Isaiah 9:1-10

Readings Numbers 9, 1 Corinthians 16

Memory Verses: Hebrews 13:8; 1 Corinthians 2:16

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters,

9:1  This chapter is largely messianic, I will try to balance the study today between the messianic scriptures and the scriptures that referred to their daily life.  As a fulfillment of this verse, Jesus was called a Galilean because He was raised in that area.  Even to this day, since Jesus was from Galilee, it is considered a glorious land. "The way of the sea" was referring to a highway that ran through the nation.  The Assyrians used this route to invade the Northern Kingdom according to the "Bible Knowledge Commentary".  The Assyrians brought destruction and treated the people with contempt, coming by "the way of the sea", and Jesus made it beautiful, glorious, by establishing the way of salvation. 

9:2  The Messianic side of this, refers to Jesus who is the light of the world. Matthew 4:15-16; John 1:1-12, 1 John 1:5-7, 2:8-11  John took off on the idea that Jesus is the light, and that we are delivered from the darkness.  Isaiah pictures a nation living in darkness, living in a land that is engulfed in darkness and is shown a great light.  The light shines on them, they see the light, but it does not indicate that the people will go to the light.  The people see the light, and recognize that it exists, with the light shining on them, isn't it a natural conclusion that the people will investigate the source of the light?  Unfortunately for the Jews, they saw the light, refused to accept it, and turned their back on their Messiah.  The light is still shining on the Jews, one day they will investigate, and we as Gentiles will once again see the Jews move into the position of leadership in the Kingdom of God. 

Isaiah may have been indicating that God was still shining upon Judah, although they outright rejected His illumination of their lives.  They could see the light, but did not consider it as something to be desired, therefore they did not investigate it's source.  In short, they preferred to live in darkness and were comfortable in it.

9:3  Again the Messianic referring to Jesus, One who will multiply the nation.  He grafted the Gentiles into the Kingdom, creating with the grafting more sons of Abraham.  He increased the harvest, making it possible for everyone to be saved. 

Who is the "You"?  I would say that it is referring to God.  As was the case in the previous verse, the people are not doing anything to cause or elicit the prosperity, comfort, or general well being.  They are being blessed by God, and all the blessings are bestowed upon them, just as the light was, by God.  He is still treating them as favored children.  He favors them regardless the rebellion that they have displayed in their lives.  This was true in Isaiah's day, and still remains true today. But there is a limit to God bestowing blessings upon the rebellious, eventually He will no longer wait patiently for them to turn to the light, and will discipline them causing them to at least acknowledge the light. 

9:4-7  Wow, the prophecies concerning Jesus in these verses are tremendous, He will break the yoke of burden that has been placed upon the shoulders oft the children of Israel.  He removed the yoke of the law from their shoulders, and removed the oppression of sin from them.  He defeated the warrior that has fought against them, the devil, and has condemned him to eternity in hell.  The names of Jesus in these verses would be an excellent word study to go through.  Jesus will rule from the throne of David, meaning that He is from the royal lineage of David. During His rule, there will be peace throughout the land, such peace as the world has never known before. 

The reference to the battle at Midian is referring to the story of Gideon in Judges 7:1-24, it was obvious who won that battle.  The Lord took away all the excuses of the mighty men of valor, and demonstrated extreme power in defeating the army.  Note that the Lord won the battle, took credit for the battle and will once again fight for Israel. Isaiah 37:36-37 First though, punish must take place.  Hebrews 12:1-11.  The warriors will be utterly defeated, and the implements of war will be considered as only valuable for firewood.

Who is this Lord, that will cause all of this to happen?  Isaiah carefully describes the Lord Jesus.  "A child will be born to us, a son will be given to us"  John 3:16.  Jesus was born a child of a woman, of the tribe of David, He was given to us by God.  It was not required that the gift be given, nothing was done to deserve it.  It was a promise by God, and when Jesus was born on the earth, the promise was fulfilled.

"The government will rest on His shoulders"  Eventually at the second coming, Jesus will assume command over the entire earth.  But first, according to Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:13-17, Jesus is the authority behind government.  Eventually, He will return to rule, Jeremiah 23:5-8, Revelation 20:1-15. 

