The second week of Advent looks at ‘peace’ as its theme. Peace is one of the central messages of Christmas; the message of the angels to the shepherds was ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.’ (Luke 2:14) Zechariah, rejoicing in the birth of his miracle son, John, reflected that God’s light would then ‘shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.’ (Luke 1:79) Peace is, therefore, a central theme in the Christmas story.

But peace is not simply the absence of war. We live in times when conflict and war appear to be inescapable, and the current situation between Russia and Ukraine adds to the feelings of anxiety and uncertainty people experience. Any student of history will tell you that wars have been going on for many years and that conflict seems inevitable in some part of the world. Jesus Himself spoke of wars and rumours of wars (Matt 24:6), so it would seem we cannot expect to live in a world without wars. Nonetheless, we can still know peace, even if there is no peace around us.

The path of peace which Christmas shines a light on is ultimately an inner peace and peace with God which gives us n eternal perspective to life. Paul says, ‘since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.’ (Rom 5:1) Inner peace and peace with God are great blessings available to us all.

As the story progresses, we see that Mary (who will be the mother of Jesus) is related to Elizabeth, and so the reason for this other angelic announcement about a boy called John becomes clearer. (Luke 1) The hopelessness of Israel is about to be changed, starting with just two individuals (John the Baptist and Jesus.)

One of the terrible things about hopelessness is the sense of apathy and lethargy it induces. We shrug our shoulders and say, ‘There’s nothing to be done.’ We give up. The truth is that God has always worked through individuals who refuse to accept the status quo is all there is and who are determined to do all they can to change situations. Jonas Salk reminds us, “Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.”

God’s people need to be people who dream, who imagine what God can do, who have the courage to do what He says and who understand that ‘those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.’ (Isaiah 40:31) God gives us hope. When we look at Jesus, we realise that no situation is hopeless; He not only died but rose again! Therefore we have hope.

The Gospels do not always plunge straight into the birth of Jesus, again showing us God’s preparation in giving us a Saviour. Matthew’s Gospel starts with a family tree, showing us that Jesus is connected with people right back to the first man, Adam. Luke’s Gospel starts with the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. (Luke 1)

Zechariah and Elizabeth were devout people who loved God, and yet their lives had one major dissatisfaction: they had no children. (Luke 1:6-7) They were religious and yet they did not have this evidence of God’s blessing. One day, Zechariah was at work in the temple when an angel appeared to him to tell him ‘Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. ¹⁴ He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.’ (Luke 1:13-15) Not only would they have a son, he would be significant in turning people back to God: ‘to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’ (Luke 1:17)

For four hundred years, God had been silent and His people were feeling hopeless. Suddenly, there is hope again! We can’t always know what God is doing behind the scenes, and it can be hard to wait through days, weeks, months and even years of silence. But as we go about our daily lives, God can step into our situations with swiftness and miraculous means.  As Sherlock Holmes was wont to say, ‘the game’s afoot.’

My son, from a very early age, was fascinated by numbers and very able at mathematics (totally unlike his mother, whose mathematical abilities are very decidedly countable.) His mental maths is excellent and he can deal with square numbers and cubed numbers quite swiftly; one of his favourite games is Triolet, which involves combining three numbers to make 15 and which it’s quite pointless for me to play as it always ends in ritual humiliation for me (I get my revenge at Boggle!) When I was starting to swim, he used to spur me on by telling me idly how many lengths made up half-a-mile or a mile or some other distance, which proved quite an incentive for me. His knowledge of numbers does not lead to punctuality, but it does lead to some interesting discussions in our family!

