Looking Toward the Rising Sun
Isaiah 8.9 - 9.7
“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear:
fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell.
Yes, I tell you, fear him!” (Luke 12.4-5)
Yes, I tell you, fear him!” (Luke 12.4-5)
Ahaz piously refused to ask for a sign from God of his faithfulness to deliver Judah from the military threat of the Syro-Ephraimite alliance. Isaiah had told him he could ask for anything whatever: there was no limit, from the height of heaven to the depth of sheol (the grave or pit). Sadly, Isaiah’s earlier pronouncement, If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all (Isaiah 7.9b), proved to be all too true of Ahaz. Though Ahaz did not ask for a sign God nonetheless gave him one – a sign that spanned the chasm between heaven and hell; namely, the sign of Immanuel, a child born of a virgin. Ahaz missed the opportunity of a lifetime. Had he the faith to believe, he would have seen the greatness of God at work. Nothing remains but the prophet’s graphic condemnation of his unbelief. The true threat to Judah was not her immediate neighbors to the north, as Ahaz’s envisioned it, but Assyria, the very nation to whom Ahaz had turned to for deliverance. This cruel conqueror would soon overflow her banks and would engulf the very little that remained of Israel’s autonomy. Only a remnant would be spared. They may have naively thought of themselves as Immanuel (God dwelling with them), but when given the opportunity to trust God they demonstrated they were a faithless people.
GOD’S GRACIOUS PROMISE (8.9-22)
Though God judges Judah severely, he limits his wrath. Indeed, the instrument of God’s wrath becomes the target of Isaiah’s prophecy of judgment. Assyria may threaten Judah but they are forewarned that they cannot prevail utterly against God’s elect. The treaty contracted by Ahaz with Assyria did in fact remove the immediate threat of the northern tribes and Syria, but the threat of Assyria became even more pronounced for those with political discernment. Isaiah was not misled by the temporary peace negotiated by Ahaz and he warned the Jews not to have a false sense of security. Those faithful Jews who took to heart the word of the prophet, may be assured that a day of restoration will follow the day of judgment. Assyria will field a mighty army, their plans to conqueror Judah will come to naught because nothing can thwart the plans of God (Proverbs 16.1-4). Even if Judah’s enemy sweeps over the land they will only reach up to the neck, they will not utterly destroy God’s people because he is with those who trust in him: Immanuel (God is with us).
Isaiah portrays God’s covenant community as a people within a people. There were many “professing believers” who remained attached to a secular lifestyle. Isaiah was not the “people’s prophet” as he consistently failed to deliver a message that was either socially expedient or “politically correct.” But all those who took to heart his call to separate themselves from the current unbelief of Judah can be assured that they will find sanctuary in the Lord. Ironically, Isaiah does not pacify them with a false assurance that they will be immune to the temporal judgment coming upon Judah. To the contrary, when unbelieving Judah goes into captivity, the believing remnant will accompany them. The difference is that the person of faith knows his trials are temporary and not fatal. The Lord disciplines those he calls his children (Hebrews 12.5-10) so that they may share in his holiness.
Isaiah separated himself from the superstitious unbelief of the people (8.11) and in so doing modeled for the believing remnant what it is that God requires of all who would be holy. The believer’s action ought not to be subject to the voguish whims and fears of society: Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall regard as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. The believer’s eye is fixed on the author and perfecter of his faith (cp. Hebrews 12.2). What sets the believer apart from all others is his or her faith. It is his identity with God. So Moses spoke to God: “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your eyes, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33.15b-16). Believers in every age have fixed their eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen (cp. 2 Corinthians 4.16-18).
