Passage: In the past He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future He will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan –
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder.
For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
Journal: Isaiah is a prophet of God. A prophet of God is God’s prosecutor among the people and, somewhat like an attorney, is a “mouthpiece” for God. A prophet is inspired by God to speak for God.
Isaiah has spent the first few chapters detailing the indictment by God against Judah – superstitions [2:6], materialism [2:7; and 5:8-9], idolatry [2:8, 20], arrogance [2:12-17; 5:15], lack of good leadership [3:1-4], social disintegration [3:5-6, 12-14], sensuality [3:16-26], and alcoholism [5:11-13, 22]. In other words, Judah (and Israel) had become just like the pagan nations that surrounded them. Isaiah has announced the consequences of being found guilty of the charges brought by God; that is, the onslaught of Assyria (and ultimately Babylon) against Israel and Judah, respectively. Isaiah describes the plight of Judah as “people walking in darkness.”
Judah is a picture of the sinner, and the indictment against Judah is found at the core of each sinner. That is, Judah is symbolic of all of us from the moment of our conception. There is no sin beyond our ability to commit, and there is no light to be found within any of us. Our natural state is darkness, and our natural father is Satan himself. God must shine a light upon the darkened heart, and tomorrow we will discuss how God, through Isaiah, has revealed the eternal source of that light.
Heard ‘Round the House:
I have mentioned before that Vera (age 8, Down syndrome) and Emma (age 6, Down syndrome) love to help me get dressed in the morning and undressed in the evening. They take turns each morning over the biggest thrill of who gets to run my belt through the belt loops of my suit pants, and argue each evening over which one gets to hang my suit on the closet rack.
Yesterday afternoon, Jill found a trail from our closet all the way upstairs to their room. It included a few pairs of my underwear, a few of my undershirts, a few pairs of socks, a few pairs of suit pants, a few pairs of dress shirts, some dress shoes, etc. Well, you get the idea. They decided to take the next step, and actually wear my suits. I even found my deodorant opened by my sink. I hope they had a good day at the office. I know Jill had a good afternoon at the ironing board . . .
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder.
For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
Journal: Isaiah is a prophet of God. A prophet of God is God’s prosecutor among the people and, somewhat like an attorney, is a “mouthpiece” for God. A prophet is inspired by God to speak for God.
Isaiah has spent the first few chapters detailing the indictment by God against Judah – superstitions [2:6], materialism [2:7; and 5:8-9], idolatry [2:8, 20], arrogance [2:12-17; 5:15], lack of good leadership [3:1-4], social disintegration [3:5-6, 12-14], sensuality [3:16-26], and alcoholism [5:11-13, 22]. In other words, Judah (and Israel) had become just like the pagan nations that surrounded them. Isaiah has announced the consequences of being found guilty of the charges brought by God; that is, the onslaught of Assyria (and ultimately Babylon) against Israel and Judah, respectively. Isaiah describes the plight of Judah as “people walking in darkness.”
Judah is a picture of the sinner, and the indictment against Judah is found at the core of each sinner. That is, Judah is symbolic of all of us from the moment of our conception. There is no sin beyond our ability to commit, and there is no light to be found within any of us. Our natural state is darkness, and our natural father is Satan himself. God must shine a light upon the darkened heart, and tomorrow we will discuss how God, through Isaiah, has revealed the eternal source of that light.
Heard ‘Round the House:
I have mentioned before that Vera (age 8, Down syndrome) and Emma (age 6, Down syndrome) love to help me get dressed in the morning and undressed in the evening. They take turns each morning over the biggest thrill of who gets to run my belt through the belt loops of my suit pants, and argue each evening over which one gets to hang my suit on the closet rack.
Yesterday afternoon, Jill found a trail from our closet all the way upstairs to their room. It included a few pairs of my underwear, a few of my undershirts, a few pairs of socks, a few pairs of suit pants, a few pairs of dress shirts, some dress shoes, etc. Well, you get the idea. They decided to take the next step, and actually wear my suits. I even found my deodorant opened by my sink. I hope they had a good day at the office. I know Jill had a good afternoon at the ironing board . . .
