Although Isaiah has largely been giving his people bad news, there is a glimmer of light. The food may have overwhelmed them, but their heads are still above the water.
There is an important concept in Isaiah, of the Remnant. Once all the evil, faithless people have been flooded out, burned by fire, killed by the sword or swallowed by darkness, there will be a few left whose goodness and righteousness will shine out. The fewer there are, the brighter their light will shine. Take this to the nth degree, and you have just one individual left, who shines as brightly as God himself.
We met this idea for the first time today - one individual, who becomes the embodiment of all that Israel should be.
The poetic image Isaiah gives us in this passage is one of darkness, swallowing the land, from the north, moving south. Like a weather forecaster on a really bad day, he is describing a wave of invasion sweeping down across the country, but then promising that in the north where the darkness first hit, there the light will begin to shine again. Of course, we Christians get excited about this, because Jesus grew up in the north, in Galilee, and we love to see foreshadowing of Jesus in Isaiah's words.
But Isaiah's first hearers would have no inkling of this, and for them the weather forecaster is simply saying, there will be a spot of brightness in the darkest part of the map, and as we zoom in on it, you won't believe how brightly it shines.
There will be a son born to us, princely rule will be his. He will be a wonder amongst counsellors, supernatural in wisdom, God himself coming in person, in victorious power and fatherly care.
The prophecy of Isaiah has a very difficult mission. God gave this book the task of conjuring hope out of complete and utter despair. The crisis hasn't hit yet, the despair is still in the future, but here is a first taste of the way Isaiah's words will rekindle hope.
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