By Dr. Rafat
Amari
The
prophet Isaiah began his prophetical ministry in the year 739 B.C., the same
year Uzziah, the king of Judah, died. The book of Isaiah contains many
prophecies about Christ's coming, His birth, His atonement death, His
resurrection and His coming reign. In this article, I like us to meditate on
Isaiah 9, verses 1 through 7:
1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those
who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land
of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the
way of the sea, along the Jordan-
2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great
light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their
joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
4 For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have
shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod
of their oppressor.
5 Every warrior's boot used in battle and every
garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the
fire.
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and
the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there
will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on
and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
I
begin with the words found in verse 1; “Nevertheless there will be no more
gloom for those who were in distress.”
This verse predicts that darkness will lift from the one who is
suffering and anguished. God is not pleased when humanity lives in darkness
without a vision that reveals Himself. How difficult it is for a ship, under
attack by torrents of rain in a stormy sea, to navigate when the crew faces
intensely dark and gloomy conditions. Such was the fate of the world before the
incarnation of Christ. Humanity walked without a light to illuminate its way,
without a guideline or a testimony to point its people to the true God.
But in the words of Isaiah, we find a
promise. God Himself, will lift the darkness from mankind who groped his way
without a true guide to connect him with the true God. The coming of Christ to
earth is the divine announcement introducing a new era in which ignorance about
God and His plan of salvation will no longer persist for those who seek Him.
Isaiah continues, “In the past He humbled
the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, But in the future He will honor
Galilee of the Gentiles by the way of the sea, along the Jordan.” Isaiah’s words can be summarized in this
phrase, “honor after humiliation.” In fact, at the time these words were
written, the land of Galilee was not honored, but rather it was despised. Galilee
was a mixture of Jews and Gentiles, specially Aramaic Gentiles. Yet we find the
book of Isaiah announcing the name of Galilee would be honored. Why was it to
be honored? Because the Lord was to become a citizen of Galilee, to live his
childhood there and grow up as youth in Nazareth, one of its villages. In the past, no important king or prophet
had come from Galilee. Yet Isaiah announced a special honor for this region
called “Galilee of the Gentiles.” Gentiles were foreigners and outsiders
to the Hebrews, which made the region one of secondary importance. Yet Isaiah
prophesied the region will be honored. It was difficult for the Jews to think
that someday Nazareth in Galilee would become a holy, sacred memory for people
of the earth, recorded by who wrote the New Testament. God transformed a humble
place into a banner for all the earth to see.
In like manner, when Christ fills our
simple and humble life, He fills it with His presence through His Holy Spirit
and transforms it, giving it a meaningful purpose and special value, not only
in the present but also in eternity. In
the past the Gentiles who were without importance to the people of God became
people of honor and glory through the birth of Jesus
Isaiah continued his prophecy in verse
two, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” The Gentiles
lived outside the law, which Moses gave in the Old Testament and had no
prophecy or prophets to guide them, but Isaiah said these peoples will see a
great light. More than physical light, this was to be the highest perfection seen
on earth. That light was God, seen by humanity as human. The “great light” is an appellation of the One who was to be incarnated. Christ is not just
one of the revelations of the Old Testament. He is not just a limited light
that reveals the Old Testament as were the prophets. Instead He is the person
of Truth Himself.
The words “have seen” in Isaiah 9:2 mean
“a direct glance” or an encounter with the One who is the greatest light in the
universe. Christ is the One the disciples declared to have seen and touched,
and who they identified as the One who is from everlasting to everlasting and
the One who is the source of all life.
As we read in the first four verses of the Epistle of First John 1,
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen
with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled,
concerning the Word of life. The life was manifested, and we have seen, and
bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father
and was manifested to us.”
These thoughts are also found in the
fourth and fifth verses of the Gospel of John, “In Him was life, and the life
was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness
did not comprehend it.” Christ is the origin of life for all creatures. He is
the moral and spiritual light that reflects divine attributes. Through Him the
essence of Godhead is identified, since He is the Person of the Trinity who
reveals it. His divine attributes and moral perfection shine in the universe.
Darkness can’t comprehend His identity.
This phrase, “the darkness can’t
comprehend it,” may refer to people who were under darkness before Christ’s
incarnation. They were unable to understand or recognize His identity. Isaiah
said that perfect and great light about which he prophesied people will see
openly.
