Isaiah chapter 8 this morning. Isaiah chapter 8. I think if you're following along in the Pew Bible, if I got it right, it's on page 791. Isaiah chapter 8. Well, as you know, I have been a teacher and I am again this year, although I have a limited teaching duty this year. One of the things that I've taught over the years is the 12th grade Bible, which is Bible study methods and how we can understand God's word. And one of the things that I've tried to emphasize in studying God's word is context, the benefit of reading what comes before and after a passage, to understand what is happening, to get a fuller understanding of what's going on. Well, having taught my students the benefit of that, I myself was confronted with the need to do that myself. As I've been going through this series on the promised one and looking at the different promises of Jesus in the Old Testament, and not just the Old Testament, but promises that pointed forward to Jesus, my intention was to speak on Isaiah chapter 9, verses 6 and 7, which we will get to presently. But as I looked at chapter nine verses six and seven, I backed up a little bit and saw that the beginning of chapter nine starts with this word, nevertheless. So if there's a nevertheless there, you know that it's connected to something that came before that. So I was like, okay, I better look at what comes before all of this. And it pushed me back further in the text. And I hope that it will be to all of our benefit. As we look at this promise child spoken of in Isaiah chapters, chapter nine, verses six and seven, to see the wider context and see why that's so important. So what I'm going to do is we begin today is I'm going to read the first part of Isaiah chapter eight, and we're going to work our way through Isaiah chapter eight until we get to Isaiah chapter nine and verses six and seven. And I hope that it will be helpful to all of us. Again, we get to chapter eight, and for sake of time, I'm not digging too far back, but you notice that chapter eight starts with the word moreover, which again indicates there's something that came before this. But let's just go with chapter eight for the moment. Moreover, the Lord said to me, take a large scroll and write on it with a man's pen concerning Meher Shalal Hashbaz, longest name in the Bible. And I will take for myself faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Zeberakiah. Then I went to the prophetess, that's Isaiah's wife, and she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said to me, call his name Meher Shalal Hashbaz, for before the child shall have knowledge to cry my father and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria. So what is going on here? Well, if we were to go back to chapter seven, we would actually find that the nation of Judah with its capital Jerusalem is under attack. It's under attack from Syria and from the Northern kingdom of Israel. Now we here, Most of us here have never been in a nation that has been under the threat of attack from another nation, or more than just the threat of attack in this chapter. We haven't, most of us, lived under this condition where our borders are actually being invaded by other nations. But that's exactly what's happening in this passage. Judah has been attacked by the northern kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Syria. And so it's in this context that this prophecy, this acted parable, this acted prophecy is come to pass. The Lord has Isaiah to go and essentially, with his wife, have another child. God gives them a child. That child is Meher Shalal Hashbad, which means speed the spoil and hasten the booty or the plunder. In other words, this person that is going to be born has a point to be made with his name. Now you look at Isaiah and there's a lot of points to be made with people's names. We looked previously at the name Immanuel, God with us. But God has a reason why this name is given to this child. And the reason is this, before the child shall have knowledge to cry my father and my mother, in other words, before the child is able to speak, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria. Those two nations that have come to attack Judah will be defeated. And they'll be defeated specifically by Assyria. In less than two years, this prophecy would actually be fulfilled. Now even this has background to it. The king of Judah, Ahaz, instead of trusting in the Lord, has actually placed his trust in Assyria. What he did was he actually took the gold and the precious things from the temple and paid off Assyria to come and attack his enemies. And so when we first read this, Judah and Ahaz might have thought, well, there it is. Our hope and trust in Assyria has been profitable. It's come to pass. It was worth it to give up the treasures of the temple to do that. But the prophecy continues. The Lord also spoke to me again, verse five, saying, inasmuch as these people refuse the waters of Shiloh that flow softly. What's that all about? What God is doing here is he's speaking by metaphor and saying that his people, Judah, their King Ahaz, their capital Jerusalem, have actually refused him. They have not placed their trust in Him. They're rejoicing now in Rezin and Remeliah's son. It looks like what he means there is that they're rejoicing in the impending defeat of their enemies. But look at verse seven. Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them the waters of the river, strong and mighty, the king of Assyria and all his glory. He will go up over all his channels. The very one that they had placed their hope in to defeat their enemies will in fact become their enemies. You've refused the waters of Shiloh that flow softly. You refuse my gentle grace with you, God says, and what you're going to experience then is the raging torrent of Assyria. a king of Assyria and all his glory, he will go up over all his channels and go over all his banks, this overflowing flood. Now some of us have seen some of the footage of the tsunami in Japan or other places, but I remember watching a documentary that showed the footage of that tsunami in Japan. Some of you may have seen that. It's absolutely terrifying. The power of that water. Once that water had broken over the surface of the land and it's washing everything before it. This is the picture of Assyria. How many of us would think that we would be able to stand before a flood like that? Well, this is what's going to happen. Assyria will become like a flood overflowing its