A Birth Announcement for a Shepherd and King

For all the mysteries surrounding the Messiah’s arrival, those paying attention in Israel (and beyond) had many prophetic words to carry them through the quiet centuries following Malachi’s final message from God.

Two passages in Isaiah and Micah act as 700-years-early birth announcements for the awaited Savior. Both are very familiar to us. You might even be able to quote large chunks of the prophecies. Yet it you’re like me, the rhythmic cadence of God’s promises spoken to the prophets has become so recognizable that I tend to gloss over their meaning. That is why reading from different Bible translations can help to refocus our understanding.

Consider Isaiah 9:6-7, quoted from the Message:

For a child has been born—for us!
    the gift of a son—for us!
He’ll take over
    the running of the world.
His names will be: Amazing Counselor,
    Strong God,
Eternal Father,
    Prince of Wholeness.
His ruling authority will grow,
    and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.
He’ll rule from the historic David throne
    over that promised kingdom.
He’ll put that kingdom on a firm footing
    and keep it going
With fair dealing and right living,
    beginning now and lasting always.
The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies
    will do all this.

Usually, birth announcements don’t include the name of the child. Baby boys especially aren’t named until the eighth day when they are circumcised. Often they are named for a wished-for quality or set of circumstances surrounding their arrival. But for this Messiah, He is already named, and seems to be doing the very work His names suggests. What’s more, they are names equated with God’s character. How can this be?

In her annual online Advent devotional, author Hannah Brencher writes of this passage:
“This announcement is more than God sending a son into the world. This is God is putting on skin and coming down to earth for us. This is an ancient, holy announcement that God is stepping into the ring. He is coming to fully participate in what it means to be human. And this announcement… well, it changes everything."

Things will be made new. A new understanding of what it means to serve and be served will be put into practice. Not only is this Messiah new, but so is everything about Him. From His origin and circumstances to His habits and lessons, the God-Man we know as Jesus turned every expected thing on its head.

Turning to the prophet Micah, we see this broken down into three “stunning glories” or revelations in chapter 5:2-5. David Mathis, executive editor at Desiring God leads us through these details in his article, Light and Warmth in Winter: Three Glories of His Advent.

First, “He comes from modest stock.” Not a phrase we often hear these days, but we know what it means. Bethlehem and Nazareth are romanticized in our Nativity stories, but they were small potatoes within all the cities of Israel. Bethlehem had a richer history being Rachel’s burial city and the birth place of David (another unlikely king who would rise to the throne by God’s hand alone).

You, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
     who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
     one who is to be ruler in Israel… (v.2)

“The first glory,” Mathis argues, “of the one coming forth is that he comes from Bethlehem. In Micah’s day, God had already done this once with David — the shepherd rising to the throne. Now, some three centuries later, the prophet tells of another ruler who will arise, and ascend, like David, and from David’s own line and town.”

Next, “He comes from ancient times.” We so poetically gloss over Micah’s prophecy that we often miss the words chosen by God.

. . . from [Bethlehem] shall come forth for me
     one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
     from ancient days . . . (Micah 5:2)

Mathis again: “What the prophet says next might lead us to wonder if the little town is not the Messiah’s origin but his portal. He comes from Bethlehem, yes, yet also through Bethlehem. . . He is a human ruler, descended from David, and rising up like David from a modest upbringing, but he is more than a human king. And this is not David reincarnate, or some ancient champion, back from the grave . . . This is somehow the Ancient of Days himself, the only one who truly is ‘of old.’”

Lastly, “He comes to shepherd with strength.” The prophet Micah is not done. The last two verses of this passage show us how the Messiah will rule, his character, his essence.

And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
     in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
     to the ends of the earth.
And he shall be their peace. (v.4-5)

In the New Testament Jesus uses the image of the shepherd to talk about Himself and to outline lessons in His parables. But here we have a prophetic word associating the Messiah with being a shepherd. We will get to this more later in Advent, but shepherds were not the ultimate career goal. While they stood as a embodiment of care and protection, Judean shepherds themselves were smelly outcasts.

Mathis gives us a little more insight: “’He will ‘shepherd his flock,’ [is] a picture of compassion and concern, loving provision and protection. And he will do so ‘in the strength of the Lord.’ In other words, he will be a strong shepherd, strong enough that his flock might dwell secure under his rule and enjoy real peace in him — and this will mean the opposite for the foes of his flock. That their shepherd is strong is ominous for their enemies. And that their shepherd is strong is a sweet balm for his people: “they shall dwell secure . . . he shall be their peace.”

When the angels appeared to a band of Bethlehem shepherds 700 years later, they sang out “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" (Luke 2:14) Indeed peace, eternal peace, for His flock is one of the biggest Advent promises.

The Message translates “peace” as wholeness. And indeed, the Hebrew word Shalom encapsulates so much more than we can put into words. When Jesus comes again, the second Advent, He will bring about wholeness, newness. Completeness with Him. Peace.
 

"Mood for Advent" or "Advent Mood"?

It’s been a rainy start to December. Not exactly the weather one chooses to get into the mood for Advent.

Or maybe it’s “Advent mood”?

During Lent a couple years ago, I shared a quote from blogger Addie Zierman about times when our whole lives feel like the Lenten season. Somber, weighed-down, incomplete. But as I sat down to begin compiling my thoughts for this year’s blog, I realized that this year has been characterized by an “advent mood.” I yearn for this season at the end of the year, but when I have a “waiting spirit” all 365 days of the year, it’s a bit like what the Pevensie children encounter when they arrive in Narnia—always winter, but never Christmas.

