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 NIVUK
In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:4-5 NIVUK
My daughter used to have an amusing game she would play when she was little. During train journeys, if we passed through a tunnel, she would pretend to be asleep. And when we passed through it to the other side, she would waken up.
All good fun – except when you need to get out at a station in a tunnel...
Christmas is a time of great joy – especially for children.
But for some of us, it feels like we are in a dark tunnel in which we cannot see a light, or we fear that the light is just the headlights of an oncoming train. We are experiencing the darkness of suffering or pain or loneliness and we can’t see how to come out the other side.
If that is where you are this Christmas, then this message is for you in particular.
You see, this often-read prophecy begins in a strange place: Israel’s northern border regions of Zebulun and Naphtali.
Now, that might not seem so strange, until you read the verses that precede this prophecy:
Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upwards, will curse their king and their God. Then they will look towards the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.
Isaiah 8:21-22 NIVUK
I would suggest these are verses you would not normally look forward to reading on Christmas morning.
These verses – indeed, much of Isaiah – talk of the impending exile at the hand of the Assyrians and then the Babylonians. These invading armies had one thing in common – they both came from north of Israel.
And where would that smash across the border?
Zebulun and Naphtali.
Not just once, either. 2 Kings 17-20, 24 and 25 show a chaotic time over a period of many years, when multiple violent attacks would have taken place across these regions.
It’s very clear how this region was known as a place of gloom, distress and darkness.
And yet Isaiah promises that one day it will no longer be so.
How?
When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali – to fulfil what was said through the prophet Isaiah: ‘Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles – the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.’
Matthew 4:12-16 NIVUK
Most of Jesus’ ministry was in the Galilee region contained within the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali.
He was the light!
So we see in the place of darkness – light.
But Isaiah is not done.
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.
Isaiah 9:3 NIVUK
Imagine for a second what life would have been like in this border region: constant raids leading to stolen crops and people and burning homes. Pain and despair would have been constant and unending.
And yet, Isaiah promises that these will go. Instead of tribes depleted by constant raids, they will be enlarged. Instead of depression we see joy; instead of loss, we see them gaining from harvests; instead of being plundered, we see then rejoicing as if they had taken plunder.
But what brought them this joy?
But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
Luke 2:10-11 NIVUK
Jesus!
So we see in the place of sorrow – joy.
But again, Isaiah is not done:
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.
Isaiah 9:4 NIVUK
Through Isaiah, God promises them freedom.
Let’s bear in mind here that ancient warfare certainly included slavery. And by ‘slavery’ I mean chattel slavery. I mean slavery with zero rights. It wasn’t at all unknown for people from a beaten nation to be captured as slaves. In fact, it was normal. It was routine. To the point that there were actual rules about how these slaves should be treated in Jewish law (Deuteronomy 21:10-14). This may seem utterly distasteful in our culture, but we must understand that the Bible wasn’t written in our day and age – it was written thousands of years ago in the Middle East. We shouldn’t impose on it our views on how things should have been.
The Old Testament frequently uses the picture of slavery as being an image of how it felt to be subjugated by a foreign power (e.g. Jeremiah 27:8-13, 28). This should not be a surprise. Even the word ‘subjugate’ has its roots in the act of enslaving another human being.
But Isaiah states that the Israelites will escape this slavery. They will escape this subjugation. And they will do so in the same way Gideon led them to escape subjugation under Midian.
Let’s not mince our words: they truly were subjugated under the Midianites (Judges 6:1-6). But they were delivered by a tiny attack force guided and empowered by God and against impossible odds (Judges 7).
Isaiah is saying that even if their situation looks impossible, even if they can barely remember what freedom looks like, even if they are reduced to a tiny remnant with no serious hope of breaking free, God is able to free them.
As Jesus said:
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
John 8:36 NIV
Maybe this Christmas you feel like those Israelites. Maybe you feel like you are held captive, that you have been subjugated, that you are a slave. There are many things nowadays that can enslave us: nicotine, alcohol, drugs, caffeine, entertainment, sex, violence, debt, any number of destructive behaviours or attitudes. No matter the odds you think you face in escaping your subjugation, Jesus came to set you free.
