For the boot of the marching warrior in the roar of battle,
and cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. (Isaiah 9:5,
NASB)
Anyone who is a parent, has been a
parent, and/or has worked with children knows peace and quiet are rare. If children
are quiet, that silence comes for one of three reasons; either the child is
asleep, is sick, or is getting into trouble. Isaiah’s prophecy told of the
peace the people of Israel would have. It will occur not because of what they
do, but because God gives it. God causes peace. The peace about which Isaiah
prophesied does not occur by individuals. God’s peace is greater and overcomes
whatever humanity, angels, demons, or principalities can create. What God
causes, these other beings cannot take away unless God allows it. In the next
paragraphs, we will recall what Isaiah said in Isaiah 9:1-4. After that, we
will study verse five on its own, aiming to understand verse five in context
with the first four verses.
For whom did Isaiah prophesy? In
verses one and two, the student realizes Isaiah spoke to the people of Israel.
Because the Zebulun and Naphtali lands had residents consisting of Israelites, Canaanites,
and other nations, Isaiah prophesied to both Jews and Gentiles. Isaiah 9:1-7 is
for every person on earth. Why was it necessary to speak a prophecy of peace to
the people of Israel then?
Israel did not have peace for almost
two decades. The Assyrian army would battle Israel, then take the people of
Israel captive in 722 BC. What did God want these people of Israel to recall
for the time of their captivity? He wanted them to understand that their
captivity would not occur forever; they would receive freedom. In the moment of
their freedom, it would be as a great light, a lift of the burdens from their
shoulders (v. 2a).
God gave hope and promised light
would come out of the darkness. This light for the people meant release from captivity.
God would cause their release. Nothing within a person can bring the light of
freedom unless God tells the person to do something and then gives him or her
the ability to do it, like He did with Moses. Israel received hope from God
with this prophecy. The hope God gave the people of Israel was a beacon of
light that threatened to shroud their hearts, minds, and spirits. God’s
promises are for the present time and the future. His hope makes it so. God
included every person in this prophecy, as told to them through Isaiah. Their dark
days of slavery would end. God would cause it to happen. He gives the light and
hope.
God, through Isaiah, continued telling
what He would do for the people of Israel. He added, in Isaiah 9:3, that He
would multiply the nation. This multiplication would include the number of
people who would live in Israel by a literal increase in population, which included
both Jews and Gentiles. It would include all people, through the millennia, who
came to God through belief in Him and His Son, Jesus. God would call them His
children.
Since God’s promises included all
people of all time, His multiplying Israel’s nation would multiply the number
of God’s people, which did not include only Jews. This multiplication by God included
the geo-political landscape of earth. The people of the promise—Jews and
Gentiles—would expand the geographical borders of the promised land to
everywhere in the world believers lived. The parts of the world in which believers
lived expanded God’s land of promise to be as vast as His created world and heavenly
kingdom. God will “multiply the nation” (3a).
With this promise of God, composed
of several parts, a natural reaction would occur because of what God would do. God
would fill the people of Israel with joy (v. 3b). With the gifts of joy, light,
and multiplication of the nation God gives to His people, their bubbling over
of gratitude and amazement flowed from them. When joy bubbles up through a
person, a natural reaction occurs—that person bursts forth in rejoicing. Rejoicing
can happen by singing, dancing, praising God, sharing God’s blessings with
other people, and worshipping God.
Isaiah gave an analogy to help these
future captives understand the depths of joy they would have during their
captivity and afterwards. He said they would rejoice like when the harvest came
in (v. 3b). Isaiah added another analogy. He said the people would rejoice like
when they divide the plunders of war among themselves (v. 3c). The people would
react to God’s actions of shining a light on them, giving them joy, and
multiplying the nation. They would rejoice with other captives and praise God.
God promised more than light, joy,
and multiplication. It joined with Isaiah’s prophecies in Isaiah 42:7 &
61:1-2 and Jesus’ statement about Himself in Luke 4:18. Through Isaiah 9:4, God
told the people of Israel that He would give them freedom. He said He would
break the yoke, staff, and rod with which their oppressor enslaved the people
(v. 4). Isaiah used an analogy for their release that would resonate with the
people. Their freedom would feel like when God routed their longtime enemy,
Midian. While Gideon and three-hundred soldiers watched, God confused and routed
the Midianites in 1184 BC.
The people of the joint kingdom of
Israel regularly recalled this story of God’s hand delivering them from the
Midianites. Because the Midianite defeat was familiar to the Israelites, Isaiah
knew comparing it to God’s defeat of the Assyrians would give the people of
Israel great encouragement, comfort, and joy. God would redeem the people of
Israel from the soldiers, government, and slave drivers called Assyria.
In verse five, Isaiah continued
using the battle analogy, which he began in verse three(c). He helped the
people recall battles by using their senses. Isaiah described the battle sounds
and implements of a soldier. He said, “For the boot of the marching warrior in
the roar (and clanging) of battle, and cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning,
fuel for the fire” (NASB). These words brought to memory the sight, sound, and
smell of battle. The putrid odor of blood on cloaks and bodies. The clanging
metal of armor shielding soldiers’ bodies. The heavy tromping of boots marching
into battle. The blasting of bugles by generals’ orders. The panic and fearful
escaping of nature from the area. People would recall of these sensory memories
of battle. By recalling sensory details, Isaiah's prophecy reminded the people
of the sights, sounds, and smells of battles fought by armies such as those of
Midian and Egypt. They helped the people remember how God preceded them and
defeated their enemies.
