The Hope Of Christmas Series

At the elementary school where Becky Barnes teaches in Arizona, they had a problem with students throwing rocks. The principal made an announcement over the intercom warning students that anyone caught throwing rocks would be taken home by him personally. Later that day, during afternoon recess, a teacher admonished a kindergartner for throwing a rock.

“Didn't you hear what the principal said this morning?!” the teacher said in disbelief.

“Yeah,” replied the lad, grinning from ear to ear. “I get to go home in the principal's car!” (Becky S. Barnes, Arizona, “Small Talk,” Today's Christian Woman; www.PreachingToday. com)

That little boy was in trouble, but he still found something to be excited about. He found hope, and that’s what Christmas and the coming of Christ is all about. It’s about finding hope in the midst of your troubles.For Jesus, our hope, came to this earth in the midst of troubling times just as it was predicted by the Old Testament prophets.

If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Isaiah 7, Isaiah 7, where God through the prophet speaks to a group of people in desperate need of hope.

Isaiah 7:1-2 In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind (ESV).

Two nations have come from the north to conquer Jerusalem, and they have surrounded the city. 2 Chronicles 28 describes the horrors of that siege: 120,000 men of Judah were slain in one day, including King Ahaz’ own son and other important leaders. 200,000 men, women and children were taken away captive, and the land was stripped of its wealth. The people of Judah were terrorized 700 years before Christ when Israel and Syria formed an alliance and attacked them.

And that’s the state of many people today in the early part of the 21st Century. Vladimir Putin seeks to expand his empire. Iran and North Korea are flexing their muscles again. And China is an ever-growing threat. Add to that the concern many people have about their own finances, their own health, and their own families in such a world, and no wonder people feel uneasy today.

Charlie Brown expressed it well when he said, “I have a new philosophy. I’m only going to dread one day at a time” (James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, p.107). I don’t know about you, but I’m tempted to feel like that at times.

So what do you do about it? How do you overcome the fear and terror you may feel these days? Just listen to what God has to say.

Isaiah 7:3-4 And the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah (ESV).

God says don’t be afraid of your enemies, because they are but “smoldering stumps of firebrands.” In other words, they are like a couple of short sticks left over after a campfire. Oh, there might be a little smoke yet, but the fire is gone and soon they’ll be forgotten. The fact is, the two men leading the attack against Jerusalem died just a couple of years after this.

So what does God say to those feeling terrorized today? He says, “Don’t be afraid of your enemies, because they’re nothing. They’re here today and gone tomorrow.” Do you remember when the whole world was terrorized by the Krushchev, Brezhnev, and the Old Soviet Union? Do you remember when the whole world was terrorized by Saddam Hussein? Do you remember when the whole world was terrorized by Osama Ben Laden? What happened to all these men? They’re dead and gone! So don’t be afraid of your enemies, because they’re nothing; and their plans are nothing.

Isaiah 7:5-7 Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” thus says the Lord GOD: “ ‘It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass (ESV).