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Pastor Rick’s Study Notes on Isaiah 9:1-7

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Pastor Rick’s Study Notes:

Isaiah 9:1-7

(PRT)

v. 1 For those who were in heartache and desperation, the sorrow and darkness is removed. In the past,  he disregarded Zebulon and Naphtali; but in the future, he will raise up and honor international Galilee, the way by the sea, beyond the Jordan .

v. 2 The people who walk in darkness and sorrow have seen a great and intense light; for those who live in the land of death’s shadow, the light has shined.

v. 3 You have enlarged the nation and expanded their joy. They rejoice in your Presence with the gladness of harvest-time or the uninhibited rejoicing at the sharing of victory’s  bounties.

v. 4 For you have lifted the heavy burden and shattered the slave’s bar from across their shoulders and broken the scepter of the oppressor just like what happened during Midian’s defeat.

v. 5 For the warrior’s combat boots and garments covered in blood  in the heat of battle will be thrown into the fire for fuel.

v. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given and the rule shall rest on his shoulders; and He will be proclaimed Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God,  the Eternal Father, the Prince of Peace.

v. 7 The greatness and abundance of his reign of peace shall never end; he will establish his kingdom on the throne of David and strengthen it with justice and righteousness from that moment and forever. The zeal of the Lord of the angel armies will make this happen.

v. 1 For those who were in heartache and desperation, the sorrow and darkness is removed. In the past,  he disregarded Zebulon and Naphtali; but in the future, he will raise up and honor the way by the sea, beyond the Jordan, in international Galilee.

The word for anguish is only used in one other place – in Job, to describe how with a breath, the waters of the earth are frozen. Zebulon and Naphtali surround the sea of Galilee and are the areas that saw the activity of the Kingdom of God through Jesus’ ministry (and John’s way-making ministry.) The word for disregarded means to make light of or cause a bearable pain. This is juxtaposed with the high honor the land will experience with the Parousia.

It should be noted that this verse is restorative. For those in deep dark places, hurting from life’s consequences, the coming Messiah lifts the shadows, turns bleak into joy, persistent depression toward wholeness.

In the context of v. 1 is the final verse in chapter 8 and the gloom they are destined to endure.

The promise is: the darkness won’t last. And the promise is for the lands that had been disregarded previously. For those marginalized, the light comes. There is a hint that the greatness of the honor will relate to the depth of the shame. This is the land by the sea, the part of Galilee that abuts the pagan nations and they were the first to be attacked and subjugated when invaders came. Guess where Matthew 4 tell us Jesus came: the land of Zebulon and Naphtali.

The honor and raising up will happen in the moment and last on.

v. 2 The people who walk in darkness and sorrow have seen a great and intense light; for those who live in the land of death’s shadow, the light has shined.

The muddling through life barely surviving, living with one foot in the grave because of the grief and sorrow, light has brought new life, restored hope, fresh purpose. Those who live in the international land of Galilee, who were in hopeless cycles of a broken religion, are set free to know and walk with the Savior. Darkness comes before the light.

v. 3 You have enlarged the nation and expanded their joy. They rejoice in your Presence with the gladness of harvest-time or the uninhibited rejoicing at the sharing of victory’s  bounties.

These two images may get lost on today’s readers. We don’t harvest and most of us don’t take plunder and booty from the battle. But we do sow our lives into our dreams, into the people we love, into the mission we are called into; and we do face the battles of life and the victories we enjoy bring benefits of lessons learned and peace discovered.

Enlarge the nation means to multiply or increase and there is a sense of restoration here, too. The capacity for greater joy and uninhibited rejoicing in the moment. The word for rejoicing is rooted in the word “to spin.” Yes, the dance of joy is real. The small nation of Israel become a multiplied host of people.

v. 4 For you have lifted the heavy burden and shattered the slave’s bar from across their shoulders and broken the scepter of the oppressor just like what happened during Midian’s defeat.

He uses two different words for “staff” or “rod” in this passage. Both are rendered ineffective by the Lord’s rule. Both are tied into the concept of the tribe and is translated that in many instances. The oppressor’s authority and the oppressor’s punishing rod are both involved.

Midian’s kings oppressed the people of God for seven years; when Gideon was victorious their kings were killed and the people of God were victors. Keep in mind that Gideon was prevented from taking his whole army into battle; he only had 300 warriors. Give me a handful of warriors in prayer who have tasted victory, and ministry is powerful.

v. 5 For the warrior’s combat boots and garments covered in blood  in the heat of battle will be thrown into the fire for fuel.

One of the words for battle is literally military sandal or boot. The feet fitted ready with the Good News of Peace, is essential to the battles we face. The weapons of the enemy are destroyed by the Good News of the Kingdom.

v. 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given and the rule shall rest on his shoulders; and He will be proclaimed Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God,  the Eternal Father, the Prince of Peace.