The names given to Jesus are important and give us insight into His role.  "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace".  Due to time constraints, I am not going to go into depth on these, but will skim over the names.  "Wonderful Counselor", He directs the paths of all believers, counseling us in how to live victorious lives.  "Mighty God"  undoubtedly, Jesus is the Mighty God, He is all powerful. 

"Eternal Father"  this name may be better translated "Father of Eternity" as in Jesus is the source for human life, when He created Adam, he created life in man, and therefore became the Father of man.  Now when we become born again, we are born into His life, exchanging our life for His, thus, He becomes the Father of our lives, our life source. To make this clearer, when we are born into the world, we are born into everlasting life, into Adam's lineage.  We are born at a point in time, and go forth forever, if we do not choose Jesus as savior, we will eventually end up in hell for eternity.  Once we accept Jesus as Savior, we move out of everlasting life, and into "eternal" life, John 3:16, where we are born again, casting off our old life, and taking on the eternal life of God.  In that sense, Jesus is eternal life, and by giving it to all believers, He is the father of all believers.  Until a person knows Jesus, he is locked into everlasting life, with Jesus, he lives forever in eternal life, which has no beginning, and no ending.  Taking this view,  It is not saying that Jesus is the Father as in the Trinity.  Jesus, God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit still maintain their roles in the trinity.  Jesus is figuratively the father of man.

"Prince of Peace"  Jesus brought peace to the world through the shedding of His blood.  He made the final sacrifice that bridged the gap between the demands of righteousness by God and man's fallen state.  Jesus made it possible for us to have peace with God. 

9:8-10  Isaiah switches gears here, referring again to the extreme danger that the Jews were in at the time.  We are reminded that the trouble coming against Jacob, the trouble that is to come is because of the pride and arrogance that their hearts have displayed.  God is going to use the Assyrians to teach them a lesson and to break down the pride that they have.  The attitude of Israel was that if they were torn down, they would build the city back much better, if they cut down their trees, they would plant better ones.  What we see in these verses is boasting about their abilities, a demonstration of the pride and arrogance that they were involved in.  Remember the discussion about the light earlier, they knew of the lights existence, but preferred their own ways and their own strength.  It is quite a contrast between living with God ruling them and living under their own control in their lives. 

I have gone over the study several times today, there is a lot of information that is referred to, and I feel that I only scratched the surface, please feel free to write in with your observations.  If you get the opportunity, post your replies to the bulletin board at www.emailbiblestudy.com/bbs/ .  Another note on this, browse the website, there are a lot of nuggets of information buried there.  It is a pleasure to read through all of the ideas that everyone has sent in.

Lord, as we ponder Your Word today, enable each one of us to lean upon You, listening to You and allowing You to work in our lives, giving up the pretenses and being real and open with You.  Thank You Jesus.

In Him,

Joe Turner.

Isaiah 9:11-21

Readings Numbers 9, 1 Corinthians 16

Memory Verses: Hebrews 13:8; 1 Corinthians 2:16

Good Afternoon Brothers and Sisters,

Yesterday's study was loaded with information, today's has a lot as well.  In looking at these verses, you will notice that a theme that was started back in Isaiah 5:24-25, God still has His hand stretched out against Israel.  This is repeated in verses 12, 17, and 21.  God is angry at the state of affairs in Israel, and is casting judgment on them. 

Isaiah 9:11-12  In order to catch the theme of these verses, it is necessary to back up to verse 8-10.  The problem addressed is arrogance of the heart.  Israel has become self-reliant, and has decided that it is better to follow false gods rather than follow the Lord.  They have asserted that if they are torn down, they will rebuild themselves even better than before.  The key thought in this is not the Lord, it is that they will do it by themselves, without the Lord. 

To say that God is upset is an understatement.  He is not just going to send the Arameans and the Philistines against them, they are going to come against them with a fervor which is inspired by God Himself.  They are going to devour Israel like someone who is starving eats food.  They are going to be motivated. 

