Text: Isaiah 7:14 & Isaiah 9:2-7
It’s burgundy, worn down in some places, soft and mellow like crust of a holiday pie. The gold foil lettering spells out his name. This Bible was a gift from a pair of Jesus-loving grandparents at the occasion of my husband’s birth, full of hope for his future. Now, more than three decades later, this book thumps with their heartbeat, his heartbeat, and the heartbeat of all God’s people through the ages. It’s the book of Life, rich and layered, offering stories of hope and peace and redemption to all who open it.
I’ve seen that Bible all over the place, in all seasons of our life. It’s been a steady presence, a well-worn and well-trusted touchpoint. We prayed with it in hand while we were dating, and I wondered if one day I’d have gold foil that mirrored his last name. We cried into it when our third son Asher was born gravely ill and with no prior warning. That tattered and aged burgundy Bible has been a character in each scene of our life, its lines always spoken with Hope.
If you’re a Christian—a believer in this upside-down Kingdom and its King who saved the whole world—you already know how the story ends. You already have hope. But, did you know there are little love notes, evidence of the hope of a coming King, all throughout the Bible?
The book of Isaiah is known as one of the most important prophetic books of the Bible. As a new Christian, I was utterly fascinated by the threads that were woven between the Old Testament and the New. The Old Testament was no longer just a set of clunky books filled with rules and lists of kings; it was alive with tiny arrows showing the way to our Savior. Bible scholars believe that Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies written in the Old Testament!
The words of the prophet Isaiah act as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments, the whole book telling of a hope and salvation that man is powerless to create. This is pretty radical considering Isaiah was speaking among a group of people well-versed in how to be “good” according to the law. But tucked into the book of Isaiah is a promise of a coming King who will change everything, who will hold the government on His broad shoulders but will come as a child. It promises hope.
Hope. We see it all through Scripture. But it’s not hope in ourselves or what we can do—it’s hope in the promises of the One who never lets us down. It’s Hope who came as a tiny baby, turning the Old Testament prophecies into realities and making a big, beautiful pile of fresh promises for us to cling to. Like the words in that burgundy Bible, those promises are true for every generation, and the Hope who holds them will never fail.
For an added layer of worship during this sweet season of adoration and expectation, we’ve created a Spotify playlist for Advent 2014! You can find the complete SheReadsTruth | O Come Let Us Adore Him playlist at this link, or listen to today’s track on the player below. Enjoy!
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Love these verses so much!! How the OT and NT connect is amazing! Everything in the OT is foreshadowing our great Savior coming to save us! He is good! He is faithful! Even when we don’t understand his plan!
Jesus’ birth was a promise of real hope, not the facade of hopeful things, events, and people that this world “promises”. Praying that we all cling to real, earth shattering hope this Advent season glorifying God for his presence in our lives and the yearning for all those who may not know him around us.
What an amazing witness you are to your son ! I believe another sign from God that he is faithful even during the worst of times .
I’ve been pondering Gods amazing love… He could have destroyed us and started again. He could have easily wiped the slate clean, but God loves us so much, and desires to have relationship with us SO MUCH, that he came himself as a man. He suffered, the agony and pain of the beatings and the cross – himself.
God came. He did it. For us.
God did this for me. He did it for you.
That’s what love looks like.
That’s who God is.
This is the love of our father, for his children. One who lays down his own life.
He healed all our sickness, forgave every sin, crushed death – all to get to us. His desire for relationship with us came at a great cost, which he has paid in full.
What amazing love.
Why would I not want to forsake all and follow him?
Ahhhhhh…. Beautiful Jesus.
Be blessed sisters!! x x x
So many times I get upset and feeling too worn down and like there’s not enough of me to go around. And yet it’s so hard to remember in those times that I am not meant to be enough. Jesus is enough, and the promises we receive through faith in him are the only things that will ever be enough. What an amazing thing it is when you think about how long ago the birth of Jesus was prophesied. Praise God for his love and desire to give us that never ending promise!
I know exactly what you mean by feeling not enough. We so easily stretch ourselves too thin, thinking the whole world is our responsibility. But how freeing it is to know that we serve a God who overcame the world.
I’m just finishing a month of craziness where I wasn’t allowing myself any rest. So good to hear that he came to destory the rods that burden is.
Hope has been my prayer word for the past two years and I love seeing God remind me of his never ending hope repeatedly!
Thank you for giving us LIFE! ❤️❤️
So blessed to have this series this Advent and for a God that is so good and loving! His promises are everything!! My mom got back some important biopsy results today and everything turned out ok….so uplifted by His goodness !!!!!
I love the verse 9:7 like most of you. But mostly because it is awesome to see that God wants to ZEALOUSLY give us his Son, increase peace and his government, and establish the throne of David forever! He wants to do these things with great energy and enthusiasm! If that doesn't show his crazy love for us, I don't know what does! We are so greatly loved!!