Darkness and Light

The people walking in darkness

have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.

Isaiah 9:2

A week ago today I was sitting in the dark quite literally. We lost electrical power as an ice storm covered Northeast Oklahoma. By Tuesday last week, nearly 500,000 households were without power across the state. They are calling it the biggest power outage in Oklahoma history.

Being without electricity to light or heat my house for over four days has given me the opportunity to more deeply reflect on the above words from Isaiah.

The first thing I realized was that I had only thought I had known what darkness was until this past week. The fact is that many of us have never really experienced true darkness. Sure we go outside at night, but with the street lights and lighted business signs there is so much "light pollution" in our towns and cities that we have trouble seeing even three stars in the sky at night. Well last Monday night, after going out to eat at a local Chic-Fil-A that was lucky enough to still have power, my wife and I were coming down what is usually a busy four lane road. We were the only car on it, and although we knew we were in the middle of our city, it felt like we were in the middle of now where. And as we came to stop at an intersection, my wife asked "where are we?"

The answer - we were less than a 1/2 mile from our home. But with no traffic signal light, street lights, or retail business lights, the intersection was unrecognizable. I told my wife that there should be a gas station on this corner and over there across the street should be our favorite ice cream store. And yet it was too dark to see either business and so we felt lost even at one of the most familiar of all places to us.

Things only got worst when we made it to our house. We entered without any flashlights. So we began stumbling around the furniture in the living room hoping to run our hand across one of the three we had left somewhere in the room. Only then could we find the matches to light the candles so that light could shine once again in the darkness and bring some degree of comfort to us. (By the way, after this experience, we always took flashlights with us when we left the house.)

Of course Isaiah had no idea about light bulbs and electricity. He did know about darkness. He knew all too well the disorienting effects of darkness when trying to walk on a cloud covered moonless night. He also knew the comfort that even the smallest of lights could bring as it shown brightly in the darkness.

So is it any wonder that he chose to use the images of darkness and light to write this message of hope to the people of God. Isaiah wrote these words during the time of King Ahaz of Judah. It was a time of spiritual and political darkness in the land of Judah.

Spiritually Ahaz was one of the detestable kings of Judah turning away from the worship of the LORD and adopting pagan practices which included the sacrificing of at least one of his own sons..

Politically Judah was in a war with the northern kingdom of Israel (also called Ephraim) and Israel's strong ally Syria (Aram). The war wasn't going well for Judah. Isaiah tries to tell King Ahaz to not be afraid and to trust in the LORD. Rather than listen to Isaiah, King Ahaz allies himself with Assyria, a growing power to the northeast of Syria. The immediate result of this alliance is that Assyria defeats Syria and Israel. The long term effect is that Judah has now become a vassal state and when they no longer want to pay their yearly tribute to Assyria during the reign of King Ahaz's son Hezekiah, Assyria attacks and conquers all the fortified cities of Judah. (You can read King Ahaz's story in 2 Kings 16, 2 Chronicles 28, and Isaiah 7:1-8:4.)

It was in the midst of these dark times that Isaiah says that a great light has dawned for the people walking and living in the shadow of the valley of death.

What was the light that Isaiah saw? It was a child - more specifically a son. (Isaiah 9:6) But who is the child that Isaiah refers too? Some argue that it was Hezekiah Ahaz's son. Hezekiah did reopen the temple and knocked down the idols that his father had built and is considered a good king.

But others say no it was Josiah, Ahaz's grandson. Because under Josiah, the temple is cleaned up and remodeled. During this process a book of the law is found. When Josiah hears it read, he immediately calls for a national repentance and orders that Passover once again be observed.
But perhaps both arguments are wrong. Look at the titles that Isaiah gives to this child: Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Almighty God, Everlasting Father.

Now maybe one could argue giving the title of Wonderful Counselor and Prince of Peace to Hezekiah or Josiah. But would Isaiah call either of them Almighty God or Everlasting Father? I doubt it. It's as if Isaiah is writing beyond himself. He is writing about something that he himself cannot imagine or even fully understand.

It was the early church who first saw that the child born to bring a great light to the people walking in darkness was born not to Ahaz or Hezekiah in Jerusalem, but to Mary and Joseph in a stable in Bethlehem.

The second thing I learned from my ice storm experience is the great joy that occurs when light does return to your home. When the lights came back on in my house, I couldn't help but call my parents and some of my friends and share with them the good news. After 4 1/2 days of no lights, I really wanted to do the happy dance right there in my living room.

This makes me think how much more is the good news that the light of the world has stepped into the darkness of my heart. And how much more should I be willing to share that good news with people who are walking in the land of darkness.