“Beginning With Moses, Part 15” by Romans
Youtube Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUnDKD1NMH4
We are continuing our Series "Beginning With Moses." On the Road to Emmaus, Jesus caught up with and spoke with two disciples who were sad and perplexed about the arrest, crucifixion and resurrection reports about Jesus, the One Whom they "trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel” (Luke 24:21). In response to their sadness and confusion, Jesus opened the Scriptures to them. We read, “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).
Last week we reviewed and examined the first prophecy of Jesus' coming to this earth as Messiah. It was spoken to the serpent whose successful temptation of our first parents led to our need for a Savior. The prophecy was spoken in the Garden of Eden, even before Adam and Eve were evicted. God said to the serpent, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).
Tonight, we are going to review and examine the many other prophecies that gave specific details, centuries in advance, of Jesus' lineage, His miraculous conception, His place of birth, and also the violent reaction from the reigning king when he heard that a baby was born as a rival “King of the Jews.”
First, let's look at the prophecy of Jesus' lineage. We read in Isaiah 11:10: "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.”
The Sermon Bible tells us of this: “I. "There shall be a root of Jesse," i.e. a thrifty scion shall spring forth from that old decayed family. The prophet does not represent our Saviour as a stately and luxuriant tree, but as a sucker from an unpromising and apparently dead root.
II. The prophet goes on to portray His glorious office: "He shall stand for an ensign of the people." It was customary, in olden time, during the continuance of a war, for the prince or commander to set up an ensign on a lofty tower or mountain top, and to summon the people to rally round it.
So, also, was the Lord Jesus to be lifted up on the Cross, that He might draw all men unto Him, and through the faithful preaching of the Gospel to gather together into one great army the true children of God who are dispersed abroad. He stands as an ensign of the people, not merely to attract the eyes of all, and to fix them on Himself, but to warn them of the silent but sure approach of deadly foes, and to indicate the spot where weapons offensive and defensive may be obtained.
III. To this glorious ensign the prophet declares that "the Gentiles shall seek." When St. Paul quotes the verse (Romans 15:12) he varies the language by a single word. "In His name shall the Gentiles trust." There is no inconsistency between this seeking and trusting. The one is the cause, the other the effect; or rather each, in turn, is both cause and effect. When we trust in Christ we seek Him; and when we seek Him we are sure to find how worthy He is of our confidence.”
J. N. Norton, Golden Truths, p. 11. References: Isaiah 11:10.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. viii., p. 274. Isa_11:12, Isa_11:13.—H. W. Beecher, Sermons, 3rd series, p. 254. Isaiah 12:1.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvi., No. 928. Isa_12:1-3.—R. M. McCheyne, Additional Remains, p. 217.
Jesus was prophesied that He would be a “root of Jesse.” In 1 Samuel 16, God sent Samuel to Jesse to seek for a king to replace the corrupt King Saul. Jesse had eight sons. The prophecy gets more specific insofar as the Messiah was prophesied to be a descendant of King David.
We read, therefore, in Jeremiah 23:5–6: “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
Of this, Matthew Henry writes, “Messiah the Prince, that great and good Shepherd of the sheep, shall in the latter days be raised up to bless his church, and to be the glory of his people Israel. The house of David seemed to be quite sunk and ruined by that threatening against Jeconiah, that none of his seed should ever sit upon the throne of David.
But here is a promise which effectually secures the honour of the covenant made with David notwithstanding; for by it the house will be raised out of its ruins to a greater lustre than ever, and shine brighter far than it did in Solomon himself.
We have not so many prophecies of Christ in this book as we had in that of the prophet Isaiah; but here we have one, and a very illustrious one; of him doubtless the prophet here speaks, of him, and of no other man. The first words intimate that it would be long ere this promise should have its accomplishment: The days come, but they are not yet. I shall see him, but not now.
But all the rest intimate that the accomplishment of it will be glorious. (1.) Christ is here spoken of as a branch from David, the man the branch (Zechariah 3:8), his appearance mean, his beginnings small, like those of a bud or sprout, and his rise seemingly out of the earth, but growing to be green, to be great, to be loaded with fruits.
A branch from David's family, when it seemed to be a root in a dry ground, buried, and not likely to revive. Christ is the root and offspring of David, Revelation 22:16. In him doth the horn of David bud, Psalm 132:17-18. He is a branch of God's raising up; he sanctified him, and sent him into the world, gave him his commission and qualifications. He is a righteous branch, for he is righteous himself, and through him many, even all that are his, are made righteous. As an advocate, he is Jesus Christ the righteous.