Isaiah continues, “Those who dwelt in the
land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.” Those who lived in
“the shadow of death” were those experiencing spiritual death and eternal damnation,
perishing without hope. This was the condition the Gentiles faced before the
incarnation of Christ. The light came to the Gentiles. A special illumination
and revelation came to those who were without a light to guide them out of
spiritual death. It was not just a normal light, but an everlasting light who
is Christ. He came down to them after His incarnation, when they accepted Him
in their hearts by faith.
When Christ came, it was for the Gentiles
like the sun when it rises on the world to scatter and dispel the darkness. It
was His appearance that transformed the world into an arena where the Gentiles
could clearly see the light of His divinity. The Everlasting Light became an
individual among them.
Through the incarnation of Christ, the
nations received a clear understanding, which illuminated God and reveled His
salvation. This became evident when they saw Christ shining before them in His
great, divine perfection. He became man and lived among them, and His perfect
attributes were recognized and recoded in history. The life Jesus lived gained
a great reputation which was passed down to succeeding generations. The perfect heritage that humanity became in possess through
out the human history.
In the third verse, Isaiah says, “You
have multiplied the nation and increased their joy.” No longer were the people
of God limited to the believers in Israel in days past. After the coming of
Christ in the flesh, a way was opened to the Gentiles to become the people of
God through their faith in Jesus, and the number of people who believed in God
expanded to include the Gentles. The
result of the gentiles being added to the people of God was new-found joy. The
incarnation of Christ created joy in the world greater than any joy man could
experience in his natural life. God, the Father, introduced the joy to humanity
through the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ who leads humanity in righteousness
and redeems mankind before the justice of God.
The angel, who brought good tidings to
the shepherds when Christ was born, put it this way in these words in Luke 2:
10, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which
will be to all people.” Concerning this
joy, Isaiah says, “They rejoice before You as people rejoice at the harvest.”
This great joy is a fruit of the incarnation of Christ. His followers partake
of His joy when they sit before the Lord in prayer and daily fellowship. Therefore Isaiah
prophesies: (they rejoice before You).
It’s a joy that resembles a celebration
that occurred once every year, at the time of the harvest. After plowing,
cultivating, sowing and digging out the weeds they celebrated their hard work
throughout the year with a time to enjoy the fruit of the harvest. The joy of
the incarnation for the believer is like harvesting new blessings every day,
blessings that are renewed every morning as a result of fellowship we have with
the Incarnate Christ.
Isaiah compares our rejoicing in the
words, “As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.” The fruits of the
incarnation of Christ are spiritual spoils obtained through the victories of
Christ Jesus. In His human, perfect nature, He conquered sin. And with it, He
also conquered the devil who is the old accuser of humanity. Through the
incarnation, Jesus became the perfect man who represented humanity before God
as the Second Adam, head of the new spiritual creation.
Enjoying the perfect fellowship Adam had
lost in the Garden of Eden, Jesus lived on earth in perfect obedience and in
perfect fellowship with God. He established once again the spiritual fellowship
between heaven and earth. In Him we have fellowship with the Father and we have
His acceptance.
Jesus also represents the sinner before
the justice of God. For the sin men and women have committed, he paid with His
suffering and His atoning death. Therefore, in Him we have acceptance and
justification before a Holy God. Then Christ sent His Spirit into the hearts of
those who were justified through His redemptive work of the Cross. The
spiritual victories of the believer come as spoils in the victories Jesus
achieved through His incarnation, atoning death and resurrection.
But the incarnation has even more
results. Isaiah says, “For You have broken the yoke of his burden and the staff
of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor as in the day of Midian.” The coming
of Christ has lifted the yoke of man's burden from the shoulders of those who
believe in Him. Think of it this way, the yoke over the neck of a bull compels
him to be under constraint and obligates him to walk wherever the one who
subjugated him designed for him to walk. Similarly, the yoke of sin
constraining the soul of man compels him to walk in sin under the oppression of
Satan. But the coming of Christ has broken this yoke for every one who believe
in Jesus as their redeemer.
In the past, slave’s master held a staff
over the shoulder of the one under his bondage, to strike him because he was a
slave. But Christ has broken the staff of bondage over the shoulder of the one
who believes in Him, and has liberated him from under the authority of
Satan. The power of Satan, the enemy of
the soul, enslaves men and women to sin and we live in iniquity, unable to
resist the power of sin and the Devil who is behind sin. Jesus said in John 8: 34, “Most assuredly,
I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” We find this thought
echoed by Peter in 2 Peter 2: 19, “While they promise them liberty, they
themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him
also he is brought into bondage.” But
Jesus and Peter were not the first to bring us this teaching. Isaiah calls it
“the rod of his oppressor,” in Isaiah, chapter 9 and verse 4. Isaiah reflects
on the authority of the oppressor against the one who is under his will and
subject to his bondage.
