Justice and Righteousness Reign
Study Scripture: Isaiah 9:2 – 7
Background Scripture: Isaiah 3:10,11, 8:16-22 & Isaiah 9
Lesson 4 December 25, 2021
Key Verse
There 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 armies will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:7
INTRODUCTION
The context of our Study Lesson is extremely important for it is set in a time when the saving ministry of the Lord and His counsel given through the prophet Isaiah had been rejected by King Ahaz who preferred to lean on the arm of flesh represented by the nation of Assyria. The declaration by God is therefore that since King Ahaz did not want to rest on the word of God it was inevitable that the judgment of God would call on Judah and Israel. Assyria would not only conquer Israel but he will come into the land of Judah itself and the only thing that would save it is the fact that Judah was the tribe from which the promised Seed our Lord Jesus Christ would come.
Note that Ahaz, ‘the king of no faith’ had been confronted by the prophet Isaiah when he was hypocritically disturbed by the Assyrians coming down to attack Israel, the northern kingdom. Israel and Syria had made a defense agreement with each other and had asked this king of Judah to join them. But he refused and so Israel and Syria had come down to attack Ahaz in his Judean kingdom. He did not really trust God and so he looked to help from the Assyrians who were just becoming a world power calculating they would help and deliver him from Syria and the Northern Kingdom.
God wanted to encourage this ‘king of no faith’ and the prophet Isaiah told him that God offered him to request any sign that was encourage him in this ordeal. This was an important offer because this king was sitting on the Davidic throne and that throne had to be upheld.
But Ahaz sanctimoniously said that he did not want to test God and so the prophet gave him the great prophecy of the virgin born son. A virgin would conceive and bear a son and His name would be called Emmanuel. Isaiah told him that if he did not believe, he would not be established but that did not matter to Ahaz for he was a ‘king of no faith’, and his trust in Assyria meant more to him than any promise from God.
This king was like many more willing to trust in the power of man and not in the Lord. To mislead others they would talk a very good religious talk. So basing his argument on a warning against testing God in Deuteronomy he was telling Isaiah that he was a religious man and Isaiah should not expect him to test the Lord and get any sign from him to encourage him and attest to the survival of his kingdom. But behind all that religious talk was a deeper trust than the trust in God. He trusted in Assyria and he trusted in himself, in his own strength and in his own scheming.
This is a lesson for all those that profess Christianity.
This problem therefore surrounds the struggle between the rather stupid Ahaz the king, Tiglath-Pileser, Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the disobedient king of Israel. Ahaz has made up his mind that he is not going to follow the word of God. Pekah the king of the Northern tribes were even worse spiritually than Ahaz. God therefore now has to speak to the prophet Isaiah and give him a sign that has to do with the coming judgment of what he has to do with Ahaz and Judah.
So the warning is for us today. Please do not fool yourself like, talking religiously, trying all kinds of methods, new or old, that violate the principles of the word of God. If you do that there will be no principled behaviour and there will be no blessing. You might think that by trying all kinds of methods you will succeed. You actually might succeed to a certain extent and that might lead you to think that you’re doing the right thing. But that is a trap by Satan.
The church might have all kinds of meetings, all kinds of baptisms, expand the church building, build all kinds of monuments, but you will find that in the final analysis God will not bless you and your monuments will be empty of spiritual power. Just remember that not because God gives you a great building or gives you a great deal of money, and allow your boss to give you all kind of promotions, that it means that is blessing you.
If you look around you, you will see all kinds of monuments and beautiful churches and cathedrals that are empty, cold, and lifeless because they had become indifferent to the word of God. So when someone tells you that their organization or church is blessed by God because they are big and powerful and growing do not go along with that kind of philosophy for that is not how God works. Ahaz might’ve thought that he was doing the right thing to protect himself but he really was digging his own grave.
We tend to do the same thing all the time. But just remember that God does not think like us, does not accept our standards, and does not appreciate our church services and whatever we do if we are not following the word of God strictly. One scholar comments:
“Now these are important things, we see Ahaz was not an irreligious man. He was just a man who did not trust God, that is all. He was a man who could not look high. He can only look in front of himself. The higher a man looks, the stronger his faith is. I wish my faith were as strong as it ought to be; it is not. But I think I see in Ahaz a great warning to all of us who are Christians. Note then, the security of confidence in God.