banks. In fact, Verse eight says, he will pass through Judah, he will overflow and pass over, he will reach up to the neck. The picture is, for a person being flooded, all of a sudden now Judah and Jerusalem is a picture of a person. And the water is just flooding in and flooding in, and it reaches all the way to their neck. What God is saying here is essentially, Assyria's gonna come and wreak havoc on the land of Judah. And He's going to come all the way to the walls of Jerusalem. This is exactly what will happen. The stretching out of His wings, He will fill the breadth of your land, O Emmanuel. See that word again, God with us. Does this mean though that God's people will be destroyed by Assyria? No. Amazingly enough, God is going to save them from their Savior. How often we need the very same thing. We place our hope in the things of this life. We place our hope in people, institutions, ideas in this life. We place all of our confidence in those things and those things end up becoming our oppressors. Those things become entirely misplaced confidence. Verse nine says, be shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces. Give ear, all you from far countries. Gird yourself, but be broken in pieces. Gird yourself, but be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing. Speak the word, but it will not stand, for God is with us. Emmanuel, God with us. will keep Assyria and its co-attackers from actually being able to destroy Jerusalem and Judah. And I need to pause here for a minute. We have not had a particularly great stretch dealing with COVID and all of its restrictions. I'm talking not just us as a church, I'm just talking us as a people. Most of us are in some kind of a state of languishing, some sort of a state of just wishing this whole thing will be over. And some of us are placing our ultimate hope in things that cannot actually bear the weight of that hope. I know 2022 is approaching. And some people are saying, oh, I just can't wait till 2022. What is that going to change? 2022 isn't going to be like a magic switch and everything's gone. Some people are placing their ultimate hope in the advice of the medical professionals. That really hasn't worked so great so far. Some people are placing their ultimate hope in what the distancing may accomplish or what the vaccine may accomplish. And all of these things may have their benefits, but we can't place our ultimate hope in those things, far more than simply placing Hope in these things for the removal of a virus. Many of us place our hope in other things for our soul's satisfaction. Place our hope in things that cannot bring us eternal happiness. And how gracious God is when he comes and saves us from our saviors. How gracious God is when he comes and saves us from those things that we thought would save us, but have come to oppress us. And that is what God will do for Jerusalem and Judah. However, in the meantime, in the midst of these desperate and frightening circumstances, as you can imagine they would be, they're under attack from Syria and from the Northern Kingdom of Israel. In time, they will also face the attack of Assyria, the world superpower. In the midst of all of this, it's a terrifying and frightening time. Verse 11, the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people. Do not say a conspiracy. Or the KJV says the Confederation. The idea here is that conspiracy theories run wild at this time. There's so much fear. Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, do not be afraid of their threats nor be troubled. There's plenty to be afraid of. Again, we have lived in a time of relative peace and security, but imagine if you faced the very real possibility of someone actually coming over your border and literally physically attacking you with military might. There's plenty to be afraid of. But the ultimate fear must not be in those things. This is what the Lord says. Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. The Lord of hosts, him you shall hollow. That word there, hollow, is the word sanctify, set apart to regard as holy. Regard God as holy. Let him, verse 13, be your fear. Let him be your dread. He will be as a sanctuary. So for those who place their hope in God, he will be a sanctuary to them. Doesn't mean that these things won't happen, but he in the midst of them will be a sanctuary to them. However, to those who do not place their hope in him, he will be verse 14, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Many among them shall stumble, they shall fall and be broken, be snared and taken. Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples, and I will wait on the Lord who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him." That's so powerful there. Even in the midst of a time where it seems that God hides his face, Isaiah says, this is how I will respond. I will hope in the God of Jacob, I'll hope in him. Verse 18, here I am, here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me. We are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts who dwells in Mount Zion. Isaiah himself, his own life is a sign and a witness to the people of Israel. His own children are signs and wonders. Of course, this resonates into the work of our Savior Christ. There's a fulfillment that is to come. The children of our Savior by faith. Verse 19, and when they say to you, seek those who are mediums and wiz wizards who whisper and mutter, should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? The people in the midst of the conspiracy theories and fear are turning to the occult for knowledge. By the way, when a people get to that point, when they would rather consult the dead They pretty much would rather listen to anyone but God. And that's the condition that Judah and Jerusalem is in. Instead, they're exhorted to the law and to the testimony. If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. That's key. No light. There's fear. There's the occult. There's no trust in God. And in that condition, there's no light in them. they will pass through it hard pressed and hungry and it shall happen when they are hungry that they will be enraged and curse their king and their God and look upward. Rather than remembering the words of the prophet, fear God, trust in him, he'll be the sanctuary to you. Don't trust in your king, don't trust in the occult, don't trust in all of these things, trust in God, he'll be the sanctuary to you. Instead of that, when the even more difficult times