The Post-Nicene church father John Chrysostom wrote:
“What then is the virtue of a man? Not riches that you should fear poverty: nor health of body that you should dread sickness, nor the opinion of the public, that you should view an evil reputation with alarm, nor life simply for its own sake, that death should be terrible to you: nor liberty that you should avoid servitude: but carefulness in holding true doctrine, and rectitude in life. Of these things not even the devil himself will be able to rob a man, if he who possesses them guards them with the needful carefulness: and that most malicious and ferocious demon is aware of this. For this cause also he robbed Job of his substance, not to make him poor, but that he might force him into uttering some blasphemous speech; and he tortured his body, not to subject him to infirmity, but to upset the virtue of his soul.” (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series I, Vol. 9, 272-73)
All those who completely trust in the Lord will find him to be a sanctuary in times of trouble. Isaiah completely trusted in the sovereign purposes of God. To do otherwise is suicide for Judah. Isaiah has run into the breach and he calls others to follow him. The believer lives with a constant awareness of the presence of God. It is a true fear of the Lord that brings inward peace of mind. Those who have no assurance of God’s sovereignty will always be subject to the threat du jour. Isaiah does not give his listener any assurance that turning to God is a safe thing to do; it is the only thing one can do if he hopes to live. God came to the people in the desert and he was present in the tabernacle. Isaiah assures the Jews that in the same way the Lord gave shelter to the Hebrews in the desert he would now protect them from the Syrian threat. “The stress in these verses is that what gives most offence to the sinner and what at the same time constitutes his greatest danger is the presence of the divine. The same God in his unchanging nature is both sanctuary and snare; it depends on how people respond to his holiness” (J. Alec Moyter, Isaiah, p. 95). The image of the tabernacle in the wilderness and the Lord as a sanctuary are images picked up by the apostle John in his Gospel (cp. John 1.14).
THE DESTINY OF UNBELIEVERS (Isaiah 8.16-22)
Isaiah directs his teaching for the believing remnant. They are the ones who gladly hear and obey God’s law. In true prophetic fashion, Isaiah’s life exemplifies how all believers ought to behave during this crisis of belief. The threat is very real and there is no assurance that any will be taken out of harm’s way. Indeed, quite to the contrary, many will die in the coming judgment. It will be a different generation that will realize the temporal blessings promised by the prophet. Of course, the eschatological blessing awaits everyone who believes and holds fast to the promise given. Ahaz did not respond to the enjoiner to “test” God and now God has hidden his face from him. Isaiah’s faith may be seen as a dramatic contrast to the unbelief of the northern king and the naming of his son Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (8.3) speaks to God’s swift action and ultimately foreshadows the great Immanuel (7.14). God will preserve his people in their temporal troubles and he will ultimately bring them into his presence. The bedrock of their faith is that God is laying a cornerstone (28.16) and everyone who believes in it will be safe.
It is one thing to hear the truth proclaimed and believe it to be true, but putting it into practice is quite another. Isaiah warns his attentive listener to live apart from the corrupting practices of their neighbors (cp. 2 Corinthians 6.15-18). Then, as now, the general populace was fascinated by the “supernaturalism” of spiritists, necromancers and mediums. Isaiah sarcastically asks, “Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?” It is ridiculous to search in the shadows for what can only be found in the light. The dead are weaker than the living. They are but half-persons, souls without bodies (Moyter, p. 97). Such people have no dawn, they live in the shadowlands of self-deception and are consigned to destruction. Too late will they realize the futility of believing the lie of self-preservation: But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble (Proverbs 4.18-19).
PEOPLE OF HOPE (Isaiah 9.1-7)
Hope is a word that customarily speaks of future events. As such, there is a tendency to relegate those things into the category of possibilities or wishful thinking. Except for death, the future is veiled in mystery. Soothsayers, astrologists and the like attract fearful people who would, if they could, peer beyond this dark shroud into the future. The prophet surprises his listener by speaking of the future in the past tense. The future of the believing remnant is secured by the God for whom the future is a present reality. So Isaiah speaks as though these events have already taken place. These were dark times indeed for Judah. They had two options: they could look at the overwhelming forces pressing in around them and become paralyzed in their fear, or they could look to the rising sun and see that the darkness is in full retreat. Isaiah subtly reminds his readers of their long history of God’s faithfulness in adversity. For centuries their forbearers suffered under the oppressive yoke of Egyptian slavery. Their deliverance from this bondage was an undeniable act of sovereign intervention. Later, during the period of the Judges, God delivered Israel from the encroachment of the Midianites, when, in accordance to the Lord’s instruction, Gideon and 300 men attacked an army of 120,000 soldiers.
