Dark times call for bright promises. Week one of a five week series on Christmas. The prophecy about the coming Messiah

1. Isaiah 8:19–9:7
1
The
Promised
Gift

2. WWI
 December 24, 1914
 5 months of war
 German and English troops are locked in trench
warfare
 The mud in the trenches has frozen
 A stalemate has occurred
2

3. Video
Why
3

4. Setting
Kingdom of Judah Kingdom of Israel
4

5. Judah
Ahaz was twenty years old when he
became king, and he reigned sixteen years
in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was
right in the sight of the LORD his God, as his
father David had done.
2 Kings 16:2 5

6. Not a very
merry
scripture!
 King is Ahaz
 Open rebellion to God
 War with the northern
kingdom of Israel
 Syria and Israel would
lay siege on Jerusalem
6

7. Meanwhile up north
In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of
Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah became
king over Israel in Samaria and reigned
nine years. He did evil in the sight of
the LORD…
2 Kings 17:1–2a 7

8. Hoshea
Ascended by assignation
Form alliances
Rebelled against Assyria
He would be captured, and his
subjects deported
8

9. God’s View Isaiah 8:19-22

10. Not Good
When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the
spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people
consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf
of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do
not speak according to this word, it is because they have
no dawn. They will pass through the land hard-pressed
and famished, and it will turn out
10

11. Not Good (continued)
that when they are hungry, they will be
enraged and curse their king and their God as
they face upward. Then they will look to the
earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the
gloom of anguish; and they will be driven
away into darkness.
11

12. God was angry with His people
O God, You have rejected
us. You have broken us;
You have been angry; O,
restore us.
Psalm 60:1 12

13. A Glimmer of
Hope
Isaiah 9:1-7
13

14. God remembers
But 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 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.
Isaiah 9:1 14

15. A glimmer of hope (continued)
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,
Isaiah 2-4 15

16. Very Familiar
1
6
Restoration
Ministry

17. Prophesying Jesus’ ministry
“THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF
NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE
JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES— THE PEOPLE
WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT
LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE
LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A
LIGHT DAWNED.”
Matthew 4:15–16 17

18. Living without light
1
8
In darkness
 Not following the Law
 No testimony of righteousness
 Not listening to the prophets

19. A great light
 A restoration of
God’s rule
 Jesus the light
of the world
19
The promised gift

20. The gift that keeps on giving
Multiply the nation
 Restored kingdom
 Inclusion of the Gentiles
20

21. Finish the promise
For every boot of the
booted warrior in the
battle tumult, And cloak
rolled in blood, will be for
burning, fuel for the fire.
21

22. The coming king
And He will judge between the nations
And will render decisions for many
peoples; And they will hammer their
swords into plowshares and their spears
into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up
sword against nation, And never again will
they learn war.
Isaiah 2:4 22

23. What about Christmas?
Glad you asked
23

24. The Gift
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.
24

25. The Child
Therefore the Lord
Himself will give you a
sign: Behold, a virgin will
be with child and bear a
son, and she will call His
name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14 25

26. A Son for Israel and adoption for us
Galatians 4:4–5
But when the fullness
of the time came, God
sent forth His Son,
born of a woman,
born under the Law,
so that He might
redeem those who
were under the Law,
that we might receive
the adoption as sons.
26

27. King Jesus
And the government will rest on His shoulders
Rule over all Israel-Micah
Rule over the world-Zechariah 27

28. Micah 5:2…But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From
you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago, From the days
of eternity.”
Zechariah 14:9…And the LORD will be king over all
the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only
one, and His name the only one.
prophecy
28

29. Descriptive Names Wonderful Counselor
29

30. Exceptional counselor
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the
LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob;
That He may teach us concerning His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.” For
the law will go forth from Zion And the
word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Isaiah 2:3 30

31. Descriptive Names
Mighty God
The Child is the Mighty God
Messiah is God
31

32. Descriptive Names
Eternal Father
Everlasting-position in time
Progenitor-from whom comes
the son
Relational-
Isaiah 64:8 32

33. Descriptive Names Prince of Peace
To those who trust Isa. 26:3
An unbreakable covenant of peace Isa. 54:10
As a well nurtured child Isa. 66:12 33

34. Shalom of God
He is the one whom God exalted
to His right hand as a Prince and
a Savior, to grant repentance to
Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
Acts 5:31 34

35. The Kingdom of God
There will be no end to the increase of His
government or of peace, On the throne of
David and over his kingdom,
35

36. Far future promise realized
He will be great and will be called the Son
of the Most High; and the Lord God will
give Him the throne of His father David;
and He will reign over the house of Jacob
forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
Luke 1:32–33 36

37. The future promise
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.
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38. Isaiah 8:19–9:7
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The
Promised
Gift