Scripture: Isaiah 9:1-7
Video Link: https://youtu.be/oXUHz7nTtHE
Structure:
- Introduction
- High hope
- Just hope
- Certain hope
- Conclusion
Introduction:
Kia ora whanau and good morning everyone.
Today is the first Sunday in Christmas Advent. As I mentioned earlier in the service, advent simply means coming. Christmas Advent is a time when we look back to Jesus’ first coming to earth 2000 years ago as a baby in a manger. It’s also a time when we look forward to his second coming in glory.
The first Sunday in Advent is traditionally associated with hope. Hope is when we believe something good is going to happen in the future. In keeping with the theme of hope, our message today focuses on Isaiah 9, verses 1-7…
9 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honour Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan— 2 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. 3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. 4 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. 5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. 6 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 Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 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.
May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.
Hope is a powerful thing. Believing that something good waits for us in the future can give us real energy and strength to deal with difficult circumstances in the present. Of course, anything that is powerful is also dangerous and so we need to be careful not to misplace our hope.
Handling hope is a bit like flying a kite. You can’t fly a kite on a calm day. A kite rises against the wind. And it will only rise as high as you let it. The trick is, holding onto the string, so you don’t lose the kite of your hope altogether.
Three things I see in this passage from Isaiah 9. The hope on offer here is high hope, just hope and certain hope. First let’s consider Isaiah’s high hope.
High Hope:
As many of you know, we are planning some renovations to the north wing of our church auditorium. Before any of the physical work is done we toss around ideas and put plans on paper. These were discussed at the recent church meeting. Once we are agreed on the plan, work can proceed.
The first part of renovating any existing building is demolition. The basic foot print of the north wing isn’t going to change but the builders will need to do some demo to gut the place, before rebuilding a new layout and installing new toilets and so forth.
Isaiah was an Old Testament prophet. The prophets give a theological interpretation of historical events. In other words, they tell us what’s happening in history from God’s perspective. The prophets put God’s plan on paper basically.
Generally speaking, the prophets (like Isaiah) preached messages of judgment and hope. Judgment is like the demolition phase of the rebuild. Things have got so bad in Israel that God can’t just plaster over the cracks anymore. He has to gut the building and install a whole new layout.
Isaiah 8 is essentially a message of judgment. In chapter 8, the prophet foretells how the Assyrians are going to overwhelm Israel in a flood of war and violence. Isaiah interprets this pending invasion as an act of God’s judgment on Israel. The Assyrians are being employed by God to do the demolition.
But after judgement comes hope. Isaiah 9:1-7 is a message of hope. After the tidal wave of Assyrian devastation, God will restore the people of Israel. First the demolition and then the rebuilding. The bigger picture, the longer term plan or vision is to remodel the nation of Israel and make it better than before.
The people need to know the message of hope. They need to understand the longer term improvements God has planned in order to make sense of the pending demolition.
If we didn’t tell you about the renovations, we are planning for the north wing, and you just turned up one Sunday to see the crèche and toilets in ruins, you would be shocked and upset. But since you know the ultimate purpose is to improve that area, you will be better able to cope with the temporary inconvenience.
Now in using this metaphor I don’t mean to minimize or downplay the effects of the Assyrian invasion of Israel. The Jewish exile was obviously far worse than demolishing a few rooms. Many people lost their lives and others became refugees. So our building renovations are not really the same thing in terms of impact on people.
The point is, if you know the suffering you are going through is for a higher purpose, you are better able to handle it. Isaiah pitches his message of hope high because the judgment is so severe.
Verses 1-2 of Isaiah 9 talk about a reversal of fortunes for the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, in the region of Galilee. Previously they were in gloom and distress. But 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.
The northern parts of Israel, around Galilee, were the first to be attacked by the Assyrians. Isaiah is saying, they will be the first to see the light of a new day. Isaiah was right but it did not happen in his lifetime. The nation had to wait centuries.
Matthew, in his gospel, pointed out that Jesus is that light. Jesus started his ministry in Galilee. From Matthew’s gospel we read…
12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali; 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
Isaiah 9 continues the theme of the prophet’s high hope for God’s people. In verse 3, Isaiah talks about how God will enlarge the nation and increase their joy. God will make them prosperous again.
In verse 4 we see another one of Isaiah’s high hopes for the future, where the prophet says: 4 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.
‘The day of Midian’s defeat’ refers to the book of Judges chapter 7, where Gideon defeated the entire Midianite army with just 300 men. Gideon did not do this in his own strength but through God’s strength.
The oppressor of Isaiah’s day was not Midian but Assyria. The Assyrians were the dominant world power. No one of that time seemed to question Assyria’s invincibility, except Isaiah. The prophet saw history from God’s point of view and so he could foresee a day when Assyria (the oppressor) would be defeated.
