12/3/23 “Hope Foretold”

“Hope Foretold”

Isaiah 9:1-7

How many of you remember taking pictures with cameras that would use a roll of film?....there were formats like the 110, or the 220,…then there was that really large cartridge – I think it was the 126…it sort of looked like a toy pontoon boat.

Do you Remember taking your roll of film into the neighborhood development center (For us it was usually Walgreens) and then a couple of days later you would go back and pick up the pictures….

I would always be very excited to see what my pictures looked like – usually I would open the tall envelope and leaf through my photos right there in the parking lot…If you were like me, you wanted to see those photos NOW! 😊

Back in the day, we had to be very careful to make sure we had a  good shot lined up before we clicked the shutter button on the camera….Every click was another 10 or 20 cents, right?

Cameras that utilized this kind of film were popular for the majority of the 20th century until around the late 90’s and early 2000’s when digital cameras completely revolutionized the landscape of photography.

Today, we can snap as many pictures as we want on our phones or digital cameras and simply delete them if they don’t turn out.

Gone are the days of having to settle for a blurry family picture, or a nice nature shot that also included half of your index finger….I’ve been there!

As a young child, I was always fascinated by the “Dark Room.”

I envisioned this mysterious underground lair where some hobbit-like man spent his entire life converting tiny negatives to full color photos…  

It was there in the dark room where those small negative images on a roll of film would magically transform into large, full-color photographs….

Another way to put it would be that these images went from shadowy to clear, or from mysterious to understandable.

(Show picture of negative vs color photo)

Here’s a good example of what a negative image looks like compared to its corresponding full-color photograph.

So, this morning as we look at this prophetic passage of scripture from Isaiah, we notice some similarities to that of old-school film processing.

Like a roll of negatives, Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah provided a glimpse of what was to come in the future, but only through the passage of time would these shadowy words shrouded in a bit of mystery materialize into clearly understood events.

Such is the case here in Isaiah.

This entire passage in chapter 9 points to the coming of the long-awaited Messiah. To the Jewish people of the day, these prophetic verses would have been viewed like separate images on a roll of film ….they would each provide a shadowy glimpse of a future reality concerning the Messiah.

It would only be after Jesus’ birth that these prophetic “negatives” would reveal clear, unmistakable truths concerning the savior.

Before we examine our passage for today in more detail, I’d like to remind all of us of the significance of this particular Sunday.

As many of you know, today marks the first Sunday of what Christians have traditionally called Advent.

The season of Advent always begins on the 4th Sunday before Christmas and goes through December 24th….Christmas Eve.

Advent is simply a word that means “Arrival” and, here in the church, we use the term to celebrate the already-accomplished arrival of Jesus as a baby born to the virgin Mary 2,000 years ago.

…Also, we use the term “Advent” to describe the current period of hopeful expectancy as we patiently wait for the second coming of Jesus….or to put it another way, the second “Advent” of Christ.

The denomination to which this church belongs has traditionally placed a great deal of emphasis upon the return of Christ – hence the reason for the word “Advent” in the name of our church – LaValle Advent Christian Church.

The Advent season is a time when Christians from all over the world begin to focus their attention solely upon Jesus’ two promised arrivals to earth from Heaven – one that has already occurred, and one that has yet to happen.

In front of the podium this morning, you’ll notice an Advent wreath.

The Advent wreath contains 4 candles representing the four Sundays before Christmas Day as well as a fifth candle, called the “Christ Candle.”

The Christ candle is always white and is typically lit on Christmas eve or sometimes on Christmas day…

The other four weekly candles each signify a different attribute of the Christian faith with the first Sunday being Hope, the second Sunday being peace, the third Sunday being joy, and the fourth Sunday being love.

You may notice that one of the weekly candles is a different color than the others. The lighter, rose-colored candle, symbolizes joy….it traditionally is lit on the 3rd week of Advent.

Today, the first Sunday of Advent, is referred to as the Sunday of Hope….and hope is precisely what we find in our passage from the book of Isaiah this morning.

Isaiah was a prophet who lived in a dark period of history for the Jewish people. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had been captured by the Assyrians in 722 BC when Isaiah would have been around 18 years old.