come, they will curse their king and their God and look upward. And having cursed God, they will find no light in the heavens. They will then look, verse 22, to the earth and see trouble and darkness, gloom and anguish, and they will be driven into darkness. So this is the context where we come to the prophecy about the coming of Christ in Isaiah 9. just to review. It's a time of a rejection of God and His Word. It's a time of difficulty when fear runs wild. It's a time when destruction and despair and darkness reigns. There's not only darkness of spiritual decline, but there is personal darkness. Darkness of personal anguish. And again, I want you to understand this because This is, though we don't live in the exact same conditions, there's a lot of parallels to where we are right now. A rejection of God and his word, a time when fear runs wild, despair and darkness reign. They will listen to anyone but God. And it's in the midst of those kind of conditions that the prophecy of Christ is given. And there are two points that I simply want us to see that this passage, Isaiah chapter nine, verses one through seven make. And the first point is this, light and joy will replace the darkness. Light and joy will replace the darkness. So God has just spoken of a people who have rejected him, gloom, anguish, driven into darkness. Verse nine, nevertheless, the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed. when at first he lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed her by way of the sea beyond the Jordan in Galilee of the Gentiles. God tells us that there is a time when the gloom will be overturned. Yes, they will face judgment, and even more judgment. These lands, by the way, Zebulun, Naphtali, the way of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee, These are all the northern areas. Every time that Judah and Israel was attacked, they would be the ones that would be vulnerable to attack. They would be the ones who were first facing the aggression of almost every nation except Egypt. Those people will have their gloom overturned. Verse two, the people who walked in darkness have seen A great light. Those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. How different this is. We get to the end of chapter eight, there's trouble, darkness, gloom, and anguish. People driven to darkness. But God says there's a time coming when they will see the light. And that darkness is gonna be overturned. and the shadow of death. You remember that expression, don't you? From Psalm 23, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. And that is exactly what's going to happen. God in a particular way will walk with his people through the valley of the shadow of death. He will be Emmanuel, God with his people. This expression, upon them a light has shined, is an example of a tense that's called a prophetic perfect. That God speaks of this as having happened even before it happens. That's how certain this prophecy is. Look at the conditions that will come as a result of this overturning of darkness. You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy. They rejoice before you according to the joy of harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. This is the kind of joy, the kind of joy that comes with the festivals of the first fruits, the kind of joy that happens after the battle is done, the enemy has been vanquished, and all of their stuff that would have been used against you now become yours. This is the kind of joy. It's an overflowing joy. For you have broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. Here's the example that's given, the kind of joy, it's like the time when God gave victory over Midian through Gideon, that kind of joy. The kind of overturning when everything seems lost. Have you looked at the number of the forces that Gideon was up against? Just an incredible number of people against a handful. Whittled down even more by God in his own divine design. And yet in the face of those seemingly insurmountable odds, the victory is accomplished. for every warrior's sandal from the noisy battle and garments rolled in blood will be used for burning and fuel of fire. The warfare will be over. All of those things that may have been a part of the battle, may have been the garments of the oppressors, all of that will be burned up, it will be no more. And then we get to point two. So the first point is that light and joy will replace the darkness. And here is where all of this is building to. Light and joy will come through the promised child. Verse six, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. The hope is not found in a human program or plan, it is found in a person. We see this expression, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Years back when, if my memory serves me right, Sarah was pregnant with Claire at that point, and I saw someone who had been a family friend for many years before, and I was all excited and I went up to this guy and I said, hey, we're going to have a baby. And he immediately mocked me. We're going to have a baby. You're not going to have it. Just your wife is going to have it. Well, my point of joy was that we, as a couple, we're going to welcome a baby into our family. I was rejoicing in the fact that a child was coming. Well, here is that kind of joy here. It's not simply the joy of the parents. It's a joy that would be for everyone. Everyone, that is, who would submit to the governance of this child. For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. Contrary, different from the prophecy that is made about Meher Shalal Hashbaz earlier in chapter eight, there's no date that's given here. It will happen, but we're not told when it's gonna happen at this point. The child will be born, the son would be given, and the government will be upon his shoulder. He will bear the full weight of the government on his shoulder. And that government, by the way, will be a universal government, as we'll see in a moment. Who is this child? Well, there are eight descriptive words that are actually four pairs in the Hebrew. There are four kind of dual names that are given. First, there's wonderful counselor. The word wonderful has the meaning of miraculous. If we were to look back in the Old Testament, in the book of Judges, when the angel of the Lord appeared to Samson's parents, the angel is said to have done wondrously. What did he do? Well, he caused a sacrifice to disappear, or to be burned up, and then he himself, the