NOTES for Isa 9:1-21

In this prophecy, a rebuke to Israel and Judah sounds by way of contrast, because they do not want to turn to God even in a time of trials. Alongside it comes the message of the exaltation of Gentile Galilee, where oppression and wars will cease because the Prince of Peace will shine there - peace as a state of harmony between God and people. It is paradoxical that the promise of the Son comes against the background of unbelief and forgetfulness of God among His people. But beyond human unfaithfulness and sin, another power is at work in the world: the zeal of the Lord, His fiery love for people, which stops at nothing.

A wonderful gift: prophecy. Several centuries after these words were written, the apostle Paul will say that we should especially seek this very gift, because it opens the Lord's ways to us.

It would seem that Isaiah is simply prophesying about the birth of an earthly Messiah, the King from the line of David, but he lists names that can refer only to God Himself. And for a person of Isaiah's time a name was not a conventional label, but something that expressed the essence of the bearer of the name.

So the King from David's line in some astonishing way turns out to be God Himself, establishing His Kingdom forever. And all this is accomplished by the zeal of God, or, as the New Testament would later clarify, by the love of God.

For us, who know how the prophecy of the great light revealed in Galilee was fulfilled, it is hard to imagine how it could have sounded in Isaiah's day. And yet, if we become one of his listeners for a moment, we can experience bewilderment. Indeed, just now we heard denunciations of pagan sins, seasoned with detailed descriptions of the retribution awaiting them, and suddenly from the same lips come words that the very land which had so long lain in pagan darkness is the one the Lord intends to mark with glory. It must have been difficult for the listeners to accept that deliverance would come from a Child, since they were used to imagining the Lord's messengers as fearsome and strong. The blessing He brings to people was not accidentally compared by them with victory over enemies: joyful, but also difficult, bought with blood and suffering.

But now the prophet proclaims that the times of bloodshed must cease. Even warriors, forced to shed blood, will be washed and cleansed from it, and this means that the wounds inflicted on humanity by centuries of violence will be healed. But they will not be healed by new violence, because true strength very often reveals itself precisely in what, to a superficial glance, appears weak.

And even the stern prophetic words that follow the words about the Child, words about the Lord's fiery wrath scorching the earth, do not contradict this. Again and again the prophet repeats the warning that the coming disasters will be the consequence of the people's own transgressions. Lawlessness is compared to a fire kindled by the lawless themselves. The flame that flares up from the spark they struck consumes them.

Speaking about the birth of the Messiah, Isaiah indicates the place where He will spend His childhood. But why the prophet speaks of Galilee “of nations"? There are two reasons for that.

In the time of Isaiah of Jerusalem, when the kingdom of the North had already stop its existence after the Assyrian conquest, there were almost no more Jews in the territory (including Galilee and the North of Samaria), they were partially deported to other regions of the vast Assyrian Empire, and partially ran away southward, to Judea.

The Assyrian authorities moved to these places others, heathen peoples mixed with the rest of the Jewish local population. But there is a different explanation, comprehensible rather in the latest context, the evangelic history, than in the context of Assyrian history. At the evangelic time, Jewish educational centers were Jerusalem and Babylon.

Particularly there, were the best theological academies, known by Jews all over the world. People having received education in Jerusalem and Babylon were rather often looked by the inhabitants of other cities from above; even if it was about their fellow compatriots and coreligionists, and Galilee in their eyes was a profoundly spiritual province, where by definition could be nothing interesting.

But Jesus however begins his ministry especially there, in Galilee, at the places, where He spent His childhood. And in the first that listen to His word are not the students and professors of the theological academies, but simple artisans, farmers and fishermen. And not because they were probably more educated than those who learnt and taught in academies, but because it was easier for them to leave everything and follow the One who brings Kingdom into the world.

