Jeff Schreve - Save The Date
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In Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6, the Lord gave us a save-the-date notice concerning the birth of Jesus, the Savior of the world. Now, his birth announcement brings great hope to the hearts of people everywhere. I’m Pastor Jeff Schreve, thanks for joining me, today, as we unpack the significance in Isaiah’s wonderful «Save The Date» prophecy.
Isaiah chapter 9, it’s the birth announcement, the royal birth announcement that would come hundreds of years in the future, but this is what Isaiah said. In the book of Isaiah, interesting, 66 books or 66 chapters, the first 39 are chapters dealing with judgment because God’s people, the kingdom of Judah, they had walked away from the Lord and they were in spiritual decline, and so there’s much about judgment. The Lord says, «'Come now, and let us reason together, ' Says the Lord, 'Though your sins be as scarlet, They shall be white as snow; Though they be red like crimson, They shall be as wool. If you consent and obey, You will eat the finest of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, You will be devoured by the sword.' Truly the mouth of the Lord has spoken.» Isaiah chapter 1, verses 18 and 19.
And so God gives his people, he says, «Come back to me, come back to me,» but they didn’t come back. And so we know about the exile of his people that happened during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon. Israel, the northern kingdom, the 10 tribes, they got wiped out by Assyria in 722 BC. Judah lasted longer, they got taken over in 605, and were totally wiped out in 587 BC. And so, in the first 39 chapters, there is judgment, in chapters 40 to 66 there is salvation and restoration and hope, but even in the chapters dealing with judgment, God gives glimpses of hope.
And this is what he says, chapter 9, verse 1, «But there will be no more gloom for he who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this».
The royal birth announcement of the coming King. Now, the question is, do you understand what is in this birth announcement in verse 6? I wanna share with you three wonderful facets that are seen in this birth announcement, kind of like taking a diamond and turning it, and you see all these wonderful facets of the diamond. Facet number one, the child born will bring great changes, bring great changes to the people, and that’s what he says in the first five verses. He said, «Hey, changes are coming, and when the child is born, that’s when all this stuff is going to happen».
Look at it again. «There will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,» those two tribes, which is up by Galilee, «with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by way of the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles». Hey, «The people there walked in darkness,» but he said they’re gonna, «see a great light; Those who lived in a dark land, The light will shine on them. And you’re gonna multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness;» it’s gonna be glad, «They will be glad in Your presence with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil».
Hey, what happens when this child comes? Well, he’s gonna turn your gloom to gladness, he’s gonna bring great joy, and that was the announcement from the angels to the shepherds. «Behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord». Hey, he’s gonna change your distress and suffering and pain, and your anguish, and he’s gonna turn that into abundant joy, there’s gonna be a time of great rejoicing. This is the change that this coming child is going to bring. But not only gloom to gladness, he’s gonna turn your darkness to light.
And it’s interesting, Matthew quotes from Isaiah 9:1-2, concerning the Lord Jesus and his ministry. Where did his ministry take place, where was headquarters of his ministry? Capernaum, right by the Sea of Galilee, and most of his ministry took place up in Galilee, Galilee of the Gentiles, and that’s where they saw a great light. That area that was in darkness saw a great light because Jesus, the light of the world, was there doing miracle after miracle after miracle, and preaching to the multitudes, «Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand».
Now, when a person comes to Christ in repentance and faith, and you see your need for Jesus, and you ask Jesus to come into your life, and to save you and to change you from the inside out, you receive the Lord. And when you receive the Lord, you receive his life, and when you receive his life, you receive his light, because it’s the Lord, it’s the life, it’s the light. And being born again means that all of a sudden you have a new life in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the light comes on, so to speak, and now you can understand spiritual things. «For the natural man,» the Bible says, «Cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God, they’re foolishness to him». It’s like a person in a pitch-black room trying to read, you can’t make heads or tails, you can’t see any of the words on the page. But when the Lord comes in, the life comes in, and when the life comes in, the light comes on, and all of a sudden, now, you can see.
And, «Those who walk in darkness Will see a great light,» from darkness to light. And then he’ll turn your bondage to freedom, that’s what he says in verses 4 and 5, «You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian». Judges chapters 6, 7 and 8 speak about the battle of Midian, God chose Gideon to lead the people in that battle. And, if you remember, the Midianites had 135,000 in their army, and Gideon had 300, he had thousands, but the Lord kept thinning it down and he got down to 300, 300 going against 135,000 and God brought the victory, because the Lord does not depend on many to get his work done.
