This week I ran across a popular on-line Christmas card that probably summarizes the feelings of many people about the stress of the Christmas season. It read:
Oh my gosh it’s almost here
Santa and his Christmas cheer
I still have so much to do
Already I’m becoming unglued
Scurrying about like a frightened mouse
I haven’t even made my gingerbread house
Christmas tree and popcorn to string
Who’s going to do all these things
My bank account looks mighty sick
And my Christmas list is so darn thick
The blue light specials help a bit
At least the Christmas tree will be lit
Sure jolly old Santa he can laugh
At all the bills we amass
As if I didn’t have enough to do
I have to bake a cookie for him too
Merry Christmas!
Unfortunately, even of us who focus on the incarnation of Jesus during this time of year, can get caught up in the stress that is created by the worldly expectations of the season. So we tend to eat too much and spend too much and then we have to live with the consequences for quite some time, which creates even more stress in our lives.
But, as we would expect, we find an antidote to that self-induced stress in the Bible. So we’ll turn to the book of Isaiah one last time this morning and once again see how the words of the prophet Isaiah provide us with hope and joy as we focus on the incarnation of Jesus. We’ll be reading the first seven verses in chapter 9:
1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
2 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
4 For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Isaiah 9:1-7 (ESV)
This passage is part of the same section of Isaiah that we examined last week in chapter 7. Much of the historical background for this section is provided in 2 Kings 16-19. Ahaz and the people of Judah are faced with the threat of attack from Syria and Israel. But even though God had promised to protect Judah if they would seek out his help, Ahaz decides instead to make an alliance with the Assyrians. The Assyrians do indeed crush the alliance between Syria and Israel, just as Ahaz had paid them to do. But then they just kept on coming south right into Judah and threatened Jerusalem. It was certainly a stressful time for the people of Judah and so chapter 8 of Isaiah ends with this description:
And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.
Isaiah 8:22 (ESV)
But God, through the prophet Isaiah, wants to give his people hope in the midst of what looks like a hopeless situation. So chapter 9 begins with a promise of a time when there will be no more anguish. Even though the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, which are in the northern kingdom of Israel, had been overtake by the Assyrians, there would be a time in the latter days when God would reverse that situation. And then, beginning in verse 2, Isaiah describes the process by which that is going to occur.
Multiple Fulfillments of Prophecy
The key to understanding that prophecy, as well as many others in the Old Testament, is to recognize that there are multiple fulfillments of this prophecy. We saw that last week with the prophecy of the virgin birth in Isaiah 7:14, which had both an immediate fulfillment in Ahaz’s day as well as a future and final fulfillment with the virgin birth of Jesus. Hopefully you’ll remember that we also saw that same pattern in the book of Joel where from Joel’s perspective he could look back to an actual locust invasion while at the same time looking forward to a near-term army invasion that would have many similarities to that locust invasion, and also looking forward to the “Day of the Lord” which would be the culmination and final fulfillment of his prophecy.
The same thing is occurring here in chapter 9. But in this case, I think there is a Scriptural basis to see that this prophecy is actually fulfilled in three stages:
1. The near-term fulfillment
Just as we saw in chapter 7 last week, when Isaiah spoke these words, he understood that they had immediate meaning for Ahaz and the people of Judah. In fact, it is unlikely that Isaiah had any notion of the future fulfillment of the prophecy, which was not to occur for hundreds, and even thousands of years.
Just as we found last week, it is difficult from our perspective looking back to know exactly what form the near-term fulfillment took, but it is interesting that many Jewish rabbis connect this passage with the reign of Hezekiah in Judah. Although Ahaz was a wicked king who had forsaken God, his son, Hezekiah, turned back to God:
In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.
2 Kings 18:1-3 (ESV)
The words in the first part of verse 6 - For to us a child is born, to us a son is given – could certainly be understood to be a reference to Ahaz’s son, Hezekiah, ascending to the throne.
And in 2 Kings 19, we find the account of how Hezekiah turns to God in the face of the Assyrian invasion rather than try to make a deal with the Assyrians. As a result, God miraculously saves Judah and Jerusalem from the Assyrian attack.
But obviously, this can’t be the final fulfillment of the prophecy. Even though it is certainly possible, based on what we know from historical records, that the people could have referred to Hezekiah with names like Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, or Prince of Peace, it is quite obvious that his reign did come to an end.
We also know that Judah’s reprieve was only temporary because a little over a hundred years later, the new world power, the Babylonians come in and attack Jerusalem and take the people into captivity.
