“For there will be
no gloom for her who was in anguish, in the former time He brought into
contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time
He has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of
the nations. The people who walked in
darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.”-Isaiah
9:1-2 (ESV).
We go back to Isaiah 8:22 to read the
context and understand the spiritual darkness of the time right before the announcement
of the coming of the Messiah who will bring light and truth: “And they will look to the earth, but behold,
distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish.
And they will be thrust into thick darkness.” In the midst of this spiritual gloom
comes a light of great hope. Naming
areas of the Israelite nation—Zebulun, Naphtali, Jordan and Galilee ‘of the nations’—Isaiah the prophet
reminds them that a great light is coming to them. He projects his thoughts from the present
“gloom” to the time when they can expect deliverance and light from the
promised Messiah. The land of Zebulun
was in the northern region of the Promised Land, the first of the land to come
under attack by foreign invaders. Isaiah’s prophecy foresaw how the Messiah
would launch His worldwide mission from “Galilee of the nations.” And, indeed, in the fullness of time, when
Messiah did appear on the earth, and when He gave His ‘marching orders’ to His
band of disciples, He gave them the Great Commission to “go into all the world” from a mountain in Galilee. This reflected, also, the light of His truth
that He had come to redeem people everywhere who will turn to Him in repentance
and faith. That is the nature of the
Light of the World, the Messiah, who sheds abroad His light and His truth “to those who dwelt in…deep darkness; on
them has the light shined.” And,
thankfully, that includes you and me who have come to the truth of His
light. A significant aspect of this
Messianic prophecy is that Isaiah uses the past tense verb. He is so confident and assured of the
Messiah’s coming that even as he wrote eight centuries before the Messiah came
to earth, he could write as though it was a certain and accomplished
mission. The prophetic vision sees the
future as already fulfilled.
And speaking of fulfillment of this
prophecy, what passages in the New Testament corroborate the testimony of
Isaiah’s vision? As Jesus began His
earthly ministry, Matthew quotes almost verbatim these verses from Isaiah in
Matthew 4:15-16. Moreover, Jesus was
preaching, teaching and healing in the area of Capernaum, Zebulun and Naphtali,
“so that what was spoken of by the
prophet might be fulfilled” (see Mt. 4:12-14). When Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus up
to Jerusalem to the Temple at the time of His purification, old Simeon, a
devout and righteous man, upon beholding the Baby, said of Him in a revelatory
utterance: “for my eyes have seen Your salvation that You have prepared in the
presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory
to your people Israel” (Luke 2:30-32). We must add, too, one of the great “I am” statements of the Lord about
Himself: “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life” (John 8:12, ESV). In making this declaration about Himself,
Jesus linked His coming to earth and His purpose in coming to Isaiah’s prophecy. He broke through the gloom of hopelessness,
despair and spiritual darkness to bring the light of salvation. Many other Old Testament prophecies also
declare Him as the Light.
Prayer.
Thanks be to God that the light still shines in the gloom of spiritual
darkness, drawing people to Jesus, the Light of the world. Thank You, Lord, that the light has shined
into my heart. Amen.
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