By Nate Wilson, with thanks to Ken Wilson for the outline, Paula Wilson for the Shackleton illustration, and Josh, Beni, Amos, & Peter Wilson for the Hebrew translation. For Christ the Redeemer Church, Sept 3, 2006
ILLUSTRATION: One minute of dawn
In 1914, Earnest Shackleton set out on an amazing voyage to explore Antarctica with 20 men. Alfred Lansing describes this incredible journey in his book Endurance. He describes how the ship reached the Weddell sea as winter approached for the Southern hemisphere and got stuck in the ice as the entire sea froze. In June, which was the Antarctic winter, it was dark even at noon. Lansing records (p.38) “Toward the middle of June, at the blackest part of the winter, a chance boast by Frank Hurley that he had the fastest team resulted in a dog derby. Even at high noon, when the race was run, it was so dark out that the spectators at this ‘Antarctic Sweepstakes could not see the far end of the race course.” Over a month later, on July 26 (p.41), the account reads, “The whole party had been cheered by the sun’s refracted image appearing over the horizon for one minute just after noon. It was the first time they had seen it in seventy-nine days.” Can you imagine how it felt for those men trapped on their ship in the middle of an ice pack in below zero weather for almost three months to never see the light of day? Can you imagine how it felt to them when one day they looked into the sky at noon and saw one minute’s worth of daylight as the Antarctic spring set in?
1. For there will be no gloom for her who was in distress.
In the former time He caused to be lightly afflicted
the land of Zebulon
and the land of Naphtali,
but later He has caused to be glorious
the Way of the Sea beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the nations.
2. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of death’s shadow, a brilliant light has arisen on them.
3. You have caused the nation to multiply;
You have caused its joy to increase.
They rejoice before Your face
as with joy at harvest,
like those who are happy when they divide spoil.
4. For You have broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder
and the rod of the one oppressing him, as in the day of Midian.
5. For every boot that is muddied in the rushing and the garments that are rolled in blood
will be for burning - fuel for fire.
6. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government is on His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
7. Of His empire’s increase and of peace there will be no end.
On David’s throne and over his kingdom to cause it to be established
and to uphold it in justice and righteousness, from now until eternity.
Jehovah of Hosts’ zeal will do this.
In this passage, a glorious light is promised to a people who walked in darkness. I want to focus on three aspects of what the dawning of that glorious light means. The person who will bring this light, the government this person will bring, and the joy that people will have as a result.
I. The Person: A Glorious Son is coming!
A. Son of God
1. Isa 7:14 “virgin shall conceive and bear a son”
2. Heb 1:1-2 “now spoken through a son”
3. John 3:16 ‘sent his only-begotten son”
4. This son is JESUS
B. Son of David
1. v.6 “a child is born” – a real human
2. Joseph’s
Genealogy in Matthew 1
and Mary’s genealogy in Luke 3 trace Jesus’ human lineage to David
3. lived in a real place - v.1 Coming to Galilee/Zebulun/Naphtali (Matt 4:5)
4. Fulfillment of Davidic covenant (2 Sam. 7:12ff and Ps.89:4) Luke 1:32-33 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: (33) and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
C. not only a son, he Is God! (v.6)
1. The word for “Wonderful” is never used of men, only of God in the Bible
2. Named “the Mighty God”
3. “the Everlasting Father” - Equivocation of Jesus with Jehovah.
4. cf. Isa 7:14 “Immanuel – God w/ us”
D. v.6 “Father forever” – better than our earthly fathers because doesn’t die after a few decades; he will always be there to provide for us and nurture and guide and protect us.
REJOICE! Jesus, our glorious Lord was born for us! He died and rose again for us and sits at God’s right hand and He is coming again for us!
II. A Glorious Government is coming!
A. no more oppression,
1. the yoke of his burden –
2. staff of his shoulder/rod of the oppressor = same thing
3. as in the day of Midian – a miraculous reversal like when Gideon defeated Midian in Judges 7.
1. Oppression of Israel by Midian Judges 6:4 – devastation of livestock and crops
2. God’s deliverance from oppression of Egypt is also mentioned Judges 6:8
3. reason for the oppression of Midian is that Israel has rebelled against God and feared other gods (6:10)
4. Gideon’s first step was to build an altar to God and destroy the local idol altars, addressing the spiritual faith issue, which was the root of the oppression (6:24-26)
5. Then Gideon sent away every soldier whose fear was not in God, keeping only 300 who believed God would deliver, creating impossible odds of military success (Judges 7)
6. Then God created a rout of the Midianite army and gave Israel 40 years of peace
4. v.4 miraculous eradication of oppression
1. sin/Satan Col 2:15 “triumphing”
2. all other enemies and finally death I Cor 15:24-27
5. v.6 Shoulders the burden of government, taking it off our shoulder (v.4) and giving us a light yoke (Matt. 11:28 “Come unto me all who are heavy laden and I will give you rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light.”)
