We all have our favorite movies
that we have watched so many times that there are no surprises left. We know
all the characters, all the plot twists and subtle details that make the movie
so great. Because such movies are our favorites, we want to keep watching them,
but because we know them so well, some of the excitement we used to feel about
them has faded. Then, along comes one of those “documentaries” about how our
favorite movies were made. They reveal the behind the scenes details about the
movie and we fall in love with it all over again because now we know the
background of the movie as well as the movie itself.
For those of us who grew up in a
Christian environment, Christmas can sometimes feel like one of our favorite
movies. We love the story of Mary and Joseph, the baby in a manger, the angels
singing, the shepherds watching their fields at night, and the wise men
following the star. We have read the story. We have watched it on television specials.
We have heard countless Sunday School lessons and sermons about it. We have
sung in, and watched our children sing in, so many Christmas pageants that they
all begin to run together after a while. We have lit candles representing
various aspects of the story and reflected on the story so often that sometimes
it begins to lose the wonder it once had in our souls. But what if we could
take a look behind the scenes? What if we looked at how the stage was set for
some of the parts of the story long before the actual events took place?
The prophet Isaiah does exactly
that in several passages of scripture. One of them is Isaiah 9:1-7.
Nevertheless, the gloom of the distressed land will not be like that of the former times when He humbled the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali. But in the future He will bring honor to the Way of the Sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of darkness, a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people have rejoiced before You as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils. For You have shattered their burdensome yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as You did on the day of Midian. For the trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire. For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.
Though the first section of this
passage may not sound very Christmas-like, most of us are familiar with the
last two verses, which we often hear in Christmas services during the Advent
season. Let’s take a look at the whole passage and see if it shows us a behind
the scenes look at one aspect of the Christmas story.
Verse
1 - Nevertheless, the gloom of the distressed land will not be like that of the
former times . . .
•
The
focus of this entire passage is the birth of the Prince of PEACE, but it begins
by talking about gloom. Wow, what a way to start a Christmas scripture! But let’s
be realistic, many of us desire to experience peace, both with God and with
those around us, but we are so focused on the gloom in our lives that peace
often eludes us.
•
When
this scripture was written, the nation of Israel was at war, their economy was
strained, their taxes were high and they had unpopular leaders. They were an
entire nation of distressed people.
•
Many
people in our nation today are distressed for the very same reasons. We seem to
always have a war to fight somewhere in the world. Extremists in the Middle
East are beheading our citizens at will and foreign governments hack into our
companies’ computers and we seem powerless to stop them. Our leaders have very
low approval ratings, regardless of which political party they are in. On a
national level, it seems that our culture is more pessimistic and skeptical
than ever before. There sure seems to be a spirit of gloom in our nation.
•
But
it is not just on a macro level that we sense a spirit of gloom. Many of us
feel it on a personal level as well. Some things that take away our sense of
personal peace include: Past failures in marriage, jobs, education,
friendships, or life goals. Unresolved grief from the loss of someone or
something that was important to us. A sense of isolation and loneliness even
though we are surrounded by people. The contrast we see between our lives and
the lives of those around us who seem to have it all though we struggle to have
even a small portion of it. Sometimes we cannot even put words to why we feel
down about our lives, it is more of a general fear of the future and what might
happen in our lives. Though we know that during this special time of the year
we should be filled with joy, happiness and peace, instead we are sometimes
overwhelmed with gloom, anxiety and distress. So it makes sense that Isaiah
would begin our behind the scenes Christmas tour by talking about the gloom and
distress we often feel on both national and personal levels. Thankfully, Isaiah
does not end the tour there. Look at the rest of verse one.
Verse
1 - . . . But in the future He will
bring honor to the Way of the Sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to
Galilee of the nations.
•
Notice
the verse moves our focus from the gloom the Israelites were currently facing
to the honor they would have in the future. Isaiah did not want the Israelites
to obsess on their current struggles, but to look to a future that God was
creating for them.
•
It
is important to remember that the struggles and problems we are facing in our
own lives right now will eventually pass. Just because it seems like we have
always struggled does not mean that it always has to be that way. God can and does
change people and situations. We must learn to focus on the future instead of
being trapped in the past where we relive our struggles over and over again. But
to finding lasting peace, we must focus on the RIGHT future, the future that
God is creating. Let’s look at the scripture again.
•
“Galilee
of the nations” refers to a part of Israel which centuries later Jesus would
spend a lot of time in. At the time this scripture was written, few would have
guessed the great importance Galilee would have in the life of Jesus, the baby
born in the manger. The Hebrew word for “nations” is “goyim” and refers to all
the non-Jews who would one day believe in Jesus. When this scripture was
written, it would have been hard for the people reading it to realize just how
much Jesus would be a part of the lives of non-Jews in the future. It was just
now how people thought at the time. But calling vast numbers of non-Jews to
follow the Jewish Messiah who was born on Christmas was God’s plan all along.
