Joy comes with the dawning of the light. But the light would not dawn on the generation of Isaiah’s day. It would come in the future. Before the light would shine, both Israel and Judah would experience the judgment of God for their unbelief and rebellion. Assyria would devour and assimilate Israel; Babylon would carry Judah away captive as a prize of war. God’s people would be devastated, but a remnant would remain and return. When the light dawned, God’s people would include not only those of Jewish heritage and culture but believers from all nations (Braun, J. A. (2000). Isaiah 1-39. The People's Bible (124). Milwaukee, Wis.: Northwestern Pub. House.).
In 733 B.C., Tiglath-pileser III besieged Damascus, invaded the region of Galilee, including Zebulun and Naphtali, and incorporated it into his kingdom (2 Kings 15:29) in fulfillment of God’s Word. “Gloom” and “distress” result from oppression and separation from Yahweh’s covenantal love. But the Lord will graciously turn humiliation into glory. How? By the coming of the Messiah of David (9:1–7). Although the northern tribes had rejected David’s dynasty in favor of Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:1–20), their salvation will come from the very one whom they rejected. The new era will be characterized by great joy. The Messiah will free his people from their enemies and bring the actualization of the Davidic ideal (Elwell, W. A. (1996). Vol. 3: Evangelical commentary on the Bible. Baker reference library (Is 9:1). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House.).
In verse 2, following the lead of the previous verse, explains why there will be no gloom where in fact the darkness had been absolute. With the suddenness of dawn (cf. 60:1) comes the announcement that light has appeared to these people. They did not produce it nor are they responsible for it. Where they had been groping in darkness, or sitting in the land of death’s shadow, they suddenly find themselves blinking in the light. Throughout the Bible, God’s presence is equated with light (42:16; 2 Sam. 22:29; Job 29:3; Ps. 139:11, 12; 1 John 1:5). So here, there is light for these people because their sin and rebellion are not enough to keep God from manifesting himself to them. True, they could not continue to choose their sin and have the light, but if they wished to be freed from their sin, nothing could prevent God’s light from shining, as it, in fact, has in Jesus.
All these events are manifestly in the future from the prophet’s point of view, yet the verbs are all in the perfect tense. Apparently these are prophetic perfects. Isaiah has a point of view different from the normal one. In the uncertainty of his own milieu he nonetheless can look at a future moment and describe its events with the certainty of completed actions. No medium or spiritist could do that. The spirits could not explain the origins of the earth, much less the end of it (cf. 41:21–24). But God could give that kind of insight to his prophet.
As a result of God’s revelation of himself through his Messiah, Isaiah 9:3 speaks of a joy which sweeps over the people, the joy of abundance. Instead of depopulation and dwindling away (7:20–23), the nation swells and grows (49:19–23); instead of the harvest’s being meager (5:10), it is abundant (35:1, 2); instead of becoming spoil themselves (8:1), they will divide the spoil (33:23). What is dealt with here are all the elemental fears of people, and the prophet says that in place of fear there is joy. But it is important to see that the real source of joy is the Lord. It is before him that they rejoice (2 Sam. 6:16; Ps. 27:4, 6). And this is true, for apart from the presence of the Creator who gives meaning to life, all other pleasures are dust and ashes (Ps. 16:11).
• There are dark things that promise pleasure and fulfillment in life. But when exposed in the light for what they really are, they are hollow and unfulfilling.
• To have true joy, is to walk in the light of God's way.
Now in Isaiah 9:4, the immediate cause of the rejoicing is explained. They rejoice because the Lord has freed them. It is not necessary to look for some specific liberation which Isaiah has in mind. It is apparent from the whole context that it is final deliverance which is in view. This is what God holds out to his people and that for which they justly pray and believe.
The immediate reference to this yoke in verse 4 is that of the Assyrian emperors who delighted in telling how they imposed their heavy yokes upon captive peoples. Here Isaiah looks off to a day when One mightier than the Assyrians of this world will break those yokes to pieces. He, too, will impose a yoke, but, paradoxically it will be easy:
Matthew 11:29 [29]Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (ESV) [30]For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (ESV)
• It will not be an expression of arrogance and cruelty but of gentleness and kindness.
• The reason why God does not wish you to remain and follow darkness is because of His love for you. Embracing His light is walking a path the removes burdens.
When is this day of Midian? With these few words Isaiah calls to mind historic events which would give credence to the eschatological hope. Gideon and his people, faced by an oppressive horde, discovered that in God weakness is strength, and they watched in amazement as God used them to bring deliverance (Judg. 6, 7). So Isaiah alludes to those events as evidence that the picture he projects is entirely feasible, given the character and power of their God.
• All of Scripture testifies to the way true freedom in the way of the light.
But how will the Lord put an end to oppression? Isaiah 9:5 shows this happens by putting an end to the warfare upon which oppression rests. God will not supplant oppression with greater oppression, nor will he replace warfare with warfare. Instead, He will do away with wars:
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 [4]For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. [5]We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, (ESV)
• Being a Christian is not turning your mind off but truly being enlightened. Instead of groping in the dark for answers, faith in Christ enlightens the mind where the Holy Spirit gives understanding.
This results in joy as it says in Isaiah 9:6 because God has delivered from oppression, and He does that because he has brought an end to war. But how will he do that? This verse supplies the answer. It lies in the coming of a person, thus fitting biblical thought throughout. Ultimately, God’s truth is not merely in the realm of ideas; ultimately, it is meant to be incarnated (cf. Mal. 2:17–3:1; Col. 1:15, 19, 20, 27). Who is this person through whom God intends to bring war to an end and establish true freedom upon the earth? Evidently, he is a royal person (note the references to a kingdom, government, and throne), yet he is never called king.