There are two views one may take. You can look away from the rising sun into the retreating darkness and remember all your shattered dreams and the hopelessness of your situation. Or you might look toward the rising sun. Those who remember God’s past mercies are more inclined to believe him for his present grace. It is God’s will to bring many sons to glory and he often does this through many trials (cp. Hebrews 2.10). Thus those who respond to the present crisis with an affirmation of faith will live to see the triumph of his grace. Those who trust in the triumph and sovereign grace of God are more than conquerors. The Isaianic imagery in 9.5 is that of final conquest. All the tools of war will be destroyed and there will be peace for God’s people.
The root cause of all this is the birth of the Prince of Peace. He is the One upon whom the government shall rest. He is the Wonderful Counselor [lit. a wonder, a counsellor – Motyer comments: “Wonderful Counsellor is possible, but less probable in the light of the fact that each of the following three names consists of two components, suggesting here a ‘wonder of a counselor’. This issue is beyond proof either way.”] and Mighty God. He is the fulfillment of the Davidic promise. David the warrior king brought peace to Israel but only one king (Solomon) sat upon that throne before it collapsed. But when the true Prince of Peace comes he will bring an increase to his kingdom progressively until he rules over everything and there will be no end to his kingdom. He will establish justice and righteousness forever.
** Dear reader, let me whet your appetite to read the book I mentioned in my notes: Alec Motyer’s Isaiah by the Day: A New Devotional Translation with his devotional summary of Isaiah 9.1-7.
“Of course, the single event of birth of the child did not produce the marvels Isaiah reported. The wonder child's life and work still lay ahead. But so great was the baby, so mighty in prospect so completely sufficient for every need, that what he would yet accomplish could be spoken of as already achieved there and then by his birth. Did you notice, as you read, the three because verses 4 – 6 a rising tide explanation? How has degration become honor (v. 1) darkness been replaced by light (v. 2) and increase and a joy beyond earthly joy has been experienced? Isaiah answers, because... because... because; because the Lord has acted as of old to deliver (v. 4)... Because the enemy has been utterly defeated (v.5) ... because the child has been born (v. 6)! He is, in himself, all that his people need: the wonderful counselor supernatural in wisdom; God himself come in victorious power, ever fatherly in care; The Prince-administrator of total wellbeing which the Bible calls peace. This is Jesus, who from God is for us wisdom... righteousness, sanctification and redemption (1 Corinthians 1.30), whereby we can join Charles Wesley in singing, 'Thou, O Christ, art all I want' (meaning, of course, 'all I need'). Without him we are still under the bondage of sin and death; united with him by ‘the love that drew salvation’s plan’ we have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God’s dear Son where, even now, would have already been qualified for the inheritance of the saints in light (Colossians 1.12-13), and we have the strength to do all things through Christ who empowers us (Philippians 4.13). if David, in his day, was confident that the key to life was to behold the beauty of the Lord’ (Psalm 27.14) is not our unspeakable privilege to ‘turn our eyes on Jesus, look full in his wonderful face’?”
GOD’S GRACIOUS PROMISE (8.9-22)
Though God judges Judah severely, he limits his wrath. Indeed, the instrument of God’s wrath becomes the target of Isaiah’s prophecy of judgment. Assyria may threaten Judah but they are forewarned that they cannot prevail utterly against God’s elect. The treaty contracted by Ahaz with Assyria did in fact remove the immediate threat of the northern tribes and Syria, but the threat of Assyria became even more pronounced for those with political discernment. Isaiah was not misled by the temporary peace negotiated by Ahaz and he warned the Jews not to have a false sense of security. Those faithful Jews who took to heart the word of the prophet, may be assured that a day of restoration will follow the day of judgment. Assyria will field a mighty army, their plans to conqueror Judah will come to naught because nothing can thwart the plans of God (Proverbs 16.1-4). Even if Judah’s enemy sweeps over the land they will only reach up to the neck, they will not utterly destroy God’s people because he is with those who trust in him: Immanuel (God is with us).
Isaiah portrays God’s covenant community as a people within a people. There were many “professing believers” who remained attached to a secular lifestyle. Isaiah was not the “people’s prophet” as he consistently failed to deliver a message that was either socially expedient or “politically correct.” But all those who took to heart his call to separate themselves from the current unbelief of Judah can be assured that they will find sanctuary in the Lord. Ironically, Isaiah does not pacify them with a false assurance that they will be immune to the temporal judgment coming upon Judah. To the contrary, when unbelieving Judah goes into captivity, the believing remnant will accompany them. The difference is that the person of faith knows his trials are temporary and not fatal. The Lord disciplines those he calls his children (Hebrews 12.5-10) so that they may share in his holiness.
