In The Waiting
Presents
The last few weeks we were in our “Cautionary Tale” series - about leadership and really highlighting the critical importance of obedience, trust, and humility before God. Really an incredible reminder and lesson that our actions and choices have profound spiritual implications. And I point that out because I think the time of year in which that series was taught was really just - well - perfect, because it provides such a great backdrop for us today as we shift our focus from the lessons we learned of Saul’s reign to the beauty of just the hopeful expectation of not just another king, not just a great king, but the King. The King of all other kings. A period marked not just by waiting, but by waiting with purpose and promise.
It’s a time when our hearts, perhaps scarred by past challenges, by past hurts, can find renewal in the anticipation of God’s unfailing promises. So as we kick off our new sermon series, “The Good King,” I’d like to start with a question. Do you remember what it was like to be a kid in the Christmas season? I know this may not be the same for everyone, but I know that for me it conjures up memories of just pure excitement, eagerness - seemingly always counting down to Christmas morning? Maybe you were staring at the tree, eyeing that one special gift, that one that was wrapped, the box was just the right size, and the tag had the most important words you could read on it: “To: Austin”. It’s just calling your name. Over the days and weeks you sneak into where the tree was, and you pick up the box. You angle it this way and that, hoping to hear something inside sliding around.
“Oooohhhh that felt solid.” What could be in there?
You shake it and speculate what’s inside. Just counting down the days til you get to open it. Maybe for you, the question of “How soon is too soon to listen to Christmas music?” is a paradox because you never stopped.
Or… maybe the Christmas season doesn’t evoke such warm memories. Maybe it’s a difficult time - family issues, loneliness, maybe it’s brought about more questions and challenges than celebrations. Maybe you just can’t wait to skip past all of that and just get back to the day to day life that’s normal. So I’ll just say this - whether your memories of Christmas are filled with eager anticipation waiting for Christmas morning, or just waiting for day-to-day life to return, we all understand the feeling of waiting - of eager expectation. And that's what we're diving into today.
But I’ll just say this, as believers, we’re all waiting for something truly extraordinary, the return of Christ, of getting to meet Him face to face, and in that waiting, it actually can be a lot like the image of a young child during Christmas, full of hope and barely contained joy.
The Israelites’ Waiting
And in the heart of this season, I think it’s pretty easy for us to connect with the Israelites' long-standing hope for a righteous king. Their deep longing for a leader who embodied wisdom and strength sets the backdrop for the profound hope we find in Isaiah's words. Now to give us just a little bit of background, the beginning of Isaiah ch. 9 is where we’ll be today. Isaiah ch.8 ends with a description of the darkness experienced by those in Israel who reject the Lord. In the previous chapters Isaiah warns Ahaz (a descendant of King David) that the Assyrians will be the first to chop down Israel, leaving it like a scorched stump in a field. Eventually in the book Isaiah warns of the Babylonian exile, but in chapter 9 is where we see Isaiah also giving a message of hope. He describes a day in Israel's future, after this destruction when the gloom will lift and glory will return, like a branch out of the stump of David’s family. And this is where we pick up today, the entering of a season of waiting for the ultimate manifestation of God's promise.
So read with me, starting in Isaiah 9, verse 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 shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
What a promise! The darkness that was mentioned in chapter 8 will one day be permanently replaced with glory. Israel will abound in life and in joy. And we see this mentioned right from the get go in verse 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 shone.”
Here’s what I love about this section, and it’s the way in which Isaiah phrases all of this. Isaiah speaks of these future events in the past tense - they’re not going to happen until Jesus arrives on earth as the Messiah. Yet Isaiah writes as if it is in the past, because that’s how positive he is that it’s going to happen. The way he sees it, it’s such a certainty it might as already have happened. Like a child who is positive that Christmas morning
will happen. The countdown, the advent calendars - the excitement. There’s zero doubt that the day is actually going to happen. It’s like as I was saying, right now, “Christmas this year was wonderful, wasn’t it? I really enjoyed getting that new grill and cooking up steaks.”
“Austin - it’s Dec. 3rd. Why are you talking like that?”
“Oh, I just really loved using that new grill, that’s all.”
But really - joking aside, this famous verse describes that future reversal for Israel from the darkness to what is really just an amazingly hopeful sign. This “light” shining into a dark place. Those living in Israel at the time of Christ’s birth will see Him cutting through the darkness with their own eyes. And then in verse 3, Isaiah says that the Lord has “multiplied the nation.” He’s grown the nation, increased the population. And the Lord will also increase their joy - as well as their joy for abundant harvests and military victories. What Isaiah is describing here is a time when the nation will be thriving in safety, security, and plenty, and the source of all of this, as we know, will be Jesus.