(2.) He is here spoken of as his church's King. This branch shall be raised as high as the throne of his father David, and there he shall reign and prosper, not as the kings that now were of the house of David, who went backward in all their affairs. No; he shall set up a kingdom in the world that shall be victorious over all opposition.
The present kings of the house of David were unjust and oppressive, and therefore it is no wonder that they did not prosper. But Christ shall, by his gospel, break the usurped power of Satan, institute a perfect rule of holy living, and, as far as it prevails, make all the world righteous. The effect of this shall be a holy security and serenity of mind in all his faithful loyal subjects.
In his days, under his dominion, Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely; that is, all the spiritual seed of believing Abraham and praying Jacob shall be protected from the curse of heaven and the malice of hell, shall be privileged from the arrests of God's law and delivered from the attempts of Satan's power, shall be saved from sin, the guilt and dominion of it, and then shall dwell safely, and be quiet from the fear of all evil. See Luke 1:75.
Those that shall be saved hereafter from the wrath to come may dwell safely now; for, if God be for us, who can be against us? In the days of Christ's government in the soul, when he is uppermost there, the soul dwells at ease. (3.) He is here spoken of as The Lord our righteousness.
Observe, [1.] Who and what he is. As God, he is Jehovah, the incommunicable name of God, denoting his eternity and self-existence. As Mediator, he is our righteousness. By making satisfaction to the justice of God for the sin of man, he has brought in an everlasting righteousness, and so made it over to us in the covenant of grace that, upon our believing consent to that covenant, it becomes ours.
His being Jehovah our righteousness implies that he is so our righteousness as no creature could be. He is a sovereign, all-sufficient, eternal righteousness. All our righteousness has its being from him, and by him it subsists, and we are made the righteousness of God in him.
[2.] The profession and declaration of this: This is the name whereby he shall be called, not only he shall be so, but he shall be known to be so. God shall call him by this name, for he shall appoint him to be our righteousness. By this name Israel shall call him, every true believer shall call him, and call upon him.
That is our righteousness by which, as an allowed plea, we are justified before God, acquitted from guilt, and accepted into favour; and nothing else have we to plead but this, “Christ has died, yea, rather has risen again;” and we have taken him for our Lord.”
The prophet Isaiah wrote of the Messiah experiencing a miraculous conception, one that was an utterly unique conception in all of human history. We read “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).
Matthew Henry tells us of this: “The prophet, in God's name, gives them a sign: “You will not ask a sign, but the unbelief of man shall not make the promise of God of no effect: The Lord himself shall give you a sign (Isa_7:14), a double sign.”
1. “A sign in general of his good-will to Israel and to the house of David. You may conclude it that he has mercy in store for you, and that you are not forsaken of your God, how great soever your present distress and danger are; for of your nation, of your family, the Messiah is to be born, and you cannot be destroyed while that blessing is in you, which shall be introduced,”
(1.) “In a glorious manner; for, whereas you have been often told that he should be born among you, I am now further to tell you that he shall be born of a virgin, which will signify both the divine power and the divine purity with which he shall be brought into the world, - that he shall be a extraordinary person, for he shall not be born by ordinary generation, - and that he shall be a holy thing, not stained with the common pollutions of the human nature, therefore incontestably fit to have the throne of his father David given him.”
Now this, though it was to be accomplished above 500 years after, was a most encouraging sign to the house of David (and to them, under that title, this prophecy is directed, Isa_7:13) and an assurance that God would not cast them off. Ephraim did indeed envy Judah (Isaiah 11:13) and sought the ruin of that kingdom, but could not prevail; for the sceptre should never depart from Judah till the coming of Shiloh, Genesis 49:10.
They shall call his name Immanuel - God with us, God in our nature, God at peace with us, in covenant with us. This was fulfilled in their calling him Jesus - a Saviour (Matthew 1:21-25), for, if he had not been Immanuel - God with us, he could not have been Jesus - a Saviour.
Now this was a further sign of God's favour to the house of David and the tribe of Judah; for he that intended to work this great salvation among them no doubt would work out for them all those other salvations which were to be the types and figures of this, and as it were preludes to this. “Here is a sign for you, not in the depth nor in the height, but in the prophecy, in the promise, in the covenant made with David, which you are no strangers to.
