I mentioned earlier that there was a hidden code involved in the evolution of this Christmas carol. Actually, you’ve already seen it, but – like I said, it’s hidden. 🙂
Last time we talked about the seven descriptions of Christ in Latin that eventually developed into the song we know today. If you take the first letter of each, reading backwards, you get two more Latin words. Those titles, again, are:
O Sapienta (Wisdom)
O Adonai (Lord)
O Radix Jesse (Stem of Jesse)
O Clavis David (Key of David)
O Oriens (Dayspring)
O Rex Gentium (King of the world)
O Emmanuel (God with Us)
Ero cras is the result, usually translated as something like “I will be tomorrow”, further emphasizing the coming of Christ.
The song we have today does not exactly follow all these titles. We have covered Wisdom, Stem, Dayspring, and God-with-us. Today we come to Key and Lord.
O come, Thou Key of David, come, And open wide our heavenly home; Make safe the way that leads on high, And close the path to misery. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
The Key of David is a curious switch from what we see in Scripture. In the Bible, the key is not a name or a title, but a thing. Or, you might say, a symbol. It appears in the book of Isaiah.
There was a steward in the court of King Hezekiah. Apparently, he was a proud man, condemned by the Lord in Isaiah 22:
Thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, “Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: What have you to do here, and whom have you here, that you have cut out here a tomb for yourself, you who cut out a tomb on the height and carve a dwelling for yourself in the rock? Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man…
Isaiah 22:15-17
Archaeologists believe that they have found this very tomb that Shebna carved out.
But this official was apparently a false shepherd, misusing his authority. His full name means “Yahweh is near” or “Yahweh draw near”. But when Yahweh came, the false shepherd was replaced with another – Eliakim – “God raises up”.
In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father’s house.
Isaiah 22:20-23
The “key of David” was a symbol of royal authority. Eliakim would truly be established by God, and given authority. He would actually care for His people, and be honoured for it. Sound like anyone else you know?
Jesus applied this authority to Himself in Revelation 3:
“The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.”
Revelation 3:7
The Son of David has the true royal authority, given by God. It is He who opens and closes, which is why He says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
The next verse continues the idea of authority, calling Christ the “Lord of might”:
O come, O come, great Lord of might, Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height In ancient times once gave the law In cloud and majesty and awe. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Christ, the Lawgiver.
The New Testament affirms the Messiah as the Giver of the Law. Although Christ came to save, He also commanded. Yes, He saves us from our sin against God’s Law. But He also calls us to obey the gospel – that is, repent and believe in order to be forgiven and saved (see 2 Thessalonians 1:5-9).
Hebrews warns us not to ignore the Lawgiver. As there were miracles at Mount Sinai, confirming that the law was from God, so God confirmed the message of Jesus. Here, the author starts by talking about the Law of Moses, and ends by talking about Christ:
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
Hebrews 2:1-4
After all, it was “the Lord” Jesus who led His people from Egypt, but who also destroyed those who did not believe:
Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
Jude 3-5
In this section of the song (and we’ll continue with more next week), it’s not immediately clear why we would want the Messiah to come. The Law, after all, condemns. God comes in “majesty and awe”, and we are terrified, like those who said to Moses: “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die”. (Exodus 20:19)
And yet this verse is an important reminder of just who the Messiah truly is. He is not one to simply give us gifts and tolerate our sin. He is the Lord who judges. And yet, as we will see in the “finale” next week – He is also merciful. But to whom? Not all receive mercy.
A drive of an hour and a half can mean a significant change of altitude around here, and so a significant change of climate. It seems funny to see everyone bundled up, ready to leave Ixtapaluca (I could see my breath), only to end up swimming at a waterpark…
(click image for larger version)
So we drove to the state of Morelos, and gradually started to thaw out. We met together in an amphitheatre in the forest and sang some Christmas carols…
David led the service, and Rod shared some biblical truths about baptism…
And then the three baptismal candidates gave their testimonies.
What an encouragement to hear how God has been working in their lives!
Finally, we went down to the river. Here’s a video of the baptisms – for reasons which will be clear, it’s hard to hear what’s being said. But you’ll get the idea!
After that, we enjoyed some delicious food and some wonderful fellowship and some walking and swimming (and sleeping!) as people desired, before heading back as night began to fall.
Thanks to everyone who was praying! Your prayers are not taken for granted. There were some challenging issues in the congregations – such as a fall, sickness, an accident – which could have caused problems. But God was good. Please continue to pray for those three teens who were baptized, and their families.
For more detailed information, with more videos and photos, check out Rod’s blog Mexico Matters!
As I explained last time, O Come O Come Emmanuelbegan as a single word. But as time went on, the cry of longing became a prayer to the Messiah – an acknowledgment of just who it is that we wait for.
To the “O” was added names or titles of the Messiah in Latin. In their final form (as still used today), we have:
O Sapienta (Wisdom)
O Adonai (Lord)
O Radix Jesse (Stem of Jesse)
O Clavis David (Key of David)
O Oriens (Dayspring)
O Rex Gentium (King of the world)
O Emmanuel (God with Us)
The series originated possibly over 1500 years ago.
