One of the recurring themes of both the Old and New Testaments is that the “fear of the Lord” is the beginning of wisdom and leads to all sorts of temporal and eternal benefits. Smack dab in the middle of Isaiah’s Immanuel Prophecies, we find this warning in Isaiah 8:12-15, “You are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.
It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.  Then He shall become a sanctuary; But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.  Many will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken; They will even be snared and caught.” (NASU)  One paragraph later God warns against consulting the so-called wisdom of the world. Rather than following the follies of the world, we ought to follow God’s law, His teaching, and His testimony.
To do otherwise
will be to live in famine, distress, hardship, and gloomy darkness. The Messiah came to be both a rock to stumble over and a cornerstone to build on.  For those who do not recognize Him and reject Him as Messiah, He will be a stumbling stone which will bring them to destruction. For those who trust Him, He will be a cornerstone on which to build their temporal and eternal lives.
Isaiah 9:1-2 proclaims hope not only for Israel but for the whole world, “But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.
The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.” (NASU) Matthew chapter four connects this passage to Jesus of Nazareth, establishing Him as the long awaited Messiah, Savior of all who will put their faith in Him.
Jesus withdrew into Galilee and Matthew four proclaims that this is to fulfill the Isaiah 8-9 passage.  Matthew 4:17 concludes the passage with, “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (NASU)
This verse is the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry in the book of Matthew. This great light promised in Isaiah 8-9 and fulfilled in Matthew 4 arose to shine on both the Jews and the Gentiles. This great light was none other than Jesus Himself.  The dawning of that great light called for repentance on the part of the people.
We confess our sins not because God does not already know about them but simply as a way of agreeing with Him that what we have done is rebellion against Him. After acknowledging our sins, God expects, yes demands, that we turn toward Him and away from those sins.
Isaiah 8 began this discussion of the great light by turning us toward the fear of the Lord and rightly so.  2 Corinthians 5:10-11 warns, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men.” (NASU)  Faith in Christ yields eternity in heaven but do not miss the fact that we will receive recompense for our deeds. The Great Light reveals all.