Much of Isaiah’s prophecies were warnings from God to the Southern kingdom of Judah regarding their impending destruction if they did not turn and repent of their disobedience to God.

Well, if you know your Jewish history, Judah never did repent of their sinful disobedience, and they eventually fell captive to the Babylonian empire in 597 BC

Going back to our photography illustration, Isaiah’s prophesies were like rolls of film in a dark room. Much of his prophecy dealt with God’s coming wrath during a dark time in Israel’s history.

Not all of Isaiah’s prophecies, however, consisted of doom, gloom, and destruction.

God also gave Isaiah some of the most hopeful prophecies to ever be delivered to mankind – these prophecies concerned the eventual coming of the Messiah who would be a savior to all mankind….one such prophecy is included in our passage for today from Isaiah chapter Nine.

First of all, if you notice in verse 1 (Isaiah 9:1) Isaiah references two of Jacob’s sons – Zebulun and Naphtali.

The tribe of Zebulun was known for their ability to construct and sail ships on the sea, while the tribe of Naphtali were known as great warriors.

Both of these tribes had originally settled in the Northern region of Israel and experienced the Assyrian captivity in 722 BC

Isaiah goes on to tell his listeners, however, that a great hope will eventually come to this area originally belonging to the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali.

The place where these two tribes settled just happened to be around the Sea of Galilee.

When you think of the Sea of Galilee, whose ministry do you think of?....Jesus.

Isaiah is telling his readers that from this area the Messiah will arise and will wipe away the gloom and darkness currently being experienced by the Israelites.

Verse 2 (Isaiah 9:2) is one of the most hopeful and inspiring verses in the Bible as it references hope in a political sense, but more importantly, it speaks of hope in a spiritual sense.

Isaiah is telling his listeners that someday out of the Northern region of Israel, spiritual hope will rise up and will resemble a ray of light piercing the darkness of man’s sinful & hopeless condition.

In fact, in his gospel, Matthew cites this passage as he applies it directly to the inauguration of Jesus’ earthly ministry.

Here’s what Matthew says: “Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali – to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: ‘Land of Zebulun and land of Nephtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles – the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.’ From that time on, Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.’” (Matthew 4:13-17)

Jesus indeed was, and continues to be, the great light of hope for all mankind.

It is only through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we may be saved from our sins and, subsequently, be granted the privilege of living forever in the presence of God.

Verses 3 through 5 (Isaiah 9:3-5) of todays passage describe some of the tangible results of the Messiah’s arrival and ministry.

Like vibrant, colorful photographs arising from dark negatives, there will be great joy and deliverance associated with the coming of the Messiah.

No longer will people be muddled in the quicksand of fear and confusion.

No longer will sin and death have victory over God’s children.

Man now has a savior – one who’s light will pierce the darkness of Satan’s earthly dominion.

Many of you have John 8:12 memorized (If you don’t, you might want to memorize it) “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”

That light still shines in our world today, and God chooses us (His children) to reflect the light of Christ to a world filled with darkness – a broken, decaying world built on greed, pride, and disobedience.

We are told to be light to the world in Matthew 5:14-16 when Jesus says “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven.”

When the world looks at us, they should see light…they should see joy…they should see hope.

Ask yourselves today, when the world looks at you, does it see these things?

….or does it see just another dark heart filled with anger, pride, and selfishness?

Brothers and sisters, make sure that your lamp is not hidden under a bowl – all too often, we keep the light of Jesus to ourselves, and we don’t shine it on others.

Like the old Sunday School song says – let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Finally, verses 6 and 7 of today’s reading (Isaiah 9:6-7) are two of the most popular and comforting passages of prophecy about Jesus in the entire Bible.

If we look closely at these two verses, we see five attributes concerning the messiah that, to people in Isaiah’s day (750 years before Jesus walked the earth) would have been like 5 individual negative slides on a roll of film.

However, to us (Living 2,000 years after Jesus walked the earth) these descriptions of the Messiah are like rich, full-color photographs that leave us in awe as we stare at them.