In New Zealand, at the moment, we are not facing imminent threat from a world super power, like Assyria; at least not that we are aware of. But we have been invaded by the Covid virus, as has every other country in the world.
I’m not suggesting that Covid is God’s judgement on the world, not in the sense of punishment. But the pandemic is certainly testing us and showing us what we are made of. It is a very trying and revealing time.
We have heard reports in the news over the past couple of days that a new variant of the virus is emerging around the world. It is unclear when we will finally emerge from this pandemic. While we don’t know what the immediate future holds, we believe nothing is too difficult for God to handle.
From history we know that pandemics seem to come round every 100 years or so. Then they go again. Viruses are like world super powers I guess. They rise and fall. Ultimately, God is in charge, not Covid. In the meantime, we still need to do everything in our power to protect our neighbours from the spread of the virus.
Verse 5 shows the prophet’s high hope for peace: 5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
Not only does Isaiah imagine a day when the Assyrians are conquered. He also dares to imagine a day when war is done away with for forever. That day has not come in its fullness for us just yet. But it will eventually. God’s vision for the future (and our high hope) is heaven on earth. Life without war and without sickness or disease.
Isaiah’s message of hope is not only high, it is also just.
Just hope:
As anyone who has done a tour of our parliament buildings (here in NZ) knows, the Beehive had new foundations laid. These foundations have base isolators which allow some movement in case of an earthquake. They make the building strong. The underground carpark at Wellington hospital has the same sort of foundations.
For peace to be resilient, for peace to stand and not fall when the earth moves, it needs to be based on a foundation of justice.
As I keep saying, the prerequisite to peace is justice. In order to have peace, we don’t prepare for war. Rather we support wise leaders who work for a just and fair world. Hope for peace, without justice, is misplaced and fragile, like a building without base isolators in an earthquake zone.
Or to return to our kite metaphor; hope for peace, without justice, is like a kite without a tail; it is unstable and won’t fly.
And so we come to Isaiah 9, verse 6, made famous by the songs we sing at Christmas: 6 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 Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isn’t it interesting how, so often in Scripture, God’s purposes in history are associated with the birth of children. Truly his strength is made perfect in weakness. [1]
We can’t be sure how the Jews of Isaiah’s day understood this verse but we know that Christians down through the centuries have seen the birth of Jesus in Isaiah’s prophecy.
The titles of honour ascribed to this leader, this king, are too lofty and too grand to apply to any earthly king. They are divine titles. Indeed, this verse seems to be talking about God himself, as commander and chief.
They say that in the game of drafts you only need to think 1 or 2 moves ahead, but in the game of chess you need to be thinking 4 or 5 moves ahead. One of the jobs of a king is to make good decisions. A king needs to be like a good chess player, thinking several moves ahead, playing out all the various scenarios in his mind.
The Hebrew term for Wonderful Counsellor literally translates wonder planner
The phrase wonderful counsellor then refers to a king with the wisdom & foresight to design and develop extraordinary plans & policies for the ordering of the public life of his people [2]
As the word wonder suggests the vision and planning of this architect king are awe inspiring – the king’s wisdom leaves people gob smacked in amazement.
In Genesis 18, God visits Abraham & Sarah with a message of high hope. The Lord says that Sarah will give birth to a son. Sarah laughs at this, because she is well past child bearing age, so God says…
Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? [Meaning, is anything too difficult for the Lord?] At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah will have a son.”
The Lord’s plan here is truly amazing in its scope and level of difficulty. Yahweh, the wonderful counsellor, is planning to redeem the entire creation through Abraham’s offspring and he is going to do this by making it possible for a 90-year-old woman to give birth to a son.
Isaac’s birth was a miracle of resurrection. Isaac’s birth demonstrates that nothing is too difficult for God. Even when it seems like all hope is lost, God can make things new.
It should be noted however, that while Abraham and Sarah did see the birth of their son Isaac, they did not live to see the complete fulfilment of God’s promise. Their hope and ours is realised in the birth of Jesus. When we consider how Jesus makes good on God’s promise to Abraham, we begin to marvel at the Lord’s planning.
The term Mighty God refers to God’s power. It goes hand in hand with wonder planner. Nothing is too difficult for God. But the term Mighty God also carries the nuance of military commander or warrior.
We don’t get the image of Jesus as a warrior so much in the gospels but the book of Revelation does portray Jesus as a mighty warrior who slays evil dragons and horrible beasts.
We may prefer our Jesus more domesticated, more meek and mild. But he is the Lord of hosts, the commander of legions of holy angels. Jesus uses his power to conquer sin and death, to establish justice and restore peace. He is the Prince of Peace.
These divine titles, in verse 6, are all different ways of saying the same thing. This ideal king will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness forever.
So our high hope for peace is based on the firm foundation of wise and just leadership, the kind of leadership demonstrated by Christ.
