December 8 - Messiah - Isaiah 9:6

December 8 - Messiah - Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

Handel composed the music to Messiah in less than a month.  He wrote the music for Part I in six days, Part II in nine days and only three days were spent on Part III.  What makes this even more astounding is that rather than compose by combining new music and existing pieces from other works, everything was written specifically for this oratorio, it was all new composition.  Messiah was also the only time he used a libretto that took its text from both the Old and New Testaments of scripture.

The Israelites hoped and prayed for a king to relieve them of their oppression at the hands of outsiders.  They had been led by kings both good and bad and finally had been taken into exile by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.  They were looking to the future and seeing a grand ruler who would bring peace.

There is no greater hope for a father, than that his child will live a better life than the one he lived or that his child will be great and maybe even famous, that the child will achieve all the goals, the parent felt like they missed.

Israel had the same hope for a future Messiah.  This child would be strong enough to shoulder the responsibility of governing them.  He would be called wonderful and would be a counselor, understanding and guiding his people; he would be God on earth, the father of their nation and would be a prince who brought peace.

Even as we live in a nation which is at peace; we still feel the stress and strain of war around us.  Finding the One who brings peace to our hearts and to the world would change everything.

It does change everything.  Peace can be ours. The Prince of Peace has come.