“O Holy Night”
There’s an old story that during the Franco-Prussian War, Christmas Eve brought the battle to a halt. During this lull, a Prussian soldier stood and began to sing the powerful carol, “O Holy Night.” A French soldier joined in the song, then another Prussian, then another Frenchman, until both armies were singing that beautiful Christmas carol together.
Unfortunately, the records don’t conclusively confirm this story. Nonetheless, the carol’s message of God’s deliverance and salvation being secured during “the night” is displayed numerous times in the Bible. Since everything God does is Holy, what He does in darkness can rightly be called, “O Holy Night.”
God uses the evening hours, literally and figuratively, to conceal His miraculous workings until they are revealed in the day. The Scriptures show this principle in Genesis 1, as the creation days are reckoned as, ‘the evening’ and ‘the morning.’ Creation began in darkness. Then God said, “Let there be light!” Yes, God turns darkness and defeat into marvelous light and victory.
Exodus 12:29 shows God securing Israel’s deliverance from slavery during the night when all of Egypt’s firstborn died. At last, Israel was free. O Holy Night. In chapter 14:21, Israel crossed the Red Sea’s dry bottom in the day, because a strong, east wind blew all night to part the waters. O Holy Night.
Southern Judah was under siege. The undefeated Assyrians had already taken northern Israel captive, and now, Sennacherib was determined to quash Judah. However, the night before he would have ravaged and destroyed Jerusalem, 185,000 of his soldiers went to sleep and never woke up. Once again, God used the night to turn defeat into victory. O Holy Night.
Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, was not born in the day but in the night. Our redemption from sin and eternal death began in darkness. However, our redemption price could not be paid only with Jesus’ birth. It also required His death and resurrection.
Though Christ was crucified in the middle of the day, the gospels tell us that for three hours, darkness covered the land. Here, Jesus faced His Father’s wrath because, as 2 Corinthians 5:21 explains, He was ‘made sin for us’. This darkness covered God’s holy and righteous judgment. The resurrection morning revealed our deliverance and salvation. O Holy Night.
In Egypt, the night brought Israel’s deliverance from slavery. In Israel, the night brought our deliverance from sin. In both, the night of God’s judgement revealed the day’s new mercies. Psalm 30:5 encourages, “Weeping endures for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” Don’t despair the darkness you’re facing this evening. God may well be using it to show His victory in the morning. Then, you can look back and praise Jesus Christ for that O Holy Night!