Advent According to Isaiah

Intro

Can we solve an age old debate, right here and right now? By a show of hands, who listens to Christmas songs before Thanksgiving? And who says that it heresy, has to be after?

Some people are very passionate about that. I guess we didn’t solve it.

Well, no matter when you start listening to Christmas songs, according to church tradition, Advent officially begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas (this year Dec 1), and ends on Christmas Eve. There’s not starting early.

Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which is the translation of the Greek parousia - a word in the NT that is used for both the coming of Jesus in the flesh and for his Second Coming.

So Advent situates us in the middle of the Story, between the first and second Advents of Christ -looking back to once upon a time and ahead to happily ever after.

And in this in-between, Advent is a reminder that all is not right with the world, but God is not done yet. That there is darkness before the dawn. And we are meant to feel that tension in Advent.

And the songs we sing should help remind us of that tension.

Songs like “Happy holidays…” don’t really do justice to this reality.

No, give me:

O come, o come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel That mourns in lonely exile here, until the son of God appear

Don’t give me “you better watch out you better not cry you better not pout I’m telling you why”

Give me:

Come thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free From our sins and fears release, let us find our rest in Thee

Don’t give me, “Tis the season to be jolly, fa-la-la-la-forget about it!”

Give me:

Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope- the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Advent doesn’t allow us to sentimentalize this season. It invites us to feel the darkness and the brokenness so that we long for the light and for all to be made right.

As we look at Advent according to Isaiah today, he’s going to do just that for us.

We’re going to look at two main Advent texts in Isaiah chapters 7-9. The first thing we are going to see is that Advent reveals rebellion

Advent reveals rebellion

Isaiah was a prophet to Judah and Jerusalem in the 8th century BC.

At this point in history, the northern kingdom of Israel (also Samaria) and southern kingdom of Judah were split, and Judah got word that the north, had made an alliance with Syria, also called Damascus. When King Ahaz and the people of Judah heard about this alliance, Isaiah 7:2 says “…the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.”

They were terrified and Ahaz was faced with a decision: do we align with this coalition or do we turn to another foreign superpower, Assyria, for protection?

Isaiah advises Ahaz to forsake these worldly alliances and rather trust in Yahweh - the one who has always delivered His people. Isaiah even tells Ahaz to ask for a sign so that his weak faith would be strengthened, but Ahaz refuses. So Yahweh says I’ll give a sign to the whole house of David anyways, and in Isaiah 7:14 we read the famous passage “14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

This is a famous Christmas passage, and we know from Matthew 1 that this sign finds its ultimate fulfilment in coming or Advent of Jesus, born of a virgin, who is “Immanuel, God with us”.

But how would Jesus, born some 700 years later, be a sign to the house of David in the time of King Ahaz? It says in verse 16… For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.” He’s talking about the kings in the alliance.

Some Old Testament prophecies have both near, partial fulfillments and far, ultimate fulfillments. For example, in Isaiah 40, the near fulfillment was the return of the exiles from Babylon, but the ultimate fulfillment came through John the Baptist, who prepared the way of the Lord.

Similarly, while the ultimate fulfillment of Isaiah 7 is found in the Advent of Jesus, the birth of Isaiah’s son in chapter 8 was a near, partial fulfillment for Judah. Isaiah gave his son a weird name Maher-shalal-hash-baz, meaning "the spoil speeds, the prey hastens," and that foretold the swift defeat of the northern alliance by the Assyrians. And sure enough, this happened in 732 BC, just two years later, when the Assyrians quickly plundered Damascus and Samaria.

The passage goes on to say:

Isaiah 8:9–10 “9 Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered; give ear, all you far countries; strap on your armor and be shattered…10 Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us.” literally for Immanuel.

The Isaiah 7 prophecy and its near fulfillment was sign to the house of David saying - God is with His people, but if you align with God’s enemies, He will be against you. And the very things you trust in besides Him will end up destroying you.

