Having received two signs of God's dealing with them in the immediate crisis that they faced plus accompanying warnings, the people of Judah next received additional incentives to trust Yahweh.
8:11 Isaiah now passed along instruction that Yahweh had powerfully given him warning him against following the popular reliance on human strength.
8:12-13 The Lord told him not to fear the armies of Judah's enemies, but God Himself, Yahweh of armies. He should not become paranoid and think that the enemy's conspiracy against the people of Judah would succeed, as the people of Judah did. Instead, he should make God the most significant fact in his thinking and thus sanctify Him as holy (cf. Matt. 10:28).
8:14-15 This procedure would make God a refuge and a holy place of peace for the prophet. The Israelites generally, however, would not trust God and would, consequently, find that He tripped them up by bringing judgment on them (cf. Matt. 21:44; Luke 2:34; Rom. 9:33; 1 Pet. 2:8). He would trap them, eventually leading them into captivity.
8:16 Isaiah's audience needed to return to God's revelation and recommit themselves to it, which the prophet led the way in doing (cf. Josh. 24:14-15). Those who followed his lead became his disciples and disciples of the Lord.
8:17 Isaiah committed himself to waiting expectantly for the Lord to act in harmony with His word rather than turning to another source for strength and courage (cf. 40:31; Heb. 2:13). Presently God was not doing anything that indicated that He was working.
8:18 Nevertheless the prophet's own name and the names of his two sons were signs from Yahweh of armies that He would do what those names signified. Judah's enemies would descend on her soon, a remnant would return, and Yahweh would save. Even though He was presently silent, God was still on His throne.
8:19 Loss of faith in God results in an increase in superstition. The unfaithful in Judah were encouraging their brethren to seek advice about the future from mediums, wizards, and spiritists instead of from their God (cf. Lev. 19:31; 20:2; Deut. 18:11). Their unusual speech, used to call up spirits, portends unreliable statements. How ironic it is to consult the dead for information about the living (cf. 1 Sam. 28:6-8)!
8:20 Back to the Bible, Isaiah preached. If the predictions of the false prognosticators did not harmonize with written revelation, their counsel was darkness rather than light.
"More than anything else today there is need that all our thinking be based upon and in conformity with the Holy Scriptures."116
8:21-22 The end of such occult advisers is difficulty, hunger, frustration, distress, darkness, gloom, and anguish. They will look up to their leaders and curse both their king and their God because things did not turn out as they foretold (cf. v. 17). They will look down to their fellows and find no help. Frustration meets them wherever they turn.
9:1 In contrast to the gloom of the false counselors, the residents of Galilee in Israel, who would experience the Lord's chastening, would enjoy glory. God would bring light when His people had lost all hope. Galilee was the first region in Israel to feel the lash of the Assyrian invaders. It was a melting pot and home to many Gentiles as well as Jews because the international highway between Mesopotamia and Egypt passed through it. Glory came to this region later when Jesus lived and ministered there (cf. Matt. 4:13-16). But it will enjoy even greater glory during Messiah's earthly reign, as will all of the Promised Land.
In contrast to Ahaz, who refused to listen to and obey God, the Lord would raise up a faithful king who would be born and reign in the future (the Millennium). This pericope climaxes the present section (7:1-9:7) dealing with the signs of God's presence.117Again a child is the centerpiece of the prophecy and provides a sign and hope for the future.
9:2 Light would come to those walking in darkness as they lived in a dark land (v. 1), namely, the Israelites.118God would enlighten them by bringing new light to them even though they did not deserve it (cf. Matt. 4:15-16). This was revelation about the future that was sure compared to the unreliable predictions of mediums and wizards (cf. 8:19).
"The darkness-light motif points to a creative work of God, who alone can make such a transformation (cf.4:5; Gn. 1:2-3; 2 Cor. 4:6)."119
9:3 God would reveal His presence to His people, and the results would be national growth (cf. 7:20-23; 49:19-23) and abundance (cf. 5:10; 33:23; 35:1-2), really every type of joy.
9:4 God would deliver them from their enemies, primarily physical but also spiritual enemies. The Assyrians would impose a yoke on the Israelites, but God would break that yoke off (cf. Exod. 1:11; 2:11; 3:7-8; 5:4-6, 10-14; 6:6-7; Lev. 26:13; Matt. 11:29-30). This deliverance would be entirely of God and against overwhelming odds, as when God broke the yoke of Midian (Judg. 6-7, cf. especially 6:35; 7:2-14, and 20).
9:5 God would not just give victory to Israel, but He would cause wars to cease (cf. Ps. 46:9-10). His people would enter into the fruits of a past victory, namely, the victory of their Messiah.
9:6 The end of war depends on the coming of a person, a royal person yet one never explicitly called a king here (cf. Matt. 11:27; 28:18; John 5:22). He would appear as a child (emphatic in the Hebrew text); he would not just be God come to earth but God born on earth, both human and divine. The "child born"points to His humanity and the "son given"to His deity.120God would not defeat Israel's enemies by using larger, more powerful armies, but through the influence of a child to be born (cf. Ps. 2:7; John 3:16). This child to be born to Isaiah's people would have traits that God was with them. Thus He would be the ultimate fulfillment of the Immanuel sign (7:14). Four titles underscore His deity and humanity.
"Wonderful Counselor"is literally "wonder of a counselor"(cf. Judg. 13:18). His counsel would transcend merely human wisdom. Jesus advised, for example, that strength lies in weakness, victory in surrender, and life in death. He would be "Mighty God,"would possess all the power of God (cf. 10:21; Deut. 10:17; Jer. 32:18). He would not just be the father of the nation in the sense that Israel's kings were, but He would be the "Eternal Father"whose reign, because He is God, would last forever. In climax, He would be the "Prince of Peace,"the monarch whose coming results in peace between God and man and between man and man.
"Isaiah does not intend that we should understand that in actual life the Child would bear or be addressed by these names, anymore than in actual life He should bear the name Immanuel. . . . The thought is that the Child is worthy to bear these names, and that they are accurate descriptions and designations of His being and character."121
"To summarize, the messianic ruler's titles depict Him as an extraordinary military strategist who will be able to execute His plans because of His supernatural abilities as a warrior. His military prowess will ensure His beneficent rule over His people, who will enjoy peace and prosperity because of His ability to subdue all His enemies."122
The first two titles suggest divine wisdom and power, and the second two present the ends He would achieve through the use of those attributes, namely, fatherly care and sovereign peace.
There is an interesting alternation of the human and divine descriptions of the Messiah in this verse, which is especially clear in the Hebrew text.
9:7 He would be the final king whose reign would result in increasing peace forever. Most governments increase through war, but this one would grow through peace. He would be an eschatological figure yet He would be a Davidic king, the perfect Davidic descendant who would accomplish for Israel all that God intended in justice and righteousness (cf. 2 Sam. 7:12-17). This would happen because Yahweh of armies Himself would bring it to pass for the welfare of His people. It is, therefore, certain of fulfillment.
