But all the horrors of captivity had now fallen upon it, and it had received at the Lords hand double for all its sins. The night had been torn enough by lightning; was there no dawn? The darkness of these provinces fills the prophets silenced thoughts. He sees a people “hardly bestead and hungry, fretting themselves, cursing their king,” who had betrayed them, “and their God,” who had abandoned them, “turning their faces upwards” to heaven and “downwards” to the sacred soil from which they were being dragged, “but, behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and into thick darkness they are driven away.” It is a murky picture, yet through the smoke of it we are able to discern a weird procession of Israelites departing into captivity. We date it, therefore, about 732 B.C., the night of Israels first great captivity. The shock and the pity of this rouse the prophets great heart. He cannot continue to say that there is no morning for those benighted provinces. He will venture a great hope for their people.

Over how many months the crowded verses, Isa 8:21-22; Isa 9:1-7, must be spread, it is useless now to inquire-whether the revulsion they mark arose all at once in the prophets mind, or hope grew gradually brighter as the smoke of war died away on Israels northern frontier during 731 B.C. It is enough that we can mark the change. The prophets tones pass from sarcasm to pity; {Isa 8:20-21} from pity to hope; {Isa 8:22; Isa 9:1} from hope to triumph in the vision of salvation actually achieved. {Isa 9:2} “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, on them hath the light shined.” For a mutilated, we see a multiplied, nation; for the fret of hunger and the curses of defeat, we hear the joy of harvest and of spoil after victory. “For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, Thou hast broken as in the day of Midian.” War has rolled away forever over that northern horizon, and all the relies of war in the land are swept together into the fire. “For all the armour of the armed man in the tumult, and the garments rolled in blood, shall even be for burning, and for fuel of fire.” In the midday splendour of this peace, which, after the fashion of Hebrew prophecy, is described as already realised, Isaiah hails the Author of it all in that gracious and marvellous Child whose birth he had already intimated, Heir to the throne of David, but entitled by a fourfold name, too generous, perhaps, for a mere mortal, “Wonderful-Counsellor, Hero-God, Father-Everlasting, Prince-of-peace,” who shall redeem the realms of his great forerunner and maintain “Israel with justice and righteousness from henceforth, even forever.”

When, finally, the prophet inquires what has led his thoughts through this rapid change from satisfaction {Isa 8:16} with the salvation of small “remnant” of believers in the word of God-a little kernel of patience in the midst of a godless and abandoned people-to the daring vision of a whole nation redeemed and established in peace under a Godlike King, he says: “The zeal of the Lord of hosts hath performed this.”

“The zeal,” translates our English version, but no one English word will give it. It is that mixture of hot honour and affection to which “jealousy” in its good sense comes near. It is that overflow of the love that cannot keep still, which, when men think God has surely done all He will or can do for an ungrateful race, visits “them in their distress, and carries them forward into unconceived dispensations of grace and glory. It is the Spirit of God, which yearns after the lost, speaks to the self-despairing of hope, and surprises rebel and prophet alike with new revelations of love. We have our systems representing Gods work up to the limits of our experience, and we settle upon them; but the Almighty is ever greater than His promise or than His revelation of Himself.”

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary