Advent: The Coming Deliverer

This morning, as we celebrate the first official Sunday of Advent we are going to start taking a little bit deeper dive into the promises and the hopes that the Israelites had in the coming Messiah.

If you were able to be with us last week, you will remember we looked at and the “The First Promise” and how even in the darkest hour for all humanity, when sin entered the world.

That as quickly as sin entered, God was right there with a promise of deliverance.

A promise of hope.

A promise of salvation.

But, the key aspect and hang up, if you will, was the fact that they had to wait on God.

Part of the reason they sinned to begin with was that they tried to get ahead of God.

Which is also one of our main hang ups as well.

We sometimes tend to get in front of God and grow inpatient, which in the end causes more trouble than good.

And this morning, where we will be picking up in our Scripture is a few thousand years later, when Israel has now found itself in a big mess.

They had done very well in allowing their human nature and own flesh play out in their lives for a very long time.

They had gotten way ahead of God on many occassions.

And now they find themselves living, not as God’s unified people, but a divided nation.

They had split up in to the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

And in our Scripture for this morning, we find not only division among the people but also the Northern Kingdom already being carried off into captivity by the Assyrians, and the Southern Kingdom soon to follow, which is what Isaiah is warning them about.

So, the entire message is a warning to the people about their coming destruction.

About how they had refused to listen to God.

Refused to obey God.

Refused to wait on God.

And now it would all catch up to them and there would come great suffering.

However, even through this, the darkest hour they had faced, God is with them.

Isaiah’s message is not only a message of warning, but also a message of hope.

The hope that they could rest assured that regardless of how bad and how dark times get, God is with them.

God still loves them.

God still longs for them.

And God will not abandon them. God will send a deliverer.

For Israel and for us as well.

So, if you have found in your Bibles, I’d invite you stand with me as I read, starting in verse 1.

Scripture Focus

Isaiah 9:1–7 NIV - Anglicised

1 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 honour Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan— 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. 3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. 4 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. 5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. 6 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 Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 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 and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

Deliverance is Coming (vs 1-5)

So, we see starting out exactly what I was talking about in reference to God offering hope to His people even in the midst of their darkest times.

Again, going back to verse 1 . . .

Isaiah 9:1 NIV - Anglicised

Isaiah 9:1

And really to get a good idea of how ad things had gotten we need to back up to chapter 8 and read just the end part of it . . . .

Isaiah 8:21–22 NIV - Anglicised

21 Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22 Then they will look towards the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.

Isaiah 8:

Now, the rest of chapter 8 talks about many of the different ways they had abandoned God and had refused to be God’s people, but here we see things getting to the point that they were totally distressed.

They had been killed and cut off by the Assyrians.

They were going hungry and roaming the land trying to find anything to eat.

And instead of listening to their prophets who were telling them the reasons for their calamity.

Instead of repenting and following God, they do the exact opposite.

They become enraged and looking upward will curse their king and their God.

Even though God had warned them time and time again, they thought the best thing to do would be to curse the God of the universe.

Why not, after all they hadn’t listened up to that point anyway.

So they cursed the king, but also God Himself.

And as a result of their curse . . .

Isaiah 8:22 NIV - Anglicised

22 Then they will look towards the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.

In a nutshell they were just digging themselves into a deeper hole.

And we look at these things and think to ourselves, “that’s crazy, why would they do that?”

After all God is telling them what they need to change.

God is warning them over and over and over again.

Why won’t they listen?

Well, why won’t we?

It is no different.

God is constantly trying to warn us, advise us, help us.

But a lot of times we just don’t want to listen.

And the results of our actions do not lead us into captivity by a foreign government, but we are captive no the less.

Our master is sin and the author of sin, Satan.

But even through all of this God is offering us hope.

Picking back up in chapter 9 . . .

Isaiah 9:2–5 NIV - Anglicised

2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. 3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. 4 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. 5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.

Isaiah 9:2

You see, even through all of the darkness and all of the hopelessness, not everybody was sucked into this life of sin.

