There are 21 verses in this chapter. We will probably cover them in two articles. Let’s begin.

⁶ For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

This passage reads like a New Testament passage. The above New King James Version of the Bible is taken directly from the Old Testament. This is why Isaiah was studied by the New Testament believers. Another reason, No New Testament book was even written until 20+ years A.C.E AFTER Jesus was crucified and ascended to Heaven. Isaiah lived during the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. This is a difference of about 800 years. A fulfilled prophecy. [also read Isaiah 7:14]

Chapter 9 is a two-section Promised Son chapter:

1. The government of the Promised Son
2. The Punishment of Samaria (Northern 10 Tribes of Israel)

Chapter 9:1 mentions the Tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Assyria is on the march. Note the map. It shows these two tribes are to the north of the divided nation of Israel in the Kingdom of Israel. Assyrians are to the north of Naphtali and Manasseh.

Above we see where Naphtali and Zebulun are located. By this time Manasseh, east of the Jordan, was under the control of Assyria. This includes Gad and Reuben. The next to fall to the Assyrian were the Galileans. Many Gentiles lived there (Isaiah 9:1, Matthew 4:15).

 NOTE: Isaiah jumps back and forth from their present to the end of time.

NOTE: The Galileans of which Jesus and most of his disciples were, spoke with a distinguishable accent.

Verse 2 possibly hints at a future yet to be revealed. “The people who walked in darkness” are likely the northern tribes being discussed here in verse 1. They walked in darkness, so they may be the first of Israelites to see the “light” of their Messiah. This is prophecy yet to be.

Verse 4 is we find a compared to the Israel’s victory and celebration of victory over their pending enemy. Verse 4 states, it is the Midian forces”. Find this in Judges 7… Midian defeat; Israeli victory, and celebration. Recall that Gideon went up against huge odds. 300 men of war for Israel; thousands of enemy Midian troops.

Verse 5 With the following verses (6 – 7) detailing the birth of a Jesus, theological interpretations vary.  Two options; referencing the birth or coronation of a new king, like Hezekiah, or an end time statement about God’s future liberation of Israel after the 7-year tribulation. 

Next article covers the second half of chapter 9 …God’s punishment of Samaria (northern 10 tribes of Israel.

Rev. Dr. Jstark – 2025

Recalling verse 12 and 13 in chapter 6. “This happened in the days of Ahaz, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah. Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem for warfare against it, but he was not able to fight against it.”  And even if only a tenth part remain, again she will be destroyed like a terebinth or like an oak, which although felled, a tree stump remains in them. The seed of holiness will be her tree stump. Judah was being threatened by Ephraim, one of the Tribes of Israel.

Judah is being threatened by Ephraim, one of Judah’s brother Tribes of Israel. Along with them we find that Aram (Syria) had joined forces with Ephraim. Ephraim was a major leader of the 10 tribes that broke from Israel as a nation when Solomon’s son took the throne of Israel. This put the two kingdoms at odds. 10 Tribes to the north and two with Judah and tiny Benjamin in the south.

This is fascinating when one grasps the historical facts. Many allied Aramean forces remained in Ephraim territory as allies. Within 65 years, Ephraim was conquered by Aram/Syria forces. The people of Ephraim were later dispersed by Assyria not to return as Judah did in their later Babylonian captivity. For additional historical to modern day knowledge click HERE.

Verse 3 Isaiah along with his son  *Shear-Jashub is given almost GPS directions. He, along with his son, are told to meet with King Ahaz of Judah. Ahaz is an abbreviation of Jehoahaz II (of Judah). Ahaz was 20 years old. He was the great-grandson of King David. His evil was beyond tolerable to God. He burned his own children in worship of pagan gods. 2 Kings 16 and 2 Chronicles 28, give additional detail of Ahaz’s reign.

*AHAMOMENT: Shear-Jashub means “A remnant shall return.”

Verse 4 – 7 Even though Ahas was an evil King of Judah, God’s patience was still alive and well. Ahaz was in the early years of his kingship. God delivered Judah from the hands of Ephraim, Rezin, and Aram. Mostly because Ahaz was a descendent in the line of King David. (see verse 7)

Verse 8 is obvious. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore (60) and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. Interesting, This is when the Northern Kingdom of Israel became known in history as Samaria. The Ephraimites intermarried with Syrians and other foreigners.

Jumping ahead to verse 13 and 14 is why Isaiah was the book studied by the original New Testament Cristian church.

Isa 7:13  And He said, Hear now, O house of David, is it too little that you weary men, but will you also weary my God? 

Isa 7:14  So, The Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold! The virgin will conceive and will bring forth a son; and she shall call His name Immanuel. 

