Isaiah

Notes on Isaiah 9

• Isaiah 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 and the second coming of the Messiah whom we know now as "Jesus Christ". He came the first time when spiritual darkness prevailed in the land. Although the government will be on His shoulders, that is fulfilled at the Second coming of the Lord. The first coming was for the Messiah, the Christ to be a sacrifice for sins. 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 many will believe in a false messiah when he comes.

• Isaiah 9:2 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.

• Isaiah 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's Son 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 Zacharias 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. All Israel shall be saved and also all believers who have become adopted into 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 also called the antichrist, 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 need to get on the Lord's side, because whether there is a rapture and catching away of the saints at the beginning before the tribulation, in the middle of the tribulation, or just before the wrath of God is poured out or they go through the whole thing, He is returning literally and only those who love Him will survive. Evil will not continue. Jesus did say to pray that we escape all these things and stand before Him so I personally lean strongly toward the pretribulation rapture of the believers that are "In Christ" at that time.

• Isaiah 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. 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.

• Isaiah 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.

• Isaiah 9:14 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 some seldom do. Since writing this there are things taking place where we may lose that freedom if God doesn't intervene. Doing surgery on children to try to change their gender is crossing the line in my estimation. Time to stop turn around and ask God to lead us away from the craziness going on.

• Isaiah 9:17 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.

• Isaiah 9:18 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.

• Isaiah 9:19 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. DC

Isaiah 10

Isaiah Index