...."Those who dwelt in the land of deep darkness, on them has light shined..."

Good morning!  We continue, now, in a series looking at the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 9...."Those who dwelt in the land of deep darkeness, on them has light shined..." Because of our tendency to see everything in the Bible as pertaining to Jesus we often think of this text around Christmas and ahve seen it as predicting the Baby.  But the text has it;s own setting, it's own context. 500 plus years before Jesus Israel and Judah are in turmoil. Threats from the outside...Assyria, a brutal, voracious empire. Threats from the inside. The smooth peaceful transition of power for them depends on an heir to the King. And it's not happening. He has four very ambitious brothers who would think nothing of plunging the Kingdom into a four way civil war to gain power.  Very "Game of Thrones-ish".  but then, finally, "Unto us a son is born..." And the people can breath a collective sigh of relief...   Metaphysical darkness can come in many forms...

https://youtu.be/mr7-jqac2f8