Isaiah 9:6,7

God allows Isaiah to glimpse what the arrival of the *Messiah (Christ) will mean. The *Messiah will be born as a child. That is, he is human.

But he is also the holy Son of God. And he will be our ruler, that is, our King. His names cover the whole of our lives:

• as ‘Wonderful Adviser’, he is all Wisdom (see 1 Corinthians 1:30);

• as ‘All-Powerful God’, he is all Power (see Philippians 4:13);

• as ‘Father Always’, he is all Love (see John 14:21);

• as ‘Commander-Who-Brings-Peace’, he is all Calm (see Philippians 4:7).

The *Lord will punish Israel

v8 The *Lord has pronounced judgement against Israel, that is, against the family of Jacob. v9 All the people in Israel, and all the inhabitants of Samaria the capital, know what the *Lord has done. But they are not worried. They are much too proud. v10 They declare, ‘If houses of bricks of mud fall down, we will rebuild them with stones. If enemies destroy our forests, we will plant even better trees.’

v11 So the *Lord called enemies to attack Israel. v12 *Syrians arrived from the east and *Philistines arrived from the west. They soon overcame Israel. But the *Lord was still very angry. He decided to punish the people even more severely. He lifted his hand. He was ready to strike again.

v13 But the people still refused to obey God. They still would not return to the *Lord (commander of heaven’s armies). v14 Therefore, in a single day the *Lord will punish all Israel’s leaders and other well-known men. He will remove them, head and tail. v15 The head means the old and honourable men. The tail means those who have been teaching lies. v16 Those *liars have led people away from God, because *liars completely confuse people. v17 Therefore the *Lord will let none of the young men escape. He will not pity the widows and the children who have no parents. None of them cares about God. They are all wicked. And all that they say is evil. But the *Lord is still very angry. He has decided to punish the people even more severely. He lifts his hand. He is ready to strike again. v18 The wicked character of the people acts like a fierce fire that destroys *thorn-bushes. And even the great trees in a forest are soon only a column of smoke. v19 Because of the great anger of the *Lord (commander of heaven’s armies), the whole land is on fire. The wicked people themselves have become fuel for the fire. Nobody has pity for anyone else, not even for his own brother. Every man looks after himself. v20 Everywhere in the country people seize any bit of food that they can find. They even eat their own children! But they are still hungry. v21 The people from Manasseh and the people from Ephraim attack each other. Then together they attack Judah. Even so, the *Lord is still very angry. He lifts his hand. He is ready to strike again.