In a geo-political sense, that peace is not realised yet. But in a spiritual and personal sense, peace with God is available to us through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Certain hope:
Not only is Isaiah’s message of hope high and just, it is also certain. It is not the kind of hope that hinges on luck, like maybe someday winning Lotto. Nor is it the hope that depends on your own skill and hard work, like possibly becoming an All Black or a Black Fern.
The future described in Isaiah 9 is a certain hope because it depends on God; it is based in the Lord’s will and purpose. As verse 7 tells us: The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
Zeal is an intense, passionate enthusiasm or energy to get something done. The zeal of the Lord is not just a sudden short burst though. God’s zeal is long and deep. It is patient and tenacious.
There’s a quote in the movie Catch me if you can, which captures the idea of zeal quite nicely: Two little mice fell in a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse wouldn’t quit. He struggled so hard that eventually he turned that cream into butter and crawled out.
The second mouse had zeal.
Now, to be quite clear, the Lord is not a mouse and he hardly needs to struggle. But if a mouse can have the zeal to churn cream into butter, then how much more can the zeal of the Lord accomplish?
The zeal of the Lord is not a violent force, like a hurricane or a tidal wave or an earthquake. Nor is God’s zeal like an obsessive compulsive worrying. There is a gentleness and calmness to God’s zeal which is lovely and winsome.
In thinking about the certainty of our hope and the zeal of the Lord to accomplish things, I’m reminded of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Gerard was born in 1844 into an Anglican family. He was an excellent student, winning a scholarship to Oxford University. [3]
At the age of 21 he went through a moral and spiritual crisis and came out the other side a confirmed Catholic. Two years later he joined the Jesuit order and in 1877 was ordained a priest.
He loved writing but for seven years Gerard fasted from writing poetry – he gave it up. He only started writing again when asked by one of his superiors. Verse came flooding out of him.
Although Gerard Manley Hopkins was actually quite brilliant he wrestled with a feeling that he was a failure, as a teacher, a priest and as a human being. He felt that no one really understood him. Self-doubt, imposter syndrome, loneliness, despair. Perhaps some of you can identify?
Like many deep feeling Christians, Gerard longed for God’s presence. There were times when he felt abandoned and neglected by God. These times, when his hope of a more intimate connection with God was disappointed, were agony.
I would like to think that Gerard Hopkins made the connection that most of the great prophets were poets. And most of them suffered during their own life time and probably thought they were failures too. I guess none of us know the significance of our life, in the course of history, from God’s perspective.
While he was alive, Gerard’s poems had a small audience, just himself and God. He did not enjoy fame or fortune or even good health. Gerard died in 1889 of typhoid fever. He was still relatively young, just 45.
His poetry may never have been known to world except for the zeal of the Lord.
It wasn’t until 1918, 29 years after his death, that a friend, Robert Bridges, prepared Gerard’s collection of poems for publication. His verse spoke to the heart of a generation who were disillusioned with God after four years of World War 1 and the start of a flu pandemic that killed even more than the war did.
I tell you this true story, about Gerard Manley Hopkins, to make the point that our hope in God is certain. It does not depend on our feelings. God is still present, even when it feels to us like he is absent. And his purpose is still at work, even after we have died.
Sometimes life doesn’t make a lot of sense. Sometimes we struggle to find any meaning or purpose in our suffering. There is a certain mystery to this life. We are not given all the answers, at least not this side of heaven. But that’s where faith and hope in God come to our rescue.
We don’t have to have it all figured out. Whatever it is you have been through, whatever it is you are going through currently, whatever it is you are dreading, God has got this. He’s got you. He understands you completely and he can give your life meaning beyond the grave.
Conclusion:
Isaiah’s message of hope for God’s people is high and just and certain. The zeal of the Lord is able to achieve far more than we can imagine.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears… 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
Let us pray…
Eternal God, we thank you for your wonderful plan to redeem our suffering and restore your creation. Save us from misplaced hope. When times are tough, give us the perspective to see the good future you have planned for those whose hope is in Christ. We thank you for Jesus’ advent and we look forward to his coming again in glory. Amen.
Questions for discussion or reflection:
What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
- How do you define hope? What does hope mean to you?
- Why does Isaiah follow a message of judgment with a message of hope?
- Reflect on / discuss the ways Jesus fulfils Isaiah 9:1-7.
- What is God’s vision (our high hope) for the future of human history? Are you able to imagine what that future will be like?
- What (or who) is needed for peace?
- On what does your hope depend? What makes our hope certain?
[1] Refer Barry Webb’s BST Commentary on Isaiah, page 69.
[2] Walter Brueggemann, Names for the Messiah, page 7.
[3] Refer Terry Glaspey’s book, ’75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know, pages 218-220.
Tawa Baptist 