In celebration of the birth of our Savior, let’s sing:
Hark the herald angels sing, ”Glory to the newborn King.
Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.”
Joyful all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies
With angelic host proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem
Hark the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King.”
Isaiah foretold of this blessed event many years before:
1 Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,
As when at first He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
2 The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation
And increased its joy;
They rejoice before You
According to the joy of harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4 For You have 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 warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle,
And garments rolled in blood,
Will be used for burning and fuel of fire.
Isaiah 9:1-5
As in all areas of Scripture, context is very important in these verses, as some apply to historical times, when Jesus Christ walked as a Man upon this earth, while others apply to events yet to happen. God “lightly esteemed” Zebulun and Napthali through the life of Jesus. The childhood home of Jesus, Nazareth, is in Zebulon, while Capernaum, a prominent town in the ministry of Jesus, is in Naphtali. Additionally, those areas have been “heavily oppressed” by God today, as Capernaum, which was thriving in the time of Jesus, is now uninhabited, while Bethlehem is an Arab capital, unfriendly to Jews and Christians.
Georg Friedrich Händel made many of the words of this chapter resonate through his oratorio “Messiah,” which begins with the second verse. That darkness described by Isaiah directly applied to the Jews in the Babylonian captivity, but just as strongly describes each Christian who has come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. He is the greatest light at the end of the tunnel! When adopted into the family of God, we are granted the same rights of inheritance as Jesus. He earned the inheritance with His life, but we are joint heirs because of His love. Isaiah 53 tells us that, “He will divide the spoil with the strong.” The spoil that each of us receives for accomplishing one task will be sufficient to last us for eternity. What is that one task? Asking Jesus into our hearts as Messiah! When that is accomplished, Jesus takes away our bondage to sin! Then Isaiah points us to the greatest event in man’s history:
6 For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:6-7
These verses are familiar to most of us, and sometimes with that familiarity, we seem to miss the depth and juxtaposition of the opening phrases. Though to us, a child and a son may be the same, that is not the point of this passage. “Unto us a Child is born” refers to the humanity of Christ, who chose to leave the perfection of heaven and enter into a frail, human body, to share His amazing love with us all. “Unto us a Son is given” refers to His deity. John told us that God gave His only Son, so that all might know Him and have eternal life. It is so hard for our human minds to comprehend that Jesus is fully God and fully Man, but when we get to heaven, there will be a Man on the throne of God.
Then, Isaiah gives us different names of Jesus. Though He is a wonderful counselor, there is a comma between those two names. First, He is Wonderful, which is the Hebrew word pele. While the English word, wonderful, does describe Jesus, this Hebrew word is better translated “incomprehensible,” or too difficult to know. It is a noun, not an adjective. His name is Wonderful! He also is our Counselor. He represents each of us as the Greatest Counselor in the high court of His Father, and this Counselor will win every case! He is Mighty God, with the Hebrew word EL meaning “God,” like Immanu-EL! He is not just mighty but all powerful!
He is the everlasting Father, more specifically, “the Father of eternity.” A father is responsible for creating birth, and He is the Seed of the birth of all creation. This points to the triune nature of God, as does the final name listed here, the Prince of Peace, with a dove being emblematic of both peace and the Holy Spirit. When Jesus rules on the throne of David for 1,000, there will be no more war. There never has been a time without war on this planet. The verses culminate with a description of the future presence of Jesus upon the earth.
What a glorious day, a Savior is born in Bethlehem! “Glory to the newborn King.” Glory to Jesus, who saves us from our sins! God with us, Immanuel, was born!
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14
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