And so there was a great victory in Judges chapters 6, 7 and 8 through Gideon, and that’s what he’s talking about there in verse 4. And then he says, in verse 5, «Every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult». What is he talking about there? Tumult is a shaking, and he’s talking about the boots of the warriors shaking the land, «And the cloaks rolled in blood,» he said all of that is gonna be used, «for burning, fuel for the fire». Hey, the Lord is going to put to pasture the warfare and we’re not going to be in bondage anymore. What happens to a person when he comes to Christ? You know, we talk about the coming of the Messiah, the coming of the Savior. Well, what does he do? Well, he fills our hearts with joy, from gloom to gladness, he takes us from darkness to light, and he sets us free from the bondage of sin. «It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery».
So, the child born, gonna bring great changes. Second facet, the child born will be a son given. Look at verse 6 again, «For a child will be born to us». That’s the infant story, that’s what we talk about at Christmas time, the child being born. But then it says, «A son will be given to us,» not just a child born. «A child born» speaks of the humanity of Jesus, but «a son given» speaks of the deity of Jesus. «For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son». Now, this child is the son of God, he is divine as well as human, he is totally unique, there’s no one else like Jesus, because he is both human and divine. He is the God man, as much man as though we were not God at all, yet as much God as though He were not man at all. The child born and the Son given.
«In the beginning,» John says, «was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being». «And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth». «All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God». «There is none righteous, not even one,» but the only One who is spotless is also himself God, God in the flesh. «A child will be born to us,» his humanity, «A Son will be given to us,» divine as well as human, and he’s awesome and beyond comprehension.
Now, Isaiah goes on, in this royal birth announcement, to tell us the names of this child born, this Son given, the one on whom, «The government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace». Now, the question is, are there four names or five names? Is wonderful a noun or is wonderful an adjective to describe what kind of counselor he is? Is he wonderful and a counselor or is he a wonderful counselor? Now, I think you can look at it both ways, I don’t think it’s gonna change a lot if you just see it as an adjective or if you see it as a noun, I’ve probably preached it as an adjective, and right now in this part of my Christian life I kind of see it as a noun, and I see it as his name is, number one, Wonderful, Wonderful.
And here’s why I think that. All of us know the name of Samson, the the Hebrew Hercules, Samson, the Israeli strongman, but we may not know his backstory. You know, his mother was barren, she was sterile, she couldn’t have any kids. And the angel of the Lord, in Judges 13, comes to her and says, «I know you’re barren, I know you’re sterile, but you’re going to have a son, and he’s going to be a Nazarite from the day of his birth. And so, you need to not drink wine or strong drink, stay away from the vine because of the child that you’re going to have». She goes home and tells her husband, his name is Manoah, the scripture doesn’t tell us her name, we just know her as Mrs. Manoah. So, she tells her husband, Manoah, said, «Hey, this man came for me, this man of God». She didn’t know it was the angel of the Lord.
Anytime in the Old Testament you read about the angel of the Lord, that’s a pre-incarnate visitation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, Manoah says to her, «Well, if he ever comes back, let me know». Well, he came back, and he came to the woman, Mrs. Manoah, and she said, «Let me get my husband». He says, «Okay». So, Manoah comes and he sees the man of God, the angel of the Lord, and he says, «I wanna fix you something to eat». And the angel of the Lord says, «Well, you can fix it, but I’m not gonna eat it». He said, «Well, I’ll offer it as a sacrifice». And then Manoah asked this question, he says, «'What is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you? ' But the angel of the LORD said to him, 'Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful? '»
Pali is the Hebrew. «It is wonderful,» what does that mean? It is incomprehensible, it is extraordinary, it is beyond what your mind can fathom. And then, when he offers the meal, the grain offering and the meal offering, he offers it in the fire, what does the angel of the Lord do? He goes up in the fire and ascends to heaven, and Manoah says to his wife, «We will surely die, for we have seen God». «His name shall be called Wonderful,» 'cause he’s beyond comprehension, he is extraordinary, he is incomprehensible, because he’s the infinite God, and he’s the Counselor. Hey, you have a problem, you can tell it to Jesus, there is no friend like Jesus, who will listen, who knows what to do. «In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge». He’s the mighty God.
