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My ears aren’t accustomed to hearing prophecies. I’m used to hearing a lot of promises—campaign promises, wedding vows, promises from companies that buying their product will improve my quality of life. Because those promises are usually broken, I start to think every promise holds no weight. Maybe we all carry that skepticism along with us when we read prophecies. They won’t possibly come true, will they?

I shouldn’t let my skepticism about promises color my reading of this prophecy: from Bethlehem will come someone who will rule, not the way those promise-breaking politicians do, but like a shepherd. He won’t say one thing and do another. He won’t disregard his constituency. No, this leader cares for his people the way a shepherd cares for his sheep. He’ll stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord.

The people who heard this prophecy for the first time worried about the same things we do: what to eat for dinner, how to make amends with their mothers, whether their homes and land would be secure. And the prophecy can bring us the same comfort—comfort that we will live securely and in peace. The same Jesus who was born in Bethlehem, fulfilling Micah’s prophecy, will come again to reign as Prince of Peace. Come, Lord Jesus!

Pray with me: Prince of Peace, I am eager for you to return. Some days, both the world and my life seem out of control and beyond repair. But I am trusting you to keep your promise to come and rule like a good and gentle shepherd. Amen.

I first heard the story of Daniel and the lion’s den when I was a child. Make no mistake, however, this is not a children’s story. The ending features whole families, including children, being devoured by lions.

As a child, Daniel was a hero to me. He used his faith in God like a weapon it seemed or like a protective force field to defeat those hungry lions. He won.

Of course, this story isn’t actually about Daniel or his heroism. If we allow Daniel to fade into the background of this story, what’s left?

The first thing I see is just how cruel and power-hungry people can be. Getting rid of the people in our way is not exactly uncommon. The next thing I see is how faithful obedience to God can be a political act with consequences. The fragrance of Christ is threatening to people who reek of selfish ambition and worldly corruption.

In this story, I also see God remaining faithful to his people. God is present with Daniel in the midst of his troubles. He never leaves him or forsakes him. What a comfort that is—the One who rescues is with you always.

Pray with me: Living God, your kingdom is not like the kingdoms of this world. You invert the usual power systems and provide a different set of rules to live by. Living in your kingdom can put me at odds with the world around me, but I trust that even when I feel under attack, you are with me. Amen.

I first heard the story of Daniel and the lion’s den when I was a child. Make no mistake, however, this is not a children’s story. The ending features whole families, including children, being devoured by lions.

As a child, Daniel was a hero to me. He used his faith in God like a weapon it seemed or like a protective force field to defeat those hungry lions. He won.

Of course, this story isn’t actually about Daniel or his heroism. If we allow Daniel to fade into the background of this story, what’s left?

The first thing I see is just how cruel and power-hungry people can be. Getting rid of the people in our way is not exactly uncommon. The next thing I see is how faithful obedience to God can be a political act with consequences. The fragrance of Christ is threatening to people who reek of selfish ambition and worldly corruption.

In this story, I also see God remaining faithful to his people. God is present with Daniel in the midst of his troubles. He never leaves him or forsakes him. What a comfort that is—the One who rescues is with you always.

Pray with me: Living God, your kingdom is not like the kingdoms of this world. You invert the usual power systems and provide a different set of rules to live by. Living in your kingdom can put me at odds with the world around me, but I trust that even when I feel under attack, you are with me. Amen.

I love the little book of Jonah, and my favorite chapter might be the third one. The story of Jonah is about God, Jonah, and the city of Nineveh. In the story of Jonah, it’s important to remember that God’s chosen people are to be a blessing to the nations. It’s also important to recall that God so often subverts our expectations. 

Jonah is given the job of calling the city of Nineveh to repentance, but he resists his own calling at the beginning of this story. He doesn’t want to set foot in this den of evil and be subjected to ridicule and rejection. He doesn’t want what’s best for Nineveh. Jonah wants what Jonah believes is best for Jonah.

God’s plan is to bring Nineveh to repentance, and He chose Jonah as His instrument for bringing His salvation message to those people. At the end of this story, Nineveh does repent, but their change of heart only happens after Jonah first listens to and repents of his own wrongdoing. Chapter 3 is about Jonah’s own repentance. To fulfill his own calling and the calling of God’s people more generally to be a blessing to the nations requires a changed heart and a willingness for self-sacrifice. The blessing comes through that process not our own prowess.

Unlike Jonah, Jesus was obedient to God’s calling right from the start. Like Jonah, Jesus also spent three days in the dark dank suffering of sacrifice. His obedience even to death on a cross is what makes it possible for us to be gratefully obedient. As part of the chosen people of God, we too are sent out to be a blessing to the nations. Like Jonah, that blessing flows from God through our sacrificial obedience to God’s gracious redemption plan.

I love the little book of Jonah, and my favorite chapter might be the third one. The story of Jonah is about God, Jonah, and the city of Nineveh. In the story of Jonah, it’s important to remember that God’s chosen people are to be a blessing to the nations. It’s also important to recall that God so often subverts our expectations. 

