Isaiah 9:1-7 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Birth and Reign of the Prince of Peace

But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

² The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
³ You shall multiply the nation,
You shall increase their gladness;
They will be glad in Your presence
As with the gladness of harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
⁴ For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.
⁵ For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult,
And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
⁶ For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

Today, as America remembers the events of 9/11/01, one thing we should all remember, both as individuals and as a nation, is how quickly things can change. As individuals we should look back on that day and it should bring an awareness to each one of us that in this life we are not guaranteed tomorrow. As a nation we should also be aware of our vulnerability. Previously the only enemy we needed to worry about would be one with extensive air power and missiles. Now through technology and because of terrorism, our nation is vulnerable to attack at any time. The truth is that throughout history nations and empires have risen and fallen. No nation has been in the place of world power for more than a few hundred years. There are many reasons for this happening, social, economic, leadership etc. The prophet Daniel understood and said it best, in Daniel 2:20-22:      “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him.  “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding.
 “It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness,
And the light dwells with Him.       Governments, even the best and strongest come and go, history teaches us that lesson. Either they are conquered by an outside enemy or they crumble from within. But in truth, it is God who controls the rise and fall.

There is one government though which will never fail or fall. In today’s text, the prophet Isaiah says:     For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.  There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore.      Jesus is that child who was born. Jesus fulfilled over 300 hundred Messianic prophecies in scripture. Still some will reject Jesus. They will try to use science or logic to discredit and disprove the Bible, God and Jesus. The truth though is that science, math and logic will all substantiate and prove them.  Consider again that Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies concerning the times, places and events of His birth, His life and His death. Then consider this mathematical analysis:      the probability of 48 prophecies being fulfilled in one person is the incredible number 10^157. How large is the number one in 10^157? 10^157 contains 157 zeros!       Yet Jesus, the child who was born unto us, the one whose government will have no end, fulfilled over 6 times that many.

Many people today, both within and outside the U.S. are critical of this nation. The criticisms are as wide and varied as the people who make up its citizenship. I suppose in that respect America does still mirror the values of God.  People in this country have more freedom than those in other countries, including the freedom to protest and criticize the government and the policies of the nation. They foolishly use their freedom to protest against the nation, in order to create more laws which restrict their freedom. God has also given each individual freedom. Freedom to do and say what they want, freedom to choose what they will believe and what they will reject. No one has to believe or accept the truth that Jesus is: the Son of God, the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, that He is; the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Their choice to reject Him though does not change who He is.

People can reject and protest against the government which grants them freedom to do so. Perhaps for better or worse that government will change. People can also reject or protest against God and His government, but unlike human governments:    There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore.     The government and authority of God and Jesus is eternal and unchanging. Those who reject the government of God and Christ, reject peace and counsel. They reject God’s plan for their life, a plan God says is good. Jeremiah 29:11 says:  'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.          Just as this nation grants the same freedom to those who protest, reject and criticize this country as it grants to those who have fought and died for that freedom, so too, God grants the freedom to accept or reject Him to each person. To those who understand and grasp the tremendous gift that freedom is, the actions of those who protest and reject it seem utterly foolish, like kneeling to protest the country who gave them an opportunity they did not deserve or rejecting the very one who paid the price for their sins. Still, they are free to choose.

In today’s text it says of the coming Christ and His rule:    The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.  You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence
As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor,      Jesus Himself said of the light and darkness:     “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”   

Prayerfully, as we remember the events of 15 years ago and as we look forward to the things that will determine the future course of this nation, we will honor and embrace the freedoms we have. We will make choices to preserve and not to reject those freedoms. Hopefully as a nation we will embrace the truth that God truly is the one who causes nations to rise and fall. Hopefully we will embrace the truth of the psalmist, who says  in Psalm 33:12:    Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.     Whether this nation does indeed continues or whether it falls, one thing is sure:    For a child will be born to us, a son will be (was) given to us; And the government will (does) rest on His shoulders; And His name will (is) be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.  There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.        In both natural, finite human things and in eternal, spiritual things we have choices to make, freedom to choose. We have freedom to choose to embrace or reject. We have freedom as Jesus says, to choose light or darkness.

As many have said: We are free to choose; but we are not free from the consequences of our choices. Some of those consequences last a lifetime, other last longer, they are eternal.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace; precious Holy Spirit thank You that You reign and rule forever. Thank You that You have given us freedom to choose. I pray that in the days ahead, both this nation and individuals will choose You.     Amen