A Holy Family

Jim Frantti  |  The Voice of Zion December 2025 - The Sabbath Word 4 Article -- 

Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. – Isaiah 49:13–16 

Isaiah lived during the 8th century B.C. in Jerusalem. He heard the call of God asking, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah answered, “Here am I, send me” (Isa. 6:8). The book of Isaiah contains sobering warnings of Israel’s rebellion against God and of sin, along with warnings about the coming judgement. Yet Isaiah’s writings also contain a message of promise and hope. 

The Promise of a Savior 

The difficult prophecies about God’s judgement are balanced by the promise of redemption and the sending of a Messiah. In the book of Isaiah, we find a message about the birth of the Savior. Isaiah wrote, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign, Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (7:14). 

Isaiah’s writings also contain this promise, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (9:6). 

A Suffering Savior 

The book of Isaiah also contains a message about the suffering of the promised Savior for the sins of the people. “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:5,6). 

The Fulfillment of the Promise 

When Jesus began His public ministry, He was in the synagogue in Nazareth, where He had been raised. There He read from the book of Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18,19; Isa. 61:1,2). 

A Call to the Family of God 

As in Isaiah’s time, God yet calls to the people in our time. While His Word contains clear warnings and chastisement about sin, it also promises God’s grace and forgiveness to the penitent. “Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matt. 7:7). In Isaiah’s time, people wondered if God had forsaken them. Isaiah’s message was, “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee” (Isa. 49:15). 

God calls into His family. His call is a personal calling, “But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine” (Isa. 43:1). When a person heeds this call of grace, he or she is adopted into God’s family, a holy family. “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” (Eph. 3:14,15). 

When we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we too have reason to bow our knees in thanks to our heavenly Father that we can be a part of this family. In His care, we can fully trust. We are graven upon the palms of His hands. The walls of His kingdom are ever before Him. Here in His kingdom, God daily and richly forgives all believers. In the power of the name and blood of Jesus, sins are forgiven, and this gospel gives strength to the journey that ends one day with eternal Christmas in heaven.