Handel’s Messiah – Advent –Part 3 – “For Unto Us A Child is Born”
#1 Background
Handel and Jennens quote several verses from Isaiah 7 and 9 in Messiah. In this session we will attempt to understand what these words meant at the time when they were written, as well as how they came to take on new meanings when they were read by subsequent generations of believers.
Handel and Jennens’ use of an ancient text about a promised and promising birth invites us to analyze how old words can take on new meanings. As we follow the ways in which these words from Isaiah are re-contextualized even within the Bible itself, we may gain a deeper appreciation of what it means for prophecy to be fulfilled. In a sense, it is "filled full," as new meanings are poured into the waiting words. Some participants may find this idea somewhat unsettling, especially if they have grown up thinking of prophecy in a purely predictive sense. Yet this way of describing the fulfillment of prophecy is not intended to diminish the inspiration of the original prophetic words. It does, however, shift the emphasis from the magical to the miraculous. What could be more of a miracle, after all, than inspired words being recycled for God’s own purposes throughout the centuries!
#2 Isaiah 7:1-17
To understand the Isaiah 7 and 9 passages we must turn back our mental timetables to before the Babylonian exile. Isaiah of Jerusalem, whom we met in Session One, had his hands full with faithless King Ahaz of
The year was approximately 733 B.C.E.
To give Ahaz some credit, we ought to acknowledge that he was between a rock and a hard place. He could either join the alliance and risk antagonizing Assyria, or he could appeal to Assyria for help and hope that it would respond in time to save the city of
As the scene between Isaiah and Ahaz opens, Ahaz is nervously checking the city’s water supply. Would it last? What should he do? The fate of the city and the whole Southern Kingdom rests in his hands.
Isaiah 7:1-17
Isaiah Reassures King Ahaz
1 In the days of Ahaz son of Jotham son of Uzziah, king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel went up to attack Jerusalem, but could not mount an attack against it.
2 When the house of David heard that Aram had allied itself with Ephraim, the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.
3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field,
4and say to him, Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smouldering stumps of firebrands, because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah.
5 Because Aram—with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah—has plotted evil against you, saying,
6 Let us go up against Judah and cut off Jerusalem and conquer it for ourselves and make the son of Tabeel king in it;
7 therefore thus says the Lord God:
It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass.
8 For the head of
and the head of
(Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered, no longer a people.)
9 The head of Ephraim is
and the head of
If you do not stand firm in faith,
you shall not stand at all.
Isaiah Gives Ahaz the Sign of Immanuel
10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying,
11 Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.
12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.
13Then Isaiah said: ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also?
14Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.
15He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.
16 For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.
17The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on your ancestral house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.’
->Messiah
|
Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Emmanuel, God with us. |
|
(Isaiah 7: 14; Matthew 1: 23) |
# 3 For unto Us a Child Is Born – Isaiah 9:2-7
Isaiah 9:2-7
2 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation,
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.
4 For the yoke of their burden,
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors
and all the garments rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onwards and for evermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
It is important to keep in mind that the original meaning of the word for "messiah" was "anointed one." It was used with reference to the ceremony at which a king was anointed with oil and thereby designated as God’s specially chosen representative (see 1 Samuel 10:1). Isaiah’s poem describes such a king in unusually glowing terms. During his reign "all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire" (verse 5), and he will be known as the "Prince of Peace" (verse 6). As opposed to Ahaz, who could not even take advice well, this king will be called "Wonderful Counselor." His strength is such that he is designated "Mighty God."7 Finally, he is called "Everlasting Father." Perhaps this, too, should be read in contrast to Ahaz, who was neither much of a father nor particularly long-lasting. One could hardly accuse Ahaz of establishing his kingdom "with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore" (verse 7)!
Such an interpretation of Isaiah 9:2-7 requires us to read "against the grain" of our usual assumptions, since most of us are familiar with these verses primarily through their reading during the Advent season or through their inclusion in Handel’s Messiah. Yet, in the context of Isaiah’s political situation, one can see how they could well have originated with reference to Ahaz’ son, the beloved King Hezekiah. Following as it does on the heels of Isaiah’s prophecy in 7:14 ("Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son …"), the birth announcement in 9:6 seems most likely to refer to Hezekiah ("For a child has been born for us …").
Does this mean that centuries of interpretation have been wrong in reading these verses as a reference to Christ? I do not think so. Theirs is simply an example of framing the text within a different context, a practice which should add to the passage’s significance but does not require us to neglect all its previous meanings. In the next section we will explore some of the ways in which the Old Testament itself encourages this process of
"recontextualization."
->Messiah
Bass
|
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; |
|
|
(Isaiah 9: 2) |
|
#4 New Frames for Old – Matthew 1:18-25
When Matthew sets out to give his account of "Jesus the Messiah," he includes the story of Jesus’ miraculous conception and birth. Read Matthew 1:18-25.
Matthew 1:18-25
The Birth of Jesus the Messiah
18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.
20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’
22 All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23 ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’,
which means, ‘God is with us.’
24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife,
25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
After describing how Mary found herself with child by the Holy Spirit, he claims,
All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
"Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us." (1:22-23).
We recognize the source of this prophetic saying as Isaiah of Jerusalem, and the text as Isaiah 7:14. If we look closely, however, we will see that the quote is slightly different from the one we used in our examination of that Old Testament text. Most significantly, the phrase "the young woman" is now "the virgin."
We may well wonder why Matthew would have misquoted his own Scriptures! Yet, the changes in this verse reflect not so much Matthew’s innovation, as his use of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible known as the Septuagint.8 This translation uses the word parthenos to translate the word which in Hebrew simply means "young woman." While parthenos is not always used to denote literal virginity, this is its most common connotation. Thus, we can see how the Septuagint translation of this verse lent itself to Matthew’s interpretation. His use of the Greek assisted his attempt to reframe the ancient text in the context of the life of Jesus Christ.
We see something similar happening in Matthew’s appropriation of Isaiah 9:1-2. In the first verse from Isaiah 9 the picture is of the desolate lands of Zebulun and Naphtali, two of the northern tribes of
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness on them light has shined.
Messiah
|
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. |
|
|
(Isaiah 9: 6) |
|
#5 Matthew 4:12-16
Small wonder that Matthew should make reference to these verses as he tells the story of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, the former
Jesus Begins His Ministry in
12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to
15 ‘Land of Zebulun,
on the road by the sea, across the
16 the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned
In his slightly modified version of these verses from Isaiah, Matthew proclaims Jesus as the "great light" that shines "for those who sat in the region and shadow of death."