Isa 9:4-5 | KingComments | STEP | Here we come to the climax of the section that begins in Isaiah 7:1. Instead of the short-sighted unbelief of King Ahaz, who plunges his people into deep darkness, we find the King Messiah, Who, though a Child, is the promised Immanuel. He will end all strife and misery and introduce an everlasting kingdom based on law and righteousness. The first fulfillment of and can be seen in Matthew 4. The evangelist cites these verses of Isaiah to describe the work of the Lord Jesus in Galilee ( ). He is “a great light” offering salvation to people who are “in darkness”. He is the great light, the sun of the fourth day of creation ( ), Who illuminates everything ( ). He shines like the light for people who live in a land over which “the shadow of death” hangs and brings light and life there ( ). The full fulfillment of these verses will take place at the end of the anger of the LORD ( ). When the king of the North is back in the land after defeating the king of the South, the judgment will be executed, not in Judea, but in Galilee. Also at the first coming of Christ, His service is mainly in Galilee in the north. The army of the restored Western Roman Empire (Europe) and the army of the king of the North will both be destroyed at the appearance of the Lord Jesus. From the moment the people see the great light, the prophet in goes to an event even further into the future. He speaks in those verses about the breaking of the power of the antichrist and the establishment of the realm of peace and justice of the Messiah. We see 1. a great light ( ) instead of darkness ( ), 2. increasing gladness ( ) instead of distress ( ), 3. deliverance ( ) instead of slavery, and 4. peace ( ) instead of war ( ). has not yet been fully fulfilled. Only a remnant has returned from exile and not a “multiplied” nation. Among the successive heathen rulers there has never been a situation of the joy described in this verse. When in the future the Lord Jesus comes at the end of the great tribulation to personally deliver His earthly people, there will be immense joy with the remnant. They have had an extremely tough time. During the great tribulation they will go through a heavy persecution caused by the antichrist, who will be king of Israel, with the help of the beast of the sea, the restored Roman Empire ( ). Because of the great tribulation, the remnant will be scattered all over the land ( ), over the mountains and in the farthest corners of the land. But when the king of the North overruns the land of Israel, it is these faithful Israelites who will survive the massacre – just like the Christians who fled in the year 70 at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem (cf. ). The people will become numerous with the return of the remnant of both the two and the ten tribes. The joy that will then be there will be compared to the joy there is when the harvest is brought in and when booty is distributed. The first joy is that of the blessing of the land, the second is that of the defeated enemies. The joy in the presence of the Lord can already be experienced by us now. It should always be like this. This is not an expression of a natural joy over earthly prosperity, but a joy in Him that He is always with us. gives the reason for the joy in the previous verse. It is the joy of salvation from the LORD. This verse is in the perfect tense, the so-called prophetic perfectum, the prophetically perfect tense. This means that the event has yet to take place, but it is described as if it had already taken place. “The yoke”, “the staff” and “the rod”, the symbols of the powers that have oppressed Israel, are all broken. The people have been delivered from them. All disciplinary instruments, the yoke of the antichrist on the faithful remnant and the staff and the rod of the surrounding hostile peoples on Israel – the king of the North – have been broken. The “battle of Midian” recalls Gideon’s victory over Midian ( ). Then the LORD redeemed His people, not by the military strength of that people on whom they trusts so much today, but by His own choice of a small company. Therefore, they could not attribute the victory to their own strength ( ). In this way, the Lord Jesus will also appear in the future and personally stand up for His people and be assisted in this by a small remnant that is in the greatest weakness, but becomes strong through their connection with Him. This also applies to us. If we want to fight the enemy in our own strength, it only plays into the hands of the enemy. But if we are weak, then we are strong ( ; cf. ), because then He is our strength. We ”can do all things through Him who strengthens us” ( ). In the description of we find again the prophetic Assyrians, who go up for the great battle against Israel. The ground is pounding with the pounding of the boots of the soldiers of the advancing armies ( ). The cloak of the soldiers drips with the blood of the victims that will flow abundantly in this last battle ( ; ). The end of all this violence is described briefly and powerfully. It will be burned as “fuel for the fire”. The judgment of the LORD will consume all opposition ( ). The third “for” ( ) indicates the reason for the salvation ( ) and the joy ( ). There is joy because God gives salvation, but how does He do that? It all begins with the birth of the King Messiah, the Christ, and ends with His everlasting reign. In both the first and the second coming of Christ are mentioned in one verse. That there is a first and a second coming is due to the rejection of the Messiah. If He had not been rejected, the kingdom would have been established by Him immediately at His first coming. His rejection makes a second coming necessary. The time in between has been foreseen by God, but not foretold by Him in the Old Testament. The church is not part of the prophecy, because it is a mystery for the prophets ( ). In the prophecy the first and the second coming are always directly connected, without mentioning or referring to the time in between in which we now live, the time of the coming into being and the formation of the church. In we have one of the richest descriptions of Christ in the Old Testament. The hope of Israel begins with “a child” in a manger. The mention of His birth is an elaboration on the meaning of “Immanuel” ( ). In Isaiah 7:14 is spoken about Him as a sign . Here He is a gift . He is born as a “child”, that means that He partook of flesh and blood ( ). He is real and perfect Man, He is “[the] man Christ Jesus” ( ). The “us” among whom this Child is born are those who have looked forward to Him, among whom Isaiah also counts himself. We see them at the beginning of the Gospel according to Luke in Joseph and Mary, Zechariah and Elizabeth, the shepherds, Simeon and