Monday, March 8, 2004
Lenten Fast
Theophylaktos, Bishop of Nicomedia
6th Hour: Isaiah 8:13-9:7 1st Vespers: Genesis 6:9-22 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 8:1-21
Isaiah 8:13-9:7 LXX, especially vs. 2: "O people walking in darkness, behold a great light:
you that dwell in the region and shadow of death, a light shall shine upon you." The old holy man, Simeon, took the child
in his arms and gazed upon Him. Then the Holy Spirit confirmed in his heart that he was, indeed, holding and looking upon
the Salvation of the world, just as God had promised him. Of course Simeon cried: "a Light to lighten the Gentiles and the
Glory of Thy People Israel" (Lk. 2:32). He knew Isaiah's revelation, that a great Prince, a Light for all nations, would be
born, "the Consolation of Israel" (Lk. 2:25). Today's reading is that initial revelation to Isaiah, but is also very much a
word for us.
At first, God admonished Isaiah "not to walk in the way of this people" (Is. 8:11) - meaning the ancient People of God and
their fear and dread of the ever expanding Assyrian Empire. Rather, the Prophet was to regard the holiness of the Lord of
hosts and "let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread" (Is. 8:13). Wise advice for God's People in all ages!
The whole of the revelation has two facets, one directed to Isaiah and the Faithful gathered around him, the other spoken
against the ancient, apostate people of Israel. For Isaiah and the others who feared God, the Lord would become a
"sanctuary"(vs. 14) - through His testimony and teaching "among My disciples" (vs. 16.). The godly Isaiah affirms that
which the Faithful always have said: "I will wait for the Lord...and I will hope in Him" (vs. 17). Their witness to "the
teaching and to the testimony" of the Lord served as negative "signs and portents" (vs.18), a vivid contrast to the apostasy
of the majority.
Both "houses of Israel" (vs. 14), the northern and the southern kingdoms, were not finally destined to know God as a
sanctuary but as "a stone of offense, and a rock of stumbling...a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem" (vs. 14),
upon which the majority "[should] stumble...fall and be broken" (vs. 15). Thus, they would be snared and taken because
they were urging one another to, "Consult the mediums and the wizards....and...consult the dead on behalf of the living"
(vs. 19). In doing this, they were relying upon the occult, the demonic - the evil powers behind such practices. The
consequences of such behavior would assure inevitably that they would "pass through the land, greatly distressed and
hungry" (vs. 21), and that they would "be thrust into thick darkness" (vs. 22). The irony of the prophecy becomes explicit
when one considers "the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali," the northern and eastern most tribal lands of the ancient
People of Israel, for God already had brought these territories "into contempt" for apostasy (vs. 1). The peoples of the
region had been deported by the Assyrians and that territory "beyond Jordan," also known as Galilee, had been repopulated
with Gentile pagans. But for that benighted land, whose people had "walked in darkness...and dwelt in a land of deep
darkness" (vs. 2), there "will be no gloom" (vs. 1). Instead, they "have seen a great light...on them has light shined" (vs. 2).
Beloved of the Lord, we know the Light of Whom Isaiah was given foresight. Like Simeon, "we have seen the true
Light...we have found the true faith...for He hath saved us!" "For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the
government [is] upon His shoulder, and His Name [is] 'Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace.' Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end....The zeal of the Lord of hosts [has done]
this" (vss. 6,7), beginning in Galilee, the land of contempt that He made "glorious" (vs.1).
Thy Nativity, O Christ our God, hath given rise to the light of knowledge in the world, for they that worshiped the stars did
learn therefrom to worship Thee, O Sun of justice!
