In this message we will consider the unveiling of Christ as the great light and the wonderful One issuing from Jehovah's chastisement on the kingdom of Israel and His judgment on Assyria.
In Isaiah 9:1-5 Christ is unveiled as the great light.
"Gloom does not remain in the place where there was anguish: formerly He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali contemptibly, but afterwards He treats the way of the sea, across the Jordan, with glory, Galilee of the nations" (9:1). The sea mentioned here is the Sea of Galilee. The Lord now treats that part of the world called "the way of the sea" with glory. This part of the world is also called "Galilee of the nations."
The first group of Christ's followers, the beginning of God's New Testament elect, the one hundred twenty in Acts 1 and 2, were all from Galilee (Acts 2:7). Galilee of the nations was a despised place, but today we need to respect Galilee because it is the source of the church. It is difficult to say whether the one hundred twenty were Jews or Gentiles. Actually, they were neither Jews nor Gentiles; they were the church. The same is true of us as believers in Christ today. We, the church people, are all from Galilee, a despised region which is the very origin of the church.
Although Isaiah does not speak of the church, there are some hints in his prophecy concerning the church. One of these hints is the word concerning the Galilean believers from Galilee of the nations in 9:1.