Good to have you here this evening. Several who are away, we’re glad you are here. We are continuing our studies in Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament. Last time, you may recall, we were in Isaiah chapter seven, the virgin-born son. Today we move to Isaiah chapter nine, the promised son. I’m trying in this series to look at each book in chronological order in the Old Testament as we trace out Messianic prophecies and not just isolate those prophecies, but I’m trying at least to give some kind of a brief survey of the entire prophecy as we go along.
So today, remember we have already worked our way through Isaiah 1 through 8. And today we’ll pick up with chapter 9, and I don’t think we’ll get any further than that. Next time, Lord willing, we’ll look at Isaiah 11, and we’ll pick up chapter 10 with that and see the flow of the prophecy there. Today, Isaiah chapter 9. Let’s look at verses 1 through 7:
But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the trampling warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Amen already. Let’s bow together for prayer. Our Father, what a treat it has been to see that it is the case, as we have heard so often in church, that the Bible really is a book about Jesus. Our hearts have been encouraged and inflamed as we have looked to see how for centuries you unfolded this hope—one prophecy after another building this great hope that all eventually culminated in the Lord Jesus and will culminate finally in his return to us. So we pray that you will encourage us again through this portion of your word. In that way, may we come away from this with a renewed faith in the Lord Jesus and a renewed resolve to be faithful to him until he comes again. We pray in his name. Amen.
What we have seen then in Isaiah 1 through 6, we have the opening prophecies that he gives. These are mainly, primarily, prophecies of woe, prophecies of judgment. It’s not entirely that. Chapter 2, you’ll remember we saw in chapter 4, we saw some high spots of the kingdom of God that will come, and it’s a marvelous thing. It will be the world over, and this branch of the Lord will come and reign over the world, and it’ll be a glorious thing. We saw the prophecy that’s also in Micah’s prophecy as well, that the world will come flowing into Jerusalem, looking to this Messianic king for guidance, and there’ll be an end to war and an end to disputes, and they’ll all be settled by this king reigning in Jerusalem.
That section of prophecies culminates in chapter 6, where the prophet gives some reflections on his own call. This is primarily prophecies of judgment and woe, and more judgment and woe, and Israel won’t believe, and Israel will be judged, and Israel won’t believe, and Israel will be judged over and again. What does that say about my calling? What is it I’m supposed to do? So he reflects in chapter 6 in that famous prophecy where he saw the Lord in the house of the Lord, and he is then commissioned by the Lord to preach to a people who won’t hear until they’re gone.
We come to chapter 7 then, and chapters 7 through 12 of Isaiah. This is called the Book of Emmanuel because this is primarily prophecies of salvation. We have prophecies of judgment here as well, but the dominant note is one of hope and salvation. We saw that last time in chapter 7, verse 14, where the prophet Isaiah assures King Ahaz—and we saw that Ahaz may have misunderstood some of this and taken some personal hope in it that was unfounded—but what Isaiah, what God promises, is that the Davidic house will not be destroyed. God will fulfill his promise to David. Judah itself will suffer. We saw that again in chapter 8 as well, that Judah will suffer. And now we come to the culmination of that tone at the end of chapter 8, and we come to chapter 9.
Chapter 7, then, we have the setting. You remember it’s the alliance of the Northern Kingdom and Syria against the Assyrian armies that are threatening them. And Syria and the Northern Kingdom of Israel have banded together. They’ve asked the Southern Kingdom to join them in this confederacy against Assyria. The southern kingdom refused to join, and so the northern kingdom of Israel and Syria joined together, threatening the southern kingdom. And that, while the Assyrian armies are threatening to come down on the northern armies, Judah had appealed to Assyria, asked for their help in it. Of course, they’re glad to give it at that point.