Listen to how he describes this in the rest of chapter 8 …

you trust in a river, but it will overtake you like a flood (v8)

you search for safety, but you’ll fall into a snare and be carried away (v15)

you look for dawn, but you’ll only find darkness (v20)

Unfortunately, when the word of God and the birth of this son confronted Ahaz and Judah, most of them did not heed the warnings, and it was to their own demise, as Assyria turned on them as well in the end.

Biggest problems?

Just like the coming of the near, partial sign did, the Advent of the far, ultimate sign of Jesus Christ reveals rebellion.

Advent is revealing to those who are far from God, and those who by grace are members of the household of God.

First, those of you who don’t follow Jesus.

Judah looked out and saw the alliance pressing in on them from the north as their biggest problem, and in fear they rejected God and His word as they looked for a pragmatic solution.

When you look out at the world, what do you think our biggest problem is?

Maybe you look out and think our biggest problem is financial, there’s too much economic inequality, and so we just need to redistribute the wealth or create more jobs then everything will improve.

Maybe you look out and think our biggest problem is political, if only we could get the right people in office with the right policies, rather than those other guys, then they will be able to sort this mess out.

Maybe you look out and think our biggest problem is psychological, we have a mental health crisis on our hands, and so people just need to get enough therapy or take the right medicine then everything will be better.

Maybe you look out and think our biggest problem is education, people are just dumb. We need better teachers, better schools, better curriculums, increase the collective IQ and then folks will be educated (like me) and that will fix our other financial, psychological, political, and moral problems.

As important as all of these issues are - and they are - if you misdiagnose the problem, you will put a band-aid on the cut on your arm as cancer spreads through your body.

Judah's biggest problem wasn't an evil invasion from the north that some foreign superpower could solve. Judah's biggest problem and your biggest problem is the evil within, which only God can solve.

You see, education has only improved since the enlightenment and yet we've had WWI and WWII and many other wars since then. If you distribute the wealth and create economic equality, there will still be selfish, greedy people. You get the right politicians in office, you have the right policies in place, you're still left with narcissistic, womanizing, vulgar leaders. Therapy and medicine may help the mental health issues we encounter, but they can’t heal the heart, the fount from which all evil springs.

Advent confronts us, making us stop and think about why Jesus had to come, why the sign was needed.

It says your biggest problem is in here, a rebellious heart, and the only way to solve it is through Immanuel, God with us. If you don’t see sin as your biggest problem, then you will look for answers elsewhere and find yourself far from God, with band-aids on your wounds and the cancer of sin ravaging your soul to your own demise.

Second, Advent also confronts those of us who by grace are now members of the household of God.

Advent reminds us that we were once far from God, rejecting Him and His word.

We were faithless, fearful Judah misdiagnosing our biggest problems and looking to the world for answers. We were the Assyrians, proudly against God and His people. We had made an alliance with the Enemy, and were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds.

Each and every man had rejected the word of God, and so, the Word of God had to become a man.

That should humble us, and remind us that we still have rebellious tendencies, a proclivity to be conformed to the world, and therefore we need to stay in His word, to let the word of Christ dwell amongst us richly, being transformed by the renewal of our minds, and never moving on from the word.

Advent reveals rebellion. Next we see that Advent discloses darkness.

Advent discloses darkness

Isaiah 9:2 (ESV)

2 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.

[Illustration: Elephant analogy] I was sitting around a fire with some friends when I was in India last month and the conversation turned towards God - is He real, can we know him, and so on. I shared with them the story of the three blind men and the elephant. I said Three blind men were walking in the jungle and they ran into an elephant. The first man grabs the tail and says ‘oh this is a rope!’ But the next guy had run into the broad side of the elephant and said ‘No, this is a wall!’ The third guy was grabbing hold of the tusk, and he said ‘No you both are wrong. This is a warrior’s spear!’ And I said, you know this is often used to explain the differences between religions. The elephant is God or the Truth. The Christians, they have a piece of the truth, the Muslims have theirs, and the Hindus have another. It’s all one God and they each just have a part. My friends, who were Hindus, were like ‘yeah, that sounds good.’

