“O come, O Come, Emmanuel.”⁶ It’s just one of the many lyrics that we hear during the Christmas season and these are some of my favorites. As a child, I remember learning the meaning of the word “Emmanuel” (or Immanuel). “God is with us.” While I was growing up, my family had a particularly difficult Christmas time that had us saying goodbye to those gone too soon, and living with bated breath to see who would be with them the next Christmas. Cancer is a nasty thing and a “wilderness” in life that many have experienced. It was during this particular Christmas I grasped on even more to the songs and the reminders of Emmanuel. God was with them in their wilderness.

The Israelites had the blessing of the presence of God in their wilderness. As soon as they headed into it, God was with them. (Exodus 13:21-22) Not only was God with them, but these verses specifically point out that He was before them to guide them. Verse 22 even mentions that God’s presence did not leave His “place in the front of the people.” For forty years, God was with them. So many times throughout their time in the wilderness, and even as they headed into the Promised Land God reminded them that they were not alone. (Joshua 1:9)

Fast forward several hundred years, and we find the Israelites in another hard time. Two kings were trying to take over Jerusalem. (Isaiah 7) The people were afraid and “shook like trees.” (v.2) Isaiah came to King Ahaz, the king of Jerusalem and said don’t be afraid. In fact, Isaiah went so far as to say, “If you don’t stand firm in your faith, you won’t stand firm at all.” He then proceeds to remind Ahaz of some other truths. It is in these words that we find one of the most famous prophetic passages in the Old Testament. Verse 14 says, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Immanuel, God with us, was not only a promise of what was to come, but a reminder that even in their current distress, the Israelites were not alone. God was with them. Do you ever struggle with knowing that God is with you in your wilderness? Sure, we can say the words over and over, but what do we do when we “feel” alone?

The Israelites experienced the same feelings. After Isaiah’s promise and reminder of God’s presence, near the end of his ministry on earth, things got quiet. After years of pillar of smoke and fire, miracles and reminders, prophets and promises, for four hundred years there was silence. As we turn the pages in our Bibles from Malachi to Matthew, it’s easy to forget the 400 years that came between that one page turn. So often, our wilderness seems like we’re alone. We can feel the silence pressing in on us. But remember, just as Malachi promised, there’s more than this. This is not the end. We are not forgotten. Even in the silence, we are not alone. (Deuteronomy 31:8)

Thanks be to God that the prophecies were fulfilled and Emmanuel did come. As John says, “He became flesh and dwelt among us.” (1:14). So, now even more so than the Israelites we can know that God is with us. That He knows us (Hebrews 4:15), and never leaves us. After this and what Christ did for us, we can still sing 2,000 years later, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” because it reminds us that we’re never alone, that God knows our hurts, pains and even experienced them when He put on flesh to dwell among us. We can also sing because there’s more than this. Remember that Emmanuel means God with us now, but one day He will come again to take us to our forever home. As the song says, “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel, shall come again with us to dwell.”⁶

⁶ Neale, John Mason. “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” 1861