Here are the first seven verses of Isaiah. I want to especially focus on the last verse, but the preceding six help us to fix the time of fulfillment.
1 Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,
As when at first He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
2 The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.
[The light dawning here was, of course, Christ (Matt. 4:13-17). His message was "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand."]
3 You have multiplied the nation
And increased its joy;
They rejoice before You
According to the joy of harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
[The multiplying of the nation and increase of joy already is looking toward the New Testament times. The reason for joy is threefold (signaled by the word "for"), but the last reason is foundational.]
4 For You have broken the yoke of his burden
And the staff of his shoulder,
The rod of his oppressor,
As in the day of Midian.
5 For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle,
And garments rolled in blood,
Will be used for burning and fuel of fire.
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 henceforth*, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
*The above is from the NKJV except for the phrase "henceforth", which is KJV, meaning from "from this time forward". Interestingly, NKJV dulls the immediacy of the prophecy with "from that time forward".
Notice that, once begun – and the Kingdom of Christ certainly has long since begun - the kingdom will have no end.
Two things I have noticed in my studies on this topic:
1. Once these fulfillments are started there is no gap spoken of. Both here, in this very passage, and elsewhere in the prophets one is left with the impression of the continuity of the Kingdom.
2. Many of these Old Testament Kingdom passages - very many - are integrally connected by New Testament writers with the growth of the New Testament Church.
These topics are the same. The Kingdom of Zion is none other than the Church of Christ. There will be no future spiritual renaissance as far as the Kingdom is concerned. It will grow, but it will not metamorph into something totally different or (which would be more grotesque) lapsing back into obsolete Jewishness.
Sadly, many Christians are trained to hope for a future reign of Christ, blindsided to the blessings and power of His present kingdom. They focus on the very real threats and enemies surrounding them but don't lift up their eyes to see things as they truly are. A good corrective passage would be 2 Kings 6:14-17:
"14. Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. 15. And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”
16. So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17. And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."
1 Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,
As when at first He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
2 The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.
[The light dawning here was, of course, Christ (Matt. 4:13-17). His message was "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand."]
3 You have multiplied the nation
And increased its joy;
They rejoice before You
According to the joy of harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
[The multiplying of the nation and increase of joy already is looking toward the New Testament times. The reason for joy is threefold (signaled by the word "for"), but the last reason is foundational.]
4 For You have broken the yoke of his burden
And the staff of his shoulder,
The rod of his oppressor,
As in the day of Midian.
5 For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle,
And garments rolled in blood,
Will be used for burning and fuel of fire.
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 henceforth*, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
*The above is from the NKJV except for the phrase "henceforth", which is KJV, meaning from "from this time forward". Interestingly, NKJV dulls the immediacy of the prophecy with "from that time forward".
Notice that, once begun – and the Kingdom of Christ certainly has long since begun - the kingdom will have no end.
Two things I have noticed in my studies on this topic:
1. Once these fulfillments are started there is no gap spoken of. Both here, in this very passage, and elsewhere in the prophets one is left with the impression of the continuity of the Kingdom.
2. Many of these Old Testament Kingdom passages - very many - are integrally connected by New Testament writers with the growth of the New Testament Church.
These topics are the same. The Kingdom of Zion is none other than the Church of Christ. There will be no future spiritual renaissance as far as the Kingdom is concerned. It will grow, but it will not metamorph into something totally different or (which would be more grotesque) lapsing back into obsolete Jewishness.
Sadly, many Christians are trained to hope for a future reign of Christ, blindsided to the blessings and power of His present kingdom. They focus on the very real threats and enemies surrounding them but don't lift up their eyes to see things as they truly are. A good corrective passage would be 2 Kings 6:14-17:
"14. Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. 15. And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”
16. So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17. And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."
^^