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An engaged couple rejoices as they plan their wedding day, but they rejoice even more when that day finally comes. A married couple is full of joy when they learn that they are expecting a baby, but they are so much more joyful when their child is actually born. Someone who learns that he has received an inheritance is thrilled, but he is even happier when the money is actually his.
It seems that from the very beginning, God designed our hearts for joy—both the joy of anticipation and the joy of fulfillment. This Advent, we want to take a look at both kinds of joys. We want to see how the people of the Old Testament looked with joy and hope for God’s promised salvation. We also want to see how the first Christians, who found Jesus and experienced his salvation, were filled with joy. But most important, we want to look at our own lives to see how that salvation can be ours—and how it can fill our hearts with great joy.
Awaiting a New King. In all of Israel’s history, no one shines quite like King David. He conquered Goliath, defeated the Philistines, and united the people. He had his weaknesses, but David still captured the people’s hearts, and his era was looked upon as a time of great blessing that later generations hoped would be repeated one day. Imagine, then, how excited the people must have been when God promised David that he would raise up for him an heir whose throne would be “firm,” and whose house would “endure forever” (2 Samuel 7:12,16).
But after David died around 960 b.c., his descendants proved increasingly weak and unworthy. And as a result, the people came to lose their hope that God would ever fulfill his promises of a righteous heir to the throne and an age of lasting peace.
About two hundred years later, however, the prophet Isaiah (740 b.c.) renewed Israel’s hopes for a new springtime. He prophesied that a virgin, or a young girl, would conceive and give birth to a special son. This boy would be given a promising name: “Immanuel,” which means “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14). He would be known as “Father-Forever, Prince of Peace,” and the dominion of all of Israel would rest upon his shoulders (9:5-6). Many scholars believe that Isaiah had the young King Hezekiah in mind when he uttered these words. And for good reason: Hezekiah became one of Israel’s most upright and holy kings since David. But Hezekiah’s successors were a far cry from his ideal. In fact, things turned darker and darker.
Generations passed, and the nation was ultimately defeated in battle, humiliated by its sinfulness, and subjected to foreign occupation and exile. Some people, however, known as a “remnant,” kept the words of Isaiah and other prophets close to their hearts, and these words filled them with the joy of anticipation. God would come and rescue them. A righteous king would rule in Israel. And the nation would once more know peace and prosperity. And more prophets arose to confirm their hopes—and sustain their joy.
Zephaniah’s Promise of Restoration. One prophet was Zephaniah, who lived around 620 b.c., during the reign of the righteous King Josiah. Jerusalem was under the control of the Assyrian Empire, and the spiritual life of the people had been weakened dramatically. However, as Assyria began to decline, Josiah began to call the people back to the Lord, and a glint of hope began to shine in their hearts.
It was during this time of new hope that Zephaniah began to prophesy. Zephaniah called the people to repentance, but he also promised that everyone “who shall take refuge in the name of the Lord” (Zephaniah 3:12) would experience Yahweh’s love and restoring power. God didn’t just want his people to repent in dust and ashes. He also wanted to shower them with his love. He wanted to free them from all sorrow and oppression. And so Zephaniah proclaimed:
Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! sing joyfully, O Israel!
Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!
The Lord has removed the judgment against you, he has turned away your enemies;
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst. (Zephaniah 3:14-15)
Zephaniah called the people to rejoice because God’s favor was upon them, despite their sin. He told them that God himself was coming to be in their midst. And not only would he be with them, he would rejoice over them “with gladness.” He would “renew [them] in his love” and “sing joyfully” because of them (Zephaniah 3:17).
A God Who Rejoices. We don’t often think of God singing—and especially singing over us. But he does! God sings over us because he loves us. He breaks into song because we give him joy—both by the way we act and, even more important, simply because of who we are. Yes, God rejoices when we make good decisions and treat one another right. But there are other times, just as the Israelites knew, when we are rebellious and disobedient. But God still loved them and treasured them. He did not abandon them, and he will never abandon us.
Centuries after Zephaniah, St. John confirmed this truth when he wrote: “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son” (1 John 4:10). St. Paul also wrote: “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). And this is precisely why we can rejoice, especially during this season of Advent!
Zechariah—A Joy Flowing from Peace. The Book of Zechariah is divided into two parts—chapters 1-8 and chapters 9-14. Most scholars believe that Zechariah himself is the author of the first part, and that he lived about one hundred years after Zephaniah. But the second part appears to have been written as much as another two hundred years later—perhaps by a student of Zechariah’s original prophecies. It’s in the words of this second prophet that we find passages that speak again of God’s promises of restoration and of the joy that awaited the people of Israel.
This “Second Zechariah” portrays a king who will come to rescue his people from foreign oppression. Because this is such good news, the prophet calls the people to lift up their hearts with shouts of praise:
Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king shall come to you; a just savior is he,
Meek, and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass. He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem;
The warrior’s bow shall be banished, and he shall proclaim peace to the nations. (Zechariah 9:9-10)
Yes, a new king is coming who will lift the threat of war from Israel forever. He will fulfill God’s promises and deal with Israel’s enemies. What’s more, he won’t come with pride or arrogance but with humility and gentleness. His victory will be won not by overpowering force but by the mercy and intervention of God. And he will do all of this simply because he treasures his people: “For they are the jewels in a crown raised aloft over his land” (Zechariah 9:16).
Let All the Earth Rejoice! Old Testament figures like Isaiah, Zechariah, and Zephaniah never met Jesus or knew exactly how he would come. Still, they were filled with joy when they received a glimpse of God’s plans and promises. The psalmists didn’t know Jesus directly, yet they also spoke about a joy that came from experiencing the presence of God. For example, Psalm 9 says, “I will delight and rejoice in you; I will sing hymns to your name, Most High” (Psalm 9:3). Another psalmist, speaking for the whole nation, cries out: “In God our hearts rejoice; in your holy name we trust” (33:21). And yet another calls upon all creation to rejoice: “Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth; break into song; sing praise!” (98:4).
The prophets and the psalmists of ancient Israel were filled with joy, even though they only had promises—glimmers of the light that was to come from heaven. Now imagine the kind of joy that we can experience because Jesus, the light of the world, has come and shown himself to us. He has died for us, so that we could be filled with the divine grace we need to live holy lives—to be filled with his joy.
Jesus has also given us a promise: that one day he will return in glory. Every day, he asks us to look forward to the day when he comes again. His promise of a new city, a new Jerusalem filled with perfect love, will come to be for one simple reason: God’s word is his oath. When he makes a promise, he will fulfill it. So together, let’s all “rejoice and be glad,” confident that our reward “will be great in heaven” (Matthew 5:12). God has promised, and he will see it through to completion!