But then I asked, what’s wrong with this story? The problem is that only the person telling it can see. Everyone else in the story is blind but the storyteller. It is really an arrogant position to take - every religion in the world is blind and can only see in part, but I see in full.

The only way we know that this thing is an elephant is if it says “Hey. I’m an elephant. I’m not a snake, or a wall, or a spear. I’m an elephant.”

And it was at this point of the story that I realized that my friends also worship Ganesh, who is an elephant god. Great. [end Illustration]

Advent exposes our blindness. It discloses our darkness. It shows us that we have all been walking in darkness, unable to see, groping in the dark, looking for answers, and in need of light.

Judah had rejected God and as a result, verse 1 says they were brought into contempt, made low, humiliated by the Assyrian army. They were in gloom and anguish because of their choices, walking in darkness and without hope.

This is humanity’s story ever since the fall.

1 John 5:19 says that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one, whose rule keeps us in the domain of darkness (Col 1:13).

Eph 6:12 says there is a present darkness in the world over which authorities, cosmic powers, and spiritual forces of evil rule.

By nature and by choice, we follow this prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2), loving the darkness rather than the light because our works are evil (John 3:19).

We are darkened in our understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in us due to our hardness of heart (Eph 4:18).

And the gloom of utter eternal darkness has been reserved for those who persist in sin, loving the dark and hating the light Jude 13

The future hope of spiritual light prophesied in Isaiah 9 is given because darkness is our reality. The evil and darkness we see out there in the world starts in hearts that are evil and dark.

Are some of you still in the darkness today, friends? Are you still rejecting God? Have you felt the gloom and anguish that results from the war that the Prince of Darkness has waged against your soul? Are your tired of being confused and disoriented from groping around in spiritual darkness trying to find your way? Do you know that you have been living a life of sin and rebellion against your Maker? And do you know that the gloom of eternal utter darkness awaits you if you persist in rejecting Him? If so, Advent has exposed you.

What are you going to do about it? There’s no use hiding. God can see you. There’s no use running. God can find you. You can’t find answers in the world - that is the blind leading the blind. The answer is not try harder. The answer is not do more good. It’s not cleaning your life up. You can’t do that on your own. What hope do you have?

Well once Advent has exposed you, Advent can also be an encouragement to you…

You have walked in darkness, and now I want you to see a great light. You have dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on now on you may His light shine:

Jesus said “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Jn 8:12

“I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” Jn 12:46

Jesus sends ordinary people out with this good news to the lost to“…open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’” Acts 26:18

When you put your faith in Jesus, God transfers you from the domain of darkness into the Kingdom of His beloved Son in whom you will have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Although the god of this world has blinded your mind, to keep you from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, if you call out to Jesus, the same God who said “Let light shine out of darkness” will shine in your heart to give you the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Advent has disclosed your darkness, would you come into the light and live?

If you do, what is the result?

Advent Guarantees Joy

Isaiah continues in verse 3. As I read, notice the language of joy.

Isaiah 9:3 (ESV)

3 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.

The prophet sees the future and communicates in what’s called the prophetic perfect, the past tense showing the surety of the prophecies - it is as good as done. With the dawning of a new day, sorrow will turn to joy, gloom to gladness, weeping to rejoicing. In this we see that Advent Guarantees our Joy.

Farmers rejoice when the crops they’ve worked so diligently on are ready. Soldiers are glad when the hard fought victory is theirs. But this joy will be greater because God is the Actor working on behalf of the undeserving. You have multiplied the nation - referring back to the Abrahamic covenant. You have increased its joy. It is his work, not ours, and as such Advent Guarantees Joy.

He goes on to give three reasons for this, each marked off by the word “for” in verses 4,5 and 6.

Isaiah 9:4 ESV

4 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.

The first reason Advent Guarantees joy is…

1. The Rod of the Oppressor Will Be Broken

Assyria may have helped with the northern alliance, but they were anything but best buds with Judah. They would impose heavy taxes on the people. They tried to take over Jerusalem in 701 BC. Eventually the Babylonians would conquer the Assyrians, and Judah, like Israel, would be led off into Exile. Things would only get worse for God’s people.