And Isaiah gives the prophecy there that that invasion of the confederacy to the north will not succeed and that Judah will survive but Judah will suffer; there will be difficult times coming. That expanded prophecy of judgment then goes through chapter 8 and speaks of Judah’s oppression that will come. What we’ll find there is that Jerusalem will be spared, but Judah, the kingdom, will suffer. And when the Assyrian armies came, the southern kingdom was racked in many ways by the army, but Jerusalem, the city itself, and the Davidic house was spared by miraculous intervention from the Lord.
All of that then concludes at the end of chapter 8, verses 21 and 22. They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry, and when they are hungry they will be enraged, and will speak contemptuously against their king and against their God, and turn their faces upward. They will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, and they will be thrust into thick darkness. So there’s oppression, there’s a hint now of exile as well. Verse 21, they’ll pass through the land greatly distressed and hungry. So there’s a hint already of the exile that will come to Judah. And verse 22, they’ll look to the earth but behold distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, they will be thrust into thick darkness. You’ve got some difficult days ahead coming.
Describing The Hope
And in the very next breath, then, chapter 9, verse 1—and curiously, in the Hebrew, verse 1 of chapter 9 is still attached with chapter 8, so we have a verse 23 of chapter 8 in the Hebrew text, and that’s where it’s picked up in the New Testament as well, in Matthew’s gospel that we’ll see in a little bit. But here in verses 1 to 3, we have him describing the hope; so we’ve got this prophecy of judgment that’s coming on the southern kingdom, its gloom, its darkness, and suddenly now, in that context, there’s this surprising happy note of hope. Remember, we’ve seen that in a lot of these Messianic prophecies. The prophets, they will speak of judgment and woe, and suddenly in the next breath comes this marvelous note of hope that is coming because of the Messianic king who will arrive.
Well, that’s what we have here. Beginning in verse 1 then, he describes that hope. But there will be no gloom. So there’s been gloom and darkness, distress and anguish, but there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time, he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time, he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in the land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy. They rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
Now first of all, in verse 1 he mentions the land of Zebulun and Naphtali. These are the northern parts of the kingdom of Israel. They were always the first to be hit by the invasion. These are the cities where the deportations began. So this is somewhat symbolic. This is where the hurt and the anguish and the gloom began: the land of Zebulun and Naphtali. Also in verse 1, the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan. This is a highway that ran from Damascus in the north through Capernaum, down through parts of Galilee, and then it cut across to the Mediterranean Sea. This was the route that was taken by the invading armies. So this has overtones and connotations that are horrendous to the Jewish people. This is a horrible highway. This is where the invading armies came. This is where the deportations went out. It’s a dreadful highway, but he says this dreadful highway will be made glorious. So there’ll be some kind of return. Already he’s talking about that.
So in verses 1 to 3 then, we have again, like we see so often in the prophets, a turn of events. One day, this oppressed people will rejoice. Verse 1, there’ll be no gloom for her who was in anguish. Verse 2, a great light shined on them. Verse 3, the people rejoice before the Lord as with joy at the harvest. So blessed Israel is no longer reduced in the viewpoint of these verses, will no longer be reduced to a mere remnant. He says you will, verse 3, you have multiplied the nation. So there’s a day of prosperity and blessing that is coming. These who were first hit by the invasion will be the first to see the glory of this new day that is coming. They’ll see the great light that is coming.
And that’s interesting in one respect. This is sort of an aside here, but it is kind of a curious observation. He has made this observation that these lands to the north that were the first hit by the invasion, and these are the areas of the deportation—horrible history here that’s going on—they will be the first to see the light of the new day that God has promised for them. That promise and that hope seems to have gone completely unheeded. And we have hints of that when we come to the New Testament. We find it in John chapter 1, the most famous one of that, where Nathanael says to Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” This is a despised area. What good can come out of there? Well, if he had remembered Isaiah’s prophecy, this is the area that’s first going to see the light of a new day that’s coming. We have the same kind of thing hinted at in John chapter 7 where the Pharisee said to Nicodemus, kind of with a snarl—you can see a bit of a scorn and a curled lip maybe when they say it—that no prophet comes from Galilee. So this promise here seems to have gone completely unheeded.