“For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed that I should not walk in the way of this people saying, “Say he not a confederacy to all them to whom the people shall say a confederacy, neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid”.
So Ahaz trusted the arm of flesh, which really involve trusting in his enemy. This meant that the water would overflow the land and Judah would just barely keep her neck out of the water to stop her from drowning. The darkness would come and it would only be dispelled by the coming of the Special Child, this Son who would take over the reins of the world government and bring in lasting peace.
The reaction of the Lord to the behavior of this unregenerate king who preferred to make a deal with and subjugate himself to the Assyrian king was stated in chapter 8:8
And he shall pass through Judah, you shall overflow” over. He shall reach even to the neck.
The 8th chapter therefore ended on a note of judgment. In verse 22 we read:
And they shall look unto the earth and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish and they shall be driven to darkness.
When we look at the preceding section of Isaiah 8 we can see that there is a contrast between the life that God wanted for His people, a life of freedom, riches and triumph because they were ruled by a righteous king in contrast to a life of misery, darkness, and uncertainty under the influence of necromancy practices, witchcraft practices, and divination practices.
In times of great difficulty it might sometimes seem that God is hiding His face, but in this case God had sent the prophet to warn Israel about depending on the pigmentation of Assyria. Isaiah vowed that he would wait for what God would do to the nation and so he was to seal up his prophecies so that they could later be verified that they were accurate.
The prophet Isaiah in reality therefore instructed by God to give Israel a great deal of hope. Isaiah tells the nation that when their Assyrians come down what would happen at that time to the tribes that had settled in what was known as Galilee, namely Zebulon, and Naphtali. They would be brought into contempt by the Assyrians. Isaiah was predicting an even that lay in the future, but proclaimed that that event was certain to happen. In former times therefore the land of Galilee had been brought into contempt.
The prophet had been dealing sarcastically with the behavior of the leaders of Israel and Judah but now he would turn to showing pity for them. Then he showed hope. Then he moves on to deal with the triumph that the nation will experience. They were going to be mutilated by the storm that would come for the thunder clouds and the darkness would come for that would be the storm of divine discipline falling on the nation. This would be a time of God’s chastisement.
But the prophet will now discuss what would happen in the latter times. The prophet looks into the future. The situation would be reversed. Verse 1 of chapter 9 therefore give Israel a great deal of hope for while in the present time the Assyrians were going to come and Israel would go into the darkness of captivity and divine judgment, the time was coming in the latter days when God was going to visit Galilee of the Gentiles with the glory of God.
The sun would shine because of the glorious messianic promises which had been given and which would be fulfilled.
Isaiah 3:9, 10 and 11 gave the children of God insight into how He will deal with His creation.
He had said (v. 9), they have rewarded evil to themselves, in proof of which he here shows that God will render to every man according to his works. Had they been righteous, it would have been well with them; but, if it was ill with them, it was because they are wicked and would continue to be so. God stated these principles to Cain, to convince him that he had no reason to be angry, Gen. 4:7.
But note that some good people might fear that they should be involved in that ruin, and therefore God bids the prophets to comfort them against those fears.
We should today, along with the children of the past understand that whatever becomes of the unrighteous nation, the righteous man shall not be lost in the crowd of sinners (Gen.18:25). Those for God and of God will have divine supports and comforts, which shall abound as afflictions abound, and so it shall be well with him.
Those that are wicked in contrast might hope that they should escape that ruin, but God bids the prophet to shake their vain hopes. To him the judgments shall have a sting. There is a woe to wicked people, it shall be ill with them, such that it will grow worse and worse with them if they repent not, and the worst of all will be at the last, in the day when every man shall receive according to the things done in the body.
The last part of chapter 8 and the beginning of chapter 9 continue the story regarding the tribes of Israel, Judah and Benjamin. The prophet’s counsel was that of wisdom and obedience, to keep close to the word of God at all costs, and warns them concerning the dangers of consulting familiar spirits, as such an act would send them into despair.
If the question is ever asked, why some people today might wonder why others despair so much? it comes down to people separating themselves from the calming influence and wisdom of God; by doing this they are invariably driven to darkness by the violence of their own fears, which represent everything about them as dark and frightful.
One conclusion can remain concerning these individuals, that being, there is no light to them. They have shut their eyes against the light of God’s word and so will be abandoned to darkness, and left to wander endlessly, and the sparks of their own kindling will do them no kindness.
