“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” (Isaiah 9:2)
What is the cause of joy for the righteous? Isaiah stresses that it is the light that the Lord brings by dispelling the darkness of evil that dominates our world. The light of salvation, the light of God’s glory has dawned on us but one day it will shine over all mankind. Isaiah prophesied the preservation of the righteous remnant as part of the reign of light. The full culmination of the glory of God will be at the coming of the ideal King who will rule with justice, mercy and eternal sovereignty. He will be unlike any earthly King even those that ruled Israel and Judah. He was speaking of the Lord God Himself, the Messiah, God Incarnate, Immanuel. Jesus is that perfect King who will bring healing and salvation not just to the Jews, but to all the nations.
The righteous remnant looked joyfully toward that day, even though the coming of this King would be many years after Isaiah prophesied. To get to that point Judah had endure some tough tribulations. We, like that remnant, look forward with hope to the coming of the King. Yet we too us faithfully persevere through tribulations and persecution. We must continue to trust God in the midst of violence and chaos even though what we see and experience tempts many to doubt Him and others to forsake Him. We hold steadfast the the promise of God’s reign even though we are in the midst of oppressive and violent darkness because the Lord is always true to His Word.