There were some that stayed true to God.

And for those, they have seen a great light....in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

And remember last Sunday night we talked about walking in the light, because God is the light.

These people have understood God and understood who God is.

And they have chosen to follow God.

And be

The Coming Messiah (vs 6-7)

And because of their choice to follow after God there is hope for all people.

There is hope because they are there to share the message of hope.

They are there to teach the others about the hope and how to place their hope in the One who offers all hope.

and Isaiah goes on to tell them . . .

Isaiah 9:6–7 NIV - Anglicised

6 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 Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 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 and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

And we, thousands of years later know that Isaiah was describing Jesus to these people.

However, they didn’t initially understand that they would have to wait on this deliverer.

They were in bondage right then and there and they were looking for their Messiah to come then.

And they kept looking.

But as they kept looking, they also grew more and more complacent where they were at.

They began to just accept things as they were, and even as Peter tells us, there were some that began to scoff and mock the coming of the Lord.

And when he did show up, they missed it.

They were so far away from God they couldn’t even recognize Him standing right in front of them staring them in the face.

But, what about us?

Are we any different?

Jesus came and through His coming he offered us hope, salvation, eternal life, but have we grown complacent?

Have we just accepted things as they are?

Or do we seek after God with all our heart, our mind, our soul?

Are we anxiously looking for His second coming?

There are many out there who, during this holiday season have no hope.

And we are the key to hope.

We know and understand who Jesus is and what Jesus is all about , but do we share Him with others?

In fact, do we still believe ourselves?

Is Jesus our Lord and our Savior?

We often get lulled to sleep by our own lives.

The hustle and bustle of everyday life.

To going “to and fro” as Paul warns us.

And we forget who Jesus is and the hope that only Jesus can offer us.

Judgment to those who Reject (vs 8-21)

And if we are not careful we will get sucked into a life of sin and a life of bondage.

And we begin placing our faith in ourselves and not in God.

The rest of that chapter talks about the coming judgment and I want to read just a bit of it.

Isaiah 9:9 NIV - Anglicised

9 All the people will know it— Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria— who say with pride and arrogance of heart,

Isaiah

. . . .

Isaiah 9:15–17 NIV - Anglicised

15 the elders and prominent men are the head, the prophets who teach lies are the tail. 16 Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray. 17 Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men, nor will he pity the fatherless and widows, for everyone is ungodly and wicked, every mouth speaks vileness. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.

Isaiah 9:15-

.And as a result of their pride and their arrogance.

As a result of their lies and deception.

Their ungodliness and their wickedness.

Isaiah 9:18–21 NIV - Anglicised

18 Surely wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns, it sets the forest thickets ablaze, so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke. 19 By the wrath of the Lord Almighty the land will be scorched and the people will be fuel for the fire; no-one will spare his brother. 20 On the right they will devour, but still be hungry; on the left they will eat, but not be satisfied. Each will feed on the flesh of his own offspring: 21 Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh; together they will turn against Judah. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.

Isaiah 9:

However, even through all of this God is still with them.

God is still there to offer them a glimmer of hope.

Altar Call

What about us?

What has our lives been like?

How have we responded to God in our lives?

Have we ignored Him?

Have we rejected Him?

Have we grown complacent?

Have we given up on Him?

Have we quit watching and waiting?

Have we sunk deep into sin, not knowing how we are going to get out of it?

Have we stopped waiting on God and decided to make our own way?

None of these ways will work.

And all of them lead us down the path of destruction.

But, even as far as we’ve wandered, God is still there, waiting, watching for us.

Like the story of the Prodigal son, God is there looking for us to return home.

Will we do that this morning?

Will we make that choice that today is going to be different?

Today is not going to be just another one of those days, but it is going to be a new day.

The day when we make our minds up that we are going to follow God once and for all.

That we are going to accept his promise and his gift of salvation and eternal life.

Today can be that day if you will make it. Will you do that today?

The altars are open, we just have to use them.

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