Isaiah 9: Unto us a Child is born! Unto us a Son is given!

Isaiah 9 contains a few of the best known verses in all the Bible, thanks to the oratorio of George Frideric Handel. Most of us have heard this music at Christmas, called Handel’s Messiah. Interestingly, when we get to that section of Isaiah 9 you will see that it doesn’t apply just to the birth of Jesus. As a reminder, this chapter continues with Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the House of Israel, or the northern kingdom. As always, let’s begin by reading the chapter:

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.
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.
8 The LORD sent a word against Jacob,
And it has fallen on Israel.
9 All the people will know--
Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria--
Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:
10 "The bricks have fallen down,
But we will rebuild with hewn stones;
The sycamores are cut down,
But we will replace them with cedars."
11 Therefore the LORD shall set up
The adversaries of Rezin against him,
And spur his enemies on,
12 The Syrians before and the Philistines behind;
And they shall devour Israel with an open mouth.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
13 For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them,
Nor do they seek the LORD of hosts.
14 Therefore the LORD will cut off head and tail from Israel,
Palm branch and bulrush in one day.
15 The elder and honorable, he is the head;
The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.
16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err,
And those who are led by them are destroyed.
17 Therefore the LORD will have no joy in their young men,
Nor have mercy on their fatherless and widows;
For everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer,
And every mouth speaks folly.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
18 For wickedness burns as the fire;
It shall devour the briers and thorns,
And kindle in the thickets of the forest;
They shall mount up like rising smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts
The land is burned up,
And the people shall be as fuel for the fire;
No man shall spare his brother.
20 And he shall snatch on the right hand
And be hungry;
He shall devour on the left hand
And not be satisfied;
Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.
21 Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh;
Together they shall be against Judah.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
Isaiah 9:1-21 (NKJV)

As in all areas of scripture, context is very important here. Some of these verses do apply to history, when Jesus Christ walked as a Man upon this earth. Yet some of the verses will apply to a future time and events yet to happen. Let’s begin with a discussion of the first two verses:

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.

I am going to do something a little bit different than usual. Throughout our study, we have used the New King James Version of the Bible. Dating to 1982, the New King James intended to update the language of the King James Version, but retain the same meaning. While they both come from the masoretic text, the Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible (the Tanakh), there are times when the translators saw things much differently. The King James Version, on the other hand, is a Christian translation accomplished in England and published in 1611. There are times when a knowledgeable Bible student may ask, “How can they both be right?” This question can also involve many other translations, and transliterations of the Bible. That brings up yet another question… the difference between a translation and a transliteration. A translation actually looks at the original words in their original language. In the case of the Old Testament, that is Hebrew (with a small amount of Aramaic thrown in) while in the New Testament, the original language was Greek. A transliteration is something entirely different. Rather than translating each word, more emphasis is placed on phrases, and in addition, doesn’t always go back to the original. Personally, I would prefer the closest thing we have to reading the Bible the way it was originally written. The problem there is an obvious one…I am not fluent in either Hebrew or Greek. So the best I can do is a translation. A transliteration, someone’s idea of what the phrase would mean today, seems to be taking artistic license to an uncomfortable place. I believe the Bible is a perfect document. I believe God has the power to have men write exactly what He wants them to write. I also believe He has that same power today. Yet how can two different Bibles both be perfect? They can both be correct in different ways. There are versions of the Bible I prefer, namely, the New King James, the King James and the New American Standard. There are some versions that many people use that I don’t like, as they are transliterations, namely, the New International Version, The Message and The Living Bible. In translating the Revised Standard Version, they mostly translated the King James Version, rather than the original Tanakh. Yet I also know that if any version of the Bible gets someone reading, it will be fine. So after discussing the verses above, I am going to show the verses in the original Revised Standard and let you see how different they are.

