We are so happy it is Christmas time again! It is our most favorite time of year. We just love the decorations, the cold weather, the extra cozy feeling our home seems to have, we even enjoy the mall with all the craziness of frantic shoppers. However, the main reason we find so much joy in this time of year is in celebrating the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
One of our favorite ways to celebrate is to sing! Shocker- I know. There are many wonderful christmas songs that we delight in, but one of our favorites is, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” We have always been drawn to this song because of the haunting and eery sound it can have.
The song dates back to the ninth century, and is an advent hymn. Advent, which begins four sundays before Christmas, is the season of the church year, where we emphasize the anticipation of Christ’s first coming to earth. The lyrics are based on the biblical prophecy which states that God will give Israel a sign that will be called Immanuel. Immanuel or Emmanuel means “God with us”. It states that the prophecy was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. For centuries, faithful Hebrews looked for their Messiah with great longing and expectation, echoing the prayer that he would “ransom captive Israel.”
While the writer of the hymn is unknown. He was no doubt a scholar with a rich knowledge of both the old and new testaments. During this early time, the hymn went ignored for 51 weeks of the year and was only used in the advent chants a week before christmas. Sadly, we tend to do the same thing. We have these awesome hymns that are full of so much truth and we only sing them 1 month of the year.
This song in particular not only speaks of Jesus’ birth, but of the day when He will return again-to not only judge, but to bring final peace to the earth. I believe that there is a use for this song, outside of the advent season, so look forward to hearing it from us anytime of year! In our version we incorporated 3 of the original 7 verses. It was a blessing to record this song, and I hope you enjoy it and not only listen to it during this season but all year long!
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee O Israel
O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
And drive away the shades of night
And pierce the clouds and bring us light
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee O Israel
O come, Desire of nations, bind
All people in one heart and mind
Bid envy strife and quarrels cease
Fill all the world with heaven’s peace
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee O Israel