Rule, reign and government are all in this word. Isaiah is the only writer of the Bible to use this word and only twice here in this passage. It’s used outside the Bible and means “to turn the head” as in the person who turns the heads of the people to his or her leadership. Perhaps “the right to rule” may fit better here.        

Call is better declare or proclaim.

v. 7 The greatness and abundance of his reign of peace shall never end; he will establish his kingdom on the throne of David and strengthen it with justice and righteousness from that moment and forever. The zeal of the Lord of the angel armies will make this happen.

The Lord of hosts will accomplish the firm establishing of this throne restored from the designs of God that they saw in David’s rule. But, the Lord’s justice and righteousness will strengthen and support his rule.

Pastor Rick’s Study Notes on Isaiah 53:1-6 and Small Group Questions

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Summary Notes on Isaiah. This passage is quoted in more than one place in the New Testament, John 12:37-38 for instance. In these six verses, Isaiah identifies who Jesus is, how He was received, what he came to do, and who responded favorably.

Pastor Rick’s Study Notes:

Isaiah 53:1-6 (PRT)

v. 1 Who has placed trust in our announcement? To whom has the Lord revealed His strength?      

v. 2 For he shall sprout like a tender sapling before him and a root out of the parched earth; and when we see Him, we are not drawn to him because of  his appearance and good looks.

v. 3 He is despised and discarded, a man of sorrows on first-name basis with grief. We turned our faces away from Him; he was dishonored and counted as nothing.

v. 4 Certainly, he has lifted our sicknesses and carried our sorrows away; we considered Him overwhelmed, beaten, and humbled by God.

v. 5 But he was wounded for rebellion and broken for our sinfulness; for our peace, our punishment was on him and by his stripes and bruising we are healed.

v. 6 All of us have wandered away like sheep; we each have turned away to our own way; and the Lord has laid on Him all our sinfulness.

Study Notes:

v. 1 Who has placed trust in our announcement? To whom has the Lord revealed His strength?

Who believes the report we give? The assumption is that some have believed. Discovered as in revealed or unveiled. The arm of the Lord. Who is the “hearer” in these verses? The nations? The people of God?  John 12:37-38 is the NT referencing of this passage. If the people of God, they are lamenting their blindness. They didn’t see Him when he came.

v. 2 For he shall sprout like a tender sapling before him and a root out of the parched earth; and when we see Him, we are not drawn to him because of  his appearance and good looks.

His handsome or winsome appearance are not what will draw us to him. The idea is that he will look like he’s gone through the trials of the desert.

He is a Savior unlike any would imagine. Instead of the “kingly” image of David, the Savior came in common form, with the weaknesses humanity has, breaking into the world through the pains of birth.

The lament of  the people of God is matched by the Gentiles seeing something never before imagined; a Savior who knows us and has the power to save.

The parched earth is the dry spiritual condition of Israel.

v. 3 He is despised and discarded, a man of sorrows on first-name basis with grief. We turned our faces away from Him; he was dishonored and counted as nothing.

Discarded and abandoned to the Cross. Despised by the nation he came to save. Grief is etched into the creases of his face. He wore his sorrow in ways that our capacity to understand causes us to look away.

v. 4 Certainly, he has lifted our sicknesses and carried our sorrows away; we considered Him overwhelmed, beaten, and humbled by God.

This verse is the turn in the passage. We turned away because of his sorrow-filled face; but we learn the sorrow was for us. He lifted the sicknesses off our bodies and the subsequent sorrows that come.

The weaknesses we carry look back to Isa 40. We are like the wildflowers and the grass. One breath and we wither. The words here point to the “taking on” of the sorrow, the debt, the weaknesses. And making the payment needed. He steps into my place.

v. 5 But he was wounded for rebellion and broken for our sinfulness; for our peace, our punishment was on him and by his stripes and bruising we are healed.

This is His work, His labor. He is not wounded by our sinfulness; he was wounded on behalf of our sin. He is punished because my sin required it; He substituted His holiness for my sinfulness.

Punishment that leads to our peace; bruising that lead to our healing. It’s the action of the Savior that brings the work of the Kingdom to forgive, bring peace, provide healing.

This passage points to the Cross. It is said that Isaiah had such clear foresight that is was as if he was standing on the ground below the cross looking up at the sacrificed savior passage also becomes a dividing point between Evangelicals and Pentecostals. The “by his stripes we are healed” has been taken to mean that healing is ours at the Cross to the same degree that Redemption is. When we align our lives by trusting what Jesus completed on the Cross and through His resurrection to provide forgiveness and a relationship of grace through faith, we also according to Pentecostal belief lay hold of healing.