Now, he mentions in verse 1, he calls this Galilee of the nations, or Galilee of the Gentiles. Now, there are references to Galilee here and there in the Old Testament, not a lot, but several references to Galilee in the Old Testament. But only Isaiah refers to them, to Galilee, as Galilee of the Gentiles or Galilee of the Nations. And that probably is a reference to the invading armies who brought Gentile troops and armies into that. And also, they brought in transferees from their land as they deported the people. They bring in people from their land to resettle, and there’s some, evidently some continuing Gentile presence there in this northern area of Galilee.
Now for Isaiah, all of that is symbolic of a broadening hope that Messiah will come and he’ll bless not only Israel, but blessing will be to the Gentiles as well. And Galilee of the nations is symbolic of that. So verse 7, we have a hint of that, a statement of that: “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.” This is not just for Israel. This is a worldwide kingdom that is coming. We’ll see that when we get to chapter 11 next time. In that day, the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal for the peoples. Of him shall the nations inquire. This is a worldwide kingdom that is coming. And of course, that’s in keeping with all that we’ve seen beginning back in Genesis—well, Genesis 1, but particularly in Genesis 49, Numbers 24, 1 Samuel 2, 2 Samuel 7 with the Davidic promise, and all of these passages that we’ve seen, and then in the prophets as well, and in the Psalms that we’ve seen—there’s this hope that this promised king will come to Israel as God has promised, but his kingdom will not be restricted to Israel itself. This is going to be a worldwide kingdom.
Now, keep your hand here in Isaiah 9, we’ll be right back, but look over at Matthew chapter four. Matthew chapter four. In the context, in the earlier chapters, we’ve had, well, of course, the birth narratives, and then we have John the Baptist preparing the way for the arrival of Messiah. Jesus is introduced. He’s baptized. He goes immediately up to the mountain of temptation in chapter 4. And now, chapter 4, verse 12, Jesus begins his ministry. Here’s the launch of Jesus’ ministry. “Now when,” verse 12, “when he had heard that John had been arrested,” this is Jesus, “he withdrew into Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea in the territory of,” here it is, “Zebulun and Naphtali.” So that—notice the purpose clause here—”so that what was spoken by the prophet might be fulfilled.” And here he quotes the words of Isaiah 9. “The land of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light. For those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
So the first part of Israel that fell to the invading armies would be the first to see the coming glory. And guess who’s the fulfillment of that promise? You always know the answer. It’s Jesus. Of course it is. And Matthew pinpoints that for us. Jesus is the fulfillment of that prophetic hope. This great light—he is the great light that’s dawning on the world. And in verse 3 of Isaiah chapter 9, Israel’s joy and rejoicing is finally at the arrival of Jesus, the King.
Deliverance From Their Oppressors
Now in back to Isaiah 9, verses 4 and following, he explains all of this for us. So far, all he’s done is announce that this better day is coming. And now he explains more about it. He gives his reasons for Israel’s joy. Verse 4, they’ll be delivered from their oppressors. Notice the introductory word there; it’s explanatory: “For,” because, so they’ll rejoice. Why? Verse four, “because the yoke of his burden and the staff for his shoulder and the rod of his oppressor you have broken as on the day of Midian.”
Now some of the language here seems to be very well chosen. Yoke, burden, rod on the shoulders. That’s all language that harks back to Egypt, the Israelites in Exodus, or in Egypt. We find that in the early chapters of the book of Exodus where this language shows up to describe their situation there. So he’s harking back to that; so this is going to be something like a new Exodus that is coming. But there’s more than that. Notice he says also, at the end of verse 4, “you have broken this rod and his oppressor and all, you have broken as on the day of Midian.” Remember the Midianites? And Gideon? So he introduces Messiah as a new Gideon who is coming. So this is a new Exodus, this is a new Gideon who has come to lead in this new Exodus, and this new Gideon will come and he’ll shatter all the oppressors and he’ll bring deliverance to his people. So a new day has dawned, a great light has shined, and all the suffering and all of the oppression of God’s people will now be brought to an end.