Without God’s light, hope, and peace,
those memories of battle would haunt the people of Israel forever. Yet, with
God, anything can happen. God gives light, hope, and peace. He causes the
changes to set people free. Paul wrote in Romans 8:37 that God’s children are
more than conquerors. They are more than slaves or conquered people. God causes
freedom by His actions. He said this through Isaiah. God said every marching
boot and blood-soaked cloak would burn as fuel for the fire. The people would
be free. God would provide their freedom and conquer the enemies of the people
of Israel. He will always provide freedom for His people who seek Him (2
Chronicles 7:14). With that freedom comes peace. Before freedom, God gives light,
hope, and peace.
This freedom God gives would cause rejoicing
by the people. Just as they danced at a harvest with joy and divided the
plunder of war among themselves with excitement and joy, the people of Israel
would dance with joy at God defeating the country that overpowered and enslaved
them. The Israelites recalled their harvest celebrations and victory
celebrations. In their minds, they heard their celebrations, recalled the taste
of food in their mouths, and sensed the celebration in their being.
They could hang onto God’s promise
with hope and relive from memory how God, in the past, gave them victory. The
memories of God’s intervention are spiritual markers for people. People can
recall spiritual markers throughout life. A person can recall and rejoice at what
God did in his or her life. God’s joy is for all time. Rejoicing is humanity’s
outflow of God’s gracious gifts. It leads to people loving God with their whole
being as God taught people to do in the Old and New Testaments (Deuteronomy 6:5
and Matthew 22:37).
God's actions, His gifts of joy,
peace, hope, and future freedom would cause the people of Israel to react. That
reaction would cause them to love the Lord their God with all their heart, spirit,
mind, and strength. This morale booster, by Isaiah’s prophecy, telling what God
would do, would strengthen and encourage the captives. The prophecy enabled
them to endure captivity with hope, live with the memories of what God did in
the past, and buoy themselves with thoughts of what He will do in the future. God
would arm the captives with hope, so they were ready to endure. Paul wrote
about the great power of God, which God wanted the people of Israel to remember.
He continued his teaching and testimony by writing in Romans 8:37-39:
In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him
who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor any powers, neither
height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate
us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39, NASB)
The Isaiah 9:1-7 prophecy transcends
a single moment; it lasts forever. God is always the Conqueror. He is always
faithful to His promises and His people. The Israelites’ freedom from captivity
in 523 BC did not signal the end of the prophecy. This prophecy from God is for
all people, as Isaiah 9:1 recorded. God’s word lasts forever because He is
eternal.
Because people will exist until
Jesus’ second coming to Earth, this prophecy of release from captivity has not
fully occurred. Jesus has not yet consummated it. God made available through Jesus’
life, death, and resurrection the ultimate release from captivity to sin and
death. Jesus gives this freedom—this redemption from slavery to sin and death—when
a person confesses belief in Him as their Savior.
Jesus ended all battles and wars for
people who believe in Him. No captivity can separate God from anyone who
believes in Jesus. God declares freedom for His children, and nothing can defeat
Him. The freedom Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection provided makes possible
the defeat of sin, its judgment, and death from the moment anyone believes in
Him. God will consummate the salvation of believers upon Jesus’ return to earth.
At that time, Jesus will claim His disciples and take them to His kingdom to
live with Him forever. No force can keep His disciples captive.
This freedom God gives also provides
joy from Him so people can rejoice. Knowing this freedom gives peace to the
hearts, spirits, and minds of people who seek God and who come to a
relationship with Him through belief in Jesus the Christ. Because God is for us,
giving us joy, hope, freedom, and peace; therefore, “who can be against us” (Romans
8:32)?
How do we realize at this point God
intended that? We will understand more when we finish studying the entire
prophecy with verses six and seven. We recognize, too, by Jesus’ teaching and
Paul’s letters, that this prophecy intended eternal redemption and
reconciliation with God (Luke 4:18-20, Matthew 5:17-18, Luke 24:25-27, Colossians
1:19-20). This will be the topic of the next Bible study.
For now, consider your relationship
with sin and with the Redeemer who releases believers from sin’s captivity. Are
you still captive to sin and its resultant judgment of eternal death? That
outcome is not what God desires for you. He loves you and wants to have an
eternal relationship with you in heaven.
Today, you have a choice. Which outcome
will you pursue: eternal captivity or freedom from being captive to sin and
death, which gives you a right relationship with God? It always remains your
choice. Choose God, Jesus, redemption, joy, hope, peace, and eternal life.
Jesus came to give us peace through redemption and
reconciliation with God.
Chaos
no longer reigns over His disciples. Let God give His peace to you.
For unto us a Child
will be born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His
shoulder.
And His name will
be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace. (Isaiah 9:6, NKJV)