Christ broke the authority of Satan when
He paid the price required to liberate men and women through His atoning death
on the Cross. He then sent His Spirit to deliver us from the power of the
enemy. The victorious Spirit of Christ
breaks the power of sin with it’s wicked habits in the life of the person who
gives his heart to Jesus.
Our liberation was symbolized by the
liberation of Israel from the hard bondage of Midian. The Lord liberated Israel
from the large army of Midian through one person, Gideon. What Israel was
unable to do by itself Gideon was able to do acting under the orders of God.
Similarly, our liberation from the bondage of Satan and all his forces was
accomplished through one person, Jesus, who freed us from the spiritual powers
from which we were unable to free ourselves.
Isaiah continues in these words:
“For every warrior's boots used in the noisy battle, and garments
rolled in blood, will be used for burning and will be fuel for the fire.”
Isaiah refers to a time yet in the future when God will be vindicated. When
Christ returns to the earth in what we call the second coming, He will make a
huge fire with the weapons of the armies and the military uniforms they
wore. A prophecy written in verse four
of chapter two of the book of Isaiah
Isaiah 2: 4 tells us about the second coming of Christ, “He shall judge
between the nations, and rebuke many people. They shall beat their swords into
plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
What a difference it makes when Christ
liberates the nations and brings an end to Satan’s bondage. Metallic materials
from which weapons were fabricated will be used to make useful tools instead of
destructive ones. These are among the blessings which will occur when Christ
returns to earth.
But the greatest thought comes in verse 6
when Isaiah specifies why these blessings will come. “For unto us a Child is
born,” All the blessings the earth receives will come because a child is born.
He’s not born for the sake of one family as most newborns, but He was born
“unto us,” each of us, all humanity. The words the angel repeated to the
shepherds when he gave them good tidings about the birth of Jesus echoed
Isaiah’s words, “unto you a child is born.” He was born, not only for the
shepherds but, for all people everywhere.
He was born to compensate for the
inability of each of us to live the holy, perfect life that pleases God. Christ
was born to live a life of righteousness and holiness. In the light of His
perfect moral and spiritual conduct, humanity will be evaluated in the light of
the requirements by which God expected men to live.
Isaiah continues verse six with the
phrase, “Unto us a Son is given.” He is more than born; He is given. He came
from heaven to earth, born with a human nature like us but without sin. He is
“the Son,” a great bestowal to the human race; a great gift born with a sinless
human nature, but also with a divine nature. He is the everlasting Son of God.
When Isaiah says He “is given,” he means
that Christ existed before His birth on the earth. He existed in everlasting
fellowship and unity with the Father in the Godhead. The love of God the Father
is so great for humanity that He sacrificed His only, everlasting Son who lived
among us in this harsh earthly environment and died on the cross for our
redemption. You’ve heard these words before in what may be the most quoted
words in the New Testament, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life.”
Isaiah continues verse six when he
repeats God’s promise “And the government will be upon His shoulder.” The
divine child was prophesied to be head of humanity. He will lead the kingdom of
God depicted in the New Testament. He’s the head of the church. He’s the One
who will be the king over the whole earth when He returns again to start the
blissful millennial reign.
He is the leader that will be seen in the
presence of the people who received Him as Savior. He is our leader, example
and Lord, not only of earth, but of heaven; not only now but also throughout
eternity. We read in the book of the Revelation in verse 17 of chapter 7, “for
the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to
living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Does the prophetical paragraph of Isaiah
define the One who was to be born; does it present something that would help in
identifying His personality?
One of the titles Isaiah gives to this
glorious child is “Wonderful.” Isaiah says, “And His name will be called
Wonderful,” divinely attributed to Him since only God is inscrutable and
unfathomable. His greatness can't be encompassed or contained by our limited
minds. He is wonderful in His greatness, holiness and other attributes that His
creatures can't have.
