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TEXT: Isaiah 9:5-7
SUBJECT: Christ in the Old Testament #24: A Child is Born!
Today, with God’s blessing, we’ll continue our study of Christ in the Old Testament. Although the verses are not quoted in the New Testament, Christians have always applied them to Jesus Christ.
And with good reason. Though the Lord sent other kings to save His people, none of them was called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, or Prince of Peace". Though Hezekiah and Josiah were fine men who did much good, they didn’t bear these names. Or deserve them. These titles belong to Someone Else. To the One whose
"Name is above every name".
THE BACKGROUND
The story takes place about 740 B.C. Ahaz is king of Judah in those days, and his people are threatened by two nations to the north. Syria and Israel are massing their forces at the border and ready to invade Judah.
The king and his men are terrified, of course, for they can’t possibly stand up to their enemies. But they needn’t worry. God is going to save His people. Instead of attacking Judah, Syria and Israel will be attacked and carried into captivity. Who’ going to do it? The Assyrians. When? Very soon.
Why should the rulers of Judah believe this? Why, Assyria is way off to the east, while Syria and Israel are right next to them. Why should they believe it?
Well, because God has promised it. But how can they know it is He who made the promise? He’s going to show them a sign.
"A virgin (or young woman) will
conceive, bear a son, and call
his name, Immanel".
When that occurs, they’ll know that God has spoken and that their enemies are beaten.
How should they respond to God’s mercies? By repenting of their evil ways. But, of course, they won’t do that. The king is a hypocrite and the people are worse. They keep seeking God’s Word, but in all the wrong places. Instead of reading the Bible, they consult mediums. Instead of going to the prophets, they call for the wizards. Instead of listening to God’s clear Word, they tune in to those who whisper and mutter.
The Lord is not happy with His people! He chides them,
"Should you seek the dead
on behalf of the living?"
The implied answer is "no you shouldn’t". If you want a living word, go to the Living God, not to séances.
Because Judah has chosen Satan over the Lord, God is going to punish them. He describes it with a figure of speech,
"Inasmuch as these people refuse the
waters of shiloah that flow softly,
and rejoice in Rezin and in
Remaliah’s son,
Now therefore, behold,
The LORD brings up over them the
Waters of the River, strong and
Mighty—the King of Assyria…"
Here’s what He means: God is like the waters of Shiloah, quietly providing for His people. But they don’t respect the bubbling fountain; they want something a little more exciting than God. They’re going to get it: If they don’t like the gentle spring, how about a Tidal Wave? The Assyrians live on the Euphrates River, and, like a flood, they’re going to wash away people of Judah.
In a few years, Assyria is going to march on Judah and take it all, except for its capital.
Judah has suffered bad times before. But none like these. When the Assyrians move in, they’ll
"See trouble and darkness,
gloom and anguish;
and they will be driven
into darkness".
About thirty years later, the Assyrians attacked Judah. For the next 700 years, God’s people hunkered down in darkness without a glimmer of hope.
The Assyrian occupation didn’t last that long, of course, but it was replaced by Empires even worse--the Babylonian, the Persian, the Greek, and finally, the Roman Empire.
THE PROMISE
The sufferings of God’s people will be long and hard. But they won’t last forever. After many years of gloom and doom,
"The people who sat in darkness have seen
a great light;
those who dwelt in the land of the shadow
of death, upon them a light has shone".
The event, though future to Isaiah’s day, is put in the past tense. Not "the People will see a great light…" Or, "upon them a light will shine…" The best preacher messes up on his grammar once-in-a-while. Has Isaiah done that? No, he hasn’t. The promise of God is so sure that he describes it as already accomplished! Only God can
"Call those things which are not,
as though they were".
Before Abram had a son, God re-named him, "Abraham, the father of many nations". Though the purpose of God unfolds in time, it is not dependent on time or circumstance or anything else.
"The counsel of the LORD
stands forever;
the thoughts of His heart
to all generations".
The promise is made. It must be fulfilled.
