God’s promise of His presence was a promise to be present: A promise to enter into humanity.

This week, we have been discovering the promise that God made to provide an opportunity for all humanity to experience God’s presence, which is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Isaiah. In this section of this letter, we see the prophet Isaiah, who was God’s spokesperson to the Jewish people, the very person who God used to reveal the reality that God's presence is desperately needed  because of the problem of our selfishness and rebellion, used by God to reveal His promise of His presence.

After revealing the reality that the Jewish people were wandering through life separated from the presence of God as a result of their selfishness and rebellion; as the Jewish people began to experience the consequences that came from their selfishness and rebellion, the result was the inevitable emptiness that comes from the absence of God’s presence.

And it was at this point that God would have been perfectly justified in walking away forever from the Jewish people and all of humanity. But that is not what God did. Instead of responding by walking away, God responded with an amazing promise. Instead of promising to walk away from humanity forever, God made a promise to take a step toward humanity. In Isaiah 9:1-5, we see the prophet Isaiah proclaim that God has made a promise to the Jewish people and to all of humanity. A promise of His presence in the form of a rescuer.

Isaiah then reminded the Jewish people of an event from history that is recorded for us in a letter in the Old Testament of our Bibles called the book of Judges. In Judges 6-8, we read of an event from history involving a man named Gideon, who God raised up to lead the Jewish people during a period in their history when they were oppressed by another foreign nation, called the Midianites. And the Jewish people were very familiar with this event from history.

And now, God is promising to bring another deliverance from oppression through another rescuer. Once again, God is promising to enter into their story in a powerful way. Once again, God is promising His presence to be present with the Jewish people. And the Jewish people were expecting that God’s presence would be present through another leader like Gideon. What the Jewish people did not expect, however, was exactly what Isaiah said next, which we read in Isaiah 9:6-7:

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

Now almost all of us are at least somewhat familiar with these verses. We are at least somewhat familiar with these verses because we have received a Christmas card or a coffee mug with these verses written on it. We are at least somewhat familiar with these verses because we have listened as a radio or T.V. station read these verses as part of a commercial.

But place yourself in the shoes of a Jewish person some 2700 years ago. You do not have radio or T.V.; you do not have the letters that make up what we know today as the New Testament. From your perspective, God seems to be distant and disinterested. You are not seeing God’s presence and activity in your lives. There were unanswered prayers. There is a decline in the health and the wealth of the nation. The Northern part of the Jewish Kingdom has already been conquered and you fear that you are next.

And here comes a prophet from God that is promising that God’s presence will once again be present in the lives of the Jewish people through a rescuer. And the prophet then tells you that God’s promise of His presence will be in the form of a baby born to the Jewish people sometime in the future. How would you respond? What would you say? "Really? I mean seriously Isaiah, what do you mean that a child will be born to us and that the government will rest on His shoulders?  I mean a minute ago you were reminding us of Gideon as an example of deliverance from oppression, and now you are talking about a baby doing the same thing? How is that going to work?"

 You see, God’s promise did not involve a repeating of the past. Instead, God’s promise was radically different in both scale and scope. "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."

God’s promise of His presence was not going to be achieved through a rescuer that would lead the Jewish people into a war to overcome oppression. This would not be might making right. Instead, God’s promise of His presence would be achieved by God humbly entering into humanity as a child. God’ promise of His presence would be achieved by God taking on flesh.

And God’s promise of His presence would result in One who would rule over all humanity. God’s promise of His presence would result in One who would give wondrous counsel that is unfailing in the depth of its wisdom and insight. And God’s promise of His presence through a rescuer would be God in a bod; this King, this Messiah, this Rescuer, would not be a man who would temporary sit on the throne. This Messiah, this Rescuer would lead for all eternity.

And most importantly, God’s promise of His presence would result in One who comes in peace and who establishes peace between God and between men. God was going to fulfill the promise that He made to King David to usher in a kingdom where humanity would have the opportunity to experience an eternal state of peace with God and one another. A kingdom that would be firmly established and sustained through justice; a kingdom marked by what is right and noble.

Isaiah then explained that God’s promise of His presence was an ironclad promise, because the zeal of the Lord will accomplish this. Now this word zeal conveys the sense of having a consuming concern for another’s best and an unwillingness to allow anything to hurt or destroy another. Isaiah is revealing for us the reality that God’s passionate pursuit of humanity and His promise of His presence will not be derailed by anything.

You see, God’s promise of His presence is not simply to bring a king among kings. God’s promise of His presence is to bring the king of kings. God’s promise of His presence was a promise to be present; A promise to enter into humanity. And that is what Christmas is all about. Christmas is all about God’s promise to reveal His presence in the most radical way imaginable, so that all of humanity could know that God was real and that God was present and active in the world.

As with any promise, however, a promise made is a promise kept. A promise isn’t a promise unless the promise is kept. A promise that is not kept is meaningless and even worthless. Or worse yet, a promise that is not kept, could, at its core, be deceit at the deepest level. So the Jewish people, after hearing God’s promise through Isaiah waited for God to keep His promise. And they waited. And they waited. Some waited longer than others. For over 700 years they waited. Many gave up on God’s promise. Many continued to walk away from God and viewed God’s promise as meaningless and worthless. Because a promise made is a promise kept.

Next week, we will discover that God is a promise maker and God is a promise keeper. We will discover how God kept His promise. And we will discover when God fulfilled the promise to provide an opportunity for all humanity to experience God’s presence...