THE ADVENT LIGHT ANNOUNCED TO PEOPLE IN
DARKNESS
ISAIAH 9:2
Sermon by:
Rev. H.A. Bergsma
Published by the
PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE
OF THE
FREE REFORMED CHURCHES OF NORTH AMERICA.
(November 2003)
LITURGY:
Votum
Psalter 85
Law of God
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 8: 16 – 9: 7
Text: Isaiah 9: 2
Psalter 391
Prayer
Offerings
Psalter 334
Sermon
Psalter 73: 1, 2, 3, 4
Prayer
Psalter 267
Benediction
Doxology: Psalter 413
Congregation of the Lord,
Darkness can be a real menace.
A dark place is a place to avoid; a dark time is a time to lay low; a dark event is an event with a sinister edge to it, and a dark power is almost certainly always a satanic power of sorts.
In Biblical terms, darkness is the result of sin, and at times even a judgment upon sin.
Boys and girls! How do you get rid of darkness?
Imagine being in a room that is pitch dark.
Can you sort of push the darkness out of the room through a doorway or a window?
Can you perhaps sweep the darkness away?
Can you perhaps pluck the darkness out of the air, put it in garbage bags, and thrown them on the dump?
It sounds silly even to think about it.
How then do you rid of darkness?
You do it by turning on the light.
Light dispels darkness.
The two of them cannot exist together at the same time and in the same place.
If the one comes, the other has to go; and if the one goes, the other one will come.
If darkness is present, light is absent; but where light is abundant, darkness is scarce.
Well now, Christmas, which we hope to celebrate soon again, is in reality a celebration of the Light that has come into the darkness.
Of course, we know, that this refers to Jesus, who once said of Himself … “I am the light of the world.”
But in Old Testament times, people did not always make that connection of Jesus being the Light, and so they often knew nothing more than that some day a “Light” would come.
We have the announcement of the coming of such a light in our text, in the prophecy of Isaiah 9:2 … The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
The Word of God may declared to you by the following theme and division …
THE ADVENT LIGHT ANNOUNCED TO A PEOPLE IN DARKNESS
- The People As Described
- The Announcement Given
- The Explanation Provided
Congregation, the people mentioned in Isaiah’s prophecy are described as a people who walked in darkness, and dwelled in the land of the shadow of death.
Isaiah is referring here to a people who lived in the northern part of Israel, that part, which belonged to the tribes of Zebulon and Naphtali, and which in later times became known as Galilee of the Nations, or Galilee of the Gentiles.
This land happened to be the darkest part of the nation of Israel, primarily, because it had always been an area of trouble and distress.
From old times, Galilee was always the first to get hit when enemies decided to invade the nation of Israel.
This was no exception in the days of the Prophet Isaiah.
At that time, the Assyrians had invaded the land.
They were a very cruel people … plundering, robbing, pillaging as they went on.
They made the fields and the roads unsafe for any out-door activities, and as such, the poor Galileans had to shut themselves up in their homes, with the dreadful fear that at any time they could be dragged out, their homes burned, and they themselves killed, or taken into slavery.
These people were therefore in great distress, or as it is described in verse 1 … “grievously afflicted.”
Closely related to this grievous affliction was the fact that the Galileans generally speaking, were the most despised people of the nation Israel.
The more southern tribes considered the people in the north, that is, in Galilee, crude and un-cultured, and a shame to the Jewish race.
This was so in Old Testament times already.
There is a story found in 1 Kings 9 that is rather telling … King Solomon thought to do his friend from a neighbouring nation, King Hiram, a favour, and present him with a gift of 20 cities in the north, that is, in the land now known as Galilee.
But evidently, those cities did not please King Hiram very much.
He visited the cities one by one, and as he travelled through the land, he exclaimed in utter disgust “Cabul!” in Hebrew .
In other words … “Garbage!”
The people of Galilee walked in darkness because they were a people who also had the reputation that they could never be trusted.
Even in New Testament times that sort of reputation was still with them, because when some investigations were made about Jesus, it was said … “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth … search and look, for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet!”
