Advent and Anticipation

For many of us this time of year is filled with excited anticipation of Christmas day. A day where we not only get to gather with family around a tree and open presents but we also celebrate the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The four Sundays leading up to Christmas are known as Advent which comes from the Latin word Adventum which means "coming". Advent is the time of anticipation of the coming of the messiah, Christ. This season always reminds me of my favorite Christmas hymn, O Come, O Come Emmanuel.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel is a compiled collection of seven antiphons or calls and responses; there are "Immanuel", "Wisdom", "great Lord of Might", "Branch of Jesse's Stem", "Key of David", "Bright and Morning Star" and "King of Nations" each starting with the "O come" call and the "Rejoice" response.

These words have a meaning for us in the Christmas season, but they also hold a similar sense of the anticipation and waiting felt by the Jews as they were in exile hoping for the promised messiah to come and restore them and their land. For Christians, this anticipation is not just for Christmas and the incarnation, but it is also for us in our anticipation of the second coming. As we think about this and we think about our anticipation of Christ, I want to reflect on each of the verses in this hymn.

O come, O come, Immanuel,

and ransom captive Israel

that mourns in lonely exile here

until the Son of God appears.

Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Immanuel, which means "God with Us" is a promised son of a virgin. Immanuel will restore the people of God and will restore the land of Israel to the days of old. The people of Israel are hearing this from the prophet Isaiah who prophesied to the captives in lonely exile under Babylon. For ancient Israel then, they pray O Come O Come Immanuel as they lay in exile from their home and from the temple. They pray for the restoration of their people and of the land which links them to the favor of the Lord their God. For Christians, we can say "rejoice, rejoice, Immanuel, shall come to you, O Israel" because He has come, but we also can sing the same words as the exiles in Babylon as we await the return of Christ and for the final restoration of His people at the consummation of Christ and the Church. We pray for the second coming of Immanuel that ushers in the new heavens and the new earth.

O come, O Wisdom from on high,

who ordered all things mightily;

to us the path of knowledge show

and teach us in its ways to go.

This verse is traditionally the first verse of the hymn and references both Proverbs 8 as well as Isaiah 11. Isaiah 11 talks about the coming messiah that will be descended from David who will possess the spirit of wisdom and understanding, knowledge and might, and with fear of the Lord on High. We of course can see this in Jesus from an early age. When Jesus was a child, he went missing while in Jerusalem during Passover. They eventually found him sitting in the temple asking questions, surprising everyone by his understanding and answers to questions posed to him. Even more notably, we see in John 1 in reference to Jesus, "In the beginning was the Word... All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made." Wisdom on High will come, he will be the one who ordered all things mightily. John makes it clear that this is Jesus Christ.

 O come, O come, great Lord of might,

who to your tribes on Sinai's height

in ancient times did give the law

in cloud and majesty and awe.

The obvious reference here is the giving of the law to Moses and the tribes of Israel immediately following the exodus. Along with the giving of the law, there was a mighty cloud and thunder surrounding the mountain that struck fear and awe in the people as they waited for Moses to return. Focusing on the giving of the ten commandments found in Deuteronomy five, the word YHWH (יהוה) is used with the vowel pointing for the word adonai or "LORD" translated into English. YHWH is the true name of the Hebrew God. It was treated with such reverence that they would pronounce it as adonai as to avoid saying the name when reading the scriptures while keeping the correct consonants so that the reader knew which name was being used. In the times leading up to and directly preceding Christ the people of God saw many signs and wonders performed by God on high in power and might. We as the church sing asking for the Lord of might to come again and intercede for His people in the second coming of Christ.

O come, O Branch of Jesse's stem,

unto your own and rescue them!

From depths of hell your people save,

and give them victory o'er the grave.

This is quoting Isaiah 11:1 (this is a frequent passage of this post) which reads, "There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit." The Branch of Jesse's stem is an illusion to David's father Jesse, so this is saying that a decedent of Jesse through the line of David will be the one to come and rescue the people of God from the depths of hell. This redemption will ultimately be fulfilled in the resurrection of the dead and the second coming of Christ. The book of Revelation references this passage in Revelation 5:5, "And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

O come, O Key of David, come

and open wide our heavenly home.

Make safe for us the heavenward road

and bar the way to death's abode.

Jerusalem, the City of David, was meant to be a reflection or a shadow of the true Jerusalem, heaven. Likewise, as David has been upheld as the man after God's own heart and was an exemplary king on earth over the people of God, Jesus is the Key of David, the one who opens the gate to the heavenly Jerusalem having made safe the path. Revelation 3:7 makes clear that Christ holds the Key of David and that no one can open or close the doors of salvation but Christ.

O come, O Bright and Morning Star,

and bring us comfort from afar!

Dispel the shadows of the night

and turn our darkness into light.

Throughout scripture we can see darkness and sin being connected. John 3:19-20 says "And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed." God is light, but those who live apart from God love darkness. Isaiah 9 predicts the fall of Israel to the Assyrians and a time when darkness overtakes the land of Israel. Isaiah continues to say that those who walk in darkness will see a great light. Luke draws on this when he says in Luke 1:77-78 that because of God's great mercy, the "Sunrise from on high" will come. This explains why the Jews were expecting the messiah to be a political leader that would drive out the enemies from their land and restore the nation of Israel to its former glory. However, we now, knowing Christ did not come to conquer but to set spiritual captives free from their bondage to sin, can sing this song in praise of what He did, but also in anticipation of the new heavens and earth where He will be a light to all who dwell with him.

O come, O King of nations, bind

in one the hearts of all mankind.

Bid all our sad divisions cease

and be yourself our King of Peace

The king of nations was prophesied throughout the old testament but there are two main references that stick out to me the most. First, the book of Daniel 7:13-14 which says one like a son of man would come before God the Father. The son of man will be given dominion and glory and all peoples, nations, and languages will serve. The second reference, the one often most closely linked to Christmas and to Christ for me is Isaiah 9:6-7 "For to us a child is born, to 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. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this."

No matter where you are at this Christmas season, whether you are eagerly awaiting Christmas and spending time with family or you are praying for Christ to act in your life this season, Christ was born to set captives free from the bondage of sin and death. Though life is hard and full of sorrows, we can sing of the hope of Christ.

We can sing:

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel

shall come to you, O Israel.