The future was very exciting, but so far out of the way the ancient Israelites
viewed the world, that it was hard for them to grasp. In fact, many of them
missed it when Christmas finally came. Sadly, many of them still miss it today.
Many Jews today still do not recognize the baby born in the manger on Christmas
was their long awaited Messiah who could change their lives.
•
The
reason some people are unable to move forward toward the future God wants them
to have is because they continue to focus on their own plan for the future.
This only leads to further anxiety and gloom. We have all experienced times in
our lives when our carefully made plans fell apart. In those moments we have to
decide if we will persist in our own fruitless plans or look for a new way to
live by following God’s plan for our lives. A positive future is focused on
God’s plan for our lives. That is the pathway to honor and it shines light into
the gloom of life. Let’s look at verse two.
Verse
2 - The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in
the land of darkness, a light has dawned.
•
All
of us have walked in darkness at some point in our lives. Some of us are still
stumbling around in the dark trying to figure life out. But we do not have to
live our entire lives in a fog of confusion and darkness. Having a vibrant
relationship with Jesus is the key to getting out of a life of stumbling in the
darkness.
•
Too
many of us are trying to have a relationship with God in general terms, but the
only way to relate to God the Father is through Jesus Christ, His Son. To find
real peace in our lives we must first accept Jesus as not only our Savior, but
our Lord (boss, ruler, or controller). Then we must focus on building a strong
relationship with Him.
•
As
we strengthen our relationship with Jesus, we learn to let go of the past and
are able to focus on the future that He wants us to have. His light slowly
penetrates our darkness, helping us find new strength to put our future in His
hands instead of trying to control the future ourselves. This is hard, but
vital to discovering real peace. Do we really believe God has enough power for
us to trust Him with our future?
Verses
3-4 - You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people have
rejoiced before You . . . For You have shattered their burdensome yoke
•
The
first part of this passage reminds us that God had enlarged the nation. Remember,
this was written in a time of war, a war which was not going well, yet God had
enlarged the nation anyway.
•
God
has a way of enlarging our lives even in the midst of difficulty and trials. We
have to decide if we are going to learn from the times of difficulty or be beat
down by them.
•
The
next part of the passages says that God shattered the yoke the enemies of God’s
people had put on them. Likewise, God has the power to shatter the things that
hold us back from finding peace. The very things that seem to be holding us
back can become stepping stones instead of stumbling blocks once God gets
involved. When that happens, we find lasting peace in the midst of challenging
life circumstances.
•
But
for this to happen, we must live blessable lives. Though none of us are
perfect, we must always strive for godliness because God seldom blesses us if
we are living unblessable lives. Our efforts to live godly lives are
intricately wrapped up in our understanding of and relationship with Jesus
Christ, the baby born in the manger. Who was this baby?
Verse
6 - For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the
government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
•
Over
700 years before the birth of Christ, He was already the PRINCE OF PEACE. Just
the promise of this little child was enough to shift the focus of a whole
nation from dwelling on a terrible war onto a expecting a bright future.
•
The
government is on His shoulders. Praise God the government is in God’s hands and
we do not have to figure all the politics out in order to find lasting peace!
•
He
is a wonderful counselor. Praise God we do not have to sort out all our
personal problems in order to find lasting peace!
•
He
is the Mighty God. Jesus is not just a man, but God in human flesh. That means
He has all the power He needs to set things right in our lives and our nation.
He can do this!
•
He
is the Eternal One, so His promises will last forever, He will not desert us!
•
Because
of all these things, Jesus really is the Prince of Peace. He can calm all the
raging emotions and confusing anxieties in our lives.
•
But
in order to have lasting peace, we must let Him be the Prince of Peace in our
lives instead of fighting against His rule and reign in our lives. Have we
really opened up our hearts and minds to let Him rule us and give us lasting
peace? Sometimes it seems that we can do this for a period of time, but then
our peace begins to fade. Our own passion, our own excitement, our own zeal,
will often fail us. We need to find a source of zeal outside of ourselves.
Verse
7 - . . . The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.
•
Isaiah
knows that our own zeal will fail us. Which is why he reminds us that all these
things the baby in the manger would accomplish would not be done by a man’s
power or by a denomination’s declaration or by a theological statement written
in some book of prayer. It would be accomplished by God Himself and He would do
it with His own zeal!
•
Zeal
means passion and power. Jesus has zeal for us. Will we let His zeal carry us
out of gloom and darkness and into His glorious light? Will we let His zeal
inspire us, carry us, challenge us, consume us, until it bubbles out of us and
overflows into those around us? When this happens, we will find lasting
Christmas peace, not just at Christmas, but all year long.
As
we draw all of these ideas to a conclusion, we are reminded that the steps to finding
lasting Christmas peace include:
1.
Accepting
Jesus as both our Savior from sin and the Lord of our lives.
2.
Allowing
His light to penetrate our darkness so we will be able to let go of the past
and focus on the future God wants for us.
3.
Doing
our best to live a life that is blessable, but resting in His grace when we
fail to do so.
4.
Having
the zeal of God in our lives, which is far greater than our own passion or
excitement.
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