So we see in the place of slavery – freedom.
But Isaiah still isn’t done.
To a victimised and battle-weary war zone in the north of his nation, he writes these words:
Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
Isaiah 9:5 NIV
This is quite a promise.
It is somewhat analogous to this promise elsewhere in the Bible:
He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
Isaiah 2:4 NIV
This is not just about peace. This is not even just about the absence of war. The commentator David Guzik notes: ‘This is what you did when the battle was finished, and you had won.’
This victory would need to be complete and final. There would not be any further need for battle clothes or uniform, let alone weaponry.
Think about that for a second. When the Jews were facing attacks from the Assyrians and Babylonians, they were facing insurmountable odds. These two nations were the super-powers of the day. They did win some battles – and one quite dramatically under Hezekiah (Isaiah 37, see also 2 Kings 19 and 2 Chronicles 32), but these only delayed the inevitable.
The Assyrians and Babylonians were superior in number, in technology, in tactics and in skill.
In Jesus’ day, the Jews faced insurmountable odds against another pagan enemy – the Romans.
And throughout history, time and time again, God’s people have faced insurmountable odds against enemies who appear to be stronger and superior in every way.
Yet the promise of these verses is that victory will come – and it will be both final and decisive.
What a promise! In the place of defeat – victory.
But Isaiah still isn’t done.
You see, we cannot examine these sad, traumatic events without understanding their root cause.
Sin.
In particular, the sin of their leaders.
Any casual reader of the seven main history books of the Old Testament (Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles) and the books of prophecy cannot help but be struck by the catastrophically bad leadership of the Jewish people. If you were to count the number of bad kings to the number of good ones, you would quickly see that the bad outnumber the good.
And even the ‘good’ kings were far from perfect. David had an affair with Bathsheba and sent her husband to his death (2 Samuel 11). Solomon, who talked a great deal about wisdom and folly, was led astray by his seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines (1 Kings 11:3-4).
And these are the kings who are held up as the best!
This led to Ezekiel’s stark teaching where he compared the leaders of the Jews to bad shepherds who only sought to exploit the flock for their own personal gain and cared little for it (Ezekiel 34).
Does this seem at all familiar to you?
Now read John 10:1-16. What is Jesus doing? He is effectively saying that all their leaders who had come before Him were bed shepherds (see in particular verses 8 and 12-13). But Jesus is different: He is the good shepherd. He is a righteous leader.
He is the ruler they need.
Now look back at Isaiah 9:6-7. Do you see it? Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, Isaiah is prophesying His birth and that He will be the leader and ruler they need.
There is little doubt in my mind that we are very familiar with the notion of being ‘mis-led’. Our leaders have been plastered all over the front pages of newspapers, charged and taken to court for criminal behaviour, caught in sometimes the most depraved of misdemeanours. We know how this feels. Well, the solution is not to complain or to be bitter or to rebel and rise up.
No. The solution is Jesus.
The solution is to stop pledging allegiance to and following human leaders who will always let you down.
The solution is to start following Jesus.
Because Isaiah states about Him that He will bring in the place of governance – Jesus.
And yes, there are elements of this that will only come about in the Second Coming, hence He returns to rule.
But He can bring about part of it now, in our hearts, if we let Him rule now.
So will you? Will you submit yourself to His reign?
Perhaps these last ten posts have been a little unusual for you. It’s not normal to spend the weeks before Christmas trawling through obscure verses in the Old Testament, with barely a mention of sheep or donkeys or stars or shepherds or wise men.
But yet, I believe it has been good for us. We have explored not just the fact that Jesus came, but why He came: to heal those who have been broken down with pain and suffering, to lift up the fallen, to gently and carefully lead us to repentance from our sins for the salvation of our souls.
This is who He is. This is why He came.
So, tell me, don’t you want to follow Him?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, You are all I need. What a wonderful Saviour You are! Thank You for coming to earth to save me. Come into my life, lead me and guide me, I pray. I yearn to follow You. Show me how. Amen.
Questions
1. What does Christmas mean to you? Why was Jesus born?
2. Which of these five aspects of Jesus’ coming is the most significant to you? Why?
3. Will you decide to follow Jesus today?
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