1 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.
Chapter divisions were added in the 1700’s, sometimes so arbitrarily as wherever the interpreter happened to quit for the night.
This verse should have been put with the last one.
Everything is dark and depressing, looks hopeless, though the territories of Zebulun and Naphtali are where Galilee and Capernaum were (Matthew 4:13-16).
2 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.
We have all walked in the darkness of sin. Jesus is the Light, and if we don’t have Him, we have darkness; we have death. Jesus gives us light and life.
3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.
Jesus broke the yoke of servitude to the Law, as well as servitude to sin. We are no longer bound to either of them.
5 For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
This Child Son is Jesus.
…and the government shall be upon his shoulder:
The government of God's Kingdom. He is the Last King of Israel.
…and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, …
We should always seek our council from Jesus.
The mighty God, …
Jesus IS the Mighty God, not the servant of God, not a part of God, not even a third of God. He IS God.
“For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.” Colossians 2:9
…The everlasting Father,
Jesus IS the Father.
… The Prince of Peace.
He is the only source of lasting peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.
Jesus’ Kingdom will never end. The minute He died on Calvary, His kingdom came into being and it has continued to grow and conquer the world ever since.
Oh, there have been set backs here and there, to be sure. But over all, the Kingdom of God grows and conquers and rules. It will continue to rule right up to and through Eternity.
This kingdom is not a political one, not a physical one.
“Jesus answered, "My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep Me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But My Kingdom is not of this world." John 18:36
God's Kingdom is, and always has been, in the hearts of humans. Jesus conquered the enemy on The Cross, and we have been claiming territory in the hearts of men ever since.
…The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.
God is telling Judah something about Israel.
9 And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
10 “The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.”
Israel was saying they would simply rebuild. Won’t happen.
11 Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin (king of Israel) against him, and join his enemies together;
12 The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.
God is going to destroy Israel for her disobedience.
13 For the people turneth not unto Him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.
They simply won’t repent.
14 Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
So God will destroy them.
15 The ancient and honorable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
All the most knowledgeable, the ones that are supposed to teach the people to live right, are the ones leading in sin.
16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
Generally the people follow the leaders. If the leaders of a nation determine they will reject God, most of the people will too.
17 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is a hypocrite and an evil doer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.
Where God usually protects the poorest of a country, He won’t this time because the rebellion has gone all the way to even those who generally most depend on Him.
18 For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.
Sin tends to be contagious.
19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.
Everyone will suffer.
20 And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:
21 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
It will get so bad, the tribes (of which Manasseh and Ephraim were the biggest) will turn on each other.
I have noticed that the majority of the time, God does not surprise people in the Bible. He tells them “If you do A, I will do B.” In this case, God told Israel at the very start that if they didn’t worship Him, He would destroy them. He has repeatedly reminded them of this throughout their history. They simply won’t listen, so He is going to keep His word. This is their final warning.