Hope Amid The Darkness (Isaiah 9:1-7)

Hard times have a way of clouding our view of things. My wife and I received news a few years back that was just devastating to us. This was alongside some horrendous and scary things that were happening with my job. The truth is that I didn’t think that I was going to have one soon. At that time neither one of us could understand why things had worked out the way that they had. And because of the clouded way we viewed things, at that time, we had little hope that things would work out. We were simply crushed.

One Sunday Morning I showed up to church in Green Forest, climbed into the church van to pick up a few students and almost ran into the carport that the van sat under. I was having trouble driving all of a sudden. I walked into the sanctuary to practice music and could not read the words on the page. It was moving and I was feeling nauseated. After stumbling through a hymn I tried to put my guitar on and could not. I could not figure out how to put my guitar on with the strings facing out. I kept turning it around backwards. I sat down with it instead of putting the guitar on right and could not figure out how to play the chords for the songs. They were not hard. They were likely chords that I learned the first day I started learning to play guitar. I talked with Amanda and she would do music for me while I laid down in the choir room down the hall. I had never had a panic attack, and haven’t since then, but I felt swallowed up by darkness. And really, it took a while for me to get out of it.

We all go through hard times. Some people go through harder times than others. Darkness and distress can seem to swallow us up at times. We need to know that there is hope for a better future.

That is exactly what we hear from God in one of the great messages of Advent. Advent is all about preparing our hearts for the coming of Christ. And it is traditional for people to read and ponder Isaiah 9, specifically verse 1-7 during Advent. 

(It may help to reference this map as we move on in our discussion.)

In the midst of terrible darkness for the people of Israel God delivers a great promise. The Assyrian King Tiglath-Pileser III invaded Israel. This was because Damascus and the Northern Kingdom fought against Judah in the Ephraimite War. We are not sure why this occurred. We are just not told, but we do know that Judah responded by getting Assyria to police the area. Damascus and portions of the Northern Kingdom were assimilated into Assyria. They were conquered.

And the darkness would not end here. In fact, life would get harder for Israel. Several years later the Northern Kingdom would rebel against Assyria and find themselves totally assimilated into Assyria. They would be completely conquered.

So, what hope could possibly be offered to a country who was conquered and in the future would be conquered even more? What hope did God have to offer His people in the midst of calamity?

Where There Once Was Darkness Will Come A Glorious Light (Isaiah 9:1-2)

We read in Isaiah 9:1-2,

“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. 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.” -Isaiah 9:1-2 ESV

These people were completely broken down and it is going to get worse. But there will come a time in the future in which this will not be, “there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish”. Where there was once mourning and sadness there will one day come something glorious. Where once darkness dominated, and for a while will continue to dominate, a glorious light will shine.

Think about the history we talked about only moments ago. This area had been conquered. They had allied with someone who they thought would help them only to end up humiliated. Portions of the area were even assimilated into Assyria. This was awful. But sometime in the future, where once darkness dominated, a glorious light will shine.

An interesting thing also occurs to us if we are paying attention. Notice, in particular, where this light will one day shine. What is the location of the light?

Again, it may be helpful to take a look at a map to aid our understanding. The location is “the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations”. Here is the interesting part.

• Jesus left Galilee to be baptized in the Jordan River and then went back to Galilee to begin His ministry. Jesus began His ministry in “the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations”.
• Jesus Ministry early on was in “the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations” almost exclusively.
• Jesus called His Disciples in Galilee.
• Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine at Cana, which if you look at the map above is part of Galilee.
• Jesus’ home base early on during his ministry was Capernaum, which is also part of Galilee.
• Jesus may have been born in Bethlehem, which is in Judea, but He was shown to be Messiah during His time in Galilee with miracles, healings, and His powerful preaching.

It is no wonder that Matthew says that Jesus’ early ministry was a complete fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy here in Matthew 4:12-16.

“Now when he [Jesus] heard that John had been arrested, he [Jesus] withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fuflilled:

“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles–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 ESV

The darkness that once enveloped God’s people would one day give way to the glorious light that God would bring.

This seems to be the way things work out. Consider the incredible darkness of the Middle (Dark) Ages. It gave way to the Protestant Reformation in which the Gospel of Christ once again took center stage. Think about the great revivals in England and in the United States. They came during incredibly dark time periods. And then God showed up on the scene magnificently. And to a greater extent think about the time period in which Jesus showed up on Earth. God’s people had been conquered and were being ruled by Rome. It was a dark time period and the brightest light of all was now on Earth bringing salvation to people.

When I consider my own life, some of the greatest blessings have occurred on the heels of the most trying times. I’m not sure but I would venture to guess that it is the same with some of the folks reading this today.

And here, in the midst of the greatest darkness is going to come the most glorious of joys.

The Joy God Brings Is Eternal (Isaiah 9:3-5)

God doesn’t stop with just bringing joy into a bad situation. He begins declaring in as may ways as possible that this bright joy that is soon coming will be great, glorious, and eternal.

“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. 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. For every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.”

God, through Isaiah, is driving at something glorious. God is doing something for His people that is much more glorious than they can imagine. And, Isaiah is speaking of this in the past and present tense about something that has not yet occurred. It is as if these things are so sure that he just speaks about them as if they’ve already occurred.

