The church season of Advent is now upon us. It’s the start of a new Church year. As tempting as it is to make the four weeks of Advent into an extended on-ramp to Christmas (as all the retailers and radio stations invite us to do!), I would encourage us to consider an alternative. I would encourage us to rest in the Old Testament prophets this Advent, and to learn to long for God’s coming with them. When we dwell in the four Old Testament lessons for the four-week season of Advent (according to the three-year lectionary published in the CLBA yearbook), we find that the season of Advent takes on new meaning. We find a message of hope that acknowledges the reality of our broken world and gives proper expression to the yearning we feel for deliverance, while pointing to the One who knows our need and promises not only to come to us today, but to deliver to us eternally all the benefits of Christ’s saving work on the cross.
Oh That You Would Rend the Heavens and Come Down (Isa 64:1-9)
The text for the first Sunday in Advent (Nov 29, 2026) begins with this desperate plea for God’s presence. Why would the prophet make this plea? Because he knows what we know: that, in this world, it can be easy to doubt that God is at work. For many reasons, we see the world as broken. In many ways, it seems like evil is winning. And so, with the prophet, we cry for God to break in and set things right. The prophet draws hope from the ways God has acted in the past (Isa 64:3-4). Yet he also recognizes his own sin (vv 5-6). Advent begins with repentance and a recognition of our need for a Savior (v 7), and it turns again to God’s mercy to us in Jesus (vv 8-9).
Comfort, Comfort My People
(Isa 40:1-11)
God’s answer to our need is both rescue and comfort. When he speaks “comfort,” as he does in this text for the second Sunday in Advent (Dec 6, 2026), his Word creates the comfort which he speaks. In the same way, when he speaks “forgiven,” we are forgiven (Mark 2:5-12); and when he speaks “peace,” we are given his peace (John 20:19-22). God’s Word is an effective word. We can’t read this text without thinking of another prophet (considered to be the last of the Old Testament prophets), namely John the Baptist. John’s purpose was to prepare the way for Jesus by calling his hearers to repentance (Mark 1:1-5). God aims for this same purpose in us as we hear these words again this Advent: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 3:2). In the busy days of preparation for our many Christmas celebrations, God calls us to stop and to reflect. He calls us to do this so that he can give to us the one and only gift we truly need: forgiveness. He delivers that gift to us through Jesus, who comes to us as both mighty king (Isa 41:10) and compassionate shepherd
(Isa 41:11).
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is Upon Me (Isa 61:1-4, 8-11)
Again we see the sense of longing that fills the biblical texts of Advent (which includes the readings from the Psalms and from the New Testament). In the text appointed for the third Sunday in Advent (Dec 13, 2026), God answers that longing with a promise. It’s a promise to bring the healing, restoration, and justice we long for and which we need. In this Old Testament text–prominently quoted by Jesus about himself and his ministry in Luke 4:18-19–the Messiah speaks through the prophet and proclaims Good News. Deliverance is coming in the Person of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. With seven infinitives, he describes exactly what the LORD has sent him to do: to bring good news, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty, to proclaim the LORD’s favor, to comfort those who mourn, to provide, and to turn our mourning into praise of God (Isa 61:1-3). Jesus is our salvation and our righteousness! He is the One who “will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all nations” (v 11b).
Your House and Your Kingdom Shall Be Made Sure Forever
(2 Sam 7:1-11, 16)
The Old Testament lesson for the final Sunday in Advent (Dec 20, 2026) departs from the prophet Isaiah to a covenant history book of 2 Samuel (sometimes called one of the “former prophets”). Here, the LORD reveals the foundation beneath all prophetic hope. This passage encompasses the monumental text of what’s known as the Davidic covenant, spoken by God to David through the mouth of the prophet Nathan. In this text, after David proposes the idea of building a house (temple) for God, God turns the tables and says it is his intent to build a house for David (2 Sam 7:11). This “house” ultimately points to the kingdom ruled by God through his Messiah, Jesus Christ (see also Ps 2:5-9). The LORD promises that he will establish through his Messiah (a descendant of David) not just a temporary, earthly kingdom, but an eternal kingdom (2 Sam 7:16), ruled eternally by one of David’s descendants. In a grammatical form that expresses the completed nature of the action, the LORD speaks these promises and roots them in his unchanging faithfulness. It is these promises that lead directly to Jesus, the Son of David, Messiah, and Savior of the world. It is these promises that point us to the One (the only One!) who can satisfy our longings, restore creation, and rescue us from sin and death forever.
Conclusion
The themes present in these four Old Testament texts perfectly carry the themes of Advent: longing, comfort, promise, and fulfillment. They allow us to pause and reflect on the reason for the incarnation of Christ. They give expression to the longings we feel in this world, broken by sin. And they give us opportunity to hear the sure promises of God for a Savior, as we confess our sin, receive forgiveness and comfort, and praise him for the deliverance that is both ours today and in eternity on account of Jesus.
Dr. Brad Pribbenow is Dean of Lutheran Brethren Seminary in Fergus Falls, MN.
Three-Year Lectionary
Baldwin, Joyce G. 1 and 2 Samuel. Tyndale Old Testament Commentary. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988.
Lessing, R. Reed. Isaiah 40-55. Concordia Commentary Series. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2011.
Lessing, R. Reed. Isaiah 56-66. Concordia Commentary Series. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2014.
Oswalt, John. Isaiah 40-66. New International Commentary of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998.
All Scripture quotations are taken from The ESV Study BIble. Crossway Bibles, 2008.
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