Isaiah on Tuesday - Christ's Birth Foretold

Long before three wise men from the east came to a sleepy rural town in Israel to worship a boy born in "mean estate", Isaiah prophesied His coming. Last week, I wrote about the beginning of that prophecy in chapter 7, but it didn't stop there. For five more chapters, Isaiah continues to tell of the Messiah's birth and the events that would be its prelude.

Chapter 8 continues chapter seven's introduction setting the stage as darkness descends upon Israel and Assyria is named as the instrument of its destruction. Judgment and promise mix as Isaiah claims

"The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
he is the one you are to fear,
he is the one you are to dread,

¹⁴ and he will be a sanctuary;
but for both houses of Israel he will be
a stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be
a trap and a snare."

The transition from chapter 8 to chapter 9 is a marvelous thing, though. As he closes chapter 8, Isaiah continues his judgment on Israel writing:

"²² Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness."

Yet even in the darkness and gloom, there is hope as chapter 9 opens:

"¹ Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan-

² The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death ^[a]
a light has dawned....

⁶For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, ^[b] Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Once again, however, Isaiah moves from promise back into judgment. The two are rarely, if ever, separated with God. For even as He prunes away that which needs cutting, He promises new life, new growth and new fruit for that which remains. Even as chapter 7 introduced the plot and chapter 8 laid out the primary conflict, chapter 9 closes the introductions with the promise of the Prince of Peace and moves to the first primary character: "8 The Lord has sent a message against Jacob; it will fall on Israel."

Isaiah begins detailing the destruction of Israel by Assyria and the complaint God has against it. This continues into chapter 10 where he laments the fall of Israel:

"Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,

² to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless."

The God of justice demands justice from His people, compassion for the poor and freedom for the oppressed. Yet those who knew the law could not fulfill it and so faced destruction in order to usher in One who could.

Though it was to be the instrument of God's judgment, Assyria itself would also be judged. Blinded by pride and not understanding that victory alone is the LORD's, the king of Assyria wrongfully assumes that the destruction reaped upon Israel was due to some power of his own. Once His work is done, God's judgment will come upon Assyria for their crimes are no less than Israel's. God is clearing space for the arrival of His son and in Him is all sovereignty and power.

As Assyria faces the judgment of God, His promise begins to be restored to those remaining:

"²⁰In that day the remnant of Israel,
the survivors of the house of Jacob,
will no longer rely on him
who struck them down
but will truly rely on the LORD,
the Holy One of Israel.

²¹ A remnant will return, ^[b] a remnant of Jacob
will return to the Mighty God."

So we begin the denouement of the six verses. "A remnant will return", shear-jashub, the name of Isaiah's son from chapter 7. The conclusion starts in Chapter 10, verse 20 but continues through chapter 12.

Again we see a beautiful transition. Chapter 10 concludes with the remnant, a mere stump of a tree cut down to almost nothing, but we see in chapter 11 that in that stump is hope:

" ¹ A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

² The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -

³ and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;

⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

⁵ Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist."

Chapter 11 gloriously details the promise of God as Israel is restored, united and brought to completion under the new king - the Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father.

A few asides worth noting:

Verse four above uses "judge" in a way we are not used to, but in a more accurate and complete way. A judge is intended to deliver justice. He will "give decisions FOR the poor of the earth." We should not fear judgment, for with it comes promise. It is only those who refuse to accept the judgments of God, refuse to repent that need fear it. Judgment is the refinement of who we are by God, and through it we are purified as gold.

"The Spirit of the Lord" likely is what John refers to as the "Sevenfold" Spirit of God. See last week's Big Idea, for my post on that.

As chapter 11 closes, we have the epilogue - chapter 12. Because of the things accomplished in the previous chapter, Isaiah is driven to sing a song of praise. In a short burst of worship, Isaiah acknowledges the judgment, but exalts the LORD for His promise. Salvation has come at last and that is songworthy indeed.

Chapter 12:

¹ In that day you will say:
"I will praise you, O LORD.
Although you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away
and you have comforted me.

² Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation."

³ With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.

⁴ In that day you will say:
"Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done,
and proclaim that his name is exalted.

⁵ Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;
let this be known to all the world.

⁶ Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."