Ministry in Galilee (Isaiah 9:1-2)
Matthew 4:12-16 Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Isaiah 9:1-2 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
In order to judge the accuracy of this prophecy, we must once again look at the source passage in its historical context. Isaiah places this prophecy in the days of king Ahaz of Judah and king Pekah of Israel (7:1), which would have been between 732 and 734 BCE. At this time, the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser attacked the outlying Northern cities of Israel, and took captives back to Assyria.
II Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abelbethmaachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.
With this background in mind, it is not difficult to see what Isaiah was talking about in chapter 9. The first section of this chapter predicts a reunification of the Davidic kingdom. Isaiah foresees the restoration of the outlying parts of Israel to the kingdom (9:4), and the re-establishment of the royal line of David over the united kingdom (9:7). Isaiah speaks of this ideal king in 9:6, another passage that is a favorite of Christian apologists, although it was never used as such by any of the New Testament writers. (Some commentaries suggest that Isaiah may have had Ahaz's son, Hezekiah, in mind. This point is debatable. What is true is that the titles applied to the ideal king in 9:6 are similar to honorific titles of the Egyptian kings).
Although Isaiah did not give a time limit to this prophecy, we should note that no king of the line of David has ever ruled over a united Israel since the days of Solomon. If this passage does in fact apply to Jesus, as Christians insist, we might ask at what point he restored Galilee to the Davidic kingdom?
