Bring on the Light: Isaiah 9:1-4 (Second Essay)

The repetition or parallelism is a feature of Hebrew poetry; we, therefore, shouldn't try to draw out a meaning from the second half of the verse that differs from or is even deeper than the first.

The theme of light rising for the righteous is a familar one in Scripture. Ps.97:11 says:

"Light dawns for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart."

A few Psalms later we have:

"Happy are those who fear the Lord,
who greatly delight in his commandments....
They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright
they are gracious, merciful, and righteous," Ps. 112:1,4.

When light dawns after a long dark night, the soul is refreshed and realigned. And, the passage goes on to put a "name" on this light--it is "joy." In the space of one verse the word joy (s-m-h) appears three times.

"You have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder, " Is. 9:3.

Note that the two life situations in which joy is expressed reflect the realities of agricultural and war life: we rejoice like harvesters at the harvest; like those who plunder rejoice in war. The Bible rarely lets us escape into an ethereal realm where peace and harmony prevail; even images of joy are laced with images of battle. Yet the joy is real and the sound of the people's cry of exultation is certainly heard.

I think we are only able to experience the true depths of joy which the passage assumes if we are conscious of the way that we have been brought out of the darkness. Light doesn't mean so much to one who has been bathed in it his/her whole life. Warmth doesn't mean as much to those whose constant life has been in 80 degree weather. Joy is felt most deeply by those who know what it is to look squarely at the gloom in the face and see that it doesn't have the last word in their lives.

How has it been that light has dawned for you? Or, might the question be better asked, 'how has light broken through for you?' Or, possibly, are you still in your darkness? There are many things in life which tend to reinforce the staying power of impenetrable gloom. The passage here, however, holds out hope for the time when our joy shall be so great that it approximates that shout of joy at plundering a foe; the shout of joy at a harvest of good proportions.

One textual note of not huge significance should be mentioned. In v. 2 in the Hebrew (v. 3 in English), the words really say "You have not multiplied the nations..." The impression given in all English translations I have seen is that God has multiplied the people of Israel. But the literal reading is that God has not multiplied the (other) nations. Maybe it is because the size of the nations hasn't increased that the people of Israel rejoice.

IV. Breaking Sceptres (v. 4)

It isn't enough for us to raise our voices in joyful shout at the victory that is ours. Verse 4 goes into the true liberation felt by the people of God at seeing the light.

"For the yoke of their burden,
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian."

Ah, the Biblical author doesn't let us escape from his clutches until he has taught us some history. What was the day of Midian? I will not retell the story here; suffice it to say that the narrative of Gideon and the Midianites appears in Judges 6-8. The essence of deliverance described there was a victory of few against the many. The few were guided by a sage commander who knew how to use the powers of noise; he also was one who knew how to listen to God. So, the day of Midian then entered into the consciousness of the people as the day in which God had brought a stunning and unexpected victory. Some scholars see the victories in the period of the Judges (the "day of Midian") as exemplary or foundational for Israel's development of the concept of the "Day of the Lord." What once began in the battlefield now becomes something that happens at the end of time.

But the imagery in v. 4 can be examined even more closely. The Hebrew is difficult and the words are relatively rare, but two kinds of deliverance are assumed by the words. First, there is a deliverance from a kind of slavery. The phrase "yoke of their burden" (Heb. ol subalo) suggests some kind of slavery in which the people were held. This yoke will be broken in pieces or "terrified" (hahitot). No longer will the people face the yoke of servitude, of oppression, of working long hours only to enrich and benefit someone else while enjoying none of the fruit of their own labor. But the second image comes with the other words of v. 4--the "rod of the oppressor"--which suggests not simply a picture of servitude but of general authority over their lives. This, too, will be shattered "as on the day of Midian."

Conclusion

The usual pictures arising in our minds during Epiphany are of scenes of light--calm, serene, blessed. We might see a Rembrandt of the Holy Family bathed in light with the admiring glances of wise men or shepherds. We might also imagine in our mind the calm and peaceful scenes in a Vermeer painting. But the Biblical picture of the dawning of the light is well aware that it only comes after a night of gloom and that it is experienced in images that still reek of violence (plundering of the foe). But this is the season of light. Christ has come into our world, and we are the fortunate recipients of the light he brings. This light changes us from people who formerly were locked in our narrow ethnic communities to those who now explore the "way of the sea" as we are open to the entire world. Christ's light dawning in our lives makes us open to truth, to the world, to the possibility of the light's shining throughout our world. Our burdens, friends, have been broken as on the day of Midian. Still to live as if they were on our shoulders is to misunderstand the truly liberating nature of the light. Come to that light today, and may its freedom and power wash over you.

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