Transcript

Let’s go to Isaiah chapter 9 as we conclude our study through Isaiah 7, 8, and 9, as we look at the prophecies that had a temporal fulfillment to Judah, the remnant, and has an ultimate and final fulfillment in Christ, particularly His incarnation, but it goes beyond that, as we’ll see in today’s message. First of all, from chapter 7, verses 1 through 25, we saw Immanuel, God is with us, you can trust Him in the crisis. That’s what God kept saying to the tiny remnant Judah, “Trust Me. I know you’re in a crisis. I know the Northern Kingdom, and the Assyrians have formed an alliance to destroy you, but do not trust the world. Trust Me.” And God would give them the sign, He gave them several signs, and the centerpiece sign, if you will, was a baby. A child born to a maiden that was considered the Immanuel child, God with us.

And then we went on to chapter 8 verses 1 through 9. We saw Immanuel, God is with us, trust Him when you fail, because tiny remnant Judah didn’t trust God. They didn’t exercise faith. They put their faith in the Assyrians. The Assyrians would represent the world. “Oh, we’ve got to bring the world in, and that will help us. That will be the key to our victory.” So they failed in faith. God said, “Well, even when you fail, where are you going to go when you fail? If you fail God, who are you going to run to?” You run back to God. So God said, “Trust me, even when you fail.”

Then thirdly, in chapter 8 verses 11-9:5, Immanuel, God is with us, trust Him for redemption. They put their trust in the world, Assyria, to defend them. Looked like a great thing. Assyria did march against the Northern Kingdom. Assyria did destroy the Syrians, but then the mighty Assyrian army turned and marched south and destroyed Judah. You see, when you shake hands with the devil, you get burned. They made an alliance with wicked Assyria, and wicked Assyria turned, and captured them, and destroyed them, not completely, but almost. Remember, it was like the imagery from the text was, the water came in to Judah right up to the neck, but not up over the mouth. So God says, “Now that you’re in this situation, how are you going to be delivered?”

Well, God said, “I’m Immanuel. I’m God with you. Trust Me for your redemption.” We saw that last time. And God kept telling them through the prophet that all this is accomplished through a baby. For the Jews of this day and little remnant Judah, a maiden, I believe it was Isaiah’s wife, had a little child, and his proper name was Mahershalalhashbaz. Great name for you to give to your child one day, if you have a little boy born. And swift to the plunder, speedy to the prey, is what that means. But beyond that, the child meant God is with us. He was the sign that God is with us. But then the text develops further, and we realize this Immanuel child is far, far more and far, far greater than the little boy born to Isaiah’s wife. There must be a greater fulfillment. We’ll see a lot of that in today’s text.

Now, just by way of review, “through this Immanuel child, glorious days are coming for the children of God,” God kept telling them. First of all, in chapter 9, if you look at there with me, in verses 1 and 2, he said, “There’s going to be a glorious illumination coming for you Judah.” He said, “But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.” He says, “There’s a great illumination coming to Israel. This one, this Immanuel child will come and bring a great illumination. Verse 2 “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.”

He said, also through this Immanuel child, there is going to be a glorious transformation. Look at verse 3. “You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; they will be glad in Your presence.” Now, this is interesting. They go from not cherishing Immanuel, God being with us, remember, that didn’t mean much to them. These armies were coming against them. These threats were at hand, and God says, “Trust what I’m telling you through this little child, this Immanuel child, that God is with you.” But they couldn’t do that. But now, a day is coming when there’s going to be a transformation in their very hearts. And what is going to be the difference? Look at verse 3 again of chapter 9, “They will be glad in Your presence.” The only way they could turn to joy in what they once just ignored was that God changed their hearts.

Isn’t that true of you, child of God? Today you love, look to, and joy in the things of the Word of God that one day you had no concern for. It just didn’t interest you. It just didn’t make sense to you, but God says through this, through the prophet, to the nation of Israel and to all of us, “There is coming one who will be a little baby, but through Him He’ll bring a glorious illumination. He’ll bring a glorious transformation that will lead to a glorious celebration.” Verse 3, “You shall increase their gladness.” We continue in verse 3, “As with the gladness of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.”

Now, an agrarian people like this live for the harvest, and when there wasn’t much of a harvest, it literally meant they might not survive the next year. But when there was an abundant harvest, they had a great celebration. That’s why in all the peoples of antiquities, you’ll find these great harvest celebrations throughout their history, and it was true of the nation of Israel also. So he said it is going to be when this Immanuel child comes, and He performs His ministry and His work, the people of God are going to have great, great reason for celebration. Our salvation is a wonderful thing. It’s something to celebrate.