The promised seed shall be Immanuel, God with us; let that word comfort you (Isaiah 8:10), that God is with us, and (v. 8) that your land is Immanuel's land. Let not the heart of the house of David be moved thus (Isaiah 7:2), nor let Judah fear the setting up of the son of Tabeal (Isaiah 7:6), for nothing can cut off the entail on the Son of David that shall be Immanuel.”
Note, The strongest consolations, in time of trouble, are those which are borrowed from Christ, our relation to him, our interest in him, and our expectations of him and from him. Of this child it is further foretold (Isaiah 7:15) that though he shall not be born like other children, but of a virgin, yet he shall be really and truly man, and shall be nursed and brought up like other children:”
In a Prophecy written five hundreds years before the Messiah was born, the prophet Micah recorded for us where the Messiah was to be born: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2).
The Pulpit Bible writes of this, “At the time of Zion’s deepest distress, and when her earthly king is suffering the grossest degradation, reduced as it were to the shepherd house at Bethlehem, a Deliverer shall arise thence who shall do wonderful things. This passage was quoted by the Sanhedrin to answer Herod’s question where the Christ was to be born (Matthew 2:5, Matthew 2:6; comp. John 7:42).
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah. Ephratah (Ephrathah, or Ephrath), "fruitfulness," is another name for Bethlehem, "House of bread" (Genesis 35:19; Genesis 1:1-31 Saul Genesis 17:12; Ruth_1:2); from its position it is also called Bethlehem Judah (Jdg_17:7), being situated in the tribal lot of Judah, about five miles south of Jerusalem, and thus distinguished from a town of the same name in Zebulun...
"And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah." The rest of the clause is best translated, too little to be among the thousands of Judah. Each tribe was divided into "thousands," which would be equivalent to clans, with its own head. Probably the reckoning was made of fighting men. Bethlehem, called in the text Bethlehem Ephratah for solemnity’s sake, was a small place (John 7:42), of such slight importance as not to be named among the possessions of Judah in Joshua 15:1-63.
Yet out of thee shall he (one) come forth unto me that is to be Ruler in Israel. In spite of its insignificance, this birthplace of David shall be the birthplace of Messiah. "Shall some forth" is spoken sometimes of birth and descent, as in Genesis 17:6 and Genesis 35:11; at other times it contains merely the notion of proceeding from, as in Jer_30:21. In the present case both ideas are suitable. Unto me (Jehovah is speaking). To my praise and glory, to do my will.
Micah by these words would recall the announcement concerning David made to Samuel, "I have provided me a king" (1 Samuel 16:1), and thus show the typical relation of David to the Messiah (Keil). Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting... The Fathers see in it a declaration of the eternal generation of the Son: he who was born in time at Bethlehem hath an eternal existence.
To Christians, who believe in the mystery of the Holy Trinity, the plural would express the continual generation or the Son from the Father from everlasting and to everlasting, never beginning and never ending; as the Council of Lateran says, "Without beginning ever and without end, the Father begetting, the Son being born (nascens), and the Holy Ghost proceeding."
… Micah’s contemporaries understood the prophecy to state merely that a Saviour should arise from the lineage of David who traced his descent from hoar antiquity, and might be said to have lived in the days of old, this fact (if it be a fact) does not preclude us, with our more perfect knowledge, from seeing a deeper meaning in the inspired utterance, an adumbration of the nature of that Prince whom Isaiah calls "Everlasting" (Isaiah 9:6), the Word who "was in the beginning with God" (John 1:1-2).
The Wise Men arrived at Herod's Palace in Jerusalem seeking Him Who was to be born King of the Jews (Matthew 2:2). Herod was a maniacal, insanely paranoid ruler who had his own family members executed because he was convinced that they were out to depose him, and seize his throne. The news of the birth of a rival king was an alarming shock to his system.
He asked the scribes to search the location where the prophecies said the Messiah was to be born. As we just saw, that place was Bethlehem. When sufficient time passed, and he realized that the Wise Men were not returning with a specific location of the Christ child, we read, “Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, 18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not” (Matthew 2:16-18).
Of Jesus birth, once again the prophet Isaiah shares with us a most amazing prophecy providing many details about Who this child was, and Who He was to become: We read in Isaiah 9:6-7: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”
The Preacher's Homiletical writes of this: “Isaiah 9:6: THE TITLES AND GOVERNMENT OF CHRIST: I. The Incarnation and Government of Jesus Christ. Let us contemplate Him, 1. As the Incarnate One. “Unto us a child is born” (H. E. I. 846–853). 2. As a gift of Heaven to a fallen world. “Unto us a Son is given.” 3. As advanced to supreme rule and authority. “The government shall be upon His shoulder.