B. no more war,
1. boots – “tumult” of war (part of soldier’s gear as per Eph 6 “feet shod with the gospel”)
2. garments rolled in blood – from fighting
3. no more use but for fuel
4. deals with the root cause of war – sin (Romans 5:1-2 Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; (2) through whom also we have had our access by faith into this grace wherein we stand; and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Also James 4)
C. and there will be a just government for us
1. through a boy’s birth
2. who will be a governor
3. wise counselor
4. promoter of peace
5. establishing David’s throne
6. ruling in justice and righeousness
D. v.7 never-ending increase of rule and peace
1. Daniel’s vision of the stone Dan 2:31-45
2. Daniel’s vision of the Son of Man being given dominion (Dan. 7:13-14)
3. Hezekiah had a successor, but Jesus is the final authority and there will not be someone after Him!
III. A Glorious joy is coming!
A. V.3 joy increased
1. KJV “not increased” – Hebrew word “lo” means “not” or “to him” all other Eng. Translations (including the American Jewish Translation) use “to him” even though the spelling is irregular.
2. opposite of gloom from previous verses
3. picture of harvest-time (abundance, feasting – like when we got a huge crate of apples off the neighbor’s trees and made a bunch of apple pies!)
4. picture of military victory (like winning the football game)
B. v.3 Increase of the nation
1. Luke 2:10 “I bring you tidings of great joy which shall be to all people”
2. v.3 Increase of God’s people through the grafting in of the Gentiles – Isa 54, Gal
3. This already promised in Abrahamic Covenant – Gen 12:1-4
C. cause for joy: Glorious light v.2
1. Mal 4:2; - But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.
2. John 1:9, - The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
3. John 8:12; - "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
4. Luke 1:78 – John the Baptist’s father shows this prophecy is speaking of Jesus
D. Cause for joy: peace
1. v.6 “Prince of Peace” head over all peacemakers
2. creates state of harmony with God, blessedness, perfection – Eph 2:14 “He is our peace”
E. v.3 rejoicing in God’s presence
1. Immanuel, God with us
2. Ultimately we will rejoice in the fullness of God’s presence in heaven where
1. Jesus visibly ruling over all
2. Perfect peace
3. No oppression
4. No war
5. No sin
6. Unabated joy
IV. Application
A. Have you seen
that Great light, Found that great freedom, experienced that great joy, Met
that great King ?
You can today if you believe that Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty
God who came to earth and died on the cross in order to create a new order of
people whose rebellion against God has been forgiven
and if you submit to the government of Jesus in His new kingdom.
B. If you have, rejoice and be glad for all the graces of His government
1. Ugandan song “Jesus is the Winner Man” which prounounced in Ugandan English sounds like “Jesus is the Wiener Man”
2. As the Wonderful Counsellor and the Mighty God, he has the cunning and strength to be a victorious hero!
3. There will be no end to the increase of His kingdom; keeps growing little by little (which is the point of the kingdom parables Jesus gave of the mustard seed and the leaven in the loaf).
C. Join in the spread of His kingdom (Matt 28:18ff “All authority is given unto me therefore go and make disciples”)
1. Fighting sin in your life
2. Winning souls to faith
3. Fighting systems of oppression in this world
1. disease
2. oppressive government
3. strife at home with brothers and sisters
4. mercy to the poor
Jesus’ reign began with his birth and is growing in recognition. It will be completed because God’s zeal is behind it. Over a third of the world considers themselves Christian! It has come a long way to date despite the often feeble efforts of Christians because God is still zealous to bring this prophecy to its ultimate fulfillment. Jesus said “I am with you always” in fulfilling this great commission.
D. Are you experiencing a time of darkness? Do you fear intense persecution of the end times? Hang on by faith. A Glorious King is coming! A glorious government is coming! Glorious joy is coming.
Our Hope Illustrated by the story of Shackleton
James Dobson wrote a moving afterword to Alfred Lansing’s book _Endurance_ which chronicles the voyage of Earnest Shackleton to the Antarctic. He describes a point later on in the journey where the spring thaw of the Antarctic icepack had crushed their ship to pieces and the men had been forced to march across the frozen sea until it was so melted they couldn’t walk on it anymore. A harrowing journey in boats brought the 20 men to a lonely island, then Shackleton took five men and the only good boat to go 870 miles across open sea back to an inhabited island to find help. No one knew if the boat was capable of making it that great distance or if Shackleton could find help in time. Dobson reflects on the feelings of those 14 crew members left behind:
“To complete the analogy, let's return to Elephant Island where the remaining castaways waited in misery for the return of Shackleton. They were stranded there with no possibility of getting home unless the captain came back for them. If he succumbed during the rescue mission or if he abandoned them, they would die in the frozen wasteland. There was no other remedy—no other plan.
“The men were kept alive by hope in nothing more substantial than their confidence in the one who promised to return. Dr. A. H. Macklin went to the top of the hill every morning to search for a ship on the horizon. Hurley said the crew "scour[ed] the skyline daily in the expectancy of a mast or plume of smoke." They wouldn't allow themselves to consider even the possibility of failure. To do so was to sink into despair. Everything depended on the return of the captain!
“That is precisely the situation in which we as Christians find ourselves today. Apart from the promise of Jesus' return, there is no hope for the future. The end of life is the end of everything. Loved ones who have died will never be seen again. The anticipation of eternal life in a perfect world devoid of tears, pain, and suffering becomes nothing more than an ancient myth to be scorned. All sources of meaning and purpose for Christians are rooted in that single prophecy. And we believe it fervently. That is why, despite the passage of many centuries, we continue to "scour the skyline daily in the expectancy of a mast or plume of smoke"-—or as Scripture describes it,
“’On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’ Luke 21:25-28, NIV”