Advent Isaiah 8:16-9:7 Study Guide: Light in the Darkness
Community Group Study Guide — Hope - Light in the Darkness
Isaiah 8:16-9:1-7
Study Information:
When you’re in deep darkness your eyes naturally look for any source of light it can find to try and help you see. I recently had the opportunity to do a guided night hike in complete darkness. It was short at a little less than a mile, but it was under a canopy and we were not allowed to turn on any flashlights for the time and the moon was not full. Naturally we moved pretty slowly and relied on whether the person in front of us stumbled or stayed upright! It was interesting how creepy it felt and the need to move really slowly. At the same time, your eyes do adjust to let in more light and you naturally look for any source of light to help you in that time of need. One of the themes of the Advent season is the theme of light, which comes from Isaiah 9:2, God’s response to the darkness of his people was to send light. If we expand out the context of that promise we learn about how the people of God looked for light in anything but God and his word, and God described himself as hidden from them so that they’d be brought to a place of darkness and need to look to God for light. Isaiah 8:16-9:7 causes us to reflect on where we look to for light as it promises us that God will bring an end to darkness and suffering through his Messiah, the incarnate Christ, whom we celebrate in Christmas.
The Hiddenness of God
Isaiah 8:16-22
In our previous study guide we zoomed out and looked at the national crisis of the people of Israel with the Assyrian empire. Isaiah 8 and 9 are right in the middle of that crisis and show us how the people responded to this time of national darkness and God’s promise of a new dawn. Notice that Isaiah began this section with an appeal to hope and waiting on God and at the same time recognized that God was “hiding his face” and the proper response was hope in such a season. The people of God did not choose hope though, instead they chose to look for light in the darkness with the things of earth and demonic practices such as mediums, necromancers and inquiring of the dead (Isaiah 8:19). God had spoken to the king and gave the people a clear path forward to the problem of Assyria, they just did not like the answer. Isaiah described this time as God “hiding his face,” but as we move through the text we notice that God was not hiding, rather the people just did not like what he was doing (Isaiah 8:17). First, they looked to these demonic practices for hope and that came to nothing. Second, they turned from God and his word and thus had “no dawn (Isaiah 8:20).” Finally, the result of this was their great distress, hunger and rage. Notice the direction of where they look in the text, they look up to rage at God and the king, and they look down to the earth, presumably for hope and light, but only find gloom and anguish.
Their state was a thick darkness.
How do we respond to darkness? Suffering and hardship can pull many of us towards God for comfort and hope, but there are many who turn from God in such seasons. Elie Wiesel’s book, aptly named Night, detailed his own de-conversion from Judaism in the wake of living through the holocaust, which would be some of the most unimaginable suffering one could go through. As you read the book you can see the main character wrestle with some who held their faith and others who came to the conclusion that there would be no end to the darkness and therefore no God. We will naturally look for light in thick darkness. Can you imagine a world where God can shine light into troubled times? The hope of the gospel is that God sends forth a great light in the darkness if only we’d have eyes to see (Isaiah 9:2).
A Light Dawns
Isaiah 9:1-7
God promised that he would come to his people as a light that dispelled the darkness once and for all and there would be no more gloom (Isaiah 9:1) Notice how God called out the region of Galilee, which was so critical for the ministry and mission of Jesus in the Gospels. Where does this light come from? For to us a child is born.
God talked about this light in Isaiah 9:2-5 as a military victory where a nation bursts forth in joy having their oppressor overthrown. Their yoke of service and slavery broken once and for all. More than that, all the aspects of battle, from worn out boots to blood soaked garments, were burned away in the fire. You can imagine being at war as a nation for a long period of time and the joyful celebration when the battle was done. Likely you’ve seen images of parades and celebrations following the deflation of victory after WWII, that is the same image being used in Isaiah 9, but the enemy was more than the kingdom of Assyrian or Babylon, the enemy was the serpent in the Garden defeated once and for all to free us from sin, death and separation from God (Genesis 3:15).
How was this victory accomplished? Isaiah 9:2 “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulders and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” The light in the darkness is that God the Son came to establish his kingdom. The people of God are invited to look up in hope in God rather than look up in hatred of God in times of darkness because the light that God gives his people is better than any light we can find on earth. Rather than looking to human solutions we are once again invited to wait on God and hope in him. God’s solution to the darkness must have seemed crazy to the original readers of this prophecy. Wait, a child will undo all this darkness? Yes. But more than an earthly king who would lead them into battle, this child would be God himself with them establishing justice and righteousness forever on the throne of David. The forever language should clue us into the reality that this is more than just a human ruler, but also look at the titles used for this child. Wonderful Counselor points to his qualification to rule, Mighty God to his divine identity and power, Everlasting Father to the relationship he has to his subjects and Prince of Peace to the kind of world he will create. God would move from “hiding his face” to being present with his people for their deliverance.
What are some ways we can look for light in darkness? First, we can remind ourselves that God is not hiding his face from us. Rather, we know that God cares deeply for our sorrow and demonstrated it by sending his son. Second, we are invited to wait and trust in God and to look up rather than to look to the things of the earth. Finally, God has given us well worn spiritual practices to walk in his light. This looks a lot like prayer, following God’s teaching even if it doesn’t make sense and opening up to others as we trust in Christ.
At your community group:
Take 15-20 minutes to share about how God has been at work in your life, prayer concerns and pray for one another.
How did God speak to you through the scripture and the sermon this week?
Discussion Questions:
Read Isaiah 8:16-22
How did the people of God respond to the darkness of the Assyrian military threat and how does this show us one of the responses people often take in times of suffering?
What are some reasons we can be tempted to look up and rage at God and look down to the earth for solutions or hope?
Read Isaiah 9:1-7
God used the image of victory in a battle to describe the light he planned to bring to the people? What does the victory produce for the people and what enemy was defeated?
Isaiah 8:17 described God as hiding his face (presence) and then Isaiah 9:6-7 describes God with us to rule and save. How was this child described and what makes him so different from a normal child? Finally, how does this image of God coming to us in time of darkness give you hope or joy in this season?
