God Calls... for a king

Over the last 10 weeks, we have covered a lot of ground, moving through the Old Testament… remember way back in September? We started at the beginning - with Genesis… and we were reminded of the Original Goodness of creation.

And then we traced how this good God who made a good creation has continued on in that goodness, even when things got more complicated, even when humans chose badly.

God has remained a God who blesses, bringing good out of a broken world, and out of humanity’s broken faithfulness… we saw this as we encountered the father & son duo of Abraham & Isaac, ascending the hill without the sacrifice. When Rebekah did what she thought must be done in regards to her sons Jacob & Esau, even then God managed to bring blessing out of it.

And then with Moses at the burning bush and in the provision of the manna & quail to the Israelites, we saw God’s blessing take the form presence and provision.

Then for the last few weeks, we have shifted to look at the God who calls, seeing that call on prophets & kings… the prophet Samuel and then King David, King Solomon and then the prophet Elijah.

For the final two weeks of our fall series, we see how God called through the prophets - for justice, as we saw last week with Amos. And now this week, we will see God’s call for the people to remember that the reign of a righteous king will bring hope and joy.

Today is the last Sunday in the church calendar. Next Sunday, we begin a new cycle as we enter into Advent once again. As we prepare for the Incarnation, as we ready ourselves as best we can to celebrate the birth that changes everything.

But this week, we pause before we enter the cycle of Advent, before we begin a new church year, to remember the end of the story… to remind ourselves of the bigger context of the whole story, before we get caught up in the events in Nazareth & Bethlehem all those centuries ago.

Isaiah 9 is likely a familiar text, some of it might have you humming bits of Handel’s Messiah, or you might think of this as one of the traditional Advent texts, which it is. But today we will read it from the vantage point of a different place in the calendar.

Today, we will first read it - or seek to listen to it - with the context of its original hearers.

Last week, we heard the prophet Amos address the northern kingdom and we mentioned that it was a time of relative peace and prosperity.

This week, we hear Isaiah address the southern kingdom of Judah. Assyria has already conquered two of the northern tribes, and Judah rightly wonders if they’re next.

Isaiah will speak of the hope of a new king. A hope rooted in the present so securely, that it is written in what English translations can only render as past tense. Hebrew works a little differently than English, but here the past tenses of this text as confidence in the reality they describe. There is more going on than just what Judah can see. There is a king coming…and that will change things. Everything, really. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Neil, will you come and read for us?

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 9:2-7

The people walking in darkness

have seen a great light.

Those dwelling in the land of death’s shadow --

light has beamed on them.

You have made great the nation

and heightened its joy.

They rejoiced before You

as joy in the harvest,

as people exalt

when they share out the spoils.

For its burdensome yoke

the rod on its shoulders,

the club of its oppressor --

You smashed, as on the day of Midian.

For every boot pounding loudly

and every cloak soaked in blood

is consigned to burning, consumed by fire.

For a child has been born to us,

a son has been given to us,

and leadership is on his shoulders.

And his name is called wondrous councillor,

divine warrior, eternal father, prince of peace,

making leadership abound and peace without end

on the throne of David and over his kingdom

to make it firm-founded and stay it up

in justice and righteousness, forever more.

The zeal of the Lord of Armies shall do this.

There is more going on than just what Judah can see.

Have you ever walked in darkness… lived your life without knowledge of some of your own reality, only to discover along the way that there was more going on than you realized?

If you are in the dark, if you literally or figuratively cannot see something, that doesn’t make it any less there. It is your awareness that is lacking. Not the thing itself.

This can happen in both negative and positive ways, we might be fearful in the dark, but when the light comes on, we realize we were safe all along. Or, we might discover that we have unknowingly been under threat all this time.

When a candle is lit or the flashlight is turned on, NOTHING IS CHANGED. Whatever was there in the dark is still there now. But the light brings awareness, clarity. Now I can see the enemy. Now I can also see that God has been present. That God was there, even in the dark.

Judah has been walking in darkness. God’s people - the northern & southern kingdoms - have had their hopes dashed a number of times. Their hope in how a monarchy will be better than the judges. Their hope that they will be able to ward off the threats from Assyria and elsewhere.

There is an international military criss threatening… and of course that threat feels worse in the dark. The enemy is there, but in the dark, it’s also harder to defend yourself, harder to assess what’s going on...

But the text tells us that the people walking in darkness, the people living their lives without the ability to see the threats for what they are, have seen a great light. Dawn has come.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, the verb tense here in the english is trying to express the Hebrew idiom of expressing something that may or may not have happened yet, but that is so certain to happen that it can be imagined as complete.

Alec Motyer writes:

The darkness and distress are real but they are neither the only reality nor the fundamental reality. In any given situation we can either sink into despair or rise to faith and hope. Isaiah insists that hope is part of the constitution of the here and now.

Hope is not just a future-oriented thing. It looks at present realities with an alternate reading. This dark? There’s more to it.

There is more going on than just what Judah can see.

Even though the threat of Assyria is real, God is still at work. God’s promise is still being kept and even being fulfilled. Darkness is becoming light.

The dawn is so sure to come, that Isaiah can speak about it as a completed action. God will act. God has acted. God is acting.

So, the first image we see in this text is that of darkness become light.

And , quite naturally, JOY follows.

Two spheres of joy - harvest and plunder.

