Devotion: Promises Made Promises Kept
Please read the scripture from the weekend: Isaiah 9:2-7
The Old Testament Book of the prophet Isaiah is sometimes called “the Fifth Gospel” because so much of it is about the Messiah God will send to save his people in New Testament times. In our scripture this week from the ninth chapter of Isaiah, the prophet repeats God’s promise of a savior: “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.”
Isaiah looks to the future, but he also looks back. Things were tough in Isaiah’s time (760-673 B.C). In 722 B.C., the powerful Assyrians had conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel where 10 of the tribes of Israel lived, and deported them in waves to Assyria. Named for the pagan god Assur, the Assyrians were Bedouins known for their brutality. As so often happened in the Old Testament, the conquered tribes had turned to idol worship, betraying their promise to the true God.
Isaiah was a prophet to the Southern Kingdom, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who feared they were Assyria’s next target. Isaiah called them to repentance because they, too, had turned away from God. Isaiah reminds the people of God’s promise of the Messiah, but he also reminds them of God’s power and what God did in the battle of Midian.
The Midianites were descendants of Abraham and his second wife. They had turned against the nation of Israel and conquered it sometime in the 12 Century B.C. The Israelites – who at that time had also turned against God — cried out to God for help. God appointed Gideon as a judge (leader) to save Israel. The story is told in the sixth and seventh chapters of the Old Testament book of Judges.
God tells Gideon he will give him a great victory over Midian. Gideon recruits troops from the tribes, about 32,000 against Midian’s 135,000. But God says that’s too many – other peoples will think it was Israel that won the victory, not God. God whittles down the number and eventually 300 men who lap water like dogs – as opposed to kneeling down to drink – are chosen. Gideon divides the 300 into three companies and arms them with trumpets and clay jars with torches inside and tells them to follow his lead.
They surround the Midian camp at night. They blow their trumpets, smash their jars, and hold their trumpets and torches aloft while shouting, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” God causes the Midianites to turn on each other with their own swords. Many die, but some flee. Gideon sends messengers to three of the tribes and they kill those who fled.
Clearly the victory belongs to God; he delivered his people as he promised. Isaiah recalls this story to remind the people of his time that God fights for those who love and obey him and he is with us always. Isaiah gives them hope, and then he gives hope to us all when he lays out the Gospel: God will send us Jesus, our Savior, who will be our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. Another promise of God, made and kept.
Holy God, in this season when we celebrate the birth of your Son, remind us to keep our eyes on Jesus and cling to your mercy and grace. Amen.
Written by Cheryl Stubbendieck
Cheryl Stubbendieck is a member of Sheridan’s Devotion Writing Team, leads the Wednesday Morning Women’s Bible Study and the new 9 Months in the OT Old Testament reading project at Sheridan. She and her husband Jim have two sons: Aaron, his wife Chaitra and their son Theo, 3, live in Houston; Reed lives in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
