ISAIAH LESSON 11


     We will begin this lesson in Isaiah 9:1 "Nevertheless the dimness
[shall] not [be] such as [was] in her vexation, when at the first he
lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and
afterward did more grievously afflict [her by] the way of the sea,
beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations."

     This chapter is encouraging them. Even though God has allowed
them to be overrun with the Assyrians, there is the promise of Messiah
coming and bringing the Light to them. Notice, the word "dimness"
which means the light did not go completely out. It was darkened by
their disobedience to God, but did not go out.

     Isaiah 9:2 "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great
light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them
hath the light shined."

     II Corinthians 4:4 "In whom the god of this world hath blinded
the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."
This is most assuredly speaking of the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Not only will his Light shine on those of Judah and give them the
power to be, but it will shine on the Gentiles, as well.  The world
was in a terrible state when the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Light,
came. He came to bring the Light. John 8:12 "Then spake Jesus again
unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me
shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."  This
Light is available to whosoever will.

     Isaiah 9:3 "Thou hast multiplied the nation, [and] not increased
the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, [and]
as [men] rejoice when they divide the spoil."

     The blessings of God had been on the Hebrews, always. From time
to time, when their sins became great, God would partially remove the
blessings. In the fuller sense, they belonged to God, and He blessed
them as His children. It seemed they were never satisfied. Their joy
was more in material things, instead of in Him. The harvest, spoken of
here, is the harvest of the crops in the fall. They had a feast of
harvest at that time. Their joy was in things and not in God. There
will be a great harvest of the wheat at the end of the world.

     Isaiah 9:4 "For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the
staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of
Midian."

     When the Lord Jesus Christ {their Messiah} comes, He will set the
captives free. True worship of the Lord sets everyone, who practices
it, free. I have always said the reason they did not recognize Jesus
as their Messiah, is they were expecting a mighty warrior king like
David had been. Jesus sets us free from the bondage of sin and death.
His freedom is not an outward freedom, but a freedom of the soul and
spirit of man.

     Isaiah 9:5 "For every battle of the warrior [is] with confused
noise, and garments rolled in blood; but [this] shall be with burning
[and] fuel of fire."

     The battle they were familiar with was a battle of the flesh. The
battle familiar to them had shed blood, and was a noisy battle of
physical strength. This battle will be a battle in the spiritual.
Jesus baptizes with fire. His sword is the Word of God. His battle is
fought for the soul of man, not for earthly plunder.

     Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace."

     The child, spoken of here, is the Lord Jesus Christ who was born
of a virgin and God. He would be Immanuel {God with us}. The Son of
God would become the Saviour of all mankind. I Timothy 4:10 "For
therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the
living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that
believe."  We must accept Him as our Saviour, for Him to save us. The
government of the earth will be upon His shoulder, when He reigns on
the earth for the 1000 years. The power He has is unlimited.
Philippians 2:10 "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of
[things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the
earth;" All persons and things are subject unto Him. The fact that the
Word of God took on the form of flesh and dwelt among mankind on the
earth is Wonderful. He was God in the flesh of man. The counsel of the
Lord Jesus is beyond comparison. We can put our trust in Him. "Mighty
God", lets us know that He was truly God. He was God the Word in
heaven. When He came to the earth to save us from our sins, He was God
the Son, mighty in works and deeds. "Everlasting Father" shows the
eternity of the One we call Jesus. He and the Father were One in the
Spirit. Read 1 John chapter 5 verse 7. This is beautiful in its
application. We are even told that we can be one with them, if we
accept Jesus as our Saviour. There is only one King of Peace, and it
is Jesus. When Jesus comes into your life, He brings perfect peace.
This is the peace that passes understanding. It is peace in the midst
of a troubled world.

     Isaiah 9:7 "Of the increase of [his] government and peace [there
shall be] no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to
order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from
henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform
this."

     The kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ is His church. Christianity
started with Jesus and truly has spread to all the world. Jesus is the
Judge of all the world. His judgement is just. The wonderful thing is
that Jesus has done it all for us. We do not have to earn our
salvation by good works. Salvation in Him is a free gift. The only
thing we must do, is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and receive His
salvation.

     Isaiah 9:8  "The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted
upon Israel."

     We now see a return to the more immediate prophecy. The word sent
to them was a warning from God. The more severe warning was for
Israel, but Judah was also warned.

     Isaiah 9:9 "And all the people shall know, [even] Ephraim and the
inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,"

     Their pride was, possibly, one reason they did not repent and
come to God. They have begun to believe that their victories were
because of their own strength, instead of giving God credit. This is
definitely not for Judah alone, but for Ephraim and Samaria, as well.

     Isaiah 9:10 "The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with
hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will change [them
into] cedars."

     We see the arrogance of these people. They are forgetting where
their victories came from. They are putting their faith in their own
ability to build back. They have forgotten the following Scripture.
Psalms 127:1 "{A Song of degrees for Solomon.} Except the LORD build
the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the
city, the watchman waketh [but] in vain."  They are puffed up with
pride.