Anna. They are a picture of the faithful remnant and the core of the reborn nation, the whole of Israel that will be preserved during the great tribulation. The Child is born long before that time, but they will greet Him as if He were just born (cf. ). It is the time for God to bring His Son back into the world, then to accept dominion over the world ( ). Then it is said that He is given as a “son”, which refers to His Godhead, giving Him the right to exercise power as God. This might and power are expressed in the statement “the government will rest on His shoulders [Darby Translation: shoulder , singular]”. As Creator and Redeemer (Revelation 4-5), He bears all dominion and all burden. All responsibility rests on Him. But this task is not too great for Him. He will solve all problems and exercise His dominion in a perfectly righteous way. As the One Who brought about salvation, He can say: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” ( ). He will use that power in blessing and in judgment. In the parable of the lost and found sheep that the Lord Jesus tells us, we read that He puts the sheep “on His shoulders” (plural) ( ). For the dominion of the world, one shoulder suffices; to bring a lost sheep back to the flock, He uses both His shoulders. Similarly, the high priest in the Old Testament in the picture of the two precious stones with on them the names of the twelve tribes bears the entire people on both His shoulders ( ). That He is the Son Who is “given”, shows that He is already Son before He is born as a Child. He is the eternal Son Who became Man and was given in that way. The fact that the Son is “given” also recalls the grace and love of God for lost people: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life” ( ). The Son is not only worthy , but He is also capable to exercise dominion. His Name, which describes His features, demonstrates that. His Name is He Himself in His Person. His Name is in the first place “Wonderful” (cf. ). In His Person He is beyond our human thinking, for “no one knows the Son but the Father” ( ; ). His Name is “Wonderful” because He is wonderful in Himself and because He did a wonderful work on the cross for the glory of God and for our salvation. Above all, reverence and admiration befits us toward Him. Immediately follows that He is “Counselor”. This indicates His wisdom. Nobody advises Him, He never has to consult anyone. “Who became His counselor?” ( ). He works according to a plan perfectly conceived by Himself, which He carries out in wisdom without hesitation and without ever having to return to anything. All those He involves in His plans and to whom He makes them known, He gives counsel ( ; ). The counsel He gives is wonderful; it transcends human capabilities. The two features ‘wonderful’ and ‘counsel’ are also found in Isaiah 25 and 28 ( ). It is also possible to consider these two expressions as one Name, a double name: Wonderful Counselor. That unity in the Name or double name can also be seen in the three following Names: Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The Messiah, He Who is Child and Son, has four wonderful Names with in each Name a combination of His Being and a feature that enlarges His glory. They are all honorary names of the Messiah. He is capable to carry out all His purposes, for He is the “Mighty God” (cf. ). That Name indicates the great contrast with failing, weak, mortal man. The Name “Eternal Father” is literally “Father of Eternity”. The Lord Jesus, because He is the One this description is about, is clearly distinguished in the Godhead as the eternal Son from the eternal Father. The name “Father” therefore has here the meaning of origin, from Whom something originates. The Lord Jesus is ‘Father of eternity’ in the sense that He is the origin of eternity. This is how the Septuagint translates this verse: Father of the age to come (cf. ). In the Old Testament ‘eternity’ often refers to the millennial realm of peace. The many times that it is said “His lovingkindness is everlasting” ( ) indicates that time. The realm of peace is the time when He will openly reign as the “Prince of Peace”. He will subdue every rebel, remove every disruptive element, and thus work peace for His people and all nations. This is the “peace on earth” the angels announced at His birth ( ). He wants to give His peace right now in the hearts of all those who have peace with God through Him. When Christ says: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you” ( ), the first “peace” is peace with God. It is the peace that Christ “leaves” behind through His death for all who believe. The second “peace” refers to the peace of God that Christ experienced on earth through perfect fellowship with God and that He now “gives” to each one who is guided by Him. Peace with God is given to the sinner when he confesses his sins and believes in the work of the Lord Jesus and that God has accepted that work ( ). The peace of God is the part of the believer who brings all things to God in prayer ( ). Prayer is one of the proofs that someone puts his life under the dominion of the Lord Jesus and already now acknowledges Him as Lord, while the world does not yet. The area of His reign will expand more and more and be all-encompassing ( ). It will encompass heaven and earth with all imaginable powers and result in God being all and in all ( ). The duration of His reign will be endless ( ; ). He will not be succeeded by another ruler ( ). The promise that He will sit on the throne of His father David ( ) will be fulfilled. It is a throne that is “forever and ever” ( ). His endless reign will culminate in “the day of God” with its “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” ( ). This marvelous result will not be achieved by human effort. No human will be involved. The “zeal of the LORD of hosts”, that is the Lord Jesus, is the driving force behind everything. His zeal was kindled when the honor of His Father was affected ( ). With the same zeal with which He cleansed the temple, He will also cleanse the earth, which belongs to Him as well as the temple ( ). His zeal is the fire of His indignation toward all those who have wickedly treated His earthly, chosen people, who have tried to destroy it. His zeal is also the fire of His love with which He will do good to His people. Therefore, this fire must consume all unfaithfulness from among them. Phinehas shows such a zeal for which he is praised and rewarded ( ). This zeal of the LORD for His people is also seen in Paul for the church ( ). It is a zeal by which all elements are judged that stand in the way of the full dedication to the Lord Jesus. What is true for a local church like Corinth, is true for every local church today. It also applies to the life of each individual believer.

