Isaiah 9:1 - Meaning and Application

The opening words of this chapter clearly connect with the end of the previous one, where everything looked dark and heavy. There was trouble, darkness, and gloom, very bad indeed, yet not so bad that light would not rise for the upright in the darkness (Psalm 112:4), and it would be light even at evening time (Zechariah 14:7). Still, it would not be such darkness, either in kind or in degree, as there had been before.

In the worst times, God’s people have a “nevertheless” to comfort themselves with, something that balances out their trouble. They may be persecuted, but they are not abandoned (2 Corinthians 4:9). They may be sorrowful, yet they are always rejoicing (2 Corinthians 6:10). It is a comfort to us, when things are darkest, that God, who forms the light and creates the darkness (Isaiah 45:7), has set limits to both and placed them against each other (Genesis 4:4). He can say, “So far the darkness will go, and no farther.”

Three things are promised here, and all of them finally point to the grace of the gospel. The saints then were to comfort themselves with hope of that gospel in every cloudy and dark day, just as we now comfort ourselves in trouble with the hope of Christ’s second coming, though that coming is still far off, as his first coming was then. The mercy God has stored up for his church in the later days may also support those who grieve with her over her present troubles.

First, there is the promise of a glorious light. It will gradually break up the darkness so that it will not be as it once was. There will not be such dark times as before, when God first lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, then more severely afflicted the land by the way of the sea and beyond Jordan (Isaiah 9:1), likely referring to the days when God began to cut Israel down and strike them on every side (2 Kings 10:32). God often tests a people with lesser judgments before he brings greater ones. If a light affliction does not humble and reform us, we should expect heavier affliction. When God judges, he will win.

Those were dark days for Zebulun and Naphtali, and there was gloom in Galilee of the nations. There was darkness because of ignorance, since they did not speak according to the law and the testimony, and where that is true, there is no light (Isaiah 8:20). There was also darkness because of trouble and the desperate state of their outward affairs. Both are seen together (2 Chronicles 15:3, 2 Chronicles 15:5). Israel had been without the true God and without a teaching priest, and in such times there was no peace.

But the darkness threatened there would not last to its full extent, because “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:2). At the time when the prophet spoke, there were many prophets in Judah and Israel. Their words were a great light, giving both direction and comfort to God’s people who held to the law and the testimony. Besides the written Word, they had prophecy. They had those who told them how long it would last (Psalm 74:9), and that was a great comfort when, as to outward troubles, they sat in darkness and lived in the land of deep shadow.

This promise reached its full meaning when our Lord Jesus began to appear as a prophet and preach the gospel in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, in Galilee of the nations. The Old Testament prophets bore witness to him, and they also pointed to him in advance. When he came and lived in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, this prophecy was fulfilled (Matthew 4:13-16). Those who do not have the gospel walk in darkness and do not know what they are doing or where they are going. They live in the land of deep shadow, in thick darkness and great danger. When the gospel comes to a place, or to a soul, light comes, a great light, a bright light that grows brighter. We should welcome it, as people sitting in darkness welcome light, because it is so useful to us and because it carries its own proof with it. Truly, this light is sweet.

Second, there is the promise of a glorious increase and a wide joy that comes from it (Isaiah 9:3). “You have multiplied the nation,” that is, the Jewish nation, for whom God had mercy in store. Though it had been reduced by one severe judgment after another, God had begun to multiply it again. A nation’s numbers are its strength and wealth, if the people are industrious, and it is God who increases nations (Job 12:23). Yet it says, “You have not increased the joy,” meaning the ordinary fleshly joy and the things people often use to produce it. Even so, “they rejoice before you.” There is a great deal of serious spiritual joy among them, joy in God’s presence, with attention fixed on him.

This fits well with the time of gospel light mentioned in Isaiah 9:2. Then God multiplied the nation, the gospel Israel. “And to him,” as the Masoretes read it, “you have magnified the joy,” that is, to everyone who receives the light. The next words support that reading: “They rejoice before you.” They come before God in holy worship with great joy. Their happiness is not like Israel’s joy under their vines and fig trees. Rather, it is joy in God’s favor and in the signs of his grace.