These two verses are why in the New Testament Church initially studied the Book of Isaiah. This is also why the Ethiopian eunuch was struggling to understand the Book of Isaiah. Philip explained what the eunuch was trying to understand [Acts 8:26-40]. The eunuch was only familiar with Old Testament passages due to an ancient relationship between Ethiopian Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, King of Israel. This is also why Ethiopia as of 2025 is more Christian than Muslim even though surrounded by Muslim States.

In verse 17 of Isaiah, he prophecies the Assyrian conquering of the 10 Northern tribes of Israel in and around 706 B.C. Ephraim is given the primary blame for leading the 10 northern tribes astray. (read the article in ahamoments about Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Ethiopia of today).

Verse 17 – 20: These verses explain or describe how badly the Assyrians treated the 10 Israelite tribes of the Northern Kingdom. They were much worse but not in this article. Scholars state that Verses 1–17 constitute a self-contained unit of scripture, describing Isaiah’s prophetic mission to King Ahaz at a perilous time for Jerusalem and the House of David. In addition, some Scholars state that 6:18-25 is another separate passage.

God tells King Ahaz of Judah that the scheming of the kings of Israel in the north and Syria that their plotting against Judah will fail. Sadly, Ahaz does not believe the caution from God. He makes a forbidden alliance. In doing so Ahaz basically invites Israel to the north and Syria to attack him and his armies. They fail but only due to the protective hand of God over Judah.

Even more troublesome, Isaiah prophecies that it won’t be Syria and Israel that will strip the land of Judah of it’s product and people. It will be Assyria.

Where have we heard the name Immanuel before? [Read Isaiah 7:14] This names was fiven by God to his only begotten son Jesus at his birth. A young woman in the royal household of Ahaz, a newly married woman, had a son, and unknowingly, so it is said, named him “Immanuel.” People of Judah took this to be the salvation of Judah. How wrong could they be. (Matthew 1:23)

Verses 20 and 21 are unique to this passage. A young cow and two sheep? Both produce milk from which one can produce curds. Since the lands of Judah will eventually be stripped of vegetation, and there are or will be plenty of young cows and sheep, man will survive on the plentiful milk, curds, and a honey chaser. Also, many warriors for Judah will have been killed in battle. Fewer people to feed allows a source of survival by the milk, milk curds and, honey from the woods. Rev. David Guzik states in his commentary …“It will seem to you (Ahaz) like trusting in Assyria is a clever move, because the armies of Syria and Israel will be defeated. But the Assyrians will end up defeating you also” (emphasis mine). Nothing is left in the lands of Judah but briars and thorns. A land fit only for the grazing of cattle and sheep.

Rev. Dr. Jstark – 2025

Context of chapter 7 message

The historical context of Isaiah 7, King Ahaz was in a state of great fear. The northern kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Aram (Syria), under the leadership of King Pekah and King Rezin, respectively, had formed an alliance and were threatening to invade Judah. Ahaz and his people were “shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken with the wind” (Isaiah 7:2, ESV). 

My 4-year-old great granddaughter once said, “This is AMAZING!” She was thinking about something other than this web site. However, it is amazing how a blog can disappear all on its own. This is what happened to the original blog for this week. It vanished overnight. So, let’s do it again.

“Then one of the seraphs [im] flew to me with a live coal in his hand, snatched with tongs from the altar.” The 6th verse begins with this statement. It doesn’t take much imagination to consider what may have been going through Isaiah’s mind. He is either in a heavenly state of being or at the gates of heaven itself. He sees one of God’s special angels coming toward him with a live charcoal held by tongs. Certainly he knew it was very hot if an angel needed to use tongs. The angel touches his lips with the live coal.

Verse 7 explains this angelic action while Isaiah was in the presence of the LORD. Isaiah had just told God that he had unclean lips. He figured that certainly God would see him as unfit to carry out God’s assigned mission. Isaiah himself states that his lips were touched by the live coal. The angel confirms the intent. God’s purpose was to demonstrate to Isaiah that he is now commissioned by God to carry out his commandment with clean lips.

Verse 8 Isaiah has a significant change of heart and accepts both the assignment and the forgiveness of his past sin. What might this mean to us today? Sometime in the years of a Christian life, there are past sin issues Satan continually reminds us of. We tend to not forgive ourselves. Better said, we find it difficult to think God has completely forgiven us.

Often missed in verse 8 is the change from singular, “Whom shaIl I send” to the plural. “ I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?  A change from “I” to “us”. Supporting the theological Trinity of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Verse 9 And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’” Do not understand? Do not perceive? HUH! This is a bit difficult, but it has to do with translation. God is saying, “…Hearing you hear, but do not understand; and seeing you see, but do not know” [LITV]. They have no depth perception beyond the immediate. This is the core problem with God’s chosen Old Testament children but it is also a fact in today’s church. We hear but do not grasp. We see but do not perceive.

Verse 10 David Guzic puts it this way … God told Isaiah to go and preach to a people who wouldn’t respond, so that their guilt would be certain. As Trapp wrote, Isaiah would “Preach them to hell.”  Isaiah continued in his ministry with the same message. No wonder Isaiah was troubled with his ministry results. The message to us today is that we are not responsible for one’s salvation due to freedom of choice, but we are told to share the message of salvation.

