Each Sunday in the month of December, we are looking at ancient predictions from Isaiah, an Old Testament prophet concerning the coming Messiah. Isaiah provides for us a trilogy of predictions about Jesus 700 plus years before His birth. This trilogy provides us with the ingredients of what the prophet Isaiah tells us makes a Perfect Christmas. To get the most out of this series, you’ll need to keep this phrase in mind: Promise made, promise kept. I invite you to turn your Bible to Isaiah 9 but also place a bookmark at Matthew 4 in the moments to come.
Christmas does not begin in the gospels. Christmas did not start with Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the angels. The truth is the story of Christmas begins years before this. Seven hundred years before the Wise Men gave, the angels sang, or the shepherds came, Isaiah explains what Christmas is all about.
Years ago, when Traci lived on the south side of Fort Worth, I was awoken in the middle of the night. As I lay in bed, a silhouette was walking down the hall toward our bedroom. I sprang to my feet and started yelling and running simultaneously in the hopes of running the intruder out of our home. At the moment where I tackled the would-be assassin, my wife yelled out, “It’s me! It’s me!” To be my relief and embarrassment, it was my wife, Traci! Somehow in the middle of the night, she got out of bed without me realizing it. I was thankful I did not do something worse than yell and scream before I was recognized her.
For many people, you don’t have faith or certainty in Jesus. He’s nothing more than a silhouette for you. You are happy that others find meaningful peace when they talk about Jesus, but nagging doubts loom for you. You ask yourself, “How can I be sure that Jesus is God?” Mark this: One of the main ways the earliest people who encountered Him had their uncertainties erased was how Jesus fulfilled biblical predictions.
Most modern people underestimate the challenge it was for anyone to believe in Jesus as God. Even much of Jesus’ own family did not believe He was the Messiah. And again, it was the Old Testament’s predictions about Jesus that convinced them. A typical conversation about a doubter was illustrated with John the Baptist: “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another” (Matthew 11:3b)? Look at Jesus’ response to John: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Matthew 11:4-6). Jesus was quoting from Isaiah the prophet, specifically Isaiah 35:5-6 and Isaiah 61:1-1. John recognized Jesus’ “encoded” message and believed despite his doubts. It was the fulfillment of the Old Testament’s predictions in Jesus that convinced John.
Promise made, promise kept. When you hear these words, you can draw an arch from the Old Testament to the New Testament. For the Old Testament is the promise made, and the New Testament is the promise kept. You cannot rightfully read Isaiah 9 without sensing a detailed and accurate forecasting of Jesus.
“They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 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.
1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this” (Isaiah 8:21-9:7).
The last couple of verses are traditionally thought of as Christmas verses. Yet, these “Christmas” verses lose their power when we do not investigate the back-story.
1. Hope Against Hope
The setting of this prediction is a war-torn country in ancient Judah. The prophet uses the words “greatly distressed and hungry” to describe the scene. It’s so bad that the people “will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God.” “And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness” (Isaiah 8:22). But they didn’t have eyes of faith, and they didn’t understand the power of Christmas. The prophet shows up to tell them, “But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish” (Isaiah 9:1).
1.1 The Power of Christmas
For more than half a century, Colombia was one of the most violent and isolated countries on Earth. The small country south of us is infamous for cartels, cocaine, and kidnapping. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia fought the government in the longest-running war in the Western hemisphere. The war has lasted more than a century in length, leaving more than 220,000 people dead and millions more displaced. Like the people of ancient Judah in today’s passage, they were distressed, depressed, and sitting in thick darkness. The Colombian government used a powerful weapon to finally put an end to the conflict: Christmas. For the last four years, the Ministry of Defense, in conjunction with an ad agency, rolled out Christmas holiday campaigns to encourage rebels to defect at a time when they’re homesick and vulnerable. In 2010, when the campaign was first launched, commandos put Christmas trees deep in the heart of the guerrilla territory, complete with lights and a message: “If Christmas can make it into the jungle, you can make it home.” And it worked … it really worked. Roughly five percent of the rebel force at the time — demobilized: they came out of the jungle and gave up. They would place beautiful LED lighted candles in plastic balls with hopeful messages and small gifts and float these candles down the river. They even called their efforts Operation Bethlehem. All over the world, people recognize the power of Christmas. The reason why Christmas is “The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year” is because God keeps His promise.
Not satisfied, they went back to work, and in 2013, the government found 27 mothers of guerrillas. During Christmas time, they placed flyers with photos of the guerillas when they were young children all over the jungle. The photos came from the mothers of sons and daughters who had been fighting for much of their adult lives. “Before you were a guerrilla, you were my child — This Christmas I’ll wait for you at home. I will always be waiting for you at Christmastime.” Again, Christmas is “The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year” is because God keeps His promise.
In the midst of our depression, darkness, and hopeless despair, we need a word from God. We need a word from heaven. And the word from heaven is really a poem in verses 1-7. I love it when God shows up, don’t you? In fact, I want to key in on something here: all the actions in this prediction are done by God. God is the only One who is acting here. And every one of Isaiah’s predictions here is written as if they already happened – everyone is written about in the past tense. The prophet is just that confident in God.
He turns your gloom into rejoicing (verse 3). He turns your distress into joy (verse 3). He turns your yoke of oppression into a broken yoke (verse 3). And He turns your darkness into light (verse 2). Christmas is good news because of what God has done!
