December 2, 2025
Burning
Bloody Boots
"But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish.
In the former time he brought into contempt the land
of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter
time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land
beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great
light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on
them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as
with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff
for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have
broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the
tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment
rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire."
I S A I A H 9 : 1 - 5
This passage from Isaiah is probably most famous for verse
2a: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great
light.” This offers a powerful image as we creep deeper into
the long, dark hours of winter. The reality of the light of Christ
entering into the darkness of our sinful, hopeless world has
inspired countless carol lyrics, including “yonder breaks a new
and glorious morn.”
But there is a lesser-known verse from this same passage
that has failed to affect hymn writers in the same way: “For
every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every
garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire” (v.
5). Fa la la la la, la la la lahh! Tramping warriors, bullet-riddled
battlefields, and garments rolled in blood aren’t the kinds of
props you can easily work into the church Christmas pageant.
Such images rarely come to mind when we think of Advent. But
maybe they should.
The theme of battle is dominant throughout these verses.
The Israelites are captive to the darkness (v. 2). They rejoice
like warriors dividing the plunder (v. 3). God’s salvation will be
like the day of Midian (v. 4), when he whittled Gideon’s forces
down to 300 troops before sending them (weaponless) to fight
135,000, ultimately working a miraculous victory.
Beneath the battle scars, Isaiah is painting a gospel masterpiece: God wins the victory, and we get the spoils! The Israelites
did nothing to win the war. They didn’t even fight. The Lord did.
He overpowered their enemies, yet they still got their pick of the
plunder.
This is precisely what Jesus does for us. He enters our world.
He overpowers the strong man. He wins the battle. And he brings
a divine ceasefire. It’s only when every vestige of darkness has
been eradicated that we can experience peace.
Jesus will allow
no enemy to stand in between us and the Promised Land, our
promised home.
A home where the spoils of battle are handed
over freely to us: joy, peace, and hope.
Perhaps this year, instead of roasting chestnuts, we should
burn a bloody boot to remind us that Jesus came as a conquering warrior-king to curb-stomp the forces of sin, death, and the
devil once and for all–and that he’s coming back soon to finish
the job.
LORD,
THANK YOU FOR CONTINUALLY DEFEATING THE
FORCES OF DARKNESS IN THIS LIFE THAT ARE TOO STRONG
FOR ME TO MANAGE, AND FOR PROMISING ME A HOME WHERE
THE SPOILS OF YOUR VICTORY ON THE CROSS WILL BE
ETERNALLY MINE.
AMEN.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be
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Coming Home for Christmas: Advent in Isaiah © 2025 1517
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