From darkness to Light!
It’s amazing what light will do!
No matter how cold or dreary or lasting the winter is, it cannot extinguish the fact that the Light that has come! Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, has come.
Seasons come and seasons go, but sometimes it feels like we are in Narnia when it was “always winter, and never Christmas”. Sometimes winter rolls into our lives in the form of a host of disappointments and trials, and it tries hard to block the warmth, and love, and light from reaching us. It’s cold and barren landscape tries hard to make us forget to gather around a warm hearth to open the first pages of Matthew or Luke or John and reconnect with the Light that has come into the world. But no matter how cold or dreary or lasting the winter is, it cannot extinguish the fact that the Light that has come! Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, has come. He has come because He loves us. Jesus is the Light that is always there, and no amount of winter gray can keep Him from us if we will but turn our hearts toward Him … again.
Several years ago, God mercifully gave me a sign of hope in my mind’s eye, a yellow buttercup rising up out of a snowy patch. This picture is where the name of this ministry originated—The Hopeful Buttercup.
He put these words on my heart:
“There it is,
gleaming in its shiny yellow petals
atop such a delicate green stem.
Alive in the sun’s rays—
though the snow still holds on round about.
Frozen whiteness reflects the day’s brightness,
telling us winter is not yet departed.
But that flash of color
in that small flower
has the power of hope
in its being—
greater than the cold.
Dear Lord,
May more of Your promises
spring up
as Your warmth
finally comes to stay.”
Today, though, He gave me a fresh glimpse of the greater Hope, the true Light, who has come to stay, my Savior. He led me to Isaiah 9.
“But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them. Thou shalt multiply the nation, Thou shalt increase their gladness; They will be glad in Thy presence with the gladness of harvest…. For Thou shalt break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. …. For unto us a child will be born, a son will be given to us; …. And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace, there will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness, from then on and forever more.” (Isaiah 9:1-7 NASB1995)
Several truths jumped out at me when I read this familiar passage this time. First, there are so many specific references right here in verses 1 and 2 that shout hope, restoration, and mercy. Pastor David Guzic in the Blueletter Bible commentary for this passage explains the context and significance of the Light coming to Zebulun and Naphtali first during the ministry of Jesus. In Isaiah 8, God has warned that Assyria will come against Judah and like a strong river would “sweep on into Judah, [and] overflow and pass through.” In verse 8:22, Isaiah stresses that they will “behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, and they will be driven away into darkness” for a time.
Yet, in the next breath God sings hope over them through Isaiah’s prophecy of Jesus coming to them when “He will make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.” This describes the region of Nazareth, where Jesus was conceived miraculously. And not far from there Bethlehem is nestled in Judah; this of course is the very place where Jesus would be cradled in that manger. His Light would dawn in Israel! His light would dawn, where once a strong river of evil had swept in.
Water into wine - a symbolic miracle in many ways.
As Jesus grew into a man, the “beginning of His attesting miracles”, His first recorded sign would be given at a wedding in Cana — in the north of Israel, located in the heart of Zebulun and Naphtali. Jesus would be called on to turn water into wine, so the newlyweds and their families would not be humiliated by running out. It was a miracle that symbolized the joy of the Holy Spirit and gladness. All of this keeping with the prophesy God spoke through Isaiah of long ago. The hearts of the people in the same region that suffered first when Assyria struck around 700BC would become the place where the Messiah would be conceived miraculously by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, and would be the place where Jesus’ earthly ministry was inaugurated. The gloom certainly was rolled away and rejoicing came! Jesus provided the best wine ever and the servants who did what Jesus said, experienced the Savior firsthand. Later, in a letter to one of the early churches, we receive a command from God to not be drunk with wine but to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Yes, with the coming Light there would be gladness in His presence in Galilee and across time in our hearts too.
The other thing that I never noticed before is that right before the famous passage beginning with “For a child will be born to us, a Son will be given….” there is this juxtaposition of a war analogy. The passage goes from the Light shining on the land that had been overshadowed by darkness to joy in God’s presence — the joy of harvest and the joy of “men rejoicing over the spoil” in a great military victory, and then it hones in on that picture of what that victory in battle truly would mean for a people who had borne the yoke of oppression and been held down by a staff on their shoulders. In the next breath, almost out of the blue, the LORD through Isaiah, transports us to the victorious battle over Midian in the days of Gideon.
This part alludes to what happened in Judges chapters six and seven. You may recall that Israel had been under Midian’s thumb, hard pressed for seven years. You may be able to see Gideon threshing wheat inside a wine press in order to hide what he was doing from the Midianites and that is where the Angel of the Lord met him. You might recall that the angel saw Gideon as a “mighty man of valor” even when he was still a beat-down runt of his family and tribe. But most significantly, the Lord calls Gideon to rise up and fight the darkness that had descended on his land. He calls him to overthrow his father’s and his town’s idols and to raise up an army to go against Midian. But too many volunteered so God gave a test that led to Gideon sending thousands away and narrowing the band down to 300 men and Gideon. God gave an incredible plan to them — spread out secretly all around the enormous Midianite army with a torch hidden under a pitcher and a shofar in their right hand. At the exact right moment, smash the pitcher and blow the trumpets. As they obeyed and light shown all around the Midian invaders, the trumpets’ deep bellows surrounded them from all sides, and God caused the Midian troops to turn on themselves, bringing total victory to Israel through Gideon and his chosen few.
Yes, “the people (of Israel) who walk(ed) in darkness (and fear) will see a great light.” God brought that foreshadowing light of deliverance to Israel when she needed it so, and He brings us back to His great Light today on the cusp of Christmas, when we need Him again. Take time to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. Take time to reconnect with Him and let Him be the lifter of your head and the assurance of His hope which never can be extinguished. Hold fast to Him and His love no matter what wintery winds are blowing. Find your refuge in that humble, common-place room of a Bethlehem home where Mary and Joseph were given refuge even if they had to share it with the family lambs and goats, donkeys and cattle. Go back there and look full into His wonderful face. He is the Lamb of God. He is the Light of the world come for you. Behold Him again this Christmas. Reach out to Him all the days of your life. Find joy in His presence. Refuse to let winter’s gloom keep you from His Light.
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it!” (John 1:4-5 NIV)
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Photo Credit Winter Light: Photo Credit: https://unsplash.com/@harrydona
Wedding Glasses Photo Credit: Kateryna Hliznitsova (@kate_gliz) | Unsplash Photo Community