So the natural question that arises, at least if someone told me,
“Hey man, don’t worry, I know stuff is dark and gloomy now, but don’t worry - you’re going to have a ton of joy. You’re going to be triumphant. You’re going to be thriving, safe, secure, and have plenty.”
I think my question would be, “okay - how?”
We see how in verses 4 and 5:
“For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.”
He’s going to free them from their enemies. Historically, we have mention of the Assyrians - where they are said to have boasted about placing yokes on the necks of the people that they conquered. And a yoke was a kind of heavy harness placed on oxen and other animals - this contraption that enabled a farmer to control or drive the animals to work for him. And they would place these on the necks of the people they conquered really just as a form of humiliation. Just to really drive home the point that they were under the control of the Assyrians. Yet, Isaiah is telling them, this light that is coming to pierce through the darkness, it’s going to shatter the enemies’ yoke. Not only the yoke, but their staff and their rod. This light is going to break every weapon and means of control that Israel’s enemies could use against them.
And I just think back to these Israelites that heard and read these words - the original audience of these words. They must have pictured the Assyrian army and their irresistible might and wondered how such a thing could be true. And he mentions “the day of Midian” - reminding the Israelites of the story of Gideon in Judges 6-7, when the Lord insisted on reducing the size of Gideon’s army. He reduced it until it was so small that
nobody could make the mistake of thinking the victory came from anyone but the Lord. From 32,000 men to 300. And Isaiah’s saying, “He’s going to do the same thing again, but this time it will be even better. This time it will be once and for all.” The end of the oppression will not lead to more oppression - the devices of war will be one day destroyed. And what a gift because that passive voice that’s there all along - phrases like “will be burned” whispers that this victory isn’t our accomplishment. No, we get to step onto a battlefield after the victory is won - and all we do is celebrate.
I just think back to those Christmas seasons where I’ve had what could only be described as “eager anticipation.” Wanna know what it looked like?
It looked like a kid sneaking into his living room to shake a cardboard box hoping a video game was inside. Just counting down the days. As if staring at the box I was going to get spontaneous x-ray vision. Which wouldn’t have helped anyway - even if I did figure out what was inside, I was still going to be waiting.
And now we come to our last two verses today, vv. 6-7:
“For to us (he was speaking to the nation of Israel, but it is certainly applicable to us today) a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”
So what we have here in Isaiah’s prophecy in these two verses is one of at least 25 prophecies about the Messiah here in Isaiah. In fact, if you want to find Jesus in the Old Testament, you almost can’t do better than the book of Isaiah. I think of Isaiah 55, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was wounded for our iniquities, and by his stripes we are…healed.” “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.”
This is just 1 of over 25 prophecies that we know is Jesus Christ. I used to do a whole long illustration on the probability of Jesus fulfilling the around 400 prophecies about Him in the Old Testament and the odds of that happening, but I found, this week, a doctor who had way too much time on his hands, and he made another illustration that I’d like to share. He calculated that according to the laws of chance, that it would take 200 billion earths, each with 400 billion people on them, for there to be just 1 individual whose life would fulfill 100 prophecies from the Old Testament with perfect accuracy.
Without error.
Christ fulfilled around 400.
A Birth Announcement
But this prophecy in Isaiah 9, in particular, is a birth announcement. Isaiah is telling Israel, “God’s answer to everything that has ever terrorized us is a child.” Talk about reducing an army. He’s saying, “The power of God is so far superior to the Assyrians and all the big shots of this world that He’s gonna defeat them by coming to earth as a mere child. His answer to the bullies ripping through history isn’t to become the bigger bully. His answer is Jesus.”
But this birth announcement is unlike any birth announcement that you’ve ever received. How would you feel receiving a birth announcement in the mail from someone who isn’t even pregnant? This was written 700 years before Jesus was born. This birth announcement from Isaiah to Israel comes well before the baby has been born.
This is like, let’s say that Cassy and I were having a child - which we’re not, but this would be like us announcing it before ever being pregnant, and in the announcement it would have, “We’re going to have a baby in the future, and it’s name is going to be… (and name it), and this child will be kind and generous, this child will live in this place and will do x, y, and z in their life.”
How weird would that be, right?
Yet, Isaiah does it. And it’s in these two verses that I want us to focus the rest of our time together today. In his announcement, Isaiah does something pretty cool - he describes a few things:
His (Jesus’) names….which describe His character which describes what He does for us when he arrives on earth.
So Isaiah is saying to Israel almost exactly what the angel says to the sleeping shepherds in Luke 2:10-11:
“And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
See, this child was:
Prophesied by God
Proclaimed by Angels
And Isaiah in this passage, points out that He is absolutely unique. And you know what? Let’s just define unique - I looked it up in Webster's dictionary just for us today:
Being the only one
Being without a like or equal
How fitting that is for Jesus? One of a kind and having no equal. And you know, Isaiah tells us that this was a child born, v. 6, and a son that was given. What’s amazing in this is that he speaks here of Jesus’ humanity, “A child would be born” and then he speaks secondly of His (Jesus’) deity, “A son is given.”
