Isaiah 9:2-4

The people walking in darkness see a bright light; light shines on those who live in a land of deep darkness. You have enlarged the nation; you give them great joy. They rejoice in your presence as harvesters rejoice; as warriors celebrate when they divide up the plunder. For their oppressive yoke and the club that strikes their shoulders, the cudgel the oppressor uses on them, you have shattered, as in the day of Midian’s defeat.

Throughout the Old Testament we are shown a people (Israel), who continuously struggle with oppression and slavery. Descendants of Abraham by faith, this people grows in number as they are made captive in Egypt. Delivered from Egypt by the hand of God working through Moses, they enter a wilderness where we see them struggle with the real enemy: sin. Sin is the oppressive yoke that cannot be overcome without God. Our great light of hope is Jesus Christ, who was, is, and is to come. He has always been our hope, since the beginning. He is not a backup plan, or some kind of alternative to God’s original purpose: He is the originator, the author, of our lives. It is only His signature that truly sets us free. It is only Jesus that can “shatter the yoke that burdens”. Find true life in Him.