Joy in the Prince of Peace
Isaiah 9:1-7
This is the Sunday of Advent where we light celebrate the joy of the coming of Christ.
Think about the joy that you now have because of Christ.
You see, as we celebrate advent, and the four weeks representing hope, love, joy, and peace, the culmination of advent is Christ.
We are not celebrating us. We are celebrating Him.
Many times, we think we are celebrating because of what He means to us, and that is truly meaningful. I am glad that He means something to us, He should!
But we are not worshiping us, we are worshiping Him.
He is our Hope, He is our Love, He is our Joy, He is our Peace, that is why we celebrate Advent, eagerly expecting His arrival. We want to be in His presence.
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Let’s focus on Christ, our Joy!
Isaiah 9:1-7
9 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.
2 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.
3 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.
4 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.
5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will 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, Prince of Peace.
7 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.
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In order to fully understand the gravity of what Isaiah is prophesying here, we have to look back to Isaiah 8:5-10.
5 The Lord spoke to me again: 6 “Because this people has refused the waters of Shiloah that flow gently, and rejoice over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, 7 therefore, behold, the Lord is bringing up against them the waters of the River, mighty and many, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise over all its channels and go over all its banks, 8 and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”
9 Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered;
give ear, all you far countries;
strap on your armor and be shattered;
strap on your armor and be shattered.
10 Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
speak a word, but it will not stand,
for God is with us.
What is happening here, is that God is rebuking the Kingdom of Judah because they are celebrating their victory over Syria and Israel as their own victory. But when the Assyrians invade, they will overtake all of the kingdom of Judah, except for the city of Jerusalem. So the kingdom of Judah will find itself as a subject of Assyria.
So, because of the rejection of the Lord, His verdict is to thrust the people into darkness.
This is where they found themselves when Isaiah was prophesying in Chapter 9.
Verse 1 says:
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.
This is a back to the future moment…
In this verse the prophet Isaiah is speaking rhetorically. He is projecting future events as if they have already occurred, and therefore speaking of them in past tense.
Here Isaiah is referring to future events, and the knowledge that these events are going to happen, and the assurance that they will happen that comes from the guarantor, the Lord Himself, brings true Joy!
This is the same Joy that we have, because it is through Christ that we have eternal life.
When you trust Christ as your Savior and Lord, you experience the future Joy…today…now!
Your eternal life begins here, if you know Him. There may be some of you who don’t yet know Him. In that case you are like the rest of the Kingdom of Judah who rejected the Lord’s will for their lives, and there will be a day when the flood will overcome you.
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Verse 2 says:
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.
Here Isaiah is still speaking of future events as if they have already happened.
Because His Hope is in the Lord who has revealed this to him he has Joy.
You who have not yet trusted in Christ, you can have hope, but you must act on that hope. The assurance of our faith is Christ, and if you don’t trust in Him, you have no future hope or joy.
Isaiah was speaking to religious people. They relied on their heritage of being the Lord’s people, even though they were faithless. Religion doesn’t bring Joy. Christ does.
Paul faced some who were very religious, and essentially proclaimed the same message to them.
Acts 17:22-31 says:
22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for
“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;
as even some of your own poets have said,
“‘For we are indeed his offspring.
29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
Our assurance is that Christ has been raised from the dead, He is our Joy!
In Him you can have Joy, but if you have not trusted in Him, Hope and Joy you have is temporal. It will expire as your life here on earth expires. It is fleeting.
But the hope and Joy that are offered in Christ, are for today, and for eternity. Even if you suffer here, you still have hope, because if you suffer in Christ, your suffering is temporal, but your joy is eternal.
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Verse 3 of Chapter 9 says:
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.
It is difficult for us to understand, but as an agrarian society plows, plants, waters, and nurtures crops, it is great work.
But there is an expectation that happens, and even a great party or feast that occurs when the harvest comes. It is a great celebration.
Something that we may be able to relate to is the anticipation that occurs at Christmas. Most of us have experienced Christmas in a family, and remember the eager expectation of Christmas as we see gifts begin to build up under the tree. The joy is compared to Christmas day when children are unwrapping the gifts under the tree.
Multiplied by a million times or more, is the joy that is experienced at the arrival of Christ (and for us, our acceptance of Him as savior and Lord).
This is why we celebrate His coming at Christmas, because of what it meant for all who would receive Him in the future.
Isn’t that beautiful? Doesn’t that bring you Joy?
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Verse 4 and 5 of Chapter 9
4 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.
5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
This is referring to the liberation of the oppressed.
The yoke, the staff, and the rod are broken as on the day of Midian.
What is that referring to?
The yoke, staff, and rod are in the hands of an oppressor, quite harmful. The yoke is a tool that is used to place an animal under a burden of work, but here it is analogy to the enslavement of a people. The staff and rod are devices meant to correct and prod those who are burdened with the labor.
So also says that as in the days of Midian, the boots and blood soaked garments of the oppressors will be burned as fuel for the fire. This symbolizes complete defeat of the oppressor and liberation for the Lord’s people. What are the days of Midian.
This is in reference to a past event that the people would have been aware of, the Lord’s defeat of the mighty Midianite army, using Gideon and his 300.
God delivered an absolute victory against Midian.
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Isaiah then goes to
the absolute victory that God has ultimately delivered for all of us:
Verse 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, Prince of Peace.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
God has sent His son
1 John 4:9
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
John 3:17:
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
This is a beautiful picture of the Godhead, the trinity, depicting that Christ is God, and it is God who saves.
Who is the Wonderful Counselor?
The Holy Spirit.
John 14:25-26 says:
25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.26 But the Helper (or counselor), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Who is the Everlasting Father?
God the Father.
Who is the Prince of Peace?
Jesus the Son.
All three are our MIGHTY GOD.
Do you see the beauty of this Prophecy?
We have Joy
because it is not us who are responsible for the work of our salvation.
It is a free gift of God’s grace,
but we must believe.
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Finally verse 7 says:
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.
The Prince of Peace, Jesus Himself, has brought a peace that will not end.
Does that bring you joy?
On the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time and forevermore.
Jesus is the one on whom God will satisfy His requirement for Justice, and Jesus righteousness is what will Make us Righteous before God from this time forth and forevermore.
We don’t do this!
It is the Zeal of the Lord of Hosts that will do this.
The Lord of Hosts is a military term that depicts our God as the Mighty Commander.
Is He yours?
Who is defending you?
Have you trusted in Jesus?
The Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father,
and Prince of Peace are in your corner!
This is the greatest gift ever.
Have you received it?
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Discussion Questions:
- Can you have joy in difficulty? Why and How?
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- What is a scripture or memory of God’s activity that brings you Joy?
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- Does relying on His goodness and promise of future hope bring you joy?
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- Jesus is coming again. God has promised us this…just like He promised His first coming. He has given us hope in Christ, and this brings us joy. How can you spread the Joy of Christmas to those around you?
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