The Ember Wednesday in Advent
Posted on December 17, 2025 by under
Scripture: Isaiah 2:2-5 (NKJV)
2:2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it.
3 Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
5 O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Devotion
“In the latter days” is a phrase that means the time of the Messianic age. Not only does it refer to the time of Christ’s second coming, but, as we learned from Acts, chapter two, the Messianic age is already here in many ways with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
“The mountain of the Lord’s house” refers to Mount Zion, and therefore, the temple. But we also recognize that Zion ultimately refers to the Church, God’s holy people. The saints are the new people of God, and the Church is the new temple, the new Zion. So, when Isaiah says that “all nations shall flow to it,” he means that all nations shall enter the Church. Through the Church, God’s kingdom breaks forth into the world. All peoples, from around the world, are drawn to the Holy Christian Church; and then they go out and bring the Gospel with them to the four corners of the earth.
What other interpretation could there be of Isaiah’s prophecy? Modern Israel is an earthly government; it is not the Church of God’s people. Judaism does not offer the grace of the Messiah; it offers relics of the old broken temple. The house of Jacob is called to repent and walk in the light of the Lord. That Light is Jesus Christ, who has fulfilled the promises of the prophets and teaches all nations to love the Father in sincerity and truth because of His Gospel.
Collect: Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that with the coming solemnity of our Lord’s birth to accomplish our redemption, through Thy holy Word and Sacraments Thou would strengthen our faith in Christ Jesus; Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for Gaudete Sunday
Lord, we beseech Thee, give ear to our prayers, and lighten the darkness of our hearts, by Thy gracious visitation; Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