The gospel, when it comes with light and power, brings joy with it, and those who receive it rightly do rejoice in it, and will continue to rejoice. That is why the conversion of the nations is foretold in this way (Psalm 67:4). “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy” (see also Psalm 96:11). This is holy joy. “They rejoice before you.” They rejoice in spirit, as Christ did (Luke 10:21), and that is before God. In the world’s eyes they may seem always sorrowful, yet in God’s sight they are always rejoicing (2 Corinthians 6:10).

It is also great joy. It is like the joy at harvest, when people who sowed in tears, and waited long and patiently for the valuable crop, reap with joy. It is also like the joy in war, when soldiers, after a dangerous battle, divide the spoil. The gospel brings plenty and victory, but those who want its joy must expect hard work first, like the farmer before harvest and the soldier before sharing the plunder. Yet when the joy comes, it will more than repay the toil. See (Acts 8:8, Acts 8:39).

This points to a glorious freedom and widening of life, as Isaiah 9:4, Isaiah 9:5 says. “They shall rejoice before you, because you have broken the yoke that weighed them down, the staff on their shoulder, and the rod of their oppressor.” That heavy rod of the wicked had rested long on the share of the righteous, but God would break it, as he broke Midian’s power from Israel through Gideon. If God uses past rescues as patterns for future help, then we should use them as reasons to trust him and keep praying to him (Psalm 83:9).

What specific rescue this first pointed to is not clear. Most likely it meant God stopping Sennacherib from taking Jerusalem, and doing it, as in the day of Midian, by his own direct hand. Other battles were usually loud and bloody, but this would be different, quiet and without human boasting. God would kindle a fire under his glory (Isaiah 10:16), a fire not blown by man, and it would consume the enemy (Job 20:26).

Even so, the prophecy clearly reaches farther. It points to the good results of that great light visiting those who sat in darkness. That light would bring liberty with it, and it would bring deliverance to prisoners (Luke 4:18). The gospel’s purpose is to break the yoke of sin and Satan, lift the burden of guilt and corruption, and free us from those oppressors. Then we are brought into the glorious freedom of God’s children.

Christ broke the yoke of the ceremonial law, the religious law of Israel’s old system, and set us free from it (Acts 15:10; Galatians 5:1). He delivered us from our enemies so that we might serve him without fear (Luke 1:74, Luke 1:75). This work is done by the Spirit, who works like fire (Matthew 3:11), not with the confused noise of human war. Our warfare is not fought with human weapons, but with the Spirit of judgment and the Spirit of burning (Isaiah 4:4). Like the day of Midian, it is God working on human hearts. Christ is our Gideon, and his sword does wonders.

But who will do these great things for the church? The prophet says they will be done by the Messiah, Immanuel, the virgin-born child he had already foretold (Isaiah 7:14). He speaks of him here as if it were already done, because it was just as certain as if it had happened. The church before his coming already received great benefit from his work, because of the first promise about the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15). As he was the Lamb slain, so he was the child born from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). All the great things God did for the Old Testament church were done through him as the eternal Word, and for his sake as the Mediator, the one who stands between God and people.

He was the Anointed One, the one God had in view (Psalm 84:9). It was for the Lord Christ’s sake that God caused his face to shine on his sanctuary (Daniel 9:17). The Jewish nation, and especially David’s family, were often kept from ruin only because this blessing was in their line. So what stronger assurance could God give his church than this, that he had such a mercy reserved for it? The Chaldee paraphrast understood this of the one who will endure forever, that is, Christ. It is a striking prophecy of him and his kingdom, and those waiting for Israel’s comfort surely found great delight in it.

See him first in his humble state. The same one who is the mighty God is a child born. The Ancient of Days becomes an infant a hand long. The everlasting Father becomes a Son given. Such was his lowering of himself in taking our nature. He humbled and emptied himself to lift us up and fill us. He is born into our world, the Word made flesh and living among us. He is given freely to be all that our fallen condition needs. God so loved the world that he gave him.

He is born for us, given to us, to us humans, not to the angels who sinned. The words sound like triumph, and the angel seems to echo them when he announces the Messiah to the shepherds: “To you is born this day a Savior” (Luke 2:11). Christ’s birth and gift to us are the great foundation of our hope and the source of our joy, even in deep grief and fear.

