Advent Day 12: A Son is Given
Today, we light the Green Candle, the Black Candle, and the Blue Candle. The Green Candle represents life and all that Father God created in Christ, Good and Whole. The Black Candle represents the Evil and Corruption of Sin that entered our World through our rebellion. The Blue candle represents the Hope that comes from the Promises of a future Savior and King.
Isaiah 9:6-7
“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.”
The reign of King David and his son Solomon bring the nation of Israel into a “golden age.” David secures Jerusalem to be the capital of the nation and Solomon builds a great Temple for the Lord – one of the wonders of the ancient world. But again, when all seems well for the people of Israel, and the fulfillment of God’s promises imminent, things take another turn…
In the end of his reign, Solomon turns away from the LORD and begins the spiral downward into the darkest period of Israel’s history. In direct violation of God’s commands, Solomon marries women from other countries that entice him to follow their pagan “gods.” Solomon goes so far as to build places where these “gods” could be worshiped!!!
In response to Solomon’s apostasy, the Lord tells Solomon that He is going to strip the kingdom from him (1 Kings 11:31-39). The Lord does not take the kingdom from Solomon directly because of the promises to David, but waits to do so in the reign of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam. At Solomon’s death a civil war erupts which divides the Kingdom in two. Rehoboam is left with the southern Kingdom of the “House of David”—Judah (plus the tribe of Benjamin), and his adversary Jeroboam takes the remaining 10 tribes of the north—Israel. Once more, chaos reigns. And yet… the Lord’s promises are still more powerful than the people’s sin.
The Northern Kingdom immediately rejected the Word and Instruction of the Lord. All of the 19 kings of the 9 dynasties that ruled over the Northern kingdom for 250 years were unrighteous. They ALL rejected the instruction of God.
The Southern Kingdom of Judah remained faithful to the Lord for longer than the kingdom to the north. In the 400-hundred-year life of this kingdom, all of the Kings that ruled were part of the Davidic Dynasty. Jerusalem was honored as the “holy city” that God himself had chosen for His Temple, and it was the place where the Davidic Throne was located. But in time, even the Southern Kingdom would fall. David’s descendants, sitting on this Davidic throne, would be the very ones to thwart the fulfillment of the promises through their own sin and faithlessness.
Ultimately, the promises and covenants that God had made with David and Abraham were the only guarantee that the Divided Nation would be restored and elevated above all other kingdoms on the earth. As the kings had failed—so had the nation. But God WOULD NOT FAIL.
During these years of downfall, the Lord raises up the Prophets as preachers and visionaries, calling the people to faithfulness – to turn from their idols and return to Him. Through the voice of the Prophets, The Lord reminds his people that if they are not careful to do all that He has instructed, He will send them into exile just as He had already warned them through Moses. The Prophets also begin to speak of hope for a new age when the LORD would bring about the fulfillment of His promises. The Lord assured the broken Nation that judgment and exile would come but this would not be the final word.
Hosea 9:17
“My God will reject them because they have not listened to him;
they shall be wanderers among the nations.”
But with God, the Curse is never the last word. The Exile would not last forever. There were greater things at stake. The Lord God would redeem the Nation from wandering among the Nations just as He had delivered them from Egypt. The Lord had not forgotten. He would remain faithful, even if the nation had been faithless.
During this dark time, the Lord raises up the Prophet Isaiah and gives a message of both judgment and hope through him. The hope in Isaiah’s message centers around the incredible way the Lord would bring about the fulfillment of the promises:
Isaiah 9:1–2
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. 9:2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
In the days ahead, the Lord would bring a great light to shine in the area of Galilee. This light would come through a child yet to be born:
Isaiah 9:6–7
“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.
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.”
This child, a son, would uphold the government – He would come to rule. His name would be the names of God. He would establish the Throne of David and bring a Kingdom of Peace that would last forever. Whereas all of the human descendants of David had failed to do this so far, The LORD himself would accomplish this through His great zeal.
The Lord would not let His promises fail.
A Child is coming – the Seed of David – who would be God Himself.
