Dawning of a New Kingdom

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. 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. Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:2-7)   These may be some of the most familiar and beloved Advent verses from Isaiah.  But before they had meaning connected with a coming Messiah, they had a message for the moment into which they were spoken. We heard yesterday about Ahaz and the sign that was given to him of a baby, Immanuel, that would be born as evidence of the Lord's redemption from the threat of Aram and Israel.  However, one verse further on from yesterday's text tells that Assyria would swiftly replace Aram and Israel as the rod of Judah's oppression.  And so we find Ahaz to be a failed and unfaithful king: his reign characterized by an ever-growing darkness in terms both of the socio-political reality and his neglect and outright assault on the worship of the Lord in the land.  You can find that story in 2 Kings 16. The promise of this text from Isaiah 9 is a ray of light that shines out in this gathering darkness.  It is a promise of peace.  A promise of a child to be born.  In context, it may mean simply Ahaz's son, Hezekiah.  A king in the line of David of whom it was said that "no one [was] like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him" (2 Kings 18:5). And yet, we know that after Hezekiah, Judah would eventually be swallowed by war and exile to Babylon.  The book of Isaiah goes on to tell us all this.  The darkness falls again.  So in the larger context of Isaiah—this prophecy also rings out in a broader sense.  Into the darkness of exile, a great light will dawn.  The people will return to their land under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah—and so this prophecy would be fulfilled again. But of course, even after the return from exile, darkness remained.  The full promise of the dawning light of the everlasting kingdom of the Prince of Peace had not yet come.  And so faithful Jews began to see in the words of this prophecy something more: the promise of a Messiah—the promise of peace from war, freedom from oppression, and of an everlasting Kingdom established by God himself where all would be set right and all made new. As Christians, we see the birth of Jesus as the dawning of just this kingdom of light.  For to us, this child has been born.  And yet the darkness is not yet fully driven out of our days either, is it?  And so, together with all those who have gone before us, we continue to wait in longing for that day when Jesus comes again and this prophecy is fulfilled fully and finally.