What’s Advent without singing “O Come, O Come, Emanuel?”

O come, O come, Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.

I am intrigued by the expression “that mourns in lonely exile here.” It’s inspired by the exile of the people of Judah in Babylon 597-539 BCE. Mourning in exile is expressed in Psalm 137:1 “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion” (ESV).

The exile in Babylon ended when the Jews were allowed to return home by the Persian king Cyrus. Yet the song talks about an exile that lasts until the Son of God appears. That’s a different kind of exile. It’s a exile of the spirit. The essence of sin is separation from God. The only way out of sin, out of exile, is through Christ.

We are Israel in exile. But hasn’t Emanuel already come to us? Yes, but we are still caught in this strange state of exile from God. God is with us (which is what Emanuel means), but we continue to live in way that separate us from God. Again and again we sin driving ourselves into exile. Again and again Emanuel comes to us, rescuing us from our sins. And so it will be until the last day when Christ comes again to make all things at one with the Father.

So we find ourselves in this Advent time mourning our sins, yet rejoicing in Emanuel coming to us.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Read Revelation 22:20-21and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne