Starry Night: Christmas Advent Daily Devotional (Beginning Dec. 1)

December 11

Isaiah 9:6-7 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

     That's our Jesus! And Isaiah wrote it close to 700 years before Jesus' birth! Read on to see more characteristics of Jesus that we know to be true. Notice that the last three verses sound as if the messiah will protect and even elevate the nation of Israel in a literal, physical sense. That will all be true on His second advent, but unfortunately so many of the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day determined that He was not the messiah when Jesus did not come in like a conquering king.

Isaiah 11:1-13 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. 6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. 9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples--of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. 12 He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 13 The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, and those who harass Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.

     Another prophecy was that there would be a forerunner similar to Elijah to ready the people for Jesus. It was made reality in the person of John the Baptist, not to be confused with John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. John's birth was a miracle as Luke 1:7 tells us that Elizabeth, his mother, was barren, and both his parents were advanced in years. Note that even in his mother's womb he is filled with the Holy Spirit.

Malachi 4:5-6 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction."

Luke 1:11-17 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."

     In Luke 1:36 Mary is told by Gabriel that her relative Elizabeth (the mother of John) is pregnant, so she goes to visit. Below describes the reaction to Mary's arrival.

Luke 1:41-45 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."

     This baby, John, that was filled with the Holy Spirit (a rare occurrence in those days as the Holy Spirit did not fill all believers at all times), recognized Jesus preborn presence and leaped for joy! John did all that was foretold by going through the land teaching people about sin and the need to repent and be cleansed from it, as preparation for The One who would free mankind from sin. Then at the proper time, rather than take credit for all that he had done to maintain his followers, he pointed them to the Christ. Read Matthew 3 to learn more about John's ministry. In verse 11 he announced, "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." In the end John was even beheaded because of his fervor for God.

     Isn't it exciting to see how Old and New Testament scripture is woven together to give a fuller picture of who God is and His great plan of salvation? What about those who lived before Christ? How were they saved? Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." They were saved by faith in salvation through God just as we are, though they didn't understand exactly what that salvation would look like. For more on that read Romans 4 which describes how Abraham was saved, and also Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 is often referred to as the "Hall of Fame of Faith" as it lists many people from the Old Testament and the extraordinary things they did because of their faith in God's promises, even though the promises had yet to be fulfilled in their lifetime. Read below for the summary of how great their faith was.

Hebrews 11:13-16 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

     On this side of Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection we can see things so much more clearly than those during Old Testament times. How much more should we be willing to do hard things for God. Don't hold back; the promise is worth everything. This is not our home!

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