"In spite of all of this, His anger does not turn away and His hand is still stretched out."  His hand is not stretched out to help Israel, it is stretched out to judge them.  Look at Isaiah 65:2, Romans 10:21,  God is tired of dealing with a rebellious people, and is irritated with their pride, 10-12, their hardness of heart and corruption, 13-17, and their self destructive attitudes of pro-wickedness 19-21.

9:13  The people are failing to acknowledge the Lord who has disciplined them, and they refuse to seek Him.  They don't see a need for God in their lives, perhaps they had the same attitude that society has today, considering God as only a God of the feeble minded, or as a figment of the imagination.  The illustration that Isaiah gives here is tremendous, and also a picture of the church and society today.

9:14  We have a picture of extremes here, the head and the tail, the palm branch and the bulrush.  Imagine if you will, the coarse grass that grows on the ground looking up to the palm branches which are so far above the earth. 

9:15-16   Isaiah gives the interpretation for the illustration he gave before.  The head man, elder, king, those in authority who are leading the people are corrupt.  This is from verses 15a and 16a.  They represent the head, or the palm branches.  The second group of people is the false prophets, the tail, v.15b and 16b.  I find this extremely interesting.  The false prophets, or the "prophet who teaches falsehood" are led by the king and those in leadership.  What does this tell us about these false prophets?  We must be very careful here, there are a lot of churches at risk in these verses.  The false prophet was preaching a social gospel, one which was endorsed by the king, and one which edifies man.  They are following the king, and the leaders, the elders, whoever is in leadership, and preaching whatever gospel or message that is socially appealing.  Sound familiar?  To preach a gospel which actually would require people to walk from their false gods, and to turn to the living and true God with a change in lifestyle is not popular, and therefore is not preached.  It reminds me of the saying that the tail does not wag the dog.  These false prophets follow what they are expected to teach, and they do not follow the leadership of God, they are following the leadership of man.  That is why when God takes out the leadership, the prophets will go into confusion.  If the leadership falls, the moral standard which is placed behind them is leaderless and thrown into confusion.  Have you ever seen a chicken running around with it's head cut off?  I have, it's a great illustration. 

As a way of illustration of this, I recently heard on a news program that a minister in Canada is doing great business marrying couples.  He has more couples to marry than ever before.  He was excited about it and elated when the newscaster interviewed him.  You see, in Canada, they have legalized homosexual marriages.  The minister has abandoned the true gospel for a social one, one popular with the masses.  This does not just happen in Canada, it is what is referred to in the New Testament as ones who preach to tickle ears.  If you go into many great denominational churches today, you won't hear the blood of Jesus being preached, or the need for salvation, or the need for repentance, or the need for surrender of lives to Christ, you hear a sermon which is laced with cute stories, and only holds to a form of godliness.  Things have not changed much from Isaiah's day, have they?  In His day, the Jews were God's chosen people, today, the Gentiles fill the same role.  I wonder if when the Jews wake up, if the Gentiles will reject them as radicals as Israel rejected the message of Isaiah.

9:17  God is not happy with any of the people, all of them are considered to be wicked and corrupted.  The last phrase in the verse is spoken to state the obvious, God is not happy with the people, has issued judgment, and is in the process of administering discipline. 

9:18-21  Wrapping up quickly now.  The wickedness is described in these verses.  When people are involved in sin, it consumes them, they can see nothing but another way to fill their fix of their sin.  It consumes them, some people would refer to this as an obsessive compulsive behavior.  God calls it the penalty of wickedness.  Notice that the people become spiritually cannibalistic, tearing themselves apart, and ripping their neighbors apart as a result of sin.  In Isaiah's day, the sin was primarily idolatry, today, the sin is primarily idolatry, but we give it a nicer name, it is called "wanting more toys", or "desiring a higher standard of living", it all boils down to the same thing.  We have a lot of other vices that we throw into the mix though, pornography, gambling, drugs, alcohol, and a myriad of others.  I realize that I didn't hold much to the original message of Isaiah in today's study, but could not resist the similarities to today's society.  I hope that you enjoy the study as much as I have.

Lord, as we study Your word today, enable each one of us to see ourselves through Your eyes.  I pray that all of us will cling desperately to the Gospel as it is preached in the Bible.

In Him,

Joe Turner.