‏ Isaiah 9:4-5

The Appearance of the Messiah

Here we come to the climax of the section that begins in Isaiah 7:1. Instead of the short-sighted unbelief of King Ahaz, who plunges his people into deep darkness, we find the King Messiah, Who, though a Child, is the promised Immanuel. He will end all strife and misery and introduce an everlasting kingdom based on law and righteousness.

The first fulfillment of Isa 9:1 and Isa 9:2 can be seen in Matthew 4. The evangelist cites these verses of Isaiah to describe the work of the Lord Jesus in Galilee (Mt 4:12-16). He is “a great light” offering salvation to people who are “in darkness”. He is the great light, the sun of the fourth day of creation (Gen 1:16), Who illuminates everything (Mal 4:2). He shines like the light for people who live in a land over which “the shadow of death” hangs and brings light and life there (Jn 1:4).

The full fulfillment of these verses will take place at the end of the anger of the LORD (Isa 10:5). When the king of the North is back in the land after defeating the king of the South, the judgment will be executed, not in Judea, but in Galilee. Also at the first coming of Christ, His service is mainly in Galilee in the north. The army of the restored Western Roman Empire (Europe) and the army of the king of the North will both be destroyed at the appearance of the Lord Jesus.

From the moment the people see the great light, the prophet in Isa 9:3-7 goes to an event even further into the future. He speaks in those verses about the breaking of the power of the antichrist and the establishment of the realm of peace and justice of the Messiah. We see

1. a great light (Isa 9:2) instead of darkness (Isa 9:1),

2. increasing gladness (Isa 9:3) instead of distress (Isa 8:21),

3. deliverance (Isa 9:4) instead of slavery, and

4. peace (Isa 9:7) instead of war (Isa 9:5).

Isa 9:3 has not yet been fully fulfilled. Only a remnant has returned from exile and not a “multiplied” nation. Among the successive heathen rulers there has never been a situation of the joy described in this verse. When in the future the Lord Jesus comes at the end of the great tribulation to personally deliver His earthly people, there will be immense joy with the remnant.

They have had an extremely tough time. During the great tribulation they will go through a heavy persecution caused by the antichrist, who will be king of Israel, with the help of the beast of the sea, the restored Roman Empire (Rev 13:1-10). Because of the great tribulation, the remnant will be scattered all over the land (Mt 24:21-22), over the mountains and in the farthest corners of the land. But when the king of the North overruns the land of Israel, it is these faithful Israelites who will survive the massacre – just like the Christians who fled in the year 70 at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem (cf. Rev 12:16-17).

The people will become numerous with the return of the remnant of both the two and the ten tribes. The joy that will then be there will be compared to the joy there is when the harvest is brought in and when booty is distributed. The first joy is that of the blessing of the land, the second is that of the defeated enemies.

The joy in the presence of the Lord can already be experienced by us now. It should always be like this. This is not an expression of a natural joy over earthly prosperity, but a joy in Him that He is always with us.