The Jews are going into captivity, and there is ample reason to be distressed. God reminds us here that the gloom will not be upon them, for there is light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. The next verse mentions two areas of land that God “lightly esteemed.” They are Zebulon and Naphtali. The first thing to do is to grasp where these two regions are. Both of these regions are in the north, as we would expect, being that the prophecy is concerning the House of Israel. Naphtali actually is located along the western bank of the Sea of Galilee. Going west, where Naphtali ends, Zebulon begins. To those of you who have been blessed by God with a trip to the Holy Land, this might make sense to you already. But simply by mentioning a few towns in each region, it all will become clear to everyone. The childhood home of Jesus, Nazareth, is in Zebulon, while Capernaum, a prominent town in the ministry of Jesus, is in Naphtali. How did God “lightly esteem” the land of Zebulon and Naphtali? By sending His Son to live and minister in those areas of the world! The best interpretation of the Bible is always the Bible, and if you read the following verse, it will help you connect the dots:

12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

15 "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles:
16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has dawned."
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Matthew 4:12-17 (NKJV)

The next phrase tells us He “afterward, more heavily oppressed her.” Go to the areas described today and there is no town remaining where Capernaum stood. Additionally, Nazareth serves as Israel’s Arab capital and is mostly off limits to tourists. The following verse mentions three towns of Naphtali and Zebulon and God’s coming judgment on them, for seeing but not heeding the words of Jesus:

21 "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 "But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. 23 "And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 "But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you."
Matthew 11:21-24 (NKJV)

When reading the Gospel of John, the chapters seem to alternate in relation to the setting of Jesus’ ministry from Jerusalem to Galilee. Though Jesus came to save the Jews, His chosen people, He also spent much of His ministry with the Gentiles in Galilee. You can see in these verses that God spoke of that way before it happened. Remember the amazement of the people that Jesus would have anything to do with Galilee! They did not understand that “God so loved the world,” not just the Jews. This verse shows their incorrect assessment of the situation:

52 They answered and said to him, "Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee."
John 7:52 (NKJV)

Two prophets did come out of Galilee, so they did not know their scripture! Both Jonah and Nahum were from Galilee, and both ministered to the Gentiles of Nineveh! But the point of the verse is that the Jews regarded Galilee as an unholy place, certainly not an area the Messiah would come from. That shows how God's plan is almost always different from our plans! The next verse tells us why the gloom will not be upon those who are distressed…it is because the people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light, and the great light has shined upon them. That great light is Jesus. In the New Testament, Jesus tells us that He is the Light of the world. I also love how God used the brightest star to announce His birth. Even when He was born, a great light was shining upon the earth, and the people He came to save. Okay, as promised, let’s look at that first verse in the Revised Standard:

1 But there will be no gloom for her that was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zeb'ulun and the land of Naph'tali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
2 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.
Isaiah 9:1-2 (RSV)

In the New King James, the verse says, the Lord “more heavily oppressed her, by the way of the sea” while in the Revised Standard, the same verse says He will “make glorious the way of the sea.” How can it be both? I have already pointed out how the Lord has oppressed the area, but it is easy to see how God made glorious the way of the sea. He did it by sending His Son to the area. Though I believe the King James and New King James give us a more accurate translation of God’s Word, I also believe in God’s power to keep His Word correct for our ears. Enough of that…let’s go on to verses three and four:

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.

When do these verses apply? Obviously, not in the pre-captivity time of the Jews, nor the time when the Jews were in captivity. This certainly applies to the time when Jesus came to earth as a man. It also applies to the time at the end of the Great Tribulation when He returns for His chosen people. There were many people whose joy was increased when Jesus came the first time, and not just the Jews. I think it is a wonderful picture for all of us to think of what it is like to rejoice while dividing the spoils. Think of a great pirate’s treasure, piled so high that no one could ever use all they receive. The spoils that each of us receive for accomplishing one task will be sufficient to last us for eternity. What is that task? Asking Jesus into our hearts as Messiah! Let’s look ahead in Isaiah for another verse:

12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:12 (NKJV)

We are the strong, if we have accepted Him into our hearts! There are some Old Testament phrases used here that might not make sense to us. What is the “rod of the oppressor?” It applies to the task master and for a Biblical context, we can look at Exodus 5:

