The Impending Crisis

Isaiah 9-10

            Chapters nine and ten go back and forth between threat and promise. The first promise is of restoration, light following darkness. Zebulun and Naphtali are northern tribes; Galilee is a region in the north, so these chapters have the north kingdom mainly in mind. The south kingdom is referenced too. When the Assyrians invaded in 722 BC, they destroyed the north kingdom and hauled off its people, but the north kingdom never experienced a return from exile. They simply disappeared from history. 20 years later, the Assyrians made war against Judah, too, devastating the land but, by the Lord’s deliverance, not conquering Jerusalem (see Isaiah 36-37, 2 Kings 18-19).

            Since the north kingdom never returned, the promise to Zebulun and Naphtali obviously had to wait longer for fulfillment. As the centuries wound on, the people of Israel did eventually re-inhabit the region of Galilee. By Jesus’ day, Galilee has a large Jewish population, and Jesus does most of His miracles in Galilee, so the first part of chapter nine reaches its fulfillment in Jesus’ work.

            In a much grander, subtler way, the whole prophecy looks forward to the day of ultimate restoration, when Christ returns. After all, the promised peace certainly does not exist on earth yet. So, we are still waiting for the fullness of the prophecy’s fulfillment.

            One other interesting feature of the reading is the judgment on Assyria (10:5-19). The Lord claims that Assyria is His chosen instrument to punish His people, the rod of His anger. But He also says that Assyria has its own sinful plans, which are to destroy and to consume. This is typical of the Lord, from all the way back to the judges at least. He uses the wicked to accomplish His purposes, but He also promises that their wickedness will be the last word. His justice will ultimately prevail. (Of course, the key word is ultimately; consider the previous paragraph.) Even when we see evil prevailing in our day, we ought not lose hope. The Lord is accomplishing His purposes—somehow and on a timeline we may or may not ever understand.