Reading: Isaiah 9-12, Psalm 111
Yesterday we read about the birth of two sons. The first, a son of the line of David, born of a virgin, will be a sign for deliverance. To the king Ahaz, this almost certainly applied to his young son, Hezekiah, during whose youth the kingdoms threatening Judah were destroyed or subjugated by Assyria. The second, a son of the prophet Isaiah himself, was a sign of destruction and darkness which is coming for Samaria, capital of the northern kingdom, and which signifies the unfaithful people of God. We, of course, can read in both of these births a future fulfillment in the Anointed One, the prophet/priest/king that the whole story of the Hebrew Scriptures so far has been looking for. Today we will read about yet another birth, this one also with immediate purpose, but which also points forward to a future righteous, everlasting king.
Today’s reading begins with Isaiah declaring that the great darkness of which he and his sons are “signs and portents” will not be a total darkness. Those faithful who have suffered will see a great light come out of the darkness, and he predicts a new birth in the line of David, who will rule on an everlasting throne. The titles he is given are familiar to anyone who has grown up in the church: wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, the prince of peace. His reign is described as eternal and ever increasing in power and righteousness. A pretty good break from the constant judgment that Isaiah has been throwing around so far.
Or maybe you enjoyed judgment. If so, you’re in luck! We get another prophecy of doom right on the heels of this promise that God will eventually accomplish his purpose for the house of David. Actually, a series of prophecies of doom. First of all, Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel will face total destruction. Then the kingdom of Judah will be invaded by the king of Assyria. It will not go well. But God will not completely destroy the kingdom of Judah, but will rescue them from Assyria, which will be judged, and the remnant preserved.
The bulk of chapter 10 is a pronouncement of the sovereignty of the God of Israel over the foreign nations who are bring judgment to the people of Israel. Assyria especially is painted as a tool in the hands of God, which believes it is successful due to its own cleverness. God declares the Egypt and Assyria are not what they think they are. He predicts their collapse, which will happen under yet another foreign power, which we know will be Babylon. The point of the prophecy the Isaiah is issuing here, though, is not historical events. It is the hand behind the historical events. Even as Israel and Judah are collapsing as temporal kingdoms, Isaiah is speaking to anyone who will listen, “God is still in control, this is only what he said would happen if we were disobedient!” The judgment on God’s people is still completely in line with the covenant law, he has not broken word with them. And there is more to the covenant law than judgment.
This leads, in chapter 11, into one of the clearest prophecies of the Anointed One so far in the Scriptures. Note that while Isaiah has been sent by God to give this message, it is also a completely natural progression from the story so far. Through Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings we have been reading about how the promise of God to the people of Israel and the house of David has been playing out, with the growing realization by the authors that they have a need for something more. First a king. Then a righteous king. Then an eternal righteous king. At the same time the priests of the line of Aaron have been failing them, and God promises a faithful priest, who will teach the people to worship him. Isaiah pulls all this together with the imagery that opens chapter 11: a shoot from the stump of the house of Jesse, and a branch from the root that bears fruit. The kingship established by David is waning, and Isaiah will be bringing condemnation to it, but the house will remain, even if it is a stump.
This shoot from the stump will be one whose obedience is perfect, whose knowledge is beyond human, who is filled with the Spirit of God in a way no one has yet been. His appearance will bring about a restoration of nature as well as humanity, as we read that children will play with dangerous animals, and the even the lions will eat straw like the cattle. He will also be a signal to the nations for the people of Israel to return to Jerusalem, which will herald the restoration of the exiled people of Israel and Judah to their promised land. Isaiah is bringing together the whole story so far and giving his people a picture of God’s intention to keep his word. Because Isaiah knows that in the books of Moses, after all the judgment has been carried out, God says he will restore his people. Isaiah knows the promise God gave to David for an eternal descendant. Isaiah knows the promise to Eve in Genesis 3 for a descendant victorious over the serpent, who tempts to disobedience. God lets Isaiah to be the first to see it- that these are all the same promise. They are all the same person.
The closing section of our reading today is made up of two songs of praise in response to this astonishing revelation, and a call to praise both now and in the future. These songs of praise for the fulfillment of God’s promises are an end to Isaiah’s first great prophecies of doom for Israel for their violation of covenant law. But they are also a beginning, because now Isaiah will turn his attention to the world at large and the foreign nations. Because Isaiah is an evangelical prophet. He has declared judgment and salvation to Israel. Next he will proclaim it to the world.