Humanity
Deity
Our society loves talking about the meaning of Christmas. “The true meaning of Christmas.” Well today, you’re gonna get the answer to the true meaning of Christmas. Three words: A child born.
Truly, history swings on the hinges of a stable door in Bethlehem. But it’s not just any child. It’s a unique child. He’s not just a man, but He’s the god-man. In theology this is what we call the hypostatic union. That’s two natures in one person - Jesus Christ. Not two different people, but one person, two natures.
One divine. One human.
So He is the child born. Without sin. Perfect humanity. And then His deity, “A son is given.” And I love the repetition there in v. 6, “For to us…for to us….” Isaiah is saying to Israel, “For to us, God is going to send His Son, a child will be born, and a son who will be divine.”
It is very clear and very important for you to understand the full sinless humanity of Jesus Christ. And that at the same time, the full deity of Jesus Christ. Because it’s both of those things that enable us to even be able to write on the screen behind me, “The Good King.”
In John 1:1, some of the greatest Christmas verses in all of the bible:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
There are three things said in that first verse in John:
The Word is eternal. Which is a characteristic of God.
That He is personal.
“And the Word was God.” In the original Greek this phrase is even stronger, reading, “And God was the Word.”
So He is the:
Eternal Word
Personal Word
Divine Word
And then when you jump down to John 1:14, it says the Word was
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
This is the Christmas miracle. The second person of the Trinity, of the Godhead, “God the Son”
Came from heaven down to earth.
Entered the earth through the womb of the Virgin Mary - the incarnation.
Lived a sinless life.
Died a substitutionary death on the cross.
Was buried and raised victoriously three days later.
Ascended back into Heaven.
Where He ever lives to save all those who call upon the name of the Lord.
If you’ve ever heard that word, “Incarnation” before - that’s the Christmas story. God becoming man. J. I. Packer talks about it wonderfully, saying:
“The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing is so fantastic as this truth of the incarnation.”
And I bring all of this up - first message of this series, with a sort of warning - don’t miss Christmas. Because if your focus is on trees, lights, gifts, shopping, eggnog, reindeers - all the real Christmassy stuff. First, first in that list should be the incarnation. God came from heaven down to earth.
Now, John Miller out at Revival Fellowship in California outlined a really great way to answer the question, “Why did Jesus come to earth as a man?”
To reveal
To redeem
To reign
Now, I’ll say this - that list isn’t exhaustive, but it is pretty comprehensive in explaining why the incarnation. Why did God become a man at Christmas?
To reveal God to us - we saw His glory.
To redeem us - we were estranged from God, separated from God, and God came to redeem us - to buy us back to Himself.
To reign on the throne of David.
And we see this third thing in our text today. Where Jesus Christ will come back a second time, we’re in between the two. The first advent and the second advent. What a great time for us to live, amen? If you had been that original audience from Isaiah you would’ve needed a 700 year advent calendar just for the first arrival. And it could be easy to sit here and look at the United States and be thinking, “Ha! Good one Austin, this is a horrible time to live.”
I disagree. We get to be here right now, I can hold up God’s revelation to us in His Word. We can look back at the fulfillment of those prophecies, and we get to look forward. We get to look forward with eager anticipation that we could be the generation that experiences the second advent of Jesus Christ. We get to look forward with eager anticipation for the second advent of our Savior, paralleling Israel’s eager anticipation for the first advent of our Savior. Now, just look at this with me in v. 6, it says the government shall be upon his shoulders.
The government’s going to be placed upon Him. This is what the Jews looked for. This is what their anticipation was for. And this is why they stumbled over Him when He came the first time, the incarnation. Their expectation was for Him to reign, then, as king. They didn’t believe that He would be crucified, suffer, and die. Glance back at v. 7:
“Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end,”
So He’s going to come and establish, and I want you to hear this, His government. Praise God. The Good King.
I need a button or sticker that instead of saying, “I voted” says, “I vote for Jesus Christ.” And what a glorious day that will be when He sets up His government and kingdom. It’ll be a government in a kingdom of peace, v. 7, and it will be eternal - there will be no end, and it will be sitting upon the throne of David.
Verse 7 goes on to say: “…To establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness…” boy do we ever need that today, “…from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”
God will keep His promises. I think that’s something that we need plastered in our cars where we can see it, on our bathroom mirrors, on a sticky note on our desks, we need to keep reminding ourselves of that. When the world around us seems dark, when it seems forsaken, God keeps His covenant promises. Just as a child awaits the for sure coming of Christmas morning, without a doubt that it’s going to happen, just as the Israelites awaited with eager anticipation, we can await with eager anticipation our Lord and the promises. But - there’s already gifts that we can open.
