Isaiah 9-10

Quick Review
Isaiah wrote this Book around 740 BC. Israel had split into two: The Northern Kingdom included 10 tribes and was also called Israel, Ephraim, or Samaria (the capitol city of the Northern Kingdom); the Southern Kingdom included 2 tribes, Judah and Benjamin, and was also called Judah, Jerusalem, or Zion. A superpower nation, the Assyrian Empire, was northeast of Israel and had become a threat to the world. The Northern Kingdom teamed up with Syria while the Southern Kingdom teamed up with Assyria.


Overview of Isaiah 9-10
This passage contained 4 messages:
1. To the whole kingdom of Israel, including both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms
2. To the Northern Kingdom
3. To the King of Assyria
4. To the Southern Kingdom


MESSAGE TO ISRAEL (Isaiah 9:1-7)
God knows the Israelites are going to be thrown into trials and gives them 2 great prophecies:
1) Their glory will be restored
2) Jesus will be their Messiah


Isaiah 9:1-5
Zebulun and Naphtali were the two regions that Assyria hit when they attacked the Northern Kingdom. Assyria came in from the north, and those two cities were the two most northern cities. These cities got the worst of the blow when the Assyrians attacked.


One day, however, these two regions will see a great light. And boy, did they see a great light!


Nazareth is a tiny, insignificant town of Zebulun. It didn't even make the map back in the day. Yet, Jesus spent 30 years of His human life in Nazareth! When Jesus began ministering, He moved north to Capernum, a city in Naphtali. Jesus did all His miracles in both of these cities.


Matthew 4:12-17 quotes Isaiah 9:1-2, describing Jesus fulfilling this prophecy. Jesus is the light.


Inspiration: God does great big things in man-defined insignificant places. God does great big things with man-defined insignificant people. Jesus picked the people of Galilee as disciples. These people were uneducated men from Podunk nowhere. God has no purpose for those who see themselves as big shots in their own eyes (because they no longer worship God; they worship themselves!).


1 Corinthians 1:26
God chooses the foolish to shame the wise; the weak to shame the might, etc.


Isaiah 9:6-7
This is one of the greatest messianic prophecies written. It is about Jesus, and it is fulfilled by Jesus.


MESSAGE TO THE NORTHERN KINGDOM (Isaiah 9:8-
This was a judgment message, listing 4 sins and the consequences of those sins. Each listed sin was followed by the statement that God was here to judge.


1st Sin: Pride and Arrogance (Isaiah 9:9-12)
Israel has gotten so arrogant, they think they can do anything. They are saying, God, bring on anything. We can handle it. Bring it!


Judgment: The Israelites are not as amazing as they seem; they will be judged.


2nd Sin: Hardened Hearts against the Lord (9:13-17)
God had sent numerous warnings to urge the Israelites to turn around, but the Israelites have not listened. They have become impertinent.


Judgement: The Israelites will lose their leaders.


Inspiration: Prophets who tell lies are seen as "tails" (Isaiah 9:14). They are supposed to be leaders, the head, but they are instead tails. Spiritual leaders need to tell God's Truth. Telling lies to just make people like them, that's what makes them tails. All Christians need to share the Truth even if the Truth is not popular. Be a Tail in the eyes of the world but a Head in God's eye.


3rd Sin: Wickedness (Isaiah 9:18-21)
4th Sin: Social Injustice (Isaiah 10:1-4)
The Israelites were God's chosen people to show the rest of the world what it means to live righteously. Instead, they took God's blessing and abused it. Instead of showing love, they gave in to their selfish greed for power and money. They lost their heart for God. They did not love the way God loves. They were no longer gentile.


When the heart goes astray, the person goes astray. This is why Proverbs 4:23 tells us to keep our heart diligent!


It's ironic that though the heart of the Israelites had turned away from God, they still carried out religious rituals: sacrifices, burning of incense, etc. The still did all the religious rituals, but their heart weren't in it at all!


Inspiration: God sees through religious acts. Be aware of traditions that are clearly not biblical. Putting ashes on our foreheads, abstain from whatever for 40 days (only to go back to indulgence on Day 41), etc--Is any of this really going to impress God?! God looks at our heart!


MESSAGE TO KING OF ASSYRIA (Isaiah 10:5-19)
This could really also be seen as a message to a dictator.


God used a cruel nation (Assyria) to judge Israel because Israel thought their success belong to themselves and themselves alone. Clearly, God can give just as easily as He can take away.


And though God sent Assyria, God also tells Assyria that woe is coming to them. Assyria hungered for more power, and instead of conquering Israel, they wanted the world. King of Assyria had a God-complex. 


Isaiah 10:9-11, 13-17
God told the King of Assyria, "You are just a means to an end. You are an ax. A saw."


Inspiration: Powerful men are puny in the eyes of God. They may think they are gods, but God can squish them like a cock-a-roach. I'm obviously being facetious, but I hope the point is clear: From God's perspective, we are all tools. We can either be sharp tools, used by the Lord in glorious ways, or we can be dull tools (like King Assyria), used once and tossed away.


We should be careful not to worship man, even godly man, because they are God's tools, too! We worship God, and we focus on how to be best used by God.


MESSAGE TO THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM (Isaiah 10:20-34)
Judgment is coming to Israel, but a remnant will remain--This was the same promise to both the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom.


God started His message to the Southern Kingdom (Zion) (Isaiah 10:24): Don't be afraid of Assyria. They will harass the Southern Kingdom, but they will not conquer Southern Kingdom.


Isaiah prophesied how the Assyrians would plan their attack from the north (Isaiah 10:28-32). The farthest they will get to Jerusalem is Nob. This prophesy was fulfilled exactly, as chronicled by 2 King 19: Hezekiah was at a loss about what to do in the in-coming attack of the Assyrians. However, Isaiah told Hezekiah to not worry. And we read on to understand why: God sent an angel to the Assyrian camp and took out 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. The Assyrian King returned home defeated. As if that wasn't bad enough, he was murdered by his sons, marking the decline of Assyria.