But this person will also be a child, ...the divine ruler will not merely be God, but although partaking of the divine attributes, will have the most human of all arrivals upon the earth, namely, birth. The expected perfect king will be human and divine.
The book of Isaiah indicates frequently that God was powerful enough to destroy his enemies in an instant, yet again and again, when the prophet comes to the heart of the means of deliverance, a childlike face peers out at us. God is strong enough to overcome his enemies by becoming vulnerable, transparent, and humble—the only hope, in fact, for turning enmity into friendship.
Somehow a virgin-born child would demonstrate that God is with us (7:14). Now he says “to us a child is born” (Isaiah including himself with his people in their deliverance as he did in their sin [6:1]) and this child has those traits which manifest the presence of God in our midst. Surely this child (also described in 11:1–5) is presented to us as the ultimate fulfillment of the Immanuel sign.
He is described as the Wonderful Counselor. The root of Wonderful is used to describe the miracles which God performed in Egypt, namely, the dividing of the sea, the safe crossing of the Red Sea, the leading by pillar of cloud and fire, the cleaving of the rocks in the desert and the providing of water. All these mighty miracles are characterized as wonders. The word refers to what God has done and not to the work, of man (Young, E. (1965). The Book of Isaiah: Volume 1, Chapters 1-18 (334). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.).
Throughout the first part of the book of Isaiah, especially, the folly of human wisdom is derided, for usually such counsel lacked any spiritual wisdom (1:26; 3:3; 5:21; 19:11–15; 28:7–10; 29:9–14; 30:1, 2; 31:1–3; 47:10–13). By contrast, the Coming One would give wondrous counsel, unfailing in the depth of its wisdom. For it is true wisdom which knows that in weakness is strength, in surrender is victory, and in death is life (42:1–4; 49:4, 21; 50:4–9; 52:13–53:12; 55:6–9; 57:15; 58:6–12; John 12:24–26). So this counselor is a wonder because his counsel goes beyond the merely human.
This king will also have God’s true might (Mighty God) about him, power so great that it can absorb all the evil which can be hurled at it until none is left to hurl (53:2–10; 59:15–20; 63:1–9).
Many kings claimed to be “father” to their people and even to their captives, yet their fatherhood was of a strictly temporal and self-tainted character. This person’s fatherhood as Everlasting Father, is claimed to be forever. When one sees that God’s fatherhood is such that it does not impose itself upon its children but rather sacrifices itself for them, it becomes plain that “everlasting fatherhood” must be of that sort (cf. Matt. 6:25, 26; 11:27–30; 18:12–14; 23:9–12; Luke 23:34; Rom. 8:15–17).
• Not only is this difficult for those who have had less than ideal human fathers to comprehend, it is a tall order for us who are father's to emulate the graciousness of our heavenly Father.
The last title in the series is that of the Prince of Peace. It is appropriate that this title should come as the last of the series, for it is the climactic one (cf. 32:17). What sort of king is this? He is a peaceful king, one who comes in peace and one who establishes peace, not by a brutal squashing of all defiance, but by means of a transparent vulnerability which makes defiance pointless. Somehow through him will come the reconciliation between God and man that will then make possible reconciliation between man and man (53:5; 57:19; 66:12; Luke 2:14; John 16:33; Rom. 5:1; Heb. 12:14).
• Does your life reflect that of peace? There is only one source of true peace. When admit that sin is rebellion against God, and ask for God's peace, then we realize that His peace is the only peace that will enable peace with God and one another.
Romans 5:1 [5:1]Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)
Finally in Isaiah 9:7 we see that the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end. Again, it becomes clear that Isaiah has an eschatological figure in mind. This person will not be a king among kings in Israel. Rather, he will be the final king, the king to end all kings. Thus the prophet envisions the ideal Davidic monarch. God has not rejected his ancient promise to David, but the existence of the promise does not legitimize everything that some descendant of David, such as Ahaz, might do. It does mean, as with Israel, that God will so work in history as to keep his promise and his integrity at the same time. There will be one who establishes the throne of David in a final way by basing it upon justice and righteousness instead of violence and coercion. In this way he will manifest the truth of “God with us,” not merely in deliverance from the Syro-Ephraimite threat but in an endless rule of justice, righteousness, and peace.
By the final statement that The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this Isaiah acknowledges that the picture he has painted will not be realized in the ordinary course of affairs. It will only happen because of God’s passionate involvement with his people. Isaiah knew that God loved (desired) his people intensely. He could not adopt a blasé, disinterested attitude toward them. That being so, the prophet was confident that God would not react casually to the bondage which would be the result of their drift from one false lover to another. No, he would not rest until, in the power of his holiness (Josh. 24:19), he had restored them to himself and given them that kind of government which would allow them to find themselves in him.
The expressions of the verse before us were applied to Christ, before His birth, by Gabriel, when he said to Mary (Luke 1:32–34),( Lange, J. P., Schaff, P., Nägelsbach, C. W. E., Lowrie, S. T., & Moore, D. (2008). A commentary on the Holy Scriptures : Isaiah (143). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.)
Luke 1:32-33 [32]He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, [33]and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." (ESV)
• On this Christmas eve, God peruses people to not stumble in darkness, but come by faith in Him, to everlasting light.
(Format note: Some base commentary from Oswalt, J. N. (1986). The Book of Isaiah. Chapters 1-39. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (241–248). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