The adaptation of these Qualities to the purposes of His spiritual reign.
1. We need wisdom, and He is the “Counsellor.” 2. We need reconciliation to God, and He is our “Peace.” 3. We need support under the calamities of life, and this He gives us, for He is the “Mighty God.” 4. We need comfort under the fears of death, and this He gives as “The Father of the Everlasting Age.”—George Smith, D.D.
In this verse we have a constellation of titles, all of which illustrate the essential dignity and mediatorial claims of Jesus, and tend to awaken the confidence of the Church. The very first declaration, His “name shall be called Wonderful,” fitly prepares us for all that is to follow, teaching us to expect something beyond the ordinary works of God.
He is “wonderful” in His incarnation, in His government, in the counsels He originates, in the divinity of His nature, in the eternity of His existence, in the results of His mediatorial rule, for He is “the Prince of Peace,” swaying the sceptre of mercy over an apostate and disordered world.
There is a beautiful consistency in all this; for if the government of earth and heaven, the sovereignty of the Church and of the world, is to be exercised by the Redeemer, it is necessary that He should be possessed of attributes equal to its immense responsibilities. But these attributes are His, and hence the command, “Rejoice, for the Lord reigneth!”
I. It is a cause of peculiar rejoicing to all good men that the government of the world is in the hands of Christ. Their interest and joy in this fact arise—1. From the near and sacred relation in which Jesus stands to them. 2. From the glorious perfectness of His character, which guarantees the wisdom and blessedness of His sway. 3. From the changelessness, perpetuity, and destined universality of His rule.
II. The sovereignty of Christ affords great relief in contemplating the abject condition of the heathen world. The heathen have been given to Him for His inheritance, and He will certainly deliver them from the superstitions and miseries by which they are oppressed.
III. This fact gives us a deep interest in beholding the vast extent of the universe of God. Every part of it is but a province in Christ’s boundless empire.—Samuel Thodey.
HIS NAME … WONDERFUL Isaiah 9:6. His name shall be called Wonderful. I. Christ is wonderful in His nature. He is wonderful, 1. in respect of His essential Godhead. 2. In respect of His perfect manhood. All excellences were combined in him as a man, unlike even His most eminent servants, who are distinguished for the possession of special graces, which too often are clouded by some opposite defect.
3. In respect of the union in Him of Deity and humanity (1Timothy 3:16).
II. Christ is wonderful in His offices, at once Prophet, Priest, and King. 1. As a Prophet, what wonderful disclosures He has made to us of the Divine nature and will, and of human duty and destiny; with what wonderful authority He spoke; with what wonderful completeness and beauty He fulfilled all His own commandments!
2. As a Priest, how wonderfully He was at once sacrifice and offerer: how wonderfully He still carries on the work of reconciliation (Romans 8:34). 3. As a King, how wonderfully He rules, with omnipotent power, yet with lamblike gentleness.
III. Christ is wonderful in His relation to His people. 1. In the care He exercises over them (Ezekiel 34:11-16). 2. In the abundance of the grace which He ministers to them (2 Corinthians 12:9; John 1:16; H. E. I. 936). 3. In His condescending thoughtfulness for each one of them (John 10:3; John 10:14-15).
4. In the perfectness of His sympathy with them. He identifies Himself so entirely with His people, that they have not a single care, trial, or temptation of any sort, but it is as much His as it is theirs (H. E. I. 952–961).—J. H. Evans, M.A.: Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. vii. pp. 336–348.
We are continually struck with one marked contrast between the greatness that is human and the greatness that is Divine: human greatness the more it is examined the less wonderful it appears, but Divine productions, the more closely they are investigated the more brightly they shine.
We shall see that Christ is wonderful, if we consider—I. The excellences that compose His mediatorial character. God and man! Nor is this a wonder to men only (1 Peter 1:12). II. The stupendous blessings He bestows on His friends. III. The reserves of glory which He waits to exhibit in now unseen and future worlds. Behold Him, and 1. Never hesitate to acknowledge Him as your Saviour and Lord. 2. Yield a ready obedience to His authority. 3. Anticipate His coming in glory.—Samuel Thodey.
