Text: Isaiah 9:1-7
Theme: Endless Peace by Prince of Peace
Greetings: The Lord is good and His Love Endures Forever!
“Thou shalt be holy as I am Holy” is our annual theme, the monthly theme is “Prince of Prince”.
Background: Isaiah Chapter 9 could have been Prophesied probably in 730 BC. By 720 BC, the land of Judah had faced with a kind of international turmoil during the reign of King Ahaz. By then, an alliance had formed between Syria and ten northern tribes of Israel. This new alliance was formed to crush King Ahaz and eradicate the Kingdom of Judah. However, Damascus was the Israel’s main ally against the Assyrians, was defeated, destroyed, and captured, the Syrian kingdom was dissolved, and made a province of Assyria. The kingdom of Israel was made a vassal and was forced to pay a high yearly tribute to Assyria. Now the turn for Judah and King Ahaz, he prepared to walk in darkness than face the danger of seeing a great light against the warning of the prophet.
There was a Divine silence. It was marked by war, economic oppression, and destruction. The LORD was “hiding his face,” but Isaiah exhorted to wait for God’s time (Isaiah 8:16-17). Even in the midst of judgment, Isaiah had a word from God to the faithful remnant that remained inside largely among unfaithful nation.
Today let us meditate the Passage from Isaiah 9:1-7 from the perspective of an Endless peace by the Prince of Peace.
There were a few important turns, such as, Gloomy to Glory (Isaiah 9:1), Zebulun and Naphtali will be freed from Contempt. Deep Darkness to Great Light (9:2-3), Multiplication and increase of the nation and resources of blessings. Yoke to Sceptre (9:4-5), oppression to authority, the Oppression will be no more, no more wars, all will come to an end. His peace will be eternal peace, endless peace, and everlasting peace.
1. GLOOMY TO GLORY (ISAIAH 9:1)
Isaiah 9:1 speaks of two past events (“the former time” and “the latter time”) — two separate episodes in which Judah was delivered from a military threat from the northern borders. The first was the intervention of Bar-Hadad of Syria on behalf of Asa of Judah against Ba’asha of Israel (885 BCE, 1 Kings 15:18–21 and 2 Chronicles 16). The second was Tiglath-Pileser III’s attack on Syria and Israel in 734-731 BCE that freed Judah from the threat of its neighbours (Isaiah 7; 8:5-10; 2 Kings 16:5-9).
The implicit logic (8:23 to 9:1) was that since YHWH has brought this oppression upon the nation, salvation will also come only through YHWH.
Isaiah 9 announces that there was a gloom, distress, deep darkness, yoke, oppression, anguish and contempt. Now, a light beams through darkness, brings a time of happiness, joy and salvation. God was at work.
There is a contrast between a life of misery, darkness, and uncertainty under the influence of necromantic divination; and a life of riches, freedom, and triumph under the rule of a righteous king.
Isaiah 9:1 contrasts a suffering-filled past with a glory-filled future. The contrast uses the language of shame and honour. A humiliated people find a better future.
Matthew’s citation owes something to Jesus’ origins in Galilee, Isaiah’s place of darkness and light, but it owes more to the Evangelist’s perception of the connection between hope and repentance. The divine promise of renewal leads human beings to assume proper agency in their own lives, including the elimination of moral and spiritual obstacles to the wholeness that accompanies virtue. The gospel comes to any place, to any soul, where light comes. Let us earnestly pray that it may shine into our hearts, and make us wise unto salvation. The gospel brings joy with it.
The people are described as walking in darkness and dwelling in shadows. No one would like to identify with this people. The verse begins with a doublet: child born, son given. The constant in this doublet is “to us.” The mention people in verse 2 is none other than all of us, its made clear in verse 6. Godly changes our gloomy into glory. Dishonour to honour, sadness into joy.
2. DEEP DARKNESS TO GREAT LIGHT (9:2-3)
The passage of Isaiah 9:2-7 is in a poetic expression. The passage uses two synonyms of empowerment: “increase” and “make great.” The objects of this increase are both the nation and their gladness. In order to convey the nature of the glad speech, the poet utilises two similes. The first simile is rural and pastoral. It recalls the glad expressions of the harvest. The second simile is drawn from military and hunting. It pictures the rejoicing in the division of booty or prey.
It celebrates a “child” (v 6) who is to bring “endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom” (v 7). Isaiah 9:1-7 is the story of how God wins our salvation for us. Our lives are hard, really too hard! Our sin is great, really too great! Our need is immense, so immense! But God’s grace in Christ is greater still. Every anxiety we’ve carried, every fear we’ve nursed, every difficulty we’ve faced is answered in one single person: a child.
This person will be a “counsellor of wonder” (wise in times of crisis and confusion), “divine warrior” (resolute, competent), “eternal father” (compassionate to dependents), and “a prince of peace” (Giver of wellness to all).
The list of titles has sometimes been compared with Egyptian coronation practices in which the king was given five names. The Hebrew is quite amenable to a five-fold formula: “Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6 KJV).
In keeping with Isaiah’s pervasive concern for a just society, the peace of the throne and the kingdom is said to depend upon the justice and righteousness of the king. Those two terms would nicely capture two dimensions of the king’s role: His responsibility to his human subjects and his responsibility to the LORD.
There is no end to his supply for our need. Isaiah 9:7 says, “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.” We cannot have the light, the honour, the joy, the abundance, the integration that he offers in any other way except Jesus Christ who is the prince of peace.
3. YOKE TO SCEPTRE (9:4-7)
The turning of Yoke into sceptre is the turning of the Oppression into Authority, misery into master. It is possible only by participating with this Son, this Child with great joy and grace.
The Rod of the Oppressor will be Broken refers to the release from heavy taxes imposed by the Assyrians. The yoke and rod turns into and sceptre, the trampling sandal and bloody cloth becoming a fuel to the fire refers to new life. Yoke of burden, the staff on the shoulder, and the rod of oppression (constriction). The tripartite structure accents the thorough subjugation. The writer attests that God has broken all three. The destruction will be comparable to the day of Midian.
The reference in Isaiah 9:4 to the “day of Midian” refers to the story in Judges 6-7 about Gideon’s defeat of Midian. Gideon was a Judge in Israel during the time when the nation of Midian ruled over them. The angel of the Lord came to Gideon while he was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide from the Midianites. The angel said, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valour.” Gideon ridiculed the Angel, and finally got into God’s job. God scaled his army from 32,000 to 300 men. God’s strategy was entirely different from us. God caused a panic in the Midianites camp and made them killed each other! God works differently, miraculously to bring victory (Judges 6:11-25).
So, “For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.”(9:5). God will not only win the war for us, he will end war itself. The warrior will no longer need his battle boots. There will be no more garments rolled in blood. It will be put to an end. This victory is not their accomplishment but God’s.
The concept of a child is used thrice in the book of Isaiah. A child is a sign of a NEW ERA of prosperity. The first reference is this child is Emmanuel the “God with us” in Isaiah 7:10-17. The second is Isaiah 9:6 announces a new era, the sign of this new era will be a child. Third one is in Isaiah 11:1-10. The child is used as a symbol of new things three times in Isaiah 11:1-10. The shoot of Jesse begins and ends the unit. The same chapter paints a picture of peaceable kingdom, where a child shall lead them. A new era in our lives is only possible with this child Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
The vision of “peace without end” through a person, the longed-for ruler who will embody life-giving virtues. Admittedly, locating hope in an individual ruler seems problematic because we know at first-hand how individual leaders can try to corrupt institutions, even religion, for their own aims. Kings inevitably disappoint.
