Advent Begins, November 29
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Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O Come O Come Emmanuel
And ransom captured Israel.
Who mourns in lonely exile here.
Until the Son of God appears.
Rejoice! Rejoice! EmmanuelShall come to thee, O Israel.
I am not without darkness of doubt right now because of the
seeming randomness of evil. The young
pastor’s wife murdered by burglars in Indiana.
How is that so different from slaughtering of Christians and others in
Middle Eastern countries where ISIS is pervading? I have to ask, Where was God in both those
cases? While I proclaim the gospel and
superiority of the “faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3), in the back
of my heart I wonder why we have to answer those questions.
Advent is seen as a time of celebration, not mourning, but
is it possible to separate them so definitely?
The song quoted above does not seem to think so. It goes on (only two of the remaining verses are quoted here).
O come, Thou Day-Spring, 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, Thou Day-Spring, 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.
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