Isaiah 9:3-5 - You have enlarged the nation

9:3

Observe the complete contrast with the judgement passages. The nation is enlarged rather than depleted. There is great joy rather than distress and desolation. There is the joy that goes with success and fruitfulness. We need to be aware that God’s plans for His people will result in peace and joy, and with it prosperity. Now I am definitely not advocating any prosperity gospel, that should be obvious if you have been reading my blogs for any length of time. What I am saying is that we need to take on 100% of the word of God. That includes the parts about our sinfulness and God’s judgement upon sin, it includes the parts on our sharing in Christ’s sufferings, and it includes the parts on God’s ultimate purpose and destiny for us, which is a pretty prosperous one.

9:4,5

Complete freedom is coming. Why? Because God has broken the rod of the oppressor. There is a lot of talk about oppression and victim-hood today. Indeed, things like intersectionality and critical theory seem to delight in victim-hood. The more you’ve got to whinge about, the better! Then there are those who are awake to the dangers of the social justice movement, but it is possible that they throw out the baby with the bath water. Why do social justice warriors (SJW’s) get some traction in the church? Because there is much talk of social justice in the Bible. Why do they often go off the rails, and others make legitimate attacks on the SJW’s? Because social justice is not all there is, and the root problem is human sinfulness, our rebellion against God. But in this verse we see Israel portrayed as a victim of oppression, and God will act to set them free from this oppression. But why were they in this state in the first place? Because of their sin against God, their persistent sin against God. As Jesus said, if we sin we become slaves of sin. We do need to be set free.

War is naturally associated with bloodshed, but in God’s kingdom these things will come to an end.