Isaiah 9-12

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The first 8 chapters of Isaiah details the sins of Judah and how God is heartbroken over them. In fact, He’s come to the end of His rope with their sin. His patience has run out, and He’s declared a punishment that can literally ruin the nation and bring them in captivity with Assyria…just as they had been 400 years prior to Moses leading them out of bondage in Egypt. God initially brought them out of captivity to give them a new start. And, just as heart-hardened as their ancestors before them who died in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land, they’ve become just like them.

 If you’ve got unconfessed sin, this story in Isaiah should bring you to your knees in repentance. You can see how God feels about unconfessed sin and a lethargic attitude towards living a holy life before God. In these book you see God’s amazing patience with them, His grace, and His mercy. But you also see His holiness!  He loves His people, but He must punish sin and disobedience, just as we do with our own children. How heartbroken would you be if your own children turned their backs on you and did everything opposite of what you demanded?

 Jesus Will Rule Israel One Day!

 However, we see in today’s reading how God will one day establish the nation of Israel with a true, Godly leader – Jesus Christ.

 Chapter 9 opens with a prophecy about Jesus one day coming to save His people and establish Israel as the greatest nation on earth!  In 9:1-2, Isaiah prophesies of Jesus’ first coming which is fulfilled in Matthew 4:16. In fact, Matthew quotes this verse!  Going down a few verses to 9:6, Isaiah prophesies of Jesus’ birth.

 But, as we move through 9:3-7, we also see his prophecy concerning Jesus’ millennial reign on earth as “the government will rest on his shoulders.” It goes on to say “His ever expanding, peaceful government will never end. He will rule forever with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David.”

 Can you imagine how the world will change? Isaiah, in another chapter, shares how ALL nations will give allegiance to Jesus and will no longer war among themselves but will seek to do God’s will. What an amazing time that will be.  So…”the good ‘ole days” we often reflect on will actually be in our future!  And we, as Christians, will rule and reign with Him on earth for a thousand years. After that, our new home will be the New Jerusalem in the heavens!

 The Dangers of Boasting!

 Sadly, after taken into captivity, God looks to the future and declares His sadness over their arrogance as they proclaim “Our land lies in ruins now, but we will rebuild it better than before.”

 I think of how arrogant we Americans were after the twin towers fell in New York on September 11, 2001. Speeches by our leaders said the same thing!  They declared, “We will rebuild better and stronger than ever!”

 Instead of declaring our arrogance, we should have declared our humility!  We should have said, “With God’s help and under His guidance, our prayer is that He will help us to rebuild and learn a lesson from this disaster.”  Even James, the brother of Jesus, warned against this type of arrogance. In fact, he writes in his book (James 4:13-16), “Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.”  How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.”

 God Spanks Judah & Assyria

 God is so adamant about the need to punish Judah, that He says several times, “Destruction is certain,” and “His fist is still poised to strike.”

 The belt of His spanking Judah is the Assyrian army!  He calls them in 10:5, “the whip of my anger.” He will help the Assyrians defeat Judah so as to get their attention.

 As for the Assyrian king, he will rise up with great power (the power God gives him) and destroy many nations. God says in 10:7, “But the king of Assyria will not know that it is I who sent him. He will merely think he is attaching my people as part of his plan to conquer the world.”

 But, in the end, Assyrian will begin to boast (10:15-19) about their vast army and great successes. However, God will turn His mighty wrath against Assyria to destroy them with plagues whereby only a few men of the Assyrian army will survive!

 These 2 chapters we’ve studied deal with the sin of “boasting.”  God hates it!  That’s why we should steer clear of ever boasting about things in our life unless it be to the glory of the One who helped us.

 The Millennial Reign of Christ

 As we read the final 2 chapters in today’s reading, we can see 7 changes that will take place in Israel during the last days on earth.

 1. Jesus Christ, who is an ancestor of King David, will come to take over the nation of Israel. In fact, in 11:4 it says that when He comes He will simply destroy the wicked with “the breath of His mouth.”  In other words, just as He spoke the universe into place, on His descent to back to earth during the end times He will simply speak and everyone against Him will die. Life and death belong to Him.  In His word is life and death.

 2. His government will be known by it’s fairness and truth.  Finally, real justice will prevail. (11:4-5)

 3. Not only will wars stop and nations will be at peace with each other, but even among the animals of the world there will be absolute peace! (11:6-9)

 4. The entire world of men will know Him!  (11:9)

 5.  The entire world of men and all nations will submit to His leadership!  (11:10)

 6.  Judah and Israel will re-unite in harmony and love for each other.  (11:13)

 7.  The world will praise Him and sing songs to Him!  (12:1-6)

 Can you see how powerful the Old Testament is?  Even though these true stories happened thousands of years ago, their principles still apply to us today!