“And they will be thrust into thick darkness.” – Isaiah 8:22

Isaiah 8 is a dark chapter, with its promise of a coming Assyrian invasion of the nation of Israel and its warning of thick darkness coming.

Thank God, the next chapter, chapter 9, begins with a very crucial word.

“But”

But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

The people who walked in darkness

have seen a great light;

those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,

on them has light shined.

– Isaiah 9:1-2 (ESV)

“But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish . . . .

There is a glory in the word “But”. In the King James version the word is “Nevertheless”, and, as Matthew Henry states in his commentary on Isaiah 9: “In the worst of times God’s people have a nevertheless to comfort themselves with, something to allay and balance their troubles.”

It is with that word that the text of Isaiah 9 begins, and allays the despair with which Isaiah 8 ended.

“But” . . . Something wonderful is going to happen. Yes, beginning in the lands held in contempt: Zebulun, Naphtali, Galilee of the nations.

God redeems the darkness in our lives. He provides the “but”, the “nevertheless” that saves us. For we were a people living in thick darkness, without hope, invaded, destroyed, and dead. But at Christmas we who have lived in darkness have seen a great light: Jesus Christ, the light of the whole world.

I may post more on Isaiah 9 later. For now, I’m just thanking God for the chapter’s first, crucial word.