St. Matthew’s Ev. Lutheran Church + Benton Harbor, Michigan
The 3rd Sunday in Advent, December 13, 1998
Isaiah 35:1-10
"Oh, Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel, And Ransom Captive Israel"
By Pastor Timothy H. Buelow
The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God. 3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you." 5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. 8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, 10 and the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Dear Friends in Christ: The Old Testament recounts for us the history of Israel. But the New Testament tells us we’re to learn from their example. In many ways, then, Israel’s history could be called, to use the definition of a parable, "an earthly story with a heavenly meaning." In Isaiah, prophecies often take the form of a Russian nesting doll. There are several layers of meaning—several layers of fulfillment. There is the fulfillment for ancient Israel, there is the fulfillment in the first coming of Christ to be our Savior, and there is the final fulfillment in Christ’s return to judge the earth and take us to heaven. All of those come together in our celebration of Advent and Christmas. All of them are represented in the great Advent hymn: "Oh, Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel." Today we want to consider one of Isaiah’s great prophecies verse by verse under the theme of that wonderful, perceptive hymn.
1. That Mourns In Lonely Exile Here
"Oh, come, oh come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here,Until the Son of God appear."
Israel was mourning in lonely exile, far away from their home, off in distant, heathen Babylon. Just listen to the poignant words of Psalm 137 "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?" (Ps 137:1-4)
We know what it’s like. Sometimes our hearts are just too heavy to sing, as we sit in lonely exile in this foreign land, longing to be in our true home. We ourselves have known captivity. Just as the sins of their fathers caused the captivity of all their children in Babylon, we also have been exiled from paradise by the sins of our first parents. We were born captives of Satan and sin, and as long as we still have to live with sin and Satan’s temptations, we’ll be mourning. We mourn when we have to deal with death—a fact of life in this foreign land, caused by sin. We know what sorrow and suffering are because of sin. These were not present in our parents’ true home, but they will be now "Until the Son of God Appears." So we pray in song:
2. Free us from Satan’s Tyranny and Depths of Hell (vv. 3-4)
"Oh, come O Root of Jesse, free Your own from Satan’s tyranny; from depths of hell your people save."
God’s message to his children in Babylon was one of comfort. They wouldn’t be left there forever. They weren’t helpless victims of some cruel conspiracy with no hope. Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you."
God would destroy Israel’s captors. The Babylonian empire would come to a swift and decisive end in a one night coup, as their drunken leader was slain after a night of partying by the assassins of the Medes and Persians. But there’s more to this prophecy. These words were written not for them alone, but for us as well. Our captivity to sin and Satan would come to an equally swift end. In one day, a day called Good Friday, Jesus would crush our enemy’s head, and in the Scripture words of the Hallelujah Chorus, "The Kingdom of this world, has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever."
He has saved his people from depths of hell. And when Judgment Day comes not only will Satan never be seen or heard from again, but all his helpers will be locked up with him forever. Do you think the world is unfair? Fairness will come, "divine retribution" will come, when all the world sees just who God’s friends really are, and who his enemies are. On that day, for all flesh to see together, God’s friends will be honored and rewarded and his enemies publicly humiliated and sent to everlasting punishment.
3. Make Safe the Way That Leads on High (5-9)
So here we are. Our arch enemy the Devil has lost the key battle in the war. He cannot win. But what about getting home?
"Make safe the way that leads on high And close the path to misery."
After the Babylonian King was slain, it still took a while before the return to Jerusalem could be organized. It was up to the new King, the King of the Persians—Cyrus—to issue the decree. By royal proclamation Cyrus decreed that the people of Israel were free to return to their homeland. God would figuratively build a highway in the desert from Babylon back to Jerusalem. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. 8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness.
What a day when that highway from Babylon to Jerusalem suddenly, finally, had people on it! It was like the day a years-long freeway construction project finally is completed and opens to traffic with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The children of Israel could finally begin their long journey home.
But like that Russian nesting doll, there is another story here. The opening up of that highway in the desert was a picture of the highway God through his Son would open for us from our home in exile on earth to our home in heavenly Jerusalem. God began that construction project with the birth of His Son in Bethlehem and it was completed with his death and resurrection. He has "made safe the way that leads on high." A highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there.
Not every Jew in exile returned. None of those who had rejected God came back. None of those who had made themselves comfortable in Babylon left. The people who returned to Jerusalem after 70 years of captivity were a holy people—a people dedicated wholly to God. God sent Judah into exile for a wholesome purpose. "To purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." (Titus 2:14b)
We who are travelling the highway to heavenly Jerusalem have been purified too. We’ve been purified by faith in Christ’s perfect life and his innocent death. No one who loves this earth will travel the road to heaven. God himself weeds out the hypocrites, just as he did for Israel in Babylon. The prophet Malachi foretold it all. "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years. (3:1-4)
Christ has opened the highway to heaven for all. He has made safe the way that leads on high. He has purified us through the blood of His Son, and all of us—and only us—who long for that better home and trust in him are on that road.
4. Open Wide Our Heavenly Home (1,2,10)
"Oh, come, O Key of David come, And open wide our heav’nly home."
When the exiles began their journey home, it was a time of great excitement. But it was a tough journey. There would be long and difficult days as they traveled many months through the wilderness. What a fantastic day it must have been for them when together with their leader Ezra the priest, they finally arrived at the great city their ancestors had lost because of sin, 70 years before!
Their joyous, festive arrival in Jerusalem from exile in Babylon is a picture of the day that defies description, the fantastic day when we will reach our final destination: New Jerusalem, Heavenly Jerusalem, Jerusalem the golden, with milk and honey blest. Sure the journey is long and difficult, but it’s more than worth the trouble, which we will forget in the twinkling of an eye because of the overwhelming happiness that overtakes us.
Our text concludes with a picture of that day: And the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
I know not, Oh, I know not What joys await us there, What radiancy of glory, What bliss beyond compare
They stand those halls of Zion, All jubilant with song And bright with many an angel And all the martyr throng
There is the throne of David, And there from care released, The shout of them that triumph, The song of them that feast;
Oh, sweet and blessed country, The home of God’s elect! Oh, sweet and blessed country, That eager hearts expect!
Remember the nesting doll? St. Paul wrote: "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." And Jesus said "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me." (John 5:39)
Isaiah foretold a time when the Lord himself would finally open a new road in the desert and the redeemed of the Lord would return from Babylon to Jerusalem. It would be a difficult journey on the road the Lord had prepared for them, but the triumph at their arrival would wipe out all memory of hardship along the way. But at the same time, Isaiah was proclaiming a greater truth. The Lord himself would come down to earth, our exile home, and prepare for us a highway to heaven, after defeating our captor, Satan. Our journey is difficult too, but we will forget all the hardships on the day we reach our heavenly home. Scripture promises that there will be a party in the sky itself, when all the true Israelites are reunited. "After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." (1 Th 4:17)
Do you see the double meaning of Advent? We celebrate the time when God first began the building project of his highway to heaven. And yet we keep our eyes fixed and our hearts hopeful for the day when we reach our destination at the end of the freeway. It’s that hope that makes it possible for us to sing, even while in exile!
Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to you O Israel!
Amen.