Review Isaiah 7-8:

• Syria and Israel form an alliance against Judah during king Ahaz’s reign
• Isaiah given a prophecy for Ahaz that this alliance is no threat to Judah
• To prove his word, God offers a sign for Ahaz, but Ahaz refuses
• God sends a sign through Isaiah anyway, first of the coming Messaiah and then, through Isaiah’s sons, that the kingdoms of Syria and Israel will not be standing for more than a few years more.  Also, prophecies of impending destruction for Judah because of her unfaithfulness and disobedience.
• God instructs Isaiah not to be pulled into the people’s fears and worries, but to focus his attention, honor, and awe on God

(9:1)  BUT [in the midst of judgment there is the promise and the certainty of the Lord’s deliverance and] there shall be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time [the Lord] brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time He will make it glorious, by the way of the Sea [of Galilee, the land] beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.  (2)  The people who walked in darkness have seen a great Light; those who dwelt in the land of intense darkness and the shadow of death, upon them has the Light shined.  (3)  You [O Lord] have multiplied the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before You like the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil [of battle].  (4)  For the yoke of [Israel’s] burden, and the staff or rod for [goading] their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, You have broken as in the day of [Gideon with] Midian. [Judg. 7:8-22.]  (5)  For every [tramping] warrior’s war boots and all his armor in the battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.  (6)  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 [of Eternity], Prince of Peace.  (7)  Of the increase of His government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from the [latter] time forth, even forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

• Following judgment will be great blessing
• Peace will reign through a Child on the throne of David forever

NOTES:

The land of Zebulun – Zebulun, Naphtali, Manasseh, that is, the country of Galilee all round the sea of Gennesareth, were the parts that principally suffered in the first Assyrian invasion under Tiglath-pileser; see 2Ki_15:29. And they were the first that enjoyed the blessings of Christ’s preaching the Gospel, and exhibiting his miraculous works among them. (Mat 4:12-17)

Questions

• Unto us a Child is born, to us a Son is given.  What do you see about the quality, source, timing and receiver of this?
• Isaiah 9:6, Attributes of the Messiah.  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Consider each of these in the context of Jesus.  How do they fit?
• How can His government upon the throne of David be established forever?
• What is God’s attitude in performing this?
• When God disciplines us, does it end with discipline?  What is waiting for us after the discipline?  Why is the discipline necessary?

Isaiah 9:8-10:4

Isa 9:8-10:4 NASB  The Lord sends a message against Jacob, And it falls on Israel.  (9)  And all the people know it, That is, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, Asserting in pride and in arrogance of heart:  (10)  “The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with smooth stones; The sycamores have been cut down, But we will replace them with cedars.”  (11)  Therefore the LORD raises against them adversaries from Rezin And spurs their enemies on,  (12)  The Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west; And they devour Israel with gaping jaws. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.  (13)  Yet the people do not turn back to Him who struck them, Nor do they seek the LORD of hosts.  (14)  So the LORD cuts off head and tail from Israel, Both palm branch and bulrush in a single day.  (15)  The head is the elder and honorable man, And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail.  (16)  For those who guide this people are leading them astray; And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.  (17)  Therefore the Lord does not take pleasure in their young men, Nor does He have pity on their orphans or their widows; For every one of them is godless and an evildoer, And every mouth is speaking foolishness. In spite ofall this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.  (18)  For wickedness burns like a fire; It consumes briars and thorns; It even sets the thickets of the forest aflame And they roll upward in a column of smoke.  (19)  By the fury of the LORD of hosts the land is burned up, And the people are like fuel for the fire; No man spares his brother.  (20)  They slice off what is on the right hand but still are hungry, And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied; Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm.  (21)  Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,And together they are against Judah. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.  (10:1)  Woe to those who enact evil statutes And to those who constantly record unjust decisions,  (2)  So as to deprive the needy of justice And rob the poor of My people of their rights, So that widows may be their spoil And that they may plunder the orphans.  (3)  Now what will you do in the day of punishment, And in the devastation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your wealth?  (4)  Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives Or fall among the slain. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.

• After God’s judgment and wrath, the people of Israel make plans to rebuild even better than before (9:8-10)
• Because of this, God sends enemies from the east and west and removes their leaders and false prophets, setting brother against brother (Isa 9:11-21)
• What will you do in the day of judgement, where will you flee?  (Isa 10:1-4)

Questions:

• When Israel decides to rebuild even better than before, what does that reveal about their hearts?  Why does that rekindle God’s wrath? (Isa 9:8-12)
• Why would God take away their leaders and prophets during this time of hardship? (Isa 9:14-16)
• God is giving us an application in 10:3-4, what is your answer?

Isa 10:5-20 NASB  Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation,  (6)  I send it against a godless nation And commission it against the people of My fury To capture booty and to seize plunder, And to trample them down like mud in the streets.  (7)  Yet it does not so intend, Nor does it plan so in its heart, But rather it is its purpose to destroy And to cut off many nations.  (8)  For it says, “Are not my princes all kings?  (9)  “Is not Calno like Carchemish, Or Hamath like Arpad, Or Samaria like Damascus?  (10)  “As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,  (11)  Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?”  (12)  So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness.”  (13)  For he has said, “By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this, For I have understanding; And I removed the boundaries of the peoples And plundered their treasures, And like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants,  (14)  And my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a nest, And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth; And there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or chirped.”  (15)  Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it? Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it? That would be like a club wielding those who lift it, Or like a rod lifting him who is not wood.  (16)  Therefore the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors; And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.  (17)  And the light of Israel will become a fire and his Holy One a flame, And it will burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day.  (18)  And He will destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body, And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.  (19)  And the rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number That a child could write them down.  (20)  Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.