Byenumerating symbolic names reflecting the purport of Whom will become for menChrist, the prophet Isaiah expresses very important things in his language. Itis important to listen to his words, because we don’t often see the gift of Godin Christ, since we wait not what God gives. The prophet says that Christ isWonderful; His coming is not subject to the laws of the created world and whatHe fulfills is inconceivable. "The counseller" - it means that Christbrings to the world the will of the Heavenly Father about the salvation of men and,certainly, the obedience to this will. Astounding is the name "mighty God"that the prophet adjoins to the descendant of David. Most likely Isaiah himselfdoesn’t understand it as we do: the Old Testament doesn’t contain an obviousrevelation that the Christ is Man-God, because men are unable of understandingthat. Involuntarily the prophet speaks here about what surpasses his ownunderstanding - and we hear the voice of the Spirit inspiring Isaiah. TheChrist is not simply a man, but also a God! In Him, therefore, enters into theworld the presence of the Invisible God and is surmounted the abyss separatingus from Him. And that’s why for men the Christ opens the eternal life; Isaiah callsHim "Everlasting Father". Finally, takes place the imperious entranceof eternity into human life, because the coming of Christ makes possible peace betweenus. Nothing is for the prophet a so characteristic sign of eternity, so characteristicsign of divine life, as peace. The government of Christ comes true inreconciliation, making peace. And beyond reconciliation there is no place onthe contrary for Him.

Listing the symbolic names that reflect the essence of who Christ will become for people, the prophet Isaiah expresses in his own language very important things. It is important to listen to his words, because we often do not see God's gift in Christ because we expect something other than what God gives. The prophet says that Christ is Wonderful; His coming is not subject to the laws of the created world, and what He accomplishes is incomprehensible. "Counselor," in the Slavonic translation "angel of great counsel," means that Christ brings into the world the will of the Heavenly Father for the salvation of people and, of course, obedience to that will. The name "Mighty God," which the prophet applies to the descendant of David, is striking. Most likely Isaiah himself understands it differently from us: the Old Testament does not contain a clear revelation about the God-manhood of Christ, because people are not able to comprehend it. Involuntarily the prophet says here something that surpasses his own understanding, and we hear the voice of the Spirit inspiring Isaiah. Christ is not simply man, but also God. In Him, therefore, the presence of the Invisible God enters the world and the abyss separating us from Him is overcome. And therefore Christ opens eternal life for people; "Father of eternity," Isaiah calls Him. Finally, the authoritative entrance of eternity into human life happens because the coming of Christ makes peace among us possible. Nothing is for the prophet so characteristic a sign of eternity, so characteristic a sign of divine life, as peace. Christ's dominion is realized in reconciliation. And conversely, outside reconciliation there is no place for Him.

Today we read Isaiah's prophecy, which was fulfilled already during the prophet's lifetime: words about the destruction of Samaria, which together with the whole Northern Kingdom was destroyed in 722 BC. And in this prophecy there are several things that draw attention by their relevance. The prophet speaks of people (a believing people) who do not see in their own disasters the fruit of their lawless deeds. This is precisely what makes the catastrophe unavoidable.

Never mind, the northerners say, that the country is in decline, impoverished and ruined. We will not lose heart, but will rebuild our dear... Samaria, of course, even more beautifully. But, the prophet says, the people do not turn to the One who strikes them, and they do not seek the Lord of Hosts. That means that under conditions of decline and disintegration, when the economy is dying and abuse of power is multiplying, when the country is falling apart like a sandcastle, the right thing would be not only to think about how we should arrange... Samaria, of course. The right thing would be to think: "What is our sin that has brought us to this?" and to seek the Lord of Hosts.

The key words of the whole prophecy are verses 1-2 of chapter 10. The prophet accuses those who enact unjust laws and write cruel decrees, who deprive the poor of justice and rob the weak among the people of their rights. This denunciation is addressed by no means only to Pekah and Hoshea, the kings of Samaria at that time, but to the whole country. This common responsibility is perhaps the reverse side of the unity of a nation, the unity of a country. And therefore the cruelty and tragedy of our history is a matter for our common repentance.