Hope begins in the dark – Ann Lamott
Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness – Desmond Tutu
The first week of Advent is known as a week of hope, prophesy, anticipation and maybe to a lesser extent, a week of patience.
After the Garden of Eden and the flood in Genesis we continue to follow the story of humanity and their response to God.
As time passes we start to zero in on a particular man and a particular family, the family of Abraham.
God promises Abraham he will be the father of many nations and his people will be a blessing to all nations. (Genesis 12:1-3 and 17:3-7)
It’s a message of hope to a man and wife who are convinced they’re too old to have children of their own.
We see this promise continue with Isaac and Jacob (Israel).
This family is then brought into captivity in Egypt and the Egyptian Empire puts their boot on their throat and tries to keep them down for roughly 400 years.
But God continues to bless them and they continue to grow in number.
The odds are stacked against them but they keep hope because of the promise made to their forefathers.
They’re then led out of Egypt with Moses; they wonder the wilderness; they have multiple decisions to follow God or do their own thing … it’s a mixed bag on how they decide.
They finally return to Cannan.
The status quo begins (to an extent) with the Israelites led by a series of judges, including Deborah, Gideon and Samuel … (about 400 years)
But they want more. They want a king.
God warns them that it won’t go well for them … but they keep asking for one and he gives them Saul, then David, then Solomon and his son Rehoboam.
And by the time the fourth king takes the thrown … the Kingdom of Israel is split in two (2nd Chronicles 10).
Israel lasts roughly 165 years before they’re destroyed by Assyria.
Judah lasts about 340 years before they’re taken captive in Babylon (Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego).
The Persian Empire takes over Judea.
Esther saves the Jews and they return home to rebuild the temple and the family of Abraham begins to rebuild.
At this point we don’t have a lot of Biblical insight into what happens but history tells us –
- Judea is ruled by the Greeks, Egypt and Syria before the Maccabean Revolt (164 BC)
- Rome rules Judea starting 65 BC
- Herod the Great rules as the King of the Jews – 37 BC-4 BC
During all of this, the prophets continually speak of a coming Messiah. Someone who would reign from David’s throne and make things right. (2 Samuel 7:12-16) I imagine the people continued to hang on to these words, year after year.
Isaiah also gives us a lot of prophecies about the coming Messiah. He’s a prophet to Judah – likely between 740 BC and 680 BC. He strongly encourages the people of Judah NOT to put their faith in their kings, their alliances with Egypt or other nations. Their only hope was their faith in Yahweh.
In Isaiah 8, Isaiah warns that Assyria will invade the land … but he tells the people, don’t lose hope. (Isaiah 9:1-7)
Later on Isaiah promises that the Messiah would proclaim good news to the poor. (Isaiah 61:1-7)
He also promises greatness for God’s people. (Isaiah 62:1-12)
So we have a people who know the ins and outs of conflict. They’re camping out in all this conflict with just the glimmer of hope that came from their prophets.
They’re begging God for help.
They thought their kings would bring hope.
They thought rebuilding the temple would bring hope.
They thought the Maccabean Revolt might bring hope.
And their prophets keep telling them … just hold tight …
Just wait a bit longer …
A Messiah is coming …
And there’s a lot of pain …
But it’s always the darkest before the dawn …
