Listen to the audion of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-december-23
Isaiah 9:2-7
2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
3 You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.
5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
The Book of the Prophet Isaiah is a particularly interesting book — one of the most interesting books in the Old Testament, for my money. So it seems like kind of a shame that most followers of Jesus only pay any attention to it during the Advent season. The reason we pay attention to Isaiah then is that some of the most familiar prophesies that foretell the birth and the mission of the Messiah come from its pages. And that includes today’s reading.
So Advent is an opportunity to stop and think a little about this book, which was one of the most important books of prophesy to the Hebrew people at the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry. That means that Isaiah sheds some light on how the covenant people understood their relationship with God. Jesus quotes from the book of the prophet Isaiah in some of the best-known passages from his ministry. In fact, as we said in another Reflection recently, Jesus said that he came “to fulfill the law and the prophets,” so as his followers, we really should give the Book of the Prophet Isaiah some attention.
If you read a commentary on Isaiah, you’ll find that the Old Testament scholars often write about ‘First, Second and Third’ Isaiah. That might seem a little confusing, because Isaiah isn’t formally divided into separate books the way First and Second Samuel and First and Second Kings are. But the scholars point out that Isaiah has three definite sections that address different themes, and that these three sections were almost certainly written in different times. The material covers such a long period that it’s hard to imagine how it could all have been written by one person. It seems to me that the first part might actually have been written by the prophet Isaiah, while the later parts were written by later prophets who considered themselves Isaiah’s followers.
The first part of the book – “First Isaiah” – seems to have been written before the Babylonian invasion that resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 587 BC. That part warns the people of Judea that God is going to punish them for their many sins. We tend to think of those sins as worshiping foreign gods and sexual immorality. But God was also grieved by the people’s failure to care for the poor and by their meddling in international affairs.
The second part of the book – “Second Isaiah” – offers comfort and encouragement to the people during their time in exile. The Babylonians had dragged them off into exile, and forced them to live in scattered settlements throughout the Babylonian Empire. So for the Hebrew people, the trauma of the invasion and exile was magnified by the feeling that God had abandoned his chosen people. But this second part of Isaiah includes prophecies that assured them that their punishment would not last forever, and that their world would be restored.
The third part – “Third Isaiah” – seems to have been written after the people returned home in 523 BC. It warns them not to slip back into the same sins that led to their punishment in the first place.
In the second part of the book, God was speaking to the people in ways they would not understand for a while. He was promising restoration and renewal, but also foretelling the coming of a Messiah who would announce the beginning a new and eternal kingdom. When that kingdom comes to fulfillment, God’s peace will be established, when the people will be delivered from every kind of oppression, and warfare and violence will cease. All things will be made right.
Obviously, God’s peace has not yet been brought to fulfillment. But in this holy season, we celebrate the coming of the promised Messiah, and also the fact that his followers have become the greatest movement of peace and compassion in the world’s history. We celebrate, as well, the hope we have as adopted members of God’s own family, and the promise that as followers of the Messiah, we will share in the joy of that eternal kingdom.
No wonder that some of the most joyful and beloved music of the season is based on this hopeful passage from Isaiah, like one of the most famous parts of Handel’s Messiah.
“For unto us a child is born!. Unto us a Son is given! And the government shall be upon his shoulders. And he shall be called Wonderful! Counsellor! The mighty God, the everlasting Father – the Prince of Peace!”
Let’s pray. Lord, we thank you that throughout history, you have forgiven and restored your people for our sins, and that you have come into the world in the form of the Messiah to announce a new and eternal kingdom. In this season, renew our hope in sharing in that kingdom, and use us to spread that hope far and wide. Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Henry
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