How do we know this is what God intended? Read the next two verses.

Isaiah 6:11  Then I said, “Until when, Lord?” And he said, “Until the cities lie wasted without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is ruined and a waste, 

Isaiah 6:12  and Yahweh sends the people far away, and the abandonment is great in the midst of the land. 

These two verse refer to Israel in the north and eventually the Babylonian capture and dispersion of the Judeans in the south around 589 B.C..

Isaiah 6:13 Verse 13 can be a challenge to understand depending on the translation version used by its reader. Click on the highlighted passage [Isaiah 6:13] to see the New King James Version. Below find the Lexham English Bible translation.

And even if only a tenth part remain, again she will be destroyed like a terebinth or like an oak, which although felled, a tree stump remains in them. The seed of holiness will be her tree stump.” [LEB].

David Guzic says in his commentary …”The remnant will indeed return, but even the remnant will eventually be judged. Israel was not done being disobedient when they returned from the Babylonian captivity, and God was not done bringing His judgment on a disobedient Israel.” The people of the northern Tribes never returned from their Assyrian dispersion.

Rev. Dr. Jstark – 2025

Chapter 6 amazingly follows chapter five’s consequences with Isaiah’s assignment and message to his own people. Isaiah accepts the mission after confessing his weakness(s) thinking these weaknesses would disqualify him. They didn’t. He essentially became the prophet of the New Testament that became The Way.

How is it that a given people like Israel, chosen by God, refuse to follow Him by doing little to nothing. This short chapter reveals God’s basic problem with the Abrahamic line of descendants. As Dr. David Guzik says about chapter 6, it is “Isaiah’s Conviction, Cleansing and Call.” Verses 1-5 contain Isaiah’s confession of unworthiness, not his excuses. This sequence is the same for one’s salvation today.

Isaiah 6:1

Scripture tells us, Isaiah’s call to prophecy correlated with the death of King Uzziah. He is also known as King Azariah. Uzziah and Azariah are the same man. This call to Isaiah from God was to his own chosen people and begins with the rule of King Jotham, Uzziah’s son. Jotham had a long reign over Judah of 52 years. Verse 1 begins with how Isaiah was called by God. It appears that Isaiah got direct instructions from the Lord due to the fact Isaiah also notes the seraphim.

NOTE: When “im” is added to a Hebrew word, it is in the plural.

Isaiah 6:2

This verse, when read closely, says something many read right past. “Above it!” What is the IT? It is Isaiah’s definition of the Lord God… John 4:24 says …God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit … (NIV). WOW! Do you grasp this? …Verse 2 states “Above IT stood the seraphim” ((KJV). The Apostle John saw God but in other scripture written by him, could not describe him. From this passage we once again get the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit …body, mind, and soul/spirit.

The prophet Michaiah saw God’s throne (1Ki_22:19).

• Ezekiel saw God’s throne (Ezekiel 1:26; Ezekiel 10:1).

• Daniel saw God’s throne (Daniel_7:9).

• The Apostle John saw God’s throne (Revelations_4:1-11)

Verse 6:3

What is a crier in this verse? It is like an announcer. The Lord is Jehovah in the Hebrew. Readers of this verse tend to interpret “hosts” as perhaps angels. This word in the Hebrew is tseb-aw-aw’. From Strong’s H6633; “a mass of persons, especially regularly organized for war (an army); by implication a campaign.”

Wasn’t it enough to simply say that the LORD was “holy” once? It wasn’t enough. They say it three times because there are Three Persons in the One God.

Ahamoment: “Verse 6:3” is an incomplete reference, as many books in the Bible have a chapter 6 and verse 3, including: Hosea 6:3 (“Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him”), Matthew 6:3 (“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”), Isaiah 6:3 (“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory”), Proverbs 6:3 (“Go—to the point of exhaustion—and give your neighbor no rest!”), Ephesians 6:3 (“so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth”), Romans 6:3 (“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”), and others.

Now read the parenthesized as one statement.

Verse 6:4

Another WOW!  And the doorposts shook from the voice of the one who cried; and the house was filled with smoke. This verse points out that Isaiah was not in a realm or world of his knowledge. It also appears that he is being blocked from entering.

Verse 6:5

This verse is Isaiah’s confession of his unclean spirit, his shamefulness. He is confessing that he is not worthy nor qualified to be where he is in his vision or physical presence. In Revelation we get a similar description of man and God. This vision describes God in human terms, but God cannot be seen (John 1:18). He “alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see” (1 Timothy 6:16). What a great time to reveal the truth of one’s life. Isaiah realizes he is in view of ABSOLUTE TRUTH; he is not fit to be there.

Rev. Dr. Jstark – 2025