Isaiah 9:1 ¶
Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was
in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and
the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by
the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. 2 The people that walked in darkness have seen
a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them
hath the light shined. 3 Thou hast
multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee
according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they
divide the spoil. 4 For thou hast broken
the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his
oppressor, as in the day of Midian. 5
For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and
garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel
of fire. 6 For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his
name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting
Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the
increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon
the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it
with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the
LORD of hosts will perform this.
Some commentators connect Isaiah, chapter 9
with 1st and 2nd Samuel, united as the 9th
book of the Hebrew Bible, with regard to men taking a spoil as in verse 3 here.
1Samuel 30:16
And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon
all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil
that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of
Judah.
2Samuel 3:22 ¶ And, behold, the servants of David and Joab
came from pursuing a troop, and brought in a great spoil with them: but Abner
was not with David in Hebron; for he had sent him away, and he was gone in
peace.
Verse 7, a Messianic verse, is linked with:
1Samuel 13:13
And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept
the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the
LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.
2Samuel 7:16
And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before
thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
This is a strongly Messianic passage.
1
¶ Nevertheless the dimness shall
not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly
afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more
grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee
of the nations. 2 The people that walked
in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow
of death, upon them hath the light shined.
Matthew 4:12 ¶ Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast
into prison, he departed into Galilee; 13
And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the
sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: 14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by Esaias the prophet, saying, 15 The
land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond
Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 16 The
people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the
region and shadow of death light is sprung up. 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to
say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
The Jews of the Second Temple period, of
Jesus’ time, in their Targums viewed this as such along with many other
passages, a reference to the Messiah to come, although they rejected Jesus.
Verse 3 goes on to say that God has increased
the Jews of Judah in number but has not increased their joy in the Lord God but
rather they joy regarding temporal things like a good harvest or when men
divide up booty from a conquest. It is purely material and lacking in any
spiritual sense of their relationship to God. God has delivered them from their
oppressors as he did in the day of Gideon and the Midianites and the horrors of
battle are part of that equation.
We can easily see this as a Messianic
reference to the state of mankind before the Second Advent of Christ. Man is
totally materialistic and while delivered from Satan’s oppression they deny
that this is the source of their success and are not beholden to the God who
created them. War and death are the consequences of mankind’s attitude and his
lack of awareness of the Creator.
Then comes the Messiah.
While Isaiah talks about his own current
events we see the Holy Spirit directing our vision to the future King-Messiah,
the Son or God in the flesh, the Word by which all things were created and are
sustained, who is the Son and the Father, a direct reference to the powers in
the Heaven who are one God, the “us” of Genesis, chapter 1 and 11. He is the
Mighty God and the Everlasting Father as well as the Prince of Peace between
God and man, the Saviour who tore down the wall of partition between man and
God and united Jew and Gentile into the church.
Ephesians 2:14 ¶ For he is our peace, who hath made both one,
and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity,
even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of
twain (that is Jew and Gentile) one new man, so making
peace; 16 And that he might reconcile
both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17 And came and preached peace to you which were
afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
This is a direct reference to Christ’s
millennial reign from Jerusalem on the throne of David and God’s reign in
eternity.
As I’ve noted before the Jews of the first century and before, in
particular the Jews of the Second Temple Period, had interpretations of the Old
Testament called Targums which were in Aramaic. They would read the verses in
Aramaic, the language of the common man in a way that Hebrew was not, and
change the text to match their interpretation.
John Gill, the great Baptist preacher who preached in Charles
Haddon Spurgeon’s church a century before him, noted in his commentary that the
Jerusalem Targum renders Genesis 1:1 as, “in wisdom God created.” We have this
also then as a cross-reference in Proverbs.
Proverbs 3:19 The LORD by
wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the
heavens.
A source I studied said that one translation of the Targum Neofiti
has two interpretations.
From the beginning by wisdom the son of the LORD created
the heavens and the earth.
From the beginning by (the) wisdom the LORD created and
formed the heavens and the earth.
The angel of the Lord, the angel of God, is the appearance
of God, who is Christ, the visible image of the invisible God.
Here we have the Lord Jesus Christ in His preincarnate
form, who as John noted, was with God and was God.
John 1:1 ¶ In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and
without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light
of men.
5 ¶ And the light shineth
in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Proverbs 30:4 Who hath
ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists?
who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of
the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?
Judges 2:1 And an angel of
the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of
Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and
I said, I will never break my covenant with you.
Acts 27:23 For there stood
by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
Hebrews 1:3
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his
person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by
himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Christ’s people will reign with Him for a
thousand years before eternity begins.
Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the
first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be
priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Prophecies of Christ’s reign, often double
prophecies with an immediate context and as a future event, are all through the
Old Testament. Examples include:
2Samuel 7:16
And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before
thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
Psalm 2:8
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and
the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Psalm 72:8
He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the
ends of the earth.
Daniel 7:9 ¶
I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did
sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure
wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire… 13 I
saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the
clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near
before him. 14 And there was given him
dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages,
should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass
away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
See one here from the New Testament.
Luke 1:32
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the
Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob
for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
The three parts of God are one God.
Matthew 28:19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
2Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the
love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.
1John 5:7
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
Eternal peace with God and rule by God await
us.
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