A Birth Announcement

Isaiah 8: 17, 22-9: 7

 

 

          Birth announcements are precious. They say things like: Our littlest love, welcome, introducing. They detail the date and length and birth weight of the newest arrival to the family. They show pictures of the newborn adorned in the prettiest white clothing. It’s a big deal. Of course the baby’s name is included. The announcements are sent to friends and family members. Now with the internet and Facebook, they can reach far and wide. Why do we do such things? Why do we go to so much trouble? Because there is new life and that life is part of us, part of who we are. In some ways, that new life is the best part of who we are. We want everyone to know of our good news.

          The gospels of Matthew and Luke present birth narratives of Jesus. They are more than just announcements. They describe some of the details of the Incarnation, the coming of God to earth as a human. Then, there is the gospel of John, which tells us that Jesus was there from the beginning of creation, but became flesh and dwelt among us. The Luke narrative has been memorized by children for time immemorial: “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night.” And so it goes. But long before that night—eight centuries before it—there was a birth announcement. We find it in the book of Isaiah in the ninth chapter.

          Isaiah is one of the major prophets of the Old Testament. He prophesied to the Southern Kingdom of Judah through four different kings. He caught the tail end of Uzziah’s reign, then Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. Ahaz was the disaster of the three. His son Hezekiah got the dubious assignment of cleaning up his father’s mess. The prophecies in the book of Isaiah have often been asserted to be predictions of the hope that Hezekiah’s reign would prove restorative. But one cannot read this passage without feeling the depth and breadth of a prophecy that seems to span centuries, looking beyond immediate relief and earthly rule to something bigger and stronger---to something set apart.

          The historical setting is this. The kingdom of Judah has escaped the clutches of powerful Syria, but to do so, they have made a pact with Assyria. It turned out to be an unholy alliance. Their ally becomes their oppressor and the kingdom is, in the words of Isaiah, turned into darkness. Our study opens with Isaiah promising to wait for the Lord. But his promise is laced with a foreboding of despair for his people as they have fallen under the shadow of Assyria. What follows is in stark contrast to that image of darkness.

          Isaiah points to a future, but he does so in a very specific way.  Theologian John Oswalt tells us that though all of the events about to be predicted are in the future from the prophet’s point of view, the verbs are all in the perfect tense.  Isaiah has been given divine insight. It is from that view that, though he speaks in the uncertainty of his own times, he still can see into the future and describe its events as though they are completed actions. That’s what we do when we use the perfect tense. He can see what will happen and talk about it as done. This is not guessing. This is knowledge.

          In the first verse of the ninth chapter, Isaiah takes us far into the future. He speaks of a day to come with no gloom, no darkness, a day when the land of Israel will again flourish. And then Isaiah goes to a place where only divine knowledge can take him. He says that in the latter time, that is, the future, God has made (see that future perfect tense working?) “glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, the Galilee of the nations.” Isaiah is calling attention to Galilee, the region where Jesus began his ministry on earth some eight hundred years later. And Isaiah refers to the nations, not just Israel or Judah. In other words, the time will come when God’s glory will be seen anew, and it will begin in Galilee, and it will come to the nations, to the Gentiles. Isaiah has just completely re-written the definition of God’s people. In the New Testament, Paul echoes that thought in his letter to the Galatians (6: 15, 16), where he calls Christians a new creation and refers to them as the Israel of God.

          Isaiah now calls us to see this great light which illuminates the nations. No longer shall we labor in a land of darkness. It will be a time for joy. Listen to verse 4: “For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.” No more warriors. No more war. He whose birth is promised will break the yoke that binds, whether it is the yoke of oppression or the yoke of sin. Freedom is promised to both physical and spiritual oppression. And it all comes from God, the author of this joy. Listen to the prophet: he [God] has made glorious…you [God] have multiplied…you [God] have broken the yoke… These are not the works of man, but of God.

          The words of verse six are magnificent, no matter what the translation:

For unto us a child is born,

Unto us a son is given;

And the government shall be upon his shoulder,

And his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

 

          Here is the great birth announcement of history. Government will change. The world will change. And it will all start with the birth of a child, a son. Yes, his lineage will come from the stump of Jesse, King David, just as Isaiah predicts elsewhere, but the lineage of this child, this son, will be deeper than any other. He will trace his roots to the Trinity of God, Son and Holy Spirit. Look at the titles bestowed upon this royal son: Wonderful Counselor-all wise in his plans and purposes. Mighty God-an undefeatable warrior. Everlasting Father-the unbroken cord of kinship and family through which he identifies with and cares for his people. Prince of Peace-this is the promise of a harmonious existence, much more than simply a lack of war. And yet, in all these titles, there is the conspicuous absence of the title of king. This son will be much more than an earthly monarch. King, no; Royalty, beyond measure!

          As beautiful as it is, this birth announcement, why would God, the God of creation, of the universe, choose to arrive as human on earth, much less a helpless baby? Here is one of those God moments from which we can begin to see our Creator.  The gospels, indeed all the New Testament and the Reformed Confessions and Creeds, make it clear that Jesus was both divine and human, fully God, fully man. What could be more human than the Incarnation, the arrival of God on earth as a baby born to mankind? But there is more. If God is the God of peace, who comes to bring peace, will he come as a warrior to secure that peace? Hardly! He would come as he did, as the birth announcement of Isaiah proclaims. John Oswalt says it beautifully: “God is strong enough to overcome his enemies by becoming vulnerable, transparent, and humble---the only hope, in fact, for turning enmity into friendship.”

          What a birth announcement! It’s a little different than those we see today. No height or weight. The given name is withheld, but four titles take its place. It is full of promise. Even more, it is full of promises. But, you might say, Isaiah couldn’t know this. I think you’re right. He didn’t know. But God knew. In verse 7, Isaiah includes this in the birth announcement: “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.” Does that sound like an earthly king to you? No term limits. No termination. Just increase followed by increase.

                                  For unto us a child is born,

Unto us a son is given…

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

 

If there was ever a birth announcement that deserved a positive response to its RSVP, this is the one!