In verse 1 of chapter 9, we see that in the worst of times God’s people have a God that will be there to comfort them, something to allay and balance their troubles, even in a time of punishment to the entire nation.
Those who are truly God’s people though they are persecuted, are not forsaken, though sorrowful, are always rejoicing. For it is up to His children to move forward always knowing and are comforted by the knowledge that when things are at the darkest, that He who forms the light and creates the darkness, is for them.
Three things are promised, and they all point ultimately at the grace of the gospel, with which the saints then were to comfort themselves in every cloudy and dark day. We too today must comfort ourselves in time of trouble with the hope of Christ’s Second Coming. Throughout time, the mercy which God has in store for His church may be a support to those that are mourning with her for her present calamities.
The promise(s) are this, that a glorious light, which shall so qualify, and by degrees dispel, the dimness which looms over the land.
When Assyria invaded from the northern regions of the Promised Land, the northern tribes were severely ravaged, and they were thrown into exile and scattered among the nations. The land was grievously afflicted. The poorest people were left in the land and people from other pagan tribes were brought in to help resettle the land. So there developed a mixture of Judaism and pagan cultures. The land was indeed in darkness.
The promise is that this land which was hit so hard from God’s judgment, would one day have a special blessing, to one day receive mercy from God, that being, it would be the first to see the light of the Messiah.
As God’s children we should respect and understand that God tries lesser of His judgments that will do to move a people before He brings greater; but if a light affliction does 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.
THE TEXT
Verse 2.
Note the description of the effect of the Messiah on this part of Israel. A parallel is drawn between ‘the people who are living their life in darkness, and therefore in the shadow of death, the darkest kind of misery and captivity’, and ‘the people who have now seen a great light, and had this great light shine on them’.
They had been in the grossest of ignorance, but they would be among the first to receive the light of the Messiah, and this would transform them. Now those that looked down on Galileans as ignorant, would now marvel at how they were transformed.
Matthew 4:12-16 looked at the ministry of Jesus and tells us Jesus fulfilled this Isaiah passage. After calling His first disciples Matthew tells us that Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in the synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom healing all kinds of sicknesses and all kinds of diseases
Jesus became famous for this activity and people brought to him all kinds of sick people suffering from different diseases and torments, the demon possessed, the epileptics and the paralytics.
Jesus’s ministry in Galilee had a tremendous effect and people from all over Galilee and Judea and beyond the Jordan came to Him for teaching and healing. Multitudes followed Him from what was called Galilee the Gentiles and beyond.
This reminds us of Jesus’ declaration at the Feast of Tabernacles that He was the light of the world. So Isaiah spoke of what would happen when Jesus came into this land of Gentile and Jewish population mixture.
Verse 3.
The light will bring blessing. The coming of the light will lead to the multiplication of the nation, reversing the great diminishing of their numbers. The nation was numerically reduced but ultimately would be a multiplied one. It is God who would lead the people, multiplying them and make them great. They would now have joy like the joy at harvest time or at winning a battle and dividing the spoils. But there is an element of ‘joy’ that appears to be missing, for it will not all be without difficulty, and some pain, which will make it less than a perfect situation.
Remember that this was an agricultural society and there was no greater joy than that brought by a bountiful harvest. At the same time there was another event which brought great joy and that was when a battle was concluded in victory. The spoils of battle were then divvied up among the conquerors.
Israel’s triumph would bring joy, the multiplication of the nation, and supernatural bounty from the fields.
Verse 4.
The prophet declared that this would be a supernatural work of God, similar to the work of deliverance that God performed for the nation when Gideon defeated Midian. (See Judges 7:1-24 and Isaiah 10: 26)
It is God who would break the burdensome yoke from their backs, removing this yoke, which was like that placed around the neck of slaves to keep them in servitude. In the days of the oppression by Midian, Gideon, with only a few men, only three hundred, conquered the enemy and saved the nation. The Midianites and Amalekites were described as being more in number than locusts. Now God would do the same thing, for the Servant, who without the need of a great army, would overcome the mighty armies of the enemy.
Verse 5.
In the time of the Servant, all the implements of war, the garments used by warriors, and the noise and confusion that accompany them, will be eliminated. The implements and garments will be used as fuel, and will be burned and destroyed.