1.2 The Location of Christmas
“In the former time, he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations” (Isaiah 9:1b). “The land of Naphtali” is along the western shore of the Sea of Galilee and extends north. While “the land of Zebulun” extends from “Naphtali” toward the Mediterranean Sea. These areas were the hot zone for those despairing from war, famine, and thick darkness. God predicts, “where the darkness had fallen, the light will show up first.” And 700 plus years later, what happens? We pick it up in Matthew 4: “Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned” (Matthew 4:12-16). Jesus spent most of His life just where Isaiah predicted. Most of the miracles and much of his brilliant teaching happened in and around the region of the Sea of Galilee. Say it with me: Promise made, promise kept.
1.3 The Timing of Christmas
Someone asks, “Why Did God take so long to send Christmas?” “Why Did God take so long to make good on His promises?” In short, I don’t know every reason why God delayed but what I do know is that God’s wisdom and intelligence are higher than mine. And I trust His time. God is never early. God is never late. He is always on time - His time. He is not on Central Standard Time. Instead, He is on Eternal Standard Time. All of history is really His Story, all planned out to the year, the month, the week, and the day. Promise made, promise kept. The reason why Christmas is “The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year” is because God keeps His promise.
2. Happily Ever After
You normally only hear those words in fairy tales. Parents tell their children all over our land that “Happily Ever After” doesn’t really happen in real life. Yet, don’t underestimate the power of Christmas. The predictions of the prophet are stunning. The impact this child makes is eye-popping spectacular. Listen carefully to Isaiah’s birth announcement: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this” (Isaiah 9:6-7). Now, this is the heart of Isaiah’s Christmas predictions. The prediction isn’t so much on what the child will do when He grows up but on His birth.
Take a moment to notice the relationship between the middle of verse 6 “and the government shall be upon his shoulder…” and its impact on verse 4. Our shoulders are released from our burdens when His shoulders bear the weight of the burden. With more than 250 names and titles of our Lord scattered from Genesis to Revelation, Isaiah brings together four in a tight, concise package that appears nowhere else in the Bible. More names of Messiah are crowded together here than anywhere else in Holy Scripture. The royal child is given four names here, and I have time to examine only three of these titles.
2.1 Wonderful Counselor
He is to give supernatural counsel. “And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions” (Matthew 22:46). Say it with me: Promise made, promise kept.
2.2 Mighty God
This is huge – the child is to be … “Mighty God” – double Wow! Who could have predicted this? All of these predictions begin to have a layered effect. In addition to the Coming One being a male child, born to a Virgin woman, He will grow up in poverty, He would spend His life in Galilee, and He is to be God.
2.3 Prince of Peace
The Child’s coming kingdom will only increase in peace. As his rule spreads, His peace spreads. The territory of this Child’s kingdom will only progress to include more and more space where peace rules. “For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire” (Isaiah 9:5). “He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4). When I think about weapons being used for items of peace, I think of a story about mustard gas. Nitrogen mustard was developed to be a chemical weapon, but it eventually became the first chemotherapy drug to combat cancer. There’s a time coming when every weapon will be turned into a tool of peace! Look at the promise of this child and realize this: This child will lead us back to Eden - Happily Ever After.
2.4 The Layered Effect
Pause and marvel at this for a moment. Let me help you marvel. Peter Stoner was the Chairman of the Science Division of Westmont College and held a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Cornell University. He took eight of the Old Testament’s predictions and estimated the odds they would be fulfilled in just one person. Some of these predictions I have mentioned today, and others are scattered through the Old Testament. He took a team of people together to answer this question: “What is the chance that any man might have lived from the day of these prophecies down to the present time and have fulfilled all of the eight prophecies?” He determined that the odds of just eight predictions becoming true in one person would be: 1 in 1028. Written out this number is 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (media team: shown on screen). You can find his research online. Let us try to visualize this. If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all of the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. To simplify, let’s take a small number 1017. Suppose that we take 1017 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state 2 feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man.
Invitation
(Media Team: Show His Picture) General Manager for the NFL team, Carolina Panthers, Dave Gettleman, was born into a conservative Jewish family. He was bar mitzvahed and attended Hebrew school. But in 1983, he met the woman who would become his wife, Joanne. She was raised in a believing home and helped her husband open his heart and mind to Christ. It was not until twenty-plus years later that he converted to Christ. Chief among the things that swayed him to place his faith in Christ was the Old Testament predictions about the coming Messiah. He said of how they connected to Jesus, “It’s so powerful.” Yes, Mr. Gettleman, I agree, the Bible’s predictions of the Messiah are powerful. The Bible’s predictions have changed the hearts and minds of ancient people as well modern people.
Promise made, promise kept. Jesus is the final king, the king to end all kings. Don’t you dare underestimate the power of Christmas.
Father in heaven, we thank you for keeping your promises. We thank you for sending us your Son. You are so Faithful. You are a Promising-Keeping Father to us. I remind you of your Word when you wrote, “If we are faithless, [you] remain faithful – for [you] cannot deny [yourself]” (2 Timothy 2:13). So, Father, I call on you to uphold your promise of sending the Holy Spirit now into the lives of these people. In Jesus Name, Amen.
