Great Light for Jews and Gentiles.

por Alejandro Roque Glez.

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that you abhor shall be forsaken of both her kings… by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government shall be on his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end… and to establish it with judgment and with justice from now on even forever. The zeal of Yahweh, the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

(Isaiah 7:14, 16; 9:1-2, 6-7)

The events which the prophet Isaiah was foretelling were––perhaps without himself understanding its impact on the historical posterity––the fulfillment about the coming of the mankind’s Redeemer, the Prince of Peace, announced to Adam and Eve from the very Creation. God’s Plan marches forward and is at this time when the prophet rises to the absolute sublimity announcing the birth of the chosen Messiah: the Wonderful Counselor, Savior of the human race.

By announcing this, Isaiah also transports his words to Roman times, then not yet imagined. Rome, though it was not far from being founded as a sort of little monarchy for its first king Romulus in 753 BC, it was not until 510 BC that the Republic was proclaimed, and it was not after the Punic Wars around 200 BC when it begins to expand, and is credited in history as Empire from around 146 BC; centuries after the prophet’s life.

There was no way––but by direct divine revelation––that the prophet Isaiah might imagine these events when there were still first to appear in history other empires as: the Babylonian (600-536 BC), the Persian (536-332 BC), and Greek with its later four divisions (331-146 BC).

It is therefore a remarkable prophecy that was fulfilled 700 years later, when the baby Jesus was born of the virgin Mary (Mt 1:18, 22-25, Lk 1:28-35). Clearly the prophet Isaiah tells us, in a calculated vision toward the future, the expected Messiah Christ would be born of a virgin; that is to say, without having sex with a man, according to the natural custom of the earth, engendered by the Holy Spirit, the one foretold and promised through the centuries, Son of God: Emmanuel, God with us!

In the year 63 BC the roman general Pompey destroys the power of the Seleucids and seizes the Judea, making Syria a Roman province; and all this shows us how God spoke––showing his omniscience in time––through the prophet Isaiah; for indeed, at the birth’s time of the baby Jesus, both the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom of Israel would not exist long before, although effectively at the time when the prophecy is announced. This prophecy was fulfilled to the letter in all its details, as we shall see below––in other notes––how the prophet described even the future suffering of Jesus on the cross.

When Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, those kingdoms, as we see, there were no longer––exactly as Isaiah prophesied––but the land was ruled by king Herod, who in fact was a foreign Edomite, together with Tetrarchs, who were in charge of ruling and governing a province each; and all them imposed by the Roman Empire: the supreme world power then (Mt 2:1, Lk 2:1-4).

While in Rome continued the political rivalries, from Galilee––as Isaiah tells us––a Jew born in a modest family of carpenters reflect his spiritual light to the rest of Israel (Mt 4:13-16) first, and then into the whole world forever and ever. The prophet also goes back centuries later when Christ Jesus (around 30 AD) begins his public ministry accompanied by his twelve apostles, preaching the Gospel throughout all the land of Galilee in northern Israel, then filled with Gentiles, israelites and samaritans mixed––since ancient times––all living in that region together with citizens of the empire. It was from the Galilee of the Gentiles that Jesus began his divine preaching emphasizing to everybody: “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17); also announcing his eternal kingdom of peace which will not end.

The great light that the prophet Isaiah reveals here, refers to Jesus Christ, who clearly told us: “I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (Jn 8:12).

(What will life be on our planet once the Lord fulfills the promise of his coming? If interested you can read it in the form of a literary narrative, recreated in the author's book entitled: 'The King Victorino').

[These and other Old Testament prophecies are explicatively compiled in the author's book entitled: 'Major Prophets of the Old Testament;' in print and digital editions]

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