Christmas is a truly joyous time of year. Carols are playing on every radio and loudspeaker. Streets and avenues are lit up with twinkling lights. Homes are filled with the delicious scent of gingerbread cookies and the cozy warmth of the fireplace. And families gather to watch classic movies and celebrate this holiday with great cheer.
But Christmastime is not so jolly and wonderful for everyone. Instead, it’s a reminder of a loved one’s devastating passing. It dredges up old memories that we would rather leave forgotten. It can make us feel like we are lost and alone, desperately seeking a way out of our misery.
We’re certainly not the only people in history who have felt these things—lost, alone, forgotten, miserable, grieving, anxious, hopeless. But there is hope—there is always hope. And if anyone can remind us of this truth, it’s a baby born in captivity many centuries ago.
The people of Israel were residing in the nation of Egypt, suffering under the oppressive rule of the Pharaoh. You see, Israel was a strong and mighty people, and though they had no plans or desires to conquer Egypt, the Pharaoh feared them (Exodus 1:7-9). So, he made the Israelites his slaves. He forced them to do manual labor that would grow and benefit Egypt. He set taskmasters over them that were ruthless and harsh (Exodus 1:11-14). He commanded the midwives the kill any Hebrew boys that were born, and when the midwives refused to do so, he instructed all Egypt to throw Israel’s young sons into the Nile River (Exodus 1:16-17, 22).
The Hebrew people felt what we have all felt: lost, alone, and like God had forgotten them. They were miserable from Egypt’s cruel punishments. They grieved the deaths of their baby boys. They were anxious about the horrors the future may hold for them. This all probably made them a little hopeless. But there was hope—there is always hope. With the sliver of hope they still had left, the people cried out to God, desperately seeking a way out of their misery. And God heard them (Exodus 2:23-25).
A baby was born in Egypt—a Hebrew boy—and he was in danger. His mother was able to hide him from the Egyptians for three months, but when she could no longer do so, she placed him in a basket and set the basket in the river, surely hoping that someone would take pity on her son. And someone did—the daughter of the Pharaoh. The boy was named Moses (Exodus 2:1-10). He grew up in the royal household of Pharaoh, yet he still identified with the Hebrew people. And decades later, God used Moses to lead all Israel out of captivity and to the land that had been promised to their ancestors centuries earlier (Genesis 12:1-3).
You may be wondering how the story of one Hebrew man who lived thousands of years ago has anything to do with your story, how the hope of Israel is a cause for hope in your own life. Well, Moses was more than just a man. He was a type—a foreshadowing—of a greater Man who was to come.
Hundreds of years after Moses led the nation of Israel to the Promised Land, they were once again suffering under the oppressive rule of a cruel nation—Rome. But there was hope—there is always hope. Their forefather, Moses had prophesied that another prophet, another savior, a Messiah would be coming (Deuteronomy 18:15), and they cried out to God for this Messiah to come and for them to be freed from their captivity. And God heard them.
A baby was born in Israel—a Hebrew boy. But He was no mere boy. He was the Son of God, the Messiah that had been prophesied all throughout the Old Testament Scriptures (Matthew 1:21-23). The boy was named Jesus, and like Moses, He was also in danger as a young child. The king found out that the Messiah—the King of the Jews—had been born, and he feared that this child would threaten his power and rule. So, he commanded that all the male infants in the region be killed (Matthew 2:1-6, 16-18). But an angel warned Jesus’s parents of the king’s wicked plot, and they fled to Egypt to hide and protect their son (Matthew 2:13-15).
Jesus eventually returned to Israel, where He did signs and wonders and preached the good news of the gospel—that He had come to lead the people of God out of captivity. But He wasn’t just rescuing them from physical captivity. Jesus mainly came to free His people from their spiritual captivity to sin and death (Luke 4:18, 19:10). He came to live the righteous life they could not live, die the death they deserved to die, and resurrect to give them new life and guide them into the promised land of heaven.
This Christmas, you may feel like Israel had—lost, alone, forgotten, miserable, grieving, anxious, and hopeless. But there is hope—there is always hope. Jesus came two thousand years ago to lead you—yes, you—out of your spiritual captivity, to free you from your bondage to sin, and to give you new life. He is always with you (Matthew 28:20), He knows everything about you (John 10:14-15), and He sympathizes with your weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15). And He is coming again soon to rid this earth of all death, sadness, and pain and usher in our promised land (Revelation 21:1, 4). May these truths fill you with hope this holiday season, and may you continually proclaim, “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20b)
“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.”[1]
[1] Daniel Ross, “What are the lyrics to ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’, and what is the Christmas carol really about?,” last modified November 30, 2021, https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/occasions/christmas/lyrics-o-come-o-come-emmanuel-origins/.
