“Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations.

“The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: ‘Say to Daughter Zion, See, your Savior comes!  See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.’”

“They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted.”   Isaiah 62:10 – 12

The sons of Abraham were discouraged, they were being threatened by super powers from the outside and decay from within. It was not a happy moment for the chosen people of God. In times like that the mind goes back to “the good old days,” so to speak. They remembered King David and the kingdom that flourished under him.

I find that time and human memory has the tendency to rearrange things somewhat. King David had his problems, as we well know, including the rebellious son, Ahithophel, who tried to unseat his father from the throne where he had been placed by God. We much prefer to look at what pleases us in light of the present turmoil. That is fine if we know what we are doing.

Our denomination is now going through some deep waters, threatened by schism and sectionalism over several cultural/theological issues. It is not a happy time for many.  We think of the “good old days” when all was well.  I seldom hear anyone speak of the glories of the future, but lots of lament about what is happening and a hankering to return to those days when things were much better.   A dread about the future hangs heavy.

So it was for the Prophet Isaiah.  The word of God spoken through him did not dwell on the glories of the past but on the prospects of a future in which God reigns among his people.

The center of the hopeful prophecy was the coming of a Savior. “See, your Savior comes!”  We have just celebrated the coming of the Son of God as a baby in lowly cattle shed. There is our hope. It is focused on a person, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, now exalted in glory and evident in our lives.  I does little harm to look back, if we do it honestly and with faith, but it is far better to look into the future. For us, the Savior has come.  The promise is fulfilled.  That is why we praise and adore Jesus Christ.  He is establishing his Kingdom that includes us who believe. We are indeed prisoners of hope, as Zechariah claimed in 9:12.