"O COME, O COME, EMMANUEL
O Come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here,
until the Son of God appear:
Rejoice! rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free
thine own from Satan's tyranny;
from depths of hell thy people save,
and give them victory o'er the grave:
Rejoice! rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer
our spirits by thine advent here;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death's dark shadows put to flight:
Rejoice! rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, thou Key of David, come,
and open wide our heavenly home;
make safe the way that leads on high,
and close the path to misery:
Rejoice! rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, O come, thou Lord of Might,
who to thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
in ancient times didst give the law
in cloud and majesty and awe;
Rejoice! rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The version which we sing in English today is a translation of the Latin text, originally named "Veni, veni, Emmanuel." The translation we sing every year, almost without fail, was made by John Mason Neale and Henry Sloane Coffin in the mid-19th. Century. In its latest English advent (excuse the pun), it is a metrical version of a collation of various Advent Antiphons (the acrostic "O Antiphons), and it has now probably become our most popular Advent hymn in the UK. Although its origins are unknown, it is believed that the antiphons are from at least as far back as the 8th. Century, but in its form as "Veni, veni Emmanuel" it is most likely to be of 12th. Century origin.
John Mason Neale (1818-1866)
Henry Sloane Coffin (1877-1954)
The content, reading the words, would be immediately recognized by Old testament scholars as coming from Isaiah 7:14, where we read in the King James Version, "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel." The word virgin, used here is the unique Hebrew term "almah". A comparison with the other six instances where it occurs, Genesis 24:43, Exodus 2:8, Psalm 68:25, Proverbs 30:19 and Song of Solomon 1:3 and 6:8, shows that it is the most precise term the prophet Isaiah could have chosen to indicate that the young woman in this context was a real virgin. the Septuagint translation of "almah" as "parthenos" (virgin) is correct, as is Matthew 1:23.
That this prophecy must refer to the virgin birth of Christ is obvious, since the virgin is pregnant and yet is still a virgin! You can read Mary's side of this remarkable miracle in Luke 1:26-37 which ends with words which I love using, "With God nothing shall be impossible." (verse 37). To read Joseph's side of the events read Matthew 1:18-25, where we also see the fulfillment of the Isaiah prophecy, cited directly from the prophet in verse 23, "Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which being interpreted is, "God with us." "
I would now like to draw out some significant themes from the Advent hymn as we know it in its contemporary form, which emphasisze the completeness of the work of Jesus in coming into the world as God in human form, becoming our Savior and delivering us from sin, flesh (ourselves), the Devil and even triumphing over and defeating death itself!
Verse 1 expresses the longing Israel had for the coming of the Messiah to ransom Israel, enslaved to the Romans. That is why they didn't recognize Jesus as the Messiah, because He had not come to deliver their nation at that time from the Romans, but in His eternal purposes had come to save the whole world from sin and ultimately free the whole of mankind from slavery and bring about His everlasting Kingdom of Justice, Righteousness, and Peace. This is, of course, looking forward to His second coming, which we also do during Advent.
Verse 2 focuses on the descendant of King David, his greater Son, coming to deliver us from Satan's tyranny, hell and death itself. To all who receive Him, Jesus, they have the right to become children of God, John 1:12.
Verse 3 speaks to me of the ongoing work of Jesus in our daily lives, as He lives within us by His Holy Spirit, once we have believed and received Him into our hearts and lives, John 1:33. He cheers us by His presence here, dispersing the gloomy clouds of night and putting death's dark shadows to flight!
Verse 4 reminds us that the gates of Heaven are now open to us, of which we occasionally get glimpses when we pray, praise and worship God, especially in the presence of His gathered people. He has effectively opened wide our heavenly home and is busy building and preparing a place for us there, even now!
Verse 5 speaks to us, reminding us that our God is a Lord of Might, reminding us of how He appeared to give the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. I think it is interesting how this hymn moves back in time for this last verse. We have an eternal God who exists outside time, which is only part of His creation, it is only us who work chronologically. How strange it must have been for Jesus, God Incarnate, to be confined to a time/space continuum. In fact there were times when He felt led to move out of it as in Luke 24:31 and John 20:19.
The whole point of Advent, if we know Jesus, is that it is a time to Rejoice, because we know that He is living and active in our lives now, day by day and He is coming again to take us to be with Himself. What greater cause is there than this to sing again this Advent, "Rejoice! rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel."
"Truly our hearts can rejoice with God's people of all ages when we realize that Christ the Messiah did come 2,000 years ago and accomplished a perfect redemption for Adam's hopeless race. yet we wait with the same urgent expectancy, as did the Israelites of old, for the piercing of the clouds - His second coming, when victory over sin and death will be final." ~ Anonymous
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