SONGS OF THE SEASON

Join us Friday night 7 p.m. Central Time for a time of enjoying some songs of Advent. Yesterday we talked about God using prophecy to foretell the coming of the One who would redeem or ransom those who are separated from God.
As we look at the words to an old Advent Hymn, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, we see how prophecy is used in song. The Gospel is also clearly presented in this hymn.
Here is a link where you can see the words, learn the melody and see a reproduction of the painting showing Isaiah writing of the birth of Christ.
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/c/ocomocom.htm
Here are the words:
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse,
freeThine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

O come, Thou Day-spring,
come and cheerOur spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.

The ti­tle comes from the well known Isai­ah 7:14: “Be­hold, a vir­gin shall con­ceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Im­man­u­el.” Im­man­u­el is He­brew for “God with us.”
Jesse is the father of David, the second king of Israel. The LORD spoke to King David that after David's death God would raise up a seed [descendant] after David. God would establish the throne of the kingdom of this man forever. God would be His father, He would be a Son to God. See 2 Samuel 7:12-14; Isaiah 9:7 and 11:1.
John the Baptist's father, Zachariah, sang in prophecy: “The day­spring from on high has vis­it­ed us.” Luke 1:78. Why did He visit? " Luke 1:77-78 says: "To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, The day­spring from on high has vis­it­ed us."
Isai­ah 22:22 says “The key of the house of Da­vid will I lay up­on his shoul­der,” which in turn re­fers to Isai­ah 9:6 “The gov­ern­ment shall be up­on His shoul­der.”
Haggai prophesied: "And I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts." chapter 2:7
Isaiah 9:6 writes of the coming Prince of Peace.

We see the Gospel in this hymn as we notice the ransom or rescue of a people lost and dead in their transgressions. Held captive to the forces of evil and satan. Christ, both the wisdom of God and the power of God, came from heaven [on high] to be incarnated as "God with us". God who is morally pure and perfect came as Son of God, Son of Man [from seed of David] by the Holy Spirit of God and a virgin woman. Born sinless, Christ lived a sin-free life and was a willing sacrifice to take upon His own flesh the full wrath of God against all who have sinned and thus are destined to the fires of hell. This includes ALL mankind. The Law, given on Sinai, was unable to ransom those held captive to satan's power. Jesus is a perfect and a WILLING sacrifice --fully God, fully man, so is supreme over all animal sacrifices. For all who cry out for the mercy of God, repent from their sins and turn in complete surrender and trust in Christ as their ransom payment, they will experience joy of being delivered from the depths of hell and the tyranny of satan into the Kingdom ruled by the King of Peace.
This hymn also causes us to look forward to the second Advent of Christ when as King He will " bind in one the hearts of all mankind and bid our sad divisions cease."
How about you, my friend? Do you have peace with God? Turn in trust and repentance and experience the joy of your salvation.