Advent Unto Us- The Great Light- Part 1
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The great Light:
The great Light:
Background- Israel is facing invasion from the Assyrians. Ephram has betrayed their own people and joined in to invade Judah.
God delivers a message to the evil King Ahaz calling Him to stand firm and trust the Lord- Is 7:8- “If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all
Ahaz- was an evil king who even sacrificed to the demon god’s of the very people who were threatening invasion 2Kings 16:2-4; 2 Chr 28:1-4;
Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done, but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made metal images for the Baals, and he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.
Isaiah 8 God tells this evil King to ask Him for a sign- yet rather then standing firm in his faith in God, Ahaz shows his lack of trust in God and says he will not test the Lord- or “I will not test to see if God can really come through. I am going to stick with the Baal god cause it seems to be working for the Assyrians.”
Because Ahaz will not turn to God and trust Him God says that He will give a sign - in the form of two children-
First sign is Judgement: Maher-shalal-hash-baz- A symbolic name for Isaiah’s son. It means “speedy spoil, hasty plunder,” and was meant to encourage Judah to not fear the Assyrians (Isa 8:1, 3–4). It was a call to trust in the Lord for deliverance- stand firm in your faith in the one true God-
Application: we don’t face armies like the Assyrians coming and invading. The threats to our faith, come in many different ways, yet the call for us it to Trust the Lord in all circumstances- Proverbs 3:5-6- When we faced with the hardships of life, or when we are in the dark valleys of depression , or when we are in the midst of despair- We are called just like Ahaz to “Stand firm in our Faith...”
Second sign is the sign of deliverance. This a major theme throughout the book of Isaiah: Bad things are going to happen because of the peoples rebellion, but God is a God of grace and He will deliver His people no matter how bad they seem to be :
Is 8:10-25;
Is 9:1-7;
Is 11:1-9;
Is 8:11-22- The Lord is the only refuge- God is the Holy Hope-
Psalm 46:1–2 (CSB)
God is our refuge and strength,
a helper who is always found
in times of trouble.
Therefore we will not be afraid,
though the earth trembles
and the mountains topple
into the depths of the seas,
Is 8:22 ends with “They will look toward the earth and see only distress, darkness and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness-not a good ending in chapter 8 but Is 9 pickups very Is 8 ends:
So Here is the setup for the section of scripture that we will be looking at:
But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
There is a change in the atmosphere that begins in the very first verse
Is 9:1- “gloom and distress will not be like that of the former Zebulun and the land of Naphtali”- These were the first two places that suffered greatly during the Assyrian invasion from 734 to 732B.C.-
They were the example of what suffering looked like for the rest of the nation, and because of their destruction ever other nation feared Assyria.
“But in the future He will bring honor to the way of the sea, to the land of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations”- There would be a time when the same road through which destruction came, honor would return on. Those years where it seemed like destruction God can redeem and bring honor.
Jesus fulfilled this when He ministered and chose His first disciples in Galilee- which at the time of jesus was still despised by the people of Jerusalem.Honor had come from where destruction had taken place:
Jesus when He starts His public ministry stands up and reads from the prophet Isaiah saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” This is the ministry that Jesus came to do:
Isa 61:3-4 - This is the great exchange that Jesus came to do- This is the sign of God’s deliverance
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
This explains what this great deliverance looks like for you and for me: From death to Life
Does it seem like you are in darkness and Gloom? There is Hope and His name is Jesus- The Great light that has conquered the darkness.
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
The Gospel writes echos this:
the people dwelling in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
on them a light has dawned.”
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Does it feel like you are in the valley of the shadow of Death- God has sent a savior.
Songs in the Night
Charles Haddon Spurgeon preached a sermon on “Songs in the Night” (see Job 35:10). He gave reasons why we should sing in the night. One was that others who travel the same dark way will hear, find guidance, and receive strength. So in your night of bereavement—sing! Sing for your own welfare and for that of others. In so doing you will find help for the night and assurance for the day that soon will dawn.
