December of 2020. What a year it’s been! As we look at the Christmas season – normally so full of busyness and shopping, of packed calendars and traveling to family and friends– sometimes it’s easy to wonder about how to celebrate the joy of Christmas in a year with such turmoil, upheaval, confusion and sadness.
But the truth about Christmas has not changed.
It is still about Light shining out of darkness.
It is still about a God who sees people in their pain and remembers
His promises.
The promise of Jesus the Messiah coming has always brought
joy to the people who waited for Him.
But it wasn’t until this morning that I put myself in the place of the people
who would have first heard the prophecies.
Let’s set the stage and talk about King Ahaz. Not Ahab, the evil Israelite king who married
Jezebel and threw a pity party over Naboth’s vineyard. This is Ahaz, who ruled over the southern kingdom
of Judah for 16 years. (But he wasn’t much
better than Ahab.)
Here’s what life was like during his reign (2 Kings 16; 2
Chronicles 28):
1.
It was a time of war (with the king of Aram and
the king of Israel). (2 Chronicles 28:5-8)
2.
It was a time of unholy alliances (with the king
of Assyria) that cost precious things. (2 Chronicles 28:16)
3.
It was a time of misguided/evil worship.
a.
God’s temple was destroyed:
i.
The temple of the Lord was broken apart (2 Kings
16:17-19);
ii.
Silver and gold from God’s temple were offered
to Assyria (2 Kings 16:8; 2 Chronicles 28:21)
iii.
The doors of the Lords temple were shut (2 Chronicles
28:24)
b.
False gods were promoted:
i.
Various idols were cast and set up for worship
(2 Chronicles 28:2-4)
ii.
Altars were built designed off of the pagan deities
of Aram, to try to win the favor of the “gods” who defeated them (2 Kings 16:10-14;
2 Chronicles 28:23-25)
iii.
Altars and high places were set up in “every town”
and on “every street corner” (2 Chronicles 28:24-25)
iv.
Ahaz even offered his own children as sacrifices
to other gods (2 Kings 16:3-4; 2 Chronicles 28:3).
Ahaz was described by these two phrases:
1.
“He had promoted wickedness in Judah and had
been most unfaithful to the LORD.” (2
Chronicles 28:19b)
2. “In his time of trouble, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD.” (2 Chronicles 28:22)
Whew. Wicked and unfaithful.
And when he died, Ahaz was not placed in the tombs of the
kings. He was buried in Jerusalem, but
not in the royal tombs (most likely because of his unfaithfulness).
Now I couldn’t help but imagine being a faithful Jew living during
the reign of Ahaz. Talk about turmoil,
upheaval, confusion and sadness! How discouraging
would it have been to watch the nation crumble and leadership refuse to be faithful
to the God you knew to be true?
And in the midst of this chaos and evil, some of the most
beloved prophecies proclaiming the Messiah’s birth were penned. We still sing some of them today.
1.
When talking with Ahaz, Isaiah the prophet said: “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you
a sign: The virgin will be with child
and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14). Immanuel.
God with us.
2.
A few chapters later, in the midst of describing
the darkness and gloom that results from looking away from the LORD God, Isaiah
talked about the promise of a future great light. And as Handel so famously put to music in the
masterpiece, the Messiah, Isaiah said: “For
to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be on his
shoulders. And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end. He will reign on
David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing it and upholding it with justice
and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish
this.” (9:6-7)
3.
Around this same time, Micah the prophet penned: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you
are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be
ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times. Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the
time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites. He will stand
and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the LORD
his God. And they will live securely,
for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace.” (Micah 5:2-5).
At the time of these prophecies, the nations of Israel and
Judah were DARK.
But the promise of an Eternal, Undefeatable, Peaceful Ruler broke light a beam of light through the darkness.
That beam of light still shines.
I’m not here to argue about the current political climate or
whether 2020 is more or less dark than the time of Ahaz. I don’t think that anyone would would argue
that we’re living in darkness right now.
But I’d rather focus on remembering the God that chooses to remember
us.
This Christmas we get to celebrate that He came 2000 years
ago. The promise of His first coming
from the prophecies of Isaiah and Micah was fulfilled! Yet, we also get to look forward to when He
comes again soon to make all things right – to wipe away every tear from our
eyes, and to bring us to a place that will have no more sadness or mourning or
pain.
Until that time, we wait.
In the waiting, may we believers (especially me!) be
searching our own hearts and asking for God to do a work in us so that we can
share that light with others. May we seek to spend time with Him so that we
can see His movements in the midst of what is visibly happening in our
world. It could be that the time is ripe
for many people to turn towards Him and find Him! I want to be a part of telling the world this
good news…this hopeful beam of light in the midst of darkness…that a good King,
a humble King, a selfless King is coming one day to rule.
2020 doesn’t have the last word. And neither will COVID restrictions,
political turmoil, wars, or whatever comes in 2021.
Jesus will. And the
Bible fittingly ends with:
“Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
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