THE DAWNING OF THE LIGHT.
Isaiah 9:1-4.
The prospect at the end of Isaiah 8 was one of ‘trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish’ (cf. Isaiah 8:22). But now there is a “Nevertheless” (Isaiah 9:1). The darkest night is followed by the dawn. The dimness is vanquished, and affliction replaced by glory.
One of the motifs of the incarnation is of light breaking into the darkness (Isaiah 9:2). There is still much darkness in the world, but when the true light comes the darkness cannot extinguish the light (cf. John 1:5). Even the shadow of death flees at His presence (cf. Psalm 23:4).
Jesus is the true light (cf. John 1:9) - as opposed to the false light of paganism, or the relative light of the types and shadows of the Old Covenant. His is original light as opposed to reflected light: the light of the sun as opposed to the light of the moon. His light is full, as opposed to partial.
There is an outbreak of joy on account of His nativity - like the joy of harvest, or the joy of a day of victory in war (Isaiah 9:3). It is like deliverance after captivity, and the breaking of the yoke of the oppressor (Isaiah 9:4).
When Jesus returned from the temptation in the wilderness, He heard that John had been put into prison. This heralded the beginning of our Lord’s public ministry, not in Judea, but in the region of “Galilee of the nations” (Isaiah 9:1). The true light had arisen in the midst of great darkness (cf. Matthew 4:12-16).
