Noël

Reading through Isaiah chapter 8 is a journey into depression. Isreal and Aram have turned against Judah. The king of Judah, rather than trusting God, is planning to pay Assyria to attack Isreal and Aram. God, by way of the prophet Isaiah, warns the king against this plan and even offers to give him a sign to prove His power. However, the king of Judah rejects God and decides to instead rely on Assyria and their idols.

Therefore God tells the king what the consequences of his choice are going to be. Assyria will indeed demolish Isreal and Aram- and then it will proceed to destroy Judah as well. Because Judah has feared foreign peoples and their idols more than they feared their own God, refusing even to acknowledge Him, YHWH will hide His face from them. We know because of history that this "hiding" lasted 300 years, long after the eventual deportation of both Isreal and Judah.
But in all this they will refuse to repent. As they wander the land, thirsty and hungry, they will curse their God and their king. They will look around them and see "distress and darkness, gloom and anguish."

Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, a light will burst into this cloud of darkness in the most unlikely place: Galilee, a part of Israel that has been corrupted by intermarriage with gentiles. This light will cause the struggling nation to multiply and give them joy. They will break free from hundreds of years of bondage against all odds, just as Gidean and his poorly-armed rag-tag crew defeated thousands of Midianites.

How is all this possible? A new king will rise, a new descendant of the great king David. He will restore the government of honor and wisdom that has been lacking for hundreds, even thousands of years in Israel. He will be a wise counselor and a prince of peace, the ultimate ruler of the tribe of Judah. Even more amazing, his reign will be eternal and he will be called "Mighty God." His kingdom will be established in righteousness and justice and it will be upheld with the same. "The zeal of YHWH of hosts will accomplish this."

Wow! Talk about deliverance! Though Isreal didn't deserve Him, God sent a Messiah. Then God opened His kingdom to those who weren't even looking for it. Simply incredible.