10 And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, "Thus says Pharaoh: 'I will not give you straw. 11 'Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.' " 12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. 13 And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, "Fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw." 14 Also the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, "Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as before?"
Exodus 5:10-14 (NKJV)

The verses in Isaiah tell us it was as in the days of Midian. To remind you, Midian was the son of Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:2), and his descendants were the Arabs dwelling in the northern desert of the Arabian Peninsula. This is the area Moses fled to after committing murder. To me, the fifth verse brings into mind the Battle of Armageddon. We see three attributes in those verses…massive amounts of blood, lots of noise and the burning of what is remaining for fuel. Here are a few of the verses that tie that in:

20 And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses' bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs.
Revelation 14:19-20 (NKJV)

And:

Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. 6 So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
Revelation 8:5-6 (NKJV)

And:

9 "Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years. 10 "They will not take wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons; and they will plunder those who plundered them, and pillage those who pillaged them," says the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 39:9-10 (NKJV)

Every word of the Bible ties into another place in the amazing document. When you think that 40 men wrote this book over centuries, it speaks to the power of God. Man could not have tied it in like this alone! Okay, onto the most famous passage in Isaiah 9:

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.

These verses are familiar to most of us, and sometimes with that familiarity, we seem to miss the depth. The first phrase is so powerful! Some people miss the juxtaposition of the opening phrases. Though to us, a child and a son may be the same thing, 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. We all know John 3:16: 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. I have heard a favorite Bible teacher, Chuck Missler, say that one of the most amazing things we will see when we get to heaven is a Man on the throne of God. In Zechariah, we see that He still has the nail-scarred hands, which will most likely be the only man-made thing in heaven! So the verse begins with the humble birth of our Lord and then changes settings. When it says, “the government will be upon His shoulders,” we can see that this has not yet happened. When Jesus came to earth the first time, He was not a ruler. This speaks of the very end of the Great Tribulation, when He returns to rule on this earth for 1,000 years. So this verse reveals God’s plan for redemption, from birth to throne. Then we see some amazing titles of Jesus. These are so important that I am going to take some extra time to delve into them:

*Wonderful: First, notice that this is not an adjective, but a noun. There is a comma between Wonderful and Counselor. Let’s look at Judges 13 for a verse that helps tie this together:

15 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, "Please let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You." 16 And the Angel of the LORD said to Manoah, "Though you detain Me, I will not eat your food. But if you offer a burnt offering, you must offer it to the LORD. ' (For Manoah did not know He was the Angel of the LORD.) 17 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the LORD, "What is Your name, that when Your words come to pass we may honor You?" 18 And the Angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?"
Judges 13:15-18 (NKJV)

This is a theophany, an Old Testament appearance of Jesus. One of the ways of seeing the difference between an angel and Jesus is that angels will never allow men to worship them. Jesus always will. In this story, Jesus allows the mother of Samson to worship Him., but what applies to our current study is His name. His name is Wonderful! The word in Hebrew is “pili,” and it means secret or wonderful. In Matthew 11:27, we see that no one knows the Son but the Father. Additionally, Revelation ties this verse in, too:

11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Revelation 19:11-16 (NKJV)

John also told us at the beginning of his gospel this same title of Jesus.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
John 1:1-3 (NKJV)

He is Wonderful. If you haven’t found that out yet, it is time! The next title is:

* Counselor: If you read Proverbs 8, you will see all the excellence of wisdom. We can attribute every positive characteristic in Proverbs to Jesus. He is the Counselor of us all. In today’s lingo, “Counselor” can be the name used for your attorney. That is exactly what Jesus is going to be for each of us. When we stand in front of the Father, our Counselor is going to approach the bench. Though we will be accused of many crimes, and guilty of many crimes, our Counselor is going to stand in front of our Father, His Father, and say, “You have already punished Me for my client’s sin!” The Father will say, “Not guilty!” Remember, Jesus is our Counselor, and He needs no counsel:

