The Zeal of the Lord of Hosts

Passage:  Isaiah 9:1-7

This Advent we are considering the Messianic prophecies in Isaiah.  These prophecies were spoken over 700 years before the birth of Jesus which makes the details in them all the more staggering.  Who will refuse to believe the God who speaks about the future and it comes to pass?

Last week we were helped to understand the prophecy of a virgin birth by knowing some geography and history.  That is true for this prophecy of a great darkness and a great light.

Israel is a country divided, like ours only different.  Judah is the southern kingdom made up of two tribes under evil King Ahaz.  Israel is the northern kingdom of ten tribes under an equally evil King Pekah.

The northern most part of Israel is the region of Galilee and around the Sea of Galilee are two of the northern tribes, Zebulun and Naphtali.  These two tribes being in the far north were the first to take the brunt of any invading army.

II Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured … Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria.

The northern kingdom had been faithless, the had broken covenant with God.  As a result, God disciplined them  by the Assyrians.  When we read of the yoke and rod of oppression and being trampled under warriors boots, that’s Assyria.

But God.  God refuses to let go of His faithless flock.  God has a tenacious memory, He never forgets His own, He never forgets His covenant promises.  Even when they are beaten down and destroyed, when they are lead away into captivity, even when they have been cast out into a land of deep darkness, God’s grace never completely lets go.

Chapter 9 opens suddenly with a brilliant display of a great light.  Listen to the incredible fulfilment of this prophecy as Matthew quotes our text.

Matthew 4:13-17 Leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—

16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light,

and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”

17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus came to Zebulun and Naphtali, to the Galilee of the Gentiles.  These most northern tribes who had been plunged into darkness by the Assyrians and sin, were the first to see a great light from the Sun of righteousness.  Jesus who is the light of the world began His ministry in the darkest part of Israel.