CHRIST OUR COUNSELLOR Isaiah 9:6. His name shall be called … Counsellor. I. How Christ may be our Counsellor. Immediate, close, and confidential intercourse is involved in our idea of taking counsel. When we are in perplexity, we lay the whole matter before a friend in whose wisdom we trust. So we may spread our difficulties before Christ in prayer.
Thus far, all is clear. But how can we receive from Christ the answer and guidance we seek? How does an earthly friend help us in such a case? By producing a certain impression on our mind...by spoken words, by letter, or even by a gesture.
The manner is unimportant. So Christ guides us by producing impression on our mind; how, we know not, nor does it matter greatly. The well-instructed Christian seeks counsel from Christ in all things. He prays for daily guidance. Special difficulties he makes matter of special prayer.
Then, upon the mind previously made calm and willing, there comes a sense of rectitude, and a feeling of resolution. One course, generally that which involves most self-denial and manifests least self-dependence, comes prominently forth in strong relief, as most to be preferred.
THE MIGHTY GOD: Isaiah 9:6. His name shall be called … The Mighty God. Various devices to escape from the force of this declaration have been tried. But after a discussion prolonged through centuries, it is now conceded by the foremost Hebrew scholars of our time, that, whether we accept or reject it, Isaiah’s declaration is that the Person concerning whom he wrote should be called “The mighty God;” which is merely the Scriptural way of asserting that He should be “The mighty God,” for names divinely given represent realities.
That the Person concerning whom this declaration was made is our Lord Jesus Christ is the conviction of the whole Christian Church. He is the “Child,” the “Son,” the “Mighty God,” concerning whom Isaiah wrote. Let us do more than give our assent to this statement: let
us think about it.
It is equally necessary that we should hold firmly the doctrine of His Deity. That He is “the mighty God” is the testimony, 1. Of His works (Matthew 14:32-33). 2. Of His words (John 6:48; John 7:37; John 8:12. This doctrine pervades the New Testament. The sum of its teaching concerning Him is, that in Him God was manifest, that He is the true God (1 Timothy 3:16; 1 John 5:20).
Let us, then, accept in all their fulness the declarations of Scripture concerning the Person of our Lord. Those declarations transcend our reason, but they do not contradict it, and they should be joyfully accepted by our faith. Let us think much of Him as “the mighty God,” that our faith may rejoice in His ability to accomplish for us a complete redemption;
THE EVERLASTING FATHER: Isaiah 9:6. The Everlasting Father: We usually associate the name of father with the first “Person” of the adorable Godhead. But there is no manner of doubt that the title here belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ—to the very same Person who, in human nature, was a Child born, and a Son given up for the salvation of men.
But there is this difference: the title given to the Son born is not merely “the Father,” but “the everlasting Father. The title is not “Father,” but the entire phrase. Read more exactly in accordance with the original words, the phrase is this: “the father of perpetuity, the father of eternity, the father of the for ever.”
“Father” means here simply possessor or author. To be the father of eternity” is to have eternity, and to rule in eternity—to be the Lord of eternity. Christ Jesus, who hath the government upon His shoulders, hath it on His shoulders for ever; He is King of kings and Lord of lords throughout eternity.
Jesus Christ is the father of the eternity that lies before us, the father of the for ever, because He Himself lives for ever. He has it. It is the Child born and the Son given who is said to live for ever. That is a great thought; the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ in humanity is to live for ever is a stupendous expectation and belief. He is to be our Head for ever, and is never to cease to wear the human nature in which He died on Calvary.
THE PRINCE OF PEACE: Isaiah 9:6. The Prince of Peace. He hath effected reconciliation between God and man. 2. In Christ we cease to war against ourselves. 3. Our Prince hath reconciled us to the angels. 4. Reconciliation is effected between Jew and Gentile (Ephesians 2:14-16). 5. The general reconciliation of man to man, the destruction of selfishness, and the diffusion of benevolence. Infinite wisdom and almighty power employed not for purposes of war, but of peace! (Isaiah 55:8-9). 1. He procures peace. 2. He proclaims peace. 3. He imparts peace. 4. He maintains peace. 5. He perfects peace.”
There is at least one more two-part Installment to our Series that I have already begun preparing as we review and examine, Beginning with Moses, all that the Old Testament has to tell us about Jesus' Life, Death, Resurrection and Reign as King. Join me, God Willing, next time at this same time and place for our next review and examination of Old Testament prophecies and types of Christ, Beginning With Moses.
This concludes this evening's Discussion, “Beginning with Moses, Part 15.”
This Discussion was presented “live” on November 1st, 2023
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