Verse 5, he explains further, there’ll be an end of hostilities. “For every boot of the trampling warrior in battle tumult, every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.” In other words, it’s the kingdom of God that has arrived. As a result of the arrival of this new Gideon, all the implements of war will become things of the past, and you can use them to fuel the fire. Now this, you might remember, harks back to what we saw in Isaiah chapter two, verse four. When the king is here, “he will judge between the nations. He’ll decide disputes for many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” So we have genuine peace that has been established, and it’s been established worldwide under the rule of this king who is here.
For To Us A Child Is Born
Who hasn’t yet been named? We come to that in verse 6. And verse 6 is the punchline of the prophecy. Again, he’s explaining everything that he’s just said. Here’s how all of this will come about. How is it that this joy and peace from deliverance from the oppressors, how is it that all of that will come? Verse 6: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. The government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
So a child is born. Well, there’s nothing much unusual about that, except this is a particular child, and we’ll see more about that in just a moment, but it does emphasize his human descent. Clearly, clearly, if you’ve been reading Isaiah, if you’ve been reading the Old Testament narrative at all, clearly this is David’s promised son who’s in view. To us a child is born. A son is given. The birth of a baby may be one thing, but now a son is given. This is the promised, clearly the promised royal son. We saw that in Isaiah chapter 6. This was the sign given to King Ahaz that God would not allow the Davidic promise to fall, the Davidic house will not fail, but “thus the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son. His name shall be called God with us.” This is ultimately the fulfillment then of the Davidic promise in 2nd Samuel chapter 7. And of course this works its way back to Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 where the woman’s seed will come to destroy the tempter.
Now it says that this son is born “to us.” To us a child is born. That is to oppressed Israel. This is promise fulfilled. Israel has suffered, and she’s deserved it. The prophet has said that it would happen. But God will bring a new day, and it will come by the work of this son who was born to Israel. This is the Davidic son who will come.
Now, in the rest of verse 6, he gives us the significance of this child, the characteristics of this son. “His name shall be called.” Now that expression—I think every time, at least I can say this, consistently in the Old Testament, that expression, “his name shall be called”—it doesn’t mean that his name, people will call him, “Hey, Emmanuel” or whatever, but it describes for us what he will be like and what his character will be. His name will be called. So these are descriptive titles that are given. This is who he is. And they were given four designations.
One, his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor. That is, he will be a wonderful counselor. Now, this is the qualification for his effective rule and his effective administration of his kingdom. It’s even translated this way: he’s a wonder of a counselor. A wonder of a counselor. This word translated “wonderful”—it’s consistently in the Old Testament used with reference to God, the works of the supernatural. It has supernatural connotations ringing all over it, and it’s used in the Old Testament. God himself and his works are consistently called wonderful or full of wonder. It has supernatural connotations. So, wonderful counselor, that is, he has wisdom far above that of any human. We’ll see more about that in a minute. In fact, in chapter 28 and verse 9, it is the Lord himself who is described as wonderful in counsel. The same words that are used here. It is the Lord himself who’s wonderful in counsel. So what he’s describing then here, first of all, is Messiah’s unprecedented wisdom in guiding the affairs of his kingdom. Unlike Ahaz, who had made such stupid mistakes and stupid decisions that brought Israel down into ruin.
And if you’d like, you can look back to chapter 1 of Isaiah verse 26, and you’ll see that this is a fulfillment of that promise. In Isaiah 1:26, God says, “I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.” You might remember, and we just highlighted this in our brief survey of the early chapters, chapters 1 and following, he’s speaking of what will happen to Israel because of their disobedience. And a great part of the judgment that’s coming upon Israel is that God’s going to turn them over to children to lead them. And you’ll have babies in charge. Now, clearly he’s speaking metaphorically. There’s not going to be a baby sitting on the throne. But mental midgets, men without character, men who can’t be trusted, men who make foolish decisions—I’m not talking about America right now; I’m talking about ancient Israel. Sounds so contemporary, doesn’t it? “Child shall lead them. Babies will be in charge. An infant shall be in charge.” That was the prophecy. And that’s what has happened in Israel. And because of it, she has come to ruin. And God promises now this son will be born and he’ll be different. He’ll be a wonderful counselor; counsel and wisdom far beyond that of any human.