So, through this Immanuel child, there’s coming a glorious illumination, a glorious transformation, a glorious celebration, and also a glorious emancipation. You remember the rod that I used last week? It’s glorious how he says in verse 4, “You shall break the yoke of their burden.” That’s You, the Immanuel child, will break their, the people of God’s, burden, and the staff that’s on their shoulders, and the rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. So this enslavement that they had to Assyria is going to be broken, but more than that, all the people of God, through this Immanuel child, can know emancipation from that which controlled them and enslaved them.

So that brings us to verses 6 and 7. That brings us to today’s message, which is Immanuel, God is with us, trust Him with your eternal future. Immanuel, God is with us, trust Him with your eternal future. Let’s look at some of the aspects of this glorious future civilization that is going to be established on the earth one day by this one who came as a little child who is the ultimate and true fulfillment of the Immanuel prophecy. Little Mahershalalhashbaz born to Isaiah’s wife could never fulfill the prophetic words we’re about to read. There was another one who would fulfill these very words, and of course His name is Jesus Christ.

Two things here. Let’s look at I, let’s notice His conquest. Notice His conquest. Look at verse 6. “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us.” Now again, Isaiah all along has been urging tiny, remnant Judah that God is with him, trust Him in this crisis. God is with us, trust Him when you fail. God is with us, trust Him for your redemption, now that you’re enslaved. And now, God is with us, trust Him with His eternal future of a glorious kingdom. So we see again the coming of the child as God’s agent of victory, but obviously again this child is not little Mahershalalhashbaz born to Isaiah some three thousand years ago there in tiny Judah. No, this child is far greater than that, and He’s more than just a sign of God being with them. This next Immanuel child, this final fulfillment of the prophecy, is more than just a statement from God. He is God with us. That’s the difference. He’s the Victor Himself. He doesn’t represent or point to the victory. He is the Victor for the people of God. He’s the Lord Jesus Christ.

In verse 4 he gives them that glorious prophetic word that this one who’s coming as the Immanuel child will break the yoke of their burden and the rod of their oppressor. Now, if someone’s going to come with you and break your burden and crush your oppressor, you expect them to come with greater oppression and greater aggressiveness. But when God came to deliver us from our yoke and our oppression, He did not come in outwardly, in human definitions, of great power and might. No, He came as a meek and humble baby. And just as Ahaz, king of Judah, couldn’t trust in this little Immanuel baby with these mighty armies marching against him, so the parallel is true today. Men today look at the message of the Gospel, and think of the incarnation of a little baby, and one dying in weakness, and meekness, and shame, and they can’t quite put their faith in that! It’s just not what they’re looking for. The church today is so vulnerable to succumb to that temptation to do stuff that looks big in men’s eyes, to do things that look successful to the worldly definitions of success instead of saying, “No, this is God’s way of victory. The world may scoff at it, and ignore it, and ridicule it, but this is God’s road to victory.” He came as a little child. Victory for the people of God comes through a little baby. Jesus is the final fulfillment of the Immanuel prophecy that began back in chapter 7 verse 14. He is the physical embodiment of God with us.

Today, our application, of course, is that through Jesus Christ we do have the victory over sin, over death, over hell, over Satan, but as it was difficult for Ahaz, king of tiny Judah, to trust in the sign of a helpless child, so we find today it’s difficult for men, I might add impossible for men on their own to put their trust in this child sent from the Father to save us. Now, perhaps if a mighty warring angel had shown up in Judah, perhaps Ahaz would have told all the people, “No! We won’t make an alliance with Assyria to help us. Look at what God sent, a warring angel. Now, that’s something we can trust in!” I mean after all, an angel of the Lord came down according to Isaiah 37 and killed a hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrian soldiers in one night. That would be something that the eyes of the flesh could look at and say, “Hey, now we can trust in this.” Jesus came into the world as a tiny baby, not a mighty warrior, or a political giant, or even a revolutionary in the human definition of revolutionaries. Men find it difficult to trust in such a Savior. Isaiah 55:9 reminds us, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” “You wouldn’t do it this way,” God said. “That’s because you don’t understand higher wisdom.”

Now, the text progresses in Isaiah 9:6, and it says not only will a child be born to us, but a Son will be given to us. The Son being given, I think, speaks directly to Jesus being given over to death on the cross. Though Jesus grew to be an adult, He did not resort to men’s methods to be a victor. He did not ascend to military or governmental power or authority. He was the one, as the earlier part of chapter nine tells us, was just an illumination out in Galilee of the Gentiles, a rule in a remote area that people wouldn’t pay much attention to. And people considered Him weak. People considered Him helpless. They arrested Him. They falsely accused Him. They punched Him in the face. They put a crown of thorns on His head. They mocked and ridiculed Him, and basically as He’s hanging there, in their understanding in weakness, they considered Him useless. They wanted a physical, military victor, mainly over their Roman enslavement but this weak and helpless, and useless Jesus was no concern of their’s, but see they knew not the wisdom of God, for in that selfless, humble, meek servant, Christ was taking our place, and in that weakness, as men would define weakness, He completely conquered our enemies. He conquered sin by fully receiving the punishment we deserve as sinners. He conquered death by fully experiencing death and rising again from the grave. He conquered Satan who is the accuser of the brethren by taking away every claim against us as unrighteous, because He imputed to us His righteousness. He’s conquered hell, because when He died in our place on the cross He suffered an eternity of hell for us. So, He has completely demolished our enemies through what the world would call weakness and uselessness. A Son was given to us. It’s as if God in empathy and in unmerited favor and mercy looked down and said, “I’m going to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. I’m going to let my Son be your redemption.” And He did that.