As we’ll see, these themes eventually developed into the song we know today. We’ve already talked about the last one – Emmanuel, and the first, Wisdom. Let’s take a look at the next two verses, one at a time:
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free Thine own from Satan’s tyranny; From depths of hell Thy people save, And give them victory over the grave. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
“Rod” is from the Authorized Version (KJV) translation of Isaiah 11:1 – here in the ESV translated as “shoot”.
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
Isaiah 11:1
Jesse was, of course, the father of King David. Long after David’s death, Isaiah prophesied that a “shoot” would grow out of the “stump” of Jesse – that is, a descendant of Jesse’s – a “Son of David”. In Isaiah 11:1-10, the “shoot” is depicted as someone on whom God’s Spirit rests, a righteous ruler that would destroy the wicked, and care for the poor and meek. This great Ruler would bring peace to the earth.
There are actually various enemies in this verse that the Rod must destroy. Satan, of course, the false and tyrannical ruler. Hell, the righteous judgement of God on sinners – in other words, the enemy of sin itself. And death – another judgement from God on sin.
Perhaps Paul was thinking of Isaiah 11 when he wrote these words:
Then comes the end, when [Christ] delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
1 Corinthians 15:24-26
The author of Hebrews also takes up this theme, including the tyranny of the devil in his explanation of Christ’s victory:
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, [Jesus] himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
Hebrews 2:14-15
From exile, tyranny and death to faithfulness and peace – that is the result of the rule of the Rod of Jesse.
Verse four…
O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer Our spirits by Thine advent here; Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death’s dark shadows put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
What in the world is a “Day-spring”? Once again it comes from the Authorized Version, this time in Luke 1:78 – “the dayspring from on high hath visited us”. It’s actually a beautiful word, translated into modern English in the ESV. Here’s the text, speaking to baby John the Baptist:
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Luke 1:76-79
Translated here as “sunrise”, dayspring is the first light of the new day – referring to the sun, or the morning star. The same theme is picked up in the hymn “The Sands of Time Are Sinking”:
The sands of time are sinking, the dawn of heaven breaks; The summer morn I’ve sighed for—the fair, sweet morn awakes: Dark, dark hath been the midnight, but dayspring is at hand, And glory, glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land.
Anne R. Cousin
But there’s a curious detail here in Luke. The word is translated “sunrise” or “dawn” or “dayspring” because of the context, which, of course, speaks of light. But it could also be translated “sprout” or “shoot”. That’s right – it could also refer back, again, to the Shoot of Jesse.
Either way, once again we have the image of light coming to those who are in the darkness – the darkness of the fear of death. The Dayspring delivers us from the fear of death. At long last, the first light shoots over the horizon – the long night is over.
Interestingly enough, at the very end of Revelation, these themes are connected together – using the “morning star”:
I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.
Revelation 22:16
And so we wait for Jesus, our Deliverer from death and the devil. At the moment, we see the first streaks of dawn in the sky as we remember the first coming of Christ – as we read the wonderful story in His Word. And we wait for the light of His coming again…
…we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts…
Ten years ago today (2012) we were having a closing program for the community centre. Part of the program was to give out some wheelchairs to people who had been identified as having a special need.
These are the “old style” wheelchairs provided by another mission. The new ones are a lot better and more sophisticated. But for someone who had no access to any chair, these were a good start!
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here! Many of you are probably feeling like you’re well into the Christmas season as well.
Our December began – well, with a heartbreaking loss by Canada at the World Cup… just after Mexico was eliminated. *sigh*
But on the bright side, it also began with a visit from our friends Greg and Shelli! A rare pleasure indeed. 🙂
We also started listening to some devotions for Advent as a family – it’s not too late to start, if you’d like to join us! The book is called The Dawn of Redeeming Grace: Daily Devotions for Advent, and we’re listening to the audiobook version. We’ve already had some great times to learn about and meditate on the coming of our Saviour this year.
If you’re praying for the ministry here, there are some neat things coming up!
This coming Sunday driving about an hour or so out of town to a water park, where we’ll be having a baptism service. One or two people will be baptized, as far as I know. Please pray for them, their families, and for the church, during this special time together.
The following Sunday I’ll be preaching a Christmas sermon, from a fascinating section of Jesus’ family tree. So I would appreciate prayer as I prepare for that. And after that we have more special services in December, fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters.
As we enter into the holiday season, it’s a wonderful time for believers here. But it’s also a challenge, as so many spend time with unbelieving family and friends. Please pray for our witness during these days.
Nathanael has a lot of heavy schoolwork right now, so you can pray for him as well, as he tries to get done in order to have some time off.
And, as many of you know, we’re looking forward to having Hannah here for a few days over the holidays! So a very special Christmas indeed. They’re all special, of course. 🙂
There are about a million other things going on, but I’ll leave it at that for now! Thanks for your prayers.
May Christ be glorified this month, and into 2023!