Some writers believe that the reference to the sandals of the warriors refer specifically to the Assyrian practice of their warriors to make a lot of noise with their marching feet as they went into battle. They would also roll some of their garments in blood to scare the enemy. But all that would come to an end.
This then will be a time of peace, for the Servant will come and do His great supernatural work. There will be worldwide peace, and implements of warfare will be destroyed.
What is the basis for these lofty expectations? When and why would all this happen? Who would do it? The answer is given in the next verse.
Isaiah. 9: 6 – 7.
These verses set up the beginning of Isaiah’s testimony of who the Promised One would be and the stable leadership that He would provide in service to the Almighty God. We have in this unusual verse 6 the names of Messiah grouped together. This child will see to it that the Assyrian lineage and the satanic correlation then and the ones in the last days is going to be destroyed by a child who is born of a virgin.
Verse 6. The incarnation of the Messiah is the reason for the great hope of Israel and the Gentiles. Note that Isaiah said “For unto us”, clearly indicating that though the birth would take place many years in the future, the benefit of that birth would extend to him, and certainly to all those that lived before the birth of the Messiah. Isaiah also speaks of it in the prophetic style, as a thing already done. Similarly, when we, many thousand of years after the birth of the Messiah come in contact with Him, we too can say, “Unto us a child is born” for He came to us and brought us light personally.
The Messiah “is born to us”, for God gave Him to strengthen, guide, meet our needs, solve our problems, and take us into His kingdom. We have received the gift of God. We have been presented with the humanity of Christ, the eternal word of God becoming a man. This is a most gracious unspeakable gift from God.
No event in history can remotely come close in any way to the unimaginable mystery of the birth of our God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was born a child but was Immanuel, God with us, and was to come for the benefit of Jew, the first in line, and the Gentile.
Then, Isaiah declared that the child was God, by saying that a ‘son’ was given, indicating the nature of the gift. Though the child was born, He would be a ‘son’ given. He would be born in the Covenant, and be one of the Covenant people of Israel. He would belong to them, and be part of them, thus be totally interested in their well-being, and be rightfully able to represent them. He would have their interest at heart. This Servant was the eternal Word, who always existed in glory with the Father.
This was no ordinary mortal, for on Him would be the kingly robe of the Messiah. On His shoulders would rest all the badges of the office of government and ruler-ship. Note that He would have the right to govern, and be responsible for the nation. He would not be usurping office and be incompetent like the rulers of the world. He would not be like the oppressors of the people of God, but would have the rule because He was the Creator and Redeemer.
Hence, His messianic titles were displayed. Note that they described His “name” or His essential characteristics.
Note that in the Old Testament the meaning of people’s names was important. Names mean something and many times teach a great lesson. The name Jacob for example, had a specific meaning. It was changed to ‘Israel’ indicating a significant transformation had occurred. Similarly, the name Abram had a vastly different meaning from the name Abraham.
The name for the Messiah is very significant, for Isaiah describes it in terms which show that He would deserve these names, for they would describe perfectly His birth or work.
The first descriptive name which reveal His character is “Wonderful”, which can be translated ‘exceptional’ or ‘ distinguished’ “Counselor’.
He would be born endowed with exceptional prudence and wisdom, which would make Him unique, and able to give authoritative and perfect advice and counsel. People would want to hear Him, and would gladly listen to Him. He would know how to tell us to avoid the problems and heartaches that constantly bother us, and keep us locked into sin and pollution. Though He had no sin He would point out your sins and show you how to correct them by repentance. He would point out your sickness and tell you that He is a good physician. He will tell you that you are sheep and He would tell you that He is the good Shepherd. He is therefore an amazing person
Note carefully that it is impossible to look at this kind of counsel as being anything but ‘most wonderful or miraculous’. The words from the Messiah would literally be life and truth.
This Servant is also the Mighty God. He will demonstrate this as He defeats His enemies. Isaiah did not mean that He was simply a ‘godlike person’, for He already said that Messiah would do what no other human person could do, and He had given Him a name ‘Immanuel’, which had marked Him out from everyone else.
This Servant Deliverer would also be called the “Everlasting Father”. This further marked Him out, for no one but God could be called everlasting. Ordinary rulers die after a short rule, but this one, the Messiah would be different.