2 Corinthians 13:4, “For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we shall live with Him because of the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:25, “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” Notice the play on words. You call it weakness. You call it ineffectiveness. You call it powerlessness. But God’s weakness is stronger than men’s power. So, He devastated and demolished the enemies of His people with His meekness and His humility, and think of what He’s going to do when He comes again unleashing His mighty wrath and retribution. But as Ahaz did not have any wisdom or faith, he trusted in Assyria, so we are tempted always to do the same. Let’s be reminded, Christ made the conquest to the throne of the universe through what the world would call weakness. A child will be born. A Son will be given. His conquest made conquest to victory through his weakness.

Secondly, let’s note His character. I had real deep delight meditating on this text this week as we see in verse 6 and the last part through verse 7, many aspects of His character. First of all, notice in verse 6, “And the government will rest on His shoulders.” Now when He went to the cross, He placed the sin of the world on His shoulders. There is coming a day when He returns to earth, and He’ll place rather all the government of the world upon His shoulders. My friend, a radical change is coming for planet earth. Up until the time that Christ takes the throne, Satan will reign in the world. We live in a world’s system that the Bible says is controlled by Satan through the agency of fallen men. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says, “Satan is god of this world.” Revelation 12:9 says, “Satan deceives the whole world.” But all at once, Christ will take the throne of planet earth, and He will rule as King of kings and Lord of lords. All elements of governing will rest upon Him. And by the way, He’s adequate for the job. All human governments have failed, but the government that will rest on Him will be successful and will remain forever.

Will He rule as a harsh, aggressive, oppressive ruler like so many before Him? No. They ruled under their limited and their finite natures. When He sets up His kingdom, friend, all judgment will be past. All that will be left is His love, and peace, and His all wise devotion to all of the inhabitants of planet earth. The government will rest on His shoulders. Think about the world leaders just that we know, and think about how weak and failing. Is it not a glorious thought that one day the world government will rest on His shoulders?

Secondly, not only that, but He’s a wonderful counselor. Now actually, these can be two separate things, and I think that’s the best understanding, though it’s certainly true that He’s a wonderful counselor. But I think there are two things here: He’s wonderful, and He’s a counselor. There’s a wonder about Him, a wonder about His person. He’s God, and He’s man, and He’s perfect. There’s a wonder about His words. He speaks, and it’s always wisdom, and right, and good, and blessing. His works, oh, we could preach endlessly on the glorious works of redemption through Jesus Christ. Oh, what a wonder He is! He is a divine being! He is utmost beauty! He is infinite wisdom! He has absolute power! And yet He comes in human form, and He rules the world! It’ll be like, men will look at Christ leading the earth, and they will say, “What a wonder! What a wonder! And we trusted in the Republicans, or, even worse, even the Democrats.” We put these guys in office, and we wonder how we could have believed in them. When Christ takes the throne, we will wonder over the glorious perfections about how He leads the earth. Don’t we long for that day? He’s a counselor though. And sure enough, it could mean that He’s a wonderful counselor, because He is. His decisions and His direction will come out of His divine wisdom. Men will neither have an attitude to oppose him, nor the audacity to attempt such a thing. His infinite wisdom is far above the merely human, and people will call Him a wonder of a counselor. He will be a thoroughly efficient planner. Every plan will be such a marvel that people will wonder over His counsel.

But not only a wonder, and not only a counselor, He’ll be mighty God. He’s not just a wise man, He’s the God-man. God in human form. He is God of, as the theologians will say, of very God. He’s not mostly like God, or much like God, or more like God than other men. No, He’s God. And you’ve got to hold to that essential cardinal doctrine of the Christian faith, and you’ll note that when churches, and teachings, and theologians, and pastors are going astray, Jesus gets a little less and men get a little higher. I’m going to tell you from this pulpit here is what you’re going to hear: we’re really, really, really low, and He’s really, really, really high, because He’s the mighty God. But I think this specifically wants us to understand that He has infinite might to carry out the plans He will orchestrate in His infinite wisdom, in other words, what He desires, He is well able to achieve. Have not we heard the utopian fantasies of the progressive liberals in our day about how they’re going to fix all society’s ills? “Give us all your money, and all the power, and we will fix everything for you!” And it turns out to be a ridiculous, absolute failure. But when Jesus proposes a plan, He has the wisdom and the power to bring it to perfect fruition, because He’s the mighty God. That’s the kind of ruler he’ll be.