And yet, like when Gideon and his 300 soldiers were victorious over an army of 135,000 in the day of Midian, Judah’s faithful God would do the seemingly impossible and remove the rod of the oppressor, freeing His people from enslavement, bringing them joy.

The New Testament authors saw the Advent of Christ as a second Exodus, wherein he leads his people out of the oppression and enslavement to sin, and with that burden and weight broken, we experience true joy, now in part and one day in full.

Next reason is…

2. The Weapons of War Will be Destroyed

Isaiah 9:5 ESV

5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.

[illustration: Russia War] When Russia invaded Ukraine and that war began, it was shocking and my kids were really interested. They regularly wanted to know what was going on and who was winning. But now, almost 3 years later, it’s just an afterthought. War is so common to us that the largest and deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II is just old news.

When one war ends, another has already begun somewhere else - and our country just sends them lots of money and weapons. [end illustration]

The promise here which guarantees joy is that the weapons of war will all be destroyed one day. All of the bloody effects of battles will burned up. War will be old news, not because we have become de-sensitized to it, but because the life, death, resurrection, ascension and eventual return of Jesus deals with the root causes of war - sin and Satan, guaranteeing us joy.

The third reason Advent guarantees joy is…

3. The Promised King Will Be Born

Isaiah 9:6 ESV

6 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.

“I’m tired of being let down. I’m tired of leadership failing us.” That’s a common sentiment in our country, is it not? Distrust of leadership. And maybe rightly so. When you have sinful people leading sinful people, expectations won’t be met and failure will happen.

Imagine how Israel must have felt! King David was great, but he was also sinful. Solomon was wise, but he was idolatrous, and prideful, and seemed to love women more than God. After his reign the kingdom split, and king after king after king came and went in the north and the south, letting the people down.

By Isaiah’s day, the promises God had given his people throughout history of a coming deliverer must have seemed like the empty promises our politicians give us to get elected.

Where’s the offspring of the woman who will crush the head of the serpent?

Where’s the offspring of Abraham who will bring blessing to the nations?

Where’s the offspring of David who will sit enthroned forever?

To the doubting, to the weary, to the troubled, to the oppressed, to the sinful, to the let down, Isaiah’s voice rings out in the dark with prophetic confidence “To us a child is born. The promised King will be born! No doubt about it.”

The government will be upon his shoulder - He will bear the responsibility of governing and leading his people. But we’ve seen that before, Isaiah, and it hasn’t gone well!

This one will be different…

His name shall be called, this will be His identity, His character, the essence of who he is. Not just here and there, but all the time…

He is a Wonderful counselor -

Oh we are in desperate need of wonderful, wise counsel. It was through evil counsel that this world was plunged into sin as the Serpent deceived Eve. And it is through evil counsel that the Enemy continues to spread his lies, leading the world into greater darkness.

We need a wonderful counselor who will guide is in the truth, lead us on paths of righteousness, and never deceive us. Jesus is a wonderful counselor.

He is Mighty God -

While “to us a child is born” shows His humanity - He will also be “mighty God”.

Being fully man he is able to sympathize with us in our weaknesses, yet without sin. As a man, he was able to live the righteous life we were supposed to live, and as a man, he is a worthy substitute for the punishment that mankind deserves.

And yet He is also fully God, He is mighty God. Back in Isaiah 10:21 Yahweh is referred to as mighty God, and here we see that is true of this child. God has promised to rescue His people. God has promised to come and lead us. And so this child was divine, the second person of the trinity took on flesh to rescue us. And as God, His sacrifice is sufficient to make atonement for sinners who have sinned against a holy, infinite, eternal God. If Jesus is not fully God and fully man, we are lost in our sin.

He is Everlasting Father

This is not to be confused with the first person of the Trinity. Jesus’ character towards us is fatherly, he provides, he protects, and he reveals to us the Love of the father. Herman Bavinck says that “Jesus takes away our guilt and again opens the way to [God’s] fatherly heart.” And He will do that forever, for he is everlasting father.