Isa 9:4 gives the reason for the joy in the previous verse. It is the joy of salvation from the LORD. This verse is in the perfect tense, the so-called prophetic perfectum, the prophetically perfect tense. This means that the event has yet to take place, but it is described as if it had already taken place.

“The yoke”, “the staff” and “the rod”, the symbols of the powers that have oppressed Israel, are all broken. The people have been delivered from them. All disciplinary instruments, the yoke of the antichrist on the faithful remnant and the staff and the rod of the surrounding hostile peoples on Israel – the king of the North – have been broken.

The “battle of Midian” recalls Gideon’s victory over Midian (Jdg 7:19-25). Then the LORD redeemed His people, not by the military strength of that people on whom they trusts so much today, but by His own choice of a small company. Therefore, they could not attribute the victory to their own strength (Jdg 7:2). In this way, the Lord Jesus will also appear in the future and personally stand up for His people and be assisted in this by a small remnant that is in the greatest weakness, but becomes strong through their connection with Him.

This also applies to us. If we want to fight the enemy in our own strength, it only plays into the hands of the enemy. But if we are weak, then we are strong (2Cor 12:10; cf. 2Chr 28:21), because then He is our strength. We ”can do all things through Him who strengthens us” (Phil 4:13).

In the description of Isa 9:5 we find again the prophetic Assyrians, who go up for the great battle against Israel. The ground is pounding with the pounding of the boots of the soldiers of the advancing armies (Joel 3:9-14). The cloak of the soldiers drips with the blood of the victims that will flow abundantly in this last battle (Isa 63:3; Rev 14:20). The end of all this violence is described briefly and powerfully. It will be burned as “fuel for the fire”. The judgment of the LORD will consume all opposition (Isa 66:15-16).

The third “for” (Isa 9:6) indicates the reason for the salvation (Isa 9:4-5) and the joy (Isa 9:3). There is joy because God gives salvation, but how does He do that? It all begins with the birth of the King Messiah, the Christ, and ends with His everlasting reign.

In Isa 9:6 both the first and the second coming of Christ are mentioned in one verse. That there is a first and a second coming is due to the rejection of the Messiah. If He had not been rejected, the kingdom would have been established by Him immediately at His first coming. His rejection makes a second coming necessary.

The time in between has been foreseen by God, but not foretold by Him in the Old Testament. The church is not part of the prophecy, because it is a mystery for the prophets (Eph 3:5). In the prophecy the first and the second coming are always directly connected, without mentioning or referring to the time in between in which we now live, the time of the coming into being and the formation of the church.

In Isa 9:6-7 we have one of the richest descriptions of Christ in the Old Testament. The hope of Israel begins with “a child” in a manger. The mention of His birth is an elaboration on the meaning of “Immanuel” (Isa 7:14). In Isaiah 7:14 is spoken about Him as a sign. Here He is a gift. He is born as a “child”, that means that He partook of flesh and blood (Heb 2:14). He is real and perfect Man, He is “[the] man Christ Jesus” (1Tim 2:5).

The “us” among whom this Child is born are those who have looked forward to Him, among whom Isaiah also counts himself. We see them at the beginning of the Gospel according to Luke in Joseph and Mary, Zechariah and Elizabeth, the shepherds, Simeon and Anna. They are a picture of the faithful remnant and the core of the reborn nation, the whole of Israel that will be preserved during the great tribulation. The Child is born long before that time, but they will greet Him as if He were just born (cf. Isa 66:7-8). It is the time for God to bring His Son back into the world, then to accept dominion over the world (Heb 1:6).

Then it is said that He is given as a “son”, which refers to His Godhead, giving Him the right to exercise power as God. This might and power are expressed in the statement “the government will rest on His shoulders [Darby Translation: shoulder, singular]”. As Creator and Redeemer (Revelation 4-5), He bears all dominion and all burden. All responsibility rests on Him. But this task is not too great for Him. He will solve all problems and exercise His dominion in a perfectly righteous way. As the One Who brought about salvation, He can say: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Mt 28:18). He will use that power in blessing and in judgment.

In the parable of the lost and found sheep that the Lord Jesus tells us, we read that He puts the sheep “on His shoulders” (plural) (Lk 15:4-6). For the dominion of the world, one shoulder suffices; to bring a lost sheep back to the flock, He uses both His shoulders. Similarly, the high priest in the Old Testament in the picture of the two precious stones with on them the names of the twelve tribes bears the entire people on both His shoulders (Exo 28:9-13).

That He is the Son Who is “given”, shows that He is already Son before He is born as a Child. He is the eternal Son Who became Man and was given in that way. The fact that the Son is “given” also recalls the grace and love of God for lost people: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).