angel, disappeared. He is said in the scriptures to have done wondrously, or wonderfully. In fact, in the verse before that in the Old Testament, Samson's parents asked the angel of the Lord, what is your name? And he says, how is it you ask me my name, seeing it is wonderful? And again, as we look further in that passage, when the angel of the Lord has left Samson's parents, they recognize that it was the Lord. The scripture indicates that. Wonderful counselor, the miraculous one, the one who has the ability to do what no one else can do. And then he's called counselor. Counselor here is not a therapist. It's not the idea. It's the idea is one that has wise planning and execution. The one who is able to purpose and accomplish the supernatural. The one who is able to accomplish what no human wisdom or means can do. As we think about the birth of Jesus, he is that wonderful counselor. The one who is able to accomplish what no one else can do. one who is able to do the miraculous. He is also called the mighty God. Of course, we read this and we recognize that this is not a mere human. It is a human because the child is born, but it's not just a mere human. By the way, I have heard some of our Muslim friends and neighbors look at this passage and try to apply it to the Prophet Muhammad. But interestingly enough, when they do so, they'll skip over that descriptive word. They'll say, oh, Muhammad was a wonderful counselor. You know, he was a prince of peace, but they'll skip over mighty God for obvious reasons, because Muhammad wasn't God. This child is God. He is the mighty God. And of course, this brings us back to what we looked at in Isaiah 7, 14, that this child is Emmanuel. God with us. By the way, that name, uh, mighty God is used intentionally of God himself. Just one chapter further in chapter 10 and verse 21, he is the mighty God. He is also the scripture says the everlasting father. Now this is not a confusion of the persons of the Trinity. It's not saying that the, The Father and the Son are interchangeable persons. What it's saying, literally, is that Jesus is the Father of eternity. It speaks to the fact that Jesus is eternal, but not only that he is eternal, but that he is the author, creator, and ruler of time. And then he is also called the Prince of Peace. He is the one who has the power to bring true peace. both politically and personally. By the way, it is only Jesus that can do that. We look at the world around us and how many political disagreements and conflicts are there today. We live in an age that is becoming more and more polarized. Actually, I think it was an opinion piece maybe in the New York Times recently that said something to the effect talking about the possibility of civil war, another civil war in the United States. Other people have been talking about how, you know, certain states should secede from the Union. Even here in Canada, there are different movements to have different provinces not be part of Canada anymore. It's a time of political division and it doesn't seem like it's getting any better. And that's not even to look at how confusing and disruptive things are in the Middle East. Who can bring peace to that? Well, there's one who can, the Prince of Peace. He not only can bring political peace, but he can bring personal peace. He can bring peace to the troubled heart. Micah chapter five, verse two, is said of Jesus, this one shall be peace. He will make wars to cease to the ends of the earth, Psalm 46 verse 9. He will make peace through the blood of his cross, Colossians chapter 1 verse 20. And this is what this then speaks of, what he will accomplish. He will accomplish an eternal and perfect reign with perfect conditions for his subjects. Of the increase of his government and peace, there'll be no end. His kingdom cannot be stopped. It will increase and increase until he rules over all. At the end of this time, his foes will be made his footstools or his foes will be made his friends. He will sit upon the throne of David. This is the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant. 2 Samuel chapter 7 and verse 16, he will bring judgment and justice. He will bring justice and righteousness that will mark his reign. We have lots of talk today about justice, but so often the definitions of what justice is does not line up with what God's word says that justice is. When Jesus comes, when his kingdom fully comes, his kingdom will be perfect justice. and righteousness from that time forward, even forever. Even now, we see the increase of our Lord's kingdom in the hearts of men. But there is a day coming where he will rule and reign upon this earth. And he will rule and reign forever in the new heavens and the new earth. In other words, all the oppression will cease. All the darkness will end. All the sin will be overcome. It will be perfect conditions for the subjects of this child. How certain is this? The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. So again, this is a word that these people needed. A time of darkness. They needed to look forward to light and joy that would come. And they needed to look forward more importantly to the one through whom light and joy would come. And so we today need this message. A time of darkness and despair, fear and confusion. We need to look to Jesus. He is the one through whom light and joy will come. He is the one who will bring his perfect kingdom. Place your hope in Jesus. Place your hope in this child. Two concluding thoughts. One is this, if you reject the light, you will receive darkness. This is precisely what happens, what happened to the people who would rather listen to anyone but God. Their worldview crumbled and left them cursing their God and King, looking upward and seeing only darkness, looking downward and inward and seeing only darkness. If you reject the light, you will receive darkness. You will receive darkness eternally. The place of fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Trust in Christ. But second, for those of you that have trusted in Christ, who are living through conditions of darkness and confusion, who are living through times when everything seems to be completely upended, when it seems like nothing is right. It seems like nothing will be right. I want to remind you that the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. The darkness cannot withstand the light. The increase of His government and peace, there will be no end. So keep looking and hoping in Jesus this season. Amen.