Notes on Isaiah 9
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.
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.
8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.
9 And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of
Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
10 The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones:
the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.
11 Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against
him, and join his enemies together;
12 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.
13 For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do
they seek the LORD of hosts.
14 Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch
and rush, in one day.
15 The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that
teacheth lies, he is the tail.
16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that
are led of them are destroyed.
17 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.
18 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.
19 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.
20 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:
21 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.
This prophecy foretells that of the first coming of the Messiah
whom we know now as "Jesus Christ," spiritual darkness prevails in the land.
That is why they did not recognize Jesus Christ as savior when He came. They did not
recognize Him as the Messiah. They are still waiting for the Messiah. Unfortunately they
will believe in a false messiah when he comes.
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.
When Jesus came to them, the people in darkness saw a great
light. Only a small few received this light but God Himself was in their midst and they
didn't even know it.
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.
Verse four will take place at the Second Coming of the Messiah.
The yoke will be broken off the Jewish people forever. Armies will gather around Jerusalem
in the latter days and the coming of Jesus Christ will destroy them.
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 .
We see here that a child was to be born. This child was
to be called "The Mighty God" The Everlasting Father." So we see from Isaiah
in the Old Testament that a child was to be God. We know God the Father is
not a child so we see that this must be the promised one, the Messiah that
was to come and save people from sin. Jesus Christ is the only one born of
women that could possibly fulfill this prophecy and also the prophecy in
Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 pictures a suffering Messiah. This verse proves Jesus
to be God and was with God from the beginning.
As we read Isaiah we see the 1st and 2nd coming of Christ is not
separated but looks like one event. There are actually years between the two comings but
Isaiah's prophecy has in all in one. God sees things differently than we do. A thousand
years is like one day to him. So in God's eyes, it has just been two days since Jesus came
the first time.
Verse 6 promises a child born which will become a king and the true
Prince of Peace.
In the book of Luke an angel appears to Mary and described the baby
to be born of her to be called Jesus and was called the Son of the Highest. The angel also
said that Jesus would reign on the throne of David. David was also called the father
because Mary and Joseph both came from the lineage of David. This is why Jesus had to be
born of that lineage. Now He is eligible to be a king according to the promise God made to
David. The Angel also stated that His kingdom would never end.
While Mary was pregnant with Jesus as she entered the home of
Elizabeth the wife of John the Baptist, the baby inside of Elizabeth's womb leaped for
joy. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and immediately began to prophesy. She
called Mary the mother of her Lord. She shows Christ as one who fills the need of the
hungry, scatters the proud, helps Israel and reminds us of the promise made to Abraham.
When Zecharais could speak he also prophesied of the child Jesus. He
praises God for bringing salvation through the house of David and he spoke of being
delivered from enemies. He adds somewhat to the subject of being delivered from their
enemies. They were delivered from enemies to serve the Lord in holiness and righteousness
all the days of their lives. His own son John was to prepare the way of the coming of
Jesus by preaching repentance and remission of sins, give light to them in darkness and
guide us to the way of peace.
When the angel spoke to Joseph in the book of Matthew, he described
Jesus as one who would take away sins.
The wise men spoke of the baby as one who would be a governor to rule
the people and as the king of the Jews.
So we see even in the New Testament that the coming of Jesus was seen
as both a savior from sins and a deliverer from enemies and a ruler of the people.
Jesus also preached repentance from sin but He was
crucified and never became an earthly king at that time.
So we see that there are two comings of Christ. One to die for sins
and save the souls of all who believe and the second time to set up His kingdom and rule
forever after defeating the enemies of Israel and all believers who have become adopted
Israel through faith in Jesus Christ. Many of us also believe that about 7 years before
the Second Coming there will be a catching away of faithful believers in Christ to meet
the Lord in the air. We then go with Him to the marriage supper of the Lamb. While in
heaven the earth will become a place of lawlessness, a false messiah will arise to deceive
many. Many will think this is the messiah until their eyes are opened when this false
messiah or anti-christ will turn on those he first claimed to defend and start persecuting
and killing them. After this Jesus and His army of believers will return to redeem Israel,
purge the world of sin and He then sets up His kingdom for a thousand years. After that
1000 years, Satan is loosed to try to deceive again. This will be the final rebellion.
Those that follow Satan will be destroyed forever in hell and those that follow the Lord
will reign with him for eternity.
We better get on the Lord's side because whether there is a rapture
and catching away of the saints or not, He is returning literally and only those who love
Him will survive. Evil will not continue, hallelujah.
Isa 9:8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon
Israel.
We see in Isaiah the whole picture of the coming of the Messiah.
It isn't divided into two comings here. Since Christ hasn't yet come the first time in the
days of Isaiah he could not possibly refer to the Second Coming. He had to refer to the
first coming. Isaiah could only see one event like looking at the tops of two mountains
and not seeing the valley in between. We are now living in the valley between the two
comings of Jesus Christ.
9:12 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.
Isaiah also prophesies the near future of Israel. He tells of the
enemies destroying Israel and still Israel does not seek the Lord.
14 Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail,
branch and rush, in one day.
The ancient and honorable and the prophet teaches lies and
deceit. The leaders caused the people to go into error and idolatry. I realize that we
must respect leaders but we need to seek God for ourselves and follow Him without being
influenced by our leaders and teachers. Never before in history have we been free to do
this like the freedom in the United States. We can now seek God to the full extent of our
desire, yet we seldom do.
17 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.
Hindrances to prayer: Hypocrisy, evildoing, and folly.
18 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.
Wickedness is compared to fire that burns and destroys.
19 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.
Turning from God results in even brothers fighting against
brothers.
Isaiah 10
Isaiah Index |