Redemption is ours by faith and through His grace. As redeemed, Jesus is restoring us, empowering us, healing  us; it’s all based on the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Salvation is by faith through grace; healing is ours in a not yet, but already way.

v. 6 All of us have wandered away like sheep; we each have turned away to our own way; and the Lord has laid on Him all our sinfulness.

We had lost our compass, our direction. Illustration: a compass that  doesn’t work wobbles and lurches around instead of a focused and steady presentation of direction. If you are on a ship or in a small plane, and the compass does this, the passenger is completely lost. We are pilgrims but not without direction.

Small Group Questions – Isaiah 53:1-6:

  1. What is your strangest experience with a GPS or navigation application?
  2. Who has wandered away and “left God’s path” in v. 6? What is God’ solution for this “navigational problem?”
  3. Our passages begins with a question: “Who has believed our message?” Who is vv. 1-3 speaking about? (Hint: The Gospel of John uses this prophecy. Read: John 12:37-39)
  4. The Savior whom God has placed “the sins of us all” (v. 6) brings healing, forgiveness, peace, and more (vv. 4-5).  From these verses, which speaks to a personal need you have for the Savior?
  5. How does our passage describe the Savior by looks? How does this change your own mental image of Jesus?
  6. One name Isaiah calls Jesus is “Prince of Peace.” Where do you need the Prince of Peace in your life today? How can we pray for you?

Pastor Rick’s Study Notes Matthew 2:12-21

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Pastor Rick’s Study Notes:

Matthew 2:12-21

12In a dream, they were warned not to report back to Herod. So they worked out another route, left the territory without being seen, and returned to their own country.

The scholars were warned in a God-given dream. That they were warned may indicate more than one had the same dream. And they wisely withdrew from Judea and took another route. Wycliff translates this as “an answer taken in sleep.” God connected the dots of all the scholars had gathered about Herod, the newborn King, and their own travels; and when they awoke, they had their answer.

13After the scholars were gone, God’s angel showed up again in Joseph’s dream and commanded, “Get up. Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay until further

notice. Herod is on the hunt for this child, and wants to kill him.

After the scholars withdraw by another route, Joseph is visited by an angel. Did Joseph and Mary also know that the scholars were warned in a dream? That would have underpinned what the angel says here. The word angel and the word messenger are the same. The angel comes to give the message God wants Joseph to have. The tone is a commanding one.

The “get up” could also be “now that you’re up” – take the child. Now that I’ve got your attention, here’s what you need to do.

There is an urgency and a checklist here: get up (check), gather the child and mom (check), run away to Egypt (check), make your home there (check), watch for my next message (check).

There is a warning: Herod is unhinged and will kill this child.

This is one of several ways the Enemy attempted to end Jesus’ bloodline (Haman, Babylon, etc.)

The word for kill is to destroy completely the potential represented in Jesus.

14-15Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother under cover of darkness. They were out of town and well on their way by daylight. They lived in Egypt until Herod’s death. This Egyptian exile fulfilled what Hosea had preached: “I called my son out of Egypt.”

While Joseph definitely obeyed here, these words aren’t a part of this verse. Still, he got up (check), got the child and mom together for the trip (check), left right away (under cover of the night),  withdrew (there’s that word again) toward Egypt.

This use of withdrew means to avoid what might be feared, they repositioned themselves elsewhere. They hightailed it out of Bethlehem.

The word for “lived” is the to be verb – they were, for a time, immigrants in Egypt, making their home and living there. Similar to Moses. Fulfilling the prophecy.

Jesus, with Joseph and mom, came up out of Egypt and this fulfilled the prophet Hosea’s promise that God’s son would be called out of Egypt.

Egypt was the place where Jews had sought refuge from war, political oppression, famine and threats. Because of this, communities of Jewish immigrants were found in every Egyptian city. Jesus would be raised in a culture that was both an international and Jewish.

V. 15 is tied to v. 19. News travels slowly and likely Joseph didn’t know when Herod died. But he did, and they packed up and returned.

16-18Herod, when he realized that the scholars had tricked him, flew into a rage. He commanded the murder of every little boy two years old and under who lived in Bethlehem and its surrounding hills. (He determined that age from information he’d gotten from the scholars.) That’s when Jeremiah’s sermon was fulfilled:

A sound was heard in Ramah, weeping and much lament.

Rachel weeping for her children, Rachel refusing all solace,

Her children gone, dead and buried.

And Herod, much to the grief of Jerusalem and certainly Bethlehem, became unhinged and sought to kill Jesus by committing democide. Every baby boy was killed in the region. Tradition has it as 14,000 children. But, Bethlehem wasn’t that large. One would expect dozens in the town; maybe hundreds in the vicinity due to the census. When bloodlust is unleashed by a crazed person, there may have been more. Certainly if it was regional, the murderous act was great as was the grief throughout the land. Were it not for the warnings Joseph had and the spontaneous obedience he showed, Jesus would have been in this mix. One only has to do a search for the Slaughter of the Innocents to see how the Italian masters depicted this in their art.

