The End of Between

Isaiah 8:11-22
The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said, “Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. He will keep you safe. But to Israel and Judah he will be a stone that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. Many will stumble and fall, never to rise again. They will be snared and captured.” Preserve the teaching of God; entrust his instructions to those who follow me. I will wait for the Lord, who has turned away from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my hope in him. I and the children the Lord has given me serve as signs and warnings to Israel from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies who dwells in his Temple on Mount Zion. Someone may say to you, “Let’s ask the mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead. With their whisperings and mutterings, they will tell us what to do.” But shouldn’t people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead? Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark. They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness.

Isaiah 12:2-6
See, God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord GOD is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.” With joy you will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation! In that wonderful day you will sing: “Thank the Lord! Praise his name! Tell the nations what he has done. Let them know how mighty he is! Sing to the Lord, for he has done wonderful things. Make known his praise around the world. Let all the people of Jerusalem shout his praise with joy! For great is the Holy One of Israel who lives among you.”

When in-between lasts so long we subconsciously accept it as our new “forever

II. The Prophesy of Hope

These people of darkness will see a great light

The prophet declares all this will happen because, “a child will be born, a son of promise given

The baby in the manger WAS the VOICE of God…the Word of God…He was God

God never said He would remove the darkness around us… He just said He would be the light within us!

I. The Loss of Hope

You get there from spending time in a place of despair or hopelessness

This 400-year period is the time “between.”

God leaves them in the silence of the night of a darkness that would seem to have “no end.”

III. Christmas is the message of “The End of Between!”

Between” has an “end” because the Savior has come and His kingdom does not…HAVE AN END

In an instant my “forever” is transformed into a “between” and “between” has ended!