God's Big Hint
Written by Ed Allen
Saturday, 02 December 2000 19:00
Isaiah 9:2-7 and Hebrews 1:1-3
Two or three nights a week Diane and I play a game with the boys that we call “quizzies.” We make up questions about a variety of different subjects and have them answer in turn. “What is the capital of Cuba?” “What African country established a system of Apartheid in 1950?” “What’s the chemical formula for water?” “Find the misfit: Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretsky, Patrick Ewing?” If they get one right, they get 10 points. If they miss one, Diane and I get 25 points. The first team to 100 points wins.
Every now and then the score will be close, victory and defeat are within sight and the question will be a gettable one but whoever it lands on cannot quite come up with the answer. The response is predictable.
“Give me a hint.” “Just tell me the first letter.” “Where would I have heard about it?”
We usually cave in and go through a variety of hints, because ultimately we want them to win. We want them to get the answer right.
The HINT
That’s what Advent is. Advent is God’s great hint. It’s like the first finger taste of a great feast being prepared for us. It’s like seeing a commercial of the greatest vacation spot we ever imagined.
“Hey, here’s a hint,” God says. “This is what’s coming. I want you to get it right. I want you to completely understand.”
Of course, the stakes are much higher than a game of quizzies. If Jesus was right in what he taught, then when we die, we will leap out of time and space and pass into another dimension, a dimension he called “the age to come.” Where and how we exist in that dimension is determined by whether or not we take God’s hint and get the right answer. I hope and pray that over the next four weeks of Advent, you will hear God’s hint in a fresh, new way.
If you have the kind of relationship with God that sustains you, one that acts as the central operating system of your life then I hope these Sundays will be a powerful reminder to you of what God has done for you. I hope you will be moved to look beyond the hustle and bustle of the season and seize the real meaning behind it. I know you want to do that. I hope and pray these reflections will help. We rob ourselves of a great joy if we live knowing the potential of God’s big hint, but allowing the wonder of it to be swallowed up in busyness. Let’s not let that happen.
If you do not have a relationship with God, if you haven’t been able to see the whole puzzle, then I pray that today will be the missing piece. If you’re close to grabbing on to a God-ruled life as you let go of a self-ruled life, then I pray that today might be the day. If you’re just starting the journey, I want to encourage you that your presence here is no accident. God is at work in your life this Christmas season. I believe He’s got something He wants you to hear. Let’s listen for His hint.
Hebrews 1:1-3
“(1) In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, (2) but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. (3) The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”
This passage is mostly written in the past tense. This is typical for the prophets. Doesn’t mean it has already happened, but it means this is like a statement of faith. Isaiah sees this as so definite a thing that he can speak of the future as if it were the past.
- Isaiah was preaching during a cataclysmic time in Israel’s history:
- It was a time of social injustice.
- God had established a strategy in the Law for dealing with the poor, the oppressed and the widowed that amounted to a system of entitlement.
- This strategy had been abandoned.
- It was a time of political idolatry.
- Assyria, Egypt superpowers.
- Constant temptation to make a treaty with one or the other to protect against one or the other. Isaiah warned against making such treaties and against seeking foreign aid. He advocated dependence on the Lord. The court advisors had a different plan. They advocated dependence on earthly powers.
- In Isaiah 8, Isaiah warns the people of Judah that Assyria will be used as God’s instrument to discipline Judah.
Isaiah 8:12
“(12) Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.”
- But the court advisors evidently believe this is a conspiracy.
- Then he acknowledges that it has become common practice to consult with spiritual mediums when seeking advice.
Isaiah 8:19
“(19) When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?”
- The ones who practice this will be like people wandering around in the dark because they have left the true light.
- But real hope is on its way. In Chapter 9, Isaiah tells us about that hope.
- He looks into the future and sees what we might call a pre-hint.
- Sometimes when we are playing quizzies the boys will give one another a pre-hint even before Diane and I can give them a real hint.
- Prophets often got pre-hints. Sometimes they sensed what amounted to a clear clue. Sometimes it was more like an allusion. Sometimes they literally saw in advance what God would do.
So WHAT WILL HOPE BRING?
In Isaiah 9, Isaiah tells us what hope will bring when it comes, and what it will look like when it comes. So what does Isaiah see? What Will Hope Bring?
Isaiah 9:2-5
“(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.”
- Prosperity -- “You have enlarged the nation.”
- Lived at a time when the kingdom of Israel was diminished.
- “Enlarge God’s people.”
Some of you are living diminished lives. You struggle under the weight of diminished dreams, diminished hopes.
- Joy -- “...and increased their joy.”
- Joy like a great harvest
- Joy like buying in on the IPO of AOL.
- Freedom -- “you have shattered the yoke that burdens them"
- In that way, when hope comes it will bring freedom from all that enslaves God’s people.
- Peace
- All of the instruments of war will be discarded and peace will reign.
So HOW WILL HOPE COME?
Will it come as a great and mighty army? Will it come as a charismatic king? Will it come in supernatural circumstances?
Isaiah 9:6-7
“(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.”