     Isaiah 9:11 "Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of
Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;"

     God must teach them a lesson. The word "therefore" shows us that
the Lord setting up the adversaries against them, is because of their
pride. They believe they do not need the LORD, and He will show them
differently.

     Isaiah 9:12 "The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and
they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is
not turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still."

     Israel has turned its back on the LORD. The LORD Himself causes
these enemies of Israel to form a partnership and come against Israel.
Notice, even though this happens, the Lord is still reaching out to
Israel. Even though the Lord is angry, He still will save them, if
they will look to Him for help.

     Isaiah 9:13  "For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth
them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts."

     The enemies of Israel are not on the side of the LORD of hosts.
This is happening to Israel because of their disobedience, but God
still loves them.

     Isaiah 9:14 "Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and
tail, branch and rush, in one day."

     The Lord will cut off the rich and the poor. The leaders {head}
and the prophet of lies {tail} will be affected by this punishment
from God. One day, here, is meaning the short time of the war to
overtake them.

     Isaiah 9:15 "The ancient and honourable, he [is] the head; and
the prophet that teacheth lies, he [is] the tail."

     We did not need the explanation above. Isaiah explains it
himself. The ancient and honourable is speaking of the prophets who
are bringing truth.

     Isaiah 9:16 "For the leaders of this people cause [them] to err;
and [they that are] led of them [are] destroyed."

     Israel was led into idolatry by their spiritual leaders. They
even mixed pagan rituals with their worship of God. Jeroboam included
worship of the calf. Those of Judah had not slipped that far, but were
guilty themselves to a lesser degree.

     Isaiah 9:17 "Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young
men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for
every one [is] an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh
folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand [is]
stretched out still."

     The young men were a joy to the Lord, when they served the One
True God. God's blessings on His people come, when they are obedient
to Him. If they are not obedient to Him, they bring a curse upon
themselves. A hypocrite is someone professing one thing and doing
something entirely different. They were professing to be God's
children, but they were living evil lives. Even though God was so
angry with them for their sin, He still wanted them to repent and turn
back to Him, and He would have blessed them. He was still reaching out
to them. They were just not reaching out to Him.

     Isaiah 9:18  "For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour
the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest,
and they shall mount up [like] the lifting up of smoke."

     Sin is very much like a fire started by a very small match. The
first sin may not be too serious, but sin brings on more sin. The
condition of a person living in sin {who has not repented} gets worse
and worse. Each time they sin, their conscience is more dead. They
become more and more evil with each sin. The person who throws a lit
match down in the forest does not intend to start a forest fire, but
that is the end result.

     Isaiah 9:19 "Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land
darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man
shall spare his brother."
     The wrath of the Lord has caused this terrible happening. The
people will be destroyed in the wake of the wrath. "No man will spare
his brother" speaks of a time when even friends and relatives will be
against each other. They will be lacking in natural affection.

     Isaiah 9:20 "And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be
hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be
satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:"

     This is not speaking literally. This does not actually mean human
flesh. It means the man turns against his neighbors on the right and
left. He destroys his friends who were the only help he had, since he
had turned on God.

     Isaiah 9:21 "Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: [and] they
together [shall be] against Judah. For all this his anger is not
turned away, but his hand [is] stretched out still."

     Ephraim and Manasseh were Hebrews, the same as Judah. They had
banned together to come against Judah. God would forgive Ephraim and
Manasseh the same as He would Judah, if they would repent and come to
Him. God is willing. They were not willing.
































                          Isaiah 11 Questions


1.  What does "dimness", in verse 1, mean?
2.  What had caused the Light to dim in their lives?
3.  Quote Isaiah chapter 9 verse 2.
4.  Who is this speaking of?
5.  Who had blinded the minds of them which believe not?
6.  Quote John chapter 8 verse 12.
7.  Who had the blessings of God been upon?
8.  God blessed them as His ____________.
9.  What had they put their joy in, rather than God?
10. When the Lord Jesus Christ came, He set the __________ free.
11. What harvest is verse 3 speaking of?
12. Why did they not recognize Jesus as their Messiah?
13. What was the difference in their battle and the battle of Jesus?
14. Quote Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6.
15. The Son of God would become the ___________ of all mankind.
16. When will the government of the earth be on the shoulders of
    Jesus?
17. What does the name "Everlasting Father" show us about Jesus?
18. Who is the only King of Peace?
19. What is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ?
20. Salvation in Him is a ______ gift.
21. What does verse 8 return to?
22. Why did Epraim not repent and come to God at this time?
23. What do we see in the statement "We will build with hewn stones"?
24. Quote Psalms chapter 127 verse 1.
25. Who is sending Rezin against them?
26. Are the enemies of Israel on the side of the LORD?
27. Why is God letting this happen?
28. Who are the head and tail?
29. Who caused these people to err?
30. How far had their false worship gone?
31. Wickedness burneth as the _______.
32. Through the _________ of the________ of______ is the land
    darkened.
33. Is verse 20 speaking of cannibalism?
34. Who are the two in verse 21 against Judah?