Restoration Where It All Fell Apart

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Isaiah 8:23-9:3

First the Lord degraded the land of Zebulun
and the land of Naphtali;
but in the end he has glorified the seaward road,
the land west of the Jordan,
the District of the Gentiles.

Anguish has taken wing, dispelled is darkness:
for there is no gloom where but now there was distress.
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom
a light has shone.
You have brought them abundant joy
and great rejoicing,
as they rejoice before you as at the harvest,
as people make merry when dividing spoils.
For the yoke that burdened them,
the pole on their shoulder,
and the rod of their taskmaster
you have smashed, as on the day of Midian.

During Isaiah’s ministry, the Assyrian Empire began to dismantle the twelve tribes in the northwestern part of the Holy Land, specifically in “the land or Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,” along the Sea of Galilee. According to Assyrian records, Shalmanessar deported nearly 15,000 Israelites in 721 B.C. beginning with those in this region. They never returned and eventually intermarried with people of other nations in the vast Assyrian Empire, becoming known to history as the lost tribes of Israel. It was indeed a day of darkness, gloom, and distress when ten out of twelve tribes of God’s People disappeared from history. And yet, when the “great light,” Jesus the Messiah, came to restore Israel, he began the restoration right where it all first fell apart. 

When you look back over your life and notice the moments of spiritual unfaithfulness that we all have, where does it all start to fall apart for you? Perhaps that is just the place where the Lord wants to begin restoring you. Did you have a run in with a bad priest? Perhaps the Lord wants to bring a good priest into your life. Did you have a difficult relationship with your parents that caused you to rebel a bit? Perhaps it is through your own parental role or in relationship with another parental figure that the Lord wants to begin a restoration. Is it a struggle with lust? Maybe the Lord is calling you to a deeper love that will not allow you to use people for pleasure. He began Israel’s restoration where it all fell apart. He may want to do just the same thing with you and with me. 

This message from Isaiah and its historical fulfillment in the life of Jesus shows us that the Lord is not disinterested in the details of your story. He was thoughtful enough to begin Israel’s restoration not just anywhere, but exactly where it all fell apart. He wants to transform the darkness and gloom of your life and mine into “abundant joy and great rejoicing.” The “day of Midian” is a reference to Gideon’s highly improbable victory over the Midianites in Judges 7:1-25, a victory that resulted in forty years of rest (see Judges 8:28). The abundant joy that the Lord wants to usher us into may also seem improbable from our vantage point, and it also involves entering into his rest (see Hebrews 4:10). 

Where do you need restoration? Where is the darkness and gloom in your heart? Today, the Spirit invites you to turn it over to him, to let Jesus live there as he lived in Galilee so long ago.