The first photograph is found in the first 7 words of verse 6 (Isaiah 9:6) “For to us a child is born”

To the Israelites in Isaiah’s time, this ‘film image’ would have informed them that the Messiah will be coming as a child – that he will be born into a Jewish family.

To us living on the other side of the cross, the full-color image is one of the virgin Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus in a lowly stable surrounded by animals and a few shepherds…

The second photograph is also in verse 6 (Isaiah 9:6) and tells us that “The government will be on His shoulders”

This phrase is telling us that Messiah will rule over God’s people.

The OT negative film image would have conjured up the image of the Messiah ruling over the nation of Israel from a political position of power…that actually WILL happen, but it happens at the second Advent of Christ

From our perspective, the full color photo of these words clearly shows the Kingdom of God as a never-ending spiritual kingdom – but one that will eventually incorporate an earthly, political dimension during the thousand-year millennium.

Luke 1:32-33 reminds us of this truth concerning Mary’s child when it says : “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end.”

The third photograph describing another attribute of the Messiah comes from the second half of verse 6 (Isaiah 9:6)

 The messiah will have 4 descriptive names that will reveal his character.

1)     Wonderful Counselor

2)     Mighty God

3)     Everlasting Father

4)     Prince of Peace

What powerful, beautiful, and inspiring words are used here to describe our savior, Jesus Christ.

This is the pivotal portion of our passage for today where we see, in no uncertain terms, that Isaiah is referring to the Messiah as God!

This would have even been clearly seen on the old film negative - as well as its corresponding full-color photograph….

Isaiah even introduces a Trinitarian truth in these descriptions as he is inspired to call the Messiah the Everlasting Father. We, of course, know Jesus as the Son – not the Father – but what Isaiah is doing is demonstrating the fact that the Messiah will share the same essence as the Father, so in effect, the two are one.

Jesus states the same thing in John 10:30 when he says “I and the Father are one.”

The fourth photograph comes from verse 7 (Isaiah 9:7) when it says that the Messiah will reign on David’s throne.

This concept of reigning on David’s throne would have been very meaningful to the people in Isaiah’s time because it would have reminded them of the covenant that God made with David concerning one of his descendants – a descendent who will inherit an everlasting kingdom.

This is known as the Davidic Covenant, and it’s found in 2 Samuel chapter 7 where it says: “When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son….” (2 Samuel 7:12-14)

Because of this verse, Jews in Isaiah’s day would be able to visualize a supernatural identity incorporated within the coming Messiah.

Today, we of course know the name of this supernatural ruler – His name is Jesus…and it is He who we serve now while in our earthly bodies - and it is he who we will serve forever in our heavenly bodies.

Our final photograph is found in the closing phrase of verse 7 (Isaiah 9:7)

The text talks about “The zeal of the Lord Almighty.”

This word picture speaks to the faithfulness of God.

Whatever God promises, we know with 100% accuracy that it will come to fruition….including everything having to do with the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Because God is sovereign and omnipotent, He is ALWAYS faithful to His promises.

After the second Advent of Christ (His second coming) God the Father will ensure that God the Son will rule the kingdom – first here on earth during the millennium, then finally in the eternal heavenly state forever.

The gap of time between the two “Advents” of Christ would have been difficult to see in the “film negative” of Isaiah’s day, but today we clearly see in full color how God’s perfect plan is coming to fruition.

In conclusion, this passage from Isaiah not only provided hope of a bright future in the “dark-room” of Isaiah’s day, but it also provides an immense amount of hope for us today as well.

As we gaze at the crystal-clear portraits displaying how God has worked through the centuries to redeem his people, we marvel at His love and compassion for His creation.

We marvel at the Father’s plan of salvation that involved the Son taking on human flesh and humbly living among us….his birth in a lowly stable perfectly exemplified his life of servitude and sacrifice.

We marvel at the love of Jesus as He lived a self-less and sinless life in order to redeem all who would call upon His name to seek forgiveness from their sins.

We marvel at the gift of the Holy Spirit who indwells the believer and provides supernatural wisdom, peace, and comfort.

Folks, we serve a God whose love for us is beyond our capacity to understand….the least we can do in return is live a life that displays our gratitude to Him – and reflects His eternal love to those around us.

Let’s Pray.