2. The incarnation of Jesus
The next fulfillment of this prophecy occurs with the birth of Jesus, over 700 years later. Again we turn to the first part of verse 6:
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given
This is a great example of Hebrew poetry. In English, one of the characteristics of much, but not all poetry, is that we rhyme words, just like the poem that I read at the beginning of the message.. But Hebrew poetry, on the other hand, tends to rhyme thoughts. So we often find passages like this one where two phrases that apply to the same subject are coupled together. And, as is often the case in Hebrew poetry, those two phrases provide us with two different looks at the Messiah, Jesus.
• His humanity
The phrase “a child is born” clearly points to the humanity of Jesus. As we saw last week, even though no man was involved in His conception in order to prevent passing down the corrupted blood of Adam, Jesus was indeed born of a woman and was fully human. In their accounts of His birth, both Luke and Matthew use the words “born” and “birth” frequently in those narratives to emphasize the humanity of Jesus.
• His deity
The second phrase – “a son is given” - reveals that the Messiah, Jesus, is the Son of God and that He existed even before His physical birth. This is confirmed both by the prophet Micah and by Jesus Himself:
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
Micah 5:2 (ESV)
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
John 8:58 (ESV)
Although Isaiah probably couldn’t see it from his perspective over 700 years earlier, only the birth of Jesus, who was fully human and fully God could completely fulfill the first part of verse 6. But as we look at the end of that verse as well as verse 7, it becomes quite obvious that the rest of that prophecy was not fulfilled by Jesus at His incarnation, or not even by His earthly ministry for the thirty years or so that He lived on this earth. We certainly don’t have a world in which Jesus rules with justice and righteousness and where we experience peace. That part of the prophecy is yet to be fulfilled at…
3. The second coming of Jesus
This aspect of the prophetical fulfillment is described in the last part of verse 6 and continues in verse 7. This description is completely consistent with what we have learned so far in our journey through the Old Testament prophets. Joel, Amos, Obadiah and Isaiah have all described a time when Jesus will return to this earth and reign with righteousness and justice.
That rule will commence at the beginning of the millennial reign of Jesus and continue into the eternal state of the new heaven and the new earth. The reign of Jesus, once it is established here on this earth, will never end.
I’ve provided you with a drawing that will hopefully help us to reinforce this concept of multiple fulfillments of the prophecy here in Isaiah 9:
[Diagram]
You may remember that we used a similar drawing in our study of Joel where we compared this process to being at the base of the Catalina Mountains. Driving up Oracle Road near Pusch Ridge, all we might be able to see is Pusch Ridge itself, even though the Catalina Mountains and Mt. Lemmon tower over it. It is only as we get further back and get a wider perspective that we can see Pusch Ridge, the higher ridges behind it and Mt. Lemmon at the top.
For Isaiah, he could only see that nearby ridge – the near-term fulfillment that applied to the people of his day. But now from our perspective between the last two peaks, we can clearly see both the incarnation in the past and the second coming of Jesus in the future. But interestingly enough, the hardest aspect of the prophecy for us to understand from our perspective is that which Isaiah could see most clearly.
Once again, this is some really interesting and important information. In fact there are many aspects of this passage that we haven’t had the chance to address at all. But rather than spend the rest of our time together doing that we need to pause and ask ourselves the question we should be asking every time we dig into the Bible: How should this impact the way that I live my life?
So I’m going to make this really practical and relevant for us this morning and see what we can learn from this passage that will show us…
HOW TO BEAT THE HOLIDAY STRESS
Just for the fun of it this week, I Googled “How to manage holiday stress”. And then I looked at a few of the approximately 551,000 hits that came up. Among the results, I found articles with titles like these:
• Holiday Survival Guide: Manage Stress and Simplify Your Holiday Season
• Holiday Stress Hotspots - Manage Holiday Stress with Knowledge
• Plan Ahead to Manage Holiday Stress
• 12 Ways to Manage Anxiety: Holiday Stress Tips
• 6 Ways to Manage Anxiety: Holiday Stress Tips
• 5 Ways to Manage Holiday Stress
• How to Manage Holiday Stress With Ease
I don’t know about you, but if I read just those seven articles and tried to apply even a fraction of what I found there, I’d be even more stressed out.
But this passage from Isaiah, in just a few verses provides us with the key to dealing with our stress – not just during the holidays – but all year long. I can’t imagine being under much more stress than Judah was when God, through Isaiah gave these words to His people. They were facing enemies all around them. Even their own brothers in Israel had become their enemies. But in the midst of all of those stressful circumstances, in the midst of all that hopelessness, God brings them a word of hope and joy.
And so we don’t stress out over applying these principles, let me leave you with three simple applications that we can make this morning.
1. Realize that no matter how dark things are, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
For the people of Judah, this was a dark moment indeed as they faced the enemies from without. Over 700 years later, things weren’t any better for God’s people as they faced persecution from the Roman government. And even today, we live in a world that is becoming increasingly hostile to God’s people.