Yet, ancient Israel had hundreds upon hundreds of years of this kind of yearning. Dreaming of the day when the Messiah would appear. At Advent, all of us (throughout  time and space) together make our way through the promise, the waiting, the expectation. And we pray, trusting, and hoping beyond hope that our prayers mercifully collide with God’s out-stretched hands.

Like millions of Christ-followers before me, it is so easy to wander off the path laid before us. To seek truth in other places. To look back, down, and around, instead of upwards to the Father of Lights. Even as our whole lives feel full of waiting, the season of Advent on the church year calendar halts us in our steps and forces us to stop and take purposeful steps towards the humble birth of the glorious King. Our steps won’t always be reverent. Sometimes the road will be fraught with deep sorrow and suffering. But still we come, knowing the road to Bethlehem has been trodden, time and time again, by saints old and new. They will show us the way.

Yesterday we lit the first Advent candle, the candle of Hope.

We live in an interesting time in human history. For many people living in the western world, the idea that a whole nation’s hope would rest on the shoulders of an unseen savior coming sometime in the future is hard to wrap our minds around. But for others, it is something that they would cling to. If the Nativity was bound for Bethlehem, PA instead of ancient Judea, Christ’s birth would be highly anticipated by such as these:
Those who disagree with and dread the way the government is run, those who worry about their next meal and warm place to stay, those who come up against injustice and hatred every day, those who fear for their very lives and the ones they love.

As ancient Israel suffered a similar plight many hundreds of years before the Messiah’s coming, the prophet Isaiah spoke these words of magnificent assurance:

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—

The people walking in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
    a light has dawned.
You have enlarged the nation
    and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
    as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
    when dividing the plunder.
For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
    you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
    the bar across their shoulders,
    the rod of their oppressor.
Every warrior’s boot used in battle
    and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
    will be fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
    there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
    and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
    with justice and righteousness
    from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.

(Isaiah 9:1-7)

Are you in an advent mood, or in the mood for Advent? The world is a broken place. We have been promised there will be suffering and hardship. But friends, the Hope that Isaiah spoke of has come.

For Jesus said: “. . . I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

(John 16:33)

In the Dimness

If you know the story of Elisabeth Elliot and her late husband Jim Elliot, then you know that Elisabeth had one of the most remarkable faith perspectives. Thundered with trials, heart aches, fear, and even doubt, she held fast to the belief that the Sovereign God was in control, regardless of how clear the picture was to her. Later in her life, when giving Bible devotionals over the radio, she recorded these words:

“In the dark streets shineth the everlasting Light—the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight. Why not with trumpet blasts? Wouldn’t you expect that the coming of the King of kings would be with trumpet blasts, with royal proclamations and fanfare and maybe camel trains and pomp and ceremony—and who knows what other kinds of ceremony, celebration?

It was a strange method for God to choose. But God is in the business of doing things in ways we never imagine. He moves in what seems to us, twilight. In the dimness we have to make our decisions. We would like to have a star of Bethlehem to guide us, wouldn't we? Oh, how many times I've wished that God would give me something as unequivocal as a star of Bethlehem, or handwriting on the wall, or a pillar of fire to guide me.

But God doesn't do it that way, does He? Most of the time, walking by faith means walking in a certain degree of dimness where we have to make our decisions and act and obey. And it's only the next morning that we can look back and understand.”

- Elisabeth Elliot
(http://www.backtothebible.org/index.php/Gateway-to-Joy/-O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem.html)

This is the last day of Week 1; tomorrow we light the second Advent candle, the Bethlehem candle, or the candle of Peace. Ancient words and prophecies will be funneled tighter and tighter, closer and closer, until the “fullness of time had come” (Galatians 4:4). God sent His son. . . As a tiny embryo in the womb of a maiden. As a baby surrounded by angels, shepherds, and kings. As an honest carpenter and son. As a miracle worker, teacher, and friend. As the sacrificial King. As the Victor who conquered death once and for all, for our sake . . .Emmanuel. 

A baby born in Bethlehem. How could that be part of God’s great plan? “It’s only the next morning that we can look back and understand.”

Glory Be to God on High

This is a lesser-known Advent hymn from the great hymn-writer, Charles Wesley. The title and first line are a paraphrase of "Gloria in Excelsis" found of the Book of Common Prayer. 

Glory Be to God on High 

by Charles Wesley

Glory be to God on high,
And peace on earth descend:
God comes down, He bows the sky,
And shows himself our friend!
God, the invisible, appears,
God, the blest, the great I AM,
Sojourns in this vale of tears,
And Jesus is his name.

Him, the angels all adored,
Their Maker and their King;
Tidings of their humbled Lord,
They now to mortals bring;
Emptied of his majesty,
Of his dazzling glories shorn,
Being’s source begins to be,
And God himself is born!

See the eternal son of God
A mortal son of man,
Dwelling in an earthly form,
Whom heaven cannot contain!
Stand amazed, ye heavens, at this!…
See the Lord of earth and skies!
Humbled to the dust He is,
And in a manger lies!

We, with heaven’s host rejoice,
The Prince of peace proclaim,
With heaven’s host lift up our voice,
And shout Immanuel’s name:
Knees and hearts to Him we bow,
Of our flesh and of our bone,
Jesus is our brother now,
And God is all our own!