Isaiah 9:1-7 Series

Isaiah 9:1-7

It’s a Boy!

Light Shines Thru vs. 1-2

Increased Joy vs. 3-5

The Glory of the Son vs. 6-7

Intro: I Think I’m Pregnant

There is nothing quite like the anticipation of a coming child

I still remember when Jennifer told me she was pregnant with Caleb

It was two days before Xmas We were visiting my dad in Lancaster

Wen were laying in bed wide awake early in the morning and my wife rolls over and looks at me and says “I think I’m pregnant.”

It was one of those wide eyed moments and I said something profound: “Huh?!?”

And it was one of those situations that you couldn’t say anything

I wasn’t going to tell my dad because we weren’t sure

We could’ve told Jen’s family on Christmas but her brother Aaron was getting married in a couple days and we didn’t want to take away from that

So we literally sat on it for over a week

Finally on New Years Eve we went and told her parents

As you could imagine news of the first grand baby created some excitement

I mean not as much as when Prince William and Kate announce they are having a baby but still

Imagine if the announcement came to a country that it’s savior was going to be born

Could you imagine the anticipation Israel had?

Assyria is getting ready to knock down the door of Jerusalem but God sends promise of a savior

In the form of a baby boy he would save the nation

Read Isaiah 9:6-7

Transition:

Isaiah 8 is a real downer because it talks about how Israel’s refused God

Because of that Assyria was coming to bring judgement

That would spill over and affect Judah as well

But through that judgment a special deliverance would come

It would come as a ray of light, Joy in victory, in the form of a son… the chosen one

Isaiah 9 is what we call a Messianic prophecy

That means that it is a word from the Lord that talks about the coming Messiah, Jesus

There are over 300 such prophecies on the OT that reference the Messiah

Very few of them are as specific as Isaiah 9

The Lord promises a son who will reign over this earth

That son has come but his full reign won’t come till his second coming

After Israel hears the gloomy words of the coming of Assyria he then shines a ray of light Hope

Jesus is still that ray of hope in our world

In our dark and gloomy world there is a promise of a savior who can be with us now and who will return as a reigning king who will establish peace

Light Shines Through vs. 1-2

There is nothing like a ray of light on a gloomy day

Israel needs it

Is 8:22 And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.

God describes a darkness they will go into because of this judgment

But take hope because there will be a great light that will shine

East Facing Offices

There is something about the morning sun this time of year

Maybe it's because we can actually see it before noon, but it's bright

It seems that for most of the time of this church my office windows always face east

That means in the morning, most of the year, all I see are grey clouds until the fog burns off

But this time of year the sun is in full force before the time change and my offices get blasted

So much so that I have to have the blinds drawn or work somewhere else

When that light blasts thru the darkness it brings hope

That light in Israel, and in our lives, is Jesus

Vs. 1 Interesting the first to see the gloom, those areas near the sea of Galilee will be the first to see the light

Assyria will first attack Israel in the divided kingdom and the continue on to Judah

When the promised Son comes he will first go to the northern section

When Jesus began his earthly ministry he did it around the Galilee

Matt 4:13 quotes these two verses

The promised light has come, there will be no gloom for those in anguish

In fact Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, prophesied that Jesus would be the light

Luke 1:79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Jesus came to bring light to all of those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death

That means if there has been a cloud of gloom hanging over you