“Of His Increase, There Shall be No End” – Isaiah 9:1-7 – The Conclusion
We can expand our imagination to national and global dimensions. How many military families would like to turn
on the television on Tuesday morning and learn that Iraq Northern Ireland Sudan Somalia Middle East turbulence inclusive
of the Israelis, Palestinians and Arabs, the tragedy of Darfur ,
and the protractible economic injustice in Central and South
America ? What if all of a
sudden the Christmas spirit permeated the minds and hearts of Western disciples
and motivated them to share food, medicine, clothing, technology and other
resources with the developing and impoverished countries of “The Third World ?” What
if the global church saw it as its mission to resolve the HIV/AIDS scourge that
takes the lives of tens of thousands Africans each day and orphans countless
children? What incredible gifts these
would be on this Christmas morning?
Speaking many years before the birth of Christ, the prophet, Isaiah,
offers the Lord forthcoming birth as the solution to all of the foregoing
problems, individual, familial, national and international. In the opening verse of this enduring
passage, the prophet asserts triumphantly “There will be no more gloom for
those who were in distress.” The coming
of Christ offers humankind the ultimate solution to all of its problems. Consider this bold pledge articulated to an
audience who has experienced the colossal lost of everything that they held
dear. Solomon’s great Temple which
symbolized Yahweh’s presence and contained centuries of their religious
worship, rituals, literature and history was destroyed summarily by the
Babylonians in 587 BCE. Their culture
was nearly lost as King Nebuchadnezzar subjugated the “middle class,” learned
and trained professionals by coercing them into service of his empire. One imagines that extreme disillusionment and
seemingly infinite emotional, mental, psychological and spiritual distress that
they suffered. Yet, Isaiah promises the
dawning of a day in which their agony will cease. This brilliance of this day will forever
eradicate the deep shadows under which they lived for seventy years. In the birth of the long awaited Messiah,
Almighty God would restore the dignity, respect and rule of Israel
Consider that these people expected a gift from God for many
years. They did not want something
material per se. They greatly desired
the restoration of their way of life. A
price tag could not be placed upon that dream.
Each day, they rose with the heartfelt prayer that perhaps this would be
the day that Messiah would be born. The
very news of His birth suffice to reassure them that Almighty God had not
abandoned them in the midst of their deepest distress. Messiah’s coming would signify the beginning
of the reversal of the tragedy of exile.
The latter half of Isaiah 9:1 contains a very significant footnote of
sorts. Contrary to the popular
anticipations that Messiah would be born in a setting that would facilitate his
ascension of a successful military career, Isaiah informs His audience that God
envisions a different purpose. Instead
of a palace or noted city, Messiah will actually be born in “Galilee
of the Gentiles” adjacent to the Jordan river . Imagine this incredulous possibility that the
Jewish Messiah will be born among the Gentiles!
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