He is Prince of Peace

Lastly, this King is the prince of peace. He is a peaceful ruler, and his rule ushers in peace. Peace, or shalom, is much more robust than our common understanding of it. We think of peace as either inner serenity, inner calm, or the absence of conflict, say between nations. Biblical peace is not less than that, but it is so much more.

It’s the idea of completeness, wholeness, being intact. Welfare and wellbeing will mark the rule and reign of this King. Our relationships with God, each other, and creation will flourish. The Theological Dictionary of the OT says, it is “a state of the world that is unconditionally positive.” This child, who is the prince of peace, will make all things right.

Because the rod of the oppressor will be broken, because the weapons of war will be destroyed, and because the promised king was born, Advent guarantees joy.

I want to narrow in on this idea of peace though, because as we have seen, it is not the current reality in our world. Jesus came, but we don’t see peace in this world. What’s up with that?

I want us to see that even if it doesn’t feel like it or seem like it now, Advent also guarantees peace.

Advent Guarantees Peace

Isaiah 9:7 (ESV)

7 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.

As I said earlier, the Advent season situates in the tension between once upon and time and happily ever after. Advent looks back to the birth of Christ, His first Advent, but it also invites us to look ahead to the return of Christ, His second Advent.

Another aspect of biblical prophecy that helps us understand the unfolding of these promises is the idea of “prophetic foreshortening.” There were these 14 and 15 thousand foot peaks that we could see every morning when we woke up in India. It looked like one row of mountains straight across the horizon. But we hiked one of them and got to the top, we were blown away by how expansive and deep the mountains really were.

The prophets speak of the coming of the Messiah as if it is one future event. But progressive revelation shows us that there are actually two Advents of Christ.

In his first coming, Jesus displayed us what peace in the flesh looks like, and he secured peace for us through His death and resurrection. Look at Isaiah 53:5

Isaiah 53:5 ESV

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

On the cross, the Prince of Peace was crushed so that we might have peace with God. Romans 5:1 “ Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Now, being restored to God, experience peace as we trust in Him: Isaiah 26:3 “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” We are also conduits of peace to the world as Peacemakers.

But, we also look ahead to the day when what was displayed and secured through Jesus’ first Advent will be fully realized on earth in His second Advent.

When he returns, His gracious government and His perfect peace will have no end, it will cover the earth, as His enemies are judged and justly punished, and his people’s flourishing will established and upheld forevermore.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. He wants to. And He will. Advent guarantees it.

Conclusion

In closing, I want to add one more song to the Advent-approved playlist. Bobby Parker brought my attention to the story behind “I heard the bells on Christmas Day” and it now has my stamp of approval.

On Christmas Day of 1863, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow sat in his Cambridge home, feeling the weight of heavy grief and turmoil. Just two years earlier, he had tragically lost his wife, Fanny, as he was unable to save her in a house fire. Now a widower with 6 children, his oldest son had snuck off to fight in the Civil War, and word had come that he was severely wounded in battle, nearly paralyzed by a bullet that just missed his spine.

That Christmas morning, Longfellow heard the church bells ringing through the air, and people singing the familiar refrain, “Peace on earth, good will to men.” In light of his own anguish and the brokenness he saw out there and felt in here, those words seemed painfully hollow. They seemed to mock the reality of his grief, his pain, and the stark absence of peace he saw all around him. Where was this ‘peace on earth?’ Where was the good will amongst men?

I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old, familiar carols play, and wild and sweet The words repeat Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth The cannon thundered in the South, And with the sound The carols drowned Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

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And in despair I bowed my head; “There is no peace on earth,” I said; For hate is strong, And mocks the song Of “peace on earth, good-will to men!”

That’s real. It’s honest. It’s not denying the darkness. And if it weren’t for Advent, he could have stopped there. But he didn’t.

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The Wrong shall fail, the Right prevail, With “peace on earth, good-will to men."

Advent guarantees it, church.