The Son is not only worthy, but He is also capable to exercise dominion. His Name, which describes His features, demonstrates that. His Name is He Himself in His Person. His Name is in the first place “Wonderful” (cf. Jdg 13:18). In His Person He is beyond our human thinking, for “no one knows the Son but the Father” (Mt 11:27a; Rev 19:12b). His Name is “Wonderful” because He is wonderful in Himself and because He did a wonderful work on the cross for the glory of God and for our salvation. Above all, reverence and admiration befits us toward Him.

Immediately follows that He is “Counselor”. This indicates His wisdom. Nobody advises Him, He never has to consult anyone. “Who became His counselor?” (Rom 11:34b). He works according to a plan perfectly conceived by Himself, which He carries out in wisdom without hesitation and without ever having to return to anything. All those He involves in His plans and to whom He makes them known, He gives counsel (Isa 11:2; Psa 32:8). The counsel He gives is wonderful; it transcends human capabilities. The two features ‘wonderful’ and ‘counsel’ are also found in Isaiah 25 and 28 (Isa 25:1 ; Isa 28:29).

It is also possible to consider these two expressions as one Name, a double name: Wonderful Counselor. That unity in the Name or double name can also be seen in the three following Names: Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The Messiah, He Who is Child and Son, has four wonderful Names with in each Name a combination of His Being and a feature that enlarges His glory. They are all honorary names of the Messiah.

He is capable to carry out all His purposes, for He is the “Mighty God” (cf. Isa 10:21). That Name indicates the great contrast with failing, weak, mortal man. The Name “Eternal Father” is literally “Father of Eternity”. The Lord Jesus, because He is the One this description is about, is clearly distinguished in the Godhead as the eternal Son from the eternal Father. The name “Father” therefore has here the meaning of origin, from Whom something originates. The Lord Jesus is ‘Father of eternity’ in the sense that He is the origin of eternity. This is how the Septuagint translates this verse: Father of the age to come (cf. Heb 6:5).

In the Old Testament ‘eternity’ often refers to the millennial realm of peace. The many times that it is said “His lovingkindness is everlasting” (Psa 118:1-4 ; Psa 136:1-26) indicates that time. The realm of peace is the time when He will openly reign as the “Prince of Peace”. He will subdue every rebel, remove every disruptive element, and thus work peace for His people and all nations. This is the “peace on earth” the angels announced at His birth (Lk 2:14).

He wants to give His peace right now in the hearts of all those who have peace with God through Him. When Christ says: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you” (Jn 14:27a), the first “peace” is peace with God. It is the peace that Christ “leaves” behind through His death for all who believe. The second “peace” refers to the peace of God that Christ experienced on earth through perfect fellowship with God and that He now “gives” to each one who is guided by Him.

Peace with God is given to the sinner when he confesses his sins and believes in the work of the Lord Jesus and that God has accepted that work (Rom 4:24-25 ; Rom 5:1). The peace of God is the part of the believer who brings all things to God in prayer (Phil 4:6-7). Prayer is one of the proofs that someone puts his life under the dominion of the Lord Jesus and already now acknowledges Him as Lord, while the world does not yet.

The area of His reign will expand more and more and be all-encompassing (Isa 9:7). It will encompass heaven and earth with all imaginable powers and result in God being all and in all (1Cor 15:20-28).

The duration of His reign will be endless (Lk 1:33; Rev 11:15). He will not be succeeded by another ruler (Dan 2:44). The promise that He will sit on the throne of His father David (2Sam 7:16) will be fulfilled. It is a throne that is “forever and ever” (Heb 1:8). His endless reign will culminate in “the day of God” with its “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2Pet 3:13).

This marvelous result will not be achieved by human effort. No human will be involved. The “zeal of the LORD of hosts”, that is the Lord Jesus, is the driving force behind everything. His zeal was kindled when the honor of His Father was affected (Jn 2:13-17). With the same zeal with which He cleansed the temple, He will also cleanse the earth, which belongs to Him as well as the temple (Psa 24:1). His zeal is the fire of His indignation toward all those who have wickedly treated His earthly, chosen people, who have tried to destroy it. His zeal is also the fire of His love with which He will do good to His people. Therefore, this fire must consume all unfaithfulness from among them.

Phinehas shows such a zeal for which he is praised and rewarded (Num 25:6-14). This zeal of the LORD for His people is also seen in Paul for the church (2Cor 11:2). It is a zeal by which all elements are judged that stand in the way of the full dedication to the Lord Jesus. What is true for a local church like Corinth, is true for every local church today. It also applies to the life of each individual believer.