O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
Who mourns in lonely exile here,
until the son of God appear
Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel.
So go the opening words to the famous advent hymn. Emmanuel is a familiar Christmas term, coming in Matthew’s telling of the Christmas story. Its use echoes a story in Isaiah 7. Judah (the southern kingdom, ruled by David’s family) are ruled by Ahaz, a king who does not show David’s loyalty to Yahweh. In the midst of a national crisis with Judah facing a threat from her northern neighbours, Syria and Israel, Ahaz is warned that if he does not stand firm in his faith he will not stand at all. He is then told to ask for a sign.
Ahaz ‘piously’ refuses, but Isaiah rejects the refusal and promises him a sign anyway. A young woman will have a child and will call the child Immanuel. Immanuel literally means ‘God with us’. This sounds reassuring but, as chapter 7 and 8 continue, it is seen to also be a warning. Judah will see Assyria, who Ahaz relied on for help, coming against them, and in the midst of that the cry is “Immanuel” – God is with us, but with us for judgement.
And yet an alternative way is held out:
Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered!
Isaiah 8:9-10
Listen, all you distant lands.
Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted;
propose your plan, but it will not stand,
for God is with us.
Once more we see Immanuel (God with us) written, but this time as an encouragement – Israel can stand in the midst of nations challenging her because God is with her. God’s presence is both a warning to those who proudly resist his coming and trust their own schemes, and an encouragement to those who humbly trust his ways in the world.
That warning and challenge are seen in Matthew’s gospel as Jesus appears and causes division. He brings judgment on those who reject God, but grace for those who will trust to him.
But if Jesus has come why do we sing “O come O come Immanuel”? Is it just poetically placing ourselves back in Israel’s shoes. I don’t think so. I think there are good biblical-theological reasons for suggesting that we as God’s people today are strangers and exiles in this world (1 Peter 1), and that we are looking to the coming of the King.
Advent is not only a time of preparing to celebrate the first coming of Jesus, it is also a time to look forward to his second and prepare ourselves for that reality.
As we do that the haunting melody of “O come, O come Immanuel” has never been so needed as it is at the end of 2020.
2020, this year of Covid-19 and the untold damage not only to lives and health of individuals but to the wider well-being of our society. In a year where so much pain and injustice has been on our news feeds we need the hope held out in this song of a God who is with us in the midst of it all, and who is coming one day to make all things new.
We need the words that will help us to lament the state of our world.
Words that will help us cry out for the coming of the King.
Words that have been sung for centuries as Jesus’ people long for their King to come.
1 O come, O come, Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.2 O come, O Wisdom from on high,
who ordered all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show
and teach us in its ways to go.3 O come, O come, great Lord of might,
who to your tribes on Sinai’s height
in ancient times did give the law
in cloud and majesty and awe.4 O come, O Branch of Jesse’s stem,
unto your own and rescue them!
From depths of hell your people save,
and give them victory o’er the grave.5 O come, O Key of David, come
and open wide our heavenly home.
Make safe for us the heavenward road
and bar the way to death’s abode.6 O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
and bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night
and turn our darkness into light.7 O come, O King of nations, bind
Translated by John M Neal from an 8th century hymn
in one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
and be yourself our King of Peace.
Joshua's Tree Rooted 