Here is my chapter breakdown for Isaiah 9:
1-3 From gloom to gladness
4-5 Breaking the yoke, the rod of their oppressor
6-7 A divine son is given, and his government of peace will increase
8-21 God is angry with proud Israel
The end of Isaiah 8 speaks of the prophet eagerly waiting for the Lord, who is hiding from Israel (8: 17). It speaks of the time Israel will experience “the gloom of anguish” and be “driven away into darkness” (8:22). In sin and error pining.
Gloom continued for the next 400 years since the last of the Old Testament prophets spoke to the Jewish people. 400 years without prophetic utterance. God and Israel were not on speaking terms. In the meantime, the Old Testament canon was finalized and in print.
Chapter 9 begins with a note of hope. A “great light” will shine in a dark land (9:2). What will the light do? The gloom will be replaced with rejoicing, and the darkness with light (v. 3).
These verses of hope are quoted in Matthew’s gospel, in 4:14-16. How did this light come? Verse 17 tells us: “From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, ‘Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.’ ” Jesus preached the kingdom of God, and the light shined.
When Christ came, the light began to shine again. God began to speak to His people in the person of His Son. No wonder the gloom had been replaced with gladness. “They will be glad in Your presence” (Isa. 9:3). Eternal life walked in their midst (1 John 1:1-3). God was with them in the person of Immanuel (Matthew 1:23).
A child had been born; a Son had been given (Isaiah 9:6); and the genesis of a new kingdom had come. The light of the kingdom opened their eyes to set them free; “You shall break the yoke of their burden” (9:4). Hope sprouted again in the tax collectors and prostitutes. The deaf and the lame praised God at the Son’s healing touch.
This Son was crucified, His body was laid in a tomb, then He rose bodily from the dead on the third day. He ascended to heaven at the right hand of God, waiting for the time He will come again.
In the meantime, we call this Jesus Christ, “Wonderful, Counselor” as He guides our steps with a spiritual wisdom we sorely need due to the deceitfulness of sin.
Jesus is the “Mighty God,” and nothing is too hard for Him. He takes us in challenging directions, yet through Him we find triumph. He becomes the strength of our hearts.
He lovingly and wisely coaches us day by day to face our struggles and grow, and we approach Him as the “Everlasting Father” who cares for us.
Jesus is the “Prince of Peace,” gradually replacing our turmoil with His quietness and assurance. We find peace with God, our neighbor, and ourselves. We have found in Him our hiding place, our shelter in times of storm, our green pastures where we may lie down and rest.
The more we learn of Him, the more “the rod of [our] oppressor” is broken (Isa. 9:4)–the strength of sin and wiles of the devil. We confess Him as Lord and Savior day by day, and let His government increase over our lives, usurping the dominion of sin at work in us. By His grace, He guides us in the paths of righteousness now that the power of sin is broken, and faith, not unbelief, becomes the new dynamic.
Experiencing this liberty in our lives now, this freedom to obey Him, we have hope in the fullness of His kingdom when He arrives bodily, that every government not of God will be overthrown. He’s doing it in us now, dethroning sin in our lives. He will finish the work in righteousness and cut it short, worldwide.
“There will be no end to the increase of His government or of His peace” (v. 7). As surely as His grace and peace is spreading through our lives now, so we expect it to continue over the entire world when He returns.
Now is the appetizer. Then it is the feast, “From then on and forevermore” (v. 7) His rule will continue. The gift is forever; eternal life with Him. We who know this life now will know what the future holds. More of knowing Him. More assurance of His rule over our little lives. More grace and capacity to serve. An endless ability to love.
“The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this” (v. 7). The Lord is pouring all of His efforts to this end. Are you? Jesus came to break sin’s hold and set us free (John 8:30-36). Are you accommodating sin? His Word is a light to our path to guide us (Psalm 119:105). Are you preferring the words of others? He is to have the preeminence in our lives (Colossians 1:18). Has He been sidelined in your life by endless busy-work, the tyranny of the urgent, the psychological addictions of the social-media pit?
The Lord will accomplish this end of the reign of sin and death. And He will set us free, if we give Him permission. If we say with the apostle Paul, “Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). If we will no longer be satisfied with a half salvation. If we continue in the faith. If we will hold fast to Him who has already overcome, and will show you His deliverance.
Have you lost track of His vision for you, to be with Him forever? Then you are the lost lamb the Shepherd seeks that He might carry you back to the fold (Luke 15:3-6). You are the the lost coin the Holy Spirit seeks to find (Luke 15:8-10). You are the lost son the heavenly Father longs to embrace (Luke 15:11-24). He by His own zeal will accomplish this work in those who trust in Him. It is certain because He is faithful. Our great high priest ever lives to intercede for us.
The Christmas Child of prophecy had already come, but is now “declared to be the Son of God with power … by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4).
If you hear Him knocking on the door of your heart, open the door and invite Him in (Revelation 3:20), and let Him apply His zeal with mercy and grace to your life.
