The Second Day of Advent

O Come, O Come Emmanuel (arr. Mark Hayes)

Dating from the fifth century, this is a song that Jewish Christians would sing, recalling their redemptive history. Israel was exiled long before Christ from God’s presence as punishment for disobedience, and longed for God’s presence and to purchase them again from their captivity in Babylon. They clung to the words of Isaiah which promised “therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Immanuel/Emmanuel means “God with us” – His presence would be with them again. Christ being the Rod of Jesse is significant because the One who was to redeem the earth was to be from the kingly line of the Davidic dynasty, and Christ was. In Jesus’s birth, the prayers of the people were answered: the son of David, and Lord, had finally come to deliver His people, freeing them from the powers of Satan, sin, and death.

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

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory o’er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Dayspring, from on high,
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
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 heav’nly 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, Adonai, Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times didst give the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

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