Jonah is given the job of calling the city of Nineveh to repentance, but he resists his own calling at the beginning of this story. He doesn’t want to set foot in this den of evil and be subjected to ridicule and rejection. He doesn’t want what’s best for Nineveh. Jonah wants what Jonah believes is best for Jonah.

God’s plan is to bring Nineveh to repentance, and He chose Jonah as His instrument for bringing His salvation message to those people. At the end of this story, Nineveh does repent, but their change of heart only happens after Jonah first listens to and repents of his own wrongdoing. Chapter 3 is about Jonah’s own repentance. To fulfill his own calling and the calling of God’s people more generally to be a blessing to the nations requires a changed heart and a willingness for self-sacrifice. The blessing comes through that process not our own prowess.

Unlike Jonah, Jesus was obedient to God’s calling right from the start. Like Jonah, Jesus also spent three days in the dark dank suffering of sacrifice. His obedience even to death on a cross is what makes it possible for us to be gratefully obedient. As part of the chosen people of God, we too are sent out to be a blessing to the nations. Like Jonah, that blessing flows from God through our sacrificial obedience to God’s gracious redemption plan.

“The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this” -Isaiah 9:7b

If you had to come up with an overall theme for the book of Isaiah, this phrase would be a pretty good choice. Isaiah, more than any other prophet in the Old Testament, takes a view of history that is radically God-centered. In chapter 7, when king Ahaz won’t ask the Lord for a sign, God gives him one anyway. In Isaiah, the foreign empires of Assyria and Babylon are merely God’s instruments of judgement against Israel. Even the prophet Isaiah himself moves to the background of the book pretty quickly. We rarely hear firsthand accounts from him, and by chapter 40, he does not show up by name at all. Instead, it is God who is speaking and acting, in judgement and blessing, to Israel and the nations.

I think this is a very rare perspective today. Instead, ours is a materialist view of history (and our lives). When things in our lives go well, we look for ways in which we can take responsibility for them. What are the things that we have done that have caused us to be so successful in this? Or, when things go poorly, we seek to hone in on the primary cause, whether it’s something that we did or (more likely) something that others did. Then we work as hard as we can to make sure that it never happens again.

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with trying to learn from our mistakes or successes. However, often behind this desire is an assumption: it’s all on me. Whether things succeed or fail, whether we solve this problem or not, it’s ultimately on us. This tends to produce tremendous anxiety-driven activity.

Isaiah and the Incarnation are a strong critique of this view. They invite us to peek into the heavenly throne room to see what real action, what lasting change, actually looks like. Salvation, for Israel and for the nations, does not come through any program, process, power, or plan of humans. We are far too lost, far too frail to accomplish that. It is only by the zeal of the Lord, and the incarnation of the Son of God himself that salvation will be accomplished.

In Advent, we are given the opportunity to move from a man-centered focus on what we have done and are doing to improve ourselves, our communities, and the world. Instead, we get to focus on (and rest in) what the zeal of the Lord did and is doing through the life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God.

“The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this” -Isaiah 9:7b

If you had to come up with an overall theme for the book of Isaiah, this phrase would be a pretty good choice. Isaiah, more than any other prophet in the Old Testament, takes a view of history that is radically God-centered. In chapter 7, when king Ahaz won’t ask the Lord for a sign, God gives him one anyway. In Isaiah, the foreign empires of Assyria and Babylon are merely God’s instruments of judgement against Israel. Even the prophet Isaiah himself moves to the background of the book pretty quickly. We rarely hear firsthand accounts from him, and by chapter 40, he does not show up by name at all. Instead, it is God who is speaking and acting, in judgement and blessing, to Israel and the nations.

I think this is a very rare perspective today. Instead, ours is a materialist view of history (and our lives). When things in our lives go well, we look for ways in which we can take responsibility for them. What are the things that we have done that have caused us to be so successful in this? Or, when things go poorly, we seek to hone in on the primary cause, whether it’s something that we did or (more likely) something that others did. Then we work as hard as we can to make sure that it never happens again.

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with trying to learn from our mistakes or successes. However, often behind this desire is an assumption: it’s all on me. Whether things succeed or fail, whether we solve this problem or not, it’s ultimately on us. This tends to produce tremendous anxiety-driven activity.

Isaiah and the Incarnation are a strong critique of this view. They invite us to peek into the heavenly throne room to see what real action, what lasting change, actually looks like. Salvation, for Israel and for the nations, does not come through any program, process, power, or plan of humans. We are far too lost, far too frail to accomplish that. It is only by the zeal of the Lord, and the incarnation of the Son of God himself that salvation will be accomplished.

In Advent, we are given the opportunity to move from a man-centered focus on what we have done and are doing to improve ourselves, our communities, and the world. Instead, we get to focus on (and rest in) what the zeal of the Lord did and is doing through the life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God.