“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)
Isaiah spoke words of comfort to the Jews facing years of exile in Babylon. He stressed that their hope is the light that the Lord will bring them in His time. That hope is a sure thing. 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.
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 is speaking of the Lord God Himself, the Messiah, God Incarnate, Immanuel. Jesus will be that perfect King who will bring healing and salvation not just to the Jews, but to all the nations. He will dispell 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 blaze in magnificent glory over all mankind.
We look forward with hope to the coming of the King. Yet we must 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 sure and certain promise of God’s reign even though we are in the midst of oppressive and violent darkness.