Now see him in his exaltation. This child, this Son, this Son of God and Son of man given to us, is fully able to do us great good. He is given the highest honor and power, so we can be sure we will be blessed if he is our friend. He shall be called, and therefore he is and will be, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

He is Wonderful, Counselor. He is truly wonderful because he is both God and man. His love is the wonder of angels and glorified believers. His birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension were all wonderful. Wonders ran through his whole life, and no one can fully explain the deep truth about him. He is Counselor because he knew God’s plans from eternity and gives wise advice to people for their good. God has given us counsel through him (Psalm 16:7; Revelation 3:18). He is the Father’s wisdom and is made to us wisdom. Some join the two names together and read, “Wonderful Counselor,” meaning a counselor so great that he is a wonder. In this, as in all things, he has first place. No one teaches like him.

He is the Mighty God, God the Strong One. As he has wisdom, so he has power to carry out what he came to do. He is able to save completely, and the work of the Mediator needed no less power than that of the Mighty God.

He is the Everlasting Father, or the Father of eternity. He is God, one with the Father, from everlasting to everlasting. He gives everlasting life and happiness to his people, so he is the Father of their blessed eternity. He is the Father of the world to come, as the Septuagint reads it, the Father of the gospel age, which is placed under his rule, not under the angels (Hebrews 2:5). From eternity he was the Father of the great work of redemption, because his heart was set on it. It came from his wisdom as Counselor and his love as the Everlasting Father.

He is the Prince of Peace. As King, he guards peace, commands peace, and even creates peace in his kingdom. He is our peace, and his peace keeps the hearts of his people and rules within them.

He is not only a peaceful prince, and his rule is peaceful, but he is the source and giver of all good. All the peace his people enjoy now and will enjoy later comes from him.

See also the authority he is given, and the throne above every throne (Isaiah 9:6). “The government shall be upon his shoulder” means that the rule belongs to him alone. He will not only wear the sign of authority on his shoulder, like the key of the house of David (Isaiah 22:22), but he will also carry the full burden of governing. The Father gives it to him, so he has an unquestioned right to rule. He also takes on the work gladly, so there is no doubt he will rule well. He will not be overburdened, as Moses was when he said, “I am not able to bear all this people” (Numbers 11:11, Numbers 11:14).

Many glorious things are said here about Christ’s rule (Isaiah 9:7). First, it will keep growing. His kingdom will spread farther and farther, and more people will be added to it every day. Its honor will also grow, and it will shine more brightly in the world. Earthly kingdoms have usually become less impressive over time. What began in gold ended in iron and clay, and each kingdom slowly weakened. But Christ’s kingdom keeps growing, and in the end it will reach full maturity.

Second, it will be a peaceful rule, fitting his title as the Prince of Peace. He rules by love and in people’s hearts. Wherever his rule is, there is peace, and as his rule grows, peace grows too. The more fully we submit to Christ, the more calm and secure we become.

Third, it will be a rightful rule. The Son of David will sit on David’s throne and rule over David’s kingdom, which belongs to him by right. God will give him the throne of his father David (Luke 1:32, Luke 1:33). The gospel church, where Jews and Gentiles are joined together, is the holy hill of Zion, and Christ reigns there (Psalm 2:6).

Fourth, it will be carried out with wisdom and fairness, in a way that achieves the main goal of government, which is to establish and strengthen the kingdom. He will “order it” and “settle it” with justice and judgment. Everything in Christ’s kingdom is, and will be, well managed, and none of his people will ever have reason to complain.

Fifth, it will last forever. There will be no end to the growth of his government, since it will keep expanding. There will also be no end to its peace, because the happiness of this kingdom’s people will last forever, and perhaps will keep growing forever too. He will reign from that time on and forever, not only through all the generations of time, but even after the kingdom is handed over to God the Father, the glory of both the Redeemer and the redeemed will continue forever.

Sixth, God himself has promised to bring all this to pass. “The Lord of hosts,” who has all power and all creatures at his command, will do this. He will preserve the throne of David until this Prince of Peace is seated on it. His zeal will do it, his concern for his own honor, the truth of his promise, and the good of his church. Notice how much God cares about advancing Christ’s kingdom among people. That should comfort all who want that kingdom to prosper. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will overcome every obstacle.