And then he says, “Not only that, not only a wonderful counselor, and the mighty God, but the eternal Father.” What a statement this is. You could say everlasting Father here. Now, it’s common for kings or head of nations to refer to themselves as “the father of the country.” For years, we did a lot of mission work in South Africa and that was the terminology they would use. I remember when Bill Clinton was elected, and one of the missionary nationals we worked with said, “How could ya’ll trade Mrs. Bush in for Hilary Clinton as the mother of your country?” I said, “I don’t know. Ask the liberals. They voted for her.” So, that’s a common theme, the father of our country. That’s what He’s going to be. He’s going to be the Father of this whole national country under His headship, but His paternal nature is not one of just imposing authority, but it’s going to be fatherly, in love, and in care, and security that He will give to the peoples who are on the earth.

But not only that, even when peoples have good rulers or good kings, they die. And very often, the people’s hopes die with them. But this is going to be a wonderful Father of the nations, and He will never, never fail or die. He’s the everlasting Father. You see, Israel had been through this. They’d have a pretty good king, and things would go well, and then they’d get a wicked king, and the people would be oppressed, and they’d have a wise king, and things would go well, and then they’d have a king that was not wise, and they would suffer, but he says, “No, there’s coming a day when you’re going to have an everlasting Father. He’ll always be there.”

The Prince of Peace. That’s another title. These are not names that He’s to be called necessarily. These are titles that demonstrate, or amplify, who He is and how He rules.

He’s the one who produces peace between God and man, when as sinners all we should know is the enmity of God. He bridged that gap and took away the separation and has made peace between God and man. He’s made peace between Jew and Gentile, and produces peace between man and man. This is a fitting conclusion to these great characteristics of this ruler that’s coming who started out as just a little baby boy, born of the virgin Mary. He is peace, and if you reject Him, you will have no peace, and you will not be a part of His kingdom. Colossians 1:20 of the Bible says, “He made peace through the blood of His cross.” Jesus came in peace as a little baby. He lived in peace. He conquered His enemies through peace. He established His earthly kingdom, or will establish it, in peace, not in a brutal squashing of all defiance, but there will be such a transparent honesty, goodness, and righteousness that makes any defiance against Him pointless. War, strife, and hatred will be banished. But really, the word “peace” here has a broader meaning. It also means prosperity, that He’ll be the one to usher in the final and true prosperity we’re all looking for. It means He’ll be a true, unlimited, universal, and eternal prosperity. Want and sorrow will forever be over on planet earth. That’s why it’s safe to say that in verse 7, “There will be no end to the increase of His government or His peace.” You’ll never be able to say, “Well, that’s the end. It’s over.” There’s not going to be an end. He’s not one of several kings. He’s the final King. He’s the King to end all kings. He’s the founder of a new, eternal, everlasting age.

Then he says an interesting phrase here that has meaning, of course to the Jews, but it should have meaning to all of us, “There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David.” Now, we know that Jesus’ mother, He only had a human mother, didn’t have a human father, was Mary, and she was of the line of David, so the throne right passed through Mary to Jesus. And God’s covenant with David was that his son would sit upon his throne, and he would reign in righteousness forever. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but that hasn’t happened yet. That’s coming.

And then he says, “The zeal of the Lord of hosts,” verse 9, “will accomplish this.” That means it is God’s burning, passionate desire to establish this eternal kingdom of justice, righteousness, love, and peace, and to bring us to reign with Him in that kingdom forever, and ever, and ever. The zeal of the, “Well, wait a minute, people won’t respond to this, people won’t…” It doesn’t matter. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this. God is passionate about bringing this about.

So, one note of application for us as we conclude is that if the passion of God’s heart is to build this kingdom for us that is in every way superior to anything we know now, how could we be so attached to what we know now? It is right to enjoy and thank God for the common grace blessings of this present world, but we ought to hold this world loosely. It’s not our home. There’s another kingdom coming.

In closing, Hebrews 1:3, “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.” Of course, this is Jesus. “When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Today, Jesus sits at the right hand of the Majesty on High. He sits on the throne of deity. Soon, He’s coming to earth to sit on the throne of David.

And as Handel said in his song that he wrote, “And He shall reign forever, and ever, and ever.” And all of God’s people said, “Amen.” That’s the Christmas story from Isaiah 7, 8, and 9. I skimped on it. Sometime, I’ll preach all of it, alright?

Let’s stand together, alright?