Isaiah 9:1-10:4
Pardon the Interruption

I. Need a Break?
1. Sometimes interruptions are rude so a polite person will say, “Pardon the interruption.”
2. Part of the appeal of Christmas is that it’s a break in the normal routine, the daily grind.
3. By December 26 we’re looking forward to a break from Christmas.
4. In the movie “Stalag 17”. American prisoners of war get a break for Christmas, and break-out.
II. The Interruption (9:1-7)
A. The Decree
1. Chapter 8 was a gloomy, filled with predictions of afflictions, misery, flood of distresses, etc.
2. Galilee, is suffering degradation, now occupied by the Gentiles; they are walking in darkness.
3. Now they “have seen” (as if already done) “great light”. They are already made “glorious”.
4. This isn’t just a prediction. This is a decree of the Lord for whom history is “his story.”
5. The decree was issued in eternity past. What it declares can be spoken of as already done.
6. The Messiah who fulfills this promise, has broken the yoke of our former bondage.
7. The Son set us free and “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
B. The Son
1. King Ahaz, of Judah, burned his own son in the fire as a human sacrifice.
2. “according to the despicable practices of the nations . . .” (2 Kings 16:3)
3. The Son is “given.” He’s not earned. That’s the basis of our relationship with the Lord.
4. The Son we are given is the Son who has the “government on His shoulder”.
5. He is a “Wonderful Counselor”, unlike counselors the people were chasing after.
a. They got counsel from necromancers, the dead. Today, people seek astrology.
b. People are turning to superstitions based on ignorance of the cosmos, instead of the Lord.
6. He’s also the Mighty God, not just a man, like people impressed by the world.
7. The Son will be the “Everlasting Father” who gives Himself for His children, unlike Ahaz.
8. He is the Prince of Peace who brings restoration, tranquility, and reconciliation with God.
9. He interrupted the gloomy, dark record of history with on that first Christmas.
10. Sadly, for some, for the unrepentant it’s back to the grind of judgment.
III. The Determination (9:8-10:4)
A. The Arrogant (9:8-12)
1. The Lord has sent (past) a “word” (9:8), a decree, that “will fall” (future).
2. It fell on them when the Assyrians destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 721 BC.
3. Rather than being humbled by judgment, they are arrogant, defiant.
4. They relied on Syria (King Rezin). The Lord is stirring up his enemies, on all sides.
5. What they trusted in, in place of the Lord, is destroyed by the Lord’s decree
6. He stretches out His hand. A signal of a military commander to attack.
7. There is no break from the punishment the Lord is ordering for them to experience.
B. The Godless (9:13-17)
1. Despite the punishment, the godless still don’t repent, turn to the Lord.
2. The Lord says He is cutting off the head (the leaders) and the tail (the followers.
3. The tails are the prophets who are being wagged by the dog of public opinion.
4. So, He lets the young men die in battle, the homeless freeze; people die of AIDS.
5. For all this unrelenting judgment, He is still furious. He is still signaling attack
C. The Wicked (9:18-21)
1. Wickedness burns like those massive wild-fires consuming parts of California in the week.
2. Because of God’s anger at their sins, the “land is scorched”. Because of God’s wrath.
3. He’s letting them have it to the full; He’s giving them over to it (as in Romans 1:18ff).
4. They devour each other because they use each other for themselves.
5. The diseases, the loneliness, superficial relationships, becomes its own punishment.
D. The Unjust (10:1-4)
1. “Woe to [kings, judges, law-makers] who decree iniquitous decrees”, depriving of justice.
2. The unborn are our prey; sacrificed because they can’t offer any politician a benefit.
3. The order continues, God is determined to forever, attack, punish, charge.
IV. Invitation: God could pour out His righteous anger on us for billions of years and still say, “His anger has not turned away.” Yet, that’s not what He’s zealous to do. He’s zealous to give us a Son. The Son was given because God’s anger is rightly never turned away from sin. He determined, by decree, to give us His Son. And His hand was stretched out, on a cross, so that we could have a break from that eternal wrath so that our punishment could be interrupted, eternally, by pardon.