Hope. People think prophecies are all about foretelling the future, but that’s not exactly how I saw it. To me it was about speaking God’s truth to whoever I could get to listen- and perhaps especially to those who didn’t want to. Telling them that if they didn’t sort themselves out the natural consequence would be that their world would be a mess. And sadly that’s what happened. But they needed to know that this wasn’t the end of the story, that God’s people weren’t going to just be left to suffer the consequences of their actions without any end. There was hope, light for those walking in the darkness. Hope for defeated people at their lowest point, exiled to a foreign land, far from their homes- but not from their God. Hope that they would know joy once again.
And more than that, it wasn’t just a message for those people at that time. It was a message for all people, everywhere. That our God cares about everyone, no matter what their background, that anyone who chooses to follow him will be included, loved. And that God would bring this about through a person, God’s servant, who would suffer, who would be despised and rejected, taking the place of the lamb offered in the temple as a symbol of our sinfulness. Someone who would be born as a child, to reign on David’s throne forever with justice and righteousness, unlike the all-too-human kings who had inhabited it since David’s day.
I won’t be there to see it. But the day that child is born will be a day to remember.
See Isaiah 9 and Isaiah 52 and 53 for some of Isaiah's prophecies about the coming of God's Servant.
The second candle on the advent ring represents the prophets of the Old Testament. Isaiah is the one probably most associated with Christmas because he said quite a bit about the coming 'servant' who would bring hope for Israel- and the rest of the world. Handel's Messiah draws heavily on Isaiah's prophecies.
But prophecy wasn't (isn't) just about foretelling. It's about telling God's truth to the world. In Isaiah's case that meant firstly warning the people of Israel about continuing to drift away from the way they were supposed to be living; and secondly giving them hope for the future. We all could do with some hope about that.
