MIDWEEK ADVENT 1
December 1, 2010
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Isaiah 9:1-7

“WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?”—A RIGHTEOUS RULER!

Isaiah 9:1-7 (NIV) “Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan— 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. 3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. 4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. 5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
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. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.”

What are you waiting for? Grammatically that’s a very simple question. It asks a person what they are waiting for. But it’s not really used that way in America, is it? In American idiom, it’s kind of a taunt or jibe, used to push someone or manipulate them into moving faster. What are you waiting for? You see in America, we don’t like to wait—for anything. The spiritual irony there is that a major part of our lives as Christians is waiting. There are some things we can’t hurry up or make God move faster. We have to wait. Our midweek Advent series this year uses the question, “What are you waiting for?” grammatically. It connects us New Testament believers with Old Testament believers by looking at what they were waiting for with the Messiah to come the first time and what we continue to wait for as we wait for Jesus to come the second time. What are you waiting for?
To help us we turn to prophecies spoken about Jesus by the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah served God’s people as prophet for sixty years starting around 740 BC. He served God’s people as they transitioned from a relatively good king named Uzziah to some bad kings that would take their country to new spiritual and moral lows. You can imagine being a believer back then, watching your nation decline. Struggling, knowing God wanted you to honor your king but seeing him live immorally and worship idols. You can imagine the Jewish grandpas and grandmas shaking their heads as they watched the gradual moral decline.
Hold on, we don’t have to imagine, do we? We know what it’s like to live at times when we have a hard time giving the respect and honor we owe to our government leaders. We see graft, corruption and waste. We see lives that are not examples of morality. We live at a time when the one true God is cast aside in favor of idols of all shapes and sizes. We live at a time when grandpas and grandmas shake their heads at the decline in morality, the immodest way many dress, the forceful march toward sexual deviance, the language and pictures shown on TV. I can imagine that the dying off generation of WWII survivors known as the “Greatest Generation” must shake their heads. Was this what we fought for?
What do we want? What are you waiting for? A righteous ruler. Someone we can respect. Someone who will lead us down a God pleasing rode. That’s what Old Testament Israel was waiting for too. God said it would come. “Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan— 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” God encouraged His people through Isaiah. Gloom and doom would not last forever. There would be a light. Hope. “You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. 4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.” There was something to look forward too. There would be joy for God’s people as a yoke of oppression would be removed. A reference was made to Midian’s defeat. If you recall, that was a victory God brought through Gideon defeating the hordes of Midian with the tiny force of Gideon and his 300 soldiers.
You can’t help but think ahead to Jesus, that tiny looking baby, who would defeat the Devil and his hordes for us. God had Isaiah think about that too. “ 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. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” God had Isaiah to look forward to the time when the child would come. He would be a ruler for God’s people, wonderful, mighty. He would rule with justice. He would be a righteous ruler. Exactly what the people wanted. It was what they were waiting for, longing for.
It’s what we are waiting for too. The Child was born as Isaiah foretold. When He came some people, perhaps many people were disappointed because He didn’t set up an earthly government and an earthly rule. They forgot that God had said this would be an everlasting ruler who rule would go forever. Not everyone was disappointed though. Some believed what God said and saw that Jesus was the ruler they needed and they now had Him no matter who their earthly ruler was. So they could submit to their government even if it was the Romans, they could pray for their kings and others in authority. They could do this because their real ruler was Jesus, a righteous ruler, who ruled them with His love and would continue to rule all things until the He ended this age and ushered in eternity.
We can too. What are you waiting for? If you are waiting for our nation or any nation to look and act righteously in the eyes of God and man you will never be satisfied. You will be disappointed and discontent. You will forfeit the joy God wants you to have right now. While we have had and may have government leaders who are more moral than others none of them are nor can be Jesus. Historically every effort that has been made to set up a Christian government over a nation has failed. But Jesus didn’t. He is your righteous ruler. He rules you right now. He has lifted the oppression of sin off of you. He is currently ruling all things for the good of the church and that means you. Take comfort in that as you deal with your government. Pray for your leaders. And look forward to that time when we will live with Jesus in every way imaginable and then some, the kingdom of heaven, where we will serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness. This is most certainly true. Amen.