34 "For who has known the mind of the LORD?
Or who has become His counselor?"
Romans 11:34 (NKJV)

We all must rely on His advice and His counsel. That advice comes in the Holy Bible, an instruction manual for life on this earth. We can’t do it without Him. If we do, doing what is right in our own eyes, we will blow it! The next title is:

* Mighty God: In the Hebrew, that is “El,” included in the word we studied in the last lesson, “Immanu-El,” meaning "God with us.” There are eight other verses in the Bible that give Him this title of Mighty God (Genesis 49:24, Deuteronomy 7:21, Psalm 50:1, Psalm 132:5, Isaiah 10:21, Jeremiah 32:18 and Habakkuk 1:12). He is all powerful and no one can stand before Him. We as Christians know that with Him inside of us, we will always win. Though Satan and his demons are powerful, we serve the Most High, the Mighty God. The next title is:

* The Everlasting Father: This is more specifically “the Father of eternity.” We just touched on the verse at the beginning of John that says He has created all things. Think about the term “father.” He is responsible for creating birth. A mother cannot do that alone. He is the Seed of the birth of all creation. We also know that Jesus told us that He and the Father are One. It is so hard for us to understand the triune nature of God, yet that is apparent here. The next title is:

* Prince of Peace: This shows another aspect of that triune nature, if you think that a dove is a symbol of peace and is also symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Though Jesus will return with wrath and vanquish all His enemies, He is the Prince of Peace. When He rules in the Millennium, there will be no more war. Can you imagine a time on this earth without war? He came in peace the first time:

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

14 "Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
Luke 2:12-14 (NKJV)

And it also speaks to what He brings each one of us as believers:

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Romans 5:1 (NKJV)

The next verse speaks of His presence on this earth.

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.

Has Jesus ever ruled on the throne of David? This is obviously a Millennial prophecy, and we know that it will have no end. That means that once He returns to earth, He will rule on the throne of David for eternity. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Another word for zeal is jealousy. He told us in the Old Testament that He is a jealous God. Once we are His, we will always be His. Those are comforting words to me, indeed! As we continue in Isaiah 9, the prophecy returns to the judgment on the northern tribes:

8 The LORD sent a word against Jacob,
And it has fallen on Israel.
9 All the people will know--
Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria--
Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:
10 "The bricks have fallen down,
But we will rebuild with hewn stones;
The sycamores are cut down,
But we will replace them with cedars."
11 Therefore the LORD shall set up
The adversaries of Rezin against him,
And spur his enemies on,
12 The Syrians before and the Philistines behind;
And they shall devour Israel with an open mouth.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.

Let’s start with the last passage in this section. “For all His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.” Some people see the grace of God in this, as His hand is still reaching out to us. I think it actually means the opposite…his wrath and judgment have not subsided. This exact phrase is used five times in this book, Isaiah 5:25, 9:12, 9:17, 9:21 and 10:4. In some ways, the names Jacob and Israel are synonymous, as God renamed Jacob, Israel. It seems that when Jacob is walking in the Spirit, God calls Him Israel, but when in the flesh, he is Jacob. But sometimes God used the word Jacob to remind us He is referring to all 12 tribes, rather than the “House of Israel,” the 10 tribes that went north. This prophecy refers to the northern tribes. As I have mentioned before, the key to seeing that is the use of the tribe Ephraim, the largest of the northern tribes. We see the reason for their fall…it is the reason for every fall. Pride! We all have great plans, but God’s plans are the only ones that will come to fruition! We see here that God is going to send Rezin, the King of Syria, upon the tribes, and additionally, the Philistines will attack from the west. They shall devour Israel and even that will not quench His judgment.

13 For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them,
Nor do they seek the LORD of hosts.
14 Therefore the LORD will cut off head and tail from Israel,
Palm branch and bulrush in one day.
15 The elder and honorable, he is the head;
The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.
16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err,
And those who are led by them are destroyed.
17 Therefore the LORD will have no joy in their young men,
Nor have mercy on their fatherless and widows;
For everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer,
And every mouth speaks folly.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.

