[Something a little different today. I was recently asked to preach on the second Sunday of Advent, and the passage given me was Isaiah 9:1-7. I felt it might be worth recycling the essence of that message as a blog. So forgive me, please, if this post is a bit more “sermony” than usual! I hope you might find it helpful, even though it means stretching over to a second instalment!]
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:2
It’s some 700 years before Christ, and the people of God in the little land of Judah are in deep trouble. They have wandered far from him, and are worshipping false gods. Oh, they are still carrying out their rituals and offering their sacrifices, no problem there, but it’s all false, shallow and meaningless. And Assyria, the major power at that time, is threatening to swallow them up.
Ahaz, King of Judah, is at his wits’ end. He has given a lead in the falling away from God (he “even sacrificed his son in the fire”, 2 Kings 16:3), and he foolishly hopes to save Judah by cosying up to the Assyrians.
In short, Judah is both rotting from within, like a piece of bad fruit, and also threatened from without.
So what does God do? He sends prophets. One of these is Isaiah, whose dramatic call to serve is told in chapter 6. His long book consists of a mixture of severe warnings – “If you don’t turn back to God you will be destroyed!” – and glowing encouragements – “If only you will repent there are great days ahead!”.
I’ve picked out just chapter 9 verse 2, a verse very familiar at this time of Advent, and one of the greatest in the Bible. But really we need to go back to at least 8:19 to get the full flavour of Isaiah’s words, and to see how the two themes are set side by side.
In 8:19-22 Isaiah launches an attack on what today we might call spiritism, the attempt to make contact with the dead in order to find out the meaning of what’s going on.
“How stupid can you get!” Isaiah exclaims. “Why not speak directly to the living God himself!” To act in this way, he says, is to flounder in darkness – the people “have no light of dawn” (verse 20), they “see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness” (verse 22).
I wonder if anyone reading this is involved in spiritism, witchcraft or other occult practices? If so, I can only urge you to take seriously the warning of Isaiah: these practices are dangerous, and are bound to lead to disaster. (The same warning is sounded also in passages like Deuteronomy 18:9-12.)
But then… in 9:1 the word “nevertheless” introduces a total change of key: “there will be no more gloom”. And in 9:2 Isaiah is so convinced about what the future holds that he speaks of it as if it has already happened: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness light has dawned”.
When did Isaiah expect this prophecy to come true? We don’t know. He was probably thinking only in terms of Judah’s betrayal of God and the threat of the Assyrians. I doubt very much if he had a vision of Bethlehem, of Joseph and Mary, and of Jesus lying in the manger.
But in the light of Christ it’s impossible to read his words without thinking of Jesus, “the light of the world”. Isaiah spoke far more than he knew! And it’s no wonder that Matthew’s Gospel (4:12-16), introduces Jesus’ earthly ministry by quoting these verses. Ultimately the prophet is foretelling the light of Jesus.
Reading verses 1-7 we find that he foresees at least five wonderful things, and I would encourage you to dwell for a few moments on each one…
1. A new light (verses 1-2).
Human beings cannot live without light. We read in Genesis 1 that the first words God spoke in creation were “Let there be light…” When Jesus was born in Bethlehem his birthplace was marked by the shining of a star, and later he declared himself to be “the light of the world”. The apostle Peter tells us that if we are followers of Jesus we have been called “out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).
The world in which we live is full of darkness: lies, violence, hatred, jealousy, lust, crime, war, you name it.
And we who are Christians don’t look, outwardly, very much different from anyone else. But in reality we are children of the light of God. Just as the moon reflects the light of the sun, so we reflect the light of Christ.
So, an obvious challenge arises: Am I aware of living day by day in the light of Christ? Is it my greatest desire to reflect his light to everyone I meet?
2. A new joy (verse 3).
Isaiah foresees great prosperity leading to great joy: “You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy”. He compares God’s people to reapers gathering a bumper harvest, or soldiers dividing the spoils of battle.
Of course, the prosperity of Christians doesn’t take such a material form; indeed, when we give our lives to Jesus we may well end up far poorer in that respect. But the fact is that he promises his people something far better: true life, life lived in peace and harmony with God, “life in all its fulness” (John 10:10).
Do I expect, day by day, to enjoy the fulness of life only Christ can give?
A new light, and a new joy… please join me next time for the other three things Isaiah sees…
Father, thank you that as Christmas draws near we can focus on Jesus the light of the world. Thank you that by faith in him we have come out of the darkness of sin and into the light of your holiness. Please chase all darkness from my life and character, and enable me to reflect your wonderful light. Amen.
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