Number two, he’s called the Mighty God. This is his authority and his power in administrating his kingdom. By the way, this title, Mighty God or God Almighty, this is the use of God himself in Isaiah, the very next chapter, chapter 10, verse 21. So we have here again what we have seen so many times in Messianic prophecy, and that is this divine Messiah theme. That yes, he’s a Davidic son, but it is also the Lord himself who has come. I’ve said this many times—it’s important, I’m going to say it again—it’s important that we understand through the Old Testament, you have these two tracks of prophecies. You have the prophecy that David’s son will come, David’s son will rule, Davidic king will be here, David will rule over them. Then you have that other track about God will come and he will rule over his people and he’ll take charge and he will shepherd his people. And then sometimes those two tracks converge, and of course they converge in the New Testament, in the incarnation of Christ, but we have that hinted for us at least in passages like this. We have the divine Messiah theme; we had that in Isaiah 7, verse 14, “His name shall be Immanuel, God with us.” And we saw that that was not meant to be just something that was a hopeful expression, but that is what He will be. He will Himself be God with us. We saw it in Micah chapter 5, that the one to be born in Bethlehem will be the one whose goings forth have been from of old, from eternity. This is a divine Messiah theme.
This is at the very heart of the Old Testament hope. The very soul of it. That in the coming of Messiah, not only will David’s son rule on David’s throne, but God himself has come to take charge. And so we have not only a divine Messiah theme, but we also have the incarnation, the two natures of the Messiah, two natures of Christ, the Davidic son. He is David’s son, and he is David’s Lord. Jesus pushes that point. You might remember some from Psalm 110 in the Gospel of Matthew. So this child is born, and this child born to Israel is the mighty God. Put all that together, and you have the New Testament doctrine of the incarnation of Christ. Trinitarian implications with that as well. God has sent his son. This one who comes from God is himself God. The point here then is that God, all-powerful, he will rule. And his rule, because he is all-powerful, the mighty God, his rule will never be in danger. His policies will be perfectly enforced.
Number three, he’s called the Everlasting Father. The Everlasting Father. Something of an irony here: it’s a child that’s born, he’s a son, and yet he’s called the Everlasting Father. That is, the character of his rule will be that of a father. He’s protector, he’s provider for his people, he shows care and concern for them. So he’s a mighty God, this wonderful counselor, and yet his attitude toward his people is that of a father who loves them. And he rules with their good interests in mind. So he’s the ideal king. He rules with divine wisdom. He rules with divine power. But at the same time, he rules with paternal benevolence, I think is the idea there. He views his subjects of his kingdom not as his slaves. He views them as his children. He views them with compassion, and he rules on their behalf, and he cares for them and he protects them. We saw something of this, you might remember when we looked briefly at Psalm 72, where the nations look to this king and pray for him, and are praising God for this king who cares so for his people. Well, that’s the idea. He’s the everlasting father. Everlasting, that is, he’ll be a father to his people forever. It will be never ending.
And then fourth, characteristic of this child, he will be the Prince of Peace. Here we have his relation to society, his relation to his domain, his kingdom. It will be one of peace. Shalom. Wholeness to it. Harmonious. It has connotations of harmony and prosperity. Peace, in every sense. He’s the Prince of Peace. That is, his administrative rule is for the good of his subjects and will bring peace throughout his kingdom. He’ll have a rule that’s marked by peace. Well, we saw that in verses 4 and 5. There’s an end of warfare and the implements of war can be trashed because we don’t need them anymore. But it’s not just the absence of hostilities. But it’s all the blessings of peace that peace connotes, and reconciliation that has been achieved, and peace now is enforced.