But in all three instances, God sent light into the midst of the darkness. In Isaiah’s day, it was a king who would submit to God so that God could miraculously deliver them from their enemies. At the end of the first century BC, it was the birth of the Messiah who was fully human and fully God who would save the people from the bondage which really mattered – their bondage to sin. And sometime in the future – we don’t know exactly when – Jesus will return again and establish His permanent, righteous, and just rule.
And it is that proven track record of God that allows us to be confident that no matter how dark things may appear right now, there is a God who loves us and who will be faithful to enter into our lives with the light that will enable us to persevere no matter how overwhelming that darkness might seem. That is exactly what Jesus told His followers when He spoke these familiar words:
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
John 16:33 (ESV)
I know that for many of you the holidays are a particularly difficult and stressful time. Maybe you’re lamenting the recent loss of a close friend or family member. Maybe the pressure to give gifts is adding to the stress of your financial troubles. Maybe just the busyness and hustle and bustle of this time of year and dealing with other people who are also stressed out makes you feel like you’re in a dark place.
But the good news confirmed by our passage this morning is that no matter how bad the darkness is, God is light and He will preserve you through your darkness so that you will have the ability to experience that light. But although God makes that possible, it is clear that we also bear some responsibility in that process, which leads us to our second application:
2. Live in the light by embracing Jesus on a daily basis
In the immediate context of our passage, we can clearly see that even though God made His light available to both of them, Ahaz and his son Hezekiah responded much differently to the light.
Because Ahaz refused to obey God and instead chose to align himself with the king of Assyria, both he and the people of Judah suffered greatly at the hands of Syria, their brothers in Israel and even at the hands of their ally Assyria. So the people remained in darkness.
Hezekiah, on the other hand, chose to obey God rather than make an alliance with Assyria, and the people experienced the light when God miraculously delivered them from the Assyrians just a few years later. But unfortunately, the people’s allegiance to God was short-lived and they would eventually be conquered by the Babylonians and taken into captivity.
So we find that the need to embrace the light that God gives is not just a one-time effort – it needs to be a continuous lifestyle. That is still true for us today and the Bible makes it clear how we are to do that.
First, we must identify the light. Fortunately, that’s rather easy, since Jesus does that for us:
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12 (ESV)
So the first thing that we see is that if we want to walk in the light, we must follow Jesus since He is the light. And the verb “follows” in that passage is in the present tense, which indicates continuing action. We could accurately translate that part of the verse:
Whoever keeps on following me will not walk in darkness…
Paul confirms this same idea in Ephesians:
for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
Ephesians 5:8 (ESV)
Once again, the command to “walk as children of light” is in the present tense and could be translated:
Keep on walking as children of light
You see, one of the keys to dealing with the stress of the holiday season is to develop a lifestyle where we are embracing Jesus on a daily basis throughout the year. And then when the holidays roll around we don’t really have to change anything – we just keep on walking in the light, making Jesus the focus of everything that we do.
That’s one reason that I really am not a big fan of all the bumper stickers, banners and other signs that urge us to “put Christ back into Christmas” or to “Keep Christ in Christmas” The real need is not so much to put Christ back into Christmas as it is to put Christ in our lives and keep him there 365 days a year.
3. Invest my life in passing on the light to others
Aren’t you glad that Isaiah didn’t just take these words of hope that God had given to him and just keep them for himself? Instead, he communicated these words to the entire nation of Judah and then made sure they were recorded so that we can still find encouragement in them today.
The light of Jesus was never intended to be something that we just hoard for ourselves. When Jesus was born, Luke records that angel came to the shepherds in the field and spoke these words:
Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
Luke 2:10 (ESV)
The good news of Jesus was not just for the shepherds, it was for all people. And so once the shepherds had seen Jesus, they immediately shared with others what the angel had said and what they had observed. That is exactly what we are to do with the light of Jesus still today. Listen to the words of both Jesus Himself and of Peter:
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16 (ESV)
As followers of Jesus, we are like the moon, reflecting His light, since He is the light of the world. And we need to be careful not to cover up that light, but to let it shine so that others might also be able to experience that light as well.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9 (ESV)
Since God has called us out of darkness into light, we have a responsibility to take and proclaim that light to others so that they, too, might have the joy of experiencing that same light.
I’m convinced that one of the main reasons that many of us experience so much stress at this time of year is because we get so focused on ourselves. And the very best antidote to that self-induced stress is to focus on others and their need to experience the light of Jesus and then do whatever we can to pass on that light.
Are you stressed out this holiday season? If you are, then maybe this is a good time to evaluate your relationship with Jesus and make sure that you are embracing Him on a daily basis on your own life and then doing what you can to make sure to pass on His light to others.