Where will it take place? Somewhere you wouldn’t expect-- in "Galilee of the Gentiles". When you hear Galilee, don’t think Park Avenue or Nob Hill of some other in place to be. Galilee was a place you weren’t proud to be from. It was well known for its poverty, ignorance, and immorality.
Yet it was there—in Galilee—that God would begin to save His people from their sins.
How would He do it? We don’t have to guess.
"Unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given".
God never saved anyone by a law or by a church or by a ritual. No, He saves us by a Person. And that Person is Jesus Christ.
The Lord is described for us in four ways. He is
"Wonderful Counselor".
"Counselor" is another word for wise man. "Wonderful" describes the amount or quality of His wisdom. It takes knowledge to save us from our sins and to rule God’s Kingdom. Our Lord has all He needs. His worst enemies had to admit, "No man ever spoke as this Man speaks". One who knew Him better said, in Him
"Are hidden all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge".
This means you can trust Jesus Christ. He knows what to do.
"The Mighty God".
Jesus Christ is more than a Super Sage, He’s nothing less than God. Critics say "god" may refer to powerful men. That’s true, of course, (cf. Psalm 82:6). But Isaiah never uses it that way. Nor does it fit the context, where the word is used interchangeably with the LORD God of Hosts, (cf. 10:21).
Ours is a tolerant age. Nobody wants to offend anyone else. Thus, many people claim to respect Jesus Christ though they don’t think He’s God. C.S. Lewis had a good answer,
"I am trying to prevent anyone from saying the really
foolish thing that people often say about Him. They
say I am ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher,
but I don’t accept His claim to be God. This is the one
thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man
and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a
moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic, on level
with the man who said he was a poached egg or he
would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice.
Either this Man was and is the Son of God, or else a
Madman or something worse. You can shut Him
Up as a fool, kill Him as a demon, or you can fall
At His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us
Not come up with any patronizing nonsense about
His being a great human teacher. He has not left
That open to us. He did not intend to.
Lunatic, Liar, or Lord".
The Lord Jesus is "Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God", and…
"The Everlasting Father".
This has thrown some believers for a loop. Is Jesus Christ God the Father? No He isn’t. He’s God the Son. Well, if that’s true, why does Isaiah call Him, "Father"?
Because a king is often called the Father of his people. And rightly so, for just as a father rules and cares for his family, so a king commands and takes care of his nation. This is a term of affection; it implies that Jesus Christ is no tyrant or dictator, but a King who knows and loves His people.
Notice, also that He’s the Everlasting Father. That is, not a king who will take care of us for a few years, but will always be there for us!
One last thing. Jesus Christ is
"The Prince of Peace".
This doesn’t mean the Lord is peaceful or serene—though He is—but that He brings peace to His troubled people. Man was made to live peacefully. But when we sinned, we lost that and got chaos and conflict instead.
The Lord Jesus brings peace back into our lives. First, peace with God. Then peace with ourselves. Peace with other people. And finally, He brings perfect peace. Jesus Christ is coming again to set things right. His enemies will be excluded; His friends will be perfected, and we’ll live in a world of deep and lasting peace.
This is God’s purpose—to save us by the Gift of His Son. Now, not every purpose is fulfilled. You plan to do something for a time, but before long you lose your enthusiasm and it never gets done.
Will this happen to God? No it won’t! The prophet makes sure we know that,
"The zeal of the LORD of Hosts
will perform this".
God will not lose interest; He won’t become bored with His plans. Centuries will pass, generations will come and go, but in time—in God’s Time—He will bring it all to pass.
Has the time come? It has. Seven hundred years after the promise was made, God made it good.
"In the fullness of time, God sent
forth His Son, born of a woman,
born under the Law, to redeem
those who were under the Law,
that we might receive the adoption
of children".
God has kept His Word!
"The Child has been born,
the Son has been given".
And with Him comes salvation from all our enemies. The Child has been born for you; the Son has been given for you. So it’s time you put your faith in Him. Or increase your faith in Him.
The Love of God be with you. For Christ’s sake. Amen.
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