And then this next expression in verse 6, which I just love: “The government shall be on his shoulders.” Don’t you love that? What a wonderful expression. When he comes, the government will be his. He’ll rule. And he won’t need a board of bumbling counselors to tell him how to try to help him rule. He’s wonderful in counsel all by himself. He’s the mighty God. And the government will be on his shoulders. He’ll take the rule of the nations to himself. And he will rule. While this is a fulfillment of 2 Samuel 7, David’s son will prosper on the throne forever, universally. This is what we saw in Psalm 2. Right now the nations are raging against God and against his anointed, against his king. But God has set his king on his holy hill and he will rule. And his rule will never be frustrated.
In fact, we have here some interesting turns of phrase as well. Verse 4, we had the burden on the shoulder of God’s people. The burden on the shoulder of God’s people. And now verse 6, that burden will be lifted when the king comes and puts the government on his shoulders. And when he carries the government, things will be different and his people will no longer be oppressed.
Of The Increase Of His Government
Verse 7 expands on all of this: “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.” What a marvelous prophecy. “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end. On the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it, to uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” That is, he will bring to fulfillment everything that God has promised to David. His rule will be universal. He tells us that. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. It will be endless, both in time and in space—no end to the rule that he has. It will be marked by justice and righteousness. It will be without interruption. It’ll be from this time forth and forevermore.
So we have this ideal, faithful king who’s compassionate toward his people, wonderful in counsel, the mighty God ruling over all of the world in worldwide peace and in worldwide righteousness. The kingdom of God has come now in its fullness through this child who is born. In case you doubt it, there’s a little bit another line of assurance that’s given to us. Verse 7 at the end: “The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” This is something that God himself is passionate to carry out. This has been God’s purpose from Genesis 1 onward. He brought man and woman into the garden, established them as kings to rule as vice-regents. They fail. Genesis 3. God promises woman’s seed will come. This will be fixed. That hope unfolds, that unfolds, and unfolds throughout the ages, throughout the prophecies, and God has been zealous to see it brought to fruition. And it culminates finally, of course, in Revelation chapter 19 and following, when the Lord Jesus comes, destroys his enemies, and establishes the kingdom of God in its fullness forever. And everything that God promised to David, this child that is born will bring to pass.
Just by way of highlighting how prophecy works in the Old Testament, it would be worth noting here, sort of by the way, the broad sweep of this prophecy. The prophecy in context is Israel going off into exile because of their disobedience. And the promise is there’ll be a return. And then suddenly, we’re looking at the birth of Messiah, hundreds of years apart. And then the kingdom is described in its fullness, which is already 2,000 years later. And this is how biblical prophecy often works. You have this long view of how it comes to pass: God will bring deliverance to his people, just as he promised, this child will be born. There’ll be a grand return, and it will culminate in his return in the end.
So, in summary, then, this prophecy, the hope, of course, is focused on the Davidic son. David’s son is himself the mighty God. He’s God, and he’s man. He’s a wonderful counselor. His rule will be worldwide. It’ll continue forever. One day, it tells us the Lord Jesus will take the government of this world to himself. And I can tell you for sure, the world at that point will not look like it does today with so much evil that seems with a vengeance that is just piling up and coming with new strength and new vigor. We need to keep in mind that this is not the way it will continue, this is not the way it will end. When our friends tell us that we want to be on the right side of history, we want to think, this is the side of history I want to be on: to see this King come, and I want to see history culminate in its grand display of the glory of Christ and the glory of this kingdom of righteousness and peace that is worldwide. May God hasten that day. Come, Lord Jesus.
Let’s bow for prayer. Our Father, our hearts are stirred with each reminder of the greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that he has come. We thank you that he has inaugurated that kingdom through his death, resurrection, his ascension. That kingdom has been put in place, but how we long to see it brought to its culmination. Lord, hasten that day. Until then, we pray that you will keep us, your people, faithful till he comes. In his name we ask, amen.