When Manoah, the father of Samson, asked
the pre-incarnate Christ who appeared to him in form of an angel, about His
name. He answered in Judges 13: 18, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is
Wonderful?” Christ is not a limited being who could be defined with just simple
name like Gabriel or Michael or any angelic name. The person who appeared to Manoah accepted the offering which was
put on the alter. Such offering was often given to God in the Old Testament.
But Manoah knew that the One who appeared to him was God and Manoah said to his
wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God!”
We see that the One called “Wonderful,”
who appeared to pious persons and to the prophets in the Old Testament, was the
same “Wonderful” that Isaiah prophesied would come again in the flesh
Next, Isaiah defines Him as “Counselor”
because He is the source of eternal wisdom. He is the wisdom of the Godhead.
The Father delights in His wonderful wisdom and His ability to bring about
every thing the Father plans. We read in Proverbs 8:30, “Then I was beside Him
as a master craftsman and I was daily His delight.” Christ, as part of the Trinity, speaks with intelligent
creatures, both angels and men. He’s called “the Word” in John 1:1, “In the
beginning was the Word.”
In Isaiah 48:16, the pre-incarnate Christ
declared that He is the One who spoke from the beginning. He spoke to the
prophets when He said “Come near to Me. Hear this: I have not spoken in secret
from the beginning. From the time that it was, I was there. And now the Lord
God and His Spirit have sent Me.” His word was not in secret for the benefit of
one person, but it was intended to be written for everyone. The pre-Incarnate
Christ announced the mission for which He was commissioned by the Father and
the Holy Spirit.
Isaiah continues his definition by
calling Him “the Mighty God.” The
words Mighty and Almighty in the Old Testament are synonymous with Jehovah-God
as in Genesis 17:1 where the Lord said to Abraham, “I am Almighty God; walk
before Me and be blameless.” Also in
Isaiah 10:21 we read, “The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the
Mighty God.” Here we see the term "mighty God" as applied to Jehovah.
It means the child who is born is the Jehovah of the Old Testament. Never was
such a title attributed to a person other than to God.
In the New Testament we also see that the
title "Mighty" is attributed to God. In Luke 1:49, the Song of Mary
includes these words. “For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and
holy is His name.”
Referring to Himself, in Revelation 1: 8
Jesus said, “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and
who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’” In this verse, He confirms that He
is the Almighty God who spoke to the prophets in the Old Testament. Likewise,
the angel announcing Christ’s birth in Luke 2:11, said, “Today, in the city of
David, a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ, the Lord.” The word " Lord"
in the New Testament is the equivalent of the word " Jehovah" used in the of the Old Testament for God .
When Isaiah refers to the birth of the
Savior, he calls Him the “Everlasting Father,” a term the Old Testament uses
for the Lord, Jehovah.
Isaiah announced that the child who’s
birth he prophesied, can be identified by His everlasting fatherly heart. When
God who spoke to the prophets about himself he said in Jeremiah 31:9, “I will
lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, In a straight way
in which they shall not stumble; For I am a Father to Israel.” He is the person of the Trinity who leads
men and women as an earthly father leads his children. Yet, the One who has a
fatherly heart was incarnated, or brought to earth, so he could shepherd his
children closely. He became one of us with a human nature. Just as He provided
nurture and guidance to the disciples during his time, He pastors his flock
throughout eternity.
Finally, Isaiah calls Him, the “Prince of
Peace. Peace on earth without the Prince of Peace is a provisory phenomenon
without a solid foundation. True peace will come with the reign of the Prince
of Peace.
The time when Jesus reigns on earth is
called the Millennial Messianic Kingdom. In Psalm 72 we read about this
kingdom, “the mountains will bring prosperity to the people, and the little
hills [will bring] the fruit of righteousness…. In His days righteous shall
flourish, and peace will abound until the moon is no more.... He shall have
dominion also from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him.”
God promises that peace will continue on
earth during his Millennial reign until the stars, the moon and the earth will
be destroyed, and a new heaven and earth will be created.
But today, Jesus establishes His peace in
the hearts of those who accept him as Savior. Therefore, the angels sang on His
birth as we read in Luke 2:14, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth,
peace, goodwill toward men!”
The good tidings of Christmas are yours
when you accept Jesus as your personal Savior. Then, your celebration of
Christmas will have a true spiritual meaning.
May God bless you in this New Year and
fill your life to overflowing with the goodness of His love, brought to earth
when the baby was born in Bethlehem.
______________
Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Copyright © 2003 by Dr. Rafat Amari.
All rights reserved.