Sermon Tone Analysis

UPCOMING STUFF

Thanks for Giving!

Vote on 2022 Budget - only for members - please affirm that and we will collect at the end of today’s gathering just before Communion.

Next week we will present our Deacon Candidates & vote on Council Members to be added to the 2022 Council.

The Digital Sign will be ordered this week - thanks for giving to that!

You still can give to that if you want.

This afternoon is the Ladies Crafty Christmas Tea from 2-4pm.

Bring finger foods & a friend!

At the end of out time together, we will celebrate Jesus death and resurrection through Communion

Lastly, check out our Visual Notes by taking a picture of this QR CODE.

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Introduction

Today we begin a 4-week Christmas Series on Advent.

The term advent is derived from the Latin word adventus meaning “coming” or “arrival.”

Early Christians who used this term used it to appreciate the 1st coming of Jesus and anticipate the 2nd coming of Jesus - His birth & His future RETURN.

And that’s what we will do over the next 4 weeks - including the week AFTER Christmas where we focus on “The Return of the King”.

But today we are going to look at the “Promise of the King” foretold in the Old Testament Scriptures.

There have been several times that we have been reminded of God’s promise to Abraham to bless all nations through his future family (Gen 12:3, 18:18).

The Messiah would be birthed through the Abraham’s son Issac, his son - Jacob and down through the family tree to King David (Ps 89:3–4)

There are several Old Testament prophesies mentioning the Messiah that are incredibly specific.

Today we will look at a couple of different passages from the prophet Isaiah.

If we were living in Isaiah’s day, we would have been living in a time when our enemies were overrunning our boarders.

In fact, since the Kingdom had divided between Israel (north) and Judah (south), they were not always kissing cousins.

In Isaiah’s day the King of Israel teamed up with the King of Syria to take the capital city of Jerusalem, and the King Ahaz and the people of Judah were shaking like trees in the wind (Is 7:1-2).

But that’s when Isaiah delivers encouraging words to King Ahaz that these enemies will not overtake Jerusalem.

But more than just words, God gives a glimpse of a SIGN that the King can trust in.

Isaiah 7:14, 16 (NIV)

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin [young woman] will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel...for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.

Do you recognize that verse?

Of course you do!

We often quote it at Christmas time - as a prophecy of Jesus.

But I want us to pause for a moment and first consider the context along with one of our rules for interpretation.

We must answer the question...‘Who is YOU?’

In this case ‘YOU’ is 1) King Ahaz, 2) and the people of Judah.

What’s the promise TO THEM?

Based on the context of what it meant to King Ahaz, a male child was to be born that represented the PRESENCE of Immanuel - God with us.

And God tells Ahaz, The two kings you dread will be destroyed before that young boy grows old enough to know right from wrong.

And sure enough, in Isaiah 8, the prophecy is fulfilled when a young woman - likely Isaiah’s wife - gives birth to a son (Is 8:3).

And sure enough - before he knows right from wrong, before he can say the words, “My Father” or “My Mother” (Is.

8:4), the kings of Israel & Syria - enemies of Judah - were destroyed.

* Notice: The child was NOT NAMED Immanuel, but Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (see Is. 8:3) meaning “quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil”.

So while child wasn’t NAMED Immanuel, the child was PROOF of Immanuel...God With Us!

So, in the middle of this fearful time God reminds Ahaz through the birth of a child...that GOD IS WITH THEM.

And just as we might need to be reminded - Ahaz didn’t have to be AFRAID, because he wasn’t ALONE!

Of course...this isn’t the end of the story.

700 years later, this same passage will find its ultimate fulfillment in the birth of another child - not just to a young married woman, but to a unmarried, virgin named Miriam/Mary.

If you know the story, then you know there was a major problem that had to be addressed first.

When Joseph found out this his fiancé was pregnant - and he knew it wasn’t his - his was ready to break off their engagement.

Matthew 1:20–23 (NIV)

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

[v21-23] She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: [and here is the prophecy from Isaiah] “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Jesus (Hebrew = Yeshua) means “Yahweh saves”

But compared to the child born during Isaiah’s day, Jesus was more than PROOF that God is with us; Jesus IS GOD WITH US!

Think about the depth of this claim!

John Oswalt says it well: “But how can he be with us?

If he is transcendent, if he is morally perfect, if he is infinite, if he is eternal, how can he be with us who are created, sinful, finite, and mortal?

Surely he can only be with us in a metaphorical way, because the barriers are too great to be crossed.

If that is all the phrase can mean, then it is a very hollow one.

But this passage sets the stage for the most astounding event in history.”*

*John N. Oswalt, Isaiah, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2003), 162.

But wait, there’s more!

The Scriptures not only speak to WHO He is, but speak to WHERE His ministry would begin!

Remember that what we are reading is 700 years BEFORE the birth & ministry of Jesus.

Isaiah 9:1–2 (NIV)

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress.

In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future He will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan— The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.

What’s the significance of the area of Galilee?

It is a group of towns surrounding what is really a Lake called “the Sea of Galilee”.

This region is the first area enemies of Israel would have to conquer to move further south into Israel.

It was where many lives were lost over the years, a place of gloom and distress (as Isaiah infers).

Galilee was located on the international trade and travel route passing through Israel so the Galileans profited from the trade and the taxes they collected from caravans and travelers passing through their region.

Levi was a tax collector in Capernaum when Jesus called him as a disciple (Mk 2:14).*

Because of this, there was a lot of mixing between Jews and Gentiles - which many Jews further south didn’t appreciate.

*J.

Carl Laney, “Galilee,” ed.

John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

Further, Galilee had a large population of both Jews and Gentiles around the Lake.

The Gentile region known as the known as “Decapolis” - “10 Cities” was on the East and Southeast side of the Sea/Lake of Galilee.

Remember when Jesus crossed on the Lake and went into the Decapolis area where Gentiles lived and cast demons out of 2 men and into pigs (Mt 8:28-34)?

But 700 years before the time of Jesus Isaiah prophesies of this area - the place that had been the perpetual black eye of Israel, would become the place where God would honor...Galilee of the nations.

Matthew rightly saw the fulfillment of this in the ministry of Jesus around the Sea of Galilee when he writes...

Matthew 4:13–16 (NIV)

Leaving Nazareth, he [Jesus] went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

Now Isaiah comes back to WHO this Messiah will be.

Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders.

And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

This passage could only be applied to a king in Isaiah’s day using these terms as metaphors or hyperboles.

BUT…there is ONE to whom this terms and titles applies perfectly!

Warren Wiersbe writes that this verse points to be the declares the humanity (“A Child is born”) and the deity (“A Son is given”) of the Lord Jesus Christ.*

*Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Comforted, “Be” Commentary Series (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 37.

What’s it mean that the government will be on His shoulders?

This Promised King would be different than other leaders who left the business to others while they lived in kingly comfort.

First, this Promised King would fulfill His duties of justice, protection, and provision for His people.

Second, His government - as we will see in a moment - will never be overthrown.

He will also be called...

WONDERFUL COUNSELOR

Before we dive too deep, we need to note that the NET translates this as something very different than how we have heard this traditionally.

Instead of Wonderful Counselor it is translated as “Extraordinary Strategist”.

Why?