Good God It's Christmas 2 | The Good Gift Giving God

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:6–7)

God promised light on the eve of Israel's darkest night—and then made good on His word in a child born in Bethlehem.

Israel Takes the Promised Land

In about 1405 BC, a little over 3,400 years ago, a people called Israel prepared to enter the land God had promised to their father Abraham. Their newly ordained leader, Joshua, sent the priests bearing the ark—the representation of God's very presence—to stand at the edge of the Jordan River. It was the season when the Jordan overflowed its banks, filled with floodwaters. Yet as soon as the priests stepped in, the waters parted, and Israel crossed over on dry ground a second time in their history.

They knew the land would not simply fall into their hands. God promised Joshua, "Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, it is yours; I've given it to you." So they went in to take possession. At Jericho they received strange orders: march around the city silently for seven days, and on the last day cry out at the trumpet blast. The city fell miraculously. From Jericho to Hazor, the last city they conquered, they watched God go before them and dispossess their enemies. In just seven years they took possession of their inheritance.

Seven Centuries of Possession

For nearly the next 700 years, Israel held their possession. At times enemies occupied certain regions, but Israel was never fully removed from the land. Every time an enemy took a piece of their inheritance, God raised up a deliverer—a judge—and ultimately they reclaimed it. Always it was God who delivered. They had constant opportunity to see His mighty power.

Around 1000 BC, however, Israel asked for a king like the nations around them. God had been their king, but He gave them Saul, then David, the man after His own heart, and then Solomon, who established the nation. But Solomon's son Rehoboam was a fool. When the elder advisors counseled him to lighten his father's heavy-handed rule, his younger friends told him to be even harsher: "If my dad was heavy-handed, I'm going to be like steel upon these people." The people revolted, and around 930 BC the nation split in two.

A Divided Kingdom and the Time of Ahaz

Ten tribes gathered in the north, taking the name Ephraim, often called Samaria after their capital. Two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, formed the southern kingdom of Judah, where Jerusalem and the temple stood. For 200 years the division increased tension among the people.

By the time of King Ahaz, around 730 BC—the very setting of Isaiah 9—the northern ten tribes had allied with Syria specifically to come down, remove Ahaz, and take over Jerusalem. There is hardly anything more dark than a family feud. Israel was standing at the edge of a dark, silent night, about to lose its grip on the land it had held for seven centuries.

Ahaz Trusts Assyria Instead of God

God sent Isaiah to Ahaz at the start of his reign with a simple message: "If you will trust the LORD, God will establish you." Isaiah reminded him that God had delivered the people again and again. But Ahaz was torn between trusting in a God he could not see and trusting in resources he could touch. Anyone ever identify with that?

Ahaz decided trusting God was too difficult, so he made an alliance with Assyria, the rising empire of the day. Between 730 and 720 BC, Assyria destroyed most of Syria, then dispossessed the northern ten tribes. For the first time in their history, Israel lost a huge portion of the inheritance God had given them. These became the "lost tribes." The Assyrians practiced a relocation program—scattering conquered peoples into other parts of the empire and mixing in foreigners—which is why, by the first century, that region was called Samaria, its people part Jewish and part pagan.

From Many Cities to One

Sargon II of Assyria realized Judah's land was a strategic gateway to Egypt and Africa, so, like any king of the day, he broke his alliance with Judah. By the end of the reigns of Sargon and his successor Sennacherib, around 700 BC, almost every city of Israel was destroyed. The people who had been promised to be more numerous than the sand of the sea and the stars of the sky were reduced to one stronghold: the city of Jerusalem. Everything they had held for 700 years was now gone from their hands.

A Glimmer of Light Before the Darkness

It was just before all of this that God, in mercy and grace, spoke to His people. The New Living Translation renders Isaiah 9:1: "Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali will be humbled." Zebulun and Naphtali were tribes in the north, around the modern Sea of Galilee—the first to fall to Assyria.

But there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in the land of deep darkness, a light will shine. (Isaiah 9:1–2)

Notice the future tense. Just before this intense darkness, God promised it would end.

Darkness Increases Anxiety; Light Brings Hope

At nearly every age, darkness can be a fearful thing. Thriller authors know this—they never begin "It was a bright and sunny day," but "It was a dark and stormy night." Movie directors know it too. In M. Night Shyamalan's Signs, the intensity peaks when the family hides in the basement and all the lights go out.

A 2012 study by Ryerson University in Canada found a solid connection between insomnia and nyctophobia—fear of the dark. People who hadn't even classified their fear as a phobia couldn't sleep because their minds raced in the dark; simply adding a nightlight let them rest. Those of us with little kids understand this. Two of our kids, Addison and Ethan, share a room—Ethan wants it pitch black, Addison wants light. A month ago I found a nightlight that shoots a rainbow on the ceiling, and Addison's world got better. Even Ethan said, "The rainbow can stay."

If darkness increases anxiety, then the promise of light brings hope. The promise of light is a promoter of hope. Just knowing the sun will rise lifts the spirit—"The sun'll come out tomorrow." That is exactly what God, a good and loving Father, does in Isaiah 9. On the eve of intense darkness, He gives the future promise of light.

The Source of Hope Is a Son

Isaiah 9:3–5 speaks of increase, rejoicing, redemption, and liberty when this light comes. The nation that would be reduced to one city would one day see increase and joy. Then verses 6 and 7 give the origin of that light: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." The source of hope is a Son—S-O-N—who will rise.

Ahaz and his successor Hezekiah would only see the nation reduced. But God promised One upon whose shoulder the government would rest—Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. He would sit on the throne of David, fulfilling God's promise in 2 Samuel 7 that a king from David's line would reign forever. This light would come to the very region of Galilee that Assyria would humble.

He is the same One promised in Isaiah 7:14: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel"—God with us. He is also the One in Isaiah 11:1: "There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse." Jesse was David's father, so this is a descendant of David, upon whom the Spirit of the LORD rests—the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the LORD—who will judge with righteousness and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.

Seven Hundred Years of Darkness and Silence

All these great prophecies were spoken about 730 BC. Within ten years most of the nation was taken; within thirty years it was reduced to one city; within 150 years even Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, and the people were carried away for seventy years.

You might think they would conclude, "That's it; we're done." Yet the promise of light remained. After seventy years, when Cyrus the Persian conquered Babylon, the prophets showed him Isaiah 40, where God had named Cyrus 200 years before his birth as a deliverer of His people. Cyrus let them go—but only a small remnant of about 50,000 returned to rebuild Jerusalem.

Then came more darkness. The last old covenant prophet, Malachi, wrote around 430 BC, and from that time God did not speak another word to His people for 400 years. Over 700 years of darkness, more than half of it in utter silence.

God Always Makes Good on His Promises

God always makes good on His promises. After 400 years of silence, the angel Gabriel appeared to the priest Zacharias in the temple. As recorded in Luke 1, Zacharias was troubled and afraid, but the angel said:

Do not be afraid, Zacharias; for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. (Luke 1:13–14)

Joy, gladness, and rejoicing had not been words Israel knew much of for 700 years. Now they were coming again.

Six months later, Gabriel flew north to Galilee—the land of Zebulun and Naphtali—to the city of Nazareth, to a young girl named Mary:

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. (Luke 1:31–33)

Unto us a child is born; unto us a Son is given. The government will be upon His shoulder, and of the increase of His government there will be no end.

Simeon and Anna: Those Who Waited

About ten months later, Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem for the census, and Jesus was born. After eight days they brought Him to the temple in Jerusalem to consecrate Him according to the law of Leviticus 12 and to name Him Jesus, as Gabriel had said. There they were met by a man named Simeon—just before men, devout before God, waiting for the consolation of Israel. The Holy Spirit had revealed he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ.

Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel. (Luke 2:29–32)

Imagine: a stranger takes a newborn from a mother's arms and declares he can now die in peace. Joseph and Mary marveled. Simeon then warned Mary, "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel... yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also"—preparing her for the day she would watch her Son crucified.

At that very instant came Anna, a prophetess of great age, who never left the temple but served God with fasting and prayer night and day. She gave thanks and spoke of Him to all who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. The promised Light had come.

What Are You Waiting For?

Simeon and Anna are a beautiful picture of two people who waited, longed, and looked with expectation for what the good gift-giving God had promised. Anna had gone to the temple perhaps for 84 years, fasting and praying. Simeon waited until he could finally say, "Now I am ready to die." What are you waiting for? Joy? Peace? Redemption? Wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge?

Jesus is the longed-for hope of all humanity. Whether people recognize it or not, He is the answer to whatever they are longing for—the thing they think they might find in a Christmas present, a job, a degree, a relationship. He answers every longing at the deepest level. Of the increase of His government and rule there will be no end; He will order it with judgment and justice and destroy wickedness.

The Fullness Found in Him

That is what Christmas declares, whether He was born on December 25th or not: He is the longed-for hope of all humanity. Many of you have come to recognize this, but there are many more outside these walls—and perhaps some here—who have not. We who believe have the opportunity in this season to make sure all people know it. We live in a nation that has so much, yet so many, to quote the great philosopher Bono, still haven't found what they're looking for.

Colossians 1 says He is the fullness of God in bodily form, and we are complete in Him—which means we are incomplete apart from Him. If you have been going through a time of intense darkness, He is the light you need. If you lack joy, peace, counsel, or wisdom, He is the One in whom it is found. My prayer is that you would lock into Him, connect with Him, and discover that all you need is found in Jesus.

Closing Prayer

God, we come before You and ask that You would both remind us of these things and compel us—stir our hearts to declare them to those we will interact with over the next several weeks: friends, family members, coworkers, neighbors who, during this joyful time of year, may be open to hearing the good news of who You are. I pray we would take the opportunities You give us. And I pray for any here today who have not yet fully realized—who have not taken possession of the reality—that You, Jesus, are the One in whom all the fullness dwells, the longed-for hope of all humanity, including they themselves. Help us to find in You what is needed, and help us declare it to a needy world. In Jesus' name.