Isaiah separated himself from the superstitious unbelief of the people (8.11) and in so doing modeled for the believing remnant what it is that God requires of all who would be holy. The believer’s action ought not to be subject to the voguish whims and fears of society: Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall regard as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. The believer’s eye is fixed on the author and perfecter of his faith (cp. Hebrews 12.2). What sets the believer apart from all others is his or her faith. It is his identity with God. So Moses spoke to God: “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your eyes, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33.15b-16). Believers in every age have fixed their eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen (cp. 2 Corinthians 4.16-18).
The Post-Nicene church father John Chrysostom wrote:
“What then is the virtue of a man? Not riches that you should fear poverty: nor health of body that you should dread sickness, nor the opinion of the public, that you should view an evil reputation with alarm, nor life simply for its own sake, that death should be terrible to you: nor liberty that you should avoid servitude: but carefulness in holding true doctrine, and rectitude in life. Of these things not even the devil himself will be able to rob a man, if he who possesses them guards them with the needful carefulness: and that most malicious and ferocious demon is aware of this. For this cause also he robbed Job of his substance, not to make him poor, but that he might force him into uttering some blasphemous speech; and he tortured his body, not to subject him to infirmity, but to upset the virtue of his soul.” (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series I, Vol. 9, 272-73)
All those who completely trust in the Lord will find him to be a sanctuary in times of trouble. Isaiah completely trusted in the sovereign purposes of God. To do otherwise is suicide for Judah. Isaiah has run into the breach and he calls others to follow him. The believer lives with a constant awareness of the presence of God. It is a true fear of the Lord that brings inward peace of mind. Those who have no assurance of God’s sovereignty will always be subject to the threat du jour. Isaiah does not give his listener any assurance that turning to God is a safe thing to do; it is the only thing one can do if he hopes to live. God came to the people in the desert and he was present in the tabernacle. Isaiah assures the Jews that in the same way the Lord gave shelter to the Hebrews in the desert he would now protect them from the Syrian threat. “The stress in these verses is that what gives most offence to the sinner and what at the same time constitutes his greatest danger is the presence of the divine. The same God in his unchanging nature is both sanctuary and snare; it depends on how people respond to his holiness” (J. Alec Moyter, Isaiah, p. 95). The image of the tabernacle in the wilderness and the Lord as a sanctuary are images picked up by the apostle John in his Gospel (cp. John 1.14).
THE DESTINY OF UNBELIEVERS (Isaiah 8.16-22)
Isaiah directs his teaching for the believing remnant. They are the ones who gladly hear and obey God’s law. In true prophetic fashion, Isaiah’s life exemplifies how all believers ought to behave during this crisis of belief. The threat is very real and there is no assurance that any will be taken out of harm’s way. Indeed, quite to the contrary, many will die in the coming judgment. It will be a different generation that will realize the temporal blessings promised by the prophet. Of course, the eschatological blessing awaits everyone who believes and holds fast to the promise given. Ahaz did not respond to the enjoiner to “test” God and now God has hidden his face from him. Isaiah’s faith may be seen as a dramatic contrast to the unbelief of the northern king and the naming of his son Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (8.3) speaks to God’s swift action and ultimately foreshadows the great Immanuel (7.14). God will preserve his people in their temporal troubles and he will ultimately bring them into his presence. The bedrock of their faith is that God is laying a cornerstone (28.16) and everyone who believes in it will be safe.
It is one thing to hear the truth proclaimed and believe it to be true, but putting it into practice is quite another. Isaiah warns his attentive listener to live apart from the corrupting practices of their neighbors (cp. 2 Corinthians 6.15-18). Then, as now, the general populace was fascinated by the “supernaturalism” of spiritists, necromancers and mediums. Isaiah sarcastically asks, “Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?” It is ridiculous to search in the shadows for what can only be found in the light. The dead are weaker than the living. They are but half-persons, souls without bodies (Moyter, p. 97). Such people have no dawn, they live in the shadowlands of self-deception and are consigned to destruction. Too late will they realize the futility of believing the lie of self-preservation: But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble (Proverbs 4.18-19).
