As On The Day of Midian

Isaiah 9:1-4

But there will be no gloom for those who were 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 will make 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 lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined. You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.

Matthew 4:12-23

Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Wow!  It was just as it was on the Day of Midian!  What’s the day of Midian? Good question! On the original Day of Midian, God asked a leader named Gideon to select 300 soldiers from his army to make an against-all-odds attack on the Midianite army. God and Gideon did this by picking the 300 soldiers who lapped up water from the river like dogs (instead of any other way you might drink from a river). Then, in the middle of the night those 300 rushed into the Midianite camp while everyone was sleeping and slipped Bibles into every single one of their bedside tables and that’s why the Gideons put Bibles in hotel bedside tables to this day! Okay, that’s not entirely true. The choosing 300 soldiers by how they drank part? That’s actually true. The slipping Bibles into the Midianite’s bedside tables part.  Not so much. What they actually did was sneak up at night with trumpets, and torches hidden in jars. They smashed the jars all at once, blew the trumpets, and overran the camp. The point of picking so few troops, was to show the people this could only have been a victory given by God.  So, anything that is “AS” on the Day of Midian is an unexpected victory given by God against impossible odds.

So, with the Day of Midian explained and a bonus Gideon joke to boot, it’s time to go back to the beginning of that passage from Isaiah. This passage is the take-home portion of a sermon Isaiah preached to a specific people in a specific time. They were living in between a “former time” filled with gloom, anguish, and darkness, and a coming “latter time” where the people would experience glorious light, overwhelming joy and unexpected victory. The “former time” was led by King Ahaz. An oppressive, horrible, failure of a king. The time to come, would be under his son, Hezekiah, and that time to come, Isaiah preached, would be a time where the darkness would be overcome with a great light which would begin a time of peace and prosperity. The take-home message of Isaiah’s sermon for that time and that place was that God turns darkness into light, anguish into joy, and defeat into victory as on the Day of Midian.

Even though Isaiah preached that sermon to a particular people in a particular time, his hope-filled take-home message couldn’t be contained to just that one moment in time. Even by the end of the Book of Isaiah, that same hope-filled take-home message is being recycled and preached again to a new people in a new situation. In this new place and time, the darkness took on the form of living in exile in Babylon.  But into that new darkness, Isaiah’s same message gets preached again!  The people, place, and situation were different but Isaiah’s take home message still rang true!  God turns darkness into light, anguish into joy, and defeat into victory, as on the day of Midian.

Fast forward now to Matthew’s Gospel and Isaiah’s take home message is pulled off the hard drive and preached once more. This time the dark shadow comes in the form of the arrest of John the Baptist. The overwhelming odds this time take the shape of the imperial powers of Herod and Rome. But Isaiah’s sermon preaches just as well into THIS darkness A.D. as it did when Isaiah first preached it into THAT darkness, 600 years B.C. This time the light, the joy and the unexpected victory come in the person of Jesus whose whole life, death and resurrection are a lived-out version of Isaiah’s same take-home message to all of creation.  God turns darkness into light, anguish into joy, and defeat into victory, as on the day of Midian.

When Isaiah first wrote his sermon, he didn’t have foggiest notion about the Babylonian exile or the anguish caused by the Roman empire or our darkness today! Isaiah simply preached a message reminding his people of the truth about God, trying to instill hope in the people he loved. But as it turned out, the truth Isaiah preached about God THEN, was JUST as powerful and JUST as true when it was preached again between exile in Babylon and coming home to Israel.  The truth Isaiah preached THEN was JUST as powerful and JUST as true when it was preached next between the Imperial occupation of Rome and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus!  And the truth Isaiah preached THEN is STILL, JUST as powerful and JUST as true for US… TODAY… when it’s preached into our world’s particular darkness, gloom and anguish. Isaiah’s hope-filled take-home message, recycled and preached over and over again for thousands of years is that God ALWAYS turns darkness into light, anguish into joy, and defeat into victory, as on the day of Midian! Always has. Always, always, always will!  

May you and I encourage one another to not despair in our age’s present darkness, gloom and anguish.  May you and I instead support one another as we turn our attention away from the perpetual onslaught of darkness, anguish and gloom, and TOWARD the bright, dawning light of Christ.  May you and I together, follow the One who calls us out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary life we were created to live... a live of loving God and loving neighbor.  May you and I together follow the One who knew and modeled that extraordinary way of living in love, trusting that His way of love is indeed, the way and the truth and the life which leads all of us and all of creation ever more deeply into God’s gifts of light, joy and victory, as on the day of Midian. Amen.