A Favourite Christmas Carol.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Refrain. Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.
Refrain

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse,
freeThine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.
Refrain

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.
Refrain

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.
Refrain

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Refrain

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.
Refrain

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.
Refrain

This 12th century carol had the original title in Latin of Ve­ni, ve­ni Eman­u­el; it was trans­lat­ed from Latin to Eng­lish by John M.Neale and appeared in Med­iae­val Hymns in 1851. Neale’s orig­in­al trans­l­a­tion be­gan, “Draw nigh, draw nigh, Em­man­u­el.”

The lyrics echo a num­ber of pro­phet­ic themes. The ti­tle comes from the well known Isai­ah 7:14: “Be­hold, a vir­gin shall con­ceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Im­man­u­el.”
Im­man­u­el is He­brew for “God with us.”

The English Hymnal has seven verses, but most other hymnals have five verses.
Their biblical references are:

1. Emmanuel (God with us) - Isaiah 7:14, 35:10, 59:20, 61:1, Matthew 1:23, Psalm 137:1-5

2. Jesse Virgula (the Root of Jesse) - Isaiah 11:1, 11:10

3. Oriens (the dayspring) - Luke 1:78, 1 Corinthians 15:54-57

4. Clavis Davidica (the Key of David) - Isaiah 22:22, Revelation 3:7, Matthew 7:14

5. Adonai (the Lord of Might) - Exodus 3:15

Of all the carols we sing each Christmas this one is a direct link between the Old Testament prophecies and the coming of the Saviour to Bethlehem as recorded for us in the New Testament.

The Prophets of ancient Israel talked about a world much like our own, a world of people in rebellion against the Lord God Almighty. The various prophets show how God has a plan, not only for Israel but also for the whole world; a plan that extends beyond the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. The coming of the infant Jesus did not complete God’s plan. The Incarnation is the Sign assuring us that there is reason to hope.

The reason for the season is Jesus Christ.
In the first Advent we recall the ancient prophecies and signs which led to the birth of the Messiah, and we look forward in hope, applying those same ancient texts to our lives and the world we find ourselves in. While we look forward to His final coming when He will come with power and authority to rule and to reign over all the earth we rejoice that Jesus Christ will come again just as He promised, not only in clouds of Glory but into individual lives as we allow Him to enter in. O come, O come, Emmanuel!

We need to make room for Him.
This involves repentance from sin and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.