Whatever it is that God is doing, it will bring great joy to His people. He says, “…you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest.” This is a reference to an incredibly festive and joyful time on Israel’s calendar. This is like Thanksgiving on steroids. It was called “sukkot”. We call it the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles. When the Feat of Tabernacles first began it commemorated the 40 years  in the wilderness by having the people of Israel gather together in huts that they made for a week. Here they would feast together for the duration of that week. When the people of Israel made it into the Promised Land the celebration changed a bit. It became one of the People of Israel’s favorite time of year. In fact, many people believe it was their favorite celebration. It was a time of thanksgiving for bringing people out of the wilderness and also for giving them a bountiful harvest. They would bring their food and wine and have an incredibly large week long celebration together. Now, picture this. In the midst of intense sorrow, God says that they will soon find themselves in a time of great joy similar to the joy you have as you celebrate the Feast of Booths together.

But it will be greater than the Feast of Booths. The oppressors who take advantage of you and others will be gone. There will not even be need for the provisions of the warrior, for there will be no war. Even his boots, which the warrior always has with him shall be thrown into the fire. The garments of war, stained with the blood of war, will be cast away as well. There will no longer be any war so there clothing and weapons of war will not be needed. This is much like Isaiah 2:4 when it is said,

“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 ESV

Why would weapons of war be destroyed and recreated into tools for agriculture? It’s because nations will no longer be at war with each other. Why would the clothing of war be thrown into the fire? It’s because nations will no longer be at war with each other.

This peace is peace that has not yet ever come to the people of God. This is peace that we have not yet known. But this does give us hope of what we, God’s people will have in the future.

Imagine yourself living in a land that has no need of weapons because there is no war. What would happen if America quit having a military right now? We would likely be invaded because that is the way in which humans currently operate. We find here that there will come a day, that the LORD is bringing, in which there will be no need of weapons, or armor, or even the clothing that is required for military usage.

Wow! This really is incredible, but how is God going to bring this about? The peace that this passage calls for is much too distant from anything that has ever occurred to be a ruler of Israel. The peace is so distant that it has to be the peace that Christ will bring about int he second coming. In fact, that is what the passage seems to state as we move into verse 6.

God Brings Great Joy Through His Son, Jesus Christ (Isaiah 9:6-7)

“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. 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.”

Edward J. Young paraphrases the idea here as,

“There is great rejoicing among God’s people, because God has broken the yoke of burden and oppression, and the burden and oppression are removed because the weapons of the warrior are destroyed, and the basic reason for these blessings is that a Child is born.” – Edward J. Young, Eerdmans, 1985, p. 329

God has already shown recognition that the time period that the people of Israel live in is incredibly dark. He has announced that there is an incredibly glorious time coming. Now He is announcing that this incredibly glorious time will come out of the darkness through a child. But this is no ordinary child. He goes on to give a few names that this child will be called.

• Wonderful Counselor – this person will be incredibly wise.
• Mighty God – this is astounding…this person will be called “God”
• Everlasting Father – this is again astounding…this person will be one with the Father
• Prince of Peace – and it’s no wonder…if the people will have no need of weapons of war or clothing of warfare then it only makes sense that this person would be called the Prince of Peace.

But how can this be? How can all of these things be true about one person.

God sent His son, to Earth. It’s what we celebrate at Christmas time. His Son came and was God in the flesh. He was and still is the wisest of the wise. He was and still is God, Mighty God. He was and still is one with the Father, the Everlasting Father. And Jesus made peace with God on our behalf through His death on the cross and will bring about eternal peace throughout the entirety of creation when He comes again. This is the work of the Prince of Peace.

“You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”–1 John 3:5,8 ESV

As Christ reigns there will be peace without end and in perfect justice and righteousness He will reign on Earth. Through His perfect life, death, and resurrection Christ has defeated the power of sin and death. The victory has already been won. We stand looking over the edge of it all able to look backwards at the great battle that Christ has already won to accomplish all of this. But we are not quite there. Only when Christ comes again will this perfect peace be creation’s reality.

Jesus came, born of a virgin and we celebrate that at Christmas. God became man and dwelt among us. He went on to die and rise from the dead and in doing so He has given us hope. This hope Stephen clung to as he was being stoned to death. This hope allowed Paul after his dramatic conversion to be faithful in the midst of all sorts of sufferings. And this hope John clung to as he was in exile writing the Book of Revelation. And this is the hope that we cling to even today.

I hope this video helps you to look at the hope that Christ gives.

Together let’s allow these truths to overwhelm us. Will there be great troubles in this life? Yes, yes there will. Do we have something to hold on to in the midst of that chaos, in the midst of your darkness. When troubles come, and they will, know and understand that this is not all there is. Christ has come and Christ has conquered sin and death perfectly and fully. Hope in what’s to come because He will return to bring His victory over sin and death to full realization. Trust in Christ who has saved you and trust that He is going to make all things right. Are you still going to feel sad, depressed, lonely? Yes, but you will have hope of greater things to come all because Christ has come and has conquered.

My challenge to you is simple. If you are not a believer here today, trust in Christ. He has come to Earth, that is what we celebrate at Christmas. When He came to Earth He lived a perfect life for us, then died on a cross as our substitute. He took upon Himself our sin and our shame and paid the full punishment for it. He then rose from the dead three days later, conquering the power of sin and death. And our response to this is to repent (turn away from ruling our own lives) and trust in Christ. The hope that has been here described is not your reality if you are not a Christian. I hope and pray that you who do not know Christ yet will trust in Him.

My challenge to the believer is simple. Continue preparing your heart for Christmas by reading The Dawning of Indestructible Joy and praying for God to mold you this Christmas Season.

My desire is that we, as a group, make it to Christmas filled with the hope that only God can give…and has already given through the gift of His Son.

 

R. Dwain Minor