Rachel descendants, and Rachel from the grave, cry a second time for the loss and grief. The first time was at the Captivity.

That Herod had as his command assassins who were comfortable killing baby boys is horrible.

19-20Later, when Herod died, God’s angel appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt: “Up, take the child and his mother and return to Israel. All those out to murder the child are dead.”

And Joseph and the mom and baby get the promised message. Return. It’s safe. Again, this is a promise to Moses and now to Jesus. Return because those whom you feared are dead.

The chronology is less than two years in Egypt as Herod already had an incurable disease when he ordered the babies killed.

21Joseph obeyed.

Surprised by an Angel… and the Call to Tell the Story!

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Nearly everyone loves to hear a good story. Movies, novels, poems, and digital versions of it all, invite us to become a part of the action or the suspense, or the romance, or the journey. Most stories we read or watch or listen to come and go. They may touch us or speak a bit; but they are easily filed away somewhere dusty and hard to find. Some stories are grab our hearts and our imagination. We identify with the people or the crisis they face and how they survive.

Then, there is the story that comes along once in a lifetime. Not only does it capture our imagination – it changes our lives. We look back on this rare story, the characters and what they experienced, and we realize that what happened meets us right where we live, it changes how we see life, and that story redefines who and, more importantly, why we are.

That’s the story the sheepherders found themselves a part of over 2000 years ago on the hillside overlooking the town of Bethlehem. Luke 2:1-20 are the verses that, surprisingly, make up an assignment my high school teacher at NMBHS way back when had me memorize and recite (yes, that was another day.)

It’s the story of Joseph and his betrothed wife Mary, their trek to Bethlehem, the birth of God’s one and only son, Jesus, and a bunch of unwary sheepherders who became a part of the Story of stories.

1At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2(This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child. 6And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

This baby, who is both King and Savior, was born in perhaps the most available and approachable place in the town – in a stable around the corner from a hostel, just shouting distance from the streets of the town. God chose to send His Son, fully human and fully God, to be born where word would get out. And this prepared the town for what happened next. And, this is when the sheepherders are invited into the story.

8That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. 

The Good New story met the sheepherders right where they lived. And it began with the herders who drew the night watch. While their partners caught up on sleep, an angel appeared right in the middle of their conversations. And this angel had just come from the presence of the Father to bring the news about the Son. And the glory of God remained.

And they were terrified. They were used to fighting off wild animals or climbing down the cliffs to rescue a lamb. But, an angel! How many times in the Bible did God show up through His presence, through a vision, or through an angel’s visit – They were scared beyond words. And the answer: Don’t be scared! God met these sheepherders right where they lived.

  11 “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

If the angel’s visit was at first terrifying, the message that he brought was liberating. As good Jewish sheepherders, they heard this message through all they knew about Lord God of Israel.

  • Good news means freedom.
  • Messiah and Lord means salvation.
  • And if you throw in King David, they understood they would be God’s people again, under the rule of His King.

The message from the throne room of God through this single angel literally changed who they were. Sure, they remained sheepherders. But this Good News brought the promise of…

  • Peace that comes with freedom from the oppression of the enemy.
  • Hope that comes with the promised Messiah.
  • Celebrative Joy that comes with being together as God’s people ruled by His King.

And whether in response to the Good News being proclaimed on the hillside or in response to the faith and joy of the shepherds, the worship of the heavens broke through into the physical realm, and…

13Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 14“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

This was more than the sheepherders could contain and, by now they were all together on the hillside echoing the same rejoicing. They had to see it for themselves.

15When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

There in a stable for animals, the greatest expression of God’s love slept. The message propelled the shepherds to check it out for themselves and discover if the Good News was really the Good News. And it was. And it changed both who and why they were. They had to tell others and fanned out through the streets of the town telling anyone they saw that Jesus, the Messiah, the Lord and King was born – in a stable, just around the corner, right where anyone could find Him.

The Good News met the shepherd right where they lived, and the truth of the message of Christmas transformed who they were and became the reason for why they lived. God’s great Story intersected their story and surprised them and transformed them.

  • This Christmas – surprise you with His peace, His love, His joy, His hope. He is God near to us.
  • His Good news meets us where we do life.
  • He invites you to approach Him, come to him – with fears, with broken plans and promised, with empty and dead spots in our lives.
  • And he speaks to you right now – no fear except the awe of a Savior with unchangeable love, no loneliness or emptiness because he fills us and comes close, no dead spots because he brings life and mercy.

Welcome again to the Story. Praying it intersects your story frequently in 2020!