The Names of Jesus
The names that Isaiah gives to Christ are the gifts that He brings. The Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. I heard someone say it like this: “Every name that He bears is a blessing that He shares.” Now these are just 4 of the many many names that are given to Jesus in all of the scriptures.
1. Wonderful Counselor
The first is that He is the wonderful counselor. What is gift/blessing here? This takes care of the decisions of life.
Here’s what I mean:
Have you ever noticed that life is full of decisions? People asking you this or that, what do you think of this? Where should we go for dinner? Have you ever envisioned a day where just no one asked you anything? Wouldn’t that be a day. But when you’re trying to make a decision - how wonderful it is to know that we have a “wonderful counselor” amen? To guide us, to direct us. Jesus talks about this when He said, “come to me all who are heavy laden and weary and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me… for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” What a wonderful message in light of the yoke of the Assyrians. The yoke of the world. Christ is saying, “Take my yoke, not the yoke of the world. My yoke is easy. My burden is light.” I love Psalm 23, where David said, “The Lord is my shepherd I have everything I need. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me besides still waters. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His namesake.” I don’t know about you, but the longer I’ve been a believer the more thankful I am that God leads me. It’s like the more you learn about a subject the more you realize you don’t know. The more I learn about God the more I realize how much I need Him. How much more I need Him to lead me to green pastures, to lead me besides still waters. Don’t be a sheep without a shepherd. “How do I raise my children?” “What do you want me to do with my life?” “Where do I go?”
2. Mighty God
Next, He is called the Mighty God. Isaiah, right there speaking to His deity. This takes care of the demands of life. Jesus brings us the gift, the blessing, of His power. Life is so incredibly demanding, isn’t it? So first, we have His direction, but we also need His strength. You don’t have to live on your own strength. You don’t have to live on your own power. Not only do you have His counsel, right here, right now, but you have His strength. He is all knowing, all powerful. Right back, again, to Psalm 23, if you’re walking in a valley of darkness, the psalmist writes, “For you are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
What an image for us, today. He breaks the yoke of the enemy. He breaks the rod and the staff. And instead, His yoke is easy, rod and staff - comforting. With us through all of the valleys.
Isaiah 40:31 says that those who wait upon the Lord renew their…what? Strength. We come to the Lord and say, “I am weak, you are strong.” And it’s with His strength we can meet the demands of being a husband, a wife, a parent, a son, a daughter, a student, an employee, an employer. It’s through Him that we can run and not be weary and walk and not be faint.
3. Everlasting Father
Now, notice thirdly, He’s called the Everlasting Father. So we have the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, and now Everlasting Father. This speaks to the duration of life. Now, again, some may say, “I thought He was the son of God…There’s God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Why is Jesus called the everlasting Father?” The Hebrew phrase could be literally translated as “Father of Eternity.” When the Bible uses “Father” it many times refers to that term as the “source.” Jesus is the source of eternal life. And all through the Scripture, Jesus brings a new dimension to life. Jesus said that He came not only that we should have life, but that we should have it abundantly.
“This is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his son.”
Or even better:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
4. Prince of Peace
And then fourthly, and lastly, maybe my favorite name, He is the Prince of Peace. So he is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.
A Christmas Card
Dr. David Jeremiah tells a pretty great story about a lady who had some friends and she knew she would do something for them for Christmas, but she didn’t really want to spend any money. She didn’t buy them a gift, not really sure what to do but at the last minute she decided that she was going to send them all a card. So, she hurriedly rushed to the store, found some cards on sale, they had this pretty gold trimming on them, and they were just what she was looking for. The message on the front was this sort of just generic, general, message, “From my heart to yours” kind of card. She bought a couple of boxes of these cards, and frantically addressed them to her friends, put them in the envelopes, slapped stamps on them and mailed them. She sighed a sigh of relief. Well, a couple of days later she noticed that there were a couple of cards left over and she decided to open one and see what was printed on the inside. “This Christmas card is just to say that a little gift is on its way.” The lesson? Read your Christmas cards. Make sure you know what you’re sending to other people. And it’s definitely true for that lady, but it’s true for us as well - we need peace.
And Jesus brings the gift of His peace.
We experience peace:
1. With God - so that the war is now over, the yoke, the rod, the staff of the world are broken and we have Christ’s yoke, rod, and staff.
2. Of God - In our hearts and in our lives. I’m reminded of Philippians when Paul mentions the “Peace of God which surpasses all understanding.” Keep or guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ. Now, I don’t know what gifts it is that you’re eagerly anticipating this Christmas, but if you’re needing wisdom, strength, peace, or life - those are presents that you can open now. As we look forward to Christ’s return, as we wait and anticipate it, we don’t have to wait for these blessings. They’re here now. Surrender your heart, your life, to Him - today.
Talk about a Good King, amen?