Once again, this stanza ends with the same refrain. We have discussed the ongoing cycle in the lives of the Jews, and in our own lives. Each time the Jews fell away from the Lord, He would punish them, and they would return. Each time the punishment became harsher, and the time away from Him became longer. They know He is pouring out His wrath here, yet they still don’t seek Him. This judgment will affect every one of them in one day, from the honorable to the deplorable. God tells us that the head is a symbol of the elders and the honorable; the tail is symbolic of the prophet who teaches lies. This helps us in further Bible interpretation, as we go forward to the fifth trumpet judgment of Revelation:

3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. 7 The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
Revelation 9:3-11 (NKJV)

In Revelation, the sidekick of the antichrist is the false prophet, though we are also told that in the end days that “many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.” (Matthew 24:11) The Bible tells us that one erroneous prophecy makes one a false prophet. God is accurate every single time. These men who deceive are often referred to as “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” The leaders cause the people to err and those being led will be destroyed. The judgment on the leaders will be even harsher. Let me say, teaching the Word of God is such a special gift, yet it comes at a high cost. Teaching an erroneous doctrine can lead many astray and the leaders are directly responsible to God for every word they speak. That makes me regard this mighty document called the Bible with awe. I spend many hours on each study as I do not want to lead others astray. Certainly, there are many differences of opinion on the interpretation of the Bible, yet what God has done is to give us a designed document that fits together perfectly. Take one page away and you will find that story or reference somewhere else in the Bible. This brings to mind the televangelists, who preach the Word for the sake of increasing their incomes. Jim Bakker of PTL fame said that he had never read the whole Bible until he was in prison. Can you imagine God’s judgment on these men? The Bible says there is a separate judgment for those who preach and teach the Word. I guess I am included in that category, and I take that very seriously! There are things we do not know yet. In the above passage on the scorpions, I have heard two very bright and highly-regarded teachers offer very diverse opinions. One says that it is describing a helicopter. Another says it could very easily be a microscopic organism. It could be either! It could be something else! My opinion is that the people of that time will know exactly what it is from the description. My biggest point is that this commentary is my opinion. I feel like God has given me the eyes to see, and as I mentioned before, more than one person can be right. As the above passage concludes, we can see that the judgment is not over. God’s hand is still stretched out. Let’s finish the chapter:

18 For wickedness burns as the fire;
It shall devour the briers and thorns,
And kindle in the thickets of the forest;
They shall mount up like rising smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts
The land is burned up,
And the people shall be as fuel for the fire;
No man shall spare his brother.
20 And he shall snatch on the right hand
And be hungry;
He shall devour on the left hand
And not be satisfied;
Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.
21 Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh;
Together they shall be against Judah.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.

We discussed the application of briers and thorns from one of the soil parables in Matthew 13. Thorns are the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches that choke out the Word. The passage is telling us that God will physically destroy the land, once flowing with milk and honey. Additionally, the wealth of the Jews will be gone. They will be so poor that they will fight their brother for food. The usage of the tribes Ephraim and Manasseh shows the specific nature as those two were real brothers, sons of Joseph. Some believe this passage is speaking of cannibalism. I don’t know. Yet my thoughts turn forward many years to the hunger of the Jews in Nazi Germany. They were so hungry they ate rats. I guess the next step would be cannibalism. This passage continues in the beginning of Isaiah 10, as we see the last stanza, “For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.” His judgment has not yet abated! We know that it does, as the Jews return from captivity. We also know that the next judgment was even stronger, as Jerusalem was destroyed, and all the Jews were sent to the four corners of the earth. Though they have been called back to the Holy Land, their time will not be the focus of the Lord until the Church is called to heaven:

25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
Romans 11:25 (NKJV)

Until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in to what? Until the fullness of the Gentiles has come into heaven, to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb! This event is coming soon! I can feel it!


"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."