People that deny the deity of Christ, how do you explain this, the mighty God, El Gibbor? How can he possibly be? This is not talking about just a human, this is talking about someone who is divine, someone who is the mighty God. Now, people get hung up on the other name, «Eternal Father,» always like, «Eternal Father, I thought he was the Son». Don’t let Eternal Father mess you up, the scripture is not saying that Jesus is the Father, it’s saying that Jesus is the originator of eternity, he is the father of eternity. The devil, Jesus called the devil, «You are a liar and the father of lies». Everything emanates from you, that you are the original liar. Well, Jesus is the father of eternity, he’s not God the Father, he is God the Son. And God exists, one God in three persons, and each person is distinct.
God the Father is not God the Son, God the Son is not God the Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit is not God the Father, it’s God in three persons, blessed Trinity. He is the father of eternity, and then it says he’s the, «Prince of Peace,» the Prince of Peace. Sar is the Hebrew word for prince, it means head, captain, chief, overseer, the Sar of Shalom, peace, wholeness, welfare. And Jesus is the prince of peace, and how does he make peace? Colossians chapter 1, verses 19 and 20, «For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross». How does he make peace? By dying on the cross, through the blood of the cross.
See, the child born to us, that’s the infant story, the Son given, that’s the infinite sacrifice, and what did the child come to do? He came to die on the cross for our sins. And then, thirdly, facet number three, the child born will come again to rule and reign forever. Verse 7 says, «There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this».
Now, unbelieving Jews today, the rabbis today, who don’t believe in Jesus, you know what they say? Why don’t they believe in Jesus? They say, «Well, Jesus didn’t, he didn’t fulfill the prophecies about Messiah. Oh, Messiah’s coming to rule and reign, he didn’t rule and reign». And the problem they have today with Jesus is the same problem they had in the first century with Jesus, because they don’t see that the Bible speaks of two comings in the Old Testament. The first coming is the humble servant, Isaiah 53, who comes to die for the sins of the people, the second coming is his coming to rule and reign, and they don’t see the two comings. But this child who is born, this Son who is given, once he gives his life on the cross, and rises again from the dead and ascends to heaven, he says he’s coming again and his return is certain.
The thrill of hope, what is the hope that he is coming again? When Jesus ascended to heaven in Acts chapter 1, they were looking at him as he went up to heaven. And then two angels came and they said this, «Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven». What is the Lord saying to us, today? See, because save-the-date from Isaiah 9:6 about a child being born, that’s already happened, and it was future when Isaiah said it, way into the future, «A child will be born to us, a son will be given to us,» but the child has already been born, we’re looking back, and the Son has already been given. But, «The government will rest on his shoulders,» that is future, that hasn’t happened yet, Jesus has not sat down on David’s throne and ruled and reigned with a righteousness and peace on the earth. His kingdom has not come yet, but it is, so save the date, put it on your calendar.
«And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself. And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven,» that’s us, come with him, «clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, 'KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.'» And he is coming again just like he promised, his return is certain and his kingdom will have no end. See, he says, «The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this».
The zeal, the passion, the fire of the Lord of Hosts, he has promised. And let me tell you something, God the Father loves his Son, and God gave his Son out of his great heart for you and me, gave his Son, and Jesus willingly gave his life on the cross, to make a way where there was no way, for us to be saved. And all who come to Jesus through repentance and faith receive forgiveness of sins and the Father’s arms open wide to receive them because they accepted his Son. But for those who reject his Son, who neglect his Son, who blow his Son off, who say, «Well, I can come any way I want,» they’re going to find the zeal of the Lord, the passion of the Lord, the anger of the Lord. His eyes, when he comes at the battle of Armageddon, are as a flame of fire, there is fire in his eyes, and he comes to wage war with his enemies.
Listen, the Lord has come, we know that, he has died, we know that, he has risen from the dead, that’s a fact of history. And let me tell you another fact of history, that is prehistory is coming down the pike, and that is his return, and you can mark it down. One day, Jesus will come back for us in the clouds, at his secret coming, and, at the end of the tribulation at the battle of Armageddon, he is coming again.
Here’s the question. Do you understand his first coming, are you ready for his second coming, are you ready for his return? Have you given your heart and life to Christ? The thrill of hope, that confident expectation that I belong to him, that I’m my beloved’s and he is mine, his banner over me is love. Christmas is a wonderful time, as we remember the Savior. He is wonderful, incomprehensible. He is counselor, you have problems? There is no friend like Jesus, that we can tell our problems to. He is the mighty God who can do anything. «Behold, I’m the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for me»? He’s the God who gives eternal life, the father of eternity, the Prince of Peace. And he says, to you and to me today, «Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest».