In spite of these judgments that are going to come about because of the people's sin and idolatry, all is not lost. The Lord will still keep His promise to bless all nations through the seed of Abraham. The tribe of Judah will still be the royal tribe of Israel. The Messiah will still come from the line of David.
Chapter 9 opens on a positive note. "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." (Isaiah 9:1) The Lord speaks from a future standpoint here, as if He is looking back on things that have already happened, for anything the Lord says is going to happen is as good as done. There will be gloom and distress in the near future for Judah and Israel but there will be rejoicing in the far future.
The Assyrians will make more violent incursions upon the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali than on the other territories of Israel. They will "come up to the neck" of Judah, as the Lord previously predicted, but they won't be able to take the "head" (Jerusalem). But the area of Galilee, which lay within the area most devastated by the Assyrians, will be "honored" by the Lord. Of that time the Lord says, "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned." (Isaiah 9:2)
The light spoken of here is the light; or rather, we should say the Light, because this is a reference to the days of the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. This prophecy is fulfilled in the New Testament when Jesus begins His ministry in the regions that were so horribly devastated by the Assyrian Empire. Matthew's gospel account quotes from Isaiah 9 in the passage below in order to clearly link Isaiah 9 with Jesus' ministry.
"When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, He went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali---to fulfill what was said by 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.' From that time on Jesus began to preach, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." (Matthew 4:12-17)
The Apostle John (not the John mentioned above by Matthew, which was a reference to John the Baptist) described many events and miracles that took place in the region of Galilee in his account of the gospel. Matthew doesn't go into as much detail regarding what Jesus did in that region but proclaims Him as the "light" of the world and indicates that Jesus' ministry began in the region of Galilee. This is where He first began preaching a message of repentance to all the land, as predicted by the prophet Isaiah. The "light" first began to dawn in that area and from there it shone into the uttermost parts of Judea: on Jews and Gentiles alike, for at that time the nation was under the control of the Roman Empire.
Jesus began His public ministry in the territories named by Isaiah. This was the territory over which Herod was tetrarch and Herod was the one who had put John the Baptist in prison. John's ministry was effectively put to an end at that point; he was beheaded soon after being imprisoned. But John laid the important groundwork for Jesus' ministry and then was content to step to the side, saying of Jesus, "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:13) Jesus started preaching to the nation, in the very region where Isaiah said the light would first dawn, as soon as John's ministry was completed.
In our next study session we will look at the next segment of Isaiah 9, which is also a Messianic prophecy and contains perhaps the most famous quotation from the book of Isaiah in regard to Christ.
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