Isaiah Writes 9

The sun has set. The day is over.  My two sons sleep in front of the dwindling cooking fire while my wife sits nearby, winding a spool of wool. Her last task of the day.  In a corner of the room, I sit in a pool of lamp light at my writing table. I lean forward and wet my nib in a small clay jar of coal ink.

At the end of each day, for nearly ten years, I have paused to write what has been delivered to me.  What has been revealed to me.And as I sit down to write, always when I sit down to write, I am reminded of my sin and my hope—for I was placed among the prophets and poets, an oracle to kings, voice of The Holy. 

I did not choose this work.  Long ago this work was chosen for me.

With all Jerusalem I entered the temple, on the Day of the Atonements, in sackcloth, ashes upon my head, mourning the downfall—the leprosy, and last days of Uzziah, our beloved king. All Jerusalem cried out in sorrow. For fifty years we had placed our hope in Uzziah—many questioned if he was not the promised Messiah.

And returning home that night, at the crest of a hilltop, under the stars, I had a vision of the Invisible. That vision which claimed me for this work.

I re-read what I wrote that night. What of the vision mere words were able to hold.

[Isaiah 6.1b-7 (NLT)]

I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!
The whole earth is filled with his glory!”

Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.

Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

Tonight I will be at this table, writing well into the moon’s rise. For I have once again heard and seen—but this—I form a letter, a word. There will be light in the darkness. There will be a battle and a birth. 

The awe, the beauty of what will be, forms a great weight upon the back of my hand.  As my sons sleep and my wife threads wool, the voice of Yahweh echos in the chambers of my bowed head. And as I write, I am also the first to read of this One yet to come.

[Isaiah 9.1b-7 (NLT)]

 …darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.

The people who walk in darkness
will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,
a light will shine.

You will enlarge the nation of Israel,
and its people will rejoice.
They will rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest
and like warriors dividing the plunder.

For you will break the yoke of their slavery
and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.
You will break the oppressor’s rod,
just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.

The boots of the warrior
and the uniforms bloodstained by war
will all be burned.
They will be fuel for the fire.

For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen!

Yes, as I write I remember my sin and my hope—for I was placed among the prophets and poets, an oracle to kings, called to give voice to The Holy. 

There will be light in the darkness. There will be the birth of a king.