PEOPLE OF HOPE (Isaiah 9.1-7)
Hope is a word that customarily speaks of future events. As such, there is a tendency to relegate those things into the category of possibilities or wishful thinking. Except for death, the future is veiled in mystery. Soothsayers, astrologists and the like attract fearful people who would, if they could, peer beyond this dark shroud into the future. The prophet surprises his listener by speaking of the future in the past tense. The future of the believing remnant is secured by the God for whom the future is a present reality. So Isaiah speaks as though these events have already taken place. These were dark times indeed for Judah. They had two options: they could look at the overwhelming forces pressing in around them and become paralyzed in their fear, or they could look to the rising sun and see that the darkness is in full retreat. Isaiah subtly reminds his readers of their long history of God’s faithfulness in adversity. For centuries their forbearers suffered under the oppressive yoke of Egyptian slavery. Their deliverance from this bondage was an undeniable act of sovereign intervention. Later, during the period of the Judges, God delivered Israel from the encroachment of the Midianites, when, in accordance to the Lord’s instruction, Gideon and 300 men attacked an army of 120,000 soldiers.
There are two views one may take. You can look away from the rising sun into the retreating darkness and remember all your shattered dreams and the hopelessness of your situation. Or you might look toward the rising sun. Those who remember God’s past mercies are more inclined to believe him for his present grace. It is God’s will to bring many sons to glory and he often does this through many trials (cp. Hebrews 2.10). Thus those who respond to the present crisis with an affirmation of faith will live to see the triumph of his grace. Those who trust in the triumph and sovereign grace of God are more than conquerors. The Isaianic imagery in 9.5 is that of final conquest. All the tools of war will be destroyed and there will be peace for God’s people.
The root cause of all this is the birth of the Prince of Peace. He is the One upon whom the government shall rest. He is the Wonderful Counselor [lit. a wonder, a counsellor – Motyer comments: “Wonderful Counsellor is possible, but less probable in the light of the fact that each of the following three names consists of two components, suggesting here a ‘wonder of a counselor’. This issue is beyond proof either way.”] and Mighty God. He is the fulfillment of the Davidic promise. David the warrior king brought peace to Israel but only one king (Solomon) sat upon that throne before it collapsed. But when the true Prince of Peace comes he will bring an increase to his kingdom progressively until he rules over everything and there will be no end to his kingdom. He will establish justice and righteousness forever.
** Dear reader, let me whet your appetite to read the book I mentioned in my notes: Alec Motyer’s Isaiah by the Day: A New Devotional Translation with his devotional summary of Isaiah 9.1-7.
“Of course, the single event of birth of the child did not produce the marvels Isaiah reported. The wonder child's life and work still lay ahead. But so great was the baby, so mighty in prospect so completely sufficient for every need, that what he would yet accomplish could be spoken of as already achieved there and then by his birth. Did you notice, as you read, the three because verses 4 – 6 a rising tide explanation? How has degration become honor (v. 1) darkness been replaced by light (v. 2) and increase and a joy beyond earthly joy has been experienced? Isaiah answers, because... because... because; because the Lord has acted as of old to deliver (v. 4)... Because the enemy has been utterly defeated (v.5) ... because the child has been born (v. 6)! He is, in himself, all that his people need: the wonderful counselor supernatural in wisdom; God himself come in victorious power, ever fatherly in care; The Prince-administrator of total wellbeing which the Bible calls peace. This is Jesus, who from God is for us wisdom... righteousness, sanctification and redemption (1 Corinthians 1.30), whereby we can join Charles Wesley in singing, 'Thou, O Christ, art all I want' (meaning, of course, 'all I need'). Without him we are still under the bondage of sin and death; united with him by ‘the love that drew salvation’s plan’ we have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God’s dear Son where, even now, would have already been qualified for the inheritance of the saints in light (Colossians 1.12-13), and we have the strength to do all things through Christ who empowers us (Philippians 4.13). if David, in his day, was confident that the key to life was to behold the beauty of the Lord’ (Psalm 27.14) is not our unspeakable privilege to ‘turn our eyes on Jesus, look full in his wonderful face’?”