A Light to the Nations – A Messianic Prophecy

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.  For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you.  And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” – Isaiah 60:1-3 (ESV).

This prophecy has a two-fold emphasis.  The Messiah, who is the Light to all nations will come. Then, because He has come, God will put His light and beauty upon the people, attracting the nations to the Light of Christ.  Isaiah is foreseeing the glory of all of God’s people being united under the Light.  The bright future of God’s people calls for faith and action.  We cannot stand dormant in the Light.  “The Lord will arise upon you, and His glory will be seen in you” (v. 2) indicates that God will make a clear distinction between His own people and those who still remain in darkness, those who have not acknowledged Him.

The fulfillment of this prophecy was spoken by Simeon when Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem when he was forty days old.  There old Simeon blessed Jesus and said, “”Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace according to Your word; 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 2:29-32, ESV).  Imagine the joy of old Simeon in seeing and holding the Son of God!  He had been promised the privilege of doing so before his death, and the occasion of Jewish purification of Mary and child was the occasion that linked the prophecy to the event Simeon was experiencing.  This is another example of how God fulfills what He promises.

Jesus Himself said, “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).  He furthermore told us to be lights for Him:  “You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16, ESV).  To be light is to wield positive influence.  We speak of coming to the light of the truth.  A single candle can banish the darkness in a room.  Likewise, a Christian life, lived under the direction, influence and power of the Lord Jesus Christ can make an untold difference in lighting others to Him for salvation. This is every Christian’s calling:  to come to the Light and to reflect His light.

Prayer.  Lord, Christmas was filled with light.  The star shone to lead Wise Men to Jesus at Bethlehem.  “The glory of the Lord” that surrounded the shepherds as they heard the announcement by the angels of the Savior’s birth must have been surrounded by great light.  And Jesus, the Light of the world, tells us, “You are the light of the world!”  Let us arise, shine, for our light is come!”  Amen.

The Righteous Reign of the Branch from Jesse – A Messianic Prophecy

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.  And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.  And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.  He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what His ears hear, but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and with the breath of his lips He shall kill the wicked.  Righteousness shall be the belt of His waist, and faithfulness the belt of His loins.”-Isaiah 11:1-5 (ESV).

The theme of Isaiah 11 is the coming Messiah and how He will transform the world.  In Isaiah 10:33-34, Isaiah had pictured the destruction of evil as cutting down a vast forest: “God…will lop the boughs with terrifying power, the great in height will be hewn down, and the lofty will be brought low.  He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe…”  But “a shoot from the stump of Jesse” (sprouting from that destroyed forest) will come forth and bear fruit unto righteousness.  Jesse, the father of King David, will have seed to accomplish the purposes of God and this twig will grow from the stump that remains after God’s judgment.  This new branch will bear fruit in a new and different world because the Spirit of the Lord will be upon Him.  He will bear the fruit of the Spirit in a three-fold manner:

            (1)  In wisdom and understanding – manifested in leadership;

            (2)  In counsel and might – able to advise about and carry out wise plans;

            (3)  In knowledge and the fear of the Lord – wisdom from God Himself and holiness.

Jesus Himself declared that He was the fulfillment of this prophecy from Isaiah:  “The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.  From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (Matthew 4:16-17, ESV).  Previously, God’s called-out ones had rebelled against Him and fallen short of the Lord’s expectations.  Not so the “shoot…branch…from the stump of Jesse.”   The Messiah will be faithful to God in every respect and live before God in deepest reverence.  He will not be deceived by appearances; neither will He depart from truth, for “the rod of His mouth” will kill the intents of the wicked.  Paul had in mind “the sword of the Spirit,”…“the belt of truth,”..“the breastplate of righteousness”and “the shield of faith” from this Messianic prophecy of Isaiah as he describes the “full armor of God” (see Ephesians 6:11-17).  The Messiah was truly an embodiment of one who had on the full armor of God.  We are told:  “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” Hebrews 4:15 (ESV).

Prayer:  (Praying scripture):“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  (Hebrews 4:16 ESV).  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Temptation (Testing) and Evil

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”-Matthew 6:12a (KJV).

The sixth and final petition in the Lord’s Prayer asks that we not go into temptation and that we be delivered from evil.  Some of the translations render ‘temptation’ as ‘testing.’  Does God tempt us?  James 1:13-15 states, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one.  But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire, when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”  God tests his people in order that their character might be strengthened but He never tempts.  God is altogether good and He cannot be tempted with evil.  He would never entice us to sin or to seek that which would weaken our faith.  But God allows trials and testing to strengthen our faith.  Many examples exist in the Bible:  Abraham was tested by being asked to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.  The test completed, God provided the sacrifice.  The Israelites were tested by their years of wandering in the wilderness.  After His baptism, Jesus Himself was led into the wilderness to be tested.  Concerning the account of Jesus’ testing in the wilderness, most of our translations read:“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness  to be tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1).  The Greek word translated “tempted” here is “peirazo” which can also mean tested.  Jesus had to make choices about falling short of God’s plan for Him.  He was victorious and did not yield to the evil one.  The devil intended to thwart God’s plan and purpose.  If Jesus had yielded (and He definitely did not!), He would have fallen into disobedience to God and would have been disqualified as the sinless Savior.  The areas in which He was tested were (1) to satisfy his physical hunger; (2) to use spectacular power to rescue himself from danger and a short-cut to recognition; and (3) to use a short cut to rule the kingdoms of the world.  Each time, Jesus quoted an appropriate scripture to counteract the devil’s very real power to entice and tempt.  In His temptations, Jesus was an example for us to follow. Jesus “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin”(Hebrews 4:15b). In this world we will be tempted, we will have trials and tribulations.  Pray that God will give us the strength to overcome, to say “no” to the temptations that beset.

The second part of this petition is “deliver us from evil.”  Evil is on every hand and we are sorely tempted by what we see, hear, feel and experience to go astray from God’s teachings and principles. One of our noted Amercian Christian leaders was asked what , from his lifetime of observation and experience, would he advise Christians to earnestly do.  His unhesitating reply was “Pray every day:  ‘Deliver us from evil. Do not compromise your Christian witness or forfeit your influence by letting Satan have the victory” (Dr. Robert Wetzel).  With all the forces of evil that surround us , we ought to have this prayer on the tip of our tongues many times during the day:  “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”