We can sing in the night because God our Hope has not foreshaken us or left us in the pit of despair, but in our times of trouble and despair He wants us to sing in the night- To turn and trust in Him.
I don’t believe the gospel is simply therapeutic, but I do think that it is therapeutic: Simply I believe that when we are in distress we have a God who comforts us in His word. When we are walking through the valley of the shadow of Death we have a God who not only walks with us, but guides us, and when we are going through seasons of deep dark depression our God is the only light that conquers that darkness.
But we have to answer that call to “Stand Firm in our faith.” This doesn't mean that we don’t acknowledge the dark times and act like everything thing is fine. It means we acknowledge the darkness and run to the light of Christ. Only then do find the rest for our souls.
There is a contrast from Is 8:22 to Is 9:3-5 - Is 8:22 the people are in gloom and distress before the light comes and shines on the darkness- Is 9:3-5 after God’s promise comes these people who once were in gloom and darkness now experience Joy, prosperity, victory, and peace all because “Light has dawned”
What great hope for those who “stand firm in the faith” God’s light will come and conquer the shadows of gloom -
John writes “Light has come into world” see Isaiah 9 is a prophecy of the coming Savior- Jesus Christ. This is the one who is promised in this chapter- Jesus is the light that has dawned and broken the darkness.
Those who are in Christ are a New Creation- There is a radical transformation that has happen.
Is 9:4- “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.”This verse shows wha the work of salvation will look like for those who are in darkness-
Midian’s defeat happened at the hands of Gideon who says of Himself, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” - There is something in this response that we should lose sight of and it is that if God could save His people with Gideon the weakest of the weakest then the humble means of sending a baby would be sufficient-
The “day of Midian’s defeat” refers to Gideon’s defeat of the Midianites. God gave Gideon the victory after reducing his army from thirty-two thousand to three hundred (Judg. 7:2–25). Similarly the present deliverance from “their oppressor” will also be performed by the Lord, not by the numbers or ability of the people.
Gideon had defeated Midian some five hundered years before but it still stood as the most outstanding example of God’s ability to bring deliverance against overwhelming odds- God even staked the deck against Himself
For us we are under seven years of oppression from a foreign empire who keeps stealing everything we have- But there are other oppression and burdens that we bear- And I want you to know that nothing is to difficult for God.
The question will we turn to Him:
The great Hymn says:
When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
The hardest thing for us is to trust. We become like Ahaz we when see things that seem to be to great for us. “I can never overcome this depression. There is no hope nothing will ever change.” But nothing is too difficult for God- Will you stand firm in your faith.
Jesus stands up and says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.1”
Jesus’ coming was to bear our heavy burden and liberate us from the oppression of sin- Why is Christ’s burden light, because it doesn’t demand our works.
The gospel message of Hope is this “When you couldn’t save yourself One came who took your burden and this burden led Him to the cross.”
The yoke of sin represents the wight of sin and it is very heavy- It is a burden that no one can carry and it leads to death Yet Christ broke that yoke and has removed the burden
The angels proclamation:
And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
The announcement of Jesus coming to this earth was accompanied by a heavenly Host praise God-
A Heavenly Host- means an army- The angel were announcing a war against the darkness that would bring liberty to those in bondage.
Why is it good-news of great Joy? Because the savior has come and conquered. The war is over.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Practical Illustrations: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians 9-283: The Gospel Turns on the Light (Power of Darkness)
The Bible tells us that before Christ came into our lives, our existence was spent in the darkness. Thankfully, God had a plan:
Bob Woods, in Pulpit Digest, tells the story of a couple who took their son, 11, and daughter, 7, to Carlsbad Caverns. As always, when the tour reached the deepest point in the cavern, the guide turned off all the lights to dramatize how completely dark and silent it is below the earth’s surface.
The little girl, suddenly enveloped in utter darkness, was frightened and began to cry.
Immediately [she] heard the voice of her brother: “Don’t cry. Somebody here knows how to turn on the lights.”
In a real sense, that is the message of the gospel: light is available, even when darkness seems overwhelming.
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.