Numbers feature frequently in the book of Revelation, and it’s hard to know if they are meant literally or metaphorically. There were, for example, twelve tribes of Israel, so the number twelve and its associates (twenty-four, 144) feature on more than one occasion. In Revelation 7, we meet the infamous ‘144,000’ (12,000 from 12 tribes of Israel). Debates about who these are have raged throughout history and form the basis of heretical beliefs (Jehovah’s Witnesses contend that exactly 144,000 faithful Christians from Pentecost until the present day will be resurrected to heaven as immortal spirit beings to spend eternity with God and Christ. They believe that these people are “anointed” by God to become part of the spiritual “Israel of God”, a view which is clearly incompatible with the rest of the Bible which affirms the numbers of believers spending eternity with God will be much greater than this!) Just to make life even more puzzling is the fact that the usual twelve tribes are not the same in this chapter (Dan is omitted, Levi included; usually, Joseph is replaced by his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, but only Manasseh is mentioned in Revelation 7) and that within a few verses, the number of worshipping believers is given as a ‘great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.’ (Rev 7:9)

If we take this passage literally, it would seem that God will save a specific number of Jews who will become evangelists for the gospel and will be ‘sealed’ or protected by God from all that the Antichrist would seek to do during this period of tribulation. Paul speaks of Israel once again turning to God (Romans 11) and God has always kept a remnant from the twelve tribes of Israel who trust in Him (see 1 Kings 19:18). But it is also clear that the numbers worshipping God in heaven are greater than anyone could count. Whether we fully understand the numbers involved is debatable, but one thing seems clear from this chapter: God knows those who are His and will protect and keep them from eternal harm.

My granddaughters are currently very excited as they look ahead to a birthday and Christmas. They have been promised certain things (balloons, cake, presents, parties) and they talk about these things eagerly and with the confident assurance that comes from knowing they are loved and that their parents and grandparents only make promises they are realistically capable of fulfilling. There is anticipation, expectation and great excitement as each day brings them another day closer to the fulfilment of these promises.

The book of Revelation is a reminder to God’s people that certain promises of God remain in the future, but they are even more assured than those made by fallible people to children at this time of year! In the midst of tribulation, trials, martyrdom and many things we struggle to understand in this book, we meet those who have come out of the great tribulation and who have been made clean through the blood of the Lamb. (Rev 7:14) We see them serving before the throne of God and have the solemn assurance that ‘never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst; the sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat.’ (Rev 7:15-16, see also Is 49:10) Once more, John’s  vision includes ‘the Lamb at the centre of the throne’, a Lamb who is also, paradoxically, a Shepherd (see Ps 23, John 10:14). There is the promise of living water (see also John 7:37-38) and the assurance that ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’ (Rev 7:17, see also Is 25:8, Rev 21:4). All these promises may well be in the future (and we certainly don’t know when they will be fulfilled), but we can be held up and sustained by them.

Peter talks of God’s ‘very great and precious promises.’ (2 Pet 1:4) Paul reminds us that ‘no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.’ (2 Cor 1:20) We are sustained and carried through present difficulties and trials by the hope that is to come of eternal life and bliss. Paul says, ‘I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.’ (Rom 8:18) The writer to the Hebrews reminds us how people persevered through faith and will be rewarded ultimately; these promises keep our spirits up and our hopes alive, no matter how difficult present circumstances may be. I’m confident my grandchildren will enjoy a birthday and Christmas again this year, but I am even more confident that one day there will be a new heaven and a new earth and God’s people will dwell in peace with their God, with no more death, mourning, crying or pain to spoil the picture. My confidence is not based on optimism or my own abilities but on the faithfulness of God: ‘he who promised is faithful.’ (Heb 10:23)

God is sometimes described as ‘the hope of Israel’, ‘its Saviour in times of distress.’ (Jeremiah 14:8, see also Jeremiah 17:13). Hope can be hard to define, but Emily Dickinson said, “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all.” Jeremiah, another prophet who lived in the difficult days immediately before exile and then during exile, reminded the people that God’s plans for them were still good, even when it didn’t feel like it: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” (Jer 29:11)

Jesus was born in difficult times, when Israel was being ruled by the Romans and people felt oppressed and enslaved. He was that visible reminder that God’s plans for His people were still good. He is still that visible reminder to us that God has good plans for our lives. Trust is what keeps us hoping. We trust that God is who He says He is and that He will do all He has promised, because He is faithful.