Isaiah prophesied during dire times. The words he spoke were God’s words to a people who had strayed and whose consciences had to be pricked and prodded with rebuke as well as offered hope and restoration. During the Advent season we often go to the famous Immanuel Chapters 7-12. From those chapters launch wonderful sections of promise and hope for those who would return or begin to follow the one true God.
One of those hopeful and comforting sections is found in Chapter 26. It’s a future song of praise. “In that day” it begins, declaring that there was a potential future of joy for those who return to God. The promises are rich and sweet. In particular verses 3-4 declare what is possible.
3 You will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
What amazing words to pin hopes on! Perfect peace seems impossible, doesn’t it? I think of Joseph as he is leading the donkey bearing his betrothed struggling with the burden of the Christ Child in her womb. The Roman Government had commanded a census to be taken from their home towns (Luke 2:1-7). The chronicler Matthew describes Joseph in this way.
Matthew 1:18-23
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
The most recent edition of the New International Version of the Bible characterizes Joseph as “faithful to the law”. In other versions the word “righteous” is used. What both of these things mean is that Joseph was a righteous man. Now righteous does not mean perfect. Rather, as the The New Bible Dictionary describes it, it is “right action and fair dealing with others”. That is the possible righteousness of humans. But where does that righteousness come from? Is it something that we determine to do by our own will power? Or is it a gift? Paul wrote in Romans 5:17 about “God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness [which can] reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” Paul affirms and declares the realized promise and hope that had come down through the ages through the likes of Isaiah and other prophets.
But Joseph had not yet met Jesus as his Savior. He only had the prophesies. So, what enabled Joseph to be righteous? It was the promise and the strength of God, the Upright One, who gave him that marvelous gift!
We continue to read in Isaiah 26: 7-9.
7 The path of the righteous is level;
you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.
8 Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws,
we wait for you;
your name and renown
are the desire of our hearts.
9 My soul yearns for you in the night;
in the morning my spirit longs for you.
When your judgments come upon the earth,
the people of the world learn righteousness.
Surely the words preached by Isaiah in Chapter 26 were embedded into Joseph’s heart and mind. That enabled him to accept an “unwed” mother despite the perceived shame of the community, travel miles required by the oppressive government to register, listen and follow the directions of God through assurances, dreams and directions when faced with the terrible threat of death against God’s infant Son. As he trudged along that road between his home and Bethlehem, it is likely that his heart cried out with the prophet, “We wait for You! My soul yearns for You! My spirit longs for You!”
Can we cry out in this same way? Is God’s promise so deeply embedded into our hearts and minds that we are able to receive that gift of righteousness to see His Kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven?
May our Merry Christmas come from God’s gift of righteousness and our longing for Him embedded in our hearts.
© M.R.Hyde 2023
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