A Great Light
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. Isaiah 9:2
READ Isaiah 9:1–3
In 2018, twelve Thai boys and their soccer
coach descended into a mazelike cave, intending to enjoy an afternoon
adventure. Due to unexpected rising water that forced them deeper and
deeper into the cavern, it was two-and-a-half weeks before rescuers led
them out. Dive teams, thwarted by rising water, attempted the rescue as
the boys sat on a small rock shelf with only six flickering flashlights.
They spent hours in darkness, hoping that somehow light—and help—would
break through.
The prophet Isaiah described a world of brooding darkness, one
overrun by violence and greed, shattered by rebellion and anguish
(Isaiah 8:22). Nothing but ruin; hope’s candle flickering and fading,
sputtering before succumbing to dark nothingness. And yet, Isaiah
insisted, this dim despair was not the end. Because of God’s mercy, soon
“there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress” (9:1). God
would never abandon His people in shadowy ruin. The prophet announced
hope for his people then and pointed to the time when Jesus would come
to dispel the darkness sin has caused.
Jesus has come. And now we hear Isaiah’s words with renewed
meaning: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light,”
Isaiah says. “On those living in the land of deep darkness a light has
dawned” (v. 2).
No matter how dark the night, no matter how despairing our
circumstances, we’re never forsaken in the dark. Jesus is here. A great
Light shines.
By Winn Collier |
How are you prone to experience darkness and
despair? Consider this image of Jesus as the great light—how does this
light renew you with hope?
God, there’s so much darkness. I fear
sometimes that the darkness will overwhelm me. Be my great light. Shine
on me with radiant love. | | | | |
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
King Ahaz of Judah, threatened by the armies of Israel and Syria
(Isaiah 7:1–6), turned to Assyria for help instead of trusting in God (2
Kings 16:7–9). Because Ahaz didn’t turn to God, Isaiah warned that He’d
instead use Assyria to punish Judah (Isaiah 7:17–25; 10:5–19). Of their
unrepentant unfaithfulness, Isaiah warned that the people of Judah
would “have no light of dawn” and be “thrust into utter darkness” (8:20,
22). But God loved them too much to leave them there. He’d bring them
“a great light,” starting from Zebulun and Naphtali, lands in Israel’s
far north ravaged by the Assyrians (9:1–3). Isaiah prophesied of a
future time when “Galilee of the nations” (v. 1) (or “of the Gentiles”)
would be honored. Seven hundred years later, Matthew tells us that this
was fulfilled when Jesus, the light of the world, came into Galilee and
did much of His
public ministry there (Matthew 4:12–17).
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