Harvest joy - this is when we come through all the unknowns and challenges of a growing season only to know that the harvest is safely in and stored. We will have food for the winter. The threats and storms have passed and all is “safely gathered in” as the hymnwriter puts it.

The second contrasting kind of joy is that of dividing the spoils of war. And because of what follows in the text, it may be that Isaiah is suggesting that one type of joy is actually better than the other. The joy of harvest will last, the joy of plunder will eventually cease.

But JOY comes, nevertheless.

There is more going on than just what Judah can see.

Light is dawning. Which brings joy. And then Isaiah gives us three reasons for the joy…

In the Hebrew text, verses 4, 5 and 6 all begin with the word translated “For”...

Three reasons for all this rejoicing even though the circumstances of Judah are still difficult…

First, there is freedom from oppression

Secondly, war is/will be done. Finished.

And thirdly, a child. A new king. And a new kind of kingdom.

The first “for” - the first reason for rejoicing is because of the freedom from oppression. And here Isaiah references Midian.

Isaiah 9:4 NIV

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 alludes to the story of Gideon. And the army that God had Gideon whittle down to a ridiculous few. And then, VICTORY. But what is key to referencing Midian is that there was NO way that Gideon brought about the victory. No way to explain how this small group of men could have thrown off the yoke, the staff, the rod. No, in the Gideon story, God is the one who acted. And who acted on behalf of God’s people. Freedom from their oppressors came, just like in the exodus story, through God’s action on the people’s behalf.

But when God acts, JOY results.

The second “for” is in Isaiah 9:5

Isaiah 9:5 NIV

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.

War is done. Or, at least war “will be” done. The image of boot and garment - of the requirements of war being burned up, not needed anymore. This is something that brings great JOY, does it not? When the need for military strength is no more? When there is no more reason to defend or to advocate for? When peace comes and all things related rightly?

And, again, we just saw in the previous verse, that deliverance comes by God’s actions. And when God acts, JOY comes.

The third “for” is in Isaiah 9:6-7

A CHILD. Born, given. And with authority.

And a child with names… Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

These names take us automatically straight to Jesus… right?

But slow down a minute. Let’s stay with Isaiah and with the people of Judah for a few seconds before we jump.

How would THEY have heard these names? How would they see the new king Hezekiah as one who was qualified to rule (Wonderful Counsellor), who was powerful in his rule (Mighty God, a Divine Warrior), who related well to his subjects (Everlasting Father) and who would bring about a peaceful society (Prince of Peace).

Listen to how the JPS translates these names...

“The Mighty God is planning grace,

The eternal Father, a peaceful ruler.”

What would a kingdom look like if the one ruling were to use all their power to bring about grace. If they were to care for and provide for their subjects with the long game in mind and bringing everything into right-relatedness or shalom - peace.

So light dawns in the darkness. Joy follows. And joy that is rooted in the deliverance God brings, which includes the end of conflict and war, and the establishment of a king who is ultimately planning grace and directing peace.

There is more going on than Judah can see.

What if in our lives, in 2021, on this final Sunday of the church year… what if there is more going on that we can see?

Who is this King Isaiah is speaking of? Is he talking about Hezekiah or Jesus?

Scholar Grace Song is really helpful here, she writes:

“Hezekiah does play a major role in the book of Isaiah. He is the king par excellence that replaces Ahaz, and the first to be the "child" of Isaiah 9:6... Hezekiah's birth signified God's presence with them in a most precarious circumstance.” Grace Song

But she goes on to note that Hezekiah, and the other Davidic kings after him, never manage to fulfill the promise in full, and so are always both a type, a hint, a glimpse of the promise, while pointing beyond themselves to One yet to come.

So is the Child Hezekiah or Jesus?

Yes.

What Hezekiah can only partially fulfill, Jesus will complete.

The light that dawned in the birth of the child Hezekiah will pale in comparison to the dawning of a new day when Jesus will arrive as a Child.

And Jesus will fully live into and out of the names… the Divine Warrior is planning grace, and the Eternal Father will bring about a kingdom of peace.

Again, Grace Song helps us:

"Thus, the ultimate fulfillment of the royal hope -- announced with an immediate reference to the prophet's own day, and with somewhat pale and shadowy understanding of its remote reference -- began with the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is continuing, and will be consummated with His glorious return.” Grace Song

Joy comes because of the King. A new kind of king and a new kind of kingdom.

Joy comes because war will end. Hostility and strife done for. Legal systems that cannot in the end hold up what is right. Governments that fail and conflicts that seem un-winnable and … one day. They will be finished. Isaiah has already described this earlier in chapter 2… Isaiah 2:4

Isaiah 2:4 NIV

4 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.

And then joy will come because God has acted on our behalf to bring and end to suffering - both suffering endured and inflicted. (For both are dehumanizing!)

And the end of both is an act of God’s deliverance. God, like with Gideon, bringing about a victory we could never win for ourselves.

And so, how are we - how are you - currently “someone walking in darkness”?

How has light dawned? What is being revealed?

The light doesn’t change our circumstances, but the light does reveal our circumstances in ways we couldn’t see in the dark.

Hope is not just a future-oriented thing. It looks at present realities with an alternate reading. This dark? There’s more to it.

How are we realizing that part of what was happening in the dark is that God was present - even there?

How is the God who calls, calling you?

How is the God who provides, providing for you?

How is the God who blesses, blessing you?

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