Another thing that needs to be said about these people of Galilee is that they lived the furthest away from Jerusalem, the centre of all religious activities.
It was impossible for them, physically, to go up to the temple at Jerusalem regularly, if they went at all.
The distance was too far and the roads and by-ways were often too dangerous for travelling, especially during the Assyrian incursions during Isaiah’s time.
And due to the fact that there was no true worship of God practiced by those in Galilee regularly, these people had become spiritually weak and careless and grossly superstitious.
In fact, these people had sunken to strange and cultic worship practices.
Isaiah mentions this in Chapter 8:19, that those from the north had begun to consult people with familiar spirits, and wizards that “peep and that mutter.”
In other words, the Galileans had begun to get their spiritual instructions from fortune-tellers and witch-doctors, and had begun follow after various cult-leaders.
Not only that, but they had also begun to consult the spirits of the dead, not merely for some morbid entertainment, but for some advice actually!
I will not say too much about this, but if, what has been described, constitutes walking in darkness and dwelling in the shadows of death, you may conclude that a large portion of our generation, too, is again walking in darkness again, and in the shadows of death.
Many people have become estranged from the true worship of God, and in their quest for something spiritual, they have sunken to strange and cultic worship practice.
You know very well that Eastern religions are gaining in popularity in our society, along with cultic worship-practices, including witchcraft and Satanism.
If that is not walking in darkness and dwelling in the shadows of death, I do not know what is!
Certainly this was the case with those in Galilee … they walked in darkness, and dwelled in the land of the shadow of death.
And I would like you to understand those two terms well.
The darkness spoken of here in our text is a very intense darkness; it was “darkness without and darkness within, ignorance, distress, misery, and sin,” as Edward J. Young points out in his 3-volume commentary on Isaiah.
Their darkness is equated with death-shadows.
In a spiritual sense, those two terms belong together; they fit with each other.
They are both evidence and consequence of sin.
When man rebelled against God and fell into sin, the judgment of death fell on him and he began to walk in darkness.
And this is still the case today … a sinner is one who walks in darkness and has the shadow of death around him.
And what is even more perturbing about this situation is that such a man is dark and dead on the inside so that he is not concerned even about this shadow of death, unless he is hard-pressed.
Such a man, under normal circumstances, will love the darkness and revel in it, and will only worry about death when it comes too close to home.
Even as Jesus Himself once said it – and you can find this in John 3:19 – “that men loved darkness … because their deeds were evil.”
This is a sad commentary on every person who is still unconverted and unregenerate. (not yet born-again)
Now, when you put all of this together, it is truly amazing what we read next in our text, and which takes us to our second point … The Announcement Given.
And what is this announcement?
Our text-words contain the announcement … “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”
What happened?
Did these people decide to push the darkness out?
Did they sweep it up out of their place?
Did they pluck the darkness out of the air, stuff it in garbage bags and dump it out of their existence?
Is this how they got rid of their darkness?
Again, the thought is too silly to entertain for long.
These people had neither the ability nor the inclination to do anything about their darkness … but God did!
God turned the light on; God caused the light to shine upon them.
When did this happen?
Well, you must understand that what we have here in our text is known as prophecy.
When the prophet Isaiah wrote those words, the people had not yet seen this light, but its occurrence was so certain and vivid to Isaiah’s mind that he described it as though it had already happened.
Now, for those people who believed Isaiah’s prophecy, this message was already of great encouragement and reason for much hope.
It was a much-needed message for such people living in such dark times.
They could take comfort in the knowledge that the darkness would not be permanent, that a light would appear, and the death-shadows would fade a way.
Those who believed could, with the prophet Isaiah, look forward to a tremendous change … not merely a good riddance of the Assyrian incursions, … but a tremendous spiritual change.
In the place of the darkness of calamity the people would see the light of peace and blessedness; in place of the darkness of death, the light of life; in place of the darkness of ignorance, the light of knowledge; in place of the darkness of sin, the light of salvation.
The believers in Isaiah’s days could already see it happen in prophetic vision … the light would shine, and therefore was it light in expectation already for them.
