“Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.”
Isaiah 9:1-2 NLT
Isaiah’s message continued over the page in chapter 9. He included a theme of hope, that the darkness through which the people in Israel and Judah are stumbling will not go on forever. Something remarkable and wonderful will happen in the region of the Galilee, and the people there “will see a great light”. “The land of Zebulun and Naphtali” became highly significant in the New Testament as the setting for much of Jesus’ early life and ministry. Zebulun was the sixth son of Jacob by his wife Leah and the tenth of all Jacob’s sons, and he was one of Joseph’s brothers who sold him as a slave to traders who took him to Egypt. Jacob pronounced a blessing on each of his twelve sons before he died. To Zebulun, he said, “Zebulun will live by the seashore and become a haven for ships; his border will extend toward Sidon” (Genesis 49:13). Naphtali was Jacob’s sixth-born son and the second of two sons by Rachel’s maidservant, Bilhah. Naphtali’s older brother was Dan. Moses, when Israel was about to enter the Promised Land, pronounced a blessing on Naphtali’s tribe: “Naphtali is abounding with the favour of the LORD and is full of his blessing; he will inherit southward to the lake” (Deuteronomy 33:23). As indicated in this blessing, Naphtali settled in northern Canaan in the high regions west and northwest of the Sea of Galilee. So the reference to Zebulun and Naphtali in the Isaiah prophecy was extremely significant, and was mentioned in Matthew’s Gospel. Referring to Jesus, Matthew wrote, “He went first to Nazareth, then left there and moved to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah: “In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali, beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River, in Galilee where so many Gentiles live” (Matthew 4:13-15).
But how did Isaiah know about the event that was coming when Jesus would become the “great light” for the people in the land where He grew up? It could only have come from God, who could see His plan working out in that very region. But why “Galilee of the Gentiles” of all places? God could see that the exact mix of people and the right political and social circumstances would collide at that point in history, and set the backdrop for what was to come. Paul wrote, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners” (Romans 5:6). That was the “time” for Jesus’ first coming, and the “place” was in Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.
There has always been speculation of Jesus coming to other places, as was written in Blake’s hymn “Jerusalem”, where he asked the question, “And did those feet in ancient time / Walk upon England’s mountains green? / And was the holy Lamb of God / On England’s pleasant pastures seen?” No, of course, Jesus didn’t personally visit the UK, at least not in person. But He did visit here through the Holy Spirit: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future” (John 16:13). Many believers and followers of Christ, have stepped on “England’s pleasant pastures” and still do as the “Spirit of truth” prevails in the places where we live. Christ’s ambassadors to a “people who walk in great darkness”.
God’s timing is always perfect, and we are so grateful for His love and care. Peter wrote, “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent” (2 Peter 3:9). But Peter warned of something that would happen one day, and that is the next verse in 2 Peter 3. “But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment”.
The starting gun for the New Covenant was fired when Jesus came to this world in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. He ministered to a “people who walk[ed] in great darkness”, training up 12 men who carried His message into the lands further afield, performing miracles to underpin His message of the Kingdom of God, but ultimately dying on a Roman cross. But something amazing happened that weekend, and Jesus rose from the dead straight out of a rock-hewn tomb, not many miles away in Jerusalem. And then He returned to His Heavenly home, but He continues to live in the hearts and minds of His followers through the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, gifted to us when we turn to Jesus, in repentance for our sins. Pilgrims everywhere walk in Jesus’ steps, following Him and His teaching in lives transformed. And it all started in “Galilee of the Gentiles” two thousand years ago.
Father God. Your plan for the salvation of mankind was flawless, and You implemented it at just the right time and in just the right place. Thank You. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 