He would be eternal, and since He is God with the Father and the Holy Spirit, this title obviously cannot refer to His relationship with the other members of the Trinity. It would have to refer to the Messiah’s relationship to time, meaning that He is the Creator, and in that sense its father. As Messiah he would be a “fatherly” ruler.
He is then called the Prince of Peace, meaning that He will bring peace with Him, and since the nations will acknowledge Him as ruler, He will maintain a time of continued peace. This will be the time of the Millennium.
This was a beautiful picture of the future, and brought great hope to those who had just heard a message of punishment and instruction.
Verse 7. The child ruler that is to be born is God’s perfect ruler for He is the mighty God. Messiah would sit on the throne of David, and rule throughout eternity with justice and righteousness, maintaining a time of peace. The rule of this Prince will be unlimited in every respect. His government will bring continued prosperity.
This would not be a Kingdom that will be ruled only by force or might. It will be a kingdom which is ruled by righteousness. It will conform to the perfectly ‘holy’ character of God and to the demands of an infinitely pure God.
The Messiah will be from the line of David, and would reign as the son of David, a man, and as the divine Redeemer, the Lord God.
The Lord of hosts had decreed and pledged that this would occur. His zeal for His word would ensure that events would work out exactly as He has planned. (See Psalm 2).
We do not really know for sure whether Isaiah knew that there would be a long period of time between the birth of the Servant Messiah, the period of His work and growing up, and the time when He would rule in triumph. It is however common to hear this view. But we do know that there were some people inspired by the Holy Spirit who did not have the common interpretation of events. (See Luke 2:25-35).
Whatever the truth might be however, we do know that God keeps His word, and preserves His holy remnant. He will never abandon us, leave us without guidance, or leave us without His presence. All we have to do is trust and obey His word, unlike the behaviour of men like Ahaz. He is the promised good leadership, He will reign in perfect justice and righteousness.
God is always with us, and He has given us a most wonderful gift in the person of His only Son Jesus Christ. There can be no greater blessing from Heaven than this. The Son has already descended from Heaven and has borne our sins. We need only to listen to the invitation of the Comforter He has sent, the Holy Spirit. This is the only way to appease the wrath of God, and turn away His anger.
It is important to note that in all of these descriptions of the ruler to call some words refer to humanity and the other word refers to deity. So these words are obviously chosen carefully give us the full nature of the king.
We should remember therefore that this Jesus Christ the Lord is wonderful in His birth, in His ministry and in His death, and in His resurrection and ascension. It marks Him out us deity for deity is wonderful. Whatever He does is wonderful for He does it supernaturally, sustaining, strengthening and keeping the people that belong to Him.
CONCLUSION
This child to be born, this Son given is infinite. Isaiah is speaking of Jesus as the father of eternity in relationship to us for He is the life giver for us and so is the father of that which is eternal.
So His government will be a government of peace and there will be no end to it. It will be established with justice and righteousness and that will last forever.
So never think that God is not interrupting the human situation in which we find ourselves. We are told that God is a jealous God and so we know He will do that. He will perform all that He has promised and given His power and His authority and His wisdom that He has pledged to the Son Immanuel we know it will come to pass.
God the father will show us that He is a faithful God, and in addition, He loves us. We therefore have every reason to believe the promises which have been given to us.
God accused the 10 tribes of arrogance and pride for instead of accepting as warnings for them in light of the many problems that already come on them this unfaithful generation kept dreaming of better times and ignored the judgments of God. One writer says that:
“In their pride, leaders and the people of the northern kingdom of Israel said, “Who cares if God judges us? Whatever is torn down, we will rebuild with something better. We have nothing to fear from what God can bring against us”.
It is sad to think that even the many chastisement that have befallen both people and nations it will not call them to repentance. Because people and nations therefore refuse to obey God and seek the Lord of hosts they have made them part of the reason His anger is not turned away. God’s judgment is persistent and moves from one phase to another phase until repentance comes.
So it makes sense to repent now.
So as one writer as he looks at the case of the Northern Kingdom and Judah states:
“It makes perfect sense for this message of coming judgment to follow the announcement of the Messiah’s coming was announced, but the people were not ready for Him and the predicted judgment would come before they were ready.
So what is your position. Have you forgotten that when there is still sin to be judged, God is not going to be ready to stop His work of judgment? May we look forward to the coming of Justice and Righteousness reigning and change our ways before judgment comes