Therefore again, when did this happen; when did this light shine?
Well, when Jesus would come into the world.
This is whom Isaiah was referring to when he spoke of a great light.
The verses that follow in our text-chapter prove it.
It says so in verse 6 of chapter 9 …
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
The great light that Isaiah spoke of was Jesus, the great light of salvation.
He would shine upon a people in darkness, and they in turn, would see Him.
This prophecy was literally fulfilled for the people in the northern region of Israel, the land of Zebulon and Naphtali, and later on called Galilee of the Gentiles.
In fact, when Jesus began His public ministry, as recorded in Matthew 4, the same text from Isaiah is referred to.
We read there about Jesus …
And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, bythe way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Galilee, the land of darkness and death-shadows was the first to see the Savior’s footprints on its dusty roads and pathways where once the Assyrians had marched.
Galilee, where the darkness had been the greatest, there the Savior brought the first light of the Gospel.
His ministry of calling to repentance and faith was in itself already a great light in Galilee.
In Galilee, Jesus preached by its seashores; there He fed the multitudes upon its hillsides; there He prayed in its mountains.
Galilee may have been far from Jerusalem and far from its temple, physically, but it was from Galilee that Jesus called His disciples … poor, ignorant fishermen … and they became the first ministers of the Gospel-light for the New Testament church.
The Galileans once walked in darkness and once dwelt in the shadows of death, but upon them has the light shined.
They were despised and rejected by Jerusalem, but the Savior came into their darkness.
In fact, He took on their death-shadows; He became despised and rejected, only to become their bright light and their salvation.
The Galileans rejoiced when God showed them a great Light, and that great Light went into their darkness and preached the Word of life and light to them.
For them, the Light had come.
And that puts us right into the middle of Advent, doesn’t it?
After all, this is what Advent means … it means: the coming; the coming of Jesus; the coming of the great light of salvation.
And this brings me right away to my last point of this message … The explanation provided.
Why is Jesus referred to as the great light?
Because Jesus is the Light of life!
The apostle John declared it in John 1:4 … “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.”
John the Baptist declared the same thing, when he pointed to Jesus and said that He was the true Light that lights everyman that comes into the world.
Jesus Himself has declared it in John 8:12 … “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
And again in John 12:46 He has declared it … “ I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.”
You see, this is enough proof that the prophecy of Isaiah has been fulfilled.
Jesus coming into the world, was God’s way to show that He was pleased to turn on the light for people walking in darkness and dwelling in the shadows of death.
My friend! Jesus alone is the Light of Life – the Living Light.
He is the One who can effectively deal with any darkness in your life, particularly any spiritual darkness.
And so the Word of Light comes to you at this hour.
Perhaps, by listening to this message, you sense that you are by and large, still in darkness.
If this is the case with you, let me urge you to look to Jesus Christ even now.
He is the Light that can dispel your darkness.
Perhaps your concern is with your children or grandchildren, or with your wife or husband.
Or perhaps you are concerned about a good friend of yours, who is still in darkness.
What are you to do about their darkness?
It is not something you can push out or gather up and dump out.
You yourself cannot turn the light on and dispel their darkness.
But you can cry out to God that He would show Jesus to them.
You can call on God that He would turn the light on upon them; that Jesus Christ would become their Light of Life.
As we come to conclude this message, dear people, let me remind you that whatever darkness you are troubled with, is a darkness that can be taken care of by Jesus.
Whatever darkness it is that you are troubled with, let it be reason enough to look beyond yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ.
He has come to minister to those who are in darkness and remove their darkness and bring them light.
Therefore, turn to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith; find in Him everything you need.
He is the Light of Life.
He will, by His light, show you the way.
For a while, darkness may try to overtake the light you have received.
For a while, sin will continue to trouble you, and the evil one will try to turn off the light in your life.
For a while, the battle will continue between light and darkness.
These battles are spiritual battles, and can be very fierce battles at times.
And you will find yourself engaged in such battles, personally.
But as you are engaged in such battles, keep looking to the Light of Life; keep your eyes focussed on Jesus Christ.