THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Isaiah: Jahweh Is Salvation

Part XVII. Personally Offsetting Spiritual Darkness By Looking To The Word Incarnate Alone

A. The Word Incarnate's Arrival And Deliverance

(Isaiah 9:1-5)

I. Introduction

A. We learned in our last lesson that departing from canonical Scripture in seeking fulfillment leads not only to false sources of spiritual fulfillment, but to deep, gloomy spiritual darkness, Isaiah 8:19-22.

B. However, in infinite grace, God would give Israel His Word in the flesh, Jesus Christ, God's Son as the Word Incarnate (cf. Rev. 19:11-13 with John 1:1-3, 14), and He would deliver the nation from what troubled her in Isaiah's day as seen in Isaiah 9:1-5. This deliverance is of timeless application, so we view it for our insight:

II. The Word Incarnate's Arrival And Deliverance, Isaiah 9:1-5.

A. To appreciate the predictions about Messiah in Isaiah 9:1-5, we briefly review the previous historical context:

1. Judah's king and people were afraid of an invasion by the Israel-Aram union (Isa. 7:1-2), so Isaiah had tried to urge them to trust God to help them by letting Assyria defeat the union, but to no avail, Isa. 7:3-25.

2. Accordingly, God had Isaiah exemplify the life of faith for his generation of few believers (Isa. 8:1-10) while also resisting the unbelief of Judah's people (Isa. 8:11-18), especially seen in their turning to false spirit mediums for guidance in the vacuum left by turning from the written Scriptures (Isa. 8:19-20).

3. That apostasy by Judah's people would produce deep spiritual gloom and anguish of heart (Isa. 8:21-22).

B. When Judah and the Northern Kingdom of Israel were at their worst spiritual state, Isaiah 9:1-2 predicted the advent of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to offset their darkness as the Word Incarnate (as follows):

1. Isaiah gave the wonderful prediction that there would no longer be darkness to the distressed nation, the dark and gloom mentioned in Isaiah 8:22 that had resulted from Judah's replacing the enlightening canonical Scriptures with false spirit mediums (Isaiah 8:19-20).

2. The land that will have felt the greatest suffering of this darkness, the tribal territories of Zebulun and Naphtali in the Northern Kingdom that were the first to feel the brunt of Assyria's attack and captivity (Edward J. Young, The Book of Isaiah, 1974, v. I, p. 323), would in the latter days be honored, the land along the western side of the Sea of Galilee of the Gentiles, Isaiah 9:1 ESV.

3. Thus, opposite Israel's darkness from rejecting the canonical Scriptures, God would graciously give her the "Great Light," the Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ, Isaiah 9:2. Jesus began to fulfill this prophecy in His first advent, moving from His hometown of Nazareth in the tribal land of Zebulun to Capernaum in tribal land of Naphtali as the base for His Galilean ministry, Mat. 4:12-16; Ryrie St. Bib., KJV, 1978, maps 4 and 12.

4. The people in that region who walked in such deep darkness would see a "Great Light," fulfilled in Christ's exorcising demons from people in Capernaum long after sunset in Mark 1:21-34. The turning to spirit mediums especially in Israel (Isa. 8:19) had produced gloomy, desperation in demonic possession (Isa. 8:22), and Jesus began to address this issue in His earthly work as the "Great Light," the Incarnate Word!

C. Typical of the Old Testament prophets whom God did not inform of the two advents of Christ, Isaiah in Isaiah 9:3-5 combines Messiah's deliverance in His Second Advent along with His First Advent (cf. 1 Peter 1:10-11):

1. In His Second Advent when Judah and Israel together trust in Him, Messiah Jesus will enlarge the nation, increasing its joy (the word "not" in Isaiah 9:3 KJV should not appear in the text, Ibid., ftn. to Isa. 9:3), joy likened to the joy at harvest ingathering and the collection of spoil after war, Isa. 9:3; Ibid., Young, p. 324.

2. This will occur because Messiah will have removed and broken the yoke of His people's oppressive Gentile enemies as in the day of Gideon's victory over the Midianite hordes, Isa. 9:4; Judges 7-8.

3. Indeed, not only would the Gentile foes of Messiah's people be defeated, the items used in battle would be destroyed: every boot every soldier had used with a trampling sound and every garment that had been rolled in blood in battle would be fuel for the fire to be consumed, Isaiah 9:5; Ibid., Young, p. 324, 328.

Lesson: Though God's people will have gone into distressful spiritual gloom following their replacement of canonical Scripture with false mediums, God will graciously give them the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, to shine as God's "Great Light" to deliver them from darkness and the effects of judgment following sin.

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ to have the light of life and eternal life, John 1:4; 3:16. (2) Then, may we witness to the lost to trust in Christ (3) and stay illumined by a constant exposure to Scripture for God's blessing.