Darkness & Light
Isaiah 8:19-9:7
“[Advent is] superficially understood as a time to get ready for Christmas, but in truth it’s the season for contemplating the judgment of God. Advent is the season that, when properly understood, does not flinch from the darkness that stalks us all in this world. Advent begins in the dark and moves toward the light—but the season should not move too quickly or too glibly, lest we fail to acknowledge the depth of the darkness… Advent bids us take a fearless inventory of the darkness: the darkness without and the darkness within.”
~ Fleming Rutledge
Main Idea: Light has burst into our darkness through a promised child who establishes an everlasting Kingdom.
I. The Gloomy Darkness (8:19-22)
Assyria was closing in on Israel, but rather than looking to the Lord & his Word for wisdom and guidance, they “looked to the earth” (8:22) for the solutions to their problems. They assumed they could figure out how to get out of the darkness on their own and it only led them into further “thick” darkness.
Advent reminds us that the state of the world and the state of our own lives is marked by darkness (cf. Jn. 12:46). Darkness in the Scriptures represents:
Evil & Sin (Jn. 3:19)
Ignorance & Lostness
“Christmas is the most unsentimental yet realistic way of looking at life… the message of Christmas is this: Things are really bad, and we can’t heal or save ourselves. Things are really dark. But nevertheless, there is hope. Upon the world a light has dawned. It has come from outside and Jesus has brought that light to save us.”
~ Tim Keller
II. The Glorious Light (9:1-5)
Those who dwell in Galilee, most vulnerable to invasion and who dwell in “deep darkness” (lit. ‘death shadow’) will suddenly and unexpectedly have a light shine (flash) upon them (Mt. 4:12-17). This light comes from outside the world, not from within it.
This glorious light will produce:
Joy (9:3): as in the day of full harvest & after a military victory.
Freedom (9:4): the Lord will break the yoke, rod, and staff of the oppressors, just as he did in the day of Midian (Judges 6-7)
Peace (9:5): all the necessities of warfare will go into the “bonfire of God’s grace” (Ray Ortlund)
III. The Given Son (9:6-7)
How will God bring about this great victory & drive back the darkness once and for all? He will do so through the most unexpected means: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given...”
“God’s answer to everything that has ever terrorized us is a child. The power of God is so far superior to the Assyrians and all the big shots of this world that he can defeat them by coming as a mere child. His answer to the bullies swaggering through history is not to become an even bigger bully. His answer is Jesus.”
~ Ray Ortlund
Isaiah indicates that this is not merely a royal birth announcement; these names (Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace) are only attributable to God himself. These names and descriptions push us beyond the manger scene to the totality of the life of this promised King. Though it appeared that darkness snuffed out Jesus at the cross, his resurrection three days later definitely proves “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” (Jn. 1:5).
How can we participate in this never-ending Kingdom of Light?
We receive the Son as a gift
We must look to the Son in patience as we await his return
