Isaiah 9

v2. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
- people living in dark (sin) will soon see the light. some heavy parallelisms are being drawn to the past and present..right now...

v4. For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.
- "shattered the yoke that burdens"...so is that hinting the Messiah's next coming will defeat all burdens and suffering? all oppression?

v5. Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
- this verse alone doesn't make sense too much, but tie it in with verse 6.

v6. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
- so...tying it in with verse 5, all that death and blood and pain and tears..every loss is "fuel for the fire"- it's all needed for the prophecy of the Messiah. Everything that happens, leads to the birth of Jesus. determinism. everything has a precedent cause...the Messiah will come to this earth and bring peace with Him. straight from God up in Heaven.

v7. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
- the extent of His goodness and peace will reach out so far, even the most powerful-est of the earthly kingdoms will have no chance. amateurs.

v11. But the Lord has strengthened Rezin's foes against them and has spurred their enemies on.
- who's Rezin? I'm guessing he's a bad guy...God's gonna show his wrath upon those who've angered him..there's no stopping it. God will use the tension between earthly kingdoms to punish humans. I'm not sure which one's a lesser harsher punishment- the great flood, or unending warfare.

v12. Arameans from the east and Philistines from the west have devoured Israel with open mouth. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.
- Yeah, they've pretty much pissed off God. you DON'T wanna go about doing that...He'll send your most feared enemies upon you.

v17. Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men, nor will he pity the fatherless and widows, for everyone is ungodly and wicked, every mouth speaks vileness. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.
- even after all that, the people of Israel will not yield, and come before God head bowed begging for forgiveness. He says in the previous verse how he'll "cut off from Israel both head and tail, [...] elders and prominent men are the head, the prophets who teach lies are the tail." one word- scary. Our God is a merciful God who loves all his creation, but that doesn't mean he doesn't get angry. God will get angry if you remain that stubborn and blind. chasing after the world instead of godliness..blashemy...wickness...

v20-21. On the right they will devour, but still be hungry; on the left they will eat, but not be satisfied. Each will feed on the flesh of his own offspring...Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.
- He's just going to give them over to their carnal sins. I think God just let them suffer to the nth degree..never fully feeling satisfied. an unquenchable thirst for something that'll never quench your thirst...God was angry. period. he promises worse suffering than that of your most feared enemies.


Godislove.

Isaiah 8

The past several chapters have all been regarding prophecies of Judah and Jerusalem..and lots of stuff are a little confusing to read. chapter 7 mentioned the prophecy of Immanuel, and also lots of destruction and wrath upon the people of Judah and Jerusalem. I think it's because the people kept turning away from God and kept displeasing him. Also, I think this coming of Jesus' birth ties in with all these...maybe it's God saying yes, destruction on man will come and countries will fight each other, so He's gonna send the one who can save everyone from their sin.

God also keeps saying to stop trusting and fearing man, but to trust and fear God. two paradoxical ways to feel about someone...to feel peace and yet terror at God's wrath. but it's still good. God is our sanctuary.

The oxford english dictionary defines sanctuary as this: n. an area of land within which (wild) animals or plants are protected and encouraged to breed or grow.

I don't think God really wants to destroy people when they really displease him. because at the end of the day, we are all his creation whom he loves. When in scripture, there are sayings of God's wrath and destruction, i think it's just upon sin of man.

How He Loves.

Isaiah 7:1-9

Ahaz, king of Judah, finds out that the two big kings- king Rezin and Pekah are going to form a coalition and attack Judah, he gets scared. He's this little fish in the sea, and the two big bad fish are coming to attack him. So, naturally he's pretty scared out of his mind. Before he tries and does something impulsive out of fear, God sends Isaiah to tell Ahaz, "Tell him to stop worrying. Tell him he doesn't need to fear the fierce anger of those two burned-out embers, King Rezin of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah."

God is just like, "Yeah they're planning to attack you but what do you have to fear from them? Syria is no stronger than Damascus, and Damascus no stronger than Rezin. And Rezin is no stronger than me." God says to have faith and stand firm in faith. Living in fear of those two kingdoms is fearing over nothing. It's God who he should have been fearing!

What a great Faith passage.