Week 1 - A prophesy of hope

Sacred Insight: Context
As you read, look for answers to these questions: What is the context of this scripture? Who wrote it? Who is speaking? At what point in time? Who is the audience? Why?

Often read at Christmastime, Isaiah 9:6 is full of the Christmas spirit of joy and jubilation. When we hear “For unto us, a child is born”, we picture baby Jesus – God’s holy son sent to be the savior of the world! It’s a beautiful prophesy that symbolizes God’s generous grace and love for us.

But the time in which this passage was written, lawns decorated with babies in mangers, candy canes and Christmas lights weren’t a thing. Back then, it was a vastly different scene. Written in 700 B.C. this prophesy was addressed to the people of Judah who were in the midst of constant threat by the Assyrian army. They felt helpless and fearful. They were looking for a great warrior to save them from their looming fate.

So God sent word through the prophet Isaiah that help was on the way. There was just one little problem. This help wasn’t exactly what they were hoping for or expecting.

For one thing, their imagined fierce warrior wielding a sharp sword and armed with a shrewd counter-attack plan was more likely to be carrying a blankie and sporting some drool on his chin. This warrior was coming in the form of a baby. That’s right, a child. Can you imagine being huddled inside a shelter, trembling in fear of enemy attack, only for someone to rush in and say “Don’t fear! Help is on the way…He’ll be the super cute little guy wearing a diaper and pooping himself!”

That would just be weird.

And it only gets weirder. Because, did you catch the time frame of this prophesy? 700 B.C. That means that God was promising the people of Judah a great king to save them…. That is, in about, seven centuries or so.

Kinda seems like a cruel joke.

But this is where the camera zooms out and we begin to see the bigger picture.

How often do we read God’s word and immediately assume He’s talking about us – our immediate problems and worries? Although sometimes this is true, and God is concerned with the most minute details of our lives, we must remember that God is big. Like really, really, unfathomably big. His plans begin with existence itself, trickle down through life on earth and through the many generations of people – from the most ancient of our history all the way to the unforeseeable future. That’s a lot of planning. Our small perspectives can’t even grasp the orchestration of all that.

So, although sometimes when God is speaking, he is speaking directly into the minutiae of our lives, sometimes God is speaking from a much larger scale.

Isaiah 9:6 was one of those times. God was saying then and is saying to us now – hey, take your eyes off of yourselves for a minute and see my kingdom. Things look bleak, but in the grand scheme of things, know that I love you beyond measure and I have a plan. I am here and nothing is beyond my control.

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Our Heavenly Father promised to send us a savior who would be a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. In this prophesy God wasn’t talking about someone who would just save us from our immediate disasters, but would save us from the destructive power of sin in our lives, not to mention from death itself.

God promised to send to his children a savior who would make us fully alive for all of eternity. And he did. He sent Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, laid in a lowly manger, just like he said he would. Jesus fulfilled every prophesy and his work is not done. As life charges forward, the story of Jesus continues to unfold in our lives and in the generations to come.

See, God always follows through on his promises, in his own way and in his own time. And God’s always surprising us, isn’t he? He never does things in the way that we would have prescribed or anticipated, yet His way is always much better than we could have asked or imagined. It’s perfect, in fact.

For unto us a child was born. God’s son was given – to us. To us, sinful and broken as we are. We were given this enormous gift that allows us to step out of the muck of our immediate lives and see the grander, zoomed out scheme of God’s plan – a plan for the eternal rescuing of our souls that goes far beyond the our near-sighted perspective.

What is the context of this scripture? Who wrote it? Who is speaking? At what point in time? Who is the audience? Why?

When you hear “For unto us a child is born,” what do you usually picture? How does knowing the original historical context change the way you hear this verse?

Why do you think the people of Judah expected a warrior instead of a baby? What does that tell us about human expectations?

Can you think of a time when God’s help didn’t come in the way you expected—or didn’t come as fast as you wanted?

How does the idea that God works on a much bigger timeline affect the way we see our struggles?

Live It Out:

See if you have any of the following: A study Bible, index in the back of your Bible, concordances, historical timelines, etc. What contextual information can you can dig up about the author, the time in history in which it was written, what was going on in the lives of its recipients, etc. Pick any contextual